Relationship Series, #6
Like the Token, The Marriage
Covenant Must be Applied
Last night we
examined three principles which are essential to ensuring a strong and lasting
relationship. We examined the marriage contract and as any contract there must
be a meting of the minds if that contract is to be valid. It was God Himself who established the
institution of marriage, and He said, Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh. GENESIS
2:24
Jesus told us
the same thing, only He amplified this when He said, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one
flesh. MATTHEW 19:3 Jesus perfectly stated, “they
are no longer two but one”. In Amos
3:3 we read, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
Therefore, it
is essential that the two who wish to walk together must first be in agreement.
And that only makes sense. If I want to walk in this direction, and you want to
walk in that direction, then we would not be in agreement. Therefore, we must
first decide what direction would be best for us to walk, and once we have
agreed to this then we may begin walking together.
We talked
about the essentiality of the contract as a legal binding contract that is life
long. But it can only be entered if both parties have a meeting of the minds,
and in order for any contract to be effective, that contract must spell out the
main agreement or meeting of the minds. And the main purpose of the marriage
covenant or contract is to lay out the main points in this union or two
people. Therefore, the covenant
establishes an agreement for the marriage. It brings a meeting of the minds between
tow that establishes a oneness in purpose, direction and plan for the marriage.
PROVERBS 24:3 ¶ Through wisdom
is a home builded; and by understanding
it is established: 4 And by knowledge
shall the rooms be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.
Last night we
began to examine these 3 principles needed in order to build and maintain a
lasting and prosperous marriage. #1) Wisdom… #2) Understanding & #3) Knowledge…
Notice the
results of a marriage when it is built, established, and filled according to
God’s plan.
Let’s first
begin our examination of the marriage tools, by looking at this first part of
Solomon’s advise. And let’s face it, if
any one knew anything about marriage, this man should because had 500 wives.
Therefore, let’s examine this first point…¶ Through
wisdom is an home builded….
#1) WISDOM Wisdom is the
first principle we shall look at that is needed to build a marriage. And how do
we get wisdom? PSALMS 111:10 The
fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all
they that do [his commandments]: And
this fear means, 1b) to be awestruck
& terrified (of God), in such a manner that you respect and reverence Him.
PSALMS 127:1
¶ Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except
the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain. Therefore, God
must be the builder of your marriage or it will not last.
PROVERBS 4:7
Wisdom [is] the principal thing; (in
other words, it is the first thing) [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy
getting get understanding.
PROVERBS 16:16 ¶
How much better [is it] to get wisdom than gold! and to get
understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
Now this is where
many marriages go south. The man does what he can to provide for the home, but
the wife doesn’t think it’s enough. And she begins to pressure the man for more
things, trying to keep up with the Joneses. He
becomes overwhelmed by the pressures of this life and he looses it. Brother Vayle told
me years ago that brother Branham was more worried about the people being
caught up in the cares of this life than any other thing. Because the cares of
this life is what brings more good people to fall away than any other reason.
¶ How much better [is it] to get wisdom than gold! and to
get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
Blessed is the
man whose wife seeks after eternal reward rather than material rewards, for he
has a wife that has found wisdom, and who fears the Lord. A marriage that
begins with wisdom, begins with a recognition that God is the head of that
home, and every rule for establishing that home must come forth from God’s own
Word.
The second principle we examined that is
essential in the marriage contract is #2) Understanding. Now understanding means to perceive or
comprehend. Understanding means
responding to life’s circumstances with insight and a perspective that looks at
life through God’s filter, His Word. Understanding your mate through God’s
perspective results in an acceptance of his or her differences and beginning to
learn how God made that person to complement you. Understanding produces
compassion for your partner. It will give you insight to lead wisely or follow
prudently. But let me say this. In order
for you to enter into this understanding, you must have love. For love is what
makes this understanding work and that brings comfort.
Colossians
2:2 2
That their
hearts might be comforted, being knit
together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the
Father, and of Christ;
Jehovah Jireh 59-0417
When I go overseas... I got a lovely wife. And I tell her now, "Good
bye, sweetheart, you pray for me now." She prays for me. When I'm
overseas, and I'm gone for months, and I pick up a letter, she'll say,
"Dear Billy, I am setting here tonight with the children, thinking much of
you..." Now, I see what she's writing on the paper, but you see, I love her so much till I--I can read between
the lines. I know what she's talking about. See? And that's the way it is with
God. You can't set down and read it in a cold formal heart. You've got to be in
love with the Author, and then you can read between the lines. Then you--you
have an understanding of the Scriptures.
Wisdom gives you focus, while
understanding brings you application, and knowledge brings about a
reckoning. Let me rephrase that. Wisdom
brings illumination, Understanding application, and knowledge brings
identification. Wisdom So we see, God
placed you and your spouse together to balance each other out. Understanding builds oneness by
“establishing” the relationship on a foundation of common insight. And this common
insight builds compassion for one another.
Now, this
morning I would like to continue with examining the third of these three
principles, namely knowledge. Here I believe that knowledge is very important
if we are to understand our partner. The worst thing we can gave is to see our
partner falling apart and not know what to do. But this is where knowledge
comes in. God has given us the Spirit of Wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of Him that we might Know Him better. Solomon tells us that we need this
wisdom, understanding and knowledge if we are to build and maintain our home,
our family.
Now, I believe
that in this third principle, knowledge lies all our answer for healthy change
in our marriage. But this knowledge must
be shared in order for it to work. Brother Branham taught us how to create the
right atmosphere in our homes, but if we do not use that knowledge, it will
never work for us. We have got to take a hold of these things God has given to
us and begin to use them, or they will not be effective in our lives. To know
and not to do is no good. To know and to do is what God had in mind when He
gave us His Word and all the fabulous tools to work with in our marriage.
He said to
have the Token is not good enough. We’ve got to apply it. He said the evening
time is the time to apply the token. And he said, it must be applied.
The Token
63-0901M the Token must be
applied. Without it, you're going to perish; you must perish. That is the only
thing. Oh, don't come together, say, "I believe it." Get beneath it.
Get into it. How to do it? By one Spirit we're baptized into the Body of Jesus
Christ. Everybody believe with all your heart. See? He was not responsible for
any out from beneath it.
The Token
63-1128E If
the token, or the blood, in the time of Egypt's coming out, their exodus, if the
token was so the supreme sign... Now if... The token was not no good unless the
token was displayed. The token had to be displayed, not a sympathizer with the
token; but the token must be applied. And no matter how much anyone could prove
that He was a Jew, and a covenant Jew by circumcision, that didn't do anything
about it at all. The... It took the token, not the covenant. He never said,
"When I see the covenant sign," but, "When I see the
token." So today you might be a professed Christian; you might be a
covenant--with covenant with Christ; but unless that Token is displayed in this
late hour that we're coming to now, there is no way for Him to pass over. The
Token must be displayed. It must be on.
Now, how then
do we apply these three principles. Well, the first principle is wisdom, and we
know that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” But people don’t fear God any more. “Fools
will walk with hobnailed shoes where angels fear to trod.” But if
people really feared God the women would fear their husbands, but they don’t.
And yet the Bible commands them to reverence their husband, yet they won’t. The
modern spirit tells them they don’t have to. The modern spirit tells them they
can do anything they want to, and they can. But they will end in hell trying.
One word off
is Satan’s Kingdom, and to throw out the scriptural principles in your marriage
you are asking for death, spiritual first and then the second death which is
eternal separation from God. But you can’t tell the women in this country
anything, they think they know better. What would they do with a vindicated
Prophet who said, TEACHING ON MOSES 56-0513 I predicted that women would keep demoralizing and the nation would
keep falling, and they'd keep hanging to mother, or like mother like that, till
they become, a woman become an idol. And after while, that America would be
ruled by a woman. Mark it and see if it's not right. A woman will take the
place of a President or something, of great, some high power in America.
When... I say this with respect, ladies. When a woman gets out of the kitchen,
she's out of her place. That's right. That's where she belongs. Outside of
that, she has no place. And now, I'm not hard on them, but I just tell what's
the Truth and what the Bible. Used to be the man was the head of the house, but
that was in Bible days. He isn't no more. He's the puppet, or he's the--or the
babysetter or something. And now... No, the want to take care of a dog,
practice birth control, and pack a little old dog around in their arms all the
time, so you can run around all night.
24 015 I'm--I'm not talking about mother. God bless
them. That's what holds the nation together now halfway, is a real, good,
sacred, God-saved mother. That's right. But the shame of how degraded that our
woman is. I got a piece out of the paper. I cut after this little last World
War, number two, that said, "Where has the morals of the American women
gone, that after six months overseas, four out of five soldiers was divorced
from their wives, and they'd married some other man?" And couldn't even
wait for them to come back from overseas, soldiers over there dying on the
battlefield. That person that does that is not worthy to be called mother, that
sacred name. No, it isn't. So I've always been called "woman-hater,"
but I'm not. I think a woman's a wonderful thing, and a mother, especially. But
they should be their places and not take the place of man, and not take the
place of God.
Wisdom brings
you into focus, but you will never have Wisdom and therefore you will never
have the right focus until you fear God first. Mark of the Beast 56-0715 When
a woman gets out of the kitchen she's out of her place. Whether she's preaching
the Gospel or whatever she's doing, she's out of her place. Man was not made
for woman, but woman was made for man. Man is not a byproduct of a woman, but
the woman is a byproduct of the man. I know that scorches, but it's Gospel pill
that'll open up your spiritual digesting tract, and let the Holy Ghost sweep
through and make you a different person, if you'll believe it. Amen.
HE WAS TO PASS THIS WAY
57-0727 A woman's place is at home with her children.
And when she... Now if her husband's sick and she has to work, that's
different. But woman's place is at home in the kitchen, and when she leaves
that she's out of her place. Exactly right.
Now, that is
the Word of God, and remember it’s got to be applied. It don’t do any good to
say you believe it if you don’t apply it. But I’ll tell you why women go to
work. It’s to have more things. Brother Branham said if there is an outstanding
bill or something, or if you are a nurse, he said that is a sort of ministry,
but just to work to have more things? That is not scriptural. And I’ll tell you what it does to the women.
They get hardened. I’ve seen good women go out into a work environment where
the people just talk dirty and cuss and everything else and what happens. You
get a good woman out there amongst that rot and she’ll start talking just like
them. Don’t think you can go into
Satan’s territory and come out unspoiled. You can’t!
That girl just
stopped long enough to listen to the music and the next thing she found herself
in the arms of a man and brother Branham had to cast out that Devil. And what
happened? The things looked like a big hairy bat that came out of her, so don’t
you get on the devils territory. You have to work, then you better be prayed up
before you go.
88-2 EPHESIAN CHURCH AGE CAB Revelation
2:4, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left
thy first love." To understand this you must realize that the Spirit is
not speaking to the original saints of Ephesus alone. This message is to the
entire age which lasted about 120 years. Its message, then, is to all the
generations in that span. Now history keeps repeating itself. In the
generations of Israel we see revival in one generation, only to see the fires
fading in the next. In the third generation, embers may be glowing slightly,
but in the fourth there may be no vestige whatsoever of that original flame.
Then God lights the fire again, and the same process is repeated. It is simply
the manifestation of the truth that God has no grandchildren. Salvation is not
passed on by natural birth any more than is there any truth to apostolic
succession. It isn't in the Word. You start out with truly born-again
believers, and when the next generation comes along they are no longer just
plain Christians, but they have taken a denominational name and are now
Baptists, Methodists, etc. That is exactly what they are, too. They are not
Christians. You have to be born of the will of God, not the will of man, to be
saved. But these folks are all coming together now by the will of man. I don't
say that some of them aren't right with God. Not for a minute do I say that,
but the original fire has died down. They are not the same any more.
The fervent desire to please God, the passion to know His
Word, the cry for reaching out in the Spirit, all begins to fade and instead of
that church being on fire with the fire of God it has cooled off and become a
bit formal. That is what was happening back there to the Ephesians. They were
getting a bit formal. The abandonment to God was dying out and the people
weren't too careful about what God thought of them as they began to be careful
about what the world thought of them. That second generation coming on was just
like Israel. They demanded a king to be like the other nations. When they did
that, they rejected God. But they did it anyway. That is the history of the
church. When it thinks more of conforming to the world instead of conforming to
God, it isn't long until you see them stop doing things they used to do, and
start doing things they wouldn't do initially. They change their manner of
dress, their attitudes and their behaviour. They get lax. That is what
"Ephesus" means: relaxed--drifting.
That cycle of revival and death has never failed. All you
have to do is recall this last move of God in the Spirit when men and women
dressed like Christians, went to church, prayed all night, took to street
corners and weren't ashamed of the manifestations of the Spirit. They left
their old dead churches and worshipped in homes or old store buildings. They
had reality. But it wasn't too long a time until they began to get enough money
to build fine new churches. They put in a choir instead of singing unto God for
themselves. They put gowns on the choir. They organized a movement and ran it
by man. They soon began to read books that weren't fit to read. They let down
the bars and goats came in and took over. The cry of joy was gone. The freedom
of the Spirit was gone. Oh, they kept on with a form; but the fire had died
down and the blackness of ashes is about all that is left.
A few moments ago I mentioned that John understood what it
was to love God. That great apostle of love would certainly see it when the
church began to lose that first love of God. In I John 5:3, he says, "For
this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (His Word)." One
little deviation from that Word was a step away from Christ. People say they
love God, they go to church, they even shout and rejoice and sing and have a
great emotional time. But when it is all over, watch and see if they are in
that WORD, walking in it, living in it. If they go through all the other and
then don't walk in that Word, they can say they love God but their lives tell
another story. I wonder if John didn't see a lot of that before he died; people
saying they loved God but not obeying His Word. Oh, Ephesian Church, something
is happening to you. Someone is trying to either add to that Word or take from
it. But they are doing it so subtly that you can't see it. They haven't made a
move so big you can see it out there in the open. It is under cover, and they
are bringing it by way of reason and human understanding and it will take over
unless you refuse it. Go back to Pentecost before it is too late! But as usual
people don't heed God's warnin….
The First Seal
63-0318 130-1 {87}
044 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work:... (deceivers, you see,
deceiving the people off into something. See?)... only he... (God)... that...
letteth will let, until he... (the Church--Christ, the Bride)... be taken out
of the way. And then shall the Wicked one be revealed... (at the breaking of
the Seal, at his time. Paul said, "Not in my time, but in the time when
he'll be revealed. See?)... whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth... (We're going to get to that after while.)... the spirit of his
mouth... (Watch what that is.)... and shall destroy with the brightness of his
coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan... (him, him, a
man)... whose working is after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders. (See?) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness...
(deceiving people by unrighteousness)... in them that perish;... (not this
Bride, in them that's looking for such a thing)... because they received not
the love of the truth... (And Christ is the Truth, and Christ is the Word, but
they'd rather have a creed.),... that they might be saved. And for this cause
God has sent them strong delusion, that they should believe a--a lie:... (It
should be translated there, as I looked in the Lexicon, "the lie,"
not "a lie"; "the lie," same one he told Eve.) That they...
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
131-1 {93}
045 What a statement. My. After
the Bride is taken away, then this man of sin will reveal himself. She, the
true Bride of Christ has been elected out of every church age. Now, the other
day I made a statement: The Bride could go home and you'd never know nothing
about it. That's true. Somebody said, "Well, Brother Branham, that would
be a mighty small group." Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah
(Now, you talk to Him about it. See?) wherein eight souls were saved by water,
so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man."
131-3 {97}
046 If there was eight hundred
went in the rapture tonight, you'd never hear a word about it tomorrow, or the
next day, or no other time. They'd be gone and you'd know nothing about it.
See? It'd just be the same thing. What
am I trying to say? I'm not trying to scare you, worry you. I'm--I want you to
be on your toes. Be ready, watching, every minute. Quit your nonsense. Just get
down to business with God, 'cause it's later than you think.