<TITLE>08. Par 69-79</TITLE>L-69 He elected Abraham. And that was the very beginning of our salvation that was given to man when He called him, and elected him, and predestinated him, and give him a promise, and made a covenant with Abraham and his seed forever. Now, we could go ahead here and read a full chapter in that, but we haven't the time.
Now, God called. Watch, when He called Abraham here, He called him by election. Not because he was; because God was. And He called him out of his people, and blessed him, and told him that "I'm going to save you." And on down here, He says, "And you shall come to Me in a ripe old age." Before he done anything to deserve it, God chose him, told him. "And not only you, but your seed after you..." Oh, my. Notice. "And he returned..." The nine--8th verse. Now, let's read on down here a little farther on this other thing.
So Abraham departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance...

L-70 Now, watch, he did right there what God told him not to do; he took Lot his nephew, and Abraham took his daddy. But He never told him to take his daddy, but he took him anyhow. And any Bible reader, you read this in Genesis tomorrow when you have time. Notice that it was a fly in the ointment, until the old man died. He was a stumbling block all the way along, and so was Lot; God called Abraham, not Lot. He called Abraham, not his daddy.
Well, you say, "What about Sarah?" A man and his wife are one. See? "They are one flesh," the Bible said so. All right.

L-72 But He called Abraham and asked him, and told him to separate himself from all he had, and to come over into a strange land.
Look, a separation... Going in a strange land that you know nothing about, that's Christianity, separating from the things of the world, because God has called you, going into another land, to dwell among people that you know nothing about, to be a pilgrim. Amen. When I think of it, I can just hardly hold myself down: Pilgrim, stranger.
Old Jacob in dying, standing before Pharaoh, he said, "I have been so many years in my pilgrimage." Amen. What was he? He begin to come to himself. The little fellow had done so bad. He knew that he was only a pilgrim here. Now, notice.

L-75 We come on down to the 8th verse, and God promises Abraham here how He's going to save him and his seed after him. Now, He made the covenant, unconditional. It isn't just exactly that He made it just because that he was--that he was Abraham. He didn't say, "Now, Abraham, if you will do this, if you will do that." He said, "Abraham, I have done it already. It ain't nothing you've got to do. I've done it, Myself." Amen. Oh, my, when I think of that. God did it Himself, unconditional. God's covenant is unconditional.

L-76 You say, "Well, brother, I quit eating meat. I don't do this. I..." Brother that don't have one thing to do with it. It isn't whether you eat meat or don't eat meat, or keep Sabbath days or new moons, or whether you go to Sunday school on Sunday, or what this is. You are saved, unconditional.
Then you say, "Brother Branham, then if I'm saved, glory to God, I can do what I want to." Yes, sir. And if you're saved, brother, you have no desire of nothing of the world. And your whole heart's centered on that, you can't keep away from it. But as long as there's a tug there, you know there's something wrong yet.
Now, election, God called Abraham, told him He was going to save him, unconditional.

L-79 Now, let's go over here after the promise got a little later. I want you to go to Genesis 15:7 with me, here just a moment, and let's read here just for a few moments. All right.
And the Lord said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of Chaldea, and give unto thee this land to inherit it.
And he said, Lord GOD, wherein shall I know that I shall inherit it?


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