Faith no 9
Faith or just an Illusion
June 11, 2017
Brian Kocourek, pastor
Matthew 24:26 And except those days
should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's
sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say
unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,
and shall shew great signs and wonders; in so
much that, if it were possible, they shall deceive
the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you
before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; (Tucson) go
not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; (The
Greek word for chamber means a storehouse) believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh
out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming (parousia) of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the
carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together..
And then let's turn again to Luke 18:8b for
the last scripture for our text. Jesus speaking says, ... "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth?
Let us pray...
This morning I would like to continue in our series
on faith, and I would like to speak on a topic which may sound similar to one
I've already spoken of in this series, but I can guarantee you it is very
different.
On May 21st just a few weeks ago, I preached a sermon called Faith or Deception,
and this morning I wish to title this sermon Faith or Illusion.
Now, Deception and illusion are two words are
different and they mean two different things.
Deception
is the act of deceiving; the state of being deceived, But An Illusion is something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. In It
is a perception, a visual stimuli (which we
would call an optical illusion) which
represents what we perceive in a way that
is actually different from the way it is in reality.
In other words, you are seeing something but in your
mind because of your perception you see
one thing when in reality it is another altogether different. But Deception is
the outcome and illusion is the manner in which the Deception takes place.
Everlasting Life 54-1231 P:9 And what if the Angel of the Lord was
standing here now, circling, and every one of your eyes would be visualized to
see It. That would be pretty good. But to look at the picture of It, is far
more proof than what if you was looking at It with your eyes. See? Isn't that
right? Because, you could have an optical illusion. But that camera won't
take an optical illusion. It won't do it, because it's--it's a camera.
And it'll take the actual picture. It has to be there to strike the lens. See?
You can have optical illusions, and things that looks like it is, when it's
not. See? But when the picture that...And it could be psychology.
You can say, "You see that there?" And you just keep saying,
"Yes, I believe it." And believe it so much till
actually you think you see it, when you don't. See? That's right.
But that's psychology. But you... It's just got you so mentally pressed
towards it, till you
just imagine it, so imagine it so much till it becomes a reality. You
just imagine somebody hates you, once. And they don't hate you, but you imagine
they do, and you just keep thinking, "They don't like me." And the
first thing you'll be shunning that person, when they haven't done nothing to
you. And after while, it become so a reality to you, till you'll actually
believe that that person doesn't like you.
Therefore an illusion is dependent upon the
condition of the persons mind. The perception one has to a physical optical
stimuli.
Therefore two different people can be looking at the
same event but each one can perceive it differently from the other persons
perception.
In other words, the two persons could be viewing the
same scene manifestation of an event, a place or even a person and the two will
have totally different understandings of that event, place or person from the
other person, because one sees what is actually there with an understanding of
the reality of the scene while the other has a preconceived idea what they are
looking at and so their perception becomes an illusion changing the reality
into a falsehood. The end result is the Deception.
Let's just take four Scriptures speaking of the same
event as an example.
In Colossians 3:4 We
read, "When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye
also appear with him in glory.
And again in Revelations
2:10b “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give
thee a crown of Life.”
And let's read also 2
Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
1 Peter 5:4 And
when the chief Shepherd shall appear,
ye shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away.
Now, if you do not
understand the doctrine of the Message which we call the Message Doctrine, you
will not understand that these four scriptures all speak of the same event.
You may think the crown of life is one thing, and the crown of righteousness is another, while the crown of glory is yet another. And yet
they all speak of one scene which is what is supposed to happen to us at the
appearing of the Lord.
But unless you hear, and
recognized what the prophet taught, you will not be able to properly act upon
what you have heard and because your understanding will not comprehend what it
is you have witnessed in this hour. And if you do not understand what you have
witnessed then you become a false witness not understanding what it is you saw
or heard. And if you do not understand
what the appearing is, and so you may
confuse it with the literal coming of Christ you will become a false
witness of what took place in this hour
as about 99.9% of Christianity themselves have no clue.
Hear ye Him 58-0126 P:21 We know that
there's false; I know there's mental illusions; I know there's all
kinds of illusions. Because the Bible said there would be. But where
the church has let down, it ought to have the church taught and set up in such a way that it
would know the right from wrong. See where we're at? Then the
Holy Spirit has to bring that type of a message to the Father. Oh, my, what
must He say? A certainly, if that boy or any teacher knows, in the Bible, that
if that boy wasn't an obedient child, yet he was a son, he never inherited
anything. Any Bible reader knows that. Read Ephesians, 1st chapter the 5th
verse. God predestinated us unto the children of God by the adoption of Jesus
Christ, adopting and placing a son.
And then you will place
off in the future what is taking place right now. A mirage is nothing but an
illusion, and it is always out in the future somewhere out of reach. And there
is a danger when you are walking in the desert looking for water and you see it
further out, and so you keep walking trying to catch up to the mirage or
illusion. And the danger is that you place yourself in great danger because you
walk further into the desert chasing after the illusion.
That is why those how do
not understand the difference between the appearing and coming are chasing
after am illusion and they place the events that are supposed to be taking
place right now off into the future somewhere and in the meanwhile they are
dying of spiritual thirst.
From the Rapture the 65-1204 P:110 brother Branham said, 109 And
then I heard something like a "Onward Christian Soldiers." And I
looked, and here come that sainted bunch of little girls just exactly the way
they was, all correctly dressed, their hairs hanging way down on
their back, smooth, clean, marching like this to the step of the Gospel. She
was the Word. And it looked like one out of every nation. I was looking at it
as they passed by, and seen them pass by. Instead of going down, they started
going up. And I noticed one of them trying, two or three of them
trying--getting out of line; I screamed, "Stay in line." And the
vision left me, and I was standing in this room screaming, "Stay in
line." Line that... 110 Wonder, could it be already passed? Could the Bride already be
called? Is that what we're going through today? She's has to be molded and made
into the image of Christ, and Christ is the Word. That's the only thing.
See, it's in there, in the Word, it's just... See, there cannot be one thing
added. It can't be a woman with one hand like a man and the other hand with a
paw like a dog; it's got to be exactly the Word of the Lord, like He is the Word.
The Bride is a part of the Bridegroom. The woman is a part of her husband,
'cause she's taken out of the husband. Eve was a part of Adam from his side.
And so is the Bride, not taken from a denomination, but taken from
the bosom of the Word of God for this day.
So brother Branham at the
end of the Rapture sermon, tells us the only thing
left is that she
has to be in the image of Christ, which is what the
Apostle Paul said, she has to be conformed to the
image of Christ, the first born son.
Indictment the 63-0707M P:85 Man always
praising God for what He has done, looking forward for
what He will do, and ignoring what He's doing, and being
condemned by it. See? They think God's wonderful, how great He is. What
He's going to do, He's going to come, and be a rapture
someday and go home; and denying the very signs and wonders right here
at the time that the Scripture says that He'll be doing it; miss the
whole thing. "If the
blind lead the blind," Jesus said, "they'll all fall in the
ditch." Just pray God to open our eyes in this last days. All right.
Notice when the
reality is happening, they are caught up into the illusion of still looking
down the road for it to happen somewhere in the future, and they are missing
what God is doing right now.
Expectations and what love is
54-0228A P:41 The one thing that I find that's one of the greatest
hindrance among us, is that you're trying to place the great things of God, yet to come,
when you're right in
the middle of it now. That's right. Now, you say, "Just
wait till some..." Well, that could be the millennium where we won't
need any healings and things. That's the next age to be issued in.
Now we're in the Holy Ghost age. Now you are the sons of God. Now we're seated together in heavenly
places, not we will be, we are now, this afternoon, right here
now, sons and daughters of God seated together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. There we are. See? All things are possible then.
Notice the
reality is not carnally minded, or carnally focused, but it is spiritually
minded or Spiritually focused. It can see by Faith what God is doing right now,
being conformed to the Image of the first born so, but the illusion of some is
that it will be somewhere in the future.
Lord just once more 63-0628A
P:31 So many people today gets caught away in
mental illusions,
never think to search the Scripture, see whether it's right or
not. Others try to say, "It doesn't make any difference."Paul, in Acts 19, thought it made a difference. And he
said, "If an Angel from heaven preached any other thing,
let him be cursed." See? It does make a difference.
The present
Truth is the reality, the illusion believes it but places it off in the future
like a mirage is always out in the future.
The Apostle
Peter said in
2 Peter 1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these
things, though ye know them, and be
established in the present
truth.
Then what is the Message to any age? It
is the Revelation of Jesus Christ as it comes forth in a manifested way to the people,
but under the moving or guiding hand of the God's Holy Presence.
In fact Brother Branham said in his
audio letter to Brother Vayle, "Would it be, you think, advisable in here, to say that
God then, in order to proclaim this, has to send a prophet in order to inject
this, make this real again, show the people the hour we're living in? Because if they only see it in the hour
past, then there's no hope for the church. The church must see it in the present tense. So
God sends His prophet to manifest, present tense of it."
And that is the key to our understanding
the Message of God for the hour. We see God manifest His Word through His
Prophet and then it brings the Word into a present tense understanding to us,
making
it real and live out again amongst the people. Then as the Omega
reflection moves from the prophet into the people, they begin to reflect Christ
as He reflected Christ because it is the same life.
And notice how br. Branham said, "Because if they
only see it in the hour past, then there's no hope for the church. The church
must see it in the present tense."
And from his
sermon, Where I think Pentecost failed 55-1111 P:12
So if
you could ever get real good fundamental faith amongst Pentecostal people, or
fundamental doctrine with the Pentecostal people, and the... or vice versa, I'd
like to see what the meeting would be. When the people realize that you
are, not you will be, you are,
present tense, right now, sons and daughters of God. You're
pushing it way off out to the millennium somewhere, all the blessings out in
the millennium. Why, it's right now. We won't need Divine healing in the
millennium. Now, is when we have it. We won't be
sons of God, but now you're sons of God, and heirs, joint heirs
with Jesus. And everything that Jesus died for at Calvary is your
possession. Amen. Brother, Satan don't like that, because... If the
people would only realize and just be willing to take God at His Word, you
would, you'd just hard... Well, it's unlimited.
And again from
Explaining healing and Jairus 54-0216 P:37 The devil's just
trying to scare you out of something. He's trying to put something off
somewhere else, say, "Some of these days you'll be this."
You are now.
Now, we're sons of God. Now, we're seated
together in heavenly places. Now, we have all powers in heavens and the earth. See? Now, we have it. Not in the millennium, we won't
need it then. We
got it now. We're... Right now
we are the sons of God. "It does not appear what we shall be, but we know we'll be
like Him."What you are here is a
reflection of what you are somewhere else. "Those who He called, He justifies." Is that right? "Those who He justified, He has glorified." Already in the Presence of the Father, we have a glorified body.
Whew! Wasn't that deep? All right. We'll find out whether it's right or not.
"If this earthly tabernacle be
dissolved, we have one already waiting."
Is that right? That's right. So right now, and what we are there,
is a reflection. Here, what
we are here, is a reflection of what we are somewhere else. So
if your deeds are evil, you know where it comes from. You know where your other
body's a waiting.
Therefore the reality is now, and
the illusion
is putting it off to somewhere in the future, for some other time. and
that is how people miss what God is doing, always looking back at what he did
do, and looking forward to what he is going to do, and missing what He is doing
right now.
Now, remember, God's
prophet taught us "there
is a difference between the
appearing and coming of Christ." And he said we are already witnessing the Appearing of the Lord. So
when we read these four Scriptures we know and understand they are referring to
what we have already witnessed in this hour.
Notice what he
said in his sermon Perseverance 62-0608 P:95 Did you know that
the Bible speaks of "the appearing of
the Lord", and also "the coming of the Lord", and it's two different works? Search it and find out if
that's right. The appearing and the
coming is two different things. The appearing of the Lord is
now. He's appearing amongst His people. We see Him in His same works, the appearing,
His Holy Spirit. But His
coming will be in a physical being. It'll be to catch the church
up. But see, we've been down through the Word, justification, sanctification,
baptism of the Holy Ghost. And now the church is getting in such a condition,
ready, waiting. The offices... And the offices of the church is coming into its
place. The teachers are placing the places. The gifts are manifesting
themselves. Oh, there's
a lot of impersonations. That's right. We expect that. But there's real too.
Before there can be a bogus dollar there has to be a real one for it to be made
off of. That's right. We have all those carnal comparisons, but that don't take away from the real. It
only makes the real shine out.
Notice brother Branham
said the
appearing and coming are two different works, two different
things, which are two different events altogether. And in understanding that
difference we can recognize the real and differentiate it from the carnal
comparison. Therefore there is a real and there is the illusion.
The Apostle
Paul said in Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; (to be carnally focused is death)
but to be spiritually minded (spiritually focused) is life and peace.
In other words
as brother Vayle always said, "get your eyes off the vessel and get them on the God who
used the vessel."
Because if you have
your eyes on the vessel you are carnally minded, that means you are
carnally focused, you are focused on the vessel, but if you understand the vessel can do nothing but what the Father shows him first,
then you are spiritually minded because you are focused on the God who is
doing, and not the vessel in whom he does it. And to be spiritually focused is
life and peace.
Now, remember we read
from Matthew 24 that the great illusion
will be that many will say, "His presence is
here with us in the desert" You've got to come here, and
others will say, "His presence is with us in
the secret chamber", and his presence is there and he says
do not listen to them for his presence will be universal.
Now in getting back to
the four Scriptures we read concerning the crown of "Glory" that the Apostle Paul and the
apostle Peter both speak of is the "Doxa"
of God, which is defined as His opinions, values,
and judgments of
God. Another thing is if you have been taught by God's prophet the Message
Doctrine, you will understand there is a difference between the appearing and
coming, as brother Branham taught us. Then and only then you will have a
certain understanding of what these scriptures are speaking of and you will actually see that this crown of Glory is the same as the crown of righteousness or the crown of right-wise-ness which is the same
as the crown of life, and they are
not in the somewhere off in the future but this is actually happening right
now.
So
with a correct understanding of the difference between the appearing and coming
we can see what is taking place in Colossians 3:34 is not in the future but is right
now.
In Colossians 3:4 We
read, "When Christ, who is
our life, (that
is not somewhere in the future, but is present tense, "Who is our
Life" When He) shall appear, (when
he shall phaneroo, when he shall manifest in His true character) then shall
(when? Now. When He shall phaneroo in His true character,) ye
also shall appear with him in glory.
When? NOW!!! Notice as he appears we appear. When He
phaneroos it is because we are phaneroo. Why? Because He is our Life, not will
be, but now are we sons. Now, are we being conformed to His image. Now are we
phanerooing as He is phanerooing.
And again we see in Revelations
2:10b “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give
thee a crown of Life.”
When? after our death?
That is not what the apostle James tells us.
James 1:12 Blessed is (that's present tense) the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which
the Lord hath promised to them that love him. When? After he dies
from his trial? NO!!! When he is tried he receives the crown of Life.
That is what the trial
produces in us, Praise honor and glory as we taught a couple weeks ago. It
produces the glory and that is the doxa of God, the crown of Glory.
And let's read also 2
Timothy 4:8 Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his
appearing.
And we know that the word righteousness comes from the old
English word right-wise-ness. Which is the doxa of God, his opinions, his values
and his judgments.
And let's look at 1 Peter
5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Notice
he says and when... the
chief Shepherd shall appear. Not off in the future somewhere, but
when or while the Chief Shepherd is appearing, during His appearing, we receive the crown of Glory. That is the
reality, but many people are living after an illusion or like a mirage they see
these events out in the future. And that is where they have placed them. But we
who are present tense being positionally placed in the e family see them right
now before us this day. And we have stepped into that scene and have become the
manifestation of the revelation.
We
see, the same Life that was sown in the Original Seed, Christ Jesus, has
returned in this hour, not only among the people, but That same life that was
in the first born son has entered into the people as well making us conformed
to the image of the first born son. Making us manifested sons, filling us with
the spirit of adoption. That is the reality, but the people walking
after the illusion see it like a mirage that one day we will be. And that is
the difference.
The
Complete Seed, meaning the complete Life that was in the Seed has got to come
back into human flesh in a Bride in this hour. That is what brother Branham
said is rthe last thing before the rapture can take place.
Rapture the 65-1204 P:110 110 Wonder, could it be already passed? Could the Bride already be called? Is that what we're going through today? She's has to be molded and made into the image of Christ, and Christ is the Word. That's the only thing. See, it's in there, in the Word, it's just... See, there cannot be one thing added. It can't be a woman with one hand like a man and the other hand with a paw like a dog; it's got to be exactly the Word of the Lord, like He is the Word. The Bride is a part of the Bridegroom. The woman is a part of her husband, 'cause she's taken out of the husband. Eve was a part of Adam from his side. And so is the Bride, not taken from a denomination, but taken from the bosom of the Word of God for this day.
So
we are speaking of the Original Seed, the original Life back in human flesh again.
And that is why we are told our New Birth is to be an incorruptible one which
shall never fade away. Now this is not true of so called Pentecost today. Those
people who claim a new birth seem to need a new filling or refilling each and
every week. Why? Because they have received a new birth based upon a
corruptible see, which is a corruptible word.
But
1 Peter 1:23 tells us if you have been
truly born again, you cannot fall away. So how do you receive the true new
birth? By receiving the True Revelation of Jesus Christ. Once
a woman conceives, she doesn’t need any further insemination to bring forth
Life. All she needs is to wait the nine months while human cell is being added to
human cell. And that is the same thing with the Word of God. We do not need to
be born again more than just one time. But what we have need of is Word piled
upon Word to grow our Glorified Body around the Predestinated Word Germ Seed
given by God to us.
Therefore,
the difference between seeing the present truth and an illusion is whether you
are born again or not. Because if you are truly born again, we will have a
Divine Revelation in our heart, and you would be so miserable in your heart if
you knew that your actions were not pleasing to God. I don’t care who we are,
we will never make it in on someone else’s coat tails.
We
all, every one of us, both young and old, must be born again or we will never
see, nor can we see, the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said in John 3:13 “except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And
what does it mean to see the Kingdom of God? To see means to
understand and perceive, so we ask, to understand what? The
Kingdom of God. And what is the Kingdom of God? It is His ruler-ship, His
Lordship, His Sovereignty, His Power and His Dominion. And
you will never get this by just going to church. You have got to be born again.
65-3 Christ
is the Mystery of God Revealed We're not suppose to make converts to
Christianity by a government, but by the revelation of Christ in you
as God was in
Christ.
E-28 Earnestly
contending for the Faith Intellectual faith is not enough.
That's all right, but it only brings you to the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit is a personal experience of the birth, the new birth,
regeneration, making a new creature in Christ.
36-4 Christ
is the Mystery of God Revealed Look, Christ in
you makes Him the center of Life of the revelation. See? Christ's
Life in you makes Him the center of the revelation....What is the new
birth then... It is the revelation of Jesus Christ personally to you.
Amen. See? Not you joined a church, you shook a hand; you done something
different; you said a creed; you promised to live by a code of rules; but Christ,
the Bible... He is the Word that was revealed to you.
Now
this is the key, right here. If you are truly born again, Christ is the
center of your life and everything else is a distant last. You job,
your family, your friends, your homes, your cars. Whatever there is in your life is a distant last when Christ is
preeminent on the throne of your heart.
I
hope you all remember our message on the almost Christian. How that King
Agrippa, after hearing Paul’s testimony said to him, ‘Paul, thou almost persuadest me to be a
Christian”, and Paul answered him, “I
would that you were altogether like as I am except without these bonds” why?
because almost is not good enough. An
almost Christian is still a lost soul. An almost Christian is still
headed for the lake of fire. And so we find that there are those who
will come forth at the great white throne one day and they will hear those
notorious words, “Depart from me for I never knew
you, ye that work iniquity, for I never knew you.” “ye that know better but had your own thoughts about
it. I never knew you, I never had an intimate relationship in your heart with
you, so depart from me.”
Now,
look, I am not talking works here. I'm talking about Eternal Life. We’re not
talking about church and theology, we are talking about life. Eternal Life.
45-1 Christ
is the Mystery of God Revealed Not your theology; it's
a revelation of Jesus Christ... the revelation of Jesus Christ
in a new birth. He
injects His own Life, and your life is gone, and the Life of Christ is
projecting Itself through you with the preeminence to the people
that they see the
very Life,
In his
sermon, Super Sign PP 78 Brother
Branham said, “Now,
let me tell you. Anything outside of being born gain will never reach the
Rapture. Unless there is a germ of Life inside you, you’ll perish.
You cannot rise up again.” And so I hope you will understand why I
constantly bring these things to you attention. Because after all we will
all have to give account of what we have done with this great Message that God
has Given to us. Every one of us, both small and great, will have
to give an account for what we have done in our bodies.
So
much for those preachers who said "we don't need to do the works of Christ,
brother Branham did them and we are riding on that."
They
don't even believe what Jesus said or the prophet William Branham.
Romans 14:11-12 For it is written, ‘As I live Saith the Lord, every knee shall
bow and every tongue shall confess to God.’
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of His Father
with His Angels; and He shall reward
every man according to his works.”
And
what is our reward? The crown of Glory, the crown or righteousness which is the
crown of life.
And
there is one more crown and that is the crown of rejoicing.
1 Thessalonians 2:19 For what
is our hope, or joy, or crown
of rejoicing? Are not even ye in
the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
And
when do you receive it? It is being in his presence at his Parousia, which is
His appearing.
As
I just read where brother Branham said, "one day soon we will all have to give an accounting
for what we have done with this great Message that God has Given to us."
And
this is what I would like to point out this morning. we are all going to have
to give an account one day for our stewardship before God.
In the parable Jesus tells us in Luke 16: 1-2, 1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same
was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him,
and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy
stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 11-13
11 If therefore ye have
not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the
true riches? 12 And if ye have not been
faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your
own? 13 No servant can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
We
are all going to have to give an account of our stewardship to God. Now what
does it mean to give an account. You are going to have to show what you did
with what He gave you.
You
are going to have to be accountable for the riches he has given to you. And if you
cannot show progress in what He has given to you, then what you now have will
be taken from you. That is what He is telling us here.
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have
struggled for, but that we receive a full reward.
And
so you say, what sort of things can I lose? Well, let’s just see for ourselves.
Revelation 3:1111 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast
which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Well,
you say, what crown is this? Paul tells us in 2 Tim
4:8 that this crown is a crown of righteousness which is a
right-wise-ness.
And
Peter told us in 1 Peter 5:4 it is a
crown of Glory which is the same thing as Paul said because the Glory is the
right-wise-ness which is the very Doxa or opinion, assessment and judgment of
God.
And
we are warned that we shall lose this crown, ever by Jesus Himself. IBut if you
recall Jesus said in Luke 18:8 When he
comes will he find Faith? Will he find people wearing this crown of glory, this
crown of right-wise-ness, this crown of life and this crown of rejoicing? Yes,
he will find it but these ones that really do lose it never had it in the first
place, they only thought they had it. It was always just beyond their reach,
always in the future but they were not wearing it.
That
is the same as the foolish virgins, because they could have had the oil but
they put it off and when he actually appeared they still were looking out in
the future to get their oil in their lamps and they missed going in to the
marriage supper of the lamb.
That
is what that word seems means. It is the Greek word dokeo which means: It seems to be, or appears to be, but there is some
question as to whether or not it really is. The same word
is used in Matthew 6:7 in reference to
the Pharisees who only think that God hears their prayers.
Matthew 16:25-27
For
whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of man
shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward
every man according to his works.
You
see, it all depends on your motives. Are you looking out for number one? Or are
you looking out to please your Heavenly Father. Now if you are His, It is
impossible that you will be lost, but it does not mean that you won’t go empty
on the other side.
John 6:39 And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given
me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
Revelations 3:11 Behold,
I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
1 Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth, take heed lest he fall.”
Luke 12:42-48 42 And
the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward,
whom his lord shall
make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord
when he cometh shall find so doing. 44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all
that he hath. 45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and
drink, and to be drunken; 46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not
for him, and at an
hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his
portion with the unbelievers.
Here
we find God calling the ministry a steward, and then he also tells us
that those who knew to prepare themselves for His Coming and don’t, they will
get tribulation. Now to have to go through the tribulation does not mean you
will be lost, but you will certainly have to pay for your neglect. And how will
you pay for your neglect? With your very life, that’s how. God
doesn’t play our little games and He certainly doesn’t fool around. he says
what He means and He means what He says.
Now
what does this all come down too? It all boils down to recognition
and understanding what we are here for. Remember the Title of Brother Branham’s
Message called, “Hearing, Recognizing and Acting upon the Word of God.” Well,
that is exactly what it means. And it all comes down to the innate ability to
be able to recognize God and His Word, or Revelation of Himself which is His
Message.
Webster
tells us that the word Recognize : To recall to the mind, "re"
meaning again, and "cognition" which is a knowing; therefore to recognize is to be aware of,
to know by some detail, as appearance; or identity, to beware of the significance, to acknowledge the existence, validity,
authority or genuineness, to accept and acknowledge as worthy of appreciation
and approval, devotion.
Now,
brother Branham said, “To dislocate the Scriptures,... You might have now, our age teaching Pentecost, the
Pentecostal message. You see what a mess it would be in? Pentecost has already
showed its colors. And
that is exactly what has happened. He said, those little Ricky’s
have come in and messed up everything. He said, “Every time it organized it died right
there; there never was no more to it. It become a worshipper of the god of this
world. It went off into organisms, and organizations, and denominations,
and illusions “A
bunch of Ricky’s got into there and put their own objections into it, or
injected their own thoughts, rather, into it. And what did it happen? It become
a mess.”
Now,
first of all he tells us that to preach a Pentecostal Message today just makes
a mess out of everything. Then he tells us to interject our own thoughts will only bring us an illusion.
And
what is an illusion but a false idea or conception; belief or opinion
that is not in accord with the facts. An deception that is not real, a
misleading appearance or image. A false perception, conception, or
interpretation of what one sees. A misleading image resulting in a wrong
impression. So we see again that these thoughts of a false
interpretation . And Brother Branham further called them an illusion which
means the Word is interpreted in such a way as to make it appear to be
different than it really is. Like a mirage in the desert that you think you see
but is not really there.
In Isaiah 29: 8
we read, "It shall even be as when an hungry man
dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as
when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and,
behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite:
so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount
Zion".
Notice
that these men are living in an illusion. They eat from the Bread of Life but
it is only in a dream. When they awake from
their dream they will still be empty, because they are living in an illusion.
A
false vision of deception. And what has caused this? Their own opinions
are held in more esteem to themselves than the Word of God. Notice that in
verses 10-12 10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the
spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers,
the seers hath he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words
of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to
one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot;
for it is sealed: 12 And the book is delivered
to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am
not learned. 13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch
as this people draw near me with their mouth, and
with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and
their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
We
are told that they will be in slumber, sleeping virgins, and the Lord will have
brought on this deep slumber and their dreams (their illusions) will not
produce anything for them. Now, remember 2 Peter 2 tells us they will come into
the Message with their own opinions and
turn the Message into a Mess-age and present to the people an illusion. We further see evidence of this
in ...
Jeremiah 23:32
32 Behold, I am
against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and
cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them
not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all,
saith the LORD.
Notice
they dream but their dreams will not profit the people any. Therefore, what
purpose is there for these men to keep up with their own lies?
Isaiah 66:4-5
4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when
I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil
before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. 5 Hear
the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated
you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but
he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
Notice
that God will send them their own delusion. Now God Himself does not place
these lies in them, but He allows a lying spirit to enter into these men who
are false, and to lead them further away from the Truth by tempting them to
turn further.
And
since they themselves already have turned down the Truth, God then only allows
to happen to them what they have already shown a desire for, and that is for a
the lying spirit to come down and lead them further into their own deceit as we
see in 2 Chronicles 18:18-24 18 Again he said, Therefore hear the word of
the LORD; I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven
standing on his right hand and on his left. 19 And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at
Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after
that manner. 20 Then there came out a spirit, and
stood before the LORD, and said, I will
entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?
21 And he said, I will go out, and be a lying
spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. 22 Now therefore,
behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets,
and the LORD hath spoken evil against thee. 23 Then
Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and
said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto
thee? 24 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day
when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-13
And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But
we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
Now
I want you to know the difference here between those who are Elect and those who
are not. And that is why God gave us a ministry as Paul and Martin Luther
pointed out who will not bring forth delusions or illusions, but will speak the
Truth in Love as we see in Ephesians 4: 11-15 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: 13 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 fulness of Christ: 14 That
we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and
fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow
up into him in all things, which is the head, even
Christ:
And
so we see how God will put the people to the test to see what they really
believe.
1 Thessalonians 2: 3-13 3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in
trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which
trieth our hearts. 5 For neither at any time used we
flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: 6 Nor of men
sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of
others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among
you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: 8 So
being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto
you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear
unto us. 9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and
travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto
any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. 10 Ye
are witnesses, and God also,
how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: 11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted
and charged every one of you, as a father doth
his children, 12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called
you unto his kingdom and glory. 13 For this cause also thank we God
without ceasing, because, when ye
received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of
men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually
worketh also in you that believe.
Let
us pray...