God’s
Only Provided Place of Worship # 123
Brian Kocourek,
From
the Mind to the Soul
[PP.
291-292 God's
Only Provided Place of Worship] May we be
found in Him, the only provided place. And He is the sacrifice. We bring Him, what we've heard about, Jesus
Christ, into the house of God by the
baptism of the Holy Ghost, through the Name of Jesus Christ. And there our sacrifice is accepted and we're
brought into the family; because, yet straying out in the world, we were ordained sons and daughters of
God before the foundation of the world.
Thank You for that, Father. Oh, how
could anyone ever turn back on something like that (when they found the
Truth, that God has selected them out of the world)? There were millions lost,
the day that I was saved. O dying Lamb, how can I ever thank You?
How can my heart ever be reverent enough
before You? Help me, dear God, to
live true. Help my people to live
true. I pray for them, Lord, every one, that You
will... God, somehow, I don't... I--I wouldn't know how... I don't know how,
just how to ask, Lord; and I may of not even asking that in the right manner.
But You forgive
my ignorance, Lord, and just look at my heart. I pray that not one of them
will be lost, not one of them, Father. I claim them, every one, for You. In the Name of Jesus Christ.
Amen. I love Him, I... And if
you love Him, you love one another. Shake one another's hand.
Now, this morning I would like to approach the Word in light of this statement of
Brother Branham's pertaining to this sacrifice that he speaks of here in pp.
[291 - 292]. This morning we will examine again this little thought here in
Brother Branham's closing prayer. Now, I want you to notice, he is asking the
Lord that we might be found in Him, because He is the Sacrifice that has already been accepted. And to be found
in Him is to be found in the Word of God, for He is the Word.
Now notice carefully that brother Branham tells us
that Jesus Christ is the Sacrifice and then He tells us He is the word which we
have heard, and then he tells us we must bring this Word which we have heard in
to God in order to do True Worship. To Worship God we must worship Him in
Spirit and Truth, And Jesus said My Word is Truth. And
He also Said, My Words are Spirit and they are Life. So this Spirit and Truth
is the Word of God. It is the Revealed Word for the hour and the Only Provided
Place of Worship where God will meet the Believer. Now with this in mind, I
would like to examine this thought in light of this sacrifice because we know
by the book of Hebrews and the many verses of Scripture that we read Wednesday
night, that There has been a Once for all sacrifice already presented to God
and Accepted by God. And that is the sacrifice that Jesus Christ His only
Begotten Son made on our behalf.
[I Peter 4:1 ] Forasmuch
then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind:
for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Now this scripture tells us that we are to arm
ourselves with the same mindset as Jesus had. This can not be accomplished don
our own for where would we begin? To
where would we go to do this? But we know that God Himself has come down in
this Hour and has brought with Him a Mindset, which is the Book opened. ( That's Rev 10: 1-7). We know also that He has come with
the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Himself. That His
Descent was with a shout and that is a declaration of Who
and what He is. For " as a man thinketh in his heart so is he, and out of the abundance or
overflow of the heart the mouth speaketh. So in
essence the overflow of His own heart resulted in the declaration of Who He is which is the Revelation of Jesus Christ as spoken of to come in
this hour by so many scriptures.
Now, then, if we are to arm ourselves with the same
mind that Jesus armed Himself with, then we will also do what Jesus did. You see, God deals first with the mind then with the rest of our
being. Body, Soul and Spirit. In fact we find in [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
, that when God sanctifies us it is not
just in our thinking, but it must move from our thinking into our actions, thus
throughout our entire body, soul and spirit.
And so with this in mind I would like to examine these
thoughts of Brother Branham’s in light of a complete sacrifice. So let's turn to the book of Romans to begin our study this
morning.
[ Romans 12: 1 - 2] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, [which
is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say,
through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think
[of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Now, what I would like to do this morning by God's
help is to show you by the scripture that this presentation of ourselves back
to God as a Living Sacrifice is in no way in contradiction to the Once and for
all sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf. I would like to also show you that
this sacrifice is a rendering of our bodies to Him in a sacrificial manner or
as the word sacrifice here indicates, being a victim. Now, a victim is not some
one who does injury to himself, but a victim is someone who suffers loss
especially by being swindled. A victim is also someone who is destroyed,
harmed, or suffers from an act or condition outside his control. And in the use
of the word here we see Paul
is telling us that we must bring our minds to a renewing that
will allow ourselves to be presented in our bodies as victims. Now this would suggest that this living
sacrifice is not something that we do on our own, but it is a condition or
mindset that we enter into that includes our bodies as well. A victim is not a
victim of self, but of others. Christ did not die for self but for others. So
we se that this statement of Paul's is telling us that our mindset must also
include the body as well, and be prepared to be used as a victim by others.
Now, maybe I am not making myself to clear as yet, but
what I want you to see is that just because Paul is speaking of a mindset, he
is not saying that it is something that we only consider in the mind. But
rather as the mind is the seat of our rational being, and as the mind is the
tie post of all our thoughts and actions and speech, then whatsoever we do must
come through the mind first and then it will work it's
way through our thinking, our speech and our actions. Therefore we are not
talking of a passive thing altogether, but an active thing that is directly
tied to the passive. So in effect we are looking at a passive sacrifice first,
a yielding of the mind first, and then a yielding of the body to follow. And
what this let's us know is that any yielding of the
body, and sacrifice of the flesh that comes outside this passive to active
principle, is wrong and is of no use to God.
So this morning I want to examine this principle in
light of this sacrifice in order for you to see that it is so important to have
passive Faith first before we have active Faith and also that passive Faith
kept isolated and alone is not a fulfillment of the Principles of God either.
Now, we know that for the past few weeks we have been studying Brother
Branham's Message in light of this understanding we must receive in the minds
first, and then God will anoint this understanding in our minds and it then
will drop down into our Soul and become a Spiritual Revelation. Then as a
Spiritual Revelation it will guide us and keep us in the way. It will direct
our being, our whole being, Body, Soul and Spirit. Thus
taking over the control of our triune being.
Þ
Now, remember
Brother Branham taught us that the Soul resides in a small cavity in the center
of the heart. He said when the scripture tells us that [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!
Þ
[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.
Þ
IMPERSONATION.OF.CHRISTIANITY JEFF.IN 57- 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 he's telling us that 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.".... 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. Then God's Holy
Spirit... God's new heart that He put in you, sets
right in the center of you. That's your impulse, where 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. 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..." 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'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. ...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.
So we see then that this new heart is a new way of
thinking or a new mindset. Then it brings with it a new desire in your heart.
He that hungers and thirsts for righteousness shall be filled. Then this new
desire opens the door of your heart to let in the Holy Spirit, or as Brother
Branham put it, the Logos which is the Word of God into your heart. So with
God's Word taking it's place in your heart, then it
becomes the tie post to your soul. Then until a person has received the Word of
God into their Soul they can not tell the difference between any word and God's
Word. Because the Word, when it comes in, measures all things according to it
as Paul speaks in 1 Cor 2 that we discern all things
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
[I Corinthians
2:10-14] But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his
Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 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. 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.
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.
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.
[ Philippians 2:1-9] If [there be]
therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be
like-minded, having the same love, [being] of
one accord, of one mind.
[Let] nothing [be done] through strife
or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the
things of others. Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God: But
made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name:
Now what I am trying to address to you this morning is
this: namely, we are to receive an understanding first, this understanding
creates a desire in our heart for God's Word. God sends forth His Word into our
hearts by the Holy Ghost who is the Teacher and He anoints the understanding in
our heart thus becoming a Spiritual Revelation. This Revelation then takes over
the guiding of our whole body, Soul and Spirit thus perfecting the believer by
the washing of water by the Word. So in effect every fiber of our body is
becoming subject to the Word of God which lives and abides in our hearts,
bringing us into captivity to the Word for the day we live in and bringing us
into subjection to it. Thus the sacrifice becomes a living sacrifice, not just
a mental conception. And a s that it actually changes
the actions done in the body.
[Galatians
Now in {Romans 7:
6 - 25] Now
notice in verse 14 Paul tells us the law is Spiritual, and not for the flesh,
for if it were for the flesh then we could be expected to fulfill the Law by
our flesh, but since it is spiritual and not for the flesh, then the flesh can
in no way fulfill it. Therefore God does not look upon the flesh but upon the
desires in the heart, and thus although your desires may be righteous and Holy
yet your body may backslide a thousand times daily due to the mixed nature
because of Eve's transgression.
[ Romans 8: 1 - 18} [There is]
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law
could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the
flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded [is]
death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace. Because the
carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ
[be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life
because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from
the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the
flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God,
and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be
also glorified together.
Now this brings us to our final point here. And that
is this...We examined a few sermons ago the Wise and foolish virgins. The Wise
have an ability to perceive the word of God and to understand it while the
foolish can neither perceive it nor can they understand it. This perception or understanding then is not
to remain in a dormant state within the Soul of the Believer, but when it is
quickened too the hour and the conditions of the hour, it becomes the main control
tower moving us and directing us into the Word of preparation to receive our
King and Kingdom.
Now, this understanding in the Wise is a prudence. Remember we taught that this word wise used of
in reference to the Wise Virgins is a word that means not only to know
correctly but to act correctly as well based upon what is know.
And that is exactly what prudence is. It is a knowing and then acting in
accordance with that knowledge. Hat is why we read about the wise man who built
his house on a rock while the foolish man built his on shifting sand. The one
had Revelation and the other did not. And thus the actions of where to build
were guided by the Revelation or lack of it that he had. Thus we are looking at
our sacrifice as an outward reflection of an inward understanding.
The word prudence in the old
testament refers also not just to an abstract understanding, but to an
active one.
So what we have then is an understanding that actually
moves us and guides us and directs our entire being and apart from this
understanding we are like clouds without water and waves of the sea driven
about by every tempest and wind of doctrine.
Now in closing what I want to reinforce in you this
morning is that Eve had understanding. She knew better because she told the
serpent we must not eat of the Forbidden tree. It is cursed. And yet the
Serpent pulled one over on her and got her to eat anyway. What He did was not
to tell her she was wrong entirely, but that she just didn't quite have the
full understanding of the picture. And so she stepped out from behind the
protection of the Word and she fell for His interpretation or understanding of
the Word of God. And that is exactly what we are warned of will happen in [ 2 Peter 2: 1 - 3 ] ( Read) . These men will come into the
Message and give a wrong understanding of the Word of God and the people will
be caught up into what these men say as evil interpreters of the Word of Truth.