Faith
no 67
Saved
by Grace Through Faith
February 21, 2018
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
Let us
remain standing as we open our Bibles to Ephesians
2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"
This evening
I would like to take our subject from this text and go into this Scripture to
show how that Faith is what brings us to, or opens the door to the Grace of God
whereby we are saved. As you know Faith is Revelation and wince there is only
one Faith thus one revelation, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is
by the Revelation of Jesus Christ that we are able to see the grace of God, and
through this revelation we are able to receive this Grace that God has ordained
for us that not only saves us but is ordained to change us from mortal to
immortal in this hour.
Notice
the scripture says, "For by
grace are ye saved through faith... And then the apostle Paul adds and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God.
So we see that this revelation is
not something we come up with, but rather comes from God, as it is a gift from
God and it will save us.
In Deuteronomy 29:29 we read "the hidden things
belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our
children forever."
Therefore it is not our being
able to figure out what is going on, but God by Grace reveals that which had
been hidden to us which we know to be His purpose and plan
for us. and once he reveals it to us, it's no longer hidden from us, but is now
known by us.
However, the knowing itself is
not by any power or wisdom or intellect we may have, but it is by His grace,
his sovereign will that He reveals to us that which has been hidden. So always
be thankful that God has opened your eyes, because more than 99.9% of the
worlds eyes are beholden and they cannot see what you see.
From his sermon, Message
of Grace 61-0827 65 Brother Branham said, "It takes the simplicity of believing God
to make His Word speak out to show that Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Takes a humble heart dedicated to God, bring Jesus Christ unto
present tense. Amen. If it taken theology, what would the
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, and so forth, we wouldn't have a
chance us poor unlearned people. But it doesn't take knowledge. "Not by power or by might, but by My Spirit," saith God, "I'll
unfold this mystery." And he'll cry to
it, "Grace, grace, with shoutings and
cryings." That's what it is today: God's
amazing grace to His people. How He takes the illiterate, the
unlearned, shows that Jesus is the same.
Now, we
have seen in 1 Corinthians 2 many times
how that it takes God's Spirit in you to reveal to you the things of God, for
he said in verse 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no
man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of
the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the
words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually
discerned.
And
also from his sermon Lean not unto thy own
understanding 65-0120 P:47 brother Branham said, "But look, friends,
listen. Nowhere in the Bible are we asked to understand. We're not asked
to understand It. We're asked to believe It. Believe It by what? By
faith. If
you understand It, then that makes faith annulled. You
can't understand it, but you believe It anyhow. If I could understand
God, I wouldn't have to believe God. I do not understand God. No man
understands God. I cannot understand the Word of God, but I accept It. I
believe It. I'm not
asked to understand It. I don't, - went to no seminary and all
this great understanding of man's knowledge on that. I just know that the Bible
says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever, and I look for Him
in that same category.
I know He
promised what He would do in this day; I look for Him to do it
and He does it. That's right. He promised grace; I looked for it and I received it. He
promised healing; I believed it and I accepted it, and I received it.
Now, notice Brother Branham's
language here because he seems to indicate at the first reading that you simply
do not have to have any understanding or knowledge concerning God, but then he
says what seems almost contradictory but it's not. Because that is not what he
is telling us. In using these words if
we take them out of the context he's using them in, we would end up saying its'
ok to be dumb and lazy concerning the things of God, if we only just believe.
But that is not what he's telling us here. He's telling us, we do not have to
understand how God does what He promised to do for us, all we have to do is
know and believe what He promised to do for this hour and then we just leave
the results up to him. Then the way He does it is totally up to Him. and that
way we don't get ahead of God like Moses did when he tried to deliver Israel on
his own.
And this takes it away from our
power to do anything, and places it totally back onto God to
work in you both to will and to do. And He does it by His Grace.
He is not saying here that you will not be able to know what God is doing for you, or even
what God expects for you, He is just saying though you may not understand how
God will do what he promised to do, yet you will know that he promised it,
and you will be able to watch it unfold as He does it. Because if it were the case
that we are just like dumb animals and incapable of knowing, then Why does God
reveal to us his plan and purpose. So brother Branham is not giving license for
stupidity and carelessness.
He cancels out any thought that
says I do not have to understand or know by saying "I know He
promised what He would do in this day; I look for
Him to do it and He does it."
Well if you know what God promised
then you
understand what He promised. So that throws out altogether
your having a complete lack of understanding. To know what he promised to do
shows understanding.
In fact William Branham and the
Apostle Paul both told us that the evidence that you are filled with the Holy
Ghost is that you are able to know and to understand the things of God. Maybe
not know how He will do what he plans to do, but you will know what He promised
and you will believe that He is more than able to fulfill His promises.
So when br. Branham speaks of
"not
being able to understanding" he's talking about
not being able to understanding how God does things, yet
believing if God promised something then God is more than able to perform what
he promised.
Therefore, don't walk away from
what he said with the understanding that you don't have to understand anything
concerning the things of God, but rather walk away from what he said believing
that no matter how God will do it, you know and understand that if He promised
it, then it is up to him to fulfill what He promised.
Then concerning what he promised
you must know and understand, but how he delivers on that promise you don't
have to know nor understand because that is totally up to Him.
Therefore, Br. Branham is not including within that statement a lack
of knowing and a lack of understanding what God promised for the day in which
we live in, but rather what we do not need to know nor understand is how God
will actually bring what he promised to pass.
Remember,
he always told us, the minute you think you have it all figured out, you should
know that is when you have missed it.
Three
witnesses 51-0728 P:62 No, friends, people gets, they just get a
ecclesiastical picture of some theological seminary, that teaches them so, and they
think it has to be that way. God's under no obligation to no
theological seminary, just to His Word. That's right. They
thought they had it figured out the way Jesus was going to come, and what He
ought to be, as the Master. But when He come, it was different than what
they thought. See? Now, everyone reverent.
Why d
you think that 99.9% of Christendom today has missed the Appearing of Christ,
the Parousia, God's very Presence among His people before the Coming of the
Just One?
Jesus
Christ the same 58-0515 P:25 God does things in His own way. And it's always
contrary to the way the clergy has it figured out, always. You
historians know that. Never in any age did the clergy have it right. Be
careful.
Sirs
we would see Jesus 64-0318 P:11 And remember that God never does anything
outside of what He's promised to do. See? He always makes a
promise, then He comes to fulfill it. God at the beginning, knowing the
end from the beginning 'cause He was infinite... We all know that. He's
omnipresent, omnipotent, and infinite. Now, if He's infinite, then He knowed
all things. And now... And omniscient... So notice, then He 'lotted His
Scriptures down through the ages to come. And then, when this age rolls around,
why, we always try to have things figured out the way we think it's right. But
usually, if God's made a promise for that age, His custom way of doing
anything, and never changes doing it...Remember, God never changes, never
changes His ways. Because that's the reason we can definitely place our
faith in what God said to be the truth: the Bible. Now, you've got to
place God somewhere.
And of
course that way has always been through a prophet. Amos
3:6 Surely
the Lord God will do nothing lest he reveal it through his servants the
prophets. And the prophet is not some sovereign individual that can
use his gift for any reason he deems fit, he is totally surrendered to God and
doesn't say anything but what God tells him to say. And many times he doesn't
even understand what he is saying, but God understands. And only will
fulfillment bring the correct interpretation to what he has said in the name of
the Lord.
He
said in the Book of Acts, Acts 13:41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a
work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man
declare it unto you.
Notice,
he says, I will
do the work but a man shall declare it unto you. Then who is that
man, and what does He represent? A ministry of Grace
to the people, though God will be the one doing it, yet the man will be
declaring it.)
William
Branham when he talked about the self driven cars he said, I believe it will be
using radar or something to guide it. They didn't have GPS in those days.
Ezekiel saw the cars with tail lamps and he called them chariots because that's
all he knew, and so he tried to describe what he saw using the words which he
knew.
But
that don't change the promise, it just means we don't understand how God will
fulfill what he promised, but just because we don't know how God will fulfill
what He promised to do doesn't mean He won't do just exactly what He said.
I
have heard but now I see 65-1127E P:29 See, we don't use the gift of God for
commercial. No, no. He could tell me where it was at, but I don't have any
need of it. I wouldn't even have faith enough to ask Him. See? If I had
a need of it, I believe if I'd ask Him, He'd tell me. But first
(You see?), your motives and objectives has to be right. You have
to have reasons for this. God don't give you those things just because you ask.
And you cannot ask in faith unless there's a real objective to that, to
be in the will of God. See? If you want to be well, what do you want to
be well for? See? If you want to be healed, what's the reason you want to be
healed? What are you telling God? What do you want to do with your life when
you get healed? See? There's got to be... You've got to have a motive and
objective, and they have to be right according to the will of God. And then
is when the faith is revealed to you, and God by His sovereign grace places that faith in
there, then it's over. See? Now. See?
We see in I Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto
a living hope (That's a hope which has been made alive) by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ out from among the dead.
And then notice where he says
this hope will takes us.
4 To an
inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you, 5 And you who are kept by the power of God
through faith (notice
it is through revelation we are kept and brought to) to salvation (which is ) ready to be revealed in the last time.
So we are
looking at a last time revelation that brings salvation or deliverance that he
says is yet to come at the end time. That's What Peter is speaking about here. 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye
are in heaviness through manifold testings: If need be, he says, then your trials are all in direct
correlation to what you have need of. So every trial then is fitted to your
present condition.
7 That
the trial of your faith, (the trial of
your Revelation) being
much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Now, this tells us that this end
time revelation of Christ is to bring with it testing, but will produce something
in us that is far more valuable than gold which has been tested by fire
testing. It is to bring us to the place of Glory,
which is the very doxa of God, the very opinions, values, and judgments of God. And it
is to come at the Appearing of the Lord.
And we know that we are living
now in the time of the Appearing of Christ.
For
God's prophet taught us in his sermon End time
evangelism 62-0603 P:30 "Now, we have already seen and are
witnessing the appearing of the Lord. Now remember, appearing and
coming is two different words: to appear and then to come.
Now is the appearing;
He's already appeared in these last days, right here with us in the last few
years. Now, it's a sign of His coming. He's appearing in
His Church in the form of the Holy Spirit, showing that it's Him, 'cause
people cannot do these things that you see the Holy Spirit doing; so that's the
appearing of the Lord. Now, you remember, it spoke both places,
"appearing" and "coming."
And
again he said in his sermon, We would see Jesus
62-0627 P:76 Remember, appearing and coming is two different words. See?
He's appearing now in the church, showing Himself alive after two
thousand years.
So Peter
continues in verse 8 Whom having not seen, ye
love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory:
Notice this Appearing will not be
a visible man, but the invisible God who will Unveil Himself in such a way, as
by Words He will be declared to us, and unveiled to us.
That is what we are told in the
book of acts.
Acts 13:41 Behold,
ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work
which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
And notice Peter tells us that
this unveiling of the mighty God at the end time will bring us into the Full Doxa of God, into the fullness of God's opinions, God's values,
and God's judgments.)
9 Receiving the end of your faith,
(the
goal of your revelation) even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation
the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Now, I want you to take note of
this grace Peter is speaking of because he is going
to mention it again in a couple more verse.
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ which was in them
did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory (the doxa) that should follow.
12 Unto
whom it was revealed, that
not unto themselves, (not unto the
old Testament Prophets) but unto us they did
minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the
angels desire to look into.
Notice he is telling us that the
prophets that spoke of the coming Messiah were not fully aware themselves of
the full understanding of what their prophecies were all about. They were
pointing to the Coming of the Messiah, the Just one, but each had an understanding
in part, but the revealing of Christ brought the total picture into
fullness.
And now verse 13 is
where I want to get to this evening. 1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ;
So we see that there is to be an
end time Grace that is to accompany the end time revelation of Jesus Christ.
Notice his words again, "hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ;
And we know this end time grace
is a special endowment or revelation from the Father that brings us to
the place of becoming fully mature son or daughter of God by bringing us into
the very Glory of God which is the doxa of God, which is the very mind of God
coming into us as we see in the next few Scriptures.
Colossians 1:27 To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory
(doxa)
of this mystery
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Notice, "Christ in you the hope of your receiving the Doxa
of God."
So we see that God gave us of His
own Spirit that we might have a hope or an expectation or an anticipation of
receiving His very mind or mindset. You see,
if He did so to His first born Son, then we know that He will do so to His
other sons. For Jesus was the first fruits. And Jesus prayed in John 17
that we would be one with God in the same manner as He was one
with the Father, and he said he gave us the very same Glory (The very same Doxa)
that God gave Him in order for us to be one with God.
John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory (the
doxa, the opinions, values and judgments) which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: And
this is something God has initiated.
Brother
BRanham said in his sermon, Works is faith
expressed 65-1126 P:46 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.
Again
from his sermon, Invisible union of the bride
65-1125 P:155 he said, "Now, there's only one way that you can be saved. That's by faith are ye saved,
and that by grace. The grace of God
spoke to you, brought you to the altar.
Now,
going back to I
Peter 1:13 ¶ Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ;
Notice
that we are to hope for the grace that is to be brought to us
at the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and then we are to gird up
our minds. Therefore at the time of the great Revelation of Christ we are to
receive a special dispensation of Grace. And this grace is to be multiplied,
bringing Grace Grace
unto it, at the time of the Capstone ministry of Christ.
Notice
Paul tells us in I Corinthians 1:3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus
Christ; 5 That in everything ye are enriched
(this word enriched
means like fertilizer, we enrich the soil to produce a finished
fully mature harvest from just a seed in the beginning.) That in everything ye are enriched
by him,(notice it is He that is doing the fertilizing.
"That in everything ye
are enriched by him in all utterance (that word utterance is logos), and in all
knowledge" (and that word is ginosko
and is the same word that speaks of the Lord descending
in this hour in all power and knowledge.
And
remember, Jesus Himself in explaining the parable of the Two
Sowers, said it is given for you to know but to them
it is not given to know nor to understand. And the word given is the Greek word echo.
Now
in getting back to 1 Corinthians 1:6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come
behind in no gift; (the word gift in
the Greek is the word charisma
and it means an endowment. In other words
when we speak of a child being gifted,
it does not mean they are athletic, but they are mentally
endowed to be able to understand what others among their peers
just don't seem to be able to understand.
Thus
this grace is to endow
us to be able to
understand the unveiling or
revelation of Jesus Christ.
Even as the testimony of
Christ was confirmed
in you
(that means the testimony of witness of
Christ was established in you): 7 So that ye come behind in no gift
(in no lack of understanding); waiting for the
coming (the apokolupsis
or unveiling or revealing which is the revelation) of our Lord
Jesus Christ (that is exactly what Peter told us would come. He
said this grace would get us ready for
the unveiling of Christ. And he told us to gird up
the loins of our mind, which means to get ready to move out
because it will come fast and furious just like a race. As it says, in 2 Corinthians 3:18
it will come from image to image and from glory to glory
(from doxa to doxa, from opinion to opinion, from judgment to judgment, from
values to values).
Now,
let's continue our reading from 1 Corinthians 1:8 Who shall also
confirm (that means Who shall also establish
you, So we see that God Himself is the one who will establish us all the way unto the end. For the
scriptures tells us "He which began the good work in you will perform it."
And He's here to do it. So it is God who gave
us the promise who comes to make sure the promise is fulfilled.
He that gave us the Word is here to confirm it, And that is
exactly what William Branham taught us in his sermon Presence of God Unrecognized 64-0618
1
"Working
for this one purpose, for you to recognize the Presence of Jesus Christ. See? If He is present, then, why, everything is settled.
He made the Word. He is here to
confirm It. He proves that He'll confirm It. "He is just the same
yesterday, today, and forever.")
And
so we see that He Himself has come in this hour to confirm His own Word to us,
and to confirm you (or establish you) unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the
day of our Lord Jesus Christ as Peter told us.
Now,
let's continue with 1 Corinthians 1 and
pick up at verse 9 "God is faithful, by
whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 ¶ Now I beseech
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions
among you; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."
Now,
this word judgment is a Greek word gnome which means to be in
the same consciousness or the same mind.
From
br. Branham's sermon, God's Only Provided Place of worship 65-1128M 262
But now we
come to the head, the capstone. "Grace. Grace."
the capstone cried. The headstone crying what? "Grace. Grace." Passed from death and creed into a living Word of the living God. God's only
provided plan for His age, His sons in the Word age
quickened by the Spirit like a spark that's lit off of something to make it
alive; and seated now in heavenly places in present tense, already
alive and subject to every promise in the Word. Then what does that do? You being a
part of God's gene, a part of the Word, other men a part of God's Word, seated
together, manifest the entire Body of Christ, because there's no leaven among you. (See what He's talking about,
Brother Brown?) No leaven among you,
just the Word only, seated in heavenly places in the door where He put
His Name: Christ Jesus.
So
what does that mean? No Leaven? Well, we
find that Jesus tells us in Matthew 16 what leaven represents.
Matthew 16:5 And when his disciples were come to the
other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees. 7 And they reasoned among themselves,
saying, It is because we have taken no bread. 8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye
have brought no bread? 9 Do ye not yet
understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many
baskets ye took up? 10 Neither the seven
loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 11 How is it that ye do
not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye
should beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees? 12 Then understood they how that he bade them
not beware of the leaven of bread,
but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees.
Notice
the bible says, "beware of the false doctrine of the Pharisees and the
Sadducees." And brother Branham is letting us know that
there is no leaven or rather there is no false
doctrine among the group that has the Grace-Grace Headstone, or
Capstone ministry.
264 No
leaven among you, that brings the entire Fulness of the Godhead bodily among you. Couldn't do it in Luther's
age, couldn't do it in Wesley's age, couldn't do it in the Pentecostal age; but
in the day when the Son of man will be manifested, revealed, brought back the church together with the entire Deity
of God amongst
His people, showing the same visible signs, manifesting Himself like He did
at the beginning when He was manifested on earth in a form of a Prophet God
(Oh, Glory.) promised by Malachi 4, promised by the rest of the
Scriptures. Where you worship at? The house of God, seated, in present tense.
Let
us pray...