DOCTRINE
What it is and why is it so important
Brian Kocourek,
2 Timothy
Let us pray...
Luther’s
attitude was very different from other reformers of his day. To him,
Christianity was a matter of “Doctrine first and foremost”, because “true religion was first and
foremost a matter of faith”; and faith is correlative to Truth. Jesus
said “you can not worship God outside of Spirit and
truth”, therefore truth is essential for true worship. Bible Doctrine
is the teaching of God’s Truth. Faith itself is a revelation from God of the
Truth that God wishes to portray to His people and God will not accept any
worship of Himself that is outside the boundaries of that Truth. Therefore worship
in order to be acceptable in His sight, must come via the channel of true
doctrine or teaching. The study of God’s truth brings people to a trust in God
through Jesus Christ, as He stands revealed in the Gospel, and that study is
called The Doctrine of Christ.
According to
Luther, “Doctrine is the basis for our faith,”
and “fundamental to the Christian Religion”. William
Branham, God’s vindicated prophet to this last church age and perhaps the
greatest prophet of God to ever walk the earth said, “any man that has not a doctrine has not a ministry” and
“a church without doctrine is like a jelly fish without a
backbone”. So we can see by these statements that Doctrine is
the essential backbone of the church and the only real characteristic that
manifests whether a person is called by God or not, and therefore the only real
trait that manifests the ministry’s origins, whether it be from God or from Satan.
Both Martin Luther and William Branham believed the essential element of Faith
in Christ is the doctrinal teaching of the Scriptures.
Christianity to Luther
was a dogmatic religion, or it was nothing. Take away doctrine and you take
away Christianity. Doctrine alone sets Christianity apart from all other world
religions. All world religions pagan and false Christianity are based solely
upon good works.
1.
Muslims believe good works or actions will merit
favor with his god, and assures him his place in heaven.
2.
Jews believes good works and actions will merit
favor with his god and assures him his place in heaven.
3.
Buddhists believes good works and actions will
merit him favor with his inner self and will merit him a place in some sort of
after live.
4.
Hindus in all their different flavors believe good
works will merit him favorable karma, and will allow him to come back in a
higher state of consciousness or a higher form of life.
In all of these different
religions that make up most of the worlds population, “good works”
is the preeminent theme of their religion.
it is what they emphasize most.
The world’s religions
emphasize what man can do for God, instead of what God has done for man. Their
emphasis therefore is on self rather than on God. Therefore they are religions
of man, and not religions of God. And they have no need of true doctrine but
only actions or works to enhance their standing with their god. Their doctrine
therefore works only to set them apart one from the other.
Only
True Christianity de-emphasizes works, and places the emphasis on “The Doctrine of Christ” as the essential
element in our relationship with God.
Therefore,
Any form of Christianity that de-emphasizes “The Doctrine of Christ” does not have God as
the Apostle John warned us in the Scriptures.
2 John 2:9 Whosoever
transgresses,
(that means to go beyond the limits) and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He
that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring
not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.
We will deal more with
the Doctrine of Christ later on in this sermon. But for now, let's get back to
Luther.
Luther’s first concern
as a theologian and a reformer was with doctrine. He said, “I am not so concerned with the life, but with doctrine”. This is what Luther believed
distinguished him from other reformers of earlier days. He said, “Others who have lived before me have attacked the Popes evil
and scandalous life, but I have attacked his doctrine.”
Therefore This morning we will begin a mini series on Doctrine,
especially the doctrine of Christ,
for without it you can not have God.
William Branham was very strong on teaching the “The
Doctrine of Christ” and
as a result was ostracized by most of the ministers during his day. In this mini series, you will see that it was
not miracles that set William Branham apart from all others, but the doctrine
he taught.
In His sermon entitled The Rapture 65-1204 P:17 Br. Branham said, "Now, we are warned,… the doctrine of this, in the
last days will be scorned at."
Below you will see his actual hand written notes to
begin his sermon "The Rapture".
And from his sermon, Way
of a True Prophet 62-0513M P:92 he said, A man, so-called teacher (which I don't
say but he isn't) made a remark the other day before some of my friends at a
certain city I'd been into. You know the brother. And this
brother come in; he said... "We had Brother Branham here once"
(a certain city out west). And this man said, "Oh, Brother Branham's a
good man (See? He knew better than to throw anything on the character.),"
said, "Brother Branham, but don't you listen to his tapes, because it'll get you
confused."
Sounds like some preachers who said the same thing
to a certain sister we know. They said "if
you continue to listen to William Branham you will be confused and then lost."
But let's see what brother Branham had to say about that kind of talk.
"And
there happened to be one of my friends standing there said, "Just a
minute, sir. I was confused until I heard the tapes." And that's
the difference. Said, "I couldn't understand how a holy God would put
up with such things as that, as you all do. "Same
person, another one with him, stood at a certain place not long ago, said,
"Brother Branham is a prophet; he can discern things and things like";
but said, "now, don't listen to his
doctrine, 'cause he's not right." 93 The insanity, the uncouth expression as that; don't you know that if the Word of God is true, It
comes to the prophet. The Word of
the Lord came to the prophets. They
were the ones who interpreted the Word. Then you see what (these men) say doesn't even make
sense.
And from his sermon The Token 64-0308 P:31 William
Branham said, "When Jesus came on the scene, He never said very
much to people, everybody wanted Him in his church. "Oh, this young
Prophet, we're just so happy to have Him." He was healing the sick.
"Oh, glory to God. God's raised up a great Man among us." That was
fine. So one day it come to a spot to where... That
was His sign. Isaiah 35
said it would be a sign: "The lame would
leap like a hart," and so
forth, "the blind
would see." It
was a sign. He displayed His sign as Messiah, and so forth. And they, many
of them, said, "Yes, I could go for
that." Well, now, if that was a sign, there's got to be a voice of
that sign. What was the voice behind it? When He begin to teach His doctrine … He wasn't popular from then on (See?)
Even Jesus like all other prophets was rejected
because of what he taught. He was never rejected for the miracles he did, but
for the doctrine he taught. And yet Jesus never taught his
own doctrine, but told us that what he taught came from His
Father.
John 7:16 Jesus answered
them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that
sent me.
John 12: 49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the
Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what
I should speak.
Therefore,
in this mini series, in order to help end-time believers to better understand the Doctrine of Christ and why it is so
important and why it alone should be our focus, let's just examine
what the Apostle John said about it. 2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresses (that means to go beyond
the limits, so the doctrine has limits) and abideth (remains) not in the doctrine of Christ, hath (echoes) not God. He that (remains) in the doctrine of
Christ, he hath (echoes) both the Father and
the Son. 10 If there come any
unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him God speed.
In this mini series, we
intend to present a thorough understanding of the importance of The Doctrine of Christ, and it's
importance to the end-Time believer because without echoing this
doctrine, you can not be conformed to the image of the first born son. It's impossible.
That means this one
doctrine is so important, that without it, you will never be ready for
adoption, nor ready to manifest as a son of God, nor
be conformed to the Image of Christ, because you will never echo Christ. And
you must echo Christ to put on Christ. You will see that this doctrine was taught
by a vindicated prophet of God, and in this series, I have compiled many sermons
on this subject of "Doctrine" and it's
importance to us as believers. Therefore, let's break down what doctrine is all
about.
Doctrine: In order for there to be
a True Teaching of "the Doctrine of Christ":
1. There must be the
One Who reveals Himself.
2. There must be the
One IN whom He reveals Himself.
3. There must be the
ones to Whom He reveals Himself.
4. What is Doctrine?
5. What does Doctrine do for you?
6. We must know which Doctrine? For not all doctrines are
from God, and not all doctrines will produce Life in the believer. Therefore, not
just any Doctrine will do. It must be God's
own Doctrine, His own Teaching.
The Apostle Paul said in 1
Timothy 4: 16 Take heed unto
thyself, and unto the
doctrine; continue in them: for in
doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear
thee.
Therefore
your salvation rests in having the right doctrine, and as John
said, for if you have not the Doctrine of Christ you do not have God. And God
is the Holy Spirit, so without echoing the doctrine of Christ, how could you
receive His Holy Spirit. That would be contrary to the Bible, which is God's very own words.
1 Corinthians 14: 6 Now, brethren,
if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you,
except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge,
or by prophesying, (prophesy is to preach) or by
doctrine!
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture
is given by inspiration of God,
(the original words are all Scripture is God
breathed, God inspired) and is
profitable for doctrine, which
will bring forth reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness:
And
then Paul let's us know that any ministry is known by their doctrine and manner
of Life, and love and patience.
2 Timothy
1 Timothy 1:3 As I besought
thee to abide still at
let me read that from The
Voice translation: 3 As I said that day I left for
Romans
Acts 2:42 And they continued stedfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came
upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Notice
that the first thing listed is the doctrine, then fellowship around that
doctrine, and then the breaking of bread and prayer, and this is the correct
ingredient to produce the signs and wonders which took place as a result.
John 7:17 If any man
will do his will, he shall
know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. Therefore
he lists as an attribute obedience to the will of God
as being necessary to understand the Doctrine. I have seen too many rebellious
people in this message to the will of God. Men who are willfully ignorant to
the will of God and yet claim they are right and everyone else is wrong. And
they will not subject themselves to any ministry because they have become an
island unto themselves. And that tells me they are anarchists, because their
life shows no submission to their elders.
Luke 4:32 And they were
astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. Now,
this scripture let's you know that if the doctrine is correct it will be backed
with power, the Power of God.
Mark 1:22 And they were
astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority,
and not as the scribes.
Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
we must understand what it means to become
one with the doctrine or revelation we have, and we know that we truly possess
it, and are one with it when we see the manifestation of it in our own lives,
and we can take it back to the Word and know that this manifestation is the
Interpretation of That particular Word, Doctrine
or Revelation..
Now just because people might be able to see
the vindicated manifestations in another's life, does not necessarily mean that
are witnessing it in their own life for we know that Jesus said in..
Matthew
Now,
remember, Jesus said in Matthew 7:21
warned us that "21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and
in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not:
for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and
great was the fall of it.
And what did Jesus answer them? "Depart me for I never knew you." I never had an
intimate experiential relationship with you.
It is apparent then, that many will be
rebuked and told that "I never Knew you",
because they did not do what Jesus told them to do, and thus there was no
interplay, no leading of the Holy Spirit. These were not men who were led by
the Holy Spirit, but rather led by self interest.
And when Jesus said, "I never knew you," we are looking at this “Knowing” or intimate understanding that was based upon
a personal relationship or intercourse with our Lord. This Word as we know it
is the Word "Ginosko",
and means to know or understand in an experiential way, and you can not have an
intimate and experiential relationship without knowing the one you are having
it with.
Now, the reason we are looking at this is
because we must understand the difference between just seeing something and recognizing what we see.
Many people can look at the Pillar of Fire over Brother Branham’s head and say
that "that is Christ".
They may even recognize the Cloud and say
that it is the outline of the Face of Christ. But even Satan, in all of His
wisdom, did not know for sure if Jesus was the Christ. For he
said, “If thou be the Son of God”.
Now he would not have said, “If thou
be” if he was 100% sure, and just like so many who claim to follow this message,
they just are not 100% sure of what they believe. That’ why brother Branham
told us so often that when the Rapture comes and the Bride is taken out of
here, then the tribulation will set in and many people will say, “I thought this was to happen and that was to happen,”
and they will not have recognized that the very things they were looking for to
happen have already happened and they never KNEW it.
So we see the importance of this Knowing
that is spoken of in the Scripture, This Ginosko.
Because it suggests to us more than mere recognition.
Rather, it suggests a union with or a becoming
one with through intimacy. Mary said, “How can I be with child having known no man.” And that word is Ginosko.
Not having known any man experientially.
Therefore by this experiential relationship
with the One Who reveals, we become one with the interpretation of the Revelation by becoming one
with the manifestation. Then entering into this manifested
Word brings us into oneness with it, and since the interpretation is
the manifestation of the name of God, then when we have moved from Faith in the
Word, to the reality of the Word, by becoming part of that manifested Word,
this is when we receive the name and thus become Bride and Mrs. Jesus. We thus have become a part of the
interpretation of that Word, for without a Bride there would be no Groom.
In
Br. Branham's sermon, Spiritual Amnesia-64-0411 he said, "You can't forget it and be a
Christian. You must be identified with it. You must be identified with St. John the 14th
chapter, the 12th verse, "He that believeth with Me, the works that
I do shall he do also." Don't forget it. If you do, then you've got
spiritual amnesia. You've forgotten who you are. You've forgotten what your testimony
means.
Now, he said you must be identified with it or you have spiritual amnesia. The word "Identified" means to cause to be, or become identical. b:
to conceive as
united in spirit, or principle): to be or become the same.
Therefore it means more than to just agree with John14:12,
it means you must become John
And thus you must become one with your revelation,
and there is only One Doctrine that promises us this Oneness, and that is the
doctrine of Christ. "For he
that hath not the doctrine of Christ hath not God."
Notice then, our receiving the
manifestation as the interpretation brings us into oneness with the Revelation,
and just as God had to send one with the Message, there had to be ones
it was sent to. And the ones that the Message was sent to, are just as much a part of the Manifestation of the Word
as the One in Whom the Word is being Revealed through.
59-0628E - "Questions And
Answers" 172 88b. Brother Branham,... Can
any man do the works of Christ unless he was Christ? That's what it
is, "Unless he was Christ?" Sure. Let's take
Notice he says the "he"
in John
Notice these are
real believers, those who have the same Spirit as Jesus had. And thus they have
the same nature and will do the same things, and live the same life. This is
not rocket science brothers and sisters, this is
"Thus saith the Lord."
And either you have thus saith the Lord and you are echoing it, or you don't
have it. And we know by a vindicated prophet that the bride will have "thus saith the Lord" Because she believes
what the Lord has already said thus.
And again from his
sermon, Mark of the beast 61-0217 P:38 William Branham said, "Now, remember, the Bible said, "Don't spare nothing." Little or young or old or all. All that hasn't got this
seal of God would be marked otherwise. And look who was marked out of
it? Lifelong
men who gave their lives for the clergy, priests and renowned men, great
priests and scholars. Now, how many knows that's true? Why,
sure it is. Sure it's true. Just as scholar... Just as holy, just as sweet,
perhaps fine people, citizens of the country... But that's no excuse. When God sends something and you
fail to walk in it, then you're out; that's all. You
either do or you don't. That's the way it was. All that didn't
get in the ark, drowned, and that was all there was to it, no matter
who they was. That's the same thing, all that's not
in Christ today will perish without Christ. It's true. So you can't say,
"I'm a Methodist, or Baptist, or Pentecostal, or anything else; you've got
to be of Christ. And if you're of Christ, you do the works of Christ. That bears record and proves
that it is. It's just as clear as the Scripture,
I know how to say it.
Now let's break down again the three points
I'm trying to get across this morning,
To have the correct doctrine and thus the
correct revelation, there must be One Who reveals
Himself, that's number one, and you must have that before you have anything
else.
Then number two, there must be the One in Whom that One
uses to reveal Himself. In other words, God's word only comes to a prophet, so
you've got to have a prophet for that revelation to be correct. For the Word of
the Lord comes to the prophets, not teachers, and not writers or ministers like
Spurgeon, or Larkin.
And then number three, there must be ones to whom He reveals Himself.
Again, I want you to catch this because this
is the revelation of how God made Himself known to us through Christ Jesus His
Son. One Who reveals, One In Whom He
is revealed through, and Ones to Whom
He is revealed. 1. One Who, 2. One In Who and 3. Ones To Whom.
Number 1) First of all, there must be One who reveals
Himself. That is what this Message is all about. It is not about William
Branham, it's about Christ. It's not about you, it's about Christ. It's not
about me, it's about Christ.
And that is what William Branham wanted to make sure we understood. From
94 Watch the fruit that this Pillar
of Fire that led the Children of
And he also said in
his sermon, Anointed ones at end time 65-0725M P:193, "Now, I want you to know this is sure. And you
that listen to this tape, you might have thought today that I was
trying to say that about myself,
being that I was packing this Message. I have no more to do with it than nothing,
no more than just a voice. And my voice, even
against my better judgment... I wanted to be a trapper. But it's the will of my Father that I declare to do, and
determined to do. I wasn't the One that appeared down on the river; I was only standing there when
He appeared. I'm not the One that performs these things and foretells
these things that happens as perfect as they are; I'm only one
that's near when He
does it. I was only a voice that He used to say it. It wasn't what I knew; it's what I just surrendered
myself to, that He spoke
through. It isn't me.
It wasn't the seventh angel, oh, no; it was a manifestation of the Son of man.
It wasn't the angel, his Message; it was the mystery that God unfolded. It's
not a man; it's God.
The angel was not the Son of man; he was a messenger from the Son of man. The
Son of man is Christ. He's the One that you're feeding on. You're not
feeding on a man. A
man, his words will fail, but you're feeding on the unfailing
Body-Word of the Son of man.
Now,
this is important for us to understand, because it must be number 1) there must
be One who reveals Himself, then number 2) one through whom he is revealed, and
3) there must be ones to whom he reveals Himself. Jesus understood this where he
said, it's not me, It's Him, and Paul said it's not me, it's him, and brother
Branham said, It's not me, It's him.
Therefore the very first point we must
understand concerning doctrine is, who is the Doctrine about? And
if your doctrine is about yourself, it's not eternal Life, and can not bring
forth eternal Life. If your doctrine is all about the Bride of Christ, then
your focus is wrong, and it can not bring forth eternal Life.
No sir, our do doctrine is not about you, me,
or anyone else. It's all about Him. In Him is
Life. As brother Vayle always told me, "get your eyes off the vessel and keep them on the one who is
using the vessel." And when our doctrine points to Him that is
Revealing Himself, then we are tapping into the source of Life, and that is
Christ Himself.
So you must have point number one
correct first, and that is where so many missed it in this hour. They
had doctrines like, "Two Souls", "Seven
Thunders" "White Horse rider", "Return
Ministry", And in many other camp's the teaching is all about "the
five fold ministry" or "the bride the bride the bride",
or "mission work" as though we are to look to
the Five Fold ministry or for missionaries to impart Eternal Life, and all of
these camps point to men, instead of Christ.
So we have to get point number one correct
if we are to receive Life, Eternal Life.
We are told in Scripture there is only one
Doctrine that promises us Eternal Life,
and that is the doctrine of Christ.
So that should be our focus.
Let's just turn again to 2 John 8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things
which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 9 Whosoever transgresseth,
(to
transgress means to go beyond the limits) and abideth
not (and remains not because he has gone outside the limits) abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ, hath not God.
Now, this word hath was
translated from the Greek word "echo"
so he that goes beyond the limits of the doctrine of
Christ does not echo God, and thus does
not have or possess God, because you must receive the Word in
order to echo it back. Now, this is a very clear indication that if they
can not echo what God said, then they certainly do not understand what he
said).
"He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath (echoes) both the Father and the Son. 10 If
there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, (in
other words, if there is any who echoes not this doctrine, the Doctrine of
Christ) receive him not into your
house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Now, those are very powerful words that John
is telling you here, and yet we have so many that do not care what the Word of
God tells you how you should live your life, "you going to fellowship
with who ever you wish", and that shows you do not know Him, nor
His Word.
"Birds of a feather flock
together." That may be an old proverb, but William Branham this about
the people you hang around, and associate with are those you have a kindred
spirit with. And that means you hang with them because you have the same
nature.
Now, the number one emphasis should be that
our doctrine focuses number one on God And that is why
the Presence and Godhead are such vital Doctrinal teachings,
because they explain to you Who the Doctrine of
Christ is all about. Because it was God
Himself who came down with the Shout.
Now, I'm not saying that you can not get together with family. But the
Bible teaches us 2 Corinthians
Now, we know in
Scofield's notes, if you have a Scofield Bible, he points out that the word
"righteousness" was taken from
an Old English word, "right-wise-ness", which means to have a right
understanding. So what Paul is saying, is What
fellowship can one who has a right understanding have with someone who has a
wrong understanding? You would be arguing all the time. So therefore, you have
to avoid what is right in order to get together with those who think wrong.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 16 For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then
we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore
comfort one another with these words.
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:
Acts 3: 19-21 19 Repent ye therefore,
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus
Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom
the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which
God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Luke
Revelations 10:1-3 And I saw
another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow
was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and
he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, 3 And
cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered
their voices.
Breach
the 63-0317E P:16 This seven-sealed Book is
revealed at the time of the Seven Thunders of Revelations 10. If you're marking it down...
Let's turn to Revelations
10 just a
moment, so you'll get a understanding before we get
into it. Now, this is at the end time, for listen.... I saw another mighty angel come
down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow... upon his head,...If you notice that's Christ (See?), 'cause He in the Old Testament
was called the Angel of the Covenant,...
Jesus
Christ the same 58-0214 P:45 We have His picture
here on paper. Many of
you has seen it. Might... We don't have time to tell
you of it. That's not my picture; I'm your brother. But it's been questioned.
"What was that?" To me it was the same God that led the children
of Israel by a Pillar of Fire. We all know that that was the Logos, that the
Angel of the Covenant, which was Christ, that led the children of
let us pray