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Sermon Texts Beginning With C
Church Dedication (59-0708M)
| Church Dedication (59-0708M) |
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E-1 [ Brother Littlefield introduces Brother Branham saying, "Happy you're here and God bless you, my dear brother."--Ed.] Thank you. Thank you very much Brother Littlefield.
E-2 And we know that the Church is a... The Spirit of God in the people, makes the Church. But we also have places of--gathering places dedicated where the--this Church body gathers together to worship God. And God has given to our precious brother and to this congregation, this most beautiful structure. Therefore we are here this morning for that purpose: to dedicate it to be a place of worship to the Lord our God.
E-3 [Brother Littlefield reads the Scripture:
Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and the instruments, put he among the treasure of the house of God.
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, out of Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant out of--the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion.
Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month.
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark.
And they brought up the ark, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels and were in the tabernacle, these did the priests and the Levites bring up.
And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel that were assembled unto him before the ark, sacrificed sheep and oxen, which could not be told nor numbered for--for multitude.
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, to the oracles of the house, into the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims:
For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof and above.
(Would everyone stand please.)
And they drew out of the staves of the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracles; and they were not seen without. And there it is unto this day.There was nothing in the ark save two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.
And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present was sanctified, and did not then wait by course:Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with the mu--their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with the trumpets:)
And it came--and it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were one, to make one sound to be heard in the praising and thanking the Lord; and when the--and when they had lifted up their voices with the trumpets, with the cymbals and the instruments and the musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
God's richest blessings upon His Word.--Ed.]
E-4
Then said Solomon, "The LORD hath said He would dwell in the thickest of the darkness.
But I have built Him a house...
As we solemnly look to the Word of the Living God, and speaking on this subject of "Dedication of Building" to the Lord, I would like to make this statement: That it is known among most of us, and especially among scholars, that God is omnipresent. Well, I believe, in a measure, that God is omnipresent. God is omnipresent, Him being omniscient makes Him omnipresent. If God is omnipresent just like the atmosphere, then He is a myth.But God is a Person. Therefore He has to have a certain place that He dwells. And He is omnipresent by being omniscient. Therefore if He is everywhere, because being omniscient, He knows everything. Therefore if He knows everything, He knows what's going on at every place. But God Himself dwells in a certain place.
E-5 Therefore Him being infinite... Now, the word "infinite" cannot be broken down into any word by any language. The word "infinite" is like "infinities," it's from there on. And God is infinite. And if I would try to make one quotation what infinite means, that would be, that a hundred million years before the world was ever formed, the infinite God knew every flea that would ever be on the earth, and knowed every time that he'd bat his eye, each of them. That doesn't even start half of what it means to be infinite. E-6 Now, God dwells among His people. And as He called them out of Egypt, they were the people of God. He chose them as a nation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood. And He chose this certain people. But as long as they were dwelling in Egypt and scattered, they were the people of God. But when He called them out, they were then the church of God. Because the word "church" means "separated, called out." They become the church of God.
E-7 Then being the Church of God, God ordained a certain place for these people to meet in where there would be fellowship; because God longs to fellowship with His people, and among His people.
E-8 And now, let us take just a little look at this, what Moses must have saw. And he made it first out of earthly material, which was made of skin, sheepskins. We'd call it a tabernacle or a tent, means "a dwelling place." And in this tabernacle, or tent, there was three separate compartments. That surely is the way it is in glory.
E-9 All the furniture in the building typed Christ. Such as the laver, where the sacrifice was washed, the brass altar, where it was slain and burned. And the brass even in the altar speaks of judgment, Divine judgment. Brass, like the brass serpent was made in the wilderness, speaking of the Divine judgment of God upon the serpent, made of brass passed judgment.
E-10 Then we notice also that God's dwelling in a three room house, and that's the house that you dwell in. No person can dwell in any more than three rooms.
E-11 I John 5:7 said, "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (which is the Son), and the Holy Ghost: these three are one. There are three that bear record in earth, the water, the blood, and the Spirit: and these three agree in one."
E-12 Now, as it is in the natural, so is it in the spiritual. When a woman brings forth a baby, the first thing comes is water. The second thing come is blood. The third thing comes is life. And when Jesus died at the cross, the elements came from His body to cleanse His Church and to bring it into Himself. When they speared His side there was water, Blood, "And into Thy hands I commend My Spirit."
E-13 Paul said in Hebrews, explaining the Sabbath, "That there was a time that God entered into rest on the Sabbath day." And He said: "Again, He limited a certain day, saying in David, 'Today, after so long a time; when you hear My voice, harden not your heart.'"
E-14 What is it? The congregation, the sinner comes in and hears. That's where he's eating, how he learns that Jesus died in His stead, him being a guilty sinner, subject to death, and duly deserves death. But when he hears, "Faith cometh by hearing," then he rises to his feet, and makes a testimony that he is not fit, but that he does believe and accepts the death of the Lord Jesus that He suffered in his stead, and that Jesus atoned for his sins; and he's accepting it by faith through the Word. And he has--going to change his life from this on and live right.
E-15 Three room house... You yourself are abiding in a three room house. You are soul, body, and spirit. You are three compartments. God dwells in three. God is perfected in three. The Church is perfected in three. The mathematics of the Bible does not fail. The sevens in worship, and the twenty fours in the temptations, and forties in the jubilees, and fifties. The mathematics of the Bible run perfect. God is perfect in three. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost make the one perfect God, three offices of the same God. E-16 If we didn't have so much mockery of it these days, you'd find a real church sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost, and fellowship that would be beyond any human thinking. But we have impersonators that go in and claim that they done it. Many times they shout and speak with tongues to show some outward emotion. But, brother, Jesus said, "By their fruit you shall know them." Thorns and thistles grow up with the wheat, but you know them by their fruit. "You shall not pull them up, but let them grow together. And the Angels of the harvest will separate them."
E-17 The three room house, a three compartment service... One is your body, what you do for Christ. The other is your spirit, what you think of Christ. The other is your soul, the faith that you have in Christ. Three room house, completely, absolutely, dedicated to the service of the living God. Justification, by faith, sanctification, by the Blood, the filling of the Holy Spirit, entering into peace and rest with God.
E-18 So is the man or woman that's borned of the Spirit of God. You may be ever so brilliant, intellectually. But till you are borned again, and your intellectuals has rotten away from your thoughts and you hold only to Christ and He's filled you with His Spirit, that's when the things of the world become foolish to you, and the love of God is great and first in your life.
E-19 No wonder the church natural today can't believe in miracles. They've never come into the miracle working place where they're at rest with God. There's where Aaron's rod budded, something that was dead. An old dry stick off the desert in that holiest of holies took new life, and bloomed blooms, and sprouted out, and brought leaves. How? It was laying in the holiest of holies.
E-20 Now, there was an approach to this house, as Moses made it. And I notice what kind of an approach it was. Before you could ever enter into that building, you had to be prepared before you entered into the worship. Now, we find over in the Scriptures that when God was making a way for the people to come to this building to worship Him, God said, "Take me a heifer that's red, that never a yoke has ever been upon her." Heifer, and she must be red, scarlet. Red speaks of redemption, blood, red.
E-21 And He said, "Take a red heifer," again the type of Christ. He wanted to make the waters of separation for the unbeliever. And He said, "Take this heifer where never a yoke has been upon her neck." It speaks of not being yoked up with anything.
E-22 Yoked up with nothing, never a yoke upon its neck... And this heifer was to be killed by the high priest. And it was Caiaphas the high priest who witnessed the death of the Lord Jesus. And it was to be killed before the whole congregation of Israel. And Israel was the one who condemned Jesus and witnessed His death. Yoked up with the unbelief of the world... E-23 Now, the scarlet in the Bible is referred to as sheep's wool died in blood, scarlet, the red meaning our redemption. That scarlet wool was to be throwed in with the heifer. And then cedar wood speaks of the cross. The cross, cedar wood, is white and got red streaks in it. And the white speaks of the righteousness of the cross. And the red speaks of the Blood that made it righteous. The cross was a curse. "Cursed is he that hangeth on a tree." The cross was a curse until the Blood of Jesus Christ poured down it. Then we embrace it to our hearts. For it's the righteousness of God. It was the red that's in the cedar wood that makes the white righteous. Cedar wood should be burnt with it.
E-24 Then hyssop would be throwed in with the scarlet, cedar wood and hyssop. Hyssop is nothing but common weed. Meaning that the Gospel must never be taught by Dr., Ph.D. It must be taught in humility, just as humble as the weeds is before you. The Gospel's never to be made complicated to the people. It's to be humble.
E-25 God, let this sink deep in the hearts. The Word of God has no right to be preached out of an unholy mouth. It should not be preached out of a mouth of a man that would say that Jesus Christ was once one thing and now something else. It must be preached by a power of the living God through sanctified lips that's dedicated to the service of the Lord.
E-26 Waters of separation. What did it do? When the unbeliever, one born in Israel that wandered away, or a stranger came into the church, the first thing happened in the outside in the courts where the meat was served, where the Word was preached; the man with a clean heart and with clean hands, handling this scarlet, the burning of the heifer, the cedar wood, and the hyssop, taken and sprinkled this man with the waters of separation.
E-27 Then what do they do with the blood of the heifer? They took the blood of the heifer and caught it in a charger, went to the doors of the Tabernacle, and there they smeared seven stripes across the door. Then when this worshipper, or sprinkled one, separated one from the things of the world is coming now, must, as he enters into the door to look at the blood, not to a creed, not to a denomination, but to the blood of a dead sacrifice. E-28 Here coming from the courts now into the fellowship. Before you can ever come into the fellowship of the believers you must be cleansed by the Blood of Jesus Christ. No matter how well you know the Bible, how well It's been explained to you, you must recognize the Blood of the Lord Jesus and be cleansed and sanctified from your worldly habits: smoking, drinking, gambling. You women wearing immoral clothes, you deacons and so forth, and church members, drinking, smoking cigarettes, playing cards, run in pool rooms, that's the things of the world. And you've got to be separated from that, and there's only one thing can do it. That's change your nature, and the Blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can do it. Correctly.
E-29 You must recognize the Blood. For every generation, from the very day in the garden of Eden that sin was committed, God made a preparation to fellowship with man again. That was through the blood. I don't care how good your church is, how much denomination you got, how well you are prepared, how much you've shouted, what you spoke in tongues; it's only the Blood of Jesus Christ that separates you from the things of the world.
E-30 I don't mean denominational churches of the living God. We have plenty of them. Four, five different denominations, which they're just as good as the rest of them, but altogether is condemned and he ain't nothing until the Blood's applied.
Oh, precious is the flow
That makes us white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
No denomination, no church, no building, no barrier, no nothing but the Blood of Jesus. That's the only fount I know for cleansing. And every fellow that comes to worship God must first be recognized that there was a sacrifice who died and His Blood was shed that you might enter into this fellowship. And accept it.
E-31 What I was trying to say last night about people who's borned of the Spirit of God, no wonder they don't see the things of the world, because they're from another world. Their Spirit comes from above where holiness and righteousness dwells, where the Blood of Jesus on His bloody garment, hangs before God daily. The Angels bow before It. Everything in the heaven bows to It. And everything on earth that ever goes to heaven will bow to It. We must all recognize the Blood. E-32 As we come beneath those seven stripes of blood, the worshippers coming in now for fellowship. Oh, some people go out and hear the Word; they go to a seminary; they think they learn all the teaching of the church; they think they got a right to preach. But they haven't got a right to preach until they've recognized the Blood of Jesus Christ, cleansing them from their...
E-33 Preachers going down the street, their collars turned around, with a cigarette in their mouth, others getting out here on bathing beaches and everything else and laying with their congregations, having bunco games and parties in the church, and calling it preachers. No, sir. It's manmade preachers. God called preachers come through the Blood. E-34 What's He doing? Coming into these three rooms now. He comes in to worship. First, when He gets in there, there's three in there. Out here there's three stages to get to it. The first is through the separation, water by the washing of the Word; second, recognizing the blood that he's passing under; then when he comes in beneath the blood, he comes into the fellowship of all the saints. He's baptized into the body by the Spirit of that One Who died, that smeared their blood mark over the door. Then he is sanctified, and then filled with the Holy Ghost and baptized into the body of the believers. That's where God meets, under the shed blood.
E-35 That's where God met in the first tabernacle. That's where God meets in the second Tabernacle. That's what this tabernacle's built here for this morning. What is it? There is the congregation, the courts. Here is the holy place, the altar. And here is where the preacher stands, the holiest of holies where the Word is ministered to the people. And to come into the holiest of holies, no man has a right to preach without he's been in there.
E-36 In this tabernacle was the high priest, Aaron. Oh, my, in this fellowship, after entering into it, he was anointed, the anointed high priest. David said, "How sweet it is for our brethren to dwell together in unity. It is likened unto the precious anointing oil that they poured on Aaron's head that run all the way down to the hems of his skirts."
E-37 And the great beautiful life that our Lord lived was instrumental in God's hand. But it could never be a perfume until He was crushed, and mashed, and spit on, and squeeze the very life out of Him at Calvary. That made the anointing for us.
E-38 Then what is the High Priest anointed with? Both for salvation and for healing. What is it? The bright and morning star that shines forth every light in darkness. E-39 Running all the way down to every denomination, to every brother that's borned of the Spirit, freely coming into the house. Aaron standing anointed, Jesus stands the anointed One this morning to fellowship with you Church of God, you Presbyterian, you Methodists, you Baptists, whoever that comes by the waters of separation and recognize the Blood and been sanctified and baptized into the body. I don't care what brand that you have, you're son and daughter of God and have a right to this fellowship, because you've come through. The denominational barriers will stop you, but the Holy Spirit will bring you into that fellowship that's of God.
E-40 What have we done? That's the order of the first tabernacle. If that isn't the order of this tabernacle, it will perish and fall; you've built it in vain. You people who sacrificed your living to build this beautiful structure, which is...
E-41 And David desired to build Him a house. But that night God seen the motive of the prophet, seen the motive of the king and their objectives. He said, "Go, tell My servant, David, Who was he? I took him out of the sheepcote from following a few sheep." What did He take you people from? "And I made him a name, like great names."
E-42 "But I just can't let you build a Temple, because I'm going to let your son build it." Oh, it was in types and shadows. Solomon built Him a temple. But the true Son of David is Jesus Christ, that built the real Temple, that was borned a virgin birth. And in His body is the everlasting Temple of God.
E-43 Now, one stone different from the other. And you denominational people here this morning, Church of God, and two or three different denominations of you, and all you Pentecostals, and the Oneness, and the Twoness, and the Threeness, and whatever you may be, do you realize that God's doing that for a purpose?
E-44 Remember, the cedars was cut out in Lebanon, floated to Joppa, hauled from Joppa by ox carts to Jerusalem. The tall cedars of Lebanon which is overlaid with gold in the temple, there wasn't a sound of a saw nowhere.
E-45 That's where you churches is got today, you denominations; you built, and you plastered, and you got buildings; but you find there's a hole there somewhere. What did they find? The stone that was rejected, said Jesus, is the chief cornerstone. Certainly.
E-46 Like Elijah in the cave. He heard first go by a great thunder and roar. Then he heard a lot of lightning. Then he had a rushing wind. But God was not in all of it.
E-47 Sure, there they had it. Rejected stone become the chief of the cornerstone, the chief cornerstone. That's where it's at. And when they rightly went and got this rejected stone and pressed it in, it fit perfectly, and the building was assembled together. E-48 Let this tabernacle always stand by those principles, which was in type then, now it's antetype. Where then the order of dead beasts sprinkled the mercy seat, but now the Blood of Jesus Christ sprinkles the mercy seat. And as we come in we must recognize the Blood and the healing of the God--of the power of God. We must recognize the full Gospel. We must have fellowship with every brother or sister that desires fellowship that's come through the same elements that we have. Never let his denomination stand in the way; this church will stand till the coming of the Lord then. For I believe it's soon at hand.
E-49 But after the ark was brought in, and the waters of separation was placed in the court, the blood was put, striped over the door from the killing of the red heifer. When everything was in order, Solomon called the people together as your pastor has called you this morning. Oh, it was a real time of dedication and of fellowship.
E-50 The temple was ready to be dedicated. Are you ready this morning for dedication? Remember, not only did Israel be ready for dedication of the temple, but they were dedicating themselves to God again when they had come in.
E-51 And when Israel had finally made one place that they could all dwell in, come to a place and meet God under the fellowship of the blood, then they begin to sing with joy. They begin to play the harp. They praised God in such one accord until it sounded like one voice a singing.
E-52 God let it be again. Let it come again to this little tabernacle. We walk through the Blood, or under the Blood of the Lord Jesus, confessing our sins and be filled with His Spirit and come here... And you people this morning should be just as glad and happy of this little tabernacle, as Israel was of theirs.
E-53 Be sure that the Blood is over the lintels of each door of your heart. Over the lintels of the door there, that there's no denominational barriers, there's no difference; we're all one in Christ Jesus. Let it be for whosoever will may come and fellowship. Never fail to preach the full Gospel from this holy sanctuary. May it be that this place here will always have miracles and signs and wonders of the resurrected Jesus. E-54 May signs and wonders accompany the preaching of our brother. And if he shall go somewhere else, or pass on, may the one who follows him walk into this building as it has been down through the years since Sam Jones and them. May this Holy Ghost Gospel never fail to be preached here. May it never compromise or draw boundary lines through any denomination. May it always be open to whosoever will let him come and drink from the fountains of the Lord. E-55 While we pray as Solomon did, the dedication prayer, may the congregation stand with their hands and pray in your own way, and thank God for this tabernacle, and for a place of worship, that the Lord our God has found a place at last that He can place His Name, and--under the blood and the fellowship of the Spirit. Let every person raise your head now. And in your own way let us dedicate ourself with this temple to the glory of God.
E-56 Almighty God, we come into Thy Presence, bringing to Thee the works of the hands of the children of men, this tabernacle, that tears and sacrifice and labors has bought its material. Careful hands has designed it and made it a place. And upon their hearts was the same burden that was on David's heart. "It's not right for us to worship in this old dilapidated shack when many of us live in good homes."
E-57 Lord God, we commit it to You, the works of the hands, the labor, the toils, the cares. And, Lord, may it not be in vain, but may people realize its dedicated message this morning to You in the dedication of the tabernacle. E-58 Not only do we give You this tabernacle, but we give ourselves to You in service for this tabernacle, and for the cause in which it stands for. O God, receive us this morning, We are Your children. We stand here this morning to our feet, our hands up, our eyes looking up, because we believe that the Holy Spirit is present. Here us, Lord, and receive our prayer. And receive our commemoration of Your goodness, the works of our hands as we present it to You. May the power of God take our sacrifice, and take us with it, and dedicate both tabernacle and congregation to the Kingdom of God and the work of His Son. For we ask it in Jesus Christ's Name as we give it to You. Amen. You may be seated. E-59 This tabernacle now belongs to God Almighty. You belong to God Almighty. Always keep yourself clean; keep your church clean. Keep it upright, so that any who travels by, might love to come in and fellowship with you, have such a sweet Spirit till you can reach out a hand to anyone and offer them help. No matter how far they are down in the gutter, that's what this stands for, a shrine of the grace of God. It's your... |
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