Desperation
no 20
"Seek
ye first"
April 10, 2016
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
Let us remain
standing as we open the Word of God to Jeremiah
chapter 29 and we will take our text from verse 13.
Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Let us pray...
What a beautiful thought God has spoken to us by the lips of His
prophet Jeremiah, "If we would just seek Him
with all your heart, you will find
him."
Now, brother
Branham would tell us if it is in the Scriptures then it's "Thus Saith the Lord". In fact he said that in
"The
Spoken Word is the Original Seed P:185 " he said, For it's in the
Scripture, and it's THUS
SAITH THE LORD.
Now, this morning I would like to examine this thought from God's
prophet Jeremiah because that is exactly what we read next in brother Branham's
sermon Desperation
in the next paragraph we shall study.
Desperation
pp. 32 "Now, when you seek Me with all your heart,
then I'll be found." And He promised that He would return and bring the people,
from scattered all over the earth after those seven years, back into Jerusalem
where they left from; and He did it just that way like. That's right.
Brother
Branham said from his sermon, Israel at the red sea
2 53-0327 P:24 Like we was talking
of Abraham, and how God took Sarah and Abraham when they was a hundred years
old, and turned them back to a young man and woman again, and give them
this baby. That was kind of hard to see at first. But after you look at the
Scriptures, look down there and find out what taken place, you see it's the
truth. What was He doing? Confirming His Word, that someday
we who turn old and gray and wrinkled, someday we'll spring back to a young man
and young woman again. God gave us life, and we come to the maturity, death set
in, taken us away. But all that death can do is take us away, then it's
finished. Then all the old doubting part and everything, it's like the man
life in there has gone out, then there's nothing left but perfection. What
this body was when it was in perfection, what God intended when it resurrects
in the resurrection, it'll
be perfection. Amen. Oh, when I think of that, my heart just
turns flip-flops. Yeah. It's not just a mythical dream. It's THUS SAITH THE LORD. God said so, then I'll base my life right
there. Yes sir. God said so; that settles it forever. See? It's
settled in heaven, and if a little piece of heaven is in our heart, it ought to
settle it there. That's all. That just makes it all right. "God,
You said so. I believe It, and that's just all; that's enough."
Now, if God
said so, then it is Thus Saith the Lord, right? The if this Bible is
the literal Word of God, then this Bible is "Thus Saith the Lord." Then
every Word in this Bible was written for our admonition, and our correction to
bring us righteousness. You believe that?
Then why do we
read it as though it is just some book of stories, or some book of theology? We
should read it as though each thought is God's very own thought to us as an
individual. And thus God Himself reveals Himself in the Simplicity through his
Spoken Word and through His Written Word. Then when we see what he said in this
Bible come to pass, we have God's interpretation of what He meant in His
written Word.
And as Brother
Branham said in his sermon, "Revelation
chapter 4 pt 2 24 elders 61-0101 P:103 And when He said, "Repent, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ," He didn't mean Father, Son, Holy Ghost. He meant
just what He said. When He said, "You must
be born again," He didn't say, "You
ought to be." He said, "These
signs shall follow them that believe." He
never said, "Maybe they will." He says what He means. And He's God
and He can't take it
back. He knows what's perfect, so He makes it that way, and that's
the way He intends it to be, and you have to come up to that, not Him come
down to your idea, you got to come up to His idea. That's the difference.
And in his
sermon, "Christ 55-0221 P:49" brother
Branham said, "You're not using your own thoughts; you're using
His thoughts. "Let the mind that was
in Christ be in you." See? Think His way of thinking;
say what He says.
"Confession" means "to
say the same thing." Say... Confess is to confess the same
thing, say the same thing. Then don't confess your own mental
conception. Be born again and confess His Word, confess what He said. That's confession.
Say, "By His stripes, I was healed." By His stripes, I have a right, by His wounds, right now, I have a right
for salvation. I have a right for the Holy Spirit. He promised it to me. Said, 'It's in you and your children, and them that is far off, and
as many as the Lord our God shall call.'"I
believe it. It's for any generation. "Lo, I
am with you always, even to the end of the world." He died that He might raise again and be with His church all the
way to the end of the world, to confirm the Word with signs following. How far
was that to be? "Go ye..." Did it end it with the apostles? Mark 16 said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature." It's never met there yet, just
about one third of it. God's depending on us.
So let's go
back to reading it, shall we. Let's open His Word daily to our hearts. Let's
make it a part of our everyday life, and a part of our children's heritage.
Let's not start our day without it, and let's not end our day without reading
from it. Let His Word which framed this world, become "our alpha and omega".
Let's read His Word in the morning and we will know what He wants for us to do
during the day, and let's read His Word in the evening, and His Word will become
our alpha and
omega, our first and last.
Because
brother Branham said in his sermon, The Spoken word
original seed 62-0318E P:175 Notice, what harmony. Jesus never did anything until seen of the Father or the
Father showed Him first: (Harmony between God and Christ. See? John 5:19...
And I would
like to add, let us be conformed to the Image of Jesus Christ the first born
son of God. Let us also do nothing until we have heard from God. So let us read
from his Word before we start our day and before we end our evening.
Let us start
our days right, and let us end our days right,... with the Word of God upon our
hearts, our minds, our eyes, our tongues and our ears. Then as brother Branham
said, we will
have "Thus Saith the Lord," or we will keep still.
In fact
brother Branham says the same thing as he
continues with his thought "So will the Bride, and He (God) shows Her His Word of Life
(He shows Her), and she receives It. She never doubts it. Nothing
can harm Her, not even death; for if the Seed be planted, the water will
raise it up again. Amen. (Now, I got a great big "Hallelujah.") Here is the secret:
the Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what He wants done
with the Word, and She does it in His Name. She has THUS SAITH THE LORD. Then
it is germitized; so the Holy Spirit waters it until it is grown and
serves its purpose. They do only His will. (Amen. I'll believe that.)
No one can persuade them different. They have THUS SAITH THE LORD, or they keep still. Then they will do the
works of God. For it is Himself in them,
continuing His Word to fulfill as He did complete in His day. All things when
He was here, He did not complete all when He was here, for it was not time yet.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said to us, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." And
then He said, 34 "Take therefore no thought for the
morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof."
So make no
plans without seeking Him first, then all the things shall be established.
Don't get ahead of today. Just take each day one day at a time, and you will
enter into an eternal mindset.
I am sure when
we get to the other side, we will not be in a state of thinking what will
tomorrow bring, but we will be in an eternal state of today. "Father what would you have your servant to
know, Father what would you have your servant to do". "Take therefore no thought for the
morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
The Message
Bible puts it this way, 34 “Give your entire
attention to what God is doing right now,
and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will
help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
The
Bible only asks us to "walk in the Light as he is
(present tense)
in the light."
Brother Branham
said in his sermon, "Witnesses" 53-0405E
P:65 "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God." Have you ever witnessed that to be the truth? Put
God first. Pay your tithes first. Pay everything first. Pay God. Pray
first at morning. Pray all through the day. Give God the first place in
everything. You'll be a witness. She runs right in. She had two sticks. In
the old oriental way, they use two sticks. It was two sticks crossed, like
this, and the fire was in the middle. The Indians still use it, and they move
the logs up as they burn. That was the cross, Christ, where the fire was in the
middle. They took a little of the meal offering, put that ground meal, all
ground just the same: "Jesus Christ the
same yesterday, today, and forever,"
poured in the oil, which was the Holy Spirit, and mixed It together, the Holy
Spirit and Christ; going to make some kind of a hoecake now, brother. Amen. Oh,
don't think I'm crazy. I'm just religious tonight. All right. Notice, "Make me a little cake, first."
Now listen, as
I began to look over the many times brother Branham quoted the scripture we
just read in Matthew 6:33 "seek ye
first,,," he always jumps right to Elijah and the widow woman. That's our
example concerning that Scripture.
In his sermon,
Be certain of God 59-0412A P:32 Brother
Branham says, "See, now, here comes a great lesson. But Elijah said, "Bake me one first." Oh,
what is it there? What lesson do we learn? "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." "Bake me one
first."And she looked. She said, "I
wonder who that is? There's something about the man that seems to be
different."And he said, "Make me one
first and bring it."And she started in
to do what he said. Then she heard that comforting Word that always
comforts, "For THUS SAITH THE LORD
the barrel will not be empty nor the cruse run dry, until the day that God
sends rain on the earth."
From his
sermon, Reaction to an action 59-0810 P:41 Brother Branham said, "Then she
heard... She started to turn again, and she heard a voice saying, "But bring me one first."
What do we learn here? Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God. "How will I meet it?"
I can't tell you, but you put God first. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all
these other things will be added." "But bring me one first."Look,
she didn't have to go down and get her last penny; she had to go down and
get her last piece of bread. She didn't have to go for this, or that, or
maybe change doctors or so forth, some little insignificant thing; but she had to go to the only thing
that stood between her and death, and her child. "Bring me a little cake first in your hand." I can see her nod her head, obedient. That's what God requires.
You get the Word and the Spirit mixed together, self-sacrifice, obedience.
When God's prophet says
a certain thing, do it! Hold on to it! She bowed her
head, "Yes sir." She starts on. Then she heard the sweetest thing
she'd ever heard, that all sufficient word that all of us listen for. For there
come across that gate the blast from that prophet's voice; said, "For THUS SAITH THE LORD..."
Amen. That's what we look to hear. "THUS SAITH THE LORD, the
barrel will not go empty, or the cruse will fail until the day that God sends
rain on the earth." There it was. Amen.
When I was studying last night and I came across this my eyes watered
up, to know that God
never asks us to do anything but what he has our good in His own mind as well.
Did not God
promise us in Romans 8:28 And we
know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
And
then he goes on to tell us God has everything under control. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
And then those
most comforting word, Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for
us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, (God already gave us the
best he could give when he gave His first born Son for us, and if he did this
for us, then) how shall he not with him also freely give us
all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who
is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us. 35 Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So what are you
worried about whether you are going to make it or not, or whether your children
will make it or not. He promised us, in Isaiah...
Isaiah 65:23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring
forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
Isaiah 61:9 And their seed shall be known among the
Gentiles, and their offspring among the
people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed
which the LORD hath blessed.
Isaiah 48:19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the
gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before
me.
Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is
thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed,
and my blessing upon thine offspring:
Acts 3:39 For the
promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
So what are you worried about. do you think God would
destroy one of His own Children? And do you think He would destroy of His
children's children?
Even when God made promise to Abraham, he made
promise to Abraham and to all his offspring that would come after Him.
Genesis 26:4 And I
will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed;
Genesis 28:14 And
thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the
west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 13:15 For
all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for
ever.
You know,
sometimes I think that we make enemies of our children because they sin. Job
never made his children into his enemies when they sinned, in fact he really
didn't keep tabs on whether or not they sinned. But he offered the Token for
them regardless, not knowing whether they sinned or not. You see, he loved them
as any real Father would love his own children. And I can say, I love my
children, but being a grandfather I love my children's children as if they were
my very own children.
I hear people
say all the time, and they misunderstand what the prophet of God was saying
when he says, "God don't have grandchildren". Now that is true, but God has children who
have children and he loves His Children's children just as much as if they were
His own children, because after all if they are the children of his Children
then they are His
Children because they are after all His Seed.
And look at
the promises of God to our children and their children.
Ezekiel 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant,
wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever:
and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
Jeremiah 2:9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead. Notice God will
not only plead with us but he will continue to plead with our children and
their children all down the lineage.
Proverbs 17:6 Children's
children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.
Proverbs 13:22 A good
man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up
for the just.
Psalms 128:6 Yea, thou
shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.
Psalms 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
Now, this last
promise is one to consider, because you will reap what you sow, and your
children and your children's children will reap what you sow as well.
Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;
visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the
fourth generation.
But the
blessings and cursing works both ways as well for Paul taught us in Hebrews 7:9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who
receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10 For
he was yet in the loins of his father,
when Melchisedec met him.
Why are we not a
denomination? 58-0927 P:54 Listen, you young people today. I don't
know whether you come to this church, or where you come, you young boys and
girls. Did you realize, the things that you're doing, if there is another generation, your
children will be judged for what you do? Haven't you no respect
or decency? You girls that's out here wearing these little old shorts and
things around, you know, that's reflecting on your daughter. Did you know your
grandmammy was a flapper, and your mammy a chorus girl, and that's the reason
you're a striptease today? It's certainly. What will your children be? Yes,
sir. God said He'd visit the iniquity of the parents upon the
children and their children, to three and four generations. 55 And did you
realize, my brother, every
time you do that which is right, that'll be visited on your children?
Look here, let's take Hebrews the 7th chapter. The Bible said, when--when
Melchisedec met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the king, and blessed
him, and said... Now, Levi, is talking about paying tithes. Said, "Levi had an
order from the Lord to receive tithes from his brethren." And Levi who
received tithe paid tithe, for he was yet in the loins of Abraham when he met
Melchisedec. And Abraham was his great-grandfather. Abraham
begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Levi; Levi, father, grandfather,
great-grandfather. And while Levi was in the loins of Abraham, the Bible
said he
paid tithes to Melchisedec. Hallelujah. Don't let nobody tell you that any
kind of a move in the world can ever interfere with God's great cog; she's
moving right on. It was planned back there in the beginning. There ain't a
devils or enough devils can interfere with His program.
Things that are to be 65-1205
P:21 But now, notice. Now, in this world that is to come... There is a
world to come. Just like your birth here, I said. You was
prepared; God knew you'd be here. And now you know, even things
that your parents done... Now, people think that isn't visit from
generation to generation, but it is. Over in the Book of Hebrews, I believe the--about the 7th chapter, speaking Paul there (the
writer, as I believe it was)--was speaking on a great event that taken place
with Abraham, that he paid tithes to Melchisedec, when he was
returning from the slaughter of the king. And now, he said that Levi was in the
loins of Abraham when he met Melchisedec, coming from the slaughter of the kings,
and then he reckoned that to Levi paying tithes also when he was in the loins
of Abraham, his great, great grandfather. And He visits the sins of the peoples upon
their--their children from generation to generation that won't keep
His Word.
Why 60-0309 P:12 Paul told
Timothy to stir up the gift that was in him, that come from his grandmother,
Lois. We find out that in the 7th chapter of Hebrews, that Paul speaking on tithe paying, that he said,
Levi, who had an order from God to receive tithing of his brother, paid tithes,
for he was yet in the loins of Abraham when he met Melchisedec, which was his
great, great-grandfather. And it was accounted to him for paying tithing. Your life will impress your
children, and influence your children by the example you set
before them. And I think it's a good thing that we put every effort we can
before our children as godly parents. Make an example, be an example.
Do you now believe? 52-0817
P:48 Now, look. Now, you begin to be germitized, as your body, in your great-grandfather,
the germ begin to begin to become active. Did you know that? Why here, Levi, paid tithes when he was in the loins
of Abraham, his grandfather. Is that right? See? Now, if you germitized in
your great-grandfather, come out through your grandfather, down to your
father, then in, and that's how you become germitized for your body. But your spirit, your soul was made up
before the foundation of the world, when God made man in His image.
Hebrews Chapter 7 part 1
57-0915E P:65 Now. And as I may so say, Levi also, who received tithe, payed
tithes in Abraham. Now, oh, here's something. For he was yet in the loins of his father,
when Melchisedec met him. What? Levi... Abraham was Levi's
great-great-grandpa. And the Bible said here, that Levi paid tithes
when he was in the loins of Abraham. Four generations before he ever come to earth, he was
paying tithes to Melchisedec. And blessed be the Name of the
Lord. Then you that can't believe in predestination before ordination, and here
four generations before Levi would ever come out of the loins of Abraham, was
paying tithes to Melchisedec. Wish we had time to run this through the
Scripture.
Faithful Abraham 59-0415E
P:57 Watch when he come back. They had a great big jubilee, homecoming time.
And there was all the kings around thanking Abraham, and then they met another
King, Melchisedec. He was the King of Salem which was Jerusalem: the
King of peace, the King of righteousness. Who was this great King? I want to ask
you something. Who was this great King? He did not have any father. He never had a
mother. He never had a beginning of days or ending of life. Who was that
King that met Abraham coming home from the slaughter of the kings? And to you
people that don't believe in tithe paying, look at this. The Levitical
priesthood paid tithes. And the Bible said that Levi paid tithes when he was in
the loins of Abraham, and that was his great, great grandfather. And
when Levi was in the loins of Abraham, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec,
the Bible reckoned Levi paying tithes. How ought you people to live. If your sins are visited to the
children, what about your blessings?
Look, we could
go on and on concerning this, but I think you understand and I hope that you
will go home today and realize that everything you do will reflect somehow upon
your children. And if you love your children as much as I love my own, and my
children's children, then you will lay up inheritance for them, and I am not
just talking about material things here, but you will lay up an eternal
inheritance, that will never perish. A character that is molded into the very
image of the first born in a vast family of brothers, as God said to Abraham as
many as the stars in the sky and the dust on the earth. That's a very, very
large family. And you will never be lonely over their, for you will have family
everywhere you turn, and you will long enjoy your inheritance together and all
thine offspring with you.
Let us bow our
heads in prayer.