Desperation no 8

Identifiable Characteristics

March 27, 2016

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

 

This evening we will continue in our study of brother Branham's sermon Desperation, and we will pick up at paragraph 18.

 

18 The Token, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, is among us. (Now listen, this doesn't sound like he is talking about the God-Life in the believer here. Sounds like he is talking about the author of Life Himself) and then he says... We should reverence that. We can't humble ourselves enough. Taking off your shoes or getting on your knees wouldn't expel it, it wouldn't satisfy; it wouldn't suffice us, but a life that brings forth the fruit of the Spirit...Now, what is the fruit of the Spirit? See? Love, joy, peace... Remember this morning? Preparation, sent the messenger with the message. Next thing He done after He sent the messenger with the message, He sent the Pillar of Fire for a vindication. Next thing was after that, was consolation. See? You knew that it was right; you was at peace. We have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. See?


This evening we will take our text from this paragraph, but before we continue I would like to read also from the next paragraph because it looks like he is speaking of having a communion service immediately following this Message on Desperation. So I guess this fits very nicely with what we are here for tonight, being that this is what we call Good Friday and we are also here for a communion service.

 

19 Now, tonight we're going to pray for the sick. And I think they have Communion. [Brother Branham speaks to Brother Neville--Ed.] You don't have baptism, baptismal service? Just Communion? And we want you to stay for Communion, and within thirty-five or forty minutes we aim to be finished and ready for the Communion. And now, tomorrow is the time of Labor day, so you can kinda rest up. Now, I said that was our intentions. You see? We don't know what the... I want to be sure to make that right.

 

Now, notice that in paragraph 18 brother Branham speaks of the very presence of The Token Himself, which we know is the author of Life, God Himself. 18 The Token, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, is among us.

 

Then notice the next thing we are told, and what he says next is the atmosphere we should be living under.  We should reverence that. We can't humble ourselves enough. Taking off your shoes or getting on your knees wouldn't expel it, it wouldn't satisfy; it wouldn't suffice us,

 

Therefore with this atmosphere of knowing the Father of Glory, the Holy Ghost Himself is here, the creator of the world, the giver of Life, he tells us our whole attitude should be one of reverence, and humility. Therefore this evening I think it would be appropriate for our communion service if we look at these two attributes or characteristics that should be reflecting from our lives, knowing that the God who gave the Word is here to complete it.   

 

18 The Token, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, is among us.  We should reverence that. We can't humble ourselves enough. Taking off your shoes or getting on your knees wouldn't expel it, it wouldn't satisfy; it wouldn't suffice us,

 

We talk about applying the Token, but most people in this Message who speak of applying the Token don't even know first of all what the Token is, and secondly they do not know what it means to apply it. Therefore, we must first of all, be able to identify the Token. What is the Token, or more precisely, Who is the Token.

 

So if Jesus Christ is the TOKEN, then our receiving and manifest­ing His Life is a token.

 

Desperation 63-0901.2E 23 "The Token, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, is among us. We should reverence that. We can't humble ourselves enough. Taking off your shoes or getting on your knees wouldn't expel it, it wouldn't satisfy, it wouldn't suffice us, but a life that brings forth the fruit of the Spirit...

 

Notice he is telling us that nothing could we could do would be sufficient or satisfactory knowing His great presence is here among us. Then we must ask the question, what will suffice it? He says " but a life that brings forth the fruit of the Spirit ".

 

What's that? A life that will YIELD it's fruit. Jesus said, "I am the vine ye are the branches." He wants to yield His fruit through us. What else would a Husband want from His wife? He wants to bear his fruit through her. The fruit of her womb. Reproduce Himself in her. And Jesus Christ wants to use our bodies to reproduce His life in us.

 

Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

 

So we are looking at a reproduction of His very Life in us. That is the only thing that will suffice, or be sufficient to do in His presence. To become a perfect reflection of Him as we walk and live in His presence.

 

And brother Branham spoke of the fruits of the spirit when he spoke of this Life being lived before Him. "Now, what is the fruit of the Spirit? See? Love, joy, peace... Remember this morning?" And remember that morning he spoke on the Token and in the evening service he spoke on Desperation.

 

Now, there are two times in Scripture where the apostle Paul speaks of the Fruits of the Spirit.

 

Ephesians 5:9 For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;

 

And Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

 

Now, to understand what Paul means in Ephesians 5 where he says, the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, let's read this in the context of what he was telling the Ephesians Church. And never forget there must be another Ephesians in this hour.

Ephesians 5: Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7  Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)10  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12  For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13  But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14  Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.  15  See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, (now this word "circumspectly" means to be discreet, careful, and prudent: in other words we are told that our walk should "show an acute  mental  discernment  and  a keen  practical sense";

 

In other words, he says, we should be ...16  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

 

Therefore He is telling us that there is a certain conduct that we should be ordering our Life by. It should be guided by goodness, righteousness (which is right-wise-ness) and truth. That means if we are totally yielded to the Holy Ghost then we have put on the mind of Christ. we then will think like He thinks, and therefore we will speak as He speaks and do what He does.

 

That means when we pile Word upon Word upon Word,  that our Life will be conformed to that Word, because the piling on Word upon Word is our own affirmation that the Word of God is our absolute, our tie post, our all in all.

 

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago:  When you stand with this word and find yourself going to the word for all your answers, then you are found standing with God, for He is the Word. And You’re town testimony, and your own life, proves that you approve of God and His Word. Your own life becomes a reflection of His Word, and therefore your Life becomes your affirmation to His Word that it has taken over your life.

 

In other words, the very identifiable attributes and characteristics of God Life become reflected in your Life. For as you pile word upon word upon word, your life is taken over by that Word. And what does it means piling word upon word upon word? It means as you go to God's Word and He reveals Himself in that Word, you are not satisfied with having just one Scripture or quote, but you go to the Word for your answers, and you find another Scripture or quote and then another and then another until your entire conscience is filled with that thought from God and you see it everywhere you look.   

 

It is like what happened with us concerning John 14:12. we knew that the truth of John 14:12 is that that Promise is for all believers. And when we began to add word upon word upon word, pretty soon we could not read a Message of the prophet's without seeing that promise being spoken about. So what does that tell us? it tells us when we begin to pile word upon word, we are becoming that very word we are piling on.

When you stand with this word and find yourself going to the word for all your answers, then you are found standing with God, for He is the Word.

 

From his sermon, God identifying Himself 64-0320 P:33 brother Branham said, "The pouring out of the Holy Ghost in the last days upon the common people has identified God's characteristic with the people. He promised it. It's the Word. He said He'd do it. Nobody can take it back. He said He would do it. So all these things that He's promised, that's what He does. It identifies His characteristic. Yes, sir. "Don't believe it, don't believe My claims if My characteristic isn't that of God." Now, notice in John 14:12, "He that believeth on Me," He said, "has My identification, My characteristic. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." That identifies that the character of Christ is in him, displaying the characteristics of Him. Amen.

 

Now, that's a pretty great promise considering that Jesus, the first born and uniquely born son of God, came forth in the image of God His Father, Himself. So that would indicate to us then the image we are to be conformed to is that image of God that was displayed in his First born son.

 

From another sermon, God identified by characteristics 64-0311 P:22 brother Branham said,  John 14:12, "He that believeth," Jesus said, "on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." Now, look, "He that  believeth  on  Me (a true believer), the works that I do shall he do also." Notice. In other words, like this, "He that believeth on Me, shall be identified by My characteristic, the works." Now, that's what He did. He said, "If I don't do the Father's works, then don't believe Me." And the Father spoke to the prophets, and that was their characteristic, identification. So was it with Jesus. And promised it to him that believeth, "My characteristics shall do in him just as it did in Me. And if I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe Me. But if I do the works, and you can't believe Me, then believe the works, because it's spoken of; it must be." He said, "Search the Scriptures, for in Them you think you have Eternal Life, and They are They that tell you Who I am." That was Jesus (See?), God manifested, showing Himself. "They testify Who I am." That makes Hebrews 1:1 now, "God in sundry times spake by the prophets," clearly identifying the characteristic now of the resurrection of His Son. God spoke by the prophets then, through His Son now. The unchangeable God, the same characteristic, "The works that I do, shall you do also." God's known by His identified characteristic. That's how you know. You say, "Well, I tell you this; we sing this, we do this, and we do." That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Word made manifest and identifying this Life, the characteristics of the promised Word for the age. Them Pharisees knew that Bible as good as anybody, better than any of us clergymen know ours today. They had to live by It. Their great-great-grandfather were priests. They studied It, day and night, and they failed to see that identified Word. 23 Today, Luther said, "When you believe, you've got It." The Methodist say, "When you shout, you got It." The Pentecostal said, "When you spoke in tongues, you had It." We find all that wrong. Some of them said, "The fruit of the Spirit's got It." And it's wrong. The only evidence is, is when the a-vindication, when God Himself identifies Himself in the promised Word of the hour. There it is. Who had any more fruits of the Spirit than them kind old priests, circumcised the children, and blessed them, and everything else? And here this guy Jesus was, come around, kicked over their sacrifice blocks, looked upon them with anger, beat them, run them out, no identification of nothing. The Scripture is His identification. He had no fellowship card; He belonged to no organization. But God spoke of Him; that was His identification. That's the genuine identification of God in any hour, is His identification. That's what it is, the Scriptures that's promised made identified by the characteristic of the promise which is God, and God is the Word. And the characteristic of that promise being identified, that makes the believer. Jesus said so, and that settles it. Amen. Notice, now we find out, the characteristics identify Him. As He said, "If it doesn't do it, then don't believe Me." Now, Jesus spoke that it would identify Him.

 

Christ is identified the same 64-0415 P:42 Now, we see, He... God, then, identifying Himself in all ages, how? How did He identify Himself now? What characteristic did He use? His same characteristic from the beginning: manifesting His Word, making His Word to live. That's the identification: the promised Word of that age. See now, when Moses come, he couldn't said, "Now, we're going to build an ark and float out of here." That was Noah's message. That's the trouble. When Jesus came on the scene, He found those Hebrews living in the glare of another light. And that's what it is today; that's what it is in every age. They live in the glare of another light. That's the reason that you Methodists, when you come on the scene... Luther, He was living in the glare of a Lutheran age. They couldn't accept John Wesley. When Pentecostal come on, the Methodists couldn't accept Pentecost, because it was living in the glare of Methodist. And now, I wonder what kind of glare the Pentecostals are living in. See? What you want to do is search the Scriptures and find out the hour that we're living in, and then what's supposed to be here at that time, and see if God makes that live and manifests it. Then that's the thing we got the right interpretation to the age.

 

This is so beautiful. Look, he says what we want to do is look for the Word that is supposed to manifest in our age, and then when we can see it and we then manifest it, then we know we have the right interpretation of the Word for the Age we live in.

 

Let me say this. When Jesus Christ expressed the characteristics of God to the age he lived in, but then he went off the scene. Right? Well, then what happened next? The very Life He lived came back upon the believers, those who were filled with the same Holy Spirit that lived in Him. And the same Word he spoke they spoke, and the same action's he did they did, and the same works he performed they performed. Then they were recognized by those who saw them that they were called Christians, because they were Christ-Like.

 

Now the truth of it is that those who witnessed the Characteristics of God in Christ, after receiving the same God-Life that was in Christ, now became the expression of those same characteristics themselves. They had received that same revelation that Jesus lived by, and they now they also became the manifestation of that same revelation, by their own lives becoming the expression of that revelation.

 

Now, isn't Alpha to repeat in Omega? Then what we saw in this hour, a Life totally surrendered to God, that He became the Word expressed to us in this generation, and thus he became the interpretation of the Word, but just as Jesus went off the scene, but His Life, His Works, His power remained behind and expressed itself through those that had witnessed, now because the living witnesses to the world.

 

From his sermon, Identified Christ of all ages 64-0401 P:35 brother Branham said, "Remember, you're identified by characteristics, and God is identified by His great characteristics that He cannot change. He said in Malachi 3:6, "I am God and I change not." See? He absolutely doesn't change. His characteristics are the same.

 

God identifying Himself 64-0320 P:41 What was it? He had the promise of God. He believed God. And he acted like God. He held on to the promised Word. And twenty-five years passed. The booties had done turned yellow, but she still held on to them. Now, he's old and stooped over, and he's in a terrible shape. And Sarah's womb was as good as dead, and he's sterile, and what a condition they're in."How do you feel, Abraham, father of nations?" his make-believer friends would say to him."Well, glory to God. I feel fine. We're going to have that baby anyhow." Because "he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong, giving praise to God; for he was fully persuaded that what God said, God's able to perform." Amen. There is a characteristic of a believer. What about you? See? What about we, the children of Abraham? Are we identified with the Word of God as a promise, and our characteristic identifies ourself that we actually believe it? Or do we just hem-haw, jump from here, and over here, and down here, and guess, and hem-haw around about it? Then we're not Christians. We're just making believe. But when we really stand to that promise, toe it right there and stay with it... Abraham did.

 

God identifying Himself 64-0320 P:38 What if Moses would've went down in Egypt, and said, "Well, we're going to build a big ark. We're going to float out of this country. The Nile's going to come up." They'd look back in the scroll; there's no promise of that. That's right. But you see, he identified himself as God's prophet, for what he said come to pass. Then they knowed he had the Word of the Lord. Pharaoh had spears, but Moses had the Word. So when they got to the sea, the spears all went under the sea, and Moses took Israel across the sea on dry land, because he had the Word, and he was the Word of that hour. Moses was the Word made manifest for that hour. Elijah was the Word made manifest for that hour. Christ is the Word made manifest. And the promises that He made "A little while, and the world seeth Me no more. Yet ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you to the end of the world. The works that I do shall you do also." He promised these things. What is it? It's the characteristic of God displaying His Word like He did in all ages.

 

 

God identifying Himself 64-0320 P:34 See, there's no mistake about it. His life... "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." See, that identifies the characteristics, same thing He said. "If My character doesn't identify Myself, God in Him," then don't believe Him. Now, He also said that He would be identified in that. Then that, if it doesn't identify Him, then He isn't what He says. And today if Christ doesn't identify Hisself--the characteristic of Christ identify us as being of Christ, believing the Word... Jesus was the Word, so He had to believe the Word. And how can we say that we are of Christ and deny any Word in that Bible? The Holy Spirit of Christ is God in you. And it'll punctuate every promise with a "Amen."The Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe."The Spirit of God said, "Amen." See? One of them said, "No, that was for another age. That was for disciples only."...(that was only for William Branham.)... "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. (anywhere, all the world) He that believeth, these signs shall follow him," same thing, same yesterday, today, and forever, the characteristic being identified. That makes Hebrews 1:1, "God of sundry times, speaking to the fathers by the prophets," identifying Christ resurrected today by the same characteristic that He did in sundry times.

 

Now in this next quote brother Branham makes a comparison between Moses and Balaam, showing they both knew the Scriptures, and they both performed the same fundamentals but one had the identifiable characteristics of God while the other did not. And the Bible warns us in this hour that the two spirits would be so close it would deceive the very elected if it were possible. why? Because they both believe the same Message, and do the same religious actions, but only one has the identifiable characteristics of the God-Life in them. The other might do and speak like the God-filled one, but he is just an imperonsator.

 

God identifying Himself 64-0320 P:15 Now, that's exactly the same altar they had down in Israel's camp. There they are down in Israel with the same altar they got up here, and the same sacrifice a bullock, and a bullock; a prophet and a prophet: two nations in contrast. A very perfect example of the day we're living. If we had time to go into it, notice, God doing this in parable, we would find out, paralleling. Now, also, Balaam required a ram on each altar. That was speaking of his faith in a coming Messiah: a ram, a he-sheep. That's the same sacrifice they had down in Israel--down in the camp of Israel. Up here in Moab, the... Fundamentally they were both right, but notice, fundamentally in doctrine, but one prophet down in Israel's camp had the characteristics of God and the Word of God. He stayed with the promise of God for that age, because he was in a line going to the promised land. See? Now, as far as the fundamental part, Balaam, could be just as identified as Moses was. But you see, Moses, being the correct prophet of God, not only had the fundamental parts but had the identification of God. See? He was in line of duty exactly what was promised for that age, not for the age of Noah, but for the age then. "I will take you to a land that's flowing with milk and honey." They were on their way. And Israel was identified with their prophet, Moses, with the message of that age.

 

God identified by characteristics 64-0311 P:13 Another thing, the one, the prophet of Balaam, was fundamental, but the prophet Moses was identified by the characteristics of God. There was the Pillar of Fire, supernatural Light hanging over them. And there was great healings in their camp, supernatural God showing supernatural signs. And they were staying exactly with the Word of promise that God gave Abraham back in the time that both nations started. But now, Moses had Abraham's promise, going to the promised land. Balaam, also a prophet of the Lord, standing down there... And the only way that you could identify, not from their fundamental teaching, but by the characteristic of God. There was the sound of a shout of the voice of the King down here with Israel. The atonement was in effect, a Brass Serpent, a smitten Rock. And God was with them, identifying Himself in a supernatural Light, and healing their sickness and diseases as they went on. The characteristics proved what He was, staying in a line of the Word for that age, for the age that they were living in. God's characteristics identified Himself with Moses. See, the characteristics of God identified with Moses. The Pillar of Fire, the atonement in action, the supernatural, smitten Rock, and also the Brass Serpent, speaking of healing, and then again they were in the line of duty of the promise of God.

 

So we know that we are headed for the Millennium, and we are identified with the Shout, which is the Message, right? We are all walking under the Pillar of fire, right? We are all baptized with the same Baptism, right?

 

Yet we read in 1 Corinthians 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, (and in every church that claims this message we have that same picture of the Cloud hanging up on the wall, and so we "were under the cloud",), right?

 

"and all passed through the sea; 2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and we have all been baptized according to Acts 2:38 right?

 

3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; (And we all have the same 1200 sermons on tapes, right?)

 

4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

 

And we have all drank from the same fountain of Christ the Word. Right?


5  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.


Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.


Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.


Neither let us tempt Christ, (that means put Christ to the test) as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

 

10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. These were grumblers, not content, finding fault with the Message and the Messenger, and the leaders assigned by God to see them through their journey.

 

11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: (and never forget that) and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (and they are examples that will take us all the way to the end of the world as we know it.)

 

12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

 

Then what sets us apart from others claiming this same Prophet and this same Messenger? It is the identifiable characteristics of God. These people were following the Prophet messenger under the same Pillar of Fire that we are under today, and they ate the same manna, drank from the same well springs of water, and were all baptized with the same baptism, and yet most of them fell away and died on their way to the promised land. Why?  Because they lost track of the promise. They did not know what age they lived in.

 

And today people do not read their Bibles, and they fail to recognize that the coming of the prophet, and the Pillar of Fire is not the end of the journey, but the beginning of it.

 

And brother Branham said in paragraph 18 of Desperation, "Remember this morning? Preparation, sent the messenger with the message. Next thing He done after He sent the messenger with the message, He sent the Pillar of Fire for a vindication. Next thing was after that, was consolation. See? You knew that it was right; you was at peace. We have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. See?

 

And only two of the original 2 million had this confirmation. when they sent the 10 spies to spy out the land, 8 returned complaining that the obstacles to receiving the promise were greater than they had ever anticipated, but two said, "if God promised we would receive it, then God is obligated to give it to us, and therefore we are more than able to take it, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord, who giveth me the victory." 

 

And so they had peace where the others did not. And if you are looking at anything except the promise for this age to be fulfilled, you will find yourself losing faith in the promise.

 

I think today so many are caught up into the politics of this nation, but that is just a distraction from what is really taking place. Brother Branham said in his sermon,  Hearing, Recognizing and Acting upon word 60-0221 P:92 No wonder the Bible said, "Every table's become full of vomit. And who can I teach doctrine, and who's weaned from the breast? But precept will come upon precept, and line upon line. For with stammering lips and other tongues will I speak to this people. And this is the rest. For all this they would not hear." We got our own intellectual conception. Oh, how good it could be to stay all day on it. Politics, corrupted! Democrats, Republicans, and all, is lowdown. What is it? It's a bunch of graft

 

You know what graft is? He's not talking about what you do when you take a limb off one tree and graft it to another. He's talking about politics.

 

The word   Graft, a form of political corruption, is the unscrupulous use of a politician's authority for personal gain. The term has its origins in the medical procedure whereby tissue is removed from one location and attached to another for which it was not originally intended. Similarly, political graft occurs when funds intended for public projects are intentionally misdirected in order to maximize the benefits to private interests.

 

And that is exactly what he saw this nation and its form of Government had deteriorated into. And he continues, "Every person works in it, that's not born again, is of the Devil. The Devil said, "Every kingdom in the world belongs to me," and Jesus never debated with him. The world is controlled by the Devil. And every man that works for the government, if he ain't a Christian, he's of the Devil and working for the Devil. These nations will all fall to Jesus Christ when He comes; there'll be a millennium.

 

So I don't care what politician holds his Bible up and then proceeds to tell you what he will do. They are only using God and the Bible for their own personal gain. Forget it, and leave the Bible out of it, this nation as all nations belong to Satan right now,  but by their graft they will compromise and they will cause the vote to be cast for Hilary because God showed it in a vision they will bring in a woman who will be president of Vice President, and that is "Thus Saith the Lord." And they have already proven they do not respect the vote of the people. Their own elites said, the people do not select the nominee, we do.

 

So what we are seeing is the fulfillment of the Word of the Lord. The prophet saw it coming because like an eagle he could see far out ahead of the storm, and we are now seeing the fulfillment of what he said more than 50 years ago.  

 

So I ask you, brethren, what is your focus on? We have all sat under the shout? Then are we now focused on the Voice which is the resurrection? Are we making ready for it? Are we being conformed  to the image of the first born son? Are we manifesting as Sons and daughters of God? Are we ready for adoption? If not then we have not the identified characteristics of God in us for the hour in which we are living. 

 

Let us pray.