Faith no 27

Unity of The Faith

August 23, 2017

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

This evening we will look at the promise of God to us concerning The Faith of the Son of God and we will focus our thoughts on The Unity of The Faith.

For our text let’s turn to Ephesians 4:11-13 where the apostle Paul addresses the subject of the Unity of The Faith. 11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: "Till we all come in the unity of The Faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:

Notice that this unity of The Faith can only come through the way God has chosen it to come, and that is through five Gifts He has placed in His church. There is no other way for it to come, because God said himself that the purpose of this five-fold gift is to bring about a Unity of The Faith and the knowledge of the son of God.

Now, I know some do not believe in a five-fold ministry and that is because it seems so far that they have failed to bring a unity of the Faith to the people but rather have been responsible for much of the separation that has taken place and not a unifying work.

However, that is not what God said about His Gift He sends to the church, so we must not allow Satan to focus on the failings of the ministry but rather we need to focus on what God said about The Special Gift he has sent to His Church.

There has to be a true Five-fold ministry and perhaps as few as the five that He names who will bring forth this Unity of the Faith and thus will unify the true bride of Christ as they bring to the people "The Knowledge of the Son of God'.

QA on the seals 63-0324M P:111 22. Would the Bride of Christ have... Would the Bride of Christ have a ministry before the rapture? Sure. That's what's going on right now.

See?The Bride of Christ... Certainly. It is the Message of the hour (See?), the Bride of Christ. Sure, She's consist of apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors.

Is that right? That's the Bride of Christ. Sure, She's got a ministry, great ministry; it's the ministry of the hour; it'll be so humble...

Questions and answers COD 64-0823E P:26 But the Bride is the elected of God. There is five offices elected of God. "For God has set in the church apostles, prophets,

teachers, pastors, evangelists." God did that. Man has deacons and so forth, and everything else, but you see, but God set in the church for the perfecting of the church

--can't divide it. Now, the Holy Spirit, when It comes, It is a witness unto you (See?) that this Word is right, the Word for today, not the Word for Luther, the Word, not for

Moses. We witness It's the Truth, but it's another day.

I see this unity of the Faith all over the world as the revelation of Jesus Christ and the relationship he had with his Father is being taught. This has united the people as nothing else has in this last hour.

In 2009 when I taught this revelation of Jesus Christ and the relationship he had with his father and how that was to affect the sons of God in this vast family of God over in Choma Zambia, I received an email from one of the pastors who told me that for many years there had been 8 churches in the city of Choma the second largest city in Zambia and for all the years those churches existed the pastors had never attended a conference together.

In fact he said that when one Pastor would be walking down the street and another pastor walking in the opposite direction coming towards each other on the same side of the street, one of them would inadvertently walk to the other side of the street to avoid having to talk to the other pastor. That's how bad the ministry had become towards each other.

But after we had spent three days with several meetings per day showing them the same relationship that Jesus had with his Father was for every son of God to have with the Father as Jesus the eldest brother in this vast family of brothers was the pattern for all sons.

In this email I received the brother told me that the brothers hugged each other and wept in each other's arms after the meetings ended, and decided that all te churches would cooperate in a city wide revival a month later. Miracle after miracle took place as people who had been bed ridden for a couple years came out of their beds, and their heath restored.

That is what the Unity of the Faith is supposed to produce. Therefore if we claim to teach the doctrine of Christ, but we do not teach the relationship is also for all sons of God to have with their Father the same as Jesus had, then it is no wonder that the doctrine of Christ taught theologically ends up splitting up unity between the churches rather than unifying them in Christ.

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Let me read for you the letter I received from the ministers in Choma, Zambia after our meetings had ended and I returned home.

Therefore this evening we will examine this complex statement that the Apostle Paul has given to us in Ephesians 4 concerning the Unity of The Faith. There are several points in this one statement that the Apostle Paul makes here that we need to understand in order for it to work the unity of The Faith into the Bride of Christ.

But in order to understand what is being said in this verse of Scripture, we must back up a few verses to get a better understanding what he is trying to tell us.

Beginning at verse one we read, EPHESIANS 4:1 ¶  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,

The Word vocation was translated from a Greek word means the calling, or the invitation wherewith you are called. And notice that Paul calls himself a prisoner of the Lord.

Now, the word "prisoner" used here, was translated from the Greek word "desmios", which means "to be bound to, or to be captive to".

The Apostle Paul is not saying he is a prisoner as though he has done something wrong and as a result he has been thrown in a prison for punishment sake. But rather what he is alluding to here is that "he has willingly bound Himself to the Lord".

In other words, Paul is telling us that he has made himself willingly a captive audience to what God is doing. To put this thought in other words, Paul is telling us his entire focus is not on the world nor the things of the world but on what God is doing in his hour.

Therefore he can earnestly proclaim that he is "a captive of the Lord, bound to what God is doing". And then He declares, "I beseech you," which means "I exhort you" or "I encourage you that you walk worthy of the invitation wherewith you are called."

Notice he is saying, you have an invitation or a calling from God, and your walk should be that which is befitting that calling. The word "worthy" that is used here was translated from the Greek word "axios" which means "suitable", or "in a manner that is becoming such a calling".

In Romans 12:1-5 this same Apostle said, 1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, one that is holy, and acceptable unto God, (that aligns itself with God's standards) and this is your reasonable service.

In other words, the Apostle Paul is saying, God is not asking anything from you that is not reasonable. So don't try to make it an unreasonable thing. Just let go and let "God who has begun the work in you to perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6) as The apostle Paul also said in Philippians 2:13 "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure."

So if it is God working in you both to will and to do, and it is the same God who began the work that will perform that work, then it isn't you doing it, but rather God in you doing it. And Paul calls that your reasonable sacrifice. So then what is the sacrifice involved here? Just loaning God your body.

We see what Paul is talking about in this quote from Brother Branham's sermon True Easter Seal 61-0402 P:121 He's in the prayer line, and he speaks to a person who is standing there... "You're a stranger to me. I know nothing about you. God does know you. And if He can reveal to me by His Holy Spirit, the resurrected Christ Who come here, and give me a temporarily resurrection by my spirit, that my spirit goes away now and His Spirit comes in, then to let you know whether He's alive or not. Now, I don't know you. That's me, me and my spirit; we don't know you. But He knows you. But He wants to borrow my body to prove that He's the resurrected Christ. I'm so happy to loan it to Him, give it to Him, anything He can get out of it.

Notice he says, He wants to borrow my body to prove that He's the resurrected Christ. I'm so happy to loan it to Him, give it to Him, anything He can get out of it.

So this is not an unreasonable thing that God wishes to do with his sons. And remember, Jesus was the pattern for all sons.

Total deliverance 59-0712 P:56 We are men and women. We're also Christians. If He's our example, let us completely deliver ourselves into the hands of the Holy Ghost, that we might be subjects of the Kingdom of God. He was totally man; He was totally God, but He surrendered His natural parts and His physical parts, and His Own thinking, and His Own doing, and His Own cares, and "I do only that which pleases the Father." There you are. Totally delivered from human beings...

So how do we do that? The Apostle Paul said in verse 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

And this transformation begins with an attitude adjustment and our humbling ourselves under the mighty Hand of God as we see in verse 3. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

In other words, no one is above others in this family, because we all answer to one another and we all answer to our Father.

Notice what Paul is saying is "I encourage you to walk worthy or in a suitable manner concerning the vocation in which you are called". Now, there are vocations and then there are avocations. Don’t get the two mixed up.

A vocation is an inclination, as if in response to a summons or call to undertake a certain kind of work, especially a religious career; a calling. A divine call to a religious life. Contrast that with the word avocation which the “a” inserted before as a prefix means against, and thus an avocation is a diversion from your vocation. Usually an avocation is an activity taken up in addition to one's regular profession, 

Therefore we can see that the Apostle Paul’s calling was that of an Apostle, that was His calling or vocation, but his avocation was tent-making. Not exactly a hobby, but he enjoyed doing it and he was able to make extra money by doing it for the ministry and provide for himself the creature comforts he desired to have. But his first love of course was to the calling by which he was called, and he worked his avocation to support his vocation.

That is why he could declare himself to be the prisoner of the Lord. Not by force but by a Love of the calling by which he was called. And he said, I beseech you that you also will walk worthy of your calling.

Then the Apostle tells us how to walk worthy of our calling. He says in the next verse, 2 ¶ With all lowliness (now, lowliness is having a humble opinion of one's self; a deep sense of one's real littleness; Like brother Branham had when he talked about leaving a hole in a bucket of water, and said that is how much God needed him. And not only must we be truly humble, but he continues by saying,) and meekness, (and meekness is a being mild mannered, and gentle and then he adds) with longsuffering, (and that means being patient, and showing a slowness in avenging wrongs) forbearing one another (that mean to bear with one another, and to do so he says) in love;

And all this is done for the purpose of  3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of The Spirit in the bond of peace.

Now, let’s stop here for a moment and talk about this unity of the Spirit. Because he is telling us that we must be humble, and gentle and willing to bear with one another in order to keep the unity of  The Spirit in the bond of peace.

Notice he is talking about the unity of the Spirit and then he says in the bond of peace, In other words the bond of peace is the humility, longsuffering, and gentleness that we project in our walk. A man that is always ready to fight is not a man of peace. And notice he is talking about the bond of peace. So we are talking about something that binds people together in peace. A bond is something that is like glue. It is that which holds things together. We bond would together with glue, and the unity of The Spirit is unified or held together by the Bond of peace. And that bond of peace comes by not what others do to us or for us, but how we handle ourselves with others as we walk our walk.

Then the Apostle Paul qualifies what he has been saying by the next verse where he adds

4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Notice then if he is saying there is but one body and one spirit, then we should not look to ourselves as individuals but as a part of a whole. That One spirit is the same spirit, The same life whereby we are all baptized into the one body. And that is by the same Spirit that gave birth to the Son of God, and Sons of God.  Because it all comes back to the One and Only True God, who we have been given birth into His family. And then Paul continues in the next verse by saying,

5 One Lord, (and that word "Lord" is the word "kurios" which speaks of the sovereign owner. So Paul is saying there is only One owner, then he says) one faith, (and we know that Faith is the revelation of that one owner. Therefore he is saying there is only one Lord and therefore one revelation of that One Lord, and thus only) one baptism, (and that one baptism shows us that this One Lord is the) 6 One God and Father of all, Who is above all, (for He alone is sovereign) and through all (for it is by him and through him that all things consist), and in you all, (if you are born of His Spirit, for if you are born of His Spirit then His Spirit is alive in you.

But just as any child that is begotten of  any father, every child does not have equal amounts of the father’s genetic makeup. And so Paul continues saying in verse 7 But unto every one of us is given grace (and remember, grace is a special endowment from the Father, and he tells us that every one of us is given this special endowment) according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

So we have the spirit by measure, but Christ Jesus without measure. That is what Paul is saying and that is why William Branham could tell us that we have the spirit by measure, because he told us what Paul told us. And then in the next verse he tells us how this gift is measured out.

8 Wherefore he saith, (Now who is this He that saith? It is the same one that Paul was speaking of when he said there is one Lord, and One revelation of that One Lord and that One Lord is the One True God and Father of us all).

And we know that the Scripture is replete with this teaching on One Lord as Moses taught it as we see in Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And Jesus taught it as we see in , Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and the Apostle Paul taught it in Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, And 1 Corinthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

And of Course we know William Branham taught it as we see 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--that's of the...?... 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...

Now back to Ephesians 4...When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He  that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he  might fill all things.) 11 And he (God) gave some to be  apostles; and some to be prophets; and some to be evangelists; and some to be pastors and some to be teachers; (For what reason? )12 For the perfecting (or the furnishing off which is the maturing) of the saints, (and) for the work of the ministry, (now the word "work" here comes from the Greek word "ergon" which means the actual business of the ministry, the doing of it, and this is all given into the hands of these men) for the edifying (which is the building up) of the body of Christ: 13 Till (until) we all come in the unity of The Faith, (and notice he says The Unity of The Faith, so we are not just looking at unity for unity sake here, because this Unity of The Faith is based on) the knowledge of the Son of God, (and that knowledge of the Son of God will bring us) unto a perfect man (unto a man that is finished off, fully mature and ready for adoption and), unto the measure (of what?) of the stature (which means the maturity) of the fullness (or the completeness) of Christ: In other words, coming into the fullness of the character of Christ.

In other words he is telling us that although we are given this spiritual endowment in a measure, yet within that measure is the potential to come to the same place of completeness that the Son of God came. And we know that he had received the fullness in terms of Sonship and understanding of his position and relationship to the Father.

And notice how it comes? He has given to the body five gifts to perfect the body, or to bring the body to maturity that it might reflect in the body the mature nature or stature that was exemplified in the fullness of His son Jesus Christ.

And he tells us that we will have these 5 gifts in the church Ephesians 4:13 Until we all come in The Unity of The faith, and of The Knowledge of the Son of God, and that Unity of The Faith is a result of the Knowledge of (or being fully acquainted with) the Son of God that these five gifts will preach to the people this experiential knowledge of Christ that will bring the people to the place of a perfect man, (a mature and fully complete son of God,) unto the same measure of the stature (or age of accountability or maturity that was exemplified) in the fullness of Christ:

So we see then that there is to be "The Unity of The Faith". And notice not just a unity, but The Unity, the One and Only Unity of what? Of The Faith, for there is only One Faith and that One Faith is the Revelation of the One Lord.  And notice he combines this “The Unity of The Faith” with "the knowledge of The Son of God". Showing that "the Unity of The Faith" is dependent upon the people receiving "the knowledge of the son of God". And that cannot come without a true Five-Fold gift to the church teaching it. Therefore, unless you have "the knowledge of The Son of God" you will not have the right revelation of the One Lord.

Martin Luther in his Commentary on Romans 10 said, "How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? (10:14) Here the apostle meets the arrogance of all who teach falsely and are a haughty mind. Oh, that the false prophets (or teachers) only would heed these words! How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (10:14) Even though they say they hear, they boast in vain, unless they hear true preachers; for to hear false prophets means as much as not to even hear. They hear and they do not hear; they have ears, but do not hear, nor do they preach (the Word of God). This is a striking statement against all conceited hearers and students of the Bible. How shall they preach, except they be sent? (10:15) This is directed against conceited teachers and arrogant instructors. These four statements (10: 14-15) follow one another in such a way that one leads to the other, but so that the last forms the foundation on which the others rest. Thus, 1) It is impossible that those preach who are not sent. 2) It is impossible that those hear who are without a preacher. 3) It is impossible that they believe who do not hear. 4) It is impossible that they call upon Him who they do not believe. To this add a last one, namely: 5) It is impossible that they who do not call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So then, the entire source and origin of salvation rests on this, That God sends out someone, ( A true minister of the Word). If He does not send out any, then they who are preaching are preaching falsely, and their preaching is no preaching at all. In fact they would be better off had they never preached at all. Then they who hear, hear error, and it would be better for them to not have heard . Then they who believe, would believe false doctrine, and it would be better for them to not believe. Then also they who call upon Him would be calling falsely (upon a false Lord), and it would be better for them not to call. For such preachers do not preach; such hearers do not hear; such believers do not believe, and such callers do not call; and they will be damned because they would be saved by falsehood. So we read in Proverbs 1: 28 "Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer, they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord." ... Then only they can preach with certainty who proclaim the Gospel without error. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of Peace (10:15). By this quotation the Apostle shows that only those can preach who are sent by God. Those cannot preach the Divine Word and be messengers of God whom He has not sent and to whom He has not entrusted His Word. So with these same words the Apostle points out the nature of Spiritual Peace and it's gifts. These blessings are heard only in the Divine Word and are apprehended only by Faith. They cannot be presented in visible form...

Now the words "Beautiful" stands for purity, (and I'd like to add, that according to Strong's concordance it means belonging to the right hour or season (timely) by implementation to be flourishing.)

Now, the world has tried to unify men throughout the ages by whatever schemes men could come up with, and it has never worked. And I am afraid they are still trying to do so even right among us in this message.

They are trying to have unity meetings among us in this Message but it will never work. What can it produce anything but carnality unless it is based upon The Faith. Now, how can two even walk together lest they be agreed. That means if two are attempting to walk together they had better be in agreement where they are going to go and how they are going to get there. Because if one thinks the road is to the right while the other thinks that road is to the left, then there is no way of ever getting to the place even though you might have the same destination in mind.

Look, the Muslim thinks he is going to heaven, and the Catholic thinks he’s going to heaven, and the Baptist thinks he’s going to heaven, and the same with the Pentecostal and the Methodist and in fact every religion that believes in God, believes also in a heaven that men will end up in if they live according to the rules and creeds of that religion. In fact the main objective to most religions is not whether or not there is a heaven, but what separates all religions is the way to get there.

Now, Jesus told us there is only one way that we can get to the Father and that is through him.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And how is that? Because no man has ever seen God, and if they have never seen Him how are they going to know Him.

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. So the only way that we can know God is through the declaration that the Son of God gave to us concerning the Father.  And that is why no man knows the father unless He first knows the Son. But if he does not even believe that the Son was indeed a son, then how could he possibly know the Father.

Matthew 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man who the Father is (Luke 10:22), save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. So we are talking about revelation, and that is what Paul was talking about when he said The Unity of The Faith, which is  The Unity of The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

In I John 2:23 we are told, “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath (echoes) not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also”. Now, the word denieth here means to abnegate, or to disregard. So those people who would do away with the Son of God after his earthly ministry and say it all went back to being God, they abnegate and do away with the Son of God, and thus they do not have the Father either.  And how can you build a unity upon such as that?

Jesus told us in  John 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. And that word honour was translated from the Greek word timao which means to set an estimate or value upon.

Jesus tells us that men should set a value upon him even as they do the Father.  So if they don’t, then they have not  rightly divided the word of truth, and also they do not honor the Father for certainly they show no honor to the Son..  So what are they wanting to unite around?

Brother Branham said from his sermon SUPER SIGN  63-1129  79 Today we think, "Well, now, if we can all get together, in the unity there is, or in a council, the multitude of counsel there is safety." That is true, but what kind of a multitude are you counseling in? How can you walk together? How can you throw these denominations together? Some of them believers, and some unbelievers, and some make-believers, how you going to put them together and walk together? "How can two walk together except they be agreed?"

Paul told us there is only one way of unity, and he called it The Unity of The Faith. And I have gone around the world to some 56 countries trying to Unite the Bride to Christ by The Revelation of Jesus Christ, because that is the only uniting that will bring forth the stature of the fullness of Christ in the bride because that is the only thing Paul said would do it. And I have seen brothers who had so far off base that they had been worshipping the Messenger come to repentance and receive the Revelation of Jesus Christ and His Presence and these brothers have come into The Unity of The Faith and are actually understanding what it means to become a son of God in the image of our Older Brother Jesus because they have repented, and have embraced the only Revelation that will bring The Unity of the Spirit.  And they have come for thousands of miles riding in the back of a cattle truck 70 in each truck to hear the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and  I've seen entire churches walk over 26 kilometers through jungles and over mountains just to hear the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Some have traveled for a month down the Congo river, and began with dugout canoe, then entered a boat then a barge to come to the meetings concerning the revelation of Jesus Christ and others by bus trips that take days and weeks just to hear the Revelation of Christ, because they want to be United with Christ.

But I get back here in America and the only uniting they want is to the their church organizations and creeds. But if you teach “The Revelation of Jesus Christ and the Knowledge of the Son of God”, they're aren’t interested, and they don’t want you around them. And I ask the question, Why? Because they are trying to unite by another program and that will never achieve unity. And why won’t they accept the only program God has to bring True Unity? Because they are ordained not to accept it. St. John told us, “If you walk in the Light as He is IN the Light, then we have fellowship one with another….” So you must walk in the Light  as He (God), is walking in that Light. You can’t do it in any light that is not the light of His presence.

Brother Branham said in his sermon Who Do You Say This Is?  64-1227   57    I wonder today, if our prayers... You hear them say, "Pray for a great revival. Pray for this. Pray for a breaking forth. Pray for unity." I wonder, if God would send such a program, if we would accept it. I just wonder if we would accept what He sends to us. You see,  The reason that we pray for these things, because we know it's needy. But when God sends it in the way that He wants it, then it's not according to our taste, and therefore, we won't receive it. And that's the way it was in that day. If He was not in the taste of their belief and their... They would not receive Him again today.

Finally in closing I would like to share this quote from Brother Branham concerning the only way to come into unity.

God's Provided Place Of Worship  65-0425 60 And now, we see this forced religion right in view now to bring all the little groups into one great unity, they call it. Some of them believe in this, and some believe in that; and some deny this, and some deny that. The Bible said, "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" It'll never work. We've got to be in an agreement. And in agreement with what? Not in agreement with one another, as much as we've got to be in agreement with the Word, with God. That's what it's got to be in the agreement with. Now, we find out that a forced unity was represented by groups of people at Babylon. God cannot put His Name in such a thing as that. He never did and He never will. Though they tried it, they put their name into it, put His Name into it, but it's not so. But we must find where He put His Name, for it is the place and the only place that He has provided for the Christians to come, as believing children, and worship Him in this place. What would this place be?   64  Now, to back it up, we could take the entire Bible to back up what I'm going to say. For the place that He chose is in Christ, in Jesus Christ. It is in Him, His Son, God's Son, Jesus Christ.

Let’s bow our hearts and our heads in a Word of Prayer.