Death and Life Chapter 4

 

Congregation sings “Only Believe”.

Let’s bow our heads.

Precious Holy God, our Father, we realize that it’s a great privilege this morning that we have, to be able to bow our heads and to call upon the most holy and righteous God that created the heavens and the earth, and all things that are therein, and made a plan all the way before there was ever stardust, or a molecule, or anything upon this earth. No earth, nothing, just a great God. Lord, you made all of Your plans, and laid out in Your mind. We thank You for that, Lord. We thank You because we know that there’s not one slip-up in Your behalf. We know that everyone that’s elected to Eternal Life, they’ll be there. Those that are not Lord, they can’t make it. We’re so thankful Lord that You’ve given us a part in this day that we could live here now in this time that we’re living, that You would send a prophet and through that prophet You would bring a message that would perfect the Bride. We thank You for that, Lord. We know that whatever we say, that we’d be like Joshua, we’d have to go back and say what the prophet said. We know that that’s the only way. We know that anything that we have in our own minds, if it doesn’t coincide with the message of this hour, it’s in vain. We realize, Lord, that there were many things that Joshua did that, on the spur of the moment, You come on the scene and made provisions for those moments when he needed You, that, maybe Moses didn’t tell him about. But we know that it was not something that was contrary to what the prophet had said. It was just a further understanding and opening up of the situation for that moment that had come upon him. And I thank You, Lord, for letting us see many things in this day.

And I pray, Lord, that You’d lead us on to higher heights and deeper depths in Your love. Let us honor and praise Your name above every name that’s upon the face of this earth. May never there be anything that would ever take Your place, Lord, in our life and in our heart. May we always put You first, knowing that it’s so easy for little idols to slip in Lord, sometimes unconsciously, and we have to really search our life daily and make sure that we’re in the right spirit and on the right track, Lord. Bless us this morning Father, as we come together to bring this great message that You’ve laid upon our heart, Lord. And only You can take charge and speak the words that we have in our heart this morning. I pray Lord, that You’d take full control of this pile of flesh Lord, and speak for Your children. We ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Great Son of Man. Amen.

You may be seated. It’s a pleasure to be here this morning. ‘Course you know we always miss Brother Don when he’s gone. So, I know he’s not on a vacation, and he’s probably in the air now somewhere between Paris and this next place that he’s going to be landing. Because there’s five hours’ difference. They’re five hours ahead of us, I believe it is, about five hours ahead in Paris. So, he’s well on his way and he’ll be moving into his second stop there before long. We were happy to be able to spend a little time with him over there yesterday at the airport. They loaded him up real early. They got him on a plane there before seven o’clock. And usually, if the plane is coming in, and got to unload and all of that, sometimes it’s late getting them on the plane, you know. But if the plane is sitting there and they’re going to leave on time, so they loaded him up early and they left on time. So I’m pretty sure that they made it into Paris. (Have you got a call from him? No call yet.) I’m pretty sure they made it into Paris on time, and he’s well on his way now to India.

And we’re so glad that we have someone in this congregation, not only Brother Don, but we have... The whole congregation is missionary-minded. We thank the Lord for that because, you know, Brother Branham said that you take the mission work out of a church, you don’t have much of a church. You’ve got to have that mind to want to get the message out to people in other lands. And we thank the Lord that He’s laid upon our hearts India. ‘Course, we’d like to go to all of them, if we just had enough of people and enough of support. And we know we’re serving a big God. But I think that what the Lord has really laid upon our hearts is in India. And He has really blessed that work. And so I really thank the Lord for it.

Now, I feel a little bit guilty because sometimes I don’t tell you all in advance. It’s because I don’t know. I just feel led at a certain time to do something. If I didn’t feel this way Wednesday night, then I couldn’t tell you Wednesday night. See? But then, I felt like, that since it’s so cold, and we have small children, and of course I know God’s able to take care of everything. But then, in coming out, we can have enough of the Word of God to supply us until Wednesday night with one service. You know that.

The message this morning - I want you to understand where these things are coming from. There’s two main books that all of this is coming from. That’s not excluding the rest of the message. But it’s telling you that, what I believe, is the whole thing summed up in the book of Romans, teaching justification by faith, teaching the righteousness of Jesus Christ, teaching the blood, the only way. And then, “The Breach Between”. These two books. If you want to find what Brother Holmes is really leaning on to bring these, I feel, important messages to the church, study the book of Romans and “The Breach Between”. Study the 5th Chapter of Revelation. And then, we want to notice that Brother Branham made it clear that the plan of redemption was settled in the mind of God before there was a foundation of the world or anything. It was already settled. So if God knew that He was going to have to redeem the human race, then He must have known that there was going to be something that would cause the human race to fall. And He being God, and nothing was created yet, He didn’t have to do that. See? But He did that, Brother John, because that was His plan. That was His whole desire. To make a man in the perfect image of God to begin with, and then put him in a perfect body. A perfect body. And then allow this man to be exposed to temptation to the extent that he would fall, knowing that he would.

So then, He would have to have an instrument that Satan could work through. So, in bringing up the creation, the link between man and beast, of course, was the serpent. And the serpent, Brother Branham said, was almost a man. And so God ordained all of this, and He allowed this to happen. Now what we want to understand is, in the perfect will of God, in the perfect will of God and the original will of God, He intended for man to live upon the face of this earth that He created eternally. And so nothing is going to stop that. That will happen. That will take place. And what we are trying to do is to... I’m trying to get to you what I feel like that God has laid upon my heart, the way I see the plan that He laid out. And I believe that this message this morning, it may be a little lengthy. It probably will. But this message this morning, what we have said previously in this series, you’ll find it, most of it, right here in this message. This will be the hub, or this will be the main message of this series. The things that we say after this, the things that we have said previously, the things that we will say that will follow, you can come back and look at this message and you can see where it’s laid out, the Scriptures. I’ve got a pile, a bunch of Scriptures that I want to give to you at the end of this message this morning for you to study, the Bible. I want you to study the Bible and see. And then, of course, we’re going to be taking the quotes, you know, from Brother Branham to back up everything that we say.

And so I want you to turn with me this morning, now we’re going to get right into the message. We’re right about three minutes until eleven. So, now, I know you didn’t make plans to stay a little longer today, probably. From now on, on Sunday, until we change, you’ll know that we’re probably going to go a little further. This is a teaching ministry here now. You understand that? We are fully relying upon the Holy Spirit to get these things over that has been laid upon our heart. And I have enjoyed every bit of it, the study that’s been progressing for a long time. The Scriptures that have been gathered together, the quotes that have been gathered together, I’ve got stacks of them there and they’ve been gathering for awhile. So, I feel like that if the Lord has did this, that He’ll allow it to come over in an effective way. And so, I feel like that this is a very important series. Alright.

So I want you to turn with me to Romans the 3rd Chapter, and I want to read from two places in Romans. You notice, in most every one of these services now, we have been reading from the book of Romans or the Book of Ephesians. Now this Book of Romans actually is the Book of justification. You know that, by faith. And it also I think... This subtitle this morning that we’re going to use for this message is “A Just God”. That’s the subtitle under “Life and Death Set Before Us”. See? The whole series is “Life and Death Set Before Us”. But these little subtitles is coming under that, coming under the main heading. Alright.

I want to begin reading at Verse 19 and read through Verse 26. And placing special emphasis on Verse 26. And then we’ll be going to Chapter 9 and be reading a couple of verses there in that chapter.

NOW WE KNOW THAT WHAT THINGS SOEVER THE LAW SAITH, IT SAITH TO THEM WHO ARE UNDER THE LAW:...

Now did you understand what he is saying there? Whatever the law says, it’s saying to those that are under the law. See? Are we under the law? No. We’re not under the law. So, whatever the law says is to them that are under the law. Alright.

...THAT EVERY MOUTH MAY BE STOPPED, AND ALL (of) THE WORLD MAY BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD.

So now we see that the whole world is guilty before God under the law. See? There is no salvation under the law. There is guilt. There is condemnation. See? Because man cannot save himself. Works won’t do it, see. It’s going to take something else. Alright?

THEREFORE BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW THERE SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED...

Anything that you do to try to justify your life before God in the flesh, it’s no good. That’s exactly what Paul is saying.

...JUSTIFIED IN HIS SIGHT: FOR BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN.

See? The knowledge of sin is by the law. Alright.

BUT NOW... (watch this) ...BUT NOW THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WITHOUT THE LAW IS MANIFESTED,...

See? But now the righteousness of God without the law, without works... Huh? Law is works, isn’t it? It said, “You don’t do this; you must do that.” That’s law. Alright. So now we find out that the righteousness of God is manifested without the law. Alright.

...BEING WITNESSED BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS;

Alright? Verse 22.

EVEN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WHICH IS BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST UNTO ALL AND UPON ALL THEM THAT BELIEVE:...

So this righteousness by Jesus Christ, this righteousness which is coming by Jesus Christ to the human race. You understand? It’s got to come by Jesus Christ. Alright, now.

...FOR THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE:

(We have) ALL SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD;

BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS:

Now if you’ll notice, Paul spoke of righteousness of the law before he spoke of redemption. Alright?

WHOM GOD HATH SET FORTH TO BE A PROPITIATION THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD, TO DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS THAT ARE PAST,...

Huh? So now this righteousness has got to be declared to the human race.

TO DECLARE, I SAY, AT THIS TIME HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS: THAT HE MIGHT BE JUST,...

That He might be just.That means that He’s going to be justly, legally, in every act that He takes. If He made Satan, if He created Satan, knowing that he was going to fall, and created the serpent, knowing that he was the link that could cause the problem, and created man so that he could fall, and gave him a free moral agent, then God has got to be a just God to bring man back. If He gave Satan a privilege and Satan did this legally, he did it... I know it was connivingly, but they didn’t have to fall, see. They was set there as a free moral agent. So he legally deceived Eve. See? So now, God cannot, with all of His omniscience, he cannot, Brother Gerald, come back and destroy the devil. He’s got to do that legally. You understand? These are great messages that will build spiritual power in a Christian if they can see the plan of God. If you can see the plan of God, it will build a powerhouse in you. Otherwise, you’re not going to have it. There’s going to be doubt. There’s going to be doubt. There’s going to be doubt. But you’ve got to understand that God has made no mistake. Amen. Alright. Watch this close. Now I’m going to read that 26th Verse again.

TO DECLARE, I SAY, AT THIS TIME HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS: THAT HE MIGHT BE JUST, AND THE JUSTIFIER OF HIM WHICH BELIEVETH IN JESUS.

So now, He’s a just God. He’s got to legally take this thing back out of the hands of Satan. He’s got to legally bring redemption to man. He’s got to do it legally. Alright. So now let us go to Chapter 9, and look at - I believe it’s Verse 30 and 31.

WHAT SHALL WE SAY, THEN? (Paul is asking a question.) THAT THE GENTILES, WHICH FOLLOWED NOT AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS, (Now watch that word righteousness, keeps popping up.) HAVE ATTAINED TO RIGHTEOUSNESS,...

Gentiles. Gentiles. What do Gentiles mean? What does the word Gentile mean? Idol worshippers. Huh? Oh my. When you get to thinking about that, you want to get down on your face, humble before God. Amen. To see what He done. To see what He did for us. See? Alright. We had no way. Watch now. Let me read it again. We’re not in no hurry.

WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN? THAT THE GENTILES, WHICH FOLLOWED NOT AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS, HAVE ATTAINED TO RIGHTEOUSNESS, EVEN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS OF FAITH.

BUT ISRAEL, WHICH FOLLOWED AFTER THE LAW OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, HATH NOT ATTAINED TO THE LAW OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. (See?)

WHEREFORE? (Why did they not do that? Why?) BECAUSE THEY SOUGHT IT NOT BY FAITH. (See?) BUT AS IT WERE BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW. FOR THEY STUMBLED AT THAT STUMBLINGSTONE;

So they didn’t get it. See? But, God elected a group out of Israel and He chose a Bride out of the Gentiles. Amen. Now on those basis that I’ve read this morning, I’m going to start this message off with a quote from the “Kinsman Redeemer”, that Brother Branham brought in 1960 in Jeffersonville.

“WHAT DID JESUS DO, TO DO IT? (Or how did he bring about this righteousness, this redemption?) HE MADE A PUBLIC TESTIMONY. WHEN SATAN COULD NOT DIE FOR SINS...”

See? He had the authority. He had everything. He had full control. He had full dominion. But he could not redeem man. See? Satan couldn’t do it.

“...BECAUSE HE WAS THE SINNER. (the one that caused it. See? Alright.) HE’S THE FATHER OF SINS. (Alright?) BUT JESUS, THE INNOCENT ONE, GOD OF HEAVEN, WHO DIDN’T HAVE TO DIE, (No He didn’t have to die.) HE COME DOWN AND MADE A PUBLIC TESTIMONY BY DYING...”

See? A public testimony. Legally. Legally, He’s going to take it back out of the hands of Satan. See? Alright.

“...LIFTED UP BETWEEN HEAVENS AND EARTH: A PUBLIC TESTIMONY, STRIPPED HIS CLOTHES OFF OF HIM; AND HUNG BETWEEN HEAVENS AND EARTH IN SHAME, AND DIED A SINFUL, SHAMEFUL DEATH TO REDEEM US: A PUBLIC TESTIMONY. AMEN.”

“WHAT DID HE DO? (He) KICKED OFF HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, (kicked it off, laid it aside.) (He) KICKED OFF HIS OWN GLORY,... I HAVE POWER; (He said). I COULD SPEAK TO MY FATHER AND STRAIGHTWAY HE (would) SEND... LEGIONS OF ANGELS...”

But He refused to do it. He had the power to do it. He refused to do it because He must take all of this upon Himself if He’s going to be the propitiation for this lost race. Alright. Now. Brother Branham said,

“...THEN HE TOOK RUTH... (Boaz took Ruth, which was a Gentile Bride. Is that right? Alrght.) ...AND HE MARRIED HER. (She was a Moabite. Alright.) AND SHE BROUGHT FORTH A SON CALLED OBED.”

Now we’re going to be getting into this later on and show you how God chose to bring this right on down, Brother T.B. And I know you already see where we’re going. We’re going to show you how God made His choice to bring this plan on down and how He picked His people before the foundation of the world and allowed everything to happen just exactly like it’s supposed to happen. It takes years to study and look at this and see what God is doing. Amen. Alright.

“OBED WAS THE FATHER OF JESSE. JESSE WAS THE FATHER OF DAVID, WHO WAS A FATHER...

(Jesus has got more than one father, see, faithwise, which was...)

...A FATHER OF CHRIST (Amen), FATHER OF THE LORD JESUS. ALRIGHT.”

“DON’T YOU SEE (it)? THROUGH THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS, THROUGH THAT CLEAR CUT DECISION, (through that clear cut decision) HE BECOME OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER. GOD BECAME KINFOLKS TO US, TO COME DOWN AND BE MADE LIKE US, A HUMAN BEING, SUFFER HUNGER, SUFFER THIRST, ‘I THIRST; GIVE ME A DRINK.’ AND THEY PUT VINEGAR IN HIS MOUTH, AND GALL.”

“HE THIRSTED LIKE WE DID. HE KNOWED HOW TO DO WITHOUT. HE WAS SICK LIKE WE ARE. HE SAID, ‘WON’T THEY SAY TO ME THE OLD PARABLE, “PHYSICIAN, HEAL (Thyself)” ’? BUT HIS GREAT POWERS WASN’T FOR HIMSELF. HE HAD THE POWER TO DO IT, BUT HE COULDN’T USE IT ON HIMSELF...”

He could not use it on Himself. So on them basis we want to look into some things that I feel will be of benefit as we go along in this series. Alright. So we’re not getting in no hurry this morning. Not even going to get nervous over it. Alright. I just don’t intend to do it. Alright.

Now, first of all, when God created man, going back to the beginning, He made him a free moral agent. And he set before him life and death. He could make his choice. Whichever way he wanted to go. But that did not take away from God’s orginal plan that he made man to live eternally on this earth. So if that was in the mind of God for man to live eternally on this earth, I don’t care what happens, man is going to live eternally on this earth. That’s what God made this earth for. And that’s what He made man for. And all of this other between, is things that’s bringing it up to that. See? God made no mistakes. Amen. He’s not made any. See? Adam was the master, actually, of himself. He could or could not. He didn’t have to yield to Satan’s temptation. Adam did not have to do that, but he chose to do that. He made his choice to do that, he was no missing link. You understand? Adam was no missing link, he was not a weak individual. See? What Adam was, he was walking in the full light of the perfect knowledge. Exactly. He was walking in the full light. Brother Branham said that. He knew what he was doing. I read that quote the other day. Alright? So we know that man was created not for all of these things that are happening. But he was created for joy and peace. That’s what man was created for. Satan has taken that away. See? Man was created for joy and peace.

Look. You can’t find peace nowhere any more. I mean, all of the nations are against one another. They’re trying their best, making out like they’re trying to get together, and all the time they’re building greater defense to fight one another with. See? There’s no peace there. There’s no joy there. One man wanting to be dominant over the other. The whole world is that way. It’s always been that way in the religious part of it, and now it’s getting that way in the Message part. See? Alright. But in the original plan of God, in the first man, there was no sin. Absolutely no sin. There was no sickness. No sir. And there was no sorrow and no death. No sir. None of that was in God’s original plan. None of it was in God’s original plan and there won’t be none over there when His plan is fulfilled. When His plan is completely fulfilled there won’t be any of that, no more. Alright.

Now, even though man has done what he did, and then he crossed the chasm over into death, yet God is not going to leave him stranded in that condition. See? And that’s what we want to talk about this morning. How did God legally bring man out? He had to do it legally. So we’ve got a lot of hay here and let’s try to get it in the barn. Alrght? Because it will do you good if you’ll listen to this, because these other messages that will come, they’ll drop right back here and you’ll see what we’re talking about. Amen. Alright.

So now, if man did do this, his choice was to go with Satan, he made his choice as a free moral agent to go with Satan, but God knew he would do it. But it didn’t hamper God’s plans for man to live eternally. So I want you to get that. Now he did not leave this man in this condition, but what He did, He made provisions and this provision would be through redemption. And the word redemption, we know means to buy back, or pay the price for. Alright. Now, so He wanted this man to be redeemed back, so He could have the needs supplied to Him that lies in God. See? Everything that Adam had, he lost it. So God’s the only one that can redeem it back. So now He starts His redemptive work. And then, He puts all of this faith in Jesus Christ, see, every bit of it. and this would answer every man’s needs. This redemption through faith in Jesus Christ would answer all of the needs of man and put him back in his rightful position again. See? Alright.

So now we’ve got a problem. We’ve got a big problem now, so I want you to look at it. This man having this need, the greatest need that he has is Eternal Life. Alright. So now, he can’t get back. But his need has got to be met. His need must be met in Eternal Life, which is receiving the nature of God. Right? This is receiving the nature of God, alright. But the nature of God cannot be given to a man in that condition. Something has got to change the condition. See? Watch it now. So His nature, if He gives it to him, this man, then it’s going to bring him back into sonship. Alright. And then He’s got to have legal grounds to bring this man back. Now I want you to watch this close, because this is the key right here. So now, the Father God, which created man, and he was His son. Adam was a son of God, read the Scriptures. Now this Father God, He now is going to undertake this redemption of man. He’s going to take on Himself the legal, just way to bring man back from where he fell. Alright. So now, if it’s redemption, then man can’t work his way back. You understand? That’s what Paul said about the law. See? He said you can’t do it under the law. There’s no way. So now, what God has got to do now, He’s got to do everything that He does, Brother Gerald, independent from man’s works. Every bit of it has got to be absolutely independent from anything that a human being can do, because no human being could do it. There’s no way. Amen. Now I’ve kept these things a long time, and I’m going to say them. You might as well look at it, because God knows what He’s doing. Amen.

We see things that we don’t like. God knows that those things are going to happen. He knew it before the foundation of the world. Amen. So we can let that damper down our spiritual life or we can leave that in the hands of God and go on. See? I hope you understand. Alright. Now I’m going to cry a little bit, then I’m going to get started back. Amen. You think about this plan. You think about what God done for you, amen, and you don’t cry, there’s something wrong. That’s right. Watch now.

But the first problem that God is facing now, when He’s going to take this man back independent from any of his own works, or any of his own laws or anything, He’s got to make that man righteous. He’s got to have a right. See? Alright. He’s got to make him righteous. Now this is something. Well, that’s exactly what we’ve read in Romans 3. Exactly what we read in that 26th verse. That’s what He has to do. Alright. So now we know that this has got to take place. Alright. Man must be without any law, without any works, without anything that he can do himself. He must be given righteousness. Legally. Legally he’s got to be given righteousness. It cannot be on his part, because he can’t do it. See? So God has got to do a legal work and declare this spiritually dead man righteous. Now that’s hard, ain’t it, which is a child of Satan? And He’s going to declare him righteous. But how is He going to do it? See? Now that’s the thing. Now that’s what I want you to look at. How is God going to do it?

Well, first of all, God has got to be righteous in His dealings with man. Everything that He does with man, He’s got to be righteous in that dealing. He can’t deal with Brother Richard one way. Even though we’ve got two Richard’s here. He can’t deal with Richard Hendershot one way and Richard Dozier another way. He can’t do that. He’s got to be righteous in His dealings. He has got to have a perfect right. A perfect right. He has got to have satisfied the demand that He made Himself for the sin. He’s got to satisfy that in the face of Satan before He can claim that man righteous. He’s got to do it. He’s got to be legal. Alright. Now. Man’s transgression must not be overlooked in this. He cannot overlook it. He cannot just forgive it, because there is a penalty. There’s a penalty that was placed upon man if he done this, and that penalty has got to be paid. It’s got to be paid. The only way that we can legally come out from the hands of Satan is for the price to be paid. It’s got to be paid. Alright. So then, we’ve got to find out something else. See? God must act toward Satan, He’s got to act toward Satan on grounds of absolute justice. Absolute justice is the way He’s got to act toward Satan. He can’t just come in there with His omniscience and take us back. He cannot do it. Because the penalty is death, and Satan knows that. See? And he has a perfect right to claim that, because he won man. Satan won man. Alright.

So now, God must redeem man back from this authority that Satan holds over Him on legal grounds. Absolute legal grounds. So, God must not only be just to man and to Satan. He’s got to be just, first of all, to man, see, because the penalty is death. See? So He’s got to be just to him to hold that penalty right there. Alright. Now He’s got to be just to Satan because Satan legally holds that right because he won man Alright. So now, His actions, God’s actions has got to be according to His own righteousness. He cannot act out of His righteousness. Alright. Because righteousness, actually, is the very foundation of His throne. His whole throne, everything in His throne is based upon righteousness. Amen. Brother Branham said Jesus kicked off His righteousness. See? He put it off. What did He do? He took our sins upon Him. See? He become a sinner, which He knew no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. But He become condemned under the condemnation because the penalty was death. Somebody has got to pay it, and they’ve got to be in the qualified position to do it. Oh my! It gets bigger and bigger as you study it. If you studied it for forty years, you’d still want to study it forty more. Amen. It gets so big. Alright. Watch now.

So now He cannot lower His standards. God cannot lower His standards, so He must be on legal grounds and justly judge the human race. He’s got to justly judge them. And He’s got to compel them to pay the penalty for sin, because they did it. And that’s the ones that reject the Sacrifice. The ones that reject the Sacrifice. Alright now.

What was the penalty for man’s sin? What was it? Well, when justice made her demand on this man, that he must pay the penalty of his crime, then man was unable to do that. He could not even pay the interest on it He couldn’t pay nothing on it. See? He’s there, Brother Lanny, and he can’t get back. See, there’s no way back. There was no excuse for the crime that he committed. Absolutely none. He committed this crime openly knowing what he was doing. We read that quote to you the other night. He knew what he was doing. Absolutely. So he committed this crime and it was absolutely an unpardonable sin. That’s right. God would not pardon him. No sir. The penalty has got to be paid. The penalty has got to be paid for what he done. That’s right. Alright. So the penalty of man’s sin was hell. Death; hell. That’s exactly right. See? Hell was not prepared for man. Matthew 25:41 tells us that “hell was prepared for the devil and his angels”. Is that right? Hell was not prepared for man. God made man to live eternally upon the face of this earth. Amen. Not to die, see. God intended originally for man to live and not to die. That is still going to be carried out. Absolutely. It’s going to be carried out.

Alright. So now we have the justice between man and God, that God is responsible to hold that penalty over that man. He’s responsible to hold it there until it’s paid. It’s got to be paid. See? Alright. So now let’s look at the way He looks at Satan. Now, in restoring righteousness to man, God, then He must not, under no circumstances, if He’s a just God, He must not take advantage. Now you will find these teachings, if you want to get into it and study it like you ought to, prayerfully, in “The Breach Between” you’ll find exactly what I’m saying here. Not word for word, but in essence of what I’m saying right there in “The Breach”. Brother Branham covered it, in a long message, the whole plan of redemption and why man couldn’t get back, and what it would take to get him back. God covered every bit of it through that prophet in “The Breach Between”. Every bit of it. You say, “Well, you haven’t brought any quotes in yet.” Well, I’m talking about it all the time. I’m talking about it all the time. The plan of redemption and how it come about. And Brother Branham said there was no way that anyone could go get that book now. It went back into the hands of God. See? And nobody could go get it. Alright.

Watch now. So, Adam took advantage of God. He took advantage of the human race and he chose Satan, death over Life. Alright. This was Adam’s sin. So this sin that Adam did, it gave Satan a legal right to rule over the creation, the whole creation. It gave him a right to rule over all of it. See? Now, it made man a legal servant of Satan, and a slave to him. Is that right? You say, “Oh, no I wasn’t.” Yes, you were. Yes sir. And you still are if you’re not born again. So God, in His omnipotence, is powerful enough to break that, but He can’t do it because He’s a just God. So He’s got to buy it. See? He can’t go in and rob Satan and take it back so He’s got to pay the price. Now who is He going to get? He’s much stronger than Satan. In all of His omnipotence, He’s much stronger but the only way that He can strip him of his authority is by the legal act. He’s got to do it legally. Amen. And so if He can do this, it’s got to be absolutely unquestionable. There can’t be a question about it, whether the price was paid.

So alright. Now, the next problem is, this justice toward man. See? This justice toward man is another problem. And in dealing with man on the grounds of justice, God must recognize a transgression against Him. He’s got to look at it because He set that law. That’s God’s law, so He’s got to look at it and he’s got to see the penalty and He’s got to recognize this transgression and call for that penalty to be paid. Now that penalty that’s to be paid is a redemptive price, has a redemptive price. Alright. Man’s redemption must be legitimate in order for man to be justified in the sight of God as though he never sinned. It’s got to be absolutely legitimate, Brother Richard. It’s got to be legitimate. Alright. Watch now. Because when man sinned, he at that time became a partaker of Satan’s nature. That’s right. I haven’t forgot that yet. Amen. He became a partaker of Satan’s nature. And every one of us that was born, we were born with Satan’s nature. Well how in the world can any one of us redeem somebody? Watch. We’re in a bad shape. Alright. Someone has got to go there. Where? Somebody has got to go to hell. Some human being has got to go to hell, because that’s the demand. That’s the penalty. Alright. See it? So this is the only way that man can be given Eternal Life, is for somebody to die and go to hell, and pay that price. Somebody has got to do it. Alright. Who’s going to do it? See? All of us, we’re standing as sinners in the sight of God. See. Every one of us is standing as sinners. So there is no one of us that could ever do it. So this redemption actually will free man from the penalty of going to hell if He can find someone that’s worthy of doing that. It will free the rest of us from going there. Alright.

Now if he refuses to accept this, man refuses to accept it after the penalty is paid, then, of course, he winds up with Satan, going into hell. See? Because he takes his choice just like Brother Branham preached on “Adoption”. You remember the lesson on adoption. Brother Branham made it clear that when that jubilee sounds, that you could throw down your rake and your hoe. It don’t make no difference how many debts you had against you. They were all struck off. You were free if you wanted to be. See? Now if you chose not to go free, then you were taken to the place where they bored a hole in your ear, and they labeled you as a servant of your master for the rest of your life. There would never be another jubilee sound. So this is the same thing here that we’re looking at. See, when the penalty is paid, He’s saying that you’re free. But you have got to accept, by faith, the righteousness of God that set you free, and the blood of Jesus Christ.

Alright. So now the penalty has got to be paid so that man can be delivered from this dominion of Satan. Alright. Now man must be given authority... Listen now. Man has got to be given authority over Satan. He’s absolutely got to be given that authority so that he can meet Satan in combat anytime and defeat him. That’s right. Who? The man that pays the penalty. The man that pays the penalty, that pays the price, he’s got to meet Satan just like Adam did. And he’s got to win every battle. He can’t lose a one of them. He’s got to win every one of them that Adam lost before he can be counted worthy. See? Alright. So now, this, of course, would bring about a resurrection of a man’s physical body, you and me. We would have to be resurrected in an immortal body, in a different nature and everything else, before we would be able to meet in that category. We can’t meet in that category, because man at the beginning had a perfect human body. Adam had a perfect human body. See? So man must be given an immortal body over which death can have no more dominion or authority. Also, “there must be a restoration,” Brother Branham said, “of the earth.” It’s got to be restored back to its Edenic position again like it was in Eden. It’s got to be restored back with no thorns and thistles, with nothing to hamper, nothing to destroy. Everything has got to be restored back. This has got to be done, see. So alright.

So now, man’s redemption must include a new creation. It’s got to be a new creation. But we come wrong. We come into the world wrong. See? We got here the wrong way by our father Adam. So now we’ve got to have a new creation. Now we’ve got to be recreated. Recreated. See? And that is where we receive the life of God. That’s where we receive the nature of God. That’s where we receive a perfect righteousness and a perfect reconciliation so that we can fellowship with God, and man can feel at home with God. See? He can feel at home like he would at his natural home. Come in and sit down under the table and eat with respect to his father. Man has got to be restored back to that position where he can do that. Alright. So God must be able to give man a place in His kingdom, not as a servant, but as a son. He’s got to come back in there as a son. This has got to be first in the heart of God.

Now Brother Branham said, “I used to think that Jesus loved me, but God hated me”, you know, or something to that effect. And he said, “But I found out that Jesus was the very heart of God.” Do you see that? I mean, if you’ll notice, these things that I’m talking about, you’ll find them in the Message. You’ll find them in the Message in the words that Brother Branham spoke them in. Amen. You’ll find it. Alright.

So now, the creation, that righteousness, that sonship, the privileges now, in the fullness of relationship has got to be given back the eternal rights of a man, because that was God’s plan in the beginning. So it’s got to be given back. Now somebody has got to provide the sacrifice. Right? Somebody has got to provide the sacrifice, so who is able to do that? You see it, Brother Chris? Somebody has got to be able to provide the sacrifice. The Redeemer. Somebody has got to be the Redeemer. And now God has got to make provisions for that. God is the only one who can make provisions for the Redeemer. Alright.

So this redemption now, it’s got to restore righteousness to him, to the man, and it must come from God. It can’t come from man. It’s got to come from God. No man himself can meet those conditions and those demands. No sir. He cannot do it. Why can’t he do it? Well, Brother Branham said, “because we’re all born by sex.” That’s what he said. See, we are all born in sin. Psalm 51:3, I believe it is.

BEHOLD, I WAS SHAPEN IN INIQUITY; AND IN SIN DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME.

So we all came by sex. We all come by sin. See? Alright. Now. He’s a helpless slave. I don’t care what you say that man is a helpless slave and he’s in the hands of the enemy that rules him and he’s overpowering to him. So no man can stand before God. I don’t care who he is. No man can stand before God for himself, he cannot do it.

I remember when Brother Branham told me when I said, “Who is worthy?” He said, “No man. No man is worthy to preach this Message.” That’s exactly what he told me. Now he said, “The only way, Brother Holmes, is that you come and take horns of the alter and you send a petition up to God in the Name of Jesus Christ, His Son.” And he said, “There’s a veil that’s stretched between here and the throne of God,” And he said, “Your voice goes to that veil, and that veil is the blood of the Son of God.” He said, “That’s as far as your voice, as far as your prayer goes.” When you come in the right attitude toward God...I don’t care if it’s fifty words, or if it’s three words, or if it’s five words. When you come in the attitude toward God that you’re supposed to come into, your words will not go to God. It will go... (blank spot on tape) ...sacrifice that’s worthy. You see? It’s the sacrifice that’s worthy. And so now, when He looks back, the blood speaks in your behalf. And now He looks back... You say, “Blood can’t speak.” The blood of Abel spoke. Yes sir. “He looks back and He sees red through red”, Brother Branham said. And he said, “Brother Holmes, He sees you snow white, as though you never sinned.” See? But it has to come through this Redeemer. Amen. Alright. It’s got to come through this Redeemer and this Redeemer has got to be a man. It’s got to be a man. Don’t you forget that. He’s got to be a human being. Amen. Alright.

So now. Man’s redemption must include this new creation. That’s right. It’s got to do it. God must be able to give him all of his place back in everything. Alright. So now the Redeemer must be a man, and this man must be born, not of sex, he cannot be born of sex. He must be conceived in such a manner that He will not be a subject of Satan. He’s got to be conceived in a miraculous way. Not in any way that Satan would have any jurisdiction over Him at all. So He must not possess within His spirit the nature of Satan. This Redeemer has got to come into this world. This Redeemer has got to be born of a woman, but cannot be born with the nature of the world. If He is, then He is under the same condemnation. He’s under the same condemnation. So He must stand before God as the first Adam stood. This Redeemer has got to stand before God even as the first Adam. See? The first Adam was created by the hand of God. The second Adam has got to come the same way. See? Alright.

Watch now. Now, in other words, the only difference is, this second Adam has got to come through woman to redeem man back. See? Alright. He’s got to be born a man, a baby. A baby. He’s got to be born a human being. He’s got to be born a human being, amen, and be raised right just like any other human being. He must walk on the face of this earth as a man, but this sacrifice has got to please God, please His Father perfectly. He’s got to be perfectly pleasing to His Father. Did He meet that requirement? Alright. Now watch now.

And now he must meet Satan in every temptation. This sacrifice, this human being that’s going to pay the price, he’s got to meet Satan in every temptation that the first man and woman met him in. Alright. But he must not yield to none of Satan’s devices. He cannot do that. Yet He’s got to be a human being. He’s got to be a man. This man must act as our substitute. This man must act as our substitute. Now the spiritual death itself, the death that was pronounced upon us through Adam, has got to be laid upon this sacrifice. It’s got to be laid upon it. Alright. And now it’s got to be a man. Alright. And then the judgment of Satan, see, the judgment of Satan, because he legally holds this over man. Now he’s going to bring his judgment upon him. See. Satan is going to bring his judgment, because God said, “If you do this, you’re going to die.” Alright. So now, what Satan wants to do is to destroy this man. See? And he don’t know that that’s in the hands of God for him to do it. He don’t know that. So it’s all in the plans of God. Watch now.

So he’s has got to, Satan has got to come upon this man and he’s got to meet the demands of justice. In order to do this, this man that serves as our substitute has got to go to hell. We were condemned to hell. That was the penalty. He’s got to go to hell. Did the Scripture say He went there? The Scripture says He went. Alright. Now He must remain there until every bit of the price is paid. Every bit of the price is paid, man is brought back. Then He must stay there and suffer until God can legally forgive man....That don’t sound right. No sir. No sir. Until God can acquit....until God can justify in His righteous mind that the price is paid for and not one of His elect sinned. Never did and never will. Amen. Alright.

So now that price has got to be paid. It’s got to come through the blood covenant. No other way. And this takes in all that was believers, all the way from Adam, all the way through. This blood covenant takes all of them in, see, that were believers in the sacrifice that was coming. So now this Redeemer comes to free the human race from the dominion of Satan. Also the penalty has been paid, Satan conquered, death and hell has been conquered. It’s been taken from the hands of Satan. The lordship has been destroyed now and so he no longer legally holds dominion over a man that believes in Jesus Christ. He no longer holds that demand over him. He cannot do it. See? Death is conquered then. Now you need to read Revelation 5 to see these things. Alright.

So now, angels can’t act as man’s redeemer. We know that. Can’t do it, because John looked, and there was nobody in Heaven, nobody in earth, nobody under the earth that was able to take the Book. It had to be the Redeemer. It had to be the Redeemer, and he had to be a man. Alright. So it was a lamb. An angel could not meet the demands of justice. He could not do it. Alright. So, this is exactly what you’ll find in “The Breach Between” if you’ll read it. Alright. You’ll see it. You’ll see it. Alright. I hope you see it here. But if you don’t, get that book “The Redemption”..., “The Redeemer,” “The Kinsman Redeemer” coming out through “The Breach Between”. The breach between the Church Ages and the Seven Seals. He’s got to get man ready and let him know how he got there and the price that was paid and everything. He does that in “The Breach Between”. He tells us all about it.

Alright. So now, only God is greater than Satan. Right? He’s the only one. So then, God and man have got to become one. They’ve got to become one. Just one individual. Not two. One. Man and God has got to become one. See? So now, what does this bring? Incarnation. Right? Incarnation. Alright. The incarnation is the only answer to man’s need for righteousness. And he cannot be redeemed without being righteous. See? Alright. So God has got to incarnate Himself in a human being and withstand every temptation, every trial of Satan and pay the price. Then the union of God and man will provide a Redeemer. That’s the only way. Bro. Branham said that. Alright.

So then, after the price is paid, man’s penalty is lifted. Satan is conquered. Deity has suffered and died for man. That’s right. God had created a man in the face of the fact that He knew that he’d fall. See, we believe that. That’s the reason Bro. Branham made it clear that nobody could pay that price. God had to do it Himself because He’s the One that set that law. And knowing it was going to happen. He’s the One that put down on the Book every name. He’s the One that made the statement that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ, the Son of God was elected for that specific purpose before the foundation of the world. Amen. He would come into Being. Alright.

And then, oh my, the Father God would come down in man and suffer all of these things and pay the penalty for His children, amen, and give them righteousness. And without the incarnation of God in the human being, there is no redemption. Absolutely no....If Jesus Christ wasn’t God in the flesh, then there is no redemption. Amen. Because the only thing that can withstand Satan is God. Amen. He could have not did it any other way. It had to be God incarnate. And that’s exactly what He was. “God’s beloved Son must come right out of the Father’s bosom,” Bro. Branham said. It’s got to come right from the bosom of God. He’s got to lay aside His glory and all of His majesty that He had enjoyed with the Father all the way through, in the creation and everything. Going back to John:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God and all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made”. And in the 14th Verse “And the Word became flesh...” The Word God had to become flesh, had to become flesh. Alright.

He must come to the earth, take it upon Himself the physical body of a human. Absolutely. He had to do it. He must walk as a Son. He must walk pleasing to God the Father, conquering Satan in His earth walk as a man. Satan...Adam failed. This second Adam has got to restore back everything that the first Adam lost. So then God must take man’s sin nature, see, all of his guilt. Huh? If He takes away the sin nature through this redemptive price that was paid, then I don’t know no sin. So I can’t be guilty of something I don’t know about. See? So what Satan does, he wears us out in our carnal minds, but in the spiritual man, we’re free. And we’ve got to let the spiritual man override that physical man to the extent that he has never done nothing wrong. Amen. See? Alright. You’ve got to do it. Alright.

So now. When He paid the penalty for man, then He made him righteous. And righteousness will become man. Absolutely. In other words, we wrap ourselves in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And it was through one man that judgment had come. One man. Death come through one man, right? Alright. So then, through one man, without sin, shall be able on the legal grounds to pay that penalty so the human race shall be declared free from guilt. Free from condemnation. Amen.

Don’t drop your head, and say, “Oh my, I’m this...” We’re certainly not worthy of nothing. But if you are a child of God... Listen to me. If you are a son or a daughter of God and you drop your head and you accept guilt, you accept condemnation, you are putting a spot on the Sacrifice. And you can’t do it because there ain’t no spot on It. See? Don’t you claim nothing that Satan has got for you. Amen. You are not his no more. You have been bought, paid for, brought off of the auction block, and can never go back on it again. The full price has been paid. If there was a down payment on it it would be different. But the full price was paid for your redemption. And if that’s true, then you were bought back under no condition of your own. Without works, without the law, the Kinsman Redeemer Himself paid the price. Alright.

Have you got your pencils and paper? You say, “You said a lot this morning, Bro. Holmes.” I’m going to give you Scripture for everything I said. Alright. And then I’m going to bring some quotes Wednesday night from the Prophet’s Message to back up what I said. Alright. Watch this close now. Every phase of this message that we brought this morning we’ve got Scripture for it. First of all, the righteousness of man has got to be established, right? Romans 1:18. Now I’m not going to read these. I’ve got them here, I’ve got them in part, not all of it. But just enough to let you know. Romans 3:9-10. This is why we had to be declared righteous, see. Romans 5:16-18. Romans 5:19. Now that shows us why we need righteousness. Alright. Now the next phase that we hit in this message this morning was that the judgment that rested upon man, the judgment that rested upon him. So we find that in Romans 5:16-18. John 16:8, John 16:11, John 3:36. Now the next one we said, that man was condemned to hell, right? Alright. So then, we’ve got to prove that there’s some Scripture for that. Alright. So now in Psalms 9:17, Revelation 20, Verses 13-15 teaches of the lake of fire. Second Peter 2:4, cast into outer darkness, all of these things committed into that pit. Alright, now we also covered the fact that there was no way for man to redeem himself. Right? So now here’s the Scripture. Ephesians 2:12, Isaiah 59:15-16, Romans 3:20, and First John 3:10. John 8:34, Ephesians 2:2-3, Colossians 1:13, Hebrews 2:14-15. Quite a bunch of Scriptures to prove that we couldn’t redeem ourselves. Alright.

Now notice again here that Christ, the incarnate One was capable, and did do the job. Alright? In His earthly walk, He proved to be that second Adam that could restore back man where he had fallen from. John 8:29, Second Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:4-6, Romans 4:25. Of course He’s proven to be the conqueror of Satan. Colossians 2:15, Hebrews 2:14-15, Philippians 2:9-10, and Revelation 1:18. And don’t forget to read Revelation Chapter 5. Amen.

Do you love Him? Do you appreciate Him? Do you see the plan? Do you see why we couldn’t do it? Only God could do it? Amen. I appreciate you this morning. We didn’t go a long ways over, and of course I didn’t do a lot of preaching this morning. I stuck right to the text, and I did this for the sake of the message that’s going to be printed. So I want the people to understand that this is Scriptural, what we’re teaching. It is absolutely Scriptural, and we can prove it by the Scripture and the Message. It’s got to coincide.

Come on, sister. Amen. Don’t you love Him? Don’t you appreciate a Saviour? You know, God is your Saviour. That’s right. Don’t you appreciate a God that would become man and pay the price? I mean, we couldn’t get out no other way. There was no other way out. We were lost. We were going to hell. I’ll tell you right now I appreciate it. Now I’m not going to let Satan put guilt upon me. Because when he does, I’m going to put it back on his own head. And I’m going to tell him that my Redeemer that bought me, that paid the price for me, He paid for all of my guilt. You don’t condemn me, Satan. Amen. Let us stand. “Born Again, Free From Sin.”

Congregation sings “Born Again”. Bro. Kenan dismisses in comments and prayer.