The Benefits of the Son of
God no. 1
Manifested to Destroy the works of the devil
Rev.
Brian Kocourek
This morning I would like to begin a mini series concerning
the benefits of the Revelation of the Doctrine of Christ. In this series I wish
to speak concerning the Revelation of Christ which concerns the understanding
of the relationship between the Father and the Son, and I wish to show during
this series the benefits associated with our belief in the Son of God and the
benefits of understanding the relationship between the Father and His Son. I
consider this mini series an extension of the Parables of Christ because Jesus
told us that He spoke in parables so that those who were not ordained to
understand will not understand and God then must convert them and be obligated
to heal them.
So we will be looking this morning at the Role of
the Son of God and the benefits that we receive from believing and understanding
that relationship between the Father and His Son.
Now, there are 46 times in the new Testament and 1
time in the Old Testament that the term “Son of God” is used.
There are many hundreds
more references in the Scriptures, both Old Testament and New Testament where
the Son of God is referred to. But for this study today we will simply focus on
those 46 New Testament Scriptures.
I would like to begin
with 1 John 3 and verse 8 since this Scripture speaks of the purpose of the Son
of God becoming manifested to us.
1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is
of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. (Now,
we know that sin is unbelief for, For Jesus told us Himself in John 16:9 that
they sin because they believe not, and William Branham taught us that smoking
and drinking is not sin, but attributes of unbelief. He said we do those things
because we do not believe. Therefore John continues on this thought that sin is
from the devil, and says,) For this purpose the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Now, before we go any further, we should look at
this statement, because it is of utmost importance to us. He said, For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil. Now, this statement tells us that
the reason the Son of God became manifested to us is for the purpose of
destroying the works of the devil. So we must ask our selves what works? What
are the devil’s works?
Now the word “works” here is translated from the
Greek word “Ergon” which speaks of the deeds, or employment of the individual.
And we know that the works of the hand is only an expression of the mind.
Remember concerning the mark of the beast, the mark in the hand is the works of
the hand, and the mark in the forehead is the thoughts in the mind. Therefore
we find that Jesus purpose for
manifestation Himself was to destroy those works of the devil.
Now, knowing the word “works” speaks of expression
of the mind through the actions of the hands, or the actions of the individual,
we must ask ourselves what are these works of the devil? Now, we get our
explanation from John Himself if we continue to read.
I JOHN 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;
(the word commit means to initiate, therefore Whosoever is born of God doth not initiate sin…In
other words, you don’t go looking for it. ) for his seed (that’s God’s Seed) remaineth in him:
and he cannot sin (disbelieve), because he is born
of God. 10 In this (in what?
In this ability to believe or disbelieve are) the children of God are manifest, and the
children of the devil: whosoever doeth
not right- wise -ness is not of
God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Now, we are getting down to the meet of what John
is telling us here. Notice in the next verse what John says. 11 ¶ For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another. 12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one,(notice, John is
telling us that Cain was not from Adam, because Adam was a Son of God. So who
is that wicked one? It is the devil himself, and notice that if every seed must
bring forth after it’s own kind or nature according to Genesis 1:11, then John
immediately tells us the attributes that clarified who Cain’s father was. He
says,) and slew
his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Now, what were the evil works that Cain did? Notice he tells us that Cain slain his
brother BECAUSE his works were evil. It does not say the slaying was the evil
work although it is evil, but he is telling us here that the slaying was a
result of the evil works. So what were these evil works of Cain?
Well, to find our answer we must first know what God
considers to be the works of God. Because if we know what the works of God are
then we will know what is not the works of God and rather are the works of the
devil.
JOHN 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which
endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for
him hath God the Father sealed. 28
¶ Then said they unto him, What
shall we do, that we might work the
works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Now, if the works of God are to believe on Him whom
God sends, then the evil works of the devil is to get the people to disbelieve
the one God sends. It’s just that simple, and that is exactly what the serpent
did to Eve, and that is exactly what Cain did.
Paul tells us in the Book of Hebrews chapter 11 and
verse 4 that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than that of
Cain. Now, it did not say Cain’s sacrifice was not excellent, but rather Abel’s
sacrifice was More excellent. And if Abel’s sacrifice was more excellent, then
Cain’s had to be excellent. And the works of both Cain and Abel was a
reflection of their revelation. Cain offered an excellent sacrifice and yet it
was not accepted by God. It was a correct sacrifice, and a Biblical sacrifice
because it was the sacrifice of the first fruits. It was the sacrifice of the
harvest as we see in Deuteronomy 26.
DEUTERONOMY 26:1 ¶ And it shall be, when thou
[art] come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an
inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the
fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God
giveth thee, and shalt put [it] in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which
the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there. 3 And thou shalt go
unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this
day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware
unto our fathers for to give us. 4 And the priest shall take the basket out of
thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.
Now, notice that Cain did not do this. He took it
Himself and presented it to the Lord Himself. He did not go to the mediator, He
tried to go direct. And yet His brother Abel went to God with the Lamb as an
atonement. Abel, knew that without the shedding of blood there is no remission
of sin. Heb 9:22.
And without atonement, how dare we try to enter
into the presence of God.
So you see, Cain’s sacrifice was a “first fruit
offering,” and that speaks of a resurrection offering, but how could you look
to the resurrection without forgiveness and atonement for your sin first?
In fact if you will notice that Cain was looking
for resurrection without atonement. In Genesis
GENESIS 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he (God) had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 ¶ And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen? 7 If thou doest well,(if thou doest that
which is right)
shalt thou not be accepted? (Now why was it important for God to
tell Him, if thou doest that which is right? Because God’s Word tells us He
that doeth righteousness is righteous. In other words, he that doeth right is
right, and he that doeth what is right shows that he is rightly wise. In other
words, if Cain did what was right then it would have showed that he was
righteous, or rightly wise. But there was error in what he did, because it was
out of season. But God also told him,) and if thou doest not well, (if you do not do
what is right, then) sin (or unbelief) lieth at the door. (why, because if
you know to do right and you do not do it, it is iniquity. And the Lord
continued,) And
unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. (Now
notice what took place next. After God gives correction to Cain for his
unbelief, he goes to talk with his brother.) 8 ¶ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: (Now,
notice this word talked comes from a Hebrew word which means to boast. After
being rejected by God and told that he did offer a right Word but he did not
divide that word correctly He goes and brags to his brother and) and it came to
pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother,
and slew him.
Now, notice it was something that was said in that
conversation that caused Cain to become to angry with Abel that he slain His
brother. And that brings us back to 1 John 3 again.
I JOHN 3:8 He that committeth sin is
of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy
the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin;
Whosoever is born
of God doth not initiate sin, for his seed (God’s Seed) remaineth in him:
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and
the children of the devil: whosoever doeth
not right- wise -ness is not of
God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Now, we are getting down to the meat of what John
is telling us here. Notice in the next verse what John says. 11 ¶ For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, (notice, John is telling
us that Cain was not from Adam, because Adam was a Son of God. So who is that
wicked one? It is the devil himself, and notice that if every seed must bring
forth after it’s own kind or nature according to Genesis 1:11, then John
immediately tells us the attirubutes that identified who Cain’s father was. He
says,) and slew
his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Now, in getting back to I JOHN 3:8 He that
committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
So thus far we have found that the works of the
devil is to keep us from the Truth or from the True Revelation of Christ.
In Matthew
And in Matthew 23:5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make
broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6 And love
the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 And
greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 8 But be not
ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, [even] Christ; and all ye are
brethren.
And By His manifesting Himself through His Son, God
interpreted His Own Word concerning Himself to us. For God interprets His Own
Word by bringing it to pass.
Now, we know that Jesus came and manifested Himself
to us to destroy the works of the devil, and if the works
of God is to believe him whom God has sent, then the works of
the devil is to prevent us from believing him whom God has sent.
I CORINTHIANS
Now, what does it mean the day shall declare a
man’s works? Well, if the works is to believe on him whom God has sent, then
the works of the day is to believe the one that is sent for your day.
But if the devil’s work is to get you to not
believe that one for the day in which you live, then 13 Every
man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it. In
other words, the day will declare whether you believe the one sent in your day
or not, and every man’s work which is his doctrine will testify whether he
truly believes that one or not.
Now, I know that there are nearly a couple million
people in this world that claim they believe the One that God sent for this
hour, but it is very evident that they don’t because they deny the doctrine he
taught us. And let’s face it, Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the
devil, and that means that He Christ, was manifested to make known to us the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which is the doctrine of Christ. And thus the
manifestation of Christ in this hour to the true believer will bring that true
believer to an understanding of the Godhead, and the Revelation of Jesus
Christ.
It will not point us to the Bride. It will not
focus the pre-eminence upon a Bride, but will simply point to the manifestation
of Christ in our presence, and bring it back to the doctrine of Christ as John
taught us and Paul taught us and as william Branham taught us in this
hour. There is one God and He had a Son.
You see, Paul tells us in GALATIANS 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ,(and since Br. Branham taught us that Faith is a
Revelation, then Paul is speaking of the revelation of Christ here. ) Knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the (Revelation) of Christ, and not
by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified.
So we see the works of God is to believe the one
that He sends, and the works of the devil is to get your mind focused on other
works so you do not believe the one that God sends.
So we see in GALATIANS
Isaiah 28:9 “Who is it he is trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to
those just taken from the breast? 10 For with them it is: Do and do, do and do,
rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there." 11 Very well
then, with foreign lips and strange tongues (that’s
the
Notice we are told that because they will not rest
in the Word, the word becomes unto them rules and regulation taught by the
precepts of man, and they will go into works programs instead of believing the
teaching which is the doctrine of the one God sends. And because they do not
walk in the spirit, they will walk in the flesh, and their works programs will
only lead them to manifest the works of the flesh.
And again in GALATIANS
Now, brother Branham taught us that the works of
the flesh only come after we have first thought them in our minds. And the
Apostle Paul tells us the same thing.
COLOSSIANS 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his
flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in
his sight:
Notice Paul tells us we had become alienate to
Christ by the works in our minds. Those are the same works that the devil would
have you to do, and that is simply to not focus on the teaching of the one that
God sends. Because if you do not focus on the one that God sent, then you will
focus on yourself. And that will thus bring the works of the mind into
manifestation and into the works of the flesh manifested.
I have warned the people here locally for years
that this Word that God has given us is a Light that will bring into manifestation
what is really in your heart. And I warned the brothers in
In the Epistle of TITUS
And this same Apostle Paul said, II CORINTHIANS
Now, notice he said, they are deceitful workers,
and whose end shall be according to their works. And what are there works? They
will not believe him whom God has sent. But they will use his words to focus on
self. They will preach Bride, Bride, Bride, and all the while they will refuse
the one that Bought them.
1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is
of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy
the works of the devil.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested
that He might destroy the works of the devil which works are to keep you from believing him whom God has sent.
And how does the devil
do that? By getting you to focus on self, or on something other than Jesus
Christ. I was shocked when I heard the brothers from
And when I heard that testimony, I was shocked. I told
brother Lloyd the other night, I said, “I can’t imagine anyone called to preach
the gospel who would not teach the people about Jesus Christ? And he said, well
that’s right, and you said it, when you said Those that are called. So it’s
very apparent that those men who have gone and have not preached Jesus Christ
are not called. And I guess that is the only explanation I can think of. These
are men running without a message, because there is only One Message at the
End-Time and that is Behold the Bridegroom is here, come out to meet Him.
Now, the brothers in
Uganda testified also to the brothers in Congo that they have had a great
revival among the people because they are spending many days going to the
districts and teaching the brothers for week long meetings, and the do not
leave until they are sure the brothers are solid in the teaching. And then
immediately after they go home and testify what God has done for the brothers
in that district, the ministers of satan who oppose the doctrine of Christ go
to those districts and try to undo everything that these brothers have done,
just like the parable Jesus told of the sower in black following the sower in
white.
But these men when they
arrive think they can manipulate these brothers by fear but come into great
opposition because when they come behind the truth, they are met by brothers
who have been faithfully taught and are solid in the doctrine, and who look
them into the eyes and say, you are not saying what the prophet said, therefore
you are false. So we se this morning the
first in our mini series the importance of understanding the revelation of
Jesus Christ because he was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and
the devil has been at work right here in this message working through his own
ministers who have impersonated the ministers of Christ but have taken the
people further into darkness and away from the glorious light of the Presence
of Christ.