Christ Revealed in His Own Word #132

Christ Revealed in His Own Word #134

With all thine might #2

Sunday, September 8, 1997

Brian Kocourek, Pastor Grace Fellowship

[James 2:14-16] Prayer 161 Do you see Him now in His Word and all of His Word made manifest right here before us? Oh, church of the living God, get to your feet; believe Him with all that's in you. Hold to that little Wheel in the middle of the Wheel; let It stabilize every move and every motion that you make. Every thought that you have, may it be controlled by this Power on the inside of you, because God is setting right in His Word of this hour in the evening Light, showing forth the Light.

This Morning I would like to again look at this statement that brother Branham mentions in this paragraph because he said, “Believe Him with all that's in you.”

In [Deuteronomy 6] we read, The Lord our God is One Lord- the Only Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind and heart and with your entire being, and with all your might. And these words which I am commanding you this day, shall be first in your own heart, then you shall teach and impress them diligently upon the minds and hearts of your children, and you shall talk of them when sit at home and when you walk along the road, and when you lie down and when you get up. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and your gates. “

Now, remember, we are looking at what Brother Branham said here in paragraph 161, Believe Him with all that's in you,” and so we must ask the question, what does it mean to believe Him with all that is within you? _____. Does it mean that it’s OK to believe him in the things that you agree with Him on, and on other things, it’s ok to disagree? Does it mean that we can pick and choose what we want to believe? I don’t think so. In [Mark 12:30], Jesus said, And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. And so if we do not Love the Lord with all of our heart, and soul, and mind, and strength then we have not even arrived at believing the first commandment, much less the other ten. Now, what does it mean to love the Lord with all, A.L.L. your heart, And what does Jesus mean when he says we should love from the heart. Doesn’t the heart represent our understanding? So then we should love the Lord with all of our understanding. And then what does He mean by Loving the Lord your God with all of your soul? well, your Soul is who you are. It is your vital force, it is your life, the life within you that animates your body and governs all your senses, both your inner five senses and your outer five senses. So when Jesus is telling us to love the Lord with all of our soul, He is telling us that we must love the Lord with all that we possess in our person, and with all that we might bring forth as an expression or ourselves through our body.

And, remember, He also said, we are to “love the Lord with all our mind.” This then tells us that there are things which we need to think about and learn. This Love is not just something that comes natural and instinctive, but since the mind is involved, then we must knowingly understand what this love is, and why we must love. John tells us that we love Him because He first loved us. And finally we see Jesus telling us that we are to love the Lord with all of our strength. That means with all of our ability. Now, let’s face it, some people are blessed with more ability to Love than others. And we know that we are all given a certain measure of Faith and a certain measure of Grace, and so then the Faith and Grace that we possess is a measured thing. It is not without measure. And since we read in [1 Cor 13:13] , that the greatest of faith hope and love is Love, then we understand that our love is really an outward expression of our revelation. And notice that the word for Love here is expressed as charity. Now the word is Agape, but it is expressed as charity because as the word charity it expresses more than a mere emotion. But also a giving of oneself for the purpose of helping. Seeing a need and then doing something about it.

[Eph 4:7] & [Rom 12: 1-6] So then we must understand that what God has given us is according to what He has doled out to us in a measure, and what we have been given we are held responsible for, and expected to mister unto the saints in that same measure as to what we have been given. Therefore, we are not expected to meet another persons standards, but the standard we have is what God Himself has given to us. Now, we read in [Mark 12:30] that we are to Love the Lord with all of our heart, or understanding, with all of our soul and vitality or all that we are, and to love Him with all of our mind, and with all of our strength. But something’s missing because this is 4 things and God doesn’t deal in 4’s,

He deals in three’s five’s and seven’s. Remember the fourth dimension is where cancer and sickness come from and that is also where television and radio waves travel through. But Jesus did tell us that there is a fifth thing that we must do to show our love to the Lord. In [Luke 10:27], He said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.

And if we are not willing to do this then we do not fully love the Lord as He commanded us to do.

John said in [I John 3:11-18], For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. He doesn’t just tell us that we must have love, but he shows us also how that love is to be directed. He said, Love One another. And then he tells us how this love should not be done. He says, 3:12 Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Now, what does John mean, our love should not be as Cain’s Love. What did Cain do that John would say this? Well, John tells us that He slew his brother, and when God asked Cain about his brother’s well being, he answered, “How, should I know, am I my brother’s Keeper?” And so, John lays out for us the way we are not supposed to act. Then if we are not to be this way, then we are to be what? “our brothers keeper.” Now, the world will not like this teaching, but don’t worry John says, in verse 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. Like Jesus said to Peter, “What is that to thee, follow thou me.”

In other words, don’t fuss with them over this, just do what God has shown as His example, and then leave the rest up to God. Notice in verse 14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death. Now, what does it mean to love our brethren? We use the term Love so loosely that I wonder sometimes if we really know what it means to Love. Brother Vayle went to brother Branham one time because he wanted prayer for his quick trigger temper, and he told brother Branham this. He said, Brother Bill, I don’t have any love in my heart, and I know that I am lacking in this, and brother Branham stopped brother Vayle right quick and said, “Lee, you do have love and you do show love”. And Lee said, what do you mean brother Branham? And Brother Branham said, “Lee, do you do things for people and for the Lord that you wouldn’t ordinarily do, but you do them because it is right to do?” And Lee said, Yes, all the time. And brother Branham said, That is Love.” And this word Love, is the word Agape which means a self sacrificial giving of oneself. In other words, This Love does not look on it’s own needs, but it looks on the needs of others.

[Phil 2:4-8] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself , and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus Christ the Same 55-0116E For any man that would have anything good and keep it himself and wouldn't divide it with someone else, is selfish. And that's not the Christian attitude. We must be willing to help others, and see that others gets the same blessing that we're getting.

Now, here is our example. God Himself, took upon Him flesh, and in that flesh came to serve, and that is what God has called us to do as well to one another. And without having a servants heart, we can not say that we love our brethren. He said, let this mind be in you that was in Christ. And we know through our studies that this word mind here is a word that is also translated attitude. Let this attitude that was in Christ be in you. And what is this attitude? It is an unselfish love which prefers your brother before your own self.

John went on to say in verse 16 Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren. Here John is telling us that Love is more than just mere words and feelings, or emotions. . We say I love you but we really don’t unless we have the same self sacrificial love that Jesus had. He said, Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.

Now what does he mean by this. That we should lay down our life for our brother? Well, our answer is in the next verse. 17 But Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? Now, that’s a good question, and that’s a pretty strong statement to make, but that is “Thus Saith the Lord,” any way! Then John lays out the key to this love in verse 18, “ My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” So, then he is telling us that without some sort of deed which reflects Truth, our love is not God’s Love. Then, how do we show our Love. By doing what I asked of you to do Wednesday night. By giving of ourselves to those in need until it hurts. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God. 22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. So, if your Spirit that is in you says AMEN to this then you know that you have peace with God and confidence that He will answer your needs.

Now, Wednesday night I spoke on this paragraph 161 and I don’t think you caught what I was trying to say. Perhaps it was the manner in which I said it, but I don’t really know for sure, because it could not have been what I said that you disagree with, because after all, the truth is the truth. But I tried to show you that our own customs and traditions are the things that are keeping us from receiving our real blessings. And as long as we are focused upon our own selves then we do not have the attitude that was in Christ Jesus. And remember, one day we will be like those people who are waiting on the other side that are no longer in these bodies of death. we will have a wonderful spirit that is longing to live and do for one another.

[40 God’s Only Provided Place of Worship 65-1128M] I believe the church is begin to hear the message, and beginning to understand. But, friends, listen, we've got to lay in the Presence of the Son; we've got to be ripened. Our faith isn't ripe.( So what has to become ripe? Our Faith!) Intellectually we're hearing the message that God has give us, and seeing the signs that He showed us, and proving it by the Bible as that; but, oh, how the church needs to lay in His Presence till it tenders up, you know, and gets sweet in the Spirit so that it can bathe down. ( And how does that come about? He answers by saying). Sometimes in speaking the message, you get harsh, have to break it in like that, because you've got to clinch a nail to make it hold. But when the church once gets it, the Elected is called out and separated then in the Presence of God, I know it'll be something like the people was there when it takes its rapture. So, he tells us that sometimes that word has got to be hit pretty hard, but if we get what is being offered, it will produce in us something that nothing else can produce. And it will not come any other way. That word must be nailed down. We’ve got to have the correction of the word, or we might just as well go back to the denominational churches. And it is the clenching of the nail, it is the final blow that clenches the nail, and without it there could not be that sweet spirit among the people.

Now, isn’t that a statement. The harder the word is preached the more conviction it produces, and the more conviction it produces the softer the vessel becomes. Don’t harden yourselves against what I am bringing forth here. If you throw a stone down the alley and you here no sounds, then you know that there is nothing going on down there. But if you throw that stone and you here all kinds of noise, then you know you are honing in on something. And brother Branham said the nail has to be clenched to do you any good. But he also said from [20-23 Unveiling of God 64-0614M] . “Sometimes We have to say things in such a way, that it might thin down, it might bring some to go out, some to leave, and some to ponder over. But that's done purposely. It must be done that way. Then it might be that some would say, "You mean God would purposely do a thing like that?" He certainly did. He does yet.”

So, just let go and let God have His perfect way in your life. If you are doing all that you can to help one another, with the measure that God has given to you, then what else could God expect?

But as I said Wednesday night, many times, we allow our own personal customs or traditions to keep us from receiving all that God has for us. 105 Events made Clear by Prophecy 65-0801E Blinded by man's traditions, they put Him out, the Word out of their churches, as usual, as prophesied of them. And brother Branham is speaking about Laodicea. He says they are blinded by their traditions and thus put the word outside the church. We must come to the place where our own little ways of life are not important in the complete picture of God’s Eternal plan.

Mighty God unveiled 64-0629 The Mercy Seat was in plain view of all Israel on that day of the Atonement. But alas, the traditions of the church fathers in that day had, by their traditions, had veiled the true Mercy Seat from the people. If they would've knowed the Scripture, each piece would've come like the Chinese tag. The Old Testament prophecy would've been fulfilled, and it was. And if they'd been taught the Scripture, they would've seen the Mercy Seat. ...Yet it's in plain view of those who believe. He hid the Word, the promised Word of this day. 17-3 But still it's veiled. It's veiled not to the believer, but to the unbeliever; he cannot see it. God always veils Himself from the unbeliever. Traditions hide it. Like they did then, they do it today. That was a spiritual veil that we have now, where the natural veil was there. So we see that traditions actually hide the truth from view.

[John 16:7-9] So sin is unbelief.

[1 Cor 15:56] And if the strength of sin which is unbelief is the law, then what is this law that would give strength to our unbelief? This word Law is the Greek word nomis which means our traditions or customs. That is why beholding His Presence will cause us to cast down our traditions and creeds which hold us back. [1 John 5:17] Therefore, we find that what encourages unbelief to foster and grow is the fact that through traditions and custom, wrong teaching is encouraged, because we are so used to doing things a certain way, that when God’s Word comes along and brings forth correction, instead of taking the correction by the Word, we become hardened because after all, we’ve always done it this way, we are no longer flexible to change and when we don’t take the correction of the Word, God’s Spirit just moves right on out. Science proved recently through a study of some 900 men, that those men who are least willing to make changes in their life are also those with the highest amount of hardening of the arteries. Therefore, when a person hardens their heart toward God, expect a hardening of their arteries as well.

Mighty Conqueror 58-0110 We'll never conquer as long as we're selfish.

Believest Thou This 50-0115 Elisabeth seen Mary coming, no doubt they run out and begin to greet each other, hug each other, like women used to do, meet each other, smile, be friendly. I tell you, that's what's a whole lot the matter with the people today. They're not friendly like they used to be. The people has got too selfish, got to a place where they think they live in a little world by themself. You know that's the truth. Why, you know it used to be out on the farm, when one of the neighbors would get sick, we'd go out and do their work, and cut the wood and bring it in. And now, you don't know your neighbor's dead unless you read it in the paper. That's right. Selfish... 32 And the people pass down the street, used to, why, we'd grab a hold of one another's hands and shake their hands like that, saying, "How are you, brother?" And today when they pass on the street, they give a little silly grin, throw their head up in the air. Oh, my. No wonder the love's gone. ... "Because the iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold," said Jesus in Matthew's the 24th chapter. That's true.

Resurrection of Lazarus 51-0729A A long time ago when we use to run out of money, we'd go over to the neighbor and borrow fifty dollars to hold us over. Why, we didn't have to sign any notes. We trusted one another. You can't borrow five dollars now without a ten dollar security on top of it. That's right. No love... The Bible said, "Because the love shall wax cold the--the love... Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." That's what the matter with the world. They're dying for love. We got plenty of teaching, plenty churches, but we need a love of God. Hallelujah.

Q & A 54-0103M You don't find that no more. What's the matter? The Spirit of God is withdrawed. Jesus said, predicted this, that the love... because the love of many... the love would fail. "That because iniquity would abound, the love of many would fail." See? See, grow cold, go away... The love is dying away. And what they got into, just a form; beat the piano up-and-down real hard, and holler "Glory to God. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord." See, like that, it's just a form. Don't fool yourself (See?), just to fool yourself. See, doesn't matter until we... I go like this, I'm talk... Now, I'm not talking about our Tabernacle; I'm talking about what I find around the United States. It's become just a form, just kind of acting what we used to have. And that travail of soul, it's just about over. O brother, sister, God, have mercy on us, well, God have mercy.

At Thy Word A person who lives their life for theirself, lives a selfish life. We must live for others: "Bear ye one another's burdens so fill full the law of Christ." And we got to have a feeling for one another. And therefore, when you do all you know how to do, then when you do lay down at night, well, you have the consolation knowing that you tried your best. I can't make everyone believe. That's impossible. Jesus couldn't do that when He was on earth. And I know there'll just be a few that believes. But if anything I can add to help the Gospel, that's my duty of being here, is to try to help somebody along the way.

Faith in the Son of God 52-0715 So each day I want to live, not for myself. If I live for myself, I live a selfish life. I want to live for others, and give what strength I have, not to myself, and to my own pleasure, but for the benefit of others, that'll build the Kingdom of God.

Spiritual Inspiration 56-0128 I said the first thing that I always try to find out,.. was whether it was God's will or not to do a certain thing and then test my motive towards doing it. If I have no selfishness, nothing, and I know it's God's will and I'm doing it for that purpose because it is His will, He won't fail you then. But if it's His will and you got a selfish motive in it, it's just the same as not being His will, because it won't work. But when all the lines are clear (See?), and they're is ringing through clear, all things are possible then to them that believe.

As the eagle Stirreth You have to come with the right kind of an approach to God. If you come selfish, if you come in any other approach but the right mental attitude towards God, or any Divine gift, you'll never receive any benefits from it. You've got to come with your surrendered all to God.

[Phil 2:4-8] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself , and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

[Matt 25:34-46] Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.