Fighting For The Inheritance
Spiritual Building-Stone No. 104

Deuteronomy 1:6-8,-
"The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: Turn you, and take your journey ... Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them."

How many read back in Deuteronomy 1 there, where the spies went right in there and tasted of the things from Canaan, which Canaan is not a type of the millennium. How many knows that? Canaan is not the type of the millennium, because they had wars, fightings, killings, and everything else in Canaan. Canaan is a type of the Holy Ghost. Egypt is the world that they come out of. The wilderness is where they were sanctified, called out Church. Canaan is where they settled down with the Holy Spirit, 'cause they still had wars. And if you don't believe you have wars, just get the Holy Spirit once.

What are you doing? What do they do in Canaan? They were possessing their rights. Glory. They were possessing their rights. And they could not possess their rights till they got into Canaan. They didn't own nothing in the wilderness. Then, when they come into Canaan, then they had rights. And we've got rights. When you receive the Holy Ghost, you're in Canaan. You have to fight for it; every inch of ground you have to fight for it. Yes, sir. That's the reason people say, "Brother Branham, you pray for me today, I..." See? Get over into Canaan once, brother, and you realize where you belong. Watch prayer start things yonder now. Yes, sir.

He said, "Looky here, Satan. This is mine. I'm possessor of this. God said so. Move out. (That's right.) Move off my ground."
"Your ground?" Satan says.

"I've got an abstract deed to it. Move out. You know. I'll serve notice on you by the Holy Spirit's guidance." He moves out. Sure, he has to.

Now, remember, He gave them the land; but they had to fight for every inch of it. God told Joshua, "Everywhere the soles of your feet sets, that I've give you." Footsteps meant possession (Joshua 1:3).

We lay aside reasonings (II Cor. 10:3-6). We cast them down, and take the Word. Take the Word, move on. The Word said so.

Now, you say, "Then the promise is mine." Sure. But you'll fight every inch of it till you're well. You'll take every step of it. It's a battle. The promise is yours. That was a promised land; they had to fight to get every step of it. And the promise is yours, but you'll fight every inch of it.

Further Brother Branham said: I was called by God to preach the Gospel thirty-one years ago. I've fought ever since. Every inch of ground I've fought with the Sword of God, taking the promise, and cutting away.

God made the promise. Let's stay with it. God promised it. No matter... You've got to have a battle. If everything comes lazy, what are you overcoming? They overcome by the Word of God and their testimony, the Blood of Christ (Rev. 12:11). You've got to overcome something, and you've got to have some obstacles. And people that differ, and fuss with you, and tell you're holy-rollers, and things, that's put before you, it's a trial. If you haven't got that, then you're not even in the battle.

What did you join the Army and get training for? To lay around, strut up and down the streets and show off? That's the way some Christians act, that we want to be looked up to. You ain't going to be looked up to. You're going to be looked down on. "For all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecutions" (II Tim. 3:12). Pick up the Sword, cut everything free from you, and keep going on.

Joshua, Caleb, stilled the people. They said, "We can't take it, we just can't do it. That's all." See, they were looking at the Amalekites. Joshua and Caleb was looking at the promise. That's the difference. Depends on what you're looking at (Numbers 13:26-33). Joshua said, "We're more than able to do it. We're more than able. Why," said, "they're only bread for us. Why, they look great. They are great. But we'll have great bread." Said, "God gave us the promise, and the fear of us is upon every one of them. Yet they differ with us; yet they're scared of us." Sure. Said, "The fear of the Lord's upon every one of them. They're scared to death of us." Said, "Let's go take it. God give it to us, so it's ours. Let's move on and take it" (Numbers 14:1-10).

Well, did you notice just before they got to the promised land, before they were to enter into the promised land, which would only been just a few days, ten or eleven days, maybe not that much, 'cause it was only forty-something miles. They would've went right on into the promised land; they'd come right up through every stage of the journey that we've walked. And they come over, crossed over the Red Sea; Pharaoh's army was drowned behind them. They were free from their enemies, started through the wilderness, and got to the edge of the promised land at Kadesh-Barnea, and there they failed (Numbers 13 + 14). Why? Why did they fail?
Now, Moses said to the ten tribes; he said, "He'll send a man out of each tribe to represent each tribe, to go spy out on the land to see what kind of a condition it was."

Now, if that isn't exactly your place, where you come. The church has come through justification through Luther, through sanctification through the Methodist, and now up to the time of the promise. The promise is the baptism of the Spirit, which is promised all through the Old Testament and New too, the promise: "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you..." (Luke 24:48-49). Peter said that on the day of Pentecost.

That is the Promise. The promised land is to live in this land of Holy Spirit. That's God's promise for the church, is to live in the power of the Spirit. It's another world; it's another land. You have to come out of the conditions that you been in, to come out to live in this promised land, to receive the promise. Remember the promise, "You shall receive power from on high, after this, the Holy Ghost is come upon you..." (Acts 1:8).

And Peter said that the promise that was made all down through the Testament, Old and New... You find promising on up, on up to that day of the Pentecost, and then they entered into the promise.

Remember, Joshua and Caleb was the only two out of that entire group of two and a half million people that went over into the promised land, because they went over in the promised land, and got the blessing, and come back. And they said, "We're able to take it, because God said so."
And there they stayed. Why? Now, all those people were looking at circumstances, but Joshua and Caleb was looking to what God said: "I have give you that land; go get it."

A real Christian fights for his position. He has to stand alone, him and God, and he fights every inch of ground, so you don't have to baby them around.

But now, on forward. Then did you notice Moses, that great miracle performer that brought down Israel down through the land, and brought them up to the promised land, but did not place their inheritance to them? He did not give them their inheritance; he led them up to the land, but Joshua divided the land to the people. Is that right? And Christ brought the church up to the place to where their possession was made to them, was given to them, just the Jordan to cross, but the Holy Spirit is the One Who sets the church in order, the Joshua of today puts the church in its order, giving to each one, gifts, places, position. And He is the Voice of God speaking to the inner man that Christ has saved: the Holy Spirit.

Now, do you get that much of it? Now, we're getting over into the Book of Ephesians. Now, the same way, He's positionally placing the church where they belong. Now, Joshua placed them in the natural land. Now, the Holy Spirit is placing the church positionally, in the position that they belong in, their inheritance.

Now, so the class won't forget it, how do we get in Christ? Do we join the church to get in Christ? Do we make a profession to get in Christ? Do we be immersed in water to get in Christ? How do we get in Christ? I Corinthians 12th chapter, "For by one Spirit (one, capital S-p-i-r-i-t, which is Holy Spirit.) we are all baptized into the promised land" (I Cor. 12:13).

In this promised land, everything belongs to us in the promised land. When Israel crossed over this Jordan into the promised land, fought down everything...

Now, remember, in this promised land, that don't mean that you are immune from sickness; that don't mean that you're immune from troubles. But it does spell this (Oh, let this sink deep.); it says this, that it's yours. Just rise and take it.

When we are in Christ, we have spiritual blessing. Outside of Christ we have sensations. In Christ we have positive blessings, not make-beliefs, not shams, not put-ons. But as long as you're trying to say that you're in the promised land, and are not, your sins will find you out. And the first thing you know, you'll find yourself floundering and all, as we'd call it in the world, gaumed up. You'll find out that you haven't got what you're talking about. But when you're in Christ Jesus, He's promised you heavenly peace, heavenly blessings, heavenly Spirit; everything is yours. You're in the promised land and in full possession of everything. Amen. How beautiful. Oh, let us study it.

Now, here's where the church stumbles so bad.

"According as he has chosen us in him..." In Who? Christ. (Eph. 1:3-7).
How did we get this? How do we know it? God, before the foundation of the world predestinated us. Who? Those that are in the promised land.
"... predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ... according to His good pleasure of his will,
To the praises of His glory... (That we might praise Him like He said. That's what He is, God, we want to praise Him.)... praises of His glory of his grace, wherein he has made us acceptable in the beloved. (In Christ we are accepted.) In whom we have redemption through the blood, the forgiveness of s-i-n-s..."

Now, remember, God predestinated you by foreknowledge, that you were coming to this. God, by foreknowledge, predestinated you to come to the promised land. What is the promised Land for the Christian today? "The promise is unto you and to your children, to them that are far off (Acts 2:39). And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, your sons and your daughters" (Acts 2:14-18). And in Isaiah 28:18, "Precept must be upon precept, line upon line; here a little, there a little; hold fast to that what's good. For with stammering lips and other tongues will I speak to this people. And this is the rest (This, the Rest) the sabbath land that I said that they should enter into. And, for all this, they would not hear, but they wagged their heads, and walked away, and wouldn't hear It." See? Exactly.

Look over in Hebrews 4:1-10, didn't he say another rest? God created the seventh day and gave them rest on the seventh day (Gen. 2:1-3). Another place he spoke of rest saying, "today in David..." Then He give them another Rest, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest." Enter into this rest (Matt. 11:28-30). For we which have entered into this rest have ceased from our works as God did from His on the sabbath. Certainly. There's your sabbath, rest. There's your real rest in this promised land.

There you are, entering into this promised land. How do we get into it? We are predestinated to it, the church, by the foreknowledge of God. Has been predestinated to what? To His honor, by His grace, to the glory and worship and glory of God. Papa, setting back there in the beginning, self-existent, nothing around Him, wanted something to worship, so He foreordained and predestinated a church, and before the foundation of the world, and put their names in the Lamb's Book of Life when they was slain before the foundation of the world, that they might appear to His glory and to His praises at the end of time, when will gather all things in that one Man, Christ Jesus. Whew. Glory. That's it. And that's it right there, my brother, sister. Don't you never move from that.

What makes them peculiar? You are a holy nation (I Peter 2:9-10). What have you done? Entered out of that land. You're over in another land. How did you get over there? That's the promised land. What kind of a promise? "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh" (Acts 2:14-18). By one Spirit we are all baptized into this one promised land. Amen. Brothers and sisters (Hallelujah.) with the purity of heart, no jealousy, no enmity, nothing... I don't care if a brother goes astray, no matter what he does, you'll go after him.

I went after a brother not long ago, had went astray. A young fellow said to me, said, "Let that rascal go. Let him alone." I said, "If I ever get to a place that my heart don't go with my brother, then it's time for me to go to the altar, because I've fallen from grace." I said, "I'll go as long as he's got breath in his body, and I'll catch him somewhere along the line." Yes, sir. And I caught him (Hallelujah.), brought him back. Yes, sir. He's back in the fold safely now. Yes, sir. He'd have went astray as sure as the world.

For Peter said, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins, for the promise is unto you (what promised land), and to your children, and to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

What happened (in Numbers 13 and 14)? I ask you. Now, I'm a typologist, and any man that knows the Bible is a typologist. Did one of those men ever hit that promised land? Not one of them. Who done it? Who went over there? Those who went first, come back, and said, "We can take it. We can have the Holy Ghost 'cause God said so."

"Peter said on the day of Pentecost, if I'd repent and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, I should receive the Holy Ghost, the promise is to me. I'm willing to do it. Mine, the promise is mine." You get it? Now, the promise is mine. I receive it; it's mine. Sure it is. They was the only ones (Acts 2:38-41).

They are like the children of Israel who came out of Egypt and stopped short of the Promised Land. Now those children of Israel left Egypt about two million strong. They all journeyed together, all saw the same miracles of God, all partook of the same manna and water from the smitten rock, all followed the same cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night but only two reached the Promised Land.Only two were true or real believers. That is correct because the Word tells us that the rest died because of unbelief; and because of unbelief they could not enter in (Hebrews 3:19). Then since that is so, and only two entered, then the rest were not true believers. What made the difference? Two stayed with the Word. When the hearts of the ten spies failed at Kadesh Barnea, Joshua and Caleb did not stagger for they believed the Word and said, "We are more than able to take the land." They knew they could because God had said, "I have given you the land." After all those Israelites saw of the power and goodness and deliverance of God they did not enter into rest, which is a type of the Holy Ghost. So you can see right now that very few will ever believe all the way to receiving the Spirit of God.

Now let us stand like Joshua and Caleb. Our promised land is coming in sight even as theirs did. Now Joshua means "Jehova- Savior", and he represents the end-time leader that will come to the church even as Paul came as the original leader. Caleb represents those that stayed true with Joshua. Remember, God had started Israel as a virgin with His Word. But they wanted something different. So did the last day church.

Notice how God did not move Israel, or let her go into the promised land until it was His own appointed time. Now the people might have put pressure on Joshua, the leader, and said, "The land is ours, let's go and take it. Joshua, you are all through, you must have lost your commission, you don't have the power you used to have. You used to hear from God and know the will of God, and act quickly. Something is wrong with you." But Joshua was a God-sent prophet and he knew the promises of God, so he waited for them. He waited for a clear cut decision from God and when the time came to move, God placed the full leadership in Joshua's hands because he had stayed with the Word. God could trust Joshua but not the others. So it will repeat in this end day. The same problem, the same pressures.

Predestinated before the foundation of the earth to adoption of sons, predestinated to Eternal Life. Now, after you come into Eternal Life, after you been saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Spirit, you're sons. Now, God wanting to place you positionally, oh, so that you can work for His Kingdom and His glory.

That's the Gospel. Being first, hear the Word, "Repent, be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins." Taking away all your sins, calling on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the promised land... The promise is unto every sojourner that's on your road. If you left your home tonight, a sinner, saying, "I'll walk over to the Tabernacle," God gives you the opportunity tonight. There's one thing lays between you and the promised Land. What is the promised Land? The Holy Ghost. What laid between Joshua and the promised land was the Jordan. Exactly right.
Moses, being a type of Christ, led the children up to the promised land; then Moses did not take the children in the promised land. Joshua took the people in and divided up the land. Jesus paid the price, led them up to the Holy Spirit. God sent the Holy Spirit down, and He positionally put the church in order, each man,filling him with the Presence of His Being. You see what I mean? All in Christ Jesus, how God predestinated this to the calling of this Gospel.

Paul, Galatians 1:8, said, "If an Angel come preach anything else, let him be accursed." The Truth, the Gospel... Now, listen close as we read on, finishing the verse.

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13).

And remember, the sin that Israel did (by Balaam saying they're all the same), that sin never was forgiven Israel (Numbers 25:1-9). And look; let me give you a striking figure; out of two million that left Egypt, two of them went into the promised land. Every one of them eat the same thing; they all danced in the Spirit; they all had everything in common. But when it come to the separating time, the Word done the separating. So is it today. Word done the separating. When it come time, he said, "Why, here, we're..."
All them Israelites, after they had seen Moses perform that and brought them right up to the great council, where it was to be held, every one of them said, "We'll go with Balaam, because we think Dr. Balaam's right. He's smarter, more educated, everything, so we'll just take it."

And God never did forgive them. He destroyed them right there in the wilderness. And Jesus said, Himself, "They'll never come; there's none of them saved."

They said, "Our fathers eat manna in the wilderness for forty years."
He said, "They're every one dead (eternally separated from God). They're every one dead." Certainly. Because they listened to an error. When Moses a-vindicated of God and a leader to show them the way to the promised land, and they had come so far all right, but then they wouldn't go along with him.

Now, believers can see it, but unbelievers cannot see that vindicated.

As Moses called a nation out of a nation, Christ today is calling a church out of a church, the same thing in type, taking them to the glorious eternal promised land.

But here comes Moses, a faithful servant who esteemed the reproach of Christ greater treasures than all the riches of Egypt (Heb. 11:23-27). He come to the end of the road, an old man, a hundred and twenty years old; walked up on the mountain, and he knowed that death laid before him, and he looked over into the promised land (Deut. 34). And he looked, laying there by his side, there was his Leader, the Rock. He stepped upon the Rock, and the Angels of God packed him away into the glory of glory of God, into the bosoms of God. Why? Eight hundred years later, he was still being led by his Leader (St.Matthew 17:1-8).

And God never did deal with Israel till she come to her homeland. Hear me. THUS SAITH THE LORD, God will not deal with His Church till She comes back to the Homeland, the Message of the hour. Come back to the original. Get awayfrom your Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian ideas, your Pentecostal, Assemblies, oneness, threeness, and fiveness, whatever it is, Church of God, Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, Church of Christ: all antichrist movements. And I realize this strikes the world. All wrong, all of the devil... There's godly men in every one of them, godly people in every one of them movements, but the organization in itself is not of God, and God will never bless it. He never has done it.

No matter how long you've been a Christian, do you still got those little old spirits that talk to you, makes you fly loose, makes you talk about somebody? When somebody comes up and goes to speaking about somebody else, you join right in with them and oh, just run them down? That's wrong, brother; don't do that. That'll finally keep you out of the promised land. If you just got that little old things that you oughtn't to have, if the love of God really isn't in your heart, won't you, walk up and say, "God, right here I'm going to dump it out, right here. I'm going away from this altar a different person." Would you come?

Reference:
"Questions And Answers" (59-1223), COD-Book pg. 508, Q-No. 106 / "Presuming" (62-0408), par. 32-39
"Questions And Answers" (61-1015M), COD-Book pg. 659-660, Q-No. 152
"Manifested Sons Of God" (Adoption Part II), par. 19, 31-36, 103, 124, 129, 132, 140-142, 196
"Position In Christ" (Adoption Part III), par. 189, 202 / "Perseverance" (Vol.19 No.9), par. 94
"Smyrnaean Church Age", CAB pg. 148 / "Pergamean Church Age", CAB pg. 172
"Adoption Or Placing" (Adoption Part IV), par. 112-114
"Modern Events Made Clear By Prophecy" (Vol.7 No.6), par. 124, 178-182
"Leadership" (Vol.7 No.7), par. 141, 279 / "Gabriel's Instructions To Daniel", par. 133
"Children In The Wilderness" (47-1123), par. E-28 / "Enticing Spirits" (55-0724), par. 135

Spiritual Building-Stone No. 104 from the Revealed Word of this hour, compiled by: Gerd Rodewald, Friedenstr. 69, D-75328 Schömberg, Germany
Phone: (+49) 72 35 76 13, Fax: (+49) 72 35 33 06

There's coming one with a Message that's straight on the Bible, and quick work will circle the earth. The seeds will go in newspapers, reading material, until every predestinated Seed of God has heard It.
[Bro. Branham in "Conduct-Order-Doctrine", pg. 724]