God’s
Only Provided Place of Worship # 119
Brian Kocourek, February 18, 1996
From Mental Faith To Spiritual Revelation
Wednesday night we again spoke from pp. 40 in light of
PP 288 of God's Only Provided Place of Worship where Brother Branham emphasized
the Spiritual diet of the Word having a certain effect upon us like vitamins
does upon our bodies. We examined the effect of the Word upon our minds and the
moving down into our souls of this Spiritual Faith moving from a mental
faith into a Spiritual Revelation once it has been anointed by the Spirit of
God. In fact we quoted Brother Branham
in the Message Blasphemous Names , pg.
23, as saying, Coming to your
mental faith, right here, comes the Holy Spirit, coming down into your mental
faith making it a Spiritual Faith. Then the Spiritual Faith only recognizes the
Word."
And so, in looking at this condition of the mind, we
see that God has come down in this hour to bring about a change of our mind that we
might receive His mind. Let this mind be in you that was in Christ
Jesus." And we also know in [ Colossians
3:4] we are told, that "when
Christ Who is our Life shall appear, then we shall appear with Him in the same
Glory or mindset." So then, if it is a
condition of the mind, then it must first come to our mind, before it can move
down into our heart and soul and take over the very ambitions and desires of
our heart. That's why the scripture tells us, "where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
̃
In [ Luke 6:
45] "A good man out of
the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is good: and an evil man out of
the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of
his heart the mouth speaketh." And so here we find the Scripture
telling us that our hearts will only reflect the real treasure that lays inside of it, and it will show what our treasures really
are in the things that we talk about.
̃
From the message IS
YOUR LIFE WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL PP 151, Brother Branham said, "the
things that you think on, the things that you do, (the actions), the things
that you talk about creates an atmosphere."
What your mind is feeding upon is only a reflection of
your Spiritual condition which is only a reflection of your Eternal
destination. God's Elect will hold His
Word as their treasure, and it will reflect in their thoughts and actions as
well.
̃ From Enticing Spirits brother Branham said, " you
let me see what a man reads, let me see what
he watches, listen to the music he listens at, and I can
tell what spiritual condition he is
in." He
said, "because that's your appetite."
̃ From What is the Holy Ghost, PP
31, brother Branham said, "You
let me talk to a man for two minutes; I can tell you whether he's received the
Holy Ghost or not. So can you. It separates them; It's
a mark, It's a sign. And the Holy Spirit is a Sign. And it's... Any child that
refused circumcision in the Old Testament, which was a
foreshadow of the Holy Ghost, was cut off from amongst the people. He
could not have fellowship with the rest of the congregation if he refused to be
circumcised. Now, pattern that to today. A person that would refuse to
receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost can have no fellowship among those that
has the Holy Ghost. You just can't do it. You have to be a nature. Like, it's... My mother there used to say,
"Birds of a feather flock together." Well, it's an old proverb, but
it's a true one. You don't see doves and crows fellowshipping. Their diets
are different; their habits are different; their desires are different. And
that's the way it is with the world and with a Christian when you have been
circumcised by the Holy Spirit, which means to cut off a flesh.
And so we see that there is a certain diet that we
partake of. A crow can eat just anything, nothing hardly
will bother him, but a Dove can only eat certain kinds of food. That's his
nature. To eat like a Crow would kill it. And I'll tell you I believe that with
all my heart. I heard a tape other night of a certain preacher in this message,
and all he did was holler and scream and yet nothing was being said. I couldn't
stand it.
̃ THIRST 65-0919] there is a control tower in your soul, that tells you
the spiritual things that you have need of, something in your spirit, and, and
you by this can tell what kind of a life is controlling you. When you--when you can see what your desires
are, then you can tell, by that, what kind of something that's in you, that's
creating this desire that you have. See, there is a certain thing that you
thirst for, and it--and it can tell you in your soul what this desire is, by
the nature of the thirst that you have. I hope that you can understand that.
289 GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.WORSHIP - SHP.LA - V-7 N-4 -
65-1128.1M
Seeing, Lord,
that the mental conditions, the nervous age that the people's living in, is
driving them out of their minds; to exactly fulfill what the Scripture said
and promised, the great hideous things would come upon the earth; like locusts,
to haunt the women that cut their hair, they'll have long hair like a woman.
And different hideous sights that they'll be able to see, Lord, in that mental,
deluded condition they're in, and then screaming for the rocks and the
mountains. Women who would mother dogs and cats, and not raise children to
honor You. Those that You did
give children to and they did conceive them, turn them loose on the streets to
do as they want. No wonder You said, Lord, when You
were going to the cross, "Then they'll begin to cry for the rocks and the
mountains to fall on them."
E-66
CHRIST.IS.IDENTIFIED.THE.SAME
TAMPA.FL 64-0415
If the world would stand another fifty years, the
whole world would be totally insane. Look at the sanity from twenty years ago
to this time. See?
3
COMMUNION TUCSON.AZ
V-8 N-4 65-1212
And we also can look around and see that the way that
the human mind is leaving the people. That, we--we can't stay too much
longer, we'd be in a complete insane institution, the whole world would be.
See? So we--we're at the end time.
̃ [ Rev 3: 14-20 ] Blind, naked and don't even
know it. They're not in their right mind! When a person comes to their right
mind, they put their clothes back on and stop acting like animals.
200 PRESENCE.OF.GOD.UNRECOGNIZED TPK.KS V-20 N-2
64-0618
Just think if
a man or woman was on the street, wretched, blind, poor, miserable, and naked,
and you could tell them that they were naked, and they would listen to you, but
what if they are naked and they don't believe it? What a mental condition that
is!
̃ [ Romans 1:
28 ] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient; being filled with all un-right-wise-ness, ( incorrect thinking)
which brings forth fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full
of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of
God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, (and here's the key) without understanding, covenant
breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. Who knowing the
Judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not
only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. In other words,
they take their stand with a false five fold and with Hollywood! That's what's
producing this insanity we see today! How could people even think that
Television has no impact on the youth of today. That's
totally ludicrous.
190 GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP LA.CA V-18 N-2
65-0425E
Look at this teen-age
insane!... and eighty percent of the children in
school is mentally retarded. What will their children be? We can't have another
generation. We're at the end. Jesus said these things would come.... Why,
the world will be completely, totally insane. It's not but just about
one degree from it now.
The scripture says, not only do those people who
do these evil things that it listed deserve death, but also those who would sit
back and take pleasure in those who are doing them. That's television. A murder a minute. Those of you who have TV in your homes
are exposing your kids to a murder every minute. That's the official
statistics. And what about adultery and fornication and women
running around naked. Not just once per minute, but try once every few
seconds. No wonder the kids today are insane and desensitized to the violence
and moral filth. They see it so often they just think it is normal. And then
they think because you preach out against it that you are the one whose not normal. [ Romans 1: 22 ] "Professing
themselves to be wise they became fools." [ 1
Cor 1: 20 ] has not God foolish the
wisdom of this world?"
So what we are looking at here is the fact that God
has made us to receive His Word with our minds first and then He will anoint
the understanding He has given us and it then drops down into our Soul and becomes
a Spiritual Revelation. So we are dealing with the mind here and that is why we
see Brother Branham pointing to the deteriorating condition of the minds in the
people. Now this brings up a question that was handed in to me.
̃
Brian,
please explain man as a three part being - Body, Soul & Spirit. Where is
the mind? Where and what is the Soul? And the heart? Perhaps you could tie this
in with how God is manifested?
Well, let's start first with showing you that there is
a three-fold
nature of man.
̃ [I Thess 5:23] And the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and
body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Now in looking at this Scripture we see not only a
separation of Body, Soul and Spirit here, but this scripture is telling us that
we are to be sanctified wholly or completely in our body, Soul and Spirit at
the time of the Parousia of Christ. So how do we
become sanctified completely in our body, soul and spirit?
Jesus told us in [ John
17: 17-19 ] that we are sanctified through the Truth. And
then He further defined what this Truth is when He said, "Thy Word
is truth." Speaking of God's Word.
In fact Paul tells us also in [ 2 Thess 2: 13] that Paul contrasts those who are Elect
from those who are not in that We are Sanctified in our Spirits through belief
of the Truth in contrast to those who actually go after a delusion. Now this
word sanctify is a cleansing. And in [Psalm 119: 9] we are told that we
cleanse ourselves by taking heed to the Word of God. In [ Ephesians
5: 26] we see that God cleanses us by the washing of water by the
Word. And so we see that we are
washed in our Spirit. Our Spirit is said to be cleansed by the Word of God. But
what is this Spirit that is washed and cleansed by Gods Word.
̃
Now we know that
there is a difference between your body, Soul and Spirit because we are told in
[Hebrews 4:12] For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So here we see that the
Word of God divides so cleanly that it can even differentiate between the Soul
and the Spirit.
And so this brings us to the next part of this
question that was asked, Brian, please explain man as a three part being
- Body, Soul & Spirit. Where is the mind? Where and what is the Soul? And the heart? Perhaps you could tie this in with how
God is manifested? Now, there
are three things being asked here. I guess we could re-ask the question in this
manner. Assuming that there is a three fold nature to man, a body and a Soul
and a Spirit, then where does the mind fit in. Where is the mind and where and
what is the Soul? And the heart?
Now in dividing the difference between the Soul and
Spirit we find a real challenge because they are both defined so closely
according to the Greek. But we are told in [Hebrews 4] that the Word of
God, when it comes forth discerning, it will also discern right down to the
difference between the soul and spirit and so we must go to what Brother
Branham said about these two parts of our human make-up.
̃ [And Knoweth it Not 65-0815] Now, this outside man is the flesh. That's what
we look at, what we see. And it has five inlets to that body. And any
grammar school child as myself, would know that
there's five senses control the body: see, taste, feel, smell and hear.
Without that, you can't touch the body. That's the only way you have to the
body: see, taste, feel, smell and hear. See it, taste it, feel it. Now, that is
the evil one on the outside.
̃ Now, inside of that is a spirit, which you become when
you're borned in here and the breath of life is
breathed into you, that spirit is of a worldly nature, because it was not given
from God, but it was given, permitted by God. Now, you got that? For every
child that's borned in the world is borned in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world
speaking lies. Is that right? So that person inside there is a sinner to begin
with. But now, it's got five inlets, and them five inlets... I don't know
whether I can call them right off now. First, I know is thought, conscience,
and love, choice... No conscience, love, reason, there's
five inlets to the spirit. (
actually he names them in several other messages as being, Conscience,
Affection, reasoning, memory and imagination) You can't think
with your body; you have to think with your spirit. You can't have
conscience in your body. It has no mental faculties at all, your body
doesn't. So you have to think with your spirit. You have to reason. You
can't reason with your physical being, 'cause reason doesn't see, taste, feel,
smell, or hear. Reason is what you can make in your mind. If you're asleep or you're out; your body's
lying there dead, but your spirit can still reason; there's five senses that
controls that inside man. And that... Now, to the last man, which is the soul.
There's only one sense that controls that, and that is, free moral agency,
free will, to choose or to reject.
Now,
as I have said, the Soul is that part of man that identifies
the man. It is His very Life, and nature of the Spirit. When we read
[I Thess 5:23] And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul
and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We see that the word for
Soul here is the Greek word, Psuche which is also translated
as the word Life. When Jesus said, he that will lose his Life for my sake shall
save it, he was using the word Psuche that is also
used as the same word for your soul as we see in [1 Thess
5: 23] and so many other scriptures.
Now many men have tried to place the Soul as being
inferior to the Spirit and men such as Doctor Larken
before brother Branham came along, even taught that there is a difference
between the Soul and the Spirit. But they could not place it correctly within
the Body itself. They taught that the outer is the Body which is correct. But
then they taught that next to the body lay the soul and inside of the soul lay
the spirit which is error. Brother Branham taught us after the Seals were
opened that the first Ring is the Body, then the Spirit and then the Soul. This
means that the Spirit was in between the Soul and the Body. In
between or in the midst or middle.
̃
In [ Daniel 7: 15] we read, "I Daniel was grieved in
my spirit in the midst of my body."
So here we see the placement of the Spirit. Now the Soul is the
Life of the Person. In Greek it is called psuche
{psoo-khay'} and is translated as the word, soul or even
life. Now the Greek word for
Spirit is pneuma {pnyoo'-mah}
and is translated as the word Spirit and is the disposition or influence
which fills and governs the soul of any
one; the efficient source of any power, affection, emotion, desire, etc. The word Pneuma is also translated as the word mind.
Now the question was asked, Where
is the mind? And we must answer
according to the scripture and what Brother Branham told us, the Mind is in the
spirit. Yet our Soul still has the last say on our choice. But the Affection,
and reasoning, and emotion and memory and conscience all exist in the realm of
the spirit. But the Soul is the nature of that spirit. And the next part of
this question is Where
and what is the Soul? I
think I answered this part by saying what the soul is .
It is the nature of your spirit. The very Life of your being.
Now you ask, where is it. It lies within the deepest
recess of your heart.
̃ [PP 37 Inter veil 56-0121] Notice. There
is an intellectual faith. And there's a faith that comes from the heart.
The old unbeliever said years ago, "When the Bible said, 'As a man thinketh in his heart...'" Said, "That's crazy. There's no mental facilities in the heart." Said,
"You think with your mind. There's no mental facilities
in the heart." But last year they found that's wrong. God was right. Right down in the heart, in the center of the
heart, there's a little compartment where there's not even a blood cell in it.
It's not in the animal heart, only in the human heart. And they say, it's the occupation, or the occupant of the soul. The soul
lives in the heart. Then after all, God was right, when He said, "As a
man thinketh in his heart." And I'd like to add, So
is he!
And so this brings us to the last part of this
question, what about the heart? And the heart? Now this is very important that you
understand about the heart as I just read this wonderful quote. Because "as
a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." And of course if the Soul resides in the heart
then what if a man's heart is removed from him and he receives someone else's
heart? Are they a living soul or just a living beast? What about it? I believe
they have already died and their soul has gone to it's
eternal destination and all you have remaining is a living beast. But what of
those people who are purely serpent seed? What then? Do they have a soul? Good question.
̃ 51 Hear ye Him 60-0712] Man ain't measured
by muscles; that's beast. Man's measured by character. I seen
men that weighted two hundred pounds and all muscle and didn't have an ounce of
man in him. Throw a baby out of a mother's arms and ravish her, that ain't a man; that's a beast. That's brute. Man is
character. There never was a man like Jesus Christ. But the Bible said there was no beauty that
we should desire Him. Probably a little, bitty Fellow, stooped in the shoulder
or something... We all hid as it was our faces from Him. But He... There never
was a character like that. That's what real man is. You don't measure a
man's muscles, but by the bags of the knees in his pants where he's been
praying. That's the way you measure a man, by character. It's true.
̃ [Ezekiel 11:19-21] And I will give
them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I
will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of
flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do
them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. But [as for them]
whose heart walketh after the heart of their
detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon
their own heads, Saith the Lord GOD.
̃ [Ezekiel 36:26-28]A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit
will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will
put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye
shall keep my judgments, and do [them]. And ye shall dwell in the land that I
gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
̃ What does it take to make a Christian Life? 57-0113 Now, I want you to listen for a few moments before
closing. I want you to notice one thing and watch closely now. Watch the order
of the Scripture, "I will take away the stony heart and give you a new
heart." Now, the heart is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. "And
I will give you a new spirit." I want you to watch the order. Now, many
people get mixed up there. They think they got the Holy Ghost, but they just
get a new spirit. Watch.
̃ What does it take to make a Christian Life? 57-0113 "I'll give you a new heart, and a new spirit.
And then I will put My spirit..." Now, the new
Spirit... God had to give you a new spirit, but that's a new spirit God give
you so you could get along with the Holy Ghost. With that old spirit you had,
you couldn't get along with your neighbor; you couldn't get along with
yourself; so you know you couldn't get along with God; so God gives you a new
spirit. And many times under enthusiasm, and if you'll watch the life that it
bears... I hope I'm not hurting, but I hope I'm uncovering. See? A lot of times
you'd think that you'd have the Holy Spirit. "Oh," you said, "I
sung; I spoke in tongues." Certainly. Being that close to it you might do
all of that, but that isn't the Holy Spirit yet. See? The Holy Spirit bears
record of Jesus Christ. Now, He taken,
and what did He do? Give you a new heart, give you a new spirit, and then He
puts His Spirit, His Spirit in you. It's just like... You don't have to go
around and pretend that you're a Christian man. That new spirit brings new
life. The Holy Spirit in your new spirit, in your new heart... Your new heart,
your new spirit and the Holy Spirit goes right in the center of your new
spirit, and your new spirit goes right in the center of your new heart.
̃ IMPERSONATION.OF.CHRISTIANITY
JEFF.IN 57-0120M Now, when you
do that, and don't bear the fruit of the Spirit, then you're in the new spirit.
You didn't use to do that; that's right. But God had to give you a new spirit.
Why, the spirit you had, you couldn't even get along with yourself. So how are
you going to get along with God? So God had to give you a new heart, not a
patched up one, a new heart. That's your intellects that you think with,
a new way of thinking. Then He give you a new way of thinking, "Yes,
that's right....( notice the new heart is a new mindset, a new way of
thinking) Then He said after that, "Then I'll give
you a new spirit." What's that? A new desire, "I want to do right." "Now, I know I'm a Christian, I got
to... I'll smoke one more and then I'll throw it away. See? And
I'll--I'll--I'll just see... I--I--I'll just stay home tonight, and you know,
I'll just..." all these little just, just, that's exactly... Eve stopped
just for a moment. That's all she had to do.
But now, that's the new spirit. Then notice the order of the
Scripture. After you get a new heart and a new spirit, He said, "Then I'll
put My Spirit..." See? Oh, what? That's the what
the Scripture says here. That's the order, the pneumatics and numerical order
of the Scripture: a new heart, a new spirit, and then My Spirit. E-44 Then God's Holy Spirit... God's new heart
that He put in you, sets right in the center of you.
That's your--your impulse, where you--you--your--your emotions goes out. And the new Spirit sets right in the center of the
new heart. And God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, sets right in the center of your
new Spirit, and there It controls your emotions. -69
But to accept it, and to have a new heart, a new spirit, and His Spirit,
part of the Logos in you controlling your emotions... And when He coos
through His Word, you coo back and answer to Him. "Jesus Christ the same,
yesterday, today, and forever..."
̃ Impersonation
of Christianity 57-0127A Yes, watch the
order of the Scripture. "I will take away the old stony heart, and I'll
give you a new heart." That's the first order. Some of them stop on that
first order. Now, that's... You are--you're just getting started. Then He said,
"I'll give you a new spirit." There's
where a lot of you Pentecostals fail. You had to have a new spirit. Oh, you
felt good and you felt like that, "Oh, well, I just, oh, I feel fine.
I--I--I couldn't have it." Well, you just got started. You're just getting
fixed up now to just... You're just coming in line. He had to give you a new
spirit. Why you couldn't get along with yourself with the old spirit. So how
could you get along with God's Spirit? So He had to give you a new spirit.
̃
[Matt 13:15]
For this people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with
[their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their]
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
And finally the question asked is "Perhaps
you could tie this in with how God is manifested?" I think we have done this. Now let's bow our
heads in prayer and thanks giving for this hew heart, and spirit and for His
Spirit that He has given to us.