Ewald Frank

30. 12. 1986, 10:00 a.m., Krefeld, Germany
broadcasted on 24. 10. 2021

Subject:
Correct classification of the so-called contradictions, Nr. 2

I also would like to welcome all of you in the precious name of the Lord. And I wish all God's blessings from the bottom of my heart. You all know, if one speaks much, then the voice wears a bit off, but in the heart, we are and remain fresh. 

I am especially grateful for last night. I could fully agree with what Brother Russ said.  Every time it gets more powerful, every time we understand more of what God has done; the significance, meaning and purpose of what really happened. In the days of Jesus, it was the prophetic ministry caused the division, on that the spirits separated.

Some said: “Nobody can do these works unless God is with him” [Jn 3:2] and the others suspected him to be Beelzebub and that He is of the devil [Lk 11:15]. Some accepted, the others rejected, some were blessed, the others went out empty handed [Lk 1:53]. It was the same in this generation. Signs and wonders alone were not everything, but this special gift of discernment — on that the Spirit separated. Because with signs and wonders many, at least a few hundred, could be seen and heard. But the gift that Brother Branham had, as the direct sign of the Messiah, no one had and no one will have, it cannot be imitated. This was the last sign that was given to the Church. 

I have also said here before how the Angel of the Lord told brother Branham the corresponding scriptures. He told him about John 1, John 4, [Jn 1:48, 4:29] he made reference to the ministry of Jesus at that time and explained to him that the Lord had only gone to the Jews and then to the Samaritans but not to the gentiles [Mt 15:24, 10:5-6, Acts 8:25].

But that now is the time of the nations and that it comes to its end, and that the same ministry and the same gift is now given to the Church as the last sign so that the decision can be made. Who recognised it?

So it's not just about us focusing here on a man with a ministry. It's about us putting into the focus Jesus Christ, our Lord, who used a man, and that we know – God has done it. Did you see how helpless Brother Branham was? He said: “I can't do nothing on my own.” But the Lord has done it and for this we are grateful. 

But as already said, who recognised it? To whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? [Isa 53:1] I heard highly respected preachers at that time already, how they made their judgement concerning Brother Branham. It really pricked one's heart. But it repeats itself, as it did then, so it has to be now. When the Lord could tell the people all things, it was precious for those who were spoken to. The others were suspicious. When he said to the woman at the well how it is with her. She was overwhelmed and ran into the city saying, “Come and see whom I have found. Is this not the Messiah?” [Jn 4:19, 28-29] She evangelised. This is also permitted to the sisters. Every sister can give testimony of what she has experienced with the Lord. If she does not do it, then perhaps she has not experienced anything with the Lord. But if a sister takes the Bible in her hand and then wants to teach, then she has completely and utterly lost her position [1Tm 2:12]. No, everything always in the right context and at the right place.

When the Saviour at that time said to the two disciples, “Go into the city, ye shall meet a man there bearing a pitcher of water; say to him, in thy house the Lord wants to have the passover.” [Lk 22:10-11]

He could say to the others, “Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them.” [Mt 21:2-3] and thus the scripture was fulfilled. He could say to a Peter, “Cast out the net, the first fish you catch, it has money in its mouth. Take it and pay the tax for you and for me.” [Mt 17:27] The Lord had this prophetic ministry, and the same has repeated itself now. 

In the Old Testament it happened when the Lord came to Abraham with two angels, according to Genesis 18, and the Lord said to Abraham what Sarah was thinking in her heart and said, “Why did Sarah laugh?” [Gen 18] And she was in the tent, He did not even see her at all, and yet He revealed the thoughts of the heart. The Lord Jesus said, “And as it was in those days … thus shall it be in the days of the Son of man.” [Lk 17:26] Do you notice the term here? Not “in the days of the Son of God”, not “in the days of the Son of David”, but “so it will be in the days of the Son of Man” — prophetic – Son of Man - prophet, Son of God - Redeemer, Son of David - King, everything in an order.

I also mentioned this before, when John was on the Isle of Patmos, he saw one walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks [Rev 1:12-13]. How did he see him? As the Son of Man! We must pay attention to that. There too, each term has its place in the context in which it was given.

Today we shall continue with some comparisons. I hope that the Word although I speak slowly, has a quick impact. Are you dependent on how the preacher emphasises it here in the front? Most certainly not, for I want to tell you this too: Our Lord read from the prophet Isaiah and then sat down. He did not demonstrate any power. He sat down and precious Words came out from his mouth. And the people were astonished and said, “He teaches with divine authority. Who is this man?”

And so let us give the Word the chance to work on us and to accomplish for what it was sent for. I believe it becomes always great for us, that we have the privilege of living at the end of the time of grace. The privilege not to puzzle and not to interpret, but to see the clear revelation of God and of the Word, indeed, to see the whole counsel of God by revelation. After all, the Lord does not speak to us in parables, not in riddles. He speaks freely, openly with us all.

That what was hidden before is now revealed.

We have also seen that the connections in the Scriptures are becoming clearer and clearer, we see the connections from scripture to scripture, from the Old to the New Testament and from the New to the Old, and we see a heavenly harmony there. We are grateful to God for that too.

I think we can rightfully say, “Over the years God has helped us and led us from clarity to clarity.” And this He will continue to do. It is also our longing at this place that you who have not spared effort and have incurred expense, that spiritually you get your money's worth, that God's Word becomes precious to you, that no one would have to say, “Maybe I could have saved myself the trip.” But that everyone could say: “It was good to be here”. That all would have rejoiced about the Word.

Especially when I think of our beloved brothers and sisters from Finland who made such a long journey, they will excuse me when I make the remark that a return flight from Düsseldorf to New York costs less than a return flight from Helsinki. There are also various things in the flight business, and if one knows how much such journeys cost and that people save money for the whole year and then come to hear God's Word, then one most certainly knows what kind of longing they have for the Word of the Lord. May God bless you, may God be with you. Although we don't always say it, but we bear it in our hearts, just believe us, we don't have closed eyes and ears, no, we see, and we hear. But God sees even more, God sees the longing, and God will satisfy it. Praise be to his wonderful and holy name. 

With God's help, let us continue with the Word observation. We read from the Gospel of Matthew, the 23rd chapter, verse 9, a Word very familiar to us all. Here it is written: 

“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.”

You'll see just now where this leads to, maybe you know it already now. We will make comparisons to show you that in every area spiritual understanding is necessary. On one hand, we are told not to call anyone father on earth, for one is our father and he is in heaven. And on the other hand, Paul said: 

“For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” [1Cor 4:15]

So how can one connect the things with one another? How can you join them? Let us read on. Romans, chapter 4, verse 11 and 12, here it is written of Abraham. We all know the passage: 

“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”

Jesus says, “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Here Paul writes to the Romans, in these short verses twice the term “father”, referring to Abraham, father of the circumcised, father of the uncircumcised. And then he sums it up and writes, as we read it at the end of the 12th verse: “but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.” So we see that there are differences. And we read further before we come to the climax. Romans chapter 4, so the same chapter, here we read verse 16 and 17: 

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”

To emphasise this verse also, Abraham believed God, he believed God in every way, and he did not honour God only by faith with the lips, but by faith and obedience.

When he was to sacrifice Isaac, he knew that he would come back with him. He believed that God would raise him from the dead. After three days' journey, he said to the servants: 

“Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” [Gen 22:4-5]

And he knew precisely that he had to offer him as a sacrifice. And yet he believed in his heart that God would raise him from the dead.

We read on, namely in the prophet Isaiah, chapter 63. Here the prophet made quite a tremendous statement in the Old Testament. You know that the prophet Isaiah was one of the most pardoned ones concerning the counsel of God, concerning the plan of salvation.

Isaiah 63, verse 16: 

“Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O, LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.”

Do you see? Here it is about faith, about confidence, about knowledge. The Lord is our Redeemer. “Thou art our Father, Lord. Thou art our Redeemer. Jacob knows nothing about us.” We read further from James, the 2nd chapter, verse 21: 

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?”

Again the term, “our father Abraham.” But we shall no man call father on earth, let alone say “our father”.

I believe God shows it to us, God reveals it to us what it is all about. It is a big difference whether somebody by God is called father. For my sake: “I write to you, fathers…” [1J 2:13] That’s how John writes in one of his letters. It is a difference whether it has a spiritual and divine justification, or whether a man acquires of himself the term of the heavenly Father and is called by all the world as “Holy Majesty” and “Holy reverence” and “Holy Father” and all kind of things he lets himself be addressed. This is a big difference. Or whether the people of Israel can rightly say: “After all, Abraham is our father. He believed God.” This is a big difference.

We read even further, from 1 Corinthians the 4th chapter, 14 to 16: 

“I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”

Do you see how wonderful the Spirit of God gives the people of God the teaching, the discernment, the placing by His grace? We notice very clearly when a Paul says: 

“Through Christ I have become your spiritual father in the Gospel”, then this has its justification. But if somebody, as I already said, allows himself to be addressed by all the world as “Holy Father”, then this is blasphemy that goes beyond all measure.

There is only one Holy Father, and He is in heaven. There is no second. And if he presumes it, then we have the discernment and know how to classify him, namely as the one who takes himself the right to exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped [2Ths 2:3-4]. God allows us to see the things namely as they are.

Let us continue. We go back to Matthew 23, because there are other terms there that have not been highlighted so far. Matthew 23, verse 10 says: 

“Neither be ye called masters (teachers, german translation)…”, listen carefully, “Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master (Teacher), even Christ. ”

Yes, now it gets very interesting. “Neither be ye called masters (teachers): for one is your Master (Teacher), even Christ.” We emphasised these days that, they will all be taught by God [Jn 6:45].

But I read on, and namely from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and then some can say Amen, if they have understood it, only if we have understood it. By the way, I just like the Amen, it means “So be it, so it is.” And if it is so, we can say Amen. 

But here I also think, perhaps for acceleration, after all, we have a Bible class in the presence of God, and God sometimes has a sense of humour. There was a preacher, a Pentecostal preacher, in a Baptist church and the preacher wasn't present, but the elders were there. And to all of them, it was too much. And they sat in the front and said: “Amen!” and this preacher felt vindicated and then he really got going and they wanted him to stop. And he preached, right, and (they said) “Amen!”. And then he started again. And that went on and on. And then one and the other, “Amen! Amen!”, and then he started again and he thought, this goes on and on. It is an encouragement, of course, it can be like that. The Amen must also be understood correctly. 

Praise to the Lord. 

1st Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 28: 

“And God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers…”

How shall we bring this now on a common denominator? “Ye shall call no man teacher, for one is your Teacher and this is Christ.” And here “God has set in the Church apostles, prophets, teachers…” and all these ministries.

We read on, Acts chapter 13 verse 1: 

“Now there were in the Church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers…” 

And then they are listed by their names. Also here, we see what it is all about. There is a difference whether somebody let himself be paid homage with a title or whether he was set by God and has to fulfil a divine task in the Church. This is a big difference.

Paul says the following about himself, in 1 Timothy in the 2nd chapter, in the 7th verse. Here it is written, do you all have it? 

“Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity…”

Also here, we could read a large number of scriptures, be it Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 11 and many other places. The difference is therein that God sets and those whom God appoints will never allow themselves to be addressed by a title that belongs to their call. And I'll tell you why. They are not allowed to. They can't. A person who for instance, knows the English language, he will find out the following: Be it in England, be it in America, be it in Australia, New Zealand, wherever, everything what was or is British, there the pastor is not mister so-and-so or mister so-and-so, there's always just “the Pastor”. Pastor, Pastor, Pastor, only Pastor. Yes, everything is just titles. The word pastor means shepherd. And whether the pastor is really a shepherd, that is still the big question. If he was set by God, then he will never let himself be addressed with such a title. Do you believe that? One hundred percent. And this is the big difference.

Imagine if somebody had come to Paul and said, “Oh, dear apostle, oh, dear apostle,” he would have told him, “I love you, there's the door.”

No, a man of God will give all the glory to the Lord and doesn’t take any glory to himself, this is not possible.

On the contrary, we have to bear the reproach of Christ. I read two or three more scriptures on this, one from the prophet Isaiah, the one in 30, verse 19 and 20. Here is written the following: 

“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers.”

Strange. We shall not let ourselves be called teachers. And then it is not only spoken of teachers, but of “thine teachers”, that is, teachers set by God, who teach the Word of God in truth, as then it was said to our Lord at that time, “We know that thou teachest the way of God in truth.” [Mk 12:13-14] And what did our Lord say? “He who wants to do the will of God will find out whether this teaching is from God.” [J 7:17] So who will find out whether a teaching is of God? If he is willing to do the will of God? If the person concerned is not prepared to do the will of God, then it remains hidden from him, the teaching remains foolishness to him! He himself was not yet placed and therefore he himself cannot place what pertains to the kingdom of God. He who wants to do the will of God will find out, will understand whether a teaching comes from God. If we only come to a meeting to compare whether what is preached agrees with what we already know, then we will certainly find some things that are new to us, but new does not mean false. New just means that we didn’t see it before. And there is a lot of things which we did not see before, but which are now revealed to us by the Spirit.

Very briefly, the term “Master”. It belongs to the term teacher, also written in Matthew chapter 23, and here it is, I think the 8th verse:

“But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.”

So, you can see what it's about. No primacy, no priority was allowed. The ministries are different, also the tasks and gifts, but before God we are all equal.

Only the false direction, and the Nico and all the others, emerged and separated from the people to be something special.

One is our Master, we are all brothers and have different tasks, be it earthly or in the Kingdom of God. There is no difference. We are all on the same level, the same teaching which goes forth through the Word of God applies to him through whose mouth it might come, just the same as all the others who listen.

Yes, there is no difference. And this we must know. Do you know that somebody came to our Lord and said, “Good Master…” [Luke 18:18-19] And the Lord stopped him right away and He said, “No one is good but God alone.”

I don't want to go here into details, and I hope my African brothers won't write this to Kinshasa. But during my last visit to Kinshasa, the lawyer who handles things so nicely there, kept saying, “Vous êtez Notre Maitre?” I hope I pronounced it correctly. “You are our master.” And so much I understood, and I corrected him.

I said, “My dear brother, I don't want to hear that word again.” And then he says, “Yes, but you are responsible toward the authority.” I said: “then write: 'responsible person», but not a title.”

And so there was a nice correction. It was then thankfully received.

The Spirit of God in us will resist all that is not of God. We do not need honour from men. What did Jesus say then? I do not accept honour from men. He was concerned with the honour that comes from God. And he told those who listened to him: “You are the one who seek honour from man, but you are not interested in the honour of God.” [Jn 5:44]

What matters to us? To us matters that God is honoured, that God is glorified, that His people are instructed in His Word in such a way that we can all believe the same, having the same knowledge and can walk forward in lockstep with the Lord.

Another comparison from the Gospel of John chapter 15, verse 15. Here our Lord says: 

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”

So, here we come to the term “servant” or “servants”. “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth.” Also here, there are two terms, the one earthly seen, the other heavenly seen. You will find out in a moment that Paul also called himself a servant of Christ. But now Jesus says, “I call you not servants.”

Brother Branham also used the term prophet in the film last night and also the term servant. “Do you believe that I am the prophet of God? Do you believe that I am His servant?” Now the Lord said here, “I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth.”

We read on, Philippians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1, verse 1: 

“Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.”

Paul includes himself with Timothy and writes, “We, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ.”

How shall we classify this now? I read on, Romans chapter 6 and here it is verse 22:

“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.”

 Here it is spoken of servants of God and here we already come to the difference. Paul writes to the Galatians, “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all.” But then, when he is of full age and takes over the inheritance, then one sees the difference.

So what is the point? You know, the people of Israel are generally addressed as servants of the Lord. Jesus is also addressed as a servant and also man of God. What was is it about? You are no longer under bondage. You are no longer servants. You are free. We have received the adoption as sons. If there is a calling to the ministry, then one can be both a child of God and a servant of God. But the relationship which we have toward God is a Father-Son relationship. We do not live under bondage that we again have to fear [Rm 8:15]. We have been set free and we may say, “Abba, Father!” And as I said, when the Lord takes then people into the ministry, then they have to serve Him. And if it is about a service, then they are servants. Do you understand this? So it is always necessary to place every scripture correctly. 

I still think back to the letter that someone wrote to me many years ago when he first read or heard my testimony. And he used this scripture from John 15:15 and said, “Brother Frank, if the Lord addressed you as a servant, then this is probably not correct.”

There are really people who are ready to rebuke God. There are indeed people who go beyond any measure. I of course did not react to it, but one sees the ignorance of people and with ignorance sometimes even wickedness. And they refer to one scripture which they did not understood at all, because they have no relationship with God and do not even know in what way God works and speaks.

Let us read on, and that is Acts chapter 3, verse 13. Here the following is written: 

“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate.”

I can read you at least three scriptures in the Bible where the Lord is also referred to as a servant. You can read it in the prayer of the New Testament Church in Acts, the 4th chapter of verse 29, yes, maybe of 27, to include that Word again:

“For of a truth against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy Word.”

So, here the Lord is referred to as a holy servant and those whom he has called as his servants — that God may give them strength to preach the Word with boldness. You see that also in this point the scriptures must be balanced with one other. One has to know precisely what is the one scripture about, of what does the other scripture say, what is meant here, what is meant there? And if we are taught by God, then we get full understanding about every scripture, about every context, and we will not put anything upside down. Just the contrary, we will let ourselves be placed upon the feet of faith. 

One thing I want to tell you: The devil will fool the children of God the best with the Word of God. He does not come to us with other things. He will always use the Word, but he will put it upside down, misinterpret it, as he did with Jesus. ”For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” [Lk 4:9-11] Of course it was written, but not in this context and most certainly not for the devil. The devil has no right to make use of the Word of God. How often he has done so! 

I think of a young man a few weeks ago in the city of Bad Tölz. He wanted to preach, and I spoke briefly with him about the signs of the time, about the return of Israel. And then he spoke out a very harsh sentence and said: “Israel is rejected by God forever.” I said: “This the devil spoke through you.”

Yes, what does God's Word say? God's Word says that the Lord has put them now aside in order to take us in. But that He at the end will take receive Israel again [Rm 11:25-26]. But there are people who just take any Word somewhere and it is written somewhere, but there is more than that one Word written. There are many Words written that illuminate the same context, the same subject. Whoever takes only one scripture can do like Judas, to go, and hang himself and somebody else reads in a total different place and there it says: “Go and do the same.” And then there hangs not one, but two. The devil wants to hang us and with this he also comes to the believers with the Word of God.

Oh, that we could discern when the devil speaks through a person! I think I already said it yesterday that when the devil speaks through a person, he does so in order to dominate the other person, to strike him down, to destroy him, to rule over him in some way, to exercise power over him, to dispute and deny him salvation. If God speaks to us through his Word, then to edify, to comfort, to help, to bless, to correct in the spirit of grace and love. Not to bang on his head, no, in the loveliness of Jesus Christ, that’s how it is written, “Admonish one another in the love, in Christ Jesus.” [Heb 10:24-25]

Paul writes, “If there Is any consolation in Christ…” [Php 2:1] Everything must be in a balanced way, with and in the Word of God.

Please distinguish from now on, when people come to you and read from the Bible, firstly discern the motive with which they come. And mostly one can see it at the motive what kind of intention is behind it and how they want to use the Scripture.

Just to give you one example, if we speak about baptism, then the whole world can come to us and open Matthew 28, verse 19 and put the finger on it and say, “Here it is written, here it is written.” And then go on to accuse us of denying the Word that is written there, of not taking seriously the Great Commission and what the Lord has said. And they are completely wrong in their assessment, although they on the one hand refer to the Word, on the other hand they have not understood at all what the Lord has said there.

If you then want to read Acts 2, verse 38 and all the other scriptures to them, then they wave aside. Then they say, “This the Lord didn't say, this the apostles said. We take what the Lord said.”

Let such people go. The Lord has not yet spoken to them. Do you understand what it is all about? One can take scriptures from the Bible, refer to them, and yet having no revelation thru the Spirit about the Word to which they refer. Everything in the Kingdom of God is based upon revelation. And you will see, when we go into the observation that applies to us, with the prophetic ministry, the things are clearly written in the Bible. But to whom has it been revealed? Only to a small number, namely to those who are willing to do the will of God. God takes us into his school, but we must be ready and willing to learn.

Let us come to the two comparisons from the Old and New Testaments with the term “servant”. From Isaiah chapter 42 we read some verses, here one of the most powerful prophecies on Christ, we read from verse 1: 

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.”

How many believe that this Word is a prophecy to Jesus Christ? Say Amen. One hundred percent, a prophecy referring to Jesus Christ. When was he a servant? How was he a servant? As prophet he was a servant, and he did the will of God. The two words are almost always together — servant and prophet. He was prophet, He was servant, as servant being sent. He took upon Him the form of a servant, He became obedient, obedient unto the death on the cross [Php 2:8], so that we, who were servants of sin, could be set free to serve the Lord as sons and daughters of God.

As a servant he said, “He who sent me is with me, for I always do his will.” [Jn 8:29] How often did our Lord speak as servant in his humiliation and then the theologians of today and also of yesterday, they take these statements and then play off one scripture against the other instead of placing divinely and understanding that the Lord laid down his glory and was made in the likeness to be the perfect man of God on earth, to bring the people given to him back into full divinity, namely to make them sons and daughters of God.

But people read that he went to pray. These are not characteristics of my Lord. My Lord does not need to pray, my Lord may be prayed to. But Jesus prayed [Jn 14:35], He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed. As Lord, as King, as Judge, he most certainly does not need to pray. As Son of Man, in his humiliation, as the servant of the Lord, in order to do the will of God on earth, all these things had to be this way so that the plan of salvation of our God can be realised here on this earth.

But a person, as already said, who takes some scriptures, can say: “Yes, so not even the Godhead.” There are people, it is a denomination, who say, that Jesus was created and is not Godhead at all, let alone one of three or the one. And they pick out these scriptures, which just describe his humanity or describe him in his humanity and on this they stand. On what do you think now? I think of Brother Branham's statement when after a service a woman came to him of the Christian Science. Science, all right, but Christian? Not so good anymore. In any case, she came to him after the service and said, “You try to make out of the Lord, God.” And he says, “He is God, I don't need to make him God at all.” And the lady actually had the courage and said, “If I show you from the Bible that he was human, will you then believe it?” And he said, “If the Bible says so.” And you all know the sermon. And then she referred to John 11 where Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus [Jn 11:35-44]. And her question was: “How can he be divine and then weep as a man?” But this is precisely the great and most precious mystery that there was, is and will be, that God could manifest Himself in a shape of a man. It was a man who wept there, but when the power over death was performed, that was more than a man. When it was said, “Lazarus, come forth!” [Jn 11:43] And he stood upon his feet and came forth. This was more than a man. God and man in one.

He had to take the role of a servant, he had to take the role of a priest, the role of a Lamb, of an Advocate, of a Mediator, He had to become many things, yes, He had to be all in all. But when the time will be fulfilled and all things again merge, after we have come into the perfection, then we will see him as the One who He was and is throughout eternity.

Here it says: “He will bring justice to the nations.”

We read in Isaiah 42 quickly, perhaps from verse 6 to 8: 

“I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”

Through that what Jesus Christ has done, God was glorified and every person who was saved will glorify God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Here, it is about the covenant that was made and Jesus said, “This is the new covenant in my blood.” [Lk 22:20] ”I give thee for a covenant of the people, making with thee, in thee and with thee, with all the people.”

Not only with one nation, but with the nations — “for a light of the Gentiles”, not only for a light of Israel, but for a light of the Gentiles, that all the ends of the earth might see the glory and salvation of our God.

All scripture had to be fulfilled. Did he make the covenant? Did he firmly establish justice and righteousness on earth? Absolutely. He has done it. Read it up with me, in Matthew in the 12th chapter, because here the evangelist has recited it again from the Old Testament and writes as follows, Matthew, chapter 12 of verse 17: 

“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, m Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles (or to proclaim justice to the nations). He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” [Mt 12:17-21] 

Hallelujah! Praise be to the living God! The time is advanced. From this scripture we could emphasise a lot, “My beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased.” What did we read in Matthew 3? “Behold, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” [v. 17] What did we read in Matthew 17? “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him.” [v. 5]

Do you see the conformity of the Holy Scriptures? It had to be a God-man on earth, a man who is of divine origin. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! A man who is of divine origin. Of whom it can be said: “He is the beginning of God's creation.” [Rev 3:14] Oh, if we think about this, then the Spirit of God comes upon us. Then the redemption is transfigured unto us and also the Redeemer. ”My beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I have put my Spirit upon him.” Did it happen or did it not happen? It happened, and if we are in Christ, then God's well-pleasing rests upon us. Then the Spirit of God comes upon us, the same Holy Spirit, not just a bit of anointing, but the life of God, the power of God, the nature of God, all that God is, has indeed been given to the people of God by the Holy Spirit. All gifts, all fruits of the Spirit, everything that belongs to it. 

But these Words and thoughts are also precious: 

“A bruised reed shall he not break.” How many not only feel crushed but are crushed. Late last night came a phone call. Today, early in the morning, a phone call, crushed, crushed, on the other side only weeping. “Forgive us, forgive us for what we have done or said.” And then the term, “We're so depressed, since then everything went wrong and so forth.” All I could say was, “I forgive just as God forgave me in Christ.” [Col 3:13] Perfect forgiveness, atonement. Here is the promise: “A bruised reed shall he not break.” Yet, that's what people do. If someone is already depressed and crushed, then they give him the last blow.

But the Lord does it differently. He straightens, he gives new strength, he straightens up, he pours oil into the lamp so that the smoking flax can give light anew. That's what he said here and that's what he does. But I would also like to emphasise this thought: 

“ … till he has set justice in the earth.” 

Not only set, not only established, but set and established victoriously. Jesus is the Victor. He passed his cause victoriously, carrying it out victoriously for our sake. He is the Victor, the Overcomer, and through him we too will be victorious and will overcome.

A wonderful Word. Earthly seen, it looked like the worst defeat anyone could have on earth. Abandoned by all, despised, mocked, beaten, spat upon, and then stripped of his clothes, he hung there on the cross, between heaven and earth. This happened for our sake. We believe what the Scripture says: “He established justice and righteousness on earth and carried it out victoriously.” Let us believe it, that we are part of this, that it had to be for the redeemed and therefore in and on the redeemed. It has to come to a triumph of our God. In the end, the victory given at the beginning must be manifested once again in a divine confirmation. And this we say together with Samson in the Old Testament. And in doing so, we slowly grasp the pillars and cry out, “Once more, Lord!” [Jdg 16:28] And when the “once more” comes, then we will not grab into the wind. Then some pillars will be grabbed. Some things will be torn down. Some devilish strongholds will collapse so that the work of our God can come victoriously to its completion.

Blessed and praised be the name of the Lord. Amen. Amen.

Let us stand up and worship.

Perhaps some brothers would like to thank the Lord very briefly.

… you our Redeemer, our Deliverer, our Saviour, our all in all. O, Lord, we thank thee, You carried out righteousness victoriously. O we praise thee and we worship thee. Hallelujah! Praise be to God, praise be to God! Lord, make us thankful, tune us divinely with praise, with worship. Hallelujah! Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord, my God, my God! How great, how wonderful Thou art!

Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, humiliated so deeply and then exalted above all. Hallelujah! Lord, you died, but also rose again, conquering death and hell. Hallelujah! Oh, we thank you and we worship you. Hallelujah!

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,
How great Thou art, how great Thou art.

How many feel that the Lord takes us into the teaching to give us a deeper insight into his will? I feel how the Spirit urges and how we can say Amen to every Word. Whether we see the Lord as despised, we know, thus it is written in Isaiah 53. If we hear him say: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, then we know, that’s how it is written in Psalm 22. Everything was a fulfilment of Scripture. If we see him in lowliness, then we see him as a man, as a servant, as the Son of Man.

We are not offended at this. We know that He has changed back this human form back into the divine form, into the spiritual body. We know that, He only came to take upon him the form of a man and to give the redemption, to take us out of our human form and into the form of God. Everything happened because it was part of the plan of redemption. Before we could become like him, He had to become like us. Before we can live eternally with him, he had to die for us here on earth. Do we understand that? I think we do. And yet we give him the glory. For we know in spite of the many tasks he had to fulfil, He remained the Lord of Lords and King of Kings throughout all eternity. And if we can then still correctly place his Word and what happened, the more comfortable we feel in our souls. Hallelujah! Praise be to our God! Oh, that we all could just praise and worship with all our heart, thanking our God with all our heart. Not because we must, but because it urges us. Oh, we want to fall down at his feet and worship and say: “Lord, what made you to take all this upon yourself? So much you loved us, and you walked the way we would have to walk, and the death we would have to die, this hast thou done for us, that we might be saved.” Thanking and again thanking the Lord. And it is written: “He who brings thanksgiving to me, he praises me.” [Ps 50:23]

And so once again we want to thank to the Lord by first singing the chorus “Thou are worthy.” And I would like to make one more remark. It does not always have to be excessively loud. We notice, noticed last night too, it was so tremendous, but somehow, a wonderful atmosphere, everything in harmony with each other. Let us pay attention when it gets louder, we go along with it inwardly, but please, don't do anything on your own. Everything should be worked by the Spirit of God and then it is genuine, then it lasts. Then we all rejoice in the Lord our God. And our soul rejoices in God our Saviour. We sing Thou art worthy, and let those who can, lift up their hands.

Thou are worthy, Thou are worthy,
Thou are worthy Oh Lord,
to receive, praise and honour, glory, and adoration.
Thou are worthy, O, Lord.

Faithful God, you are worthy to receive, praise, honour, glory and worship. Lord, receive the glory, receive the praise, receive the thanks, Lord, for your precious and holy Word, which we have heard again in this morning hour. You have enlightened us and refreshed our hearts through your mighty speaking. O faithful Lord, you have become our teacher. Worship, praise, and thanksgiving! You have become all things to us. You have become Father to us, you are Lord to us all in all. Therefore we worship you and praise highly your holy name, which is above every name. Hallelujah, praise and honour, glory, and worship to your glorious Jesus Name. Amen.