A Home To Come Back To
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And he said, A certain man had two sons:
And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Introduction.
Introduction.
Children’s Activities. How do we keep our children safe when the death angel is everywhere?
“Home is where the heart is”, so people say, but that really depends on what home is like.
The Prodigal son was away from home by his own choice. He couldn’t choose not to be a son, but he could choose how he lived, at least for a while.
When a person is determined to be backslid there’s nothing you can do but pray. Many times they have to hit bottom before they wake up from the fog. Only God knows what bottom is.
The prodigal son came to himself and immediately began to compare the worst of home life with the best of what he had.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
I ran out to do my own thing, but he treats his hired servants better than I’m treating myself.
The human heart is a prodigal by nature. the great hymn “Come Thou Fount” says it like this:
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
Bro. Branham Hebrews series:
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Let’s get this word “perfection.” Do you know there’s only one way you’ll stand in the Presence of God? That’s, perfect. God cannot tolerate unholy things.
And you legalists: how could you ever perfect yourself, when you have not one thing to perfect yourself with? You were born in sin. Your very conception was in sin.
The very desire of you being here was sin. “Born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies.” Now where are you going to stand at?
Where you, sinner, that said, “I’ll quit smoking. I’ll go to Heaven”? Where are you, lukewarm, mossback, so-called Christian, that goes around here with a long face and saying, that, “Well, I belong to the church”? You sinner. That’s right. Unless you are born of the Spirit of God, you’re lost. That’s true.
How you going to Heaven? You say, “I never lied in my life.” “Oh, the darling. It was just an Angel, to begin with.” That’s a lie. I don’t care how good you are; you’re a sinner. And you don’t have one thing; there’s no priest, no bishop, no cardinal, no pope, nor nothing else can save you, ’cause he’s just the same boat that you’re in.
The pope of Rome was born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies, born by the sexual desire of a man and a woman. Where you going to get righteous out of that?
“Well, his papa and mama were born the same way, and they were born the same way, and his grandma and grandpa and on back.” It’s sin, to begin with!
So who can say that this is holy and that is holy? There is only one thing holy, that’s Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, Who has been made perfect. And our requirement is to be perfect. Now, how we going to be it?
Try it, yourself. I’d hate to try to get to Heaven on the merits of, “I was born five minutes ago, and going out of the world right now.” I’d be lost.
If I never had an evil thought in my life, if I never spoke a bad word in my life, if I never looked at anything evil, never thought anything evil, or nothing, I’m just as rank and black as the smutty walls of hell. I’m a sinner.
I could come through life and stay locked up in a room, and like some of the Carmelite sisters or something, and never see the world, stay in there and pray all my life, do good, born a multimillionaire and give to the poor everything I got, and I’m still a sinner and will go to hell.
I might join the Lutheran church, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, when I’m on the cradle roll, and live faithful to that church until a hundred years, and my life is took, and no man could point their finger at me and say “He ever even as had as much as a bad thought,” I’ll go to hell just as sure as I’m standing.
I’m a sinner. That’s correct. I have nothing. There’s no way, at all, I could find any price to be paid. God required death. And if I give my own life, if I give my life, then how can I repent? Cause, you…The debt has got to be paid, first.
And God was the only One who could lay His life down and take It up again. So He could become sin, and lay His Life down and pick It up, and call it “justice,” and the debt is paid. There you are. 57-0908M - Hebrews, Chapter Five And Six #1
I want to speak on three kinds of homes:
Our Family Home
Our Church Home
Our Future Home
We’ll intermingle these as we go along.
Our Family Home is not four walls and a roof, it’s the attitudes we take, time we spend with one another, choices made every day.
The Prodigal knew that his father treated people right. He wasn’t afraid to come home, because in their house you had to follow the rules, but the rules applied to everyone.
What should our home life be like, according to the Message of the Hour?
What should our home life be like, according to the Message of the Hour?
What activities should our preteen children anticipate, participate in. Also, how should we go about helping them select their associates?
There are two parts to Bro. Branham’s answer.
Keep them in Christian company as long as you possibly can. Keep them with…If it’s a girl, keep her with Christian girls; Christian boys, vice versa. If she’s old enough to go with a boy, see that she keeps with the right kind of a boy.
Discourage her to any boy otherwise, or boy to a girl. If she’s going with an unbeliever, try to encourage her to go with a believer, and vice versa.
Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Second Part:
Make your home nice. Make your home a place where your daughter or son will not be ashamed to bring their company before their father and mother, and into their house; and make home so happy that they’ll be pleased in their home to stay there. 64-0830E - Questions And Answers #4
Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
A discouraged child, is a child ready to leave as soon as they turn 18.
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Encouragement and rebuke.
How do you make a happy home?
1. Treat your spouse as a your sweetheart.
1. Treat your spouse as a your sweetheart.
Listen! To you, my dear sisters, I want you to look your best and be your best, that’s what you ought to be. That’s what you ought to be. And you ought to be as sweet and fresh and everything as you can when you husband comes, just the same as that was your sweetheart.
And you ought to meet him at the door with just with a kiss as sweet to him as it was the day you kissed him at the altar to be your husband. 57-1006 - Questions And Answers On Hebrews #3
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
And you husbands to your wives, when they’re in that time of life, if you ever…if she ever was your sweetheart, you let her be right then, ’cause she needs you. She really needs your help; she needs somebody to help her, and understand her.
Talk to her, take her up in your arms like she was your sweetheart, and she should be. And understand her, because she’s going through a time that her entire makeup is changing, and you must be good to her at that time. 64-0830M - Questions And Answers #3
The best thing you can do for your children is love their mother.
Brother Branham, the Bible tells us that a wife should obey her husband. I am a Christian and my husband is a sinner. He persecutes me in every way that he can, and for me not to go to church, and read my Bible, and denies the Word. What should I do?
What should you do? Now, listen, you’re supposed to obey your husband; that’s the Word. Now, if he tells you and refuses you to read the Bible, go to church, or something like that, you don’t have to obey that, because, “He that won’t forsake his father, mother, husband, wife, or whatever it is and follow Me, is not worthy of Mine.”
A man’s not supposed to use that authority over a woman just because he’s her ruler. God is her ruler above you, brother.
And if your wife is doing something wrong, then you got a right to tell her, and she’s supposed to listen to you. But you haven’t got no right to beat her, or drag her around, or do those things. No!
God made men a helpmate, not a doormat. Remember, she’s…She was your sweetheart; she should always be that. 64-0830E - Questions And Answers #4
2. Love and correct your children while they are young, be patient with them when they get older.
2. Love and correct your children while they are young, be patient with them when they get older.
Don’t listen to the experts, listen to a prophet.
What brought on juvenile delinquency was parent delinquency, the parent failing to take care of the children. You remember a few years ago, when my boy was born; that has been about, I think he’s about nineteen now. I remember the doctor told my wife, said, “Just let that kid squall.”
Said, “It ain’t going to hurt him. And if grandma comes along to pick him up,” said, “take her—keep her hands off of him.” Said, “He ought to be crib broke at six months old.”
Now, you know better than that. Sounds like a talking of a witch doctor instead of a real doctor. And then you know what it hatched out? It hatched out a bunch of neurotics and a bunch of gangsters.
Listen. God gave you that baby to love. I don’t care how bad you spoil it; love it anyhow. That’s right. Love it. If you don’t love it now, it’ll grow up in a cold home and indifferent, and it’ll seek love somewhere, or something. It’ll make an out-light for somewhere.
Mother, take that baby and give it fellowship and love now. Make it a part of you, which it is, and act like it, and hug it, and kiss it, and love it. Don’t be too cold with the things of the world. God gave you that as a treasure; raise it right. Amen.
Notice, that’s what’s the matter; we got away from the things of God. You get away from nature, and then you’re out of the will of God.
Now, I want you to notice then, Job, thinking of his children, he said, “Now, peradventure, when they go out, they might sin.” So he offered the only preparation that he knowed about was a burnt sacrifice, the shedding of blood.
And he shed the blood of a lamb for his children, making preparation, if they did sin. You see it? Job was mindful of his children to make a preparation for their sin.
And mother and father, if we would quit spending money on our children learning tap dancing, and things like that, and some kind of “how to be a actor,” and put more time a pleading the Blood of Jesus up over them, and showing them love and fellowship, we’d get along better. The child would too. Teach your child. 55-1009 - The Way To Have Fellowship
When they get older it’s difficult, you have to keep your hands off of them and commit them to God. They better know you love them by then. They better believe you keep your word. You don’t have to be perfect in the flesh, manifest Christ.
3. Keep the Token on display.
3. Keep the Token on display.
Bro. Branham talks about cleaning out all the trash.
Get ready. Apply It. Believe It. Clean up. Let your children, let your family, let your loved ones, see It in you. That’s right. It’ll take effect. Yes, sir!
Then apply the Token in prayer, with consideration, with believing. Apply It with such love, and so forth, till you know it’s going to take, it’s going to take place. That’s all.
Apply It in confidence, believing It’s going to help. When you talk to that child, when you talk to your husband, talk to your wife, talk to this loved one, believe that It’s going to help. Just stand there, and say, “Lord, I’ve claimed them. They’re mine. I’m getting them for You, Lord.”
Apply It, and create that atmosphere around you, that they’ll just drop right into It. See? Oh, you are, you are, if you got the Token, you create a spirit around you, a power, that when you walk, people know that you’re a Christian.
They love for you to say something to them. They believe your word. What you say, they hold onto it. See? That’s it.
Apply the Token, then walk with It. Claim your household. You must do it now. This is evening time. Now, you’ve been listening a long time, now this is the evening time.
It’s applying time now. The wrath will strike, one of these days, it might be too late then. Apply the Token, with confidence. 63-0901M - Token
Church Home is the same as our family Home. Make it some place they want to come back to.
For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that it was not in vain:
But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.
For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:
But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:
Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.
But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:
So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,
That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
They presented their ministry in such a way that the people had something to come back to. No confusion, no chaos, no bitterness, just the truth.
A Church Home where love is shown between the Bride and the Groom, where Children are loved and corrected, and where the Token is on display.
The future Home will be the same way.
The future Home of the Groom and Bride! He is coming back…to the Wedding Supper; it’s going to be three and a half days. Then return again, in the Millennium, on our honeymoon.
And then He’s going to bring the City into view. Like the bridegroom taking the bride to her surprise, how the little bride stands there in awe as she looks at her future home! 64-0802 - The Future Home Of The Heavenly Bridegroom And The Earthly Bride
Conclusion.
Conclusion.
This looks familiar, this feels familiar. I have a home to go back to. It’s a nice home, a happy home.
If you are that prodigal, that woman at the well, He’ll move heaven and earth, even nations and prophets, so you can go home.
There is None Like You
