Desperation
no 25
You're
not fit to live until you are fit to die
May 18, 2016
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
This morning we will continue in our study of brother
Branham's sermon, Desperation, and we will pick up at paragraph no 43.
43 Jack
Moore said to me one time, "I'd hate to have to answer like you will have
to at the day of the judgment." Said, "God has put these people into
your hands, and you're going to give an account for every one of them. You're going to answer for your ministry."
That's been about fifteen years ago, or maybe eighteen; and since then, I've
been in desperation. What will I do? Let me say only what You say,
Lord. Let me tell them what's the
truth or don't say nothing. It throws me in desperation.
And that is exactly what the prophet told us the
attitude of the Bride would be.
From
his sermon, 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) So will the
Bride, and He 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.
You see, that is where we can come into our rest.
Dying to self is not just something we do so we can be more Christ like. I mean
that is a noble desire, but dying to self actually brings rest as well, because
when you can come to the place where you are willing to do nothing unless you
have Thus Saith the Lord concerning what to do, then all you can do it rest.
I'm not saying we have an excuse now to be lazy.
That's not it at all, because Eternal Life is living for others, but the rest
That we have entered into is that nothing any longer matters to you except for
walking in the Light as He is in the Light. In other words, just walking with
him.
44 Then
seeing these signs coming: seeing
the Holy Spirit take us out there, and bring
these Seals, and lay them in like
that; bring the church ages and lay
them in; then come down in a great big Pillar
of Fire back there and reveal Himself; then come down on the next thing, on
the Seven Seals, and reveal it, even put it in the papers,
the magazines; then come in and take the Angels of God, them seven angels with seven Messages, and confirmed it exactly what the Bible said;
then during that time, come up and bring in those Seals, those signs,
flashes of the end time, and bringing it up to the people and tell them
what it is, and all about it, the
Lord working right there showing Himself present; and then, right down like
this morning, come up and require that Token
on every person. Then you're my people. You're the ones that I love, these and
them that's listening to the tapes and so forth. Then you see what desperation it puts me in.
Now, brother Branham just laid out his ministry in
a one simple paragraph. The Signs of God in Vindication of His presence here with
us, The breaking down of the Seven Church Ages, and then the opening and
revealing of the Seven Seals, and the sealing it all off with the understanding
of the Token and the importance of receiving it.
Then in the next paragraph, he tells us what kind
of atmosphere we should be living under.
Just
as Peter the apostle said, 2 Peter 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2
Peter 3:1 This
second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both
which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 That
ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,
and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 Knowing this first,
Notice
here Peter begins to go into the mechanics and begins to lay them out before
us, as to things that must take place at the time of the rapture. These are
things to watch for, as they are earmarks of the things that must transpire
during the season of the Rapture).
1) that there shall come in the last days scoffers, And notice that the word scoffer refers to a people
who make fun of and who hold lightly the things that God does during this
rapture season. Now, the Greek word that was translated as scoffer is the word empaiktes
and it means someone who derides, scoff and makes fun of, but it also means
false teachers. So these are people who because of false teaching make fun of
and deride what the Lord is actually doing.
And
notice how peter describes these scoffers, he says they are "walking after their
own lusts". So
these are people who are into self, and they are self focused and not God
focused.
Remember the Apostle Paul warns us about
this human condition in Romans 8 where he says 5 For they that are
after self do mind the things of self; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded or
self focused is death; but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind, the
self centered mind is enmity against God: for it
is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are into self
cannot please God. 9 But ye are not into self, but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And
if Christ be in you, then the body is dead to
self; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised
up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to self,
to live after self. 13 For if ye live for self, ye
shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of self, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.
Therefore as we come more and more into
Christ we have stripped away our human desires of living for our own self, and
we enter into a rest knowing that our mind has become yielded to His mind, and
our desires to his desires. We have died to self and yet we are more alive now
than we ever were before, because we know that to live is Christ and to die is
gain. So what have we got to lose? Living Christ lives again, and dying we are
set free from the constraints of this mortal body.
Now, in returning back to 2 Peter 3 we saw that the time of the rapture, t=or
the season of the rapture that there will be scoffers, and the characteristic
of these scoffers is that they will be totally into self, walking after their own lusts, and
that because they know not eternal life.
Then we read in verse that these
scoffers will say
4 And
saying, "Where is the promise of His
parousia? Where is the promise of His presence? So we see point number 2) these scoffers
will be totally unaware of the Parousia of Christ. And they will scoff at it as
a result, saying Where
is the promise of His presence? And
then listen to what Peter describes for us next concerning these scoffers. They
will say, "for
since the fathers fell asleep, all
things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation.
In other words, these people, these end
time scoffers will not be able to see what the bride of Christ is seeing. The
scoffers says, I thought He was to return, I thought His Presence was to come,
but I don't see anything different? All I see is the same old things and
nothing has changed. And they do not see the change and the transformation of
the bride of Christ being changed from "glory
to glory"
from "doxa to
doxa", from their "opinion" to
His "opinion", and from their "values" to His
"values", from their image into His image.
That
is what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass (which
is the mirror of God's Word, and in that mirror) we behold the glory of the Lord, (the "doxa"
of the Lord) and
we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, (from doxa
to doxa, from opinion
to opinion, from values
to values, from judgment
to judgment) even as (which
means in the same way as) by the Spirit of the Lord.
So as
the Spirit of the Lord moves, we move, as the Spirit of the Lord speaks, we
speak, and then you see we are being changed from image to image into the very
image of Christ as he himself said in John 5:19 "the son can of himself do nothing, but
whatsoever the Father doeth, that doeth the son Likewise."
so notice the dichotomy between the
elect of God and the end time scoffers.
The Elct of God are changed into the very image of Christ with the same
doxa or mindset that was in Christ bringing us into the very out-raying or
reflection of Christ. And that is because "sons of God are led by the
Spirit of God, while scoffers are led by their own desires and their own self
centered will.
And the Apostle Peter continues to
describe them in verse 5 For this they willingly are
ignorant of, that by the word of God
the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: In
other words, they are ignorant that God is sovereign and yet God is absolutely
controlled by His very own Word. And by that Word he created the earth and the
waters engulfing the earth.
So here is a principal that the scoffers
are very ignorant of, and Peter calls this ignorance, willful ignorance.
Because they willfully turn away the knowledge of the truth, in favor of the
lie. And knowing that the world perished by turning down God's Word, they
willingly head straight into the same destruction. 6 Whereby the world that then was, being
overflowed with water, perished: 7 But the heavens
and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, (now, he is
speaking to us) be
not ignorant of this one thing, that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day. (and being that time is a tool in the hands of God
then consider this) 9 The Lord
is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance.
In other words, be not ignorant of this
one thing, time is of no concern to God. to him, a thousand years is but one
day. So if William Branham has a vision or two that have not yet taken place,
be not fretful, for to God a few minutes only have passed since William Branham
went off the scene.
Remember, it has only been a jubilee
since he went off the scene, and 50 years to 1,000 years is the same as 1.2
hours to God.
God's prophet Isaiah spoke concerning a
virgin will conceive and bring forth a son, and 700 years transpired for man,
but only 16.8 hours for God.
Now, let's continue to read from 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Now, we are still looking at the
mechanics of the rapture here and the scene that shall unfold at the day of our
God, and seeing the somberness of these end time events, he then says, 11 Seeing then that
all these things shall be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, And that is
exactly what William Branham was saying as we read from the very next
paragraph...
45 Desperation,
signs of His coming should throw every member of Christ
into desperation now, about our souls, about our welfare for
hereafter. Well, what are we going to amount to if we gain the whole world?
What are we living for? What do you work for? What are you eating for? What are
you struggling for? To live. What are you living for? To die.
And you're not fit to live until you're fit to die.
It's true. And we see so many miracles of healing, it should put us into
desperation.
And in returning to 2 Peter 3: lets read on from verse 12 "Looking for and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements (that's the earth and the oceans and everything on
earth) shall
melt with fervent heat? But notice
the promise to us...13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
(we do not look at it as the
end of the world and the end of all things. No sir, we look at what he has
promised for them that love him.)
"We look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Oh, glory to God, all this end time disasters is not
because God hates us, but because he loves us he has to bring on a change and a
restoration of this earth in order to make it suitable for his children. Change is never an easy thing, but when you
see it for all the positives it will bring, you then set yourself against all
the distractions and confusion that change brings on in the process of the
metamorphosis.
As brother Branham always said, "birth is a mess no matter where it takes place. If it is in
a cow barn or in the finest hospital, it's always a messy affair",
and all the changes that God has already begun in the weather, and the climate
changes, and in the sun moon and stars, and the shifting of the planet like the
shifting of the baby in a mothers womb, it sends a wave across her belly just
like the tidal waves will bring forth change on the earth washing away all
signs of mans pride and arrogance.
And what appears to be great pains that
the mother goes through, yet she knows that new born is on its way. And as we
see the birth pains the earth, the moon, the sun and stars are going through,
just think, this is all to bring about a new heaven and a new earth.
Hallelujah, and it is all being done to reshape the earth so that it will be
the proper place for the bride and Groom to live.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent
that ye may be found of him in peace,
without spot, and blameless. 15 And
account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother
Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they
do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing
ye know these things before they take place,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from
your own sted-fastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be
glory both now and for ever. Amen.
So as brother Branham said, we have seen what God
has come down to do, and He has begun the doing of it, and getting the earth in
order for the honeymoon.
Oh, my how we should be looking at all these events
that are coming upon this earth not from the fear that the world is looking at
them, but as peter said, Seeing
then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness, and
then he said, "seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation;
From the message The Token
63-1128E 100 brother Branham said, "As
we see the great end-time signs in the earth, warning us the time is at hand,
we should love one another more than we ever did in all of our lives. There
should be such a hunger to get to church. There should be such a hunger for us
to get to one another. It should be a love affair. I can't hardly wait to get
to Tucson. Oh, God healed my little wife. She's part of me. I can't hardly wait
to get there. The hours, I'm counting the days and the hours, when I can get
there to be with her. That's the way the
Church ought to be. Just seeing that the power of God, what It's done for
us, we should be counting the moments, getting together in love, that we can
fly away someday to meet Jesus. 103 Somebody said, not long ago, said,
"Brother Branham, you scare the people, saying that the coming of the Lord
is so near." I said, "They
shouldn't be worried about that. That
should be the most happy thing we know of." Uh-huh, yeah. "And He will appear the
second time to all those that love His appearing," who love
and longing for it. It's a love
affair. And how we ought
to love one another, because we're fellow citizens in the same Body. We should have love one for another. 106 Warning us, the time is at
hand... Believers should be separating themselves from the things of the world,
the cares of the world. That's the reason I hammer at women and so forth the
way I have. And then separate yourself from these TV programs. Separate yourself
from this Hollywood evangelism. Come back to deepness of sincerity.
And he said if you love one another,
and love requires fellowship. It's a part of love.
How can we say we love the brethren and won't fellowship with them. Brethren
who've left this church come and apologize for the way they left and tell me
they love me. If they really love me, why don't they come back. Will they do
it? They will if they really mean what they say. And they won't if they don't.
How can people say to one another, I love you brother and then won't visit with
you. That's not love. Love demands fellowship.
That's thus saith God's Prophet. He said, "fellowship
comes by love". And love
requires fellowship." If you love your wife, you've just
got to get with her and talk with her. If you love your friend, you've got to
get with him and talk to him. None of us are perfect, but that is what the
blood is for. If you walk in the light as He is in the light, it brings you
into fellowship and then the blood takes over.
Therefore,
perhaps we need to take a new and closer look at what this end-time scene is
all about. We see the world heading straight-long into hell and we can see the
insanity breaking out among them as the gates of hell are beginning to open up
to receive them. But we are not of this world, and as Jesus prayed in his
prayer to the father in John 17:13 And
now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have
my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them
thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,
but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them
through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me
into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes
I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have
given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that
they also, whom thou hast given me, be
with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me:
for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that
thou hast sent me. 26 And
I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me
may be in them, and I in them.
Now,
does this sound like the words of an angry son of God? Or do they sound like
the words of the
eldest son in a vast family of brothers?
Listen
to his heart's desire, he says, "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me,
be with me where I am;"
Now,
I'm going to read a couple paragraphs here, and the first thought a person will
have is to think Brother Branham has gotten off his topic, but let me tell you
he hasn't. So let's just read the next two paragraphs, and be thinking to
yourself how does what he says here have to do with what he just said leading up
to this.
Because
after the next two paragraphs to come, he turns it right back and we can see in
the third paragraph what he meant by the next two paragraphs he is speaking
about the little boy and the mans wife.
46
If that little boy. Am I looking at Mrs. Peckenpaugh now? Is
this Mrs. Peckenpaugh? Are you the one that had the boy here, something or
another? Why, here's the woman setting right here I was talking about. I just
happened to look over and see her. Now, if God can do that for that little boy,
it ought to throw you into desperation.
47 A man
from New Albany, he may be here tonight. He's a friend to my Brother Roberson
that had a little boy here. I think his wife had cancer once and was healed.
And--and now, the little boy has got asthma so bad till he's just in bad shape.
Little fellow, almost cancer in throat himself... See? And then, he brought the
little boy (Yeah, I see his hand up in the back, back there.), was prayed for
this morning. You see? Desperation...When
the wife was about to die with cancer, he knowed that God could heal her. If
God could heal the wife, God can heal the boy. It throws it into a state of desperation. See? You must come, and when you're desperate, then God's going to listen to you. But if you're just slothful, you don't care
whether He does or not, well then, that's different. You say you do, but it
takes desperation to do it.
Now, notice we've been looking at the worst of
conditions that are coming upon the world, and yet if our hearts are one with
God, and He is the Love of our life, then our focus is not on ourselves, but on
Him, and then you will see that all this stuff happening is to bring about a
result that comes forth from a motive of pure love. And that is what brother
Branham is telling us in these last two paragraphs here, about the man's love
for his wife, and the love for their son, and Love will bring out the best in
us every time.
And the key is in this next two paragraph where brother
Branham says, 48 I believe that
the reason we don't have desperation is because it's a lack of love, the
love of God. I think that the love of God causes
desperation. If God is in you, the Token
inside of you, and you see the conditions of times and people wading in sin the
way they are, it'll throw you into desperation. I believe it
will.
49 Now,
the Word plainly states (if you want to put this down) in Galatians 5 and 6, that faith worketh by love. See? Faith worketh by love. And the only way that you can have faith, is
have love first. Because after all, faith is love's incentive.
Incentive, that's exactly what--what faith is, is an incentive to
love. Now, if you don't have love you can't
have faith. See?
Oh,
my what a reproach to all those who think that they have the doctrine so they
have it all. And when you talk about the Love of God, they call it sloppy
agape. O yes, I have heard their words, and it's chilling.
The
Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
And
so when we see that Paul speaks of a Work of Faith
he is telling us that this work has it's source from Faith. And when he speaks
of a labor or Love he is speaking of labor which
has it's source from Love, and when he speaks of a
patience of Hope, he is speaking of patience
which has it's source from your earnest expectation,
because if you did not earnestly expect it you would not be willing to wait for
it.
And
so we see the NIV reads this way, "We continually remember before our God and Father your work
produced by Faith, and your labor
prompted by Love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ."
And
let's face it, isn't that what keeps us going year after year after year? Our
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ? And isn't it our Faith that drives our actions
and our efforts in the Gospel, and isn't it our love for this Revelation which
has overtaken us that motivates our labor toward one another. This is
what we mean when we speak of an action and a building up of cell upon cell
until every fiber of our being is taken over by the Revealed Word of God.
Now,
in reading from the Wuest translation, we get a better appreciation
for this scripture. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Wuest: "Remembering unceasingly your works produced and characterized by
the Faith which is yours, and your
toil which is motivated and characterized by your divine and self
sacrificial Love, and your patient endurance under trials which finds
it's source in your hope which rests in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence
of God, even the father."
Notice in the Apostle Paul's 2nd letter
to the Thessalonians, he begins by writing the same admonition concerning the
saints and their love which he sees growing towards each other.
2
Thessaonlians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is
meet, because that your faith groweth
exceedingly, and the love of every
one of you all toward each other keeps on aboundeth, and the word aboundeth means to keep on increasing and
increasing;
Now,
we all know that unless you have prefect love you will never enter that place,
right? Therefore we ought to know and understand how important Love is to God,
because after all the Scriptures tell us God is love.
And Brother
Branham told us in his sermon, Beyond the curtain
of time 61-0305 P:25 As I begin to
move from that beautiful, joyful place, as far as my eyes could see, people
were coming towards me to embrace me crying, "My precious
brother."Suddenly I was back on the bed again. I said, "O God, help
me. Never let me compromise with the Word. Let me stay straight on the Word. I
don't care what anyone else does, Lord. Let me press on to that beautiful,
joyful place." I am more convinced than ever in my life, that it will take perfect
love to enter that place. There was no jealousy, no
tiredness, no sickness, no old age, no death, only
supreme beauty and joy. (Hallelujah!) Whatever you do, lay aside everything else until you get
perfect love. Get to where you can love everybody, even every enemy.
No matter if the plane is rocking, the lightning is flashing, or the guns of
the enemy are upon you, these things do not matter; get perfect love. If
you're not saved, accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, now. If you have not
been baptized in water, be baptized now. If you have not received the baptism
in the Holy Spirit, receive It now. Press on in that perfect love, which
will take you to that beautiful and joyful place beyond the curtain of time.
Hallelujah. Glory to God. Amen.
In Galatians 5:6 we already saw how brother Branham pointed out what Paul taught
here concerning the relationship between Faith and Love. He said, "For in Jesus
Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love."
Notice Paul tells us that our Faith worketh
by Love. The word for worketh is a Greek word energeo
and it means energizes.
Our Faith is
energized by Love Paul says.
I Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing,
because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it
not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that
believe.
John 3:16 For
God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life
Therefore,
number 1) Faith and Love are
inseparable. Faith is Love, but only in a passive form. Love is the active form of Faith, it is faith in action.
Therefore you can say you have faith but unless there is an expression of that
faith it is dormant and lifeless and no faith at all. Just a mental or
intellectual comprehension you call faith.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is first of
all love, then joy, and peace, and longsuffering,
and gentleness, goodness, and finally faith, Notice that Love is mentioned
first because love governs all the other fruits of The Spirit, including Faith.
Because Faith on its own is passive, but governed by Love it expresses itself.
2 Corinthians 8:7 Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge,
and in all diligence, and in your love
to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
2 Thessalonians 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love
of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
2 Timothy 4:8
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Ephesians 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God
Ephesians 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: You see we
cannot even begin to grow up into Christ until we begin to speak the truth in
Love. Not just speaking truth, because you can speak it from envy and strife
and it will produce negative results, but speak the truth in love and it will
begin to express God who is Love.
That is why the Apostle Paul later
says in Ephesians
3:17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Again we see the association between
true faith and love.
And in James 2:5 we read, "Hearken, my
beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and
heirs of the kingdom which he hath
promised to them that love him?"
Therefore even our inheritance
comes as a result of our expressing our Love for the Father, and always being
about His business. That is the law of inheritance. And unless you are the
right kind of son, you are still a member of the family but without
inheritance.
Jesus
said in John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my
commandments.
And Peter
tells us how our love for Christ is to be expressed in 1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit unto unfeigned (unpretentious) love of the brethren, see that ye
love one another with a pure heart fervently:
Notice again the promise we have from
our Saviour if we love him.
James 1:12 Blessed
is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord
hath promised to them that love him.
Now, we know that the new birth is
the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and we see the Apostle Paul speaking of this in Ephesians 1:13-14
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation: in whom also after
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory.
But then God is not finished with
you yet as Paul continues on in verse 15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in
my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
And we
know this did not take place until This hour When the Lord Himself came down with
a Shout, Voice and Trump.
In his sermon, Adoption
or placing 60-0522E P:87 brother Branham is quoting Paul here, "Wherefore I also..." Paul's just telling now what he is. I'll read the
rest of this, and then we pray for the sick. "Until the possession, this is the earnest until the
possession, unto the praises of His glory."Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith... (I heard that you believed this stuff; I heard that you
really believed in predestination, Eternal Life, and salvation, and so
forth)... in the Lord Jesus, and love unto
all... saints, Cease
not to give thanks to you, making mention of you in my prayers;That the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in... knowledge of him:...
(Just keep revealing Himself to you all the time, growing from grace unto
grace, from power unto power, and glory unto glory. Not fall
back; but from glory unto glory, keep moving on. I'll keep praying for
you.)The eye--the eyes of your understanding...
88
Umm. You know, and the Bible said you were blind and didn't know it. But here
Paul said, "I'm going to
pray that your eyes of understanding..."
You understand with your heart. That's what he's talking about. You look with
your eye, but you see with your heart. You know that. All right. "That the God of glory..." Let's see, the 18th verse. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of the calling, and what the riches of...
glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of
his power to us-ward... (Whew. They
say the power's gone? The power hasn't even arrived yet.)... who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power, "You who have believed to the working of His mighty
power, I just pray that God will just pour out
His power upon you." See? Which
he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from... him from the dead, and set him
at his own right hand in... heavenly places, Far above... principalities...
powers... might... dominion, and that every name that is named,...Oh. For... No, I better not. We could sure take
the rest the night on that. ... every
name that is named, not only in this world, but that in the world to come:
89 What
is every, what's every name every name of, every person will bear the Name
of what? [Congregation says "Jesus."--Ed.] The whole heaven's
named Jesus. The whole church is named Jesus. Everything is named
Jesus, for it's the only Name that God ever had. He's called Jehovah,
Jehovah-jireh, the Lord's provided Sacrifice; Jehovah-rapha, the Lord that
healeth thee; Jehovah, the Lord's banner, Manasses; and Jehovah, different
Jehovahs. He's called the Morning Star. He's called Father: He's called Son;
He's called Holy Ghost. He's called Alpha; He's called Omega. He's called
Beginning; He's called the Ending. He's called the Branch. Oh, He's called, He's
just called all kinds of titles, but He had one Name. That's what Matthew was talking about when he said, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the Name (not in
names), in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost." Father's not a name; Son's not a
name; Holy Ghost is not a name. It's a title to a Name. It's a name of three
attributes that belongs to one God. What was His Name? The Angel said, "Thou shall call His Name [Congregation says, 'Jesus.'] for He shall save His people from their sin." That's the reason they all baptized that way
in the Bible. That's how Saint Augustine baptized the King of England, about a
hundred and fifty, two hundred years after the death of Christ, in the Name of
Jesus Christ. All right.
90 Far above... principalities... powers... might...
dominion, that--that every name that is named, not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come:And has put all things under his feet, and has given
him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is his body,...
Now, if my body has the power over all
things, then what my body is, is what I am. Is that right? That's what I
am; that's what you know me as. Is that right? Well, then, all that God was,
He poured into Jesus, for He was the
Fullness of the Godhead bodily. Is that
right? And all that Jesus was, He poured into the church. "These
things that I do, shall you do all things, also. Even greater than this shall
you do, for I go to the Father."
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. 91 Oh, how I love that.
From Seventy Weeks of Daniel he said,
" The
Spirit of Wisdom comes in to the church to make known to the church by the revelation
of the Holy Ghost bringing the church in and revealing what day that we are
living in. Just as Gabriel came to Daniel, the Holy Spirit comes to the church
in the last days to reveal these great deep secret things."
Ephesians 1:17 That
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
So we see God comes with the
Spirit of Adoption and lets us know that it is He Who has come because
He is the Same One Who raised up Jesus. In 2 Thessalonians 2 : we see that God's Holy Spirit
is holding down the lawlessness until He departs and when He departs the earth
He will take us with Him in a Rapture.
From 161-3 THE FIRST SEAL brother
Branham said, " You can't crown a spirit,..., and when this Holy Spirit
that we have, becomes incarnate to us, the One that is in our midst now in the
form of the Holy Ghost, becomes incarnate to us in the Person of Jesus Christ,
we will crown Him King of Kings...?... That's right. See?"
So then Revelations 10 is not speaking of
the Body that comes down, which is the Second Coming. It is not the Lamb, it is
the Holy Ghost Himself which the scriptures refer to as the Appearing.
From his sermon, The MESSAGE of
GRACE, pg. 30 brother Branham said, "There's only one thing different in Him
being here this morning than He was amongst the people at Galilee, that would
be His own body of flesh, His corporal body; because that was raised up (you
believe that?) set's at the right hand of the majesty on high, ever living to
make intercessions for our confessions.
And notice what the Spirit of Wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him will produce.
Colossians 2:2 That
their hearts might be comforted, being knit
together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of
understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father,
and of Christ;
2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brethren, farewell Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
2 Timothy 1:7 For
God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind
I have another 11 pages here so I
think we will stop at this time,
Let us bow our heads and our hearts
in a word of prayer.