Christ Revealed in His Own Word #142

The Waters of Life

Sunday, October 12, 1997

Brian Kocourek, Pastor Grace Fellowship

 

 

This morning we shall be winding down our study of this Great Message of “Christ Revealed in His Own Word”, which  we have spent the past 142 sermons  (a period of  19 months) which means we have been drinking from the same fountain of Life for well over a year and a half, and it still seems to me as though each sermon preached is as fresh as the first one. Each drink is as cool and refreshing as the last one. Now, if we were to look into this Message again, I am sure there are a great many more things we might find that we perhaps left undone our first time through and that just goes to show you that this Word is Eternal and therefore, It is ever living, and ever bringing forth New, Refreshing, Life regenerating Revelation to our needful souls and hearts. In fact speaking of a living water that refreshes our hearts, it reminds me of “the hart that panteth after the waterbrooks”, that we read of in the scripture.  Every time it comes for a new drink of that cool refreshing water, it feels as though that last drink was the best drink ever. And each time it dips it’s lips toward that Life giving stream, it drinks in as much as it can and yet there is still plenty more for others to drink again and again. That is the beauty of living water. It’s source is hidden and seems to be without end.

 

It reminds me of two very special times in my life where I was out in a wilderness area, and I came upon a wonderful stream. One time years ago, I went horse back riding our in the Black Hills of  South Dakota, and as we road along the side of the mountain, we came across some very high cliffs on our left, and I noticed a small stream or river that was going into the rock. I thought this was a strange and marvelous thing, and so we walked our horses along this stream, and I noticed that it was filled with small trout. We walked our horses for about a half mile to a mile and I saw the strangest thing I had ever seen in my Life. This stream was flowing from a hole in the Cliff that was perhaps 4-5 feet high above the ground, and the hole was perhaps 3-4 feet around in diameter.

 

It reminded me right then of that rock that followed the children of Israel through the wilderness and Paul taught us that that Rock was Christ. [1 Corinthians 10:1]  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.  The same thing happened to me again just a few months ago. I went fishing up in Iowa while LaVonne and the girls were visiting with LaVonne’s Mother, and I just wanted to get out of the house and get alone with God and I know how much brother Branham loved the wilderness and how he loved to go fishing, and so I thought I would go out and do what he did, and so I heard that there was a stream called cold water a few miles away from the farm and there I went fishing. Well, I liked it so much I went back a few more times and I decided to follow this stream up to it’s origin for I heard that it came out of a cliff, and I so remember the stream in the Black Hills that I wanted to see this one as well. I walked for perhaps a mile or so, and I had to cross this stream several times as it winded back and forth and, I know that there are water moccasins and rattle snakes and other deadly snakes out there, but I was drawn within me to the origins of this water.

 

It was a beautiful place where you would come upon pastures where cows were grazing and then beautiful forest, and steep cliffs along one side of the stream, and it was a very lovely place, and sure enough as I got closer to the entrance I could hear the waters rippling forth across the rocks, and there I came across the entrance of the cave that this water came out from. This was not a little hole in the rock like the other, it was a cave that has been traced back into the earth as far as 12 miles by the U.S. Department of Natural Resources and the US Geological Society.  And how cool that water was as I walked through it, drawn to behold it’s source. And how cool and refreshing have been this water of life that we are drinking from so freely during series of sermons as we have been drawn to their origin. And the source of these living waters we Know is Jesus Christ Himself.

 

I can truly identify with the hart that panteth after the waterrbook, and my soul delights in the flowing waters of the River of Life. [I Corinthians 12:13] For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

 

[Revelations 22: 1-8] And He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded it’s fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:  And they shall see his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads. ( Oh, brothers and sisters, I long so to see His face, and to know even as I also I am known. And we know that this is the hour for that.)  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.  And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.  Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

 

[Revelations 21:6-7] And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

 

[Revelations 22:17] And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. ( He said, whosoever wills, let him come, and this word will means whosoever has a desire to come, whosoever delights in or takes pleasure in the Water of Life, then let him come and take or lay hold of, let him come and claim what is his, and appropriate to themself what is given to them. For after all, He has come to bring forth our inheritance to us, and this Water of Life, this Bread of Life, this Word of Life is our inheritance. That is why I will no longer hold back from those who desire this Word. If the Five fold ministry is a gift from God to His children, then who am I to withhold it from one of His kids.

 

And,  I want as my testimony to be this,  “Whosoever wants this water of Life let them come for He is here, and who am I to stand in any one’s way”.  He said that the Spirit and the bride would say, Come”. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come”.

 

[Romans 10:8]Paul said, “The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”. (Now, some would say that all you need to do is make your confession to God and you’ll be saved. But Paul didn’t say that. He said, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth and  believe in thine heart”. And therefore if you do not believe in your heart, if you do not understand what you are confessing, what good will your confession do for you. And He said, that the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. And let him that heareth say, Come. But what if they are not hearing the right thing? For Paul says in [Romans 10] For with the heart ( with your understanding) man believeth unto righteousness, which is right-wise-ness); and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? In other words, how could you call upon him if you don’t even believe. And if we have had one who has been to the source of the living waters, how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?  (And, this is the point that I am trying to make this morning. If the people have never heard, how could they believe and therefore call upon the Lord Who is here?) And Paul goes on to say, “and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And  this is precisely the  point. How can the Gospel be believed and received if there are no True five-fold to preach it? Or if that Five-Fold hold back.  “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Now, this is what most of the problems in the Message is all about. Paul is not saying that it is impossible to preach not being called to preach, because our pulpits are filled with such today. But what Paul is saying is that although they may be running in this race, they are running either without a message or they are running with the wrong message which is even worse. And we do know and understand, that there are to arise many that will preach in His Name and yet He will declare to them, “Depart from Me, for I never knew you.” [Matt 7:15-23] Then what if they aren’t really sent by God, Then there are two questions we must ask. #1) who sent them, and #2) what message are they preaching?

 

Then what is the evidence that those who are preaching are preaching the Truth? Paul says,  “as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! . And the word beautiful stands for purity, for they that preach the gospel do not proclaim the Gospel for their own advantage or on account of vain Glory, but they preach solely from obedience to God and for the sake of the salvation of their hearers. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And the water that we are saying to come and drink from are pure waters. [Revelations 22: 1-8] And He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

 

Therefore, if we are to show the people pure waters, we have to show them the waters before men or any beast has entered into it and polluted it. Just as in Iowa, where I walked closer to the mouth of the cave where the waters flowed out from the belly of the earth, I could see that the waters became colder and more pure the closer I came to the source. When I had first started out a mile or so back down stream, the waters were less cold and already had been stepped in by cows who not only drank from it but had walked in it, and washed themselves in it. And the further I went away from the source of the stream, the worse condition the water became, until finally it flowed into the upper Iowa River and by this time looked dull, and dirty. Therefore, we can see by this illustration, that the further away from the True Revelation of His Presence we go, (for He is the Source of our Living Water), the further away we get from the source of Life which is  His Presence, the cloudier the same waters become. And why is that? Because in [James 3:7] He said, “The Wisdom that is from above is first pure,”  Therefore, according to Paul in his 2nd letter to Timothy, he said, [II Timothy 2:22] “follow righteousness, faith, charity, and peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

 

Therefore, “Even though they say that they hear, they boast in vain, unless they hear true preachers who preach the True Word of God without admixture; for to hear false prophets means as much as not to hear. They hear and they do not hear; they have ears, but do not hear, nor do they preach the word of God. Thus, #1) It is impossible that those preach who are not sent. #2) It is impossible that those hear who are without a True preacher. #3) It is impossible that they believe who do not hear. #4) It is impossible that they call upon Him who they do not believe. #5) It is impossible that they who do not call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So, then, the entire source and  origin of salvation rests on this, that God sends out someone, ( a true minister of the Word). If He does not send out any, then they who preach preach falsely, and their preaching is no preaching at all. In fact, it would be better for them not to preach. Then also they who hear, hear error, and it would be better for them not to hear. Then also they who believe, would believe false doctrine, and it would be  better for them not to believe. Then also they who call upon Him would be calling falsely (upon a false lord), and it would be better for them not to call. For such preachers do not preach; such hearers do not hear; such believers do not believe; such callers do not call; they will be damned because they would be saved by falsehood. Therefore we read in [Proverbs 1:28] “Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.”  ...Then only they can preach with certainty who proclaim the Gospel without error

 

And where the waters have become cloudy by the presence of others, they venerate God according to their own mind, and in their stupid zeal and their own eccentric piety they are worse than the ungodly. For God’s sake they become enemies of God, and for fear of God they become scorners of God. Because of piety they become impious; for the sake of peace they disturb the peace; because of their love and holiness they become envious and unholy; in the interest of humility they become proud.

 

In [Romans 11: 9]Paul’s says, “ Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block and a recompense unto them.  The snare that Paul is speaking is the scripture itself, inasmuch as it is understood and handed down or taught in a deceitful manner, so that under the show of pious instruction the souls of the deceived and simple are craftily ensnared, and from one and the same holy Scripture, one draws for himself death while the other life, one honey and the other poison as we see in [2 Cor 1:15-17]

 

Therefore, the stumblingblock consists of this, that they who are ensnared by false teaching constantly take offense to the Real and True. For if they are ensnared it is through that which they understand wrongly. To that they cleave and with it they are pleased. So, without realizing it, they permit themselves to be ensnared willingly. But they take offense at what is pointed out to them as the Truth from which they turn away. If they cannot avoid it, (the Truth), they distort it and deny that scripture must so be understood. at last their eyes are darkened. And as we hear Jesus saying to the Pharisees,  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in [yourselves], neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

 

 And thus they will never see God, for their heart is not pure, and filled with those pure thoughts which alone are Gods, As Jesus told us in  [Matt 5:8] “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

 

Therefore, I am speaking to the pure in heart this morning, and I am speaking of a pure and living water this morning, and I am pointing you upstream to the source of that water, To the Presence of Christ, [For we are all drinking the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

 

[Psalm 42: 1-3, 7-8] As the hart panteth after the water brooks,( and that word panteth means to long after) so  (in the same manner) panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where [is] thy God? ... But, ...Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. [Yet] the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song [shall be] with me, [and] my prayer unto the God of my life. And His Song is the same one Moses sang when God had shown forth His Glorious Presence to the Children of Israel and they were about to cross over into Jordan.

 

[Deuteronomy 31:]  Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for.... Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee. And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,  And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.  Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

 

[Revelations 15:3] And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous [are] thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true [are] thy ways, thou King of saints.

 

175  You love Him? All your heart... Now, you that have the handkerchiefs can get them. And now, our services, I think they start a little early, seven o'clock or something like that. Brother Neville will announce it, just in a minute, about when to start. And is there a baptism yet this morning? The water is ready if somebody's here and has not yet been baptized in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, why, certainly, water's ready for the baptismal service.

 

Close with that song about the water way. Prayer...