Desperation
no 19
Hearing
recognizing and stepping into it
April 27, 2016
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
Some time ago we studied paragraph 24
in brother Branham's sermon Desperation, and I felt led to re-examine this
paragraph again because there is still more in there that we missed and need to
examine again.
In paragraph 24 brother Branham said, "Now, God, the Creator,
can make a set of lungs. I truly believe
that we're on the verge of one of the most mightiest things that ever struck
the earth since the days...?... See? But now, we can only be
known as... It'll be so humble.
See? See, what man calls mighty, God calls abomination. But what man calls
foolish, God calls mighty. See? But now watch it (See?); it'll be so humble
that you'll miss, that you'll miss it if you've not got
the Token there to examine it. You see? See?
Notice brother Branham is telling us that when God
does anything, usually it is so humble that you will miss it unless you have
the Holy Spirit, the Token in you to quicken it to your understanding.
Let me explain, Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 2 that unless we have the Holy
Spirit we will never understand the things of God. we will miss it even though
it is right in front of our faces.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, (in other words, it hasn't even
entered into our minds) the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
(it takes the spirit to make
them aware of the things of God)
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, (the Greek word
for judgeth is Anakrino
and it means: to properly scrutinize,
i.e. (by implication) it means: to
investigate, to interrogate, to determine by investigation through asking questions, then discerning,
examining, and judging, and searching.) So Paul is telling us that the Holy
Ghost in you will so hunger and thirst for right-wise-ness that you will search
and knock and examine, and investigate until you cannot help but come to the
place that you are being filled.
And then he
continues, "yet
he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may
instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Then in the next paragraph brother Branham gives us examples of how God
does things so humble that it goes right over the head of the people even
though it is done exactly how He said it would be in His, (God's) Word.
25 Who
would ever thought that the
mountains was skipping like little rams and the leaves were clapping their
hands, when a prophet came forth from the wilderness, that was spoken by
Isaiah 712
years before, with whiskers all over his face, and a piece of sheepskin, not
even a pulpit to preach in, excommunicated
from all the churches, and standing on the bank of the Jordan screaming,
"Repent!"
And called the people a
bunch of vipers, snakes. But that's what God said,
that when
He come the mountains would skip like little rams.
See? The
humble saw it and was glad. How could they understand
that great Messiah, that was prophesied from the very beginning of the Book, in
Genesis, that He would come, a Saviour... All
sacrifices, and all prophets, and everything had pointed to Him. And then,
when He come, supposingly to be a illegitimate birth... A father that was not
even married to His mother, supposingly... See? And the woman was found
pregnant with the Baby before they was even married. And come up in such... And
born in a little... Well, it says a stable in the Bible. But a stable in them
days was a cave back in the wall. I met such a place out in Arizona one time
hunting. There was a stable back under a cliff of rocks. And that's the way
Jesus was born, back in this little cliff stable on a manger of hay and straw,
in a cow barn (See?) where stock was.
Notice how simple God makes it. And Brother
Branham illustrates the difference between the natural and the spiritual things
in his sermon, Possessing all
things 62-0506 P:48 "Now, science can probe around
here and say, "Well, let's see; let me take this man. You said he was
healed; let me take him down and examine
him. Let me see what happened.
And you say you had a tumor once here, sir?" "Yes, right there."
"Well, let me give a scientific
research and see if it just didn't sink in and didn't go away. You say you
were once blind and now you see. How do I know? Let me scientifically look and see it." Now, they could probe
around on that, but yet I'm heir to that too, everything physical.
Notice here how brother Branham tells us that in the natural sense men
will examine, and scrutinize by questioning , and study and investigate
using their own reasoning, along with their five senses of seeing, tasting, hearing,
feeling, smelling to come to a determination.
Yet God tells us that the Holy Ghost in us will do the same only it
looks to the unseen things that cannot be seen, nor heard, nor felt, nor
tasted, no smelled. And it is the unseen
things that, the promises of God that we are commanded to investigate.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, (the Greek word
for judgeth is Anakrino
and it means: to properly scrutinize,
i.e. (by implication) it means: to
investigate, to interrogate, to determine by investigation through asking questions, then discerning,
examining, and judging, and searching.)
So there are two
sets of things the Spirit filled person investigates, One is the natural things
that all men can investigate through using their five senses.
Then there are
the supernatural things which cannot be seen, smelled, heard, tasted nor felt
by the outer senses. These take a 6th sense which the Holy Ghost alone can
examine. Now, watch how brother Branham
continues in this thought.
"And
then I'm also heir to things that can't be seen, where science can't
probe. Amen. Amen. Unseen things
(Amen.), I'm heir to that. Yes,
sir. The things that can be seen, I'm
heir to that. This actual earth, I'm an heir; you're an heir. Every believer is an heir; he's an heir
to it. All right, then the unseen...
Possessor of what? Heaven and earth.
Amen. All things. You believe that? You say, "Brother Branham, what about
out there where you can't see? How do you know?" It's still mine.
Amen. Heaven belongs to me. That's right. It's mine; God said so. And
that's right. "Well, you've never seen, how do you know it's
there?" I know it's there
anyhow; God said
so. "How do you know
you're an heir to it, when you never seen it?" I believe His
Word. Amen. See? I'm a heir; you're a heir with me;
we're all heirs together through Christ Jesus.
No man can see the Kingdom of God with their eyes, nor can they hear it
with their ears, nor can they taste it with their tongue, and yet we are heir
to what we cannot see, taste, feel smell or hear.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye
first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be
added unto you.
In other words, we are heirs to the realm we currently live in, and yet
once filled with the Holy Ghost become heirs also of this other realm which is
a heavenly realm. Now, we are heirs to not only this earth, but to heaven as
well. And that is why only those with
the Holy Ghost can seek, and examine, and investigate, and scout out the other
land so to speak.
You see, the rest of the world are not heir to what we are. When the
new heavens and the new earth come into full manifestation, only we will be
able to go in and out of the city, (the New Jerusalem), because we are capable
of seeking it now. We will live in it, but only we will be able to go out into
the world and come back into the city. We are possessors of both worlds, both
dimension, hallelujah!! And we are seeking that city to come, just as our
father Abraham did.
From his sermon, To whom would we go 60-0606 P:41 brother Branham
says, "How do you know tonight, you
say, "I feel perfectly well, Brother Branham." How you do know your
mother's not dying at this time? How do you know dad didn't get killed just a
few minutes ago? How do you know the baby didn't get run over and killed? How do you know these things? See, in here it's unsettled peace. You don't have no peace. It wasn't
meant for you to have peace here. If you did, you'd get customized to
the world. God don't want you customized to this world. He wants you to rest in Him. Come to Him, then you have peace. I don't care what takes place. If you said
the Russians is fixing to pull the trigger at this minute; they're sending an
atomic bomb, a real born again Christian has eternal peace in
his heart. Nothing, there's nothing that can harm him. Let the
bullet fire. Why, the smoke won't be scattered out across the street here until
we would be in glory with Jesus, standing there immortal in His likeness, never
to be sick, never to have a heartache, never to have a disappointment.
What we are looking at is what Enoch looked at, and he walked in the
light as God is in the Light, so he just kept walking with God and he just kept looking until he went up and was
no more in this dimension. But that
don't mean he was no more altogether, because he just transcended this
dimension to walk in the dimension where God abides.
In his sermon, Jehovah Jireh part 3 62-0707 P:29 brother Branham
said, "Let the Word, if the Word's in you... "If ye abide in Me, and My Word in you, then ask what you
will." The Holy Spirit... "Ye abide in Me, My Word in you," that's the Word made flesh, "ask what you will and it'll be done." That's the way. Get all creeds, all things away, and hold to the
Word because it is Christ. Notice, then it will manifest itself. Someone
said, "Brother Branham, how do you know those things. How?" These
what you see here in the meeting is amateur things. Anybody that travels with
the meetings here, you know. The Holy Spirit reveals things that comes weeks and
months between time. And ask anybody if it ever failed one time. It can't fail.
See? "How do you know it?" Because it's a promise of the Word, and the hour is here. It's got to come to pass. Now, I don't
know, there be a very few, a minority
will believe it, but it's got to go forth just the same. And did you
ever notice, it goes right over the people's head, and it's passed and done before they recognize
it: always that way.
And brothers and sisters, there are promises in
this Bible, promises from God that have not yet been fulfilled, and yet every
one of them will be fulfilled in their season to be fulfilled.
And you and I need to find what those promises are
that apply to us in this hour and not only find them but we must recognize they
are for us, and then we must step into them for them to become fulfilled in us.
I have been saying for years that there are
three specific promises for us in the Bible that God promised for this end
time. There will be sons of God who will be conformed to the image of the first
born son of God, the eldest son in a vast family of brothers. I believed it and
I've stepped into it, and I've seen the transforming power of God change all my
desires to live as he lived, to speak as he spoke, to act as he acted.
There is also a promise that God's sons will
become manifested that they truly are His sons. And all creation will know it. I
heard it, I believed it, and I've stepped into it and have acted upon it. You must
step into each promise for that promise to manifest itself in you. Then when it
does manifest that becomes the literal interpretation of that Word for the hour.
There is a promise in the Bible that God
ordained for us to be adopted, I believe it, I have been born into His family,
and I conduct my life as a right kind of son in fulfillment of God's promised
Word. The Scripture says the Bride has made herself ready, and if you don't
step into it how can you make yourself ready. There is a part we must do, and
that is to hear the Word, recognize that Word is for you and then act upon the
Word of God.
Hearing, recognizing and then acting upon it,
because even a pardon is not a pardon unless it is accepted as a pardon.
If you have a promise to become a fireman, you
must study or investigate what a fireman does, and then step into that role.
Once you do, you live it, and breathe it,
and one day you are given the fireman's coat, and then you are expected to wear
it. And when you do you have become a fireman, you have been positionally
placed as one.
If you saw the promise of being a jet pilot one
day, you study all about what it takes to become a jet pilot, and you learn it,
and you begin to live it, and one day you are asked to put on the uniform of a
jet pilot and fly the plane.
You want to become a mechanic, you study what it
takes to become a mechanic and when you graduate from the mechanic school, you
are given your mechanics work overalls, you put them on, and then you go to
work as a mechanic, It's just that simple.
It's just a simple as 1-2-3 or knowing your ABC's.
Brother Branham put it this way in his sermon, Be
not afraid it is I 61-0414 P:64 If I told you
the spirit of a mechanic was in me, you'd expect me to understand
almost the beat of that motor, what was wrong. If I told you the spirit of John
Dillinger was in me, I'd have guns, and be dangerous to stand before me, if
that spirit was in me. If I told you the Spirit of Jesus Christ was in me,
then I'll
do the works of Jesus Christ, so will His church, 'cause that's His life in it.
Now, what He was then, and what them people testified of, if He will do that
same thing tonight, will you realize that your faith has called Him from glory
to this building tonight? Will you accept it? Then what would you say? "Be
not afraid," that's what He'd say. "It's I."
Hidden life in Christ 55-1110
P:46 You're scared. People today is afraid. What you afraid of? Why, even
death itself don't scare a Christian. "Death, where is thy sting?"The very
thoughts of people is scared. "Oh, Brother Branham, the doctor told me I
just can't get well." What are you scared of? There's an atonement laying
for you yonder. Sure. "Well Brother Branham, I've done so much sins.
I've..." What are you scared of? There's an atonement waiting for you.
There's Someone Who loves you. Don't be scared. The constant Words of Jesus,
"Fear not. I'm He that was dead, and is alive again, and alive
forevermore. Fear not." Get that atmosphere around you. Get the
atmosphere."Now, he's Methodist. He's a Oneness. He's a Trinitarian.
He's this or that." Get that out of your mind." I love him. He's my brother.""She's
a Catholic. She's a Protestant. She's a..." Get that out of your mind.
Get an atmosphere around you. You'll never do it standing out on this
other court. You got to come into Christ first, live in His Presence. The
Bible said that, "He that overcometh, I'll give him a new name. I'll
put My Spirit in him." Watch, there's an overcoming, first. You've
got to overcome these things in order to be in Christ.
Great warrior Joshua 55-0119
P:30 I know it sounds rough, and sounds like fanaticism, but so many people's
so afraid of fanaticism you miss the real thing. Did you always realize that
scarecrows are put up around the good apple tree? There ain't a lot of
scarecrows... What's a scarecrow is for is to scare you away from the real
thing. Move on around them. Way on back there, there's a right genuine Holy
Spirit, Holy Ghost filled believers. Signs and wonders and vindications of a
supernatural God, a King in the camp, that's what made the difference between
Israel and Moab. That was the difference.That was the difference between Cain
and Abel. Cain was a good man, so was Abel. Cain was a man that believed in
God, so was Abel. But Abel had spiritual revelation that knowed it was blood
not fruits. And he offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, which
God received.
And Paul tells us what coat we are given when we
are positionally placed into the family in, Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into
Christ have put on Christ.
Sirs we would see Jesus
57-1211 P:23 We should never live under our privileges as we are
today. The great powers of God lays within the reach of every member of the
body of Christ. "Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe
that you receive it, and you shall have it." And it shall be given to you. I was reading
in the Lexicon the other day, over there in Luke at that Scripture I was just quoting. The original
give it, "When thou prayest," he said... Here's what I want to
get to. He said, "If ye should say to this mountain, 'Be thou plucked
up and cast into the sea,' and believe in your heart that it's being done..." Believe
that it is being done...
Hear ye Him 57-0519A P:27 Now, when that
son was born into that family, he become a son, because he was born in the
family. He's a son by birth. And now, to you Presbyterians and Baptists,
also, listen to this. But because that you are born again, that doesn't mean
all of it. You just become a child. You become a member of the body of Christ. But
that doesn't mean that you're living in your privileges yet. And that's
what's the matter with you people, what's the matter with the world. They
are living under their privileges, because they think when they were born
again, that settled it. That only puts you in position for every Divine promise that God made.
That's right.
Let me tell
you something, when I was born again, I never had the assurance in God's Word like
I have today. I know that if God said it, and I believe it, then it's settles for
me, and I consider it already finished. But it's a growing process over many
years. We must growing
up into Christ, as the Apostle Paul said, and therefore we must grow, and therefore there
will be signs of growth. Even Jesus himself
learned. The Bible says he grew in Knowledge and Grace. Even Jesus had to grow
into the place where he so trusted God that he walked to the cross. In fact He learned
to die to self before He could die for others, and likewise we must learn to
die to self before we can live for others.
God in His Word 57-0323 P:51 Well, after
he'd been dead for many years, and his bleached bones was laying out there,
they laid a dead man on him, and God was still in the bones. Hallelujah. I know
you think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. Just let me alone. I feel better this a way.
That's right. I feel very religious tonight somehow. Oh, my. God in His
people now, now, you are the sons of God. You are right now the sons of God. You're just living under your
privilege. God's in His people. I see an old fisherman, that
didn't even know how to write his own name. They called him Peter. He was an
apostle, and the people recognized God in that man till they laid the sick in
his shadow, and they were healed. Hallelujah. God's in His people. Do
you believe it? I can see Paul taking from his body handkerchiefs and aprons
off of him, sending out there. They recognized and seen the Spirit of God in
Paul, and they laid it on the sick, and they were healed. God's in His
people.
Hear ye Him 56-0930 P:27 But if God
saves you knowing He is going to lose you, He defeats His purpose. He don't do
that. When He saves you, you're saved. "He that heareth
My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting Life, and shall
never come into judgment; but's pass from death unto Life." So you're still a son and
daughter, but you're living under your privilege. And your conduct each day,
as the Holy Spirit brings it before the Father, gives away the things that
you do, and you're still a son and daughter, but you'll never be brought to
the place where you should be.
Brother Branham said in his sermon, Desperation
63-0901E P:15 Now, now, there's just not, no certain evidence. See?
You say, "Brother Branham (I feel it in your minds. You see?), why will I
know?" Look. What were you? And what are you? There's how you know.
See? What was you before this Token was applied? What are you
after It's applied? What was your desires before, and what
is your desires after? Then you know whether the Token's
applied or not. And these other things just automatically go with that.
See? It isn't...
Then in paragraph 16 and 17 brother Branham goes on to say, and I will paraphrase
what he said, "the problem is
that people are looking for something, some sign, some supernatural experience
like tongues and that's not it. That's a gift of it, but the Token, the Holy
Ghost is the life that changes you nature and changes your desires. You want to
be more and more like Christ."
So just look "What were you? And what are you? There's how you know.
See? What was you before this Token was applied? What are you
after It's applied? What was your desires before, and what
is your desires after? Then you know whether the Token's
applied or not."
Let us pray...