The Believer's Position In Christ

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

I am sorry we're late. I said last night that 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 given 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 may some want to 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 at two-thirty and the people like it just as well, we can have it two-thirty, I think."--Ed.] Well, that would be probably all right, in the afternoon then, in the 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.

2 Now, I was thinking when I come over here... You know how preacher do, when you get somewhere, and you'll 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 setting back there, and I was going speak on "The Unfailing Promises of God." And I was setting back there, and I kept thinking, "Well, that'd 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.

3 Say, Brother Joseph was making a mention a few moments ago, of 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... Way I buy them at forty percent off. And Mr. Wood and Mr. Beeler setting right down here, my agents for those things, and they will take care of them, have a stand, or something Monday. If any one would like to have one of the pictures, why, you can just have one, many, 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--your number. They... We call them by number; we give out new cards every day, because new people comes in. And if we 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.

4 And so that's the best way we can find, that 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 a while, 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--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 give them to the people, just a little bit before the service starts... And we can call them, whatever the Lord puts upon our heart to call from.

5 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 and 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, as more--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.

6 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, they 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 that you got it vice versa. You've got to fit in God's program. That... We find that that's true.

Now, in the... Moses, when he was here knowing that God had made a promise that He was going to deliver the children of Israel. Why, 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 it... The children of Israel did not understand.

7 Then Moses lost all the hopes and all the--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--He revealed His plans 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.

8 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 at the 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 and 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--the time limit of God.

9 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. It'd be... Nothing happen. If it happened to sprout the cold weather would kill a germ. See? It wouldn't work. We got to have the season for it.

10 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.

11 Now, we as--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 been 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.

12 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 world wide 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.

13 Now, if we can find our position 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--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 up side 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 was ready to push into the promised land.

14 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, and then after while the Holy Ghost came down to Moses, a Pillar of Fire formed over them, and they--and 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 is 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 was critics and opposition and demons and scientists trying to disprove it, and throwed it into every trial that could be tried.

15 I'm... 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 said go. That's right. He will take care of the opposition.

16 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're going, 'cause I'm timing myself by this watch here.

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

An apostle... A 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.

17 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 the 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 see how upside 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.

18 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 setting there, and I said, "There can't be nothing to that, that woman out there on the floor. She's only just making a--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.

19 Some of them said, "What did you think of the meeting?"

I said, "It was fine." But in my heart I--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 say 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. His... 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. The... Write what the word "sanctify" mean--means "the cleaned and set aside for service."

20 The Old testament, it's a compound word, 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:

21 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 address 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 who is addressing it to the believer in Christ...

22 Last evening I was speaking of the--the Blood, how that God came into the womb of the virgin, and the Creator making Himself a Blood cell. And from cell begin to press beyond cell, and through that breaking of the Blood cell, sprayed, broke the case between a... ripped the veil rather, into they cased him off... And now can bring the believer into fellowship with him, only through the Blood.

They had 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.

23 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 altogether, every tribe, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, Publicans, altogether 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 the sweet smelling savour into His nostrils as it left the place, all under the blood had a right to worship.

24 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 set with their wings pitched to one another, and settled: God coming to His temple to be worshiped from that temple, where the blood outside made an atonement.

Then when Christ came on the earth... When He was baptized in Jordan, as the 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.

25 God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. That was His temple. Then that body for sin, our sins, was tore apart, its 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 comes through the Blood into the Body of Jesus Christ worshipped God through the shed Blood of Jesus Christ. In line 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?

26 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 say? Where is life? In the Blood, coming through the--the Blood of Christ.

27 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 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're seated in Christ.

28 Notice, this now, the next verse. First, 'fore 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 suppose 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, and you're Baptist, you're not my brother. Or, if you're Pentecostal, you're not my brother." We are all been made partake of this one fellowship, after we've come through the Blood. Then we set together in what kind of places? Heavenly places. How? In Christ Jesus, heavenly places, heavenly places.

29 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 Blood stream into His own fellowship with His beloved Son Christ Jesus.

30 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 His 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.

31 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 borned again, leaving all the outside off and brought to 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?

In now that to 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," and he's setting right there said, "I don't get these things." Certainly not. He's pretending to come through the Blood.

32 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 someday...

Now, we will hurry right quick.

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

He's given his 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.)

33 "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 Ephesians 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 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.

34 According as He has... as He... (God)... has chosen us... (Not my desire, not your desire, 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.

35 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 get... make man in our Own image (spirit man) and give them dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the cattle's and so forth." Genesis 1, God saying that, "Let Us make man."...

36 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 it now, next verse.

Having predestinated... (or elected) us unto the adoption of children by Christ Jesus to Himself, according to--to the good pleasure of His will,...

37 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'll give him Everlasting Life, no wise turn him out and will raise him up at the last day." You see what it is?

38 Now, look. He has chosen us for this purpose, having predestinated or foreknowledge, He fore-understood what it would be from the beginning. 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, then we'll have to close.

39 In the Old Testament when a man... Are you enjoying the reading of the Word? I just love It, just bear a few more 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 for even to the King James translation, or version. You find Saint--Saint John 14 said, "In My Fathers house is many mansions." That sounds strange: in a house being a mansions. But what it is, in the time of the--of the King James version, as a 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 the--all of his subjects was his... his... over his... he was domain... 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--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 they was a--whatever he was, the tribe of Joseph, or Ephraim, or whatever it was... He had his own 'lotted grounds that belonged to him.

40 The beautiful story of--of Ruth when 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, 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 he... This boy inherited what his father had. His children was born. Now, when that boy was born into this little of... We call a 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.

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

But now, when this child was born he became a son, the very moment he was born in the family. 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 a 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--I'm not disagreeing, my dear brother. But here take it as from one who loves you.

42 There's where Pentecost failed to see this. See? If the Holy Spirit, maybe, not willing to give it then. Look, when you were borned 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.

43 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--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 the farm, or sell it off, and drink it up, and run around.

44 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, 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 borned into. Any minister knows that's the placing of a son. He had to be adopted into the family that he was borned into. Could you imagine that? But that's the Old Testament teaching; it's... Paul's referring to it here in Ephesians, the church of Ephesus.

45 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, 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 winds of doctrine, be stabled, always abounding in the works of the Lord, for so much as you know your works is not in vain." Quickly, wish we could stay on that awhile.

46 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 taken 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.

47 Let's 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've 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 begin, to my humble opinion, to adopting His son, positionally calling him out to one side, giving him a certain ministry, anointing them for that purpose, and sending them out. Watch what happens when He does.

48 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 over-shadowed 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.

49 And they seen Moses and Elijah appear and so forth. Then they show Him and they seen Jesus only. And when He 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 unto 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. It's subject to the Name of Jesus Christ. For He was adopted by God the Father.

50 Now, into His church, you that's positionally is seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, be humble, brethren. Someday the Holy Spirit will speak to you, call you out to one side somewhere in a little cabin on 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 the 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.

51 O God, our Father. We are grateful to Thee this afternoon for Jesus, how that You took Him up there on Mount Transfiguration and 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 Him and follow Him in everything that we do or say. Send Him into the building just now, Lord, put 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.

52 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 the 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.

53 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 give 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.