The Straining of Relationships
JOHN 11:14-21
14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. (Notice that the intent of this trial was to bring them all to a greater faith – that is God’s purpose for every trial that he has planned for your life, it’s to bring you to a greater faith and relationship with the Lord)
16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17 ¶ Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. (Four days had gone by – that is quite a while under these circumstances)
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
We can see that the first words that Martha spoke to Jesus could almost sound like an accusation, during the last 4 days of mourning her brother’s death she had been reasoning as to why Jesus hadn’t come when they had call for him, and so when he finally turned up, she said to him what was at the forefront of her mind, that if he had been there earlier, that her brother would not have died – she was sure that all of this suffering and mourning and loss could have been avoided if he had just turned up sooner – it seemed like Jesus was uncaring and unreliable in his character, and that he had failed them in their greatest hour of need.
**There is no doubt that this would have put a temporary strain on the relationship that Martha felt in her relationship toward Jesus.
The Straining of Relationships
In this modern day and age, it seems like people can hardly get along with one another anymore in their relationships. Families are becoming more and more dysfunctional – and much of this we know has been caused by the Television and movie industry that has shape the way society thinks, it’s their church preaching services – what you behold is what you will be changed into – if you behold the Simpsons, then your family will become like the Simpsons.
*Many people today hardly know what forgiveness means, as soon as someone upsets them in some way, they will hold a grudge over that friend or family member for their entire lifetime – we all know of cases.
It’s because the character of man has been eroded from the image of God.
II TIMOTHY 3:1-5
1 ¶ This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (Perilous = hard to bear, troublesome, dangerous: harsh, fierce, savage)
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection (affection = a gentle feeling of fondness or liking), trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent (no self-control), fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady (reckless), highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
All this speaks of a people that are weak in character and in relationships so that almost any little upset is enough to sever even close family relationships.
(Story of lady with TV areal argument – mother and daughter)
REVELATION 3:17 (referring to this age that we are living in now)
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: Notice - Rich in goods and materialism, but poor in relationships, and this attitude of the 21st century is also the way that many people treat their relationship with God.
If God upsets them in some way because he didn’t do something that they thought he should have done or the way he should have done it, then they’ll go cold with their relationship with the Lord, or they just won’t speak to him for a while to let God know that they are not pleased with His conduct – like we would say “giving the cold shoulder treatment”, they think that they will teach God to mind them for the next time.
They think that they are somehow going to pay God back by not talking to him, or not going to church anymore, or other ways that they feel they can punish God – yet if they only knew that God was actually doing the very best that he could have ever done for them.
PSALM 53:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God”.
**Probably one of the biggest areas where people become convinced that there is no God is because they cannot understand the suffering that is in the world or even in their own lives.
It has been observed that during the First and Second World War that many gave up their once held faith and belief in God because they could not reconcile all the suffering – why would God allow all this suffering to go on in the world, if he was all powerful then he could have intervened? - they fail to understand that man’s suffering was caused by man’s own choices and sin and not by God, and that is why Christ came to suffer, so that he could pay the price to free us from sin and suffering.
REVELATION 21:4
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
THE.HARVEST.TIME_ PHOENIX.AZ V-18 N-6 SATURDAY_ 64-1212
332 They wrote a book, I guess you all have read it, probably some of you theologians, called The Silent God. I think you can get it maybe in--in your books, of--of where you sell books, bookstores. The Silent God, said how... An infidel, said, "How could you ever expect there be a God, that could sit up There during the Dark Ages and watch little children be put to death, by fire; women, their long hair stuck down in pitch, and burned; put an ox on one arm, and one another, and pull them apart, because they won't kiss a crucifix; and all those things like that"? Said, "How could a God, if there was one, sit up there and watch those little children burn?" See, that's the natural, carnal mind. See?
When you put your natural mind and reasoning to these things, that is what gets you into trouble if you do not understand the deeper and greater purpose.
ROMANS 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
*There is such a lack of the character of Christ in the people of the world today, and because of this lack of Godly character, we see that this is what causes a strain on peoples relationships with one another, and this is also transfer over to their relationship with God of how they treat the Lord – and it often begins by the way that they perceive that they are treated by the other party.
Opening scripture:
JOHN 11:20-21
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
**Many times relationships can become strained because of misconceptions and misunderstanding between people, and it is certainly very easy to misunderstand God (especially if you are not a mature and well trained believer), because his ways are so much higher and different to ours – that is why we need to learn his ways and not just his character.
PSALM 25:4
4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
PSALM 86:10-11
10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
As you go along the road and the journey of your life you will find that God is so unusual in the way that he deals with you that to your natural mind of human reasoning it is easy to misunderstand him, that is when you cannot afford to have the character of this last age generation.
Look at what Joseph went through, but it produce a faith in him that he could have never received any other way, look at what Ruth had to endure, King David had to suffer and was rejected, but look at all of their attitudes, they may have gone through their struggles, but they never fell out with God.
Many of the prophets had to suffer in terrible ways, but it was all for the purpose that God was working it all out for their good in the end.
JEREMIAH 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
**So God does not deal with us to try to please our emotions; he deals with us in order to bring us to an expected end of a maturity of faith and victory.
But if we were to observe God through the eyes of our human emotions like the infidels, then we would think more along the lines of human reasoning of what brother Branham portrays in this next quote:
JESUS.CHRIST.THE.SAME.YESTERDAY.TODAY.AND.FOREVER_ EDMONTON.AB MONDAY_ 52-1027
E-19 Now, watch what kind of a Man we're talking about. Here He comes to the Pool of Bethesda where great multitudes... If I'm taught right, one multitude consists of over two thousand. And if there's multitudes, there's perhaps ten thousand people laying there. Now, watch it: St. John 5. Look at the condition of these people. They were lame, halt, blind, withered, twisted, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel came down into the pool at a certain season, and whosoever, stepping in first, was healed of whatsoever disease they had.
And here come Jesus now. Now watch this, the--love--lovely One... Do you believe He loved the people? You believe He was the Son of God? He was full of compassion? He loved the people with all of His heart? Sure He did. Now, here He come full of love. Suffering humanity, oh, how He loved them. Here He comes down to this pool where this great mass of people is.
E-20 Now, He already took compassion upon the people, but He moved right down. And here stands an old dad, perhaps, standing there, twisted with arthritis, saying, "Somebody help me in the pool." And our lovely Jesus passes right by him.
Here stands a mother with a baby with a waterhead, perhaps: "Oh, somebody help me to get in the pool first with my darling baby." Jesus passes right by her.
Here is a man they had to carry; he was crippled and lame: "Somebody help me in the pool." He passed right by.
Here is a blind man: "Oh, have mercy on me; I've been blind for years. Somebody help me in the pool when the water's troubled."
Thousands of them, Jesus passed right by every one of them and went over to a man that had an infirmity for thirty and eight years: sugar diabetes, or TB, or something. The man could walk; he said, "When I'm coming down to the pool, another steps ahead of me." Is that true? Read St. John 5 and see if it isn't. That's right. Now, nobody doubts but what St. John 5 is inspired. You see?
E-21 Now, He walked right by every one of those cripples, walked right along, and knew that the man had been in this condition thirty-eight years. And He said, "Would you be made whole?" And He healed the man that'd been laying there for--all this affliction, or--or this disease, and walked right away from that multitude, and left them poor old mothers, and daddies, and babies, and all of them laying there: lame, halt, blind, twisted, waiting for the moving of the water.
How could a loving Saviour... How could a Man with a heart full of compassion for the sick, how could the Son of God walk by such a massive mass of humanity, twisted, and lame... And we're even taught by historians that they stabbed one another trying to get in the pool first. How could a loving Saviour, full of love and compassion, walk by such a multitude and leave them lay there, and make one man whole that...? We'll just say for instance, he had sugar diabetes. How could He do that?
That strains the reasoning of man to try to understand these things, especially if you are just in the emotional realm, but we know that Jesus Christ was that same angel Himself that stirred the waters - He was the same angel that troubled the waters who was now in the form of a man, that is why you have to have a revelation of the word. They couldn’t recognise him in another form. Today people can’t recognise Him in bride from.
***Job came under a relationship strain with God when he lost everything of what God had blessed him with and what had taken him years of hard work and careful effort to build up - it had all been taken from him in one single day.
*God had blessed him so much up to that point, and oh how he just loved the Lord for all of his goodness and blessings, but then one day all that changed, and the strain of the relationship because so strong that his wife finally told him to curse God and die because she could see no future but death for her husband, and she could not understand why God in his great character and goodness could allow such suffering upon such a faithful believer and son of God.
JOB 1:6-22
6 ¶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
13 ¶ And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
20 ¶ Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
JOB 2:1-10
1 ¶ Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
7 ¶ So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
The strain that came upon brother Branham in 1964 when he wanted to run out into the wilderness to get away from the pressure of some of his own people that were misunderstanding his ministry and wouldn’t listen to him and were talking negatively behind his back, and that caused him to lose his feeling for the people, he began to build a complex, but he also knew that he had to overcome that – it was a test for him, his relationship with the people had become strained because of misunderstanding, and so he knew that only God could put that feeling of care for the people back in his heart.
STANDING.IN.THE.GAP_ JEFF.IN V-6 N-7 SUNDAY_ 63-0623M
160 But the call of God must come, "Whoever wants to march towards the promised Land, let him march." We're on our road to the promised Land. Amen. Let them come, march. We're on our road to meet Christ at the end time. And I wanted to bring this to you so that you would see, and show you that, the mistake that a man can make, yet being sincere.
161 Moses lost the feeling of his people because they wouldn't listen to him. And, Brother Roy, you see your dream? And now I cannot go, with a ministry like that, until I feel different in my heart about it, no matter if God did tell me. But that is that change that Brother Roy... that seen coming. Something's got to change me, because I, in my heart, if I go out there feeling the way I do now; I still feel that they ought to have heard that Message, they ought to a-done it. And I don't have the feeling for the people that I should have. Until I can get that feeling, there is no need in me going, because I'd be a hypocrite.
173 God bless you, each one, and we hope to see you again real soon. Till then, will you do this one favor for me now, both here and on tapes also, you brethren? Pray that God will place into my heart that something that I lost out there in that complex. It's so easy to build a complex.
One of brother Branham’s greatest tests was when God took his little baby Sharon Rose Branham – that was a great relationship strain between him and God.
AND.KNOWETH.IT.NOT_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-10 SUNDAY_ 65-0815
190 And he call, told, called a nurse, to order me some kind of medicine. Said, "I don't know how the man is standing up."
191 I stood there a little bit. He brought the medicine in. I sat down, in the hall. He said, "Sit." And the nurse brought it, said, "Drink this, Brother Branham."
192 I said, "Thank you. Just set it down there a minute." When she left like that, I poured it over in a spittoon; set the glass back down.
193 I set there. I thought, "O God, what have I done? You're a good God. Why did You let her die, the other day, me holding her two little arms like that?" Begging Him for her. "Why'd You let her go? There is Billy laying there, dying; and here she is, dying. What have I done? Tell me! Well, I just might as well go with them."
194 I opened the door, and no nurse was there. I slipped down in the basement. That was before the hospital was fixed. Screens, no screens on the windows, hardly, and flies on her little eyes. Had a piece of mosquito bar, we call it, netting put over her face. I shooed the flies off; laid there. Her little eyes, she suffered so hard till they were crossing.
195 Then Satan moved up by the side of me there, and said, "Did you say He was a good God?"
I said, "Yeah, I said that."
196 "Did you say He was a healer? Well, why did your father die in your arms over there, and you calling, him a sinner, calling for his life? Why did your brother die in your other brother's arms, out there, and you standing in the pulpit preaching, a few weeks ago?" Said, "Then why didn't He answer you? You said He loved you and saved you."
197 He couldn't tell me there was no God, 'cause I already seen Him. But he was telling me He didn't care for me.
198 Said, "There lays your wife. Your babies will be there pretty soon. Your daddy is buried. Your brother is buried. And your wife is going to be buried now, tomorrow. And here is your other baby, dying. He's a good God? Huh? He's a healer?" Said, "You made a sap out of yourself!"
199 What did it do? From... it was working from the outside, now, to this first man.
200 Said, "Now look. You know, when you was a few years ago, about two or three years ago, before you accepted This, you was well thought of amongst the people. You lived a good, clean life. Any girl in the city, that wanted to go out, go out with you, 'cause they felt clean and decent." I could stand before any of them. I never insulted one, never said anything. She even act smart, I'd take her home. "And you were liked amongst the people. But what are you now? A religious fanatic."
201 "That's right. I was." See these things begin to move together? The outside, reasoning in the spirit, moving these things together. "That's right, Satan."
"And did you say He was a healer?"
"Yes. Hum. Yeah."
202 "And you begging and crying, and the people telling you it wasn't so, that you're all off the line. Your own church turned you out, for This. Your own Baptist church down there, put you out the door, for the very same cause.
"Yeah."
203 "Your daddy buried. Your brother buried. Your wife lying there, to be buried. Here is your baby, just about fifteen minutes longer and it'll be gone. And He's a healer? Your own flesh and blood; one word from Him would save the baby's life. 'He's a healer,' you said. The people tried to tell you. The preacher told you you was all messed up; you was all insane; you was become a religious fanatic. And you said He loved you. Could He love you?
204 "And how you cried for your daddy! How, night after night, you fasted, and when you... in daytime, when you'd have to pray, to get up a pole, to work. And when He let him die in your arms, a sinner.
205 "How your wife, what a fine woman she was, and how you loved her!"Billy's mother; many of you remember Hope. "What a fine girl she was! How happy you was, your little home over there; with about seven or eight dollars worth of furniture, what furniture you had, but yet you loved her; and you... and you loved one another. And you went and prayed for others; and, some mental emotion, they got up and walked away and said they were all right. But now your own wife; and there she is, dead, second day now, lying in the undertaker's establishment down yonder, Scott and Combs. He's a healer? Huh?
206 "And your little boy at the point of death, Billy Paul, eighteen months old. And your little girl, at eight months old, is lying here, dying, with meningitis. And you just prayed; and God pulled a sheet down, said, 'Shut up!' Don't hear, won't hear you, at all! Turned His back on you. He's a good God? Huh? He loves you? And every girl you ever went with, every boy you ever associated with, your very best friends, has walked away from you as a religious fanatic."
207 Everything he was telling me was the truth. Everything that he would say, just fall right in line, see, here. I was just then about ready to say, "Then I, if that's the way He has to act, then I won't serve Him."
208 Just as I said that, there was Something came from somewhere else, way down on the inside. Said, "Who are you, to begin with? The Lord gave, and the Lord taken away." See, that's that inside man, don't reason at all.
209 I looked back, and I thought, "How did I get on earth? I come from a bunch of drunkards. How did I get here? Who give me life? Who give me that wife? Who give me that baby? Where did my wife come from? Where did my life come from?" I said, "Though He slay me, yet I'll trust Him."
I said, "Get away from me, Satan!"
210 I laid my hand over on the baby. I said, "Sharon, honey, I'll lay you on your mother's arms in a few minutes, when the Angels of God comes to take you away, but one day daddy will see you again. I don't know how it's going to be, honey. I can't tell you how; when He turns His back upon me, won't even hear for you."
211 He let my wife die, and me holding her by the hands, crying for her. And my daddy, in his arms, died on this arm right here; looking up at me, trying to get his breath. And I prayed as hard as I could. How could I face the public again, to preach Divine healing? How could I preach He was a good God, and let my own daddy die, a sinner? How could I preach that? I don't know how, but I know He's right.
212 The Word of God shall never fail. It'll triumph, no matter what that is. Then I knowed there was Something inside of all reasonings, Something inside of all emotions, everything else like that. There was a inside Man that held in that hour. Nothing else could a-done it; every reason, everything could be showed, everything could prove that It was wrong, and I was in the wrong. But the Word of God, that was predestinated before the foundation of the world, held on the inside.
213 I felt a little Wind come through the building. Her spirit went to meet God.
214 Brother, sister, let me tell you, That's the only thing. Don't try to reason It out. Don't try to have long hair because I said so. Don't try to do these things just, because, in your flesh. Don't try to do it, just kind of cope up. But just wait before the Lord, till Something way down on the inside!
217 It's got to come from the inside, which is the Word, from the beginning.
That is the secret – is to have the word on the inside of us – whatever you do, get the revelation of the word of this hour on the inside of you.
During our lives, God will test our maturity in our relationship with him by allowing things to come along that you just cannot understand or reconcile, it will go against your every reasoning. He will let innocent love ones die, he will allow you to go through financial struggles, he will let sickness come, He will let trials come your way, but it is all with the intent to build faith in you for the resurrection.
**We must understand that God is working all things out for our good to bring us all to an expected end. Remember that every time the Lord takes something away from you, he always gives it back greater and twice over.
*** Like Job, and like Martha, and like brother Branham, let that elected seed that is way down on the inside of you say when the next trial comes your way – “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord”.