Faith no 14
Having The Same
Faith
June 5th, 2017
Rev. Brian Kocourek
The Apostle Paul said in Galatians
2:20 I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ is living in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Now, the Apostle Paul is not telling us here
that we are to live by faith. To the casual reader it may appear that way, but
notice how specific the Apostle chooses his words. Notice he said, “the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith OF the Son of God”.
Now, there are many times in the Scriptures that
Jesus says the Words, “Thy
Faith hath saved Thee", or "Thy Faith hath healed Thee", or "Thy Faith hath made the Whole", or "Thy Faith hath made thee well".… And in all of these the same Greek Word sozo is used.
This word sozo has both a spiritual and physical
meaning. We see the same word used for healing, saving, and making well in the
following scriptures.
Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her,
he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.
And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Mark 5:34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith
hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy
plague.
Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee;
go in peace.
Luke 18:42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith
hath saved thee.
Acts 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and
perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
The Greek word sozo means: to save, to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or
destruction/ And it
also means to save from injury of peril, to save
from suffering from disease, to make well, to heal, to restore to health; to
preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue to deliver from
the penalties of the judgment.
So we must ask
ourselves what is this faith that sozo’d them? For people
can have faith in a tree to heal them, and by believing they get healed. So
what then is the difference between thy faith and The
Faith which Paul said he was now living by?
You may use your faith to receive healing, but
Paul is telling us in our text today that he is living by the Faith of another, specifically, the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His Faith that matters, not yours and
mine. When it come to this, God does not
concern Himself with your faith. In fact He is not even interested in your
faith when it comes to receiving eternal Life.
Nor does your faith bear any substance with God,
even though faith is the substance of things hoped for. And unless your Faith
is the same Faith that God gave to His Son, then it means absolutely
nothing to God. Because we are told in Ephesians 4 that
there is only One
Faith.
Let's just read that for
ourselves. Ephesiians 4:5 Paul said, “One Lord, One faith,
One baptism,”
and that one baptism is Holy
Ghost Baptism. That is what Paul is
speaking of there. For he also said in, 1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, “
And William Branham said the same thing in his
sermon called, God's Only Provided Place
of Worship 65-1128M P:114 "One Lord, one faith, one baptism", that's Holy Ghost baptism. The water
baptism just put you in fellowship with the people, that you recognized that
you have accepted Christ. That's true. But it's Spirit baptism.
I can call the Name of Jesus over you and baptize you; that doesn't make it so.
But when once that Holy Spirit really genuine Word comes into you; the Word, Jesus, then, brother, the message is no secret to you then; you know It,
brother; It's all lit up before you. Hallelujah.
Brother
Branham said in his sermon Jesus Christ the same
55-0806 P:15 Now, sometimes today it's been said amongst many believers,
they say about certain things, "Oh, that's against my faith. Our faith
don't teach that." There's only really one faith; the Bible said so. One Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one God, and there's
one faith and that is the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. See?
I think this is the reason we have so many
people who walk in error today, because they have not allowed the genuine Word
of the Holy Spirit to impregnate them with the genuine Spirit of the living
God. They have a baptism based on doctrinal acceptance.
Therefore Paul is speaking of only ONE faith, and he tells us this one Faith is the Faith
of OF the Son
of God.
In fact William Branham says this very thing in
the sermon, Palmerworm
locust caterpillar 59-0823 P:47 You might have a faith, but we
want the faith.
Earnestly
"contend," that's
"argue for it, stand up for."... earnestly contend
for the faith that was
once delivered to the saints. When were they called saints? When they were sanctified. The Holy Spirit sanctified them;
they were called saints. Now, Jude says, a brother, foster brother of Jesus,
"I want you to earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered
to the saints." Don't never
let that faith drop. And the faith of the saints was not
in creeds, not in denominations, not in church buildings, not in
associations, but it
was in the Presence of the living God.
They had faith to heal the sick, cast out devils, do miracles. All the great
promises that Jesus made, that first church held onto that. It was the
lifeline.
Notice he tells us that this Faith
is not a faith in a doctrine or creed, or some church affiliation. But this
Faith is in the presence of the living God living in you and doing in you what
it did in His Son Jesus..
Ephesians 2:8 ¶ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should
boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Then your faith is not what does it, but that
faith which is a gift of God to you is a revelation that produces in you what
it did in the first born son.
II Timothy 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an
holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, And so we see it is not
what we do or can do, but what He did for us before the foundations of the
world, and it is just our becoming obedient to his purpose and grace.
Romans 3:19 ¶ Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which
is by faith OF Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them
that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through
the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his
righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in
Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of
works? Nay: but by
the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law. In other words, it is nothing you have done or
could do, but simply what God has already done for you, and to you and in you
and through you.
Now, what concerns me is that the people over
time come to the place where they have lost sight of The Faith of
Christ and look to their own faith as the
important thing with God. But God has never been impressed or moved upon by
man’s faith, except when it comes to healing and some things in that nature.
But even in the bible you see many people who never do get saved are healed
because they have faith for healing. But when it comes to God life, God is impressed and moves upon His own Faith,
and that Faith is in the form of Revelation. And therefore if Faith is a Revelation, then when
they lose sight of The Faith, they are losing sight of The Revelation.
Brother Branham taught us the greatest of all
revelations is the
supreme deity of Jesus Christ.. So you must understand by revelation the Godhead in order to understand
the relationship between the Father and his Son and how you also have
the same relationship with Him as your Father and you as being one of His
sons. And then by that revelation you live, and are made alive.
From his sermon The Rapture 65-1204 P:40 brother Branham
said, "But to the church, the
Bride, the
rapture is a revelation to her. It's revealed
to her, that the revelation,
the true Bride of Christ will be waiting for that revelation
of the rapture. Now, it is a
revelation, for the revelation is faith. You cannot have a revelation
without it being faith. Faith is a revelation, because it's
something that's revealed to you. Faith is a revelation. Faith
is something that has been revealed to you like it was to Abraham,
that could call anything contrary to what had been revealed to him as though it
wasn't so. That's
what faith is, is
the revelation of God. The church is built upon a revelation,
the whole entire body.
So if it is the Revelation of God,
then it is not the revelation of some other thing.
From his sermon Works is faith expressed 65-1126 P:46 Brother
Branham said, "Now, "faith" is a "revelation
from God." Now, "faith" is a "revelation."
There's where I want to stay there just a moment. It's a revelation.
He has revealed it to you by His grace. It's nothing you did. You
didn't work yourself up into faith. You never had faith; it's give to
you by the grace of God. And God reveals it to you; therefore, faith is a revelation.
And the whole Church of God is built upon the
revelation.
And again from his sermon Anointed ones at end time 65-0725M P:38 brother
Branham said, "What is faith? Faith is something that's
revealed to you, that is not yet, but you believe it will be. Faith is a revelation of the
will of God. So by revelation...And the churches today don't
even believe in spiritual revelation. They believe in a dogmatic teaching of
some system. "By
revelation Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than that of Cain, which God testified he was righteous." Amen. I hope you
see that. See where we're living, see the hour?
Invisible union of the bride 65-1125 P:68 What is a revelation? Jesus said,
"Upon this Rock I'll build My church, and the gates of hell can't prevail
against it." Faith
is a revelation, because faith has been revealed to you. Abel, by faith offered
by revelation (faith) offered to God a more
excellent sacrifice than that of Cain.
Works is faith expressed 65-1126 P:50 In a audience of people, where a prayer line
comes through, you'll find some... And they were all good people, we'll say.
There's some that's trying hard to believe it, trying to work themselves into
it. Some just can't do it at all. And others, it's just by
grace; it's just given to them. Now, there is the difference. See? That does
it. That's the real revelation, because faith is a revelation from God. It
must be revealed first.
Therefore, we should never under estimate the
importance of revelation, for by revelation we are saved, and by revelation we
are justified, and by revelation we are sanctified, and by revelation we
receive the Spirit of Christ. and by revelation we are given birth into the family
of God, and by revelation we have access to God, and by
revelation we live and move and have our being.
Church Age Book Chapter 1 -
Introduction - The Revelation of Jesus Christ P:9 The importance of revelation by the Spirit to a
true believer can never be over emphasized. Revelation means more to you than perhaps you realize. Now I
am not talking about this Book of Revelation and you. I am talking about ALL
revelation. It is tremendously important to the church. Do you remember
in Matthew 16 where Jesus asked the disciples this
question, "Whom do men say that
I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist:
some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them,
But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but My Father Which is in heaven. And I
say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
The Roman Catholics say that the church is built
upon Peter. Now that is really carnal. How could God build the church upon a
man so unstable that he denied the Lord Jesus and cursed while doing it? God
can't build His church upon any man born in sin. And it wasn't some rock lying
there as though God had hallowed the ground at that spot. And it isn't as the
Protestants say, that the church is built upon Jesus. It was the REVELATION. Read it the way it is
written: "Flesh and blood hath not
REVEALED it, BUT MY FATHER HATH REVEALED IT, and UPON THIS ROCK (REVELATION) I
WILL BUILD MY CHURCH:"
The church is built on Revelation, on the "Thus Saith the Lord".
And there
is only One Faith, which mean there is only One revelation, and that revelation is what justifies you and gives you access to God. And what is that Revelation? Paul said, there is One Lord and One Faith (Revelation), and one Baptism, and that baptism is in the name of That One Lord, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that One Baptism is the
baptism of the One spirit by which we are all baptized into that one Body. So the revelation of that One Lord allows us to
baptize in His name. And with that baptism in water we have a promise to
receive the baptism which is of and by the Spirit of the One Lord. And that
brings with it justification from our sin, and forgiveness and all the divine
promises of God.
Now, our being baptized by one spirit into one body
and that One Spirit is the same Spirit of the One Lord, so in effect the Spirit
(life) of that One Lord enters us making us alive in that one body, yet it does
not make us two Lords just as the Spirit of the One Lord entering into the body
of the First born son did not make him two Lord.
Some read Acts 2:36 and they say since God made Jesus both
Lord and Christ therefore there are two Lords. Let's just read it. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know
assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Now, if God made Jesus both Lord and Christ and that
makes two Lords, then that would also have to Two Christ's.
But How did
God the Anointer and the One true Lord make Jesus both Lord and Christ? By
entering into Him. So when The Lord entered into the vessel of His Son, he now
became the expression of the one true Lord and Christ.
Br. Branham
said in his sermon, Anointed ones at end time
65-0725M P:186 Now, notice. That was Jesus speaking. Here come Paul right
behind Him and said, "Now, in the last days
there will come religious people (See?), having a form of godliness, and lead silly women, led away
with all kinds of worldly lust (Then they
wonder, say, "Why do you pick on them women?" Oh, for goodness...
They just don't even see it.)--lead silly women,
laden with divers lust (away from things like See?)...
And as Jannes and Jambres (Matthew 24:24, false christs, false anointed, doing signs and wonders to
deceive the elected)--now as Jannes and Jambres
withstood Moses, so will these reprobates..."
Reprobate mind concerning The faith, not a faith, the Faith. One faith, one Lord, one...?... You can't have one faith without
believing in one Lord. You can't have two baptisms, not one for
the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost. There's one baptism, Jesus Christ. That's
right. See? False baptism...
And brother
Branham also said in his sermon We would see Jesus 58-0612 P:55 Look. When He was here on earth, how
many knows that that was the Pillar of Fire that followed the children of
Israel in the wilderness, that It was Christ, the Angel of the covenant?
All right. And how many knows that that was Jesus in Jesus, that same Spirit?
Look, when they questioned Him, Saint John 6, calling
your...?... attention to it. They said, "You say you're greater than Abraham?" And
said, that, "Why,
you're only fifty years old, yet."He said, "Before Abraham was, I
AM." I AM was in the burning bush. Is that
right? A Pillar of Fire... When He was here on earth, He said, "I came from God, and I go to
God." Did He say it? And then, if He came from the
Pillar of Fire, He returned back to it again. After His death, burial,
and resurrection, Saint Paul was on his road down to Damascus and big bright
Light struck in his face and blinded him. None of the rest of them saw It. Paul
saw It. It blinded him; he fell on the ground. What is this Pillar of
Fire, again? "Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou Me?""Who are You, Lord?""I'm Jesus." Is that right?
So when God
entered into the body of His Son that is when the body became both Lord and
Christ, the anointed One. Not two Lords or you break Scripture. And certainly not two Christ's.
Notice Paul
said, 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are
we all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
And again he
said in Ephesians
2:18 For through him we both
have access by one Spirit unto the Father. So who is Paul
speaking of when he says "through him"?
He is talking
about Jesus the Son of God.
To better
understand who Paul is talking about let's go back to verse 12 That at that time ye (that means you) were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye (you)
who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood
of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between
us;
So who is this
both that Paul is speaking of? He is talking about us and Christ as long as we
are IN Christ, and that is the key. notice
15 Having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
So how did he make of himself of Twain which means two? This
happened when God entered into Jesus, making the two one.
Paul refers to
this in Romans
8:11 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. So Paul is speaking of the same one who lived
in Jesus Christ living in you.
So in getting
back to Ephesians 2: let's
pick up at verse 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body
by the cross, having slain the
enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have
access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Who is both? The
first born son and sons, that's who..
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And (we) are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together (forming
one body) groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit.
oh, my,
Notice that Jesus being infilled with the Spirit of the One Lord no
more made him two Lords, than you and I being filled with that same Spirit make
us two lords.
In fact to go
there then you would have a real hard time understanding Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
So
Christ being lord, both of the dead and of the living doesn't make him two
lords. It is one Lord that is Lord of all.
Now, if the church has lost sight of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, then they are without God, for the apostle
John said, 1 John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath (echoes) the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made
him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And 1 John 5:12 He that hath (echoes) the Son hath (echoes) life; and he that hath (echoes) not the Son of God hath (echoes) not life.
2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ, hath (echoes) not God. He that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, he hath (echoes) both
the Father and the Son.
Now, just because you are echoing both the
Father and son does not mean you are saying two different things. For the son
echoes the father and we echo the son. And it is the same echo all the way down
the line from the eldest son to the youngest son.
Notice what the Apostle Paul tells us in Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith (by what? By Revelation, the just or those who have been justified live by revelation, period.) but
if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. If any man draw back from what? Well, what’s he
talking about here. He’s talking about faith which is the revelation. And God says if any man shall draw back from
this revelation, He has no pleasure in that man.
This is why understanding the
relationship between father and son is so
very important because it is the expression of the revelation of Jesus
Christ. How that God was in Christ in the same way He is in you and me. And to
draw back from that would mean you have no part with that which means that you
are none of his.
In fact
the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, 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.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Now, this "from Faith to Faith", if "there
is only one Faith" would have to be then that One Faith which was
in the first born son to that one Faith in sons. Because he says, the just
shall live by this Faith or revelation. So what he is telling us here is that
we live by the same faith that Jesus lived by. The same revelation that Jesus
had of His relationship with the Father is the same revelation we are to live
by.
If we are to believe that faith is a revelation, something
that has been revealed to you, then we should read the word faith as the word revelation, and thus we will insert revelation
where the word faith is used.
For therein is the righteousness (or right-wise-ness) of God revealed from revelation to revelation: as it is written, The just shall live by revelation.
In Galatians 3:11 The Apostle Paul further tells us “But that no man is justified by the law in the
sight of God, it is evident: for, The
just shall live by revelation.
So how does this revelation become one and the
same in Christ and us?
Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. ...your life is covered with Christ in
God. And if our life is hid by being covered
with the life of Christ, then we see why the Apostle Paul says in the very next
verse. 4 When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, (Shall manifest)
then shall ye
also appear (shall manifest) with him in glory. With him in the same doxa, the
same opinions, values and judgments.
And not only by revelation, but more
specifically by THE
same Revelation as we see in Galatians 2:16 he tells us, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the
revelation of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified
by the
revelation of Christ, and not
by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified.
So you see it is the same revelation that moved
him that moves us. The same revelation of sonship that motivated his is what
motivates us.
And notice how even Jude the brother of
Jesus spoke on the importance of taking a stand for the
revelation of Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto
you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and
exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the revelation which was once delivered unto the saints.
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the
latter times some shall depart from The Revelation, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Now, if the warning is that some shall depart
from The Revelation, then why do they continue to fight the understanding of the
Godhead? Because they are ordained to depart from it.
Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own
right-wise-ness, which is of the law, but that which is through the
revelation of Christ, the
right-wise-ness which is of God by revelation.
And the Apostle Paul makes it pretty clear in Ephesians
4, that you cannot truly
have a unity of The
Revelation except by the knowledge of the Son of God.
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the
revelation, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul lets us all know that the main thing is the
revelation, and that is the only
thing worth fighting for. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have
kept the
revelation.
And in 2 Timothy 3:8 The apostle Paul warns us that there will arise men who are
perverse because they are reprobate concerning the revelation. And the
word reprobate means unapproved
and worthless.
So we see that these men resist The Truth because their own revelation is
worthless. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do
these also resist the truth:
men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the revelation.
Reprobate concerning the revelation of what? Remember there is only one revelation and that is The Revelation of Jesus
Christ. And what do they do?
They do not understand how that God and Christ could be one, and thus they do not
understand how that God and His Bride can be one the same way Jesus and God were
one which Jesus explained in John 17:22. And the glory (the
doxa, the opinions, values and judgments) which thou gavest me I have given them; that (for the purpose that) they may be one, even as (in the same way or manner 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.
But do not worry about them, and don’t even fuss
with them. The apostle Paul made it clear in Romans 3 when he said, Romans 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their
unbelief make the
revelation of God without
effect?
Now, we should never underestimate the power of Revelation, especially
the revelation of Jesus Christ because
by revelation God framed the worlds, and by revelation we are
justified
and we have access to
God.
The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 3:12, In whom we have boldness and access with confidence
by the
revelation of him.
Finally in closing, we read from 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the revelation; prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,
except ye be reprobates?
Let us pray…