Christ is the Mystery no 133
Christian Life no 14
Understanding Vindication
Brian Kocourek
Psalms 68:18 Thou
hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity
captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also,
that the LORD God might dwell among them.
This morning we will
continue on with Br. Branham's sermon Christ is the Mystery of God revealed and
we will read from paragraph 210 through 213.
210
Jesus wasn't a great theologian. He was a common peasant, a carpenter's Son
(so-called). See? He walked around, but God... He said, "Some
of you show Me what the Bible says that I will do that
I haven't manifest." So the Church can do the same
thing today. What Christ did, so does the Church do now. "That
day you'll know that I am in the Father and the Father's in Me,
I in you and you in Me." See? There you go. Marching on to
211
And watch here. Here's the beautiful... I don't want you to miss this. Now,
everybody, and you people on tape, out in the jungles and wherever you hear it,
now listen. "And as the Father has sent Me, so
send I you," Jesus said. See? Now, watch, the Father that sent Him went
in Him to vindicate Himself right, for He was the Word. And the same
Jesus that sends you, goes with you and in you to
vindicate the same God. "As the Father has sent Me
(and I live by the Father), so I'll send you, and you live by Me."
What is He? He's the Word. You live by the Word. Oh, how I would like to take a
text on that and preach about a couple of hours on it (See?), on that, how
that--on that.
212
Notice, notice. And the "Father that sent Me"
went with Him. The Father that sends, the Jesus that sends us goes in... "A
little while and the world won't see Me no more, yet
ye shall see Me, for I (personal pronoun, 'I' the
Person, Jesus) will be with you, even in you to the end of
the world. The works that I do shall you do also."
Now, go back and see what He done; then see what you do, and then compare
yourself.
Now, brother Branham is not talking about Gifts
here. And I want to make sure you understand that when we speak of John
We have proven to you over and over that when
brother Branham refers to our doing the works of Christ he is talking about
what ever spirit lives in you, you will do what that spirit does. And we read
last week that you are not even to be considered a believer unless you are
filled with the spirit of Christ.
You must be born again to be a real true believer,
for he quoted the Scripture that said, "Know
man can call Jesus the Christ except by the Holy Ghost."
Who is this 59-1004M P:48 No man
can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Spirit. You say, "I believe It because the Word said so." That's true. But the Word
says that no man can say Jesus is Christ,
until you have received the Holy Ghost. No man can call
Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost.
So when brother Branham
speaks in Christ is the Mystery of God revealed paragraph 212 he is not saying
you will have the gifts of the Holy Ghost, He is telling you that you will have
the giver himself living Himself out from you.
212
Notice, notice. And the "Father that sent Me"
went with Him. The Father that sends, the Jesus that sends us goes in... "A
little while and the world won't see Me no more, yet
ye shall see Me, for I (personal pronoun, 'I' the
Person, Jesus) will be with you, even in you to the end of
the world. The works that I do shall you do also."
Now, go back and see what He done; then see what you do, and then compare
yourself.
Where I think Pentecost failed 55-1111 P:70
You don't have to talk
so much about it, God does His Own talking. God testifies of His gifts.
But all those gifts are wonderful; they're dandy; and we love them all. God
grant that everyone of us would have every gift, but I'd rather have the
Giver than all the gifts. Paul said, "though I could have the gifts, without the Giver..."
Now, if we had have went to seeking the Giver instead of the gifts, I
believe the Church would've been farther up the road, don't you think so?
If we'd stayed close to God, and loved Him, and just kept living for Him, and
not trying to push things over; just live for God, and live a pure, holy
life, and live, and pray everyday, keep yourself refreshed in His Presence.
God will take care of the rest of it.
Bu
that is the problem I see in the churches today. People pushing this idea or
that idea instead of coming to the place where God lives their life for them,
and they are at a total peace with self and with God.
2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
And
what we find today is people pressing, pressing, pressing
themselves to be the only ones who have it. Well, I have something to tell you.
If you really truly have it then people will see Jesus Christ living your life
for you. And you will have peace and rest in your soul. And if you are striving
to find some special thing that will set you apart from everyone else, you are
on the wrong path.
Works that I do bear witness of me 51-0413 P:38
So friends, find
Divine love and favor with God. Then God, if He finds favor with you,
will give gifts into you. But first, find the Giver. Seek the Giver,
then the gifts will come as God sees fit to give it to
you. Do you believe that? So now, when you go around like this, and different
people seeking all night for gifts and things like that, go back till you
find love, till you shake hands with your brother across the street then.
Then you talking about getting the gifts then. That's
right. When you get the love of God in your heart, then you talk about the
gifts.
So according to brother Branham it's not about the
gifts but the giver. And Paul said where there are gifts they shall fail, so
don't tell me you got a gift from God and it can't fail.
People hear brother Branham speak of the gift he has
and it couldn't fail, but that was not the gift that could not fail but the
giver of that Gift that could not fail.
Kinsman Redeemer 60-1002 P:24 Yesterday morning we were lying in bed a little late, and
the children didn't have to go to school, and we got to speaking about
different things, and how, "What was hatred?" I said, "Hatred
had a beginning so it has to have an end. Love had no beginning, so it has no
end. Hatred is forever. Love is eternal. Hatred begins and hatred will end.
Love never did begin and it never will end (See?); it's eternal.
Abraham Restored 61-0211 P:54 What did Jesus say to Peter? "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonas. You never
learnt this in the seminary. Flesh and blood never revealed this to you, but My
Father which is in heaven has revealed this to you, and upon this rock I'll
build my church; and the gates of hell can't prevail against it." That's
the reason He give him the keys. He had the revelation. It's revealed,
truth. Oh, them little things that they
fight over and separate themselves, it shows it's not of God or they wouldn't
separate themselves like that. Why don't you come together and be brothers,
sisters; let the power of God work among you. It'll work it all out. God's the Tutor of the church, the Holy Spirit. Correctly. You don't have to use all your life just
trying to learn something like that. The best thing you know you're saved
and start walking with God. What He wants you to know, He will reveal it to
you.
And when people get carried away with Gifts or what
they think is a special revelation they have that no one else has, you just
have to sit back and recognize they do not understand the Giver, God Himself.
They have no clue that whatever revelation you get from God must first come
from His prophets. For the Lord will do nothing unless he
first reveal it through His servants the prophets.
Look, God did not send a teacher with His Word. I know
some think that but he sent the word through His Prophets. Plural.
So God sends a prophet with his word and anyone who professes to be a teacher
or anyone who professes to have some special gift or some special revelation
better understand what vindication is all about or they will find themselves on
the ash heap wondering how they got so messed up in their thinking.
Satan is the author of these little special
revelations. That's what he tried to offer eve in the garden. If you believe
this special revelation you will know as God knows. You will have it all, you
will reach nirvana. Hogwash. God uses prophets to
bring revelation, he does not bring teachers or apostles or evangelists or
pastors. That is not their role in the church.
And the problem is that even those who heard brother
Vayle for years preach about 80% of the time on vindication got to idolizing
brother Vayle's gift, and totally got sidetracked by that. And those are not my
words those are his words.
Lee Vayle Questions and Answers, Pastors
series number 4 1988
Quite known in religious circles, spiritual or unspiritual but call it
religious. That there are people who are picky and trouble
makers. they're the kind who can't stand still, until they pray, and
believe and fight through problems in the church until the church settles down
and the pastor there either comes up to where he should be, or God simply moves
that man away. They are picky people, they never grow up. They never
amount to a hill of beans. But there are other people, who positively do have
problems in the church. And some of the problems in the church are the very
things I am speaking of. I would not sit in any congregation for fifteen
minutes where the congregation believed, nor would I be in the pulpit where
they believed that you have to hear me to make the rapture. Now, let's get
that flat just in case there's a little case of idolatry here. Now, you
know my testimony where brother Branham said, and you know my stand, it's very, very
strong. I have absolute faith in the
ministry that God gave me, what the prophet said, and I stand here and I am not
afraid of anybody. But that does not mean for one minute that you have to
hear me to make the rapture. Absolutely that is a fallacy, you are ridiculous, you are foolish. The command is this, to hear what the
prophet had to say no matter who says it, and as long
as it is not perverted. And if you can't sit under somebody that can deliver
the Word of God in an un-perverted manner, then simply hear the tapes and read
the books. That's all. And just simply commit yourself to some good brother in
the church that's a kind hearted sympathetic Godly brother to open the
services, and hope that God might send you somebody. So let's clear the air
right here. You Don't have to hear me to make any
rapture. I fought that for years.
And again he said in his series on the Spoken Word
Lee Vayle Spoken
Word no 12 Justification and sanctification: Now I’ll go home tonight and hate myself for
really lowering the boom on you. But I’m not finished yet, and I’ll hate myself
again, no doubt some several more times. If I cry when I think of those poor
little kids that Bill Lou was even causing their parents to destroy, by
teaching them, “You got to believe me and follow me,
or you ain’t going to make it.”
Let me tell you something for once and
for all, and it’s on tape. Anybody that says, “You got to follow me,” I’m going to say you’re a liar, a
liar, a liar, and the truth is not in you, and you will go to the lake of fire. Because you’re already on fire with
the stupidity of sickness, sick sins called lie. Oh he hates that thought, “You
ain’t got a think coming,” and he thinks it’s coming
from me! I
don’t have a think coming! I’m trying to follow the Word.
Lee Vayle Who
Is This Melchisedec #19 Body Subject to Spirit
P:36 You think
you’ve got to listen to me to make the Rapture? If you think you’ve got to hear
me you’re nuttier than a fruit cake. Now it might not hurt you but you ain’t going to make it by listening to me--the Word of God
does it, brother/sister, because you know why? This will come to pass, not what
I say. I’m only trying to help you.
And
he said that not only about himself but about anyone who thinks that they need
to hear some special little thing from one of the brothers who sat around
brother Branham in his days as though they have some little clue that uyou need to discover to make it.
Lee Vayle Who Is This Melchisedec #37 QA; A 4 P:31 Now, then, do you believe the tapes have
everything in them to put you in the Rapture or do you need Billy Paul and
Joseph and Lee Vayle and a bunch of other people? You don’t need any of us.
You don’t need any ‘buddies’... Bro. Branham’s bosom buddies... or
cohorts or pals. “...?... Bro. Branham told me so and so.” Now, I can tell you
things he told me but you didn’t need them... you didn’t need them. If you’re a
real born-again person, you won’t be all messed up in your thinking, running
here and there with a bunch of loose ends. You’ll have all your marbles. The
Bible says, “He’s not given a spirit of fear but of love... power, and a
sane mind.” No... you’re not a bunch of Yahoos out
there. Paul gave them exactly what God told him. So did William Branham. It’s
on tapes. Bro. Branham talked about the washer woman who didn’t even have a
pastor; just had three tapes and she made it. So, let’s put it where it
belongs.
... I deny categorically that anybody
has to hear me, because I don't even stand to hear myself to hear the
rapture. That's the biggest bunch of hogwash and nonsense in the world.
So it gets down to vindication, and God did not
vindicate a teacher or preacher in this hour, He vindicated His Word through
His prophet. period.
Vindication is perhaps one of the most important
things we can do as a Believer in God and His Word. It seems today,
among the Christian world that we are living again in the days of Judges where
every man did what he thought was right in his own eyes. And why is this the predominant attitude
amongst the nations today?, Because the people have
turned down a Vindicated Prophet of God.
It doesn't matter whether you claim to be a follower
of God's prophet or not. The proof of your belief is in understanding
Vindication. So then what is Vindication. Why is it so important to us?
Brother Branham used the
term Vindication to explain: "God has a One man Message and He deals with One man only". But men do not like this, for they seem to
want to have their own say as to how God is going to do things.
Who
do you say This is?
64-1227 128 That one-man
message, they didn't want it. No, they didn't want It.
And God never did deal but with one person at a time. It's always a one-man
message. When did ever He deal with the people, outside of just one person?
It's an individual. It ain't a group.
Vindication is the real
issue concerning our faith. Not so much that it was God who backed up William
Branham's Message, for all Pentecostal people believe that God works out of
heaven and does fantastic things. They will even allow for God to come down to
do certain things, but the understanding that this Vindication comes in the
form of God's Personal Presence with His prophet, and that this Presence was
referred to by Brother Branham himself as the Appearing of Christ has become
the central doctrinal debate within the "Message clergy" because it
comes into direct conflict with their understanding of the Second coming of
Christ as they have always perceived it, and this is due to the fact that they
do not understand Godhead correctly.
A close study of this principle of vindication will
help us to understand better that when it comes to the program of God, we
have absolutely no say as to what will happen. All God requires from you and me
is to get ourselves out of the way and allow God to work through his chosen
channel, which according to Amos 3:7 is always a prophet.
Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done
[it]? 7 Surely the Lord GOD will do
nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his
servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath
roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken,
who can but prophesy?
Again we find in the book of Deuteronomy God's Law
concerning how he will deal with His People. And since He is the same and
changes not, then we cannot say that prophets are relegated to the Old
Testament only, for there are references to prophets in the New Testament as
well.
Deuteronomy 18:15 ¶ The
LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16 According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb
in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD
my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. 17 And the
LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.18 I will
raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put
my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command
him. 19 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever will not hearken unto my
words which he shall speak in my name, I will require [it] of him. 20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my
name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name
of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the
word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if
the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the
thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it
presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Now, God set forth an order that has very strict consequences
for those who will not adhere to it. He said, I will
require it from you. You will pay for your unbelief. Notice the question came forth from God's own
mouth. He said, how will
you know what is right and what is not right? And then He tells us, the one that is not
right will not be vindicated. I will not bring his words to pass, because they
are not my words.
And we know God is very protective of His own Words. Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it
may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the
thing] whereto I sent it.
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but
what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For
the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth
him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew
him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
John
This let's us know that
there will be a showdown. God speaks of this in Deuteronomy
chapter 13.
Deuteronomy13:1 ¶ If there arise among you a prophet, or a
dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a
wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass,
whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after
other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not
hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD
your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4
Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto
him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer
of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away
from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and
redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which
the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt
thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
Hebrews
2:1 ¶ Therefore we ought to give the more
earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them
slip. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast,
and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence
of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if
we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,
and was confirmed unto us by them that heard [him]; 4 God also bearing [them] witness, both with
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will?
41 A
Guide62-1014E It was a vindication there, that there was a living God inside of Him.
What He testified, "It's not Me that doeth the works; it's My Father that dwelleth in Me. Verily I say unto you, the Son can do
nothing in Himself, but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son
likewise. The Father worketh, and I worketh hitherto." In other words, God showed Him what
to do, and He went and just acted it out; He didn't do anything until God told
Him to do it. Amen. That's the real frank facts of it. If we'd just move and
wait till the Spirit moved us to do it... That's it. And then be so completely
lost in Christ that He don't have to shove you around like He does me, but the
first little nod of His head, you're ready and nothing's going to stop you,
because you know that it's the will of God.
From the 20th
century Prophet Book we read, " There
are always two men or two groups who demonstrate power, but one has a wrong
source of power. The spirit of Antichrist is here as well as the Spirit of
Christ. The spirit of Antichrist in Satan's prophets is so close to the real
and true Spirit of God that only the VERY ELECT will escape the deception. Matthew 24:22-24 "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh
be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any
man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and
false prophets, and shall shew great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect." These true elect ones take the Word. When these true Elect
Ones see the prophet and his acts of power, and see that he is right with the
Word and never deviates, they know that he is of God and receive him. All that prophet says and does leads them closer to Him Who
is coming soon. They look for no other vindication. This is the
vindication".
Notice the requirement at the hands of an angry God,
destruction. Destroyed from amongst the people. This
is exactly what we see in 2
Thessalonians 1: 8-9 speaks of those who are cut off from the presence
of the Lord, and they will be left for the burning.
59 Token
The 64-0208 He sent a prophet to them, Moses, with a message identifying God's Word.
And to identify Moses, He sent a Pillar of Fire that hung over him. Amen. Then
to give him the perfect assurance, He required a token. Amen. There's a
messenger, the message, and the vindication, and the token, the perfect
assurance that they had nothing to worry about. No matter how many plagues
strike, what everybody else says they are sealed away.
20th
century Prophet William Branham also says that an angel
appears to him. He even describes him. Your reaction is up to you. You can
believe or disbelieve. But no man has a right to repudiate another, especially
if the claimant is on strict Bible grounds--angelic appearances are positively
Biblical. A self-witness is absolutely Scriptural. God backs up the revelation.
As it was with Paul who came with the complete revelation to the Gentiles, God
bearing him witness both with divers signs, and miracles and wonders and gifts
of the Holy Ghost, so God has borne witness to William Branham for there has
not been one time when the vision failed. Nor has there been one time when he
has said "Thus saith the Lord," that the word in his mouth ever failed.
Though one might be censured for the following, yet it ought to be said. There
are very few scriptural evidences in the Bible to vindicate the revelation
ministry of Paul. That God actually gave him the complete revelation he lays
claim to has but little phenomenal proof from God. YET NO
The
Holy Spirit that spoke in the pillar of fire to Moses is the same Spirit that
fell at Pentecost as a cloud of fire, and is the same light exactly that
appeared to Paul and blinded him and spoke to him, and that Light or Fire is
now with us again and the voice is the SAME VOICE for the SAME SIGNS
But
man runs true to form as ever he did. When Jesus came He attracted them by the
miracles of healing, the water turned to wine, the loaves and fishes
multiplied. But when He began to teach a word that differed from theirs--when
He laid out for them the true doctrines--they turned far from Him. And so it
was, that, when Rev. Branham first appeared on the scene, thousands were healed
with never a miss. Nothing stood before him. Then he came teaching the Word.
God had sent him with a message. But the message differed radically from that
of the organized churches' message. For this he was repudiated. But God remains
true. He that believes His prophets shall prosper.
E-16 Expectations
50-0405 Gifts and callings are
without repentance. There is spirits that's in the Church. That's true, such as
gifts of prophecy, healing, and so forth. But they're in the entire body. They
may fall upon one person tonight, a prophecy, and It
might not never fall on that person again; It might be somewhere else in the
body. And those spirits are supposed to be judged. "Let one speak and two
or three judge," said Paul. Now, those are the spirits of the gifts that's
in the Church. But the only person that
has a right to say, THUS SAITH THE LORD, is an a
vindicated prophet. You never seen anybody judging Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or those
people. They were prophets, foreordained and born in the world to be prophets.
And they foresaw the thing by a vision, and then said, "THUS SAITH THE
LORD," for the Lord had already said it. So what the Church needs today,
is a good old fashion teaching of the Gospel. That's right. To know where
they... I don't mean just educated teaching; I mean spiritual teaching. Some
people speaks about God, and--and knows nothing of Him. You don't... See, you
must get down and deal with the actual spirit itself, you see, to know what
you're speaking of.
E-61 Expectations
50-0405
Now, Moses could only perform these miracles, but the people had to believe him. That was the vindication that he was sent of God. You understand? It a vindicated his word to be true. If
any man says anything and God testifies not that, then the man is wrong. But if the man says something, and God
testifies behind that, then that man is right. See? Not only once, but over
and over and over; it has to be the... a--a time. Now, Moses did that and
proved to the people.
Rest assured of one thing, as
William Branham said, 189 Lord Just Once More 63-0628A The
denominations will not take the
a-vindication of the Word.