Follow Me #2
(Created to be led)
Sunday morning
Rev. Brian Kocourek
Last Sunday we began to look into
Brother Branham’s Message Leadership (Follow Me), and we read the opening
paragraphs where Brother Branham was given a gift from the children and then
they sang a few specials. We saw his gratitude and focused our own thoughts
upon the words which he said and those words of Christ Jesus that He quoted. "Insomuch as you give unto the least of these, you have done
it to Me.". We also examined Matthew 25
where the righteous are told to enter in because of what they did for the least
of these My Brethren. Therefore we can
see the attitude we take toward others is so very important to God, our Father.
Matthew 25 tells us that It isn’t so much what you know, or how great you can preach, or how
many souls you can get saved, but we see
that the Judge, or the King rather, looked at the actions that one takes toward
another, and what one does to make
others time here on earth better for the brethren.. And here we find Jesus
telling us what the great white throne judgment is going to be like, and that there is
basically only going to be two kinds of people that will be there. Those whose nature
is like Sheep, and
those whose nature is like goats. The
Sheep look out for one another and the goats who look
out only for themselves.
This morning I’d like to continue
with this Message of Brother Branham’s and we’ll begin where we left off at
Paragraph 9 of “Follow Me”. Now, I had you so
long this morning, I'll try and make it real quick this afternoon, and talk in
a way that may be to little fellows, and the older will understand too. I want
to read a Scripture here found in the Book of St. Mark, and I want to read from
the 17th verse of the 10th chapter of
St. Mark, a portion. And when he was gone forth into the way, there
came one running, and kneeling down and asking him, saying, Good Master, what
shall I do that I may inherit Eternal Life? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? there is none good but one, and
that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not
commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud
not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master,
all these have I done, obeyed, observed... (rather)...
from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him,...
(this young fellow);... and he said unto him, One
thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasures in heaven: and come, take up thy cross, and
follow me. And he was sad at this saying, and went away grieved: for he had
great possessions.
10 Now, to the children, and to the adults and
all, I want to make this little Message just as timely as I can, and as quick
as I can. And I want to take for a text, "Follow Me," and I want to take for a subject: "Leadership." Follow, and someone to lead; "Leadership," and
"Follow Me." The young people, Remember that the first step that any of us ever made, somebody led us. You
mothers remember the first steps that junior and the little girl made, and they
don't remember it no more. But somebody
led you to your first step. I remember Billy Paul when he made his first
step, Joseph and all of them, when they made their first step.
11 It's usually a mother that gets to lead a
child to its first step, 'cause she's home while the daddy's out working,
trying to make a living. But it's, they make their first step. And at nighttime
when they come in, the father, he's always saying. "Oh, dad," she
said, "Johnny and Mary," the little boy or girl, "can walk. Come
and look." And just one step, maybe had to hold mother's finger, 'cause
you was kind of weak, and kind of turned sideways, you know, and fall down a
little. So you had to hold to mama's hand to make your first step. Now, somebody helped you, when you made your
first step. And your last step you
ever make in life, somebody will be leading you. See, that's right. I want you to remember that. Your first
step, somebody led you. And your last step, somebody will be leading you.
12 We
have to be led. You know, God likened us unto sheep. And did you know a sheep can't lead itself? He'll
wander away and stray away, and he just can't lead himself. And he has to
have somebody to lead him. And sometime... The shepherd's supposed to lead the sheep.
Now, that was back in the days of the Lord Jesus; He was the good Shepherd that
led the sheep. But today (You see?), we're living in another day; everything's
changed and perverted. You know what man has to lead sheep today? A goat. And you know where that goat leads them? Right into the slaughter. The little sheep don't know where
they're going, so the goat goes up a--a pen, up at the slaughter, and the sheep
don't know no more than to follow a leader, so it leads them right up into this
slaughter. And then the goat jumps over the track, and the sheep goes in and
gets killed. See, the goat, a wrong leader...
But Jesus, the Good Shepherd Who led the sheep,
He led them to Life and held their hand. See, but somebody has to lead the sheep.
Now, this morning I would like to
take from the Scripture as my Text, [Romans
Now, what we are looking at from
this text of brother Branham’s so far is this. He is telling these children,
and adults that are listening to him that everyone is made in such a way that they must
follow.
Now, this morning I would like to
take this thought here that Brother Branham is expressing to the people and break
it down into three main parts.
I. God Created man to follow.
II. We follow
because we have confidence and trust in the one who is leading.
III. We
follow because we are asked to follow.
Now, let’s begin our study this
morning by focusing our thoughts on this first point.
I. God Created man to follow. You must follow
somebody... But where? where
are you going ? Where are you being led to? Because where you end up is all dependant on who you are following. And so the real question
we have this morning is what or whom are you following?
Now, we have often heard the
scripture in the Christian world that tells us, [Romans
Another sister who left this church years ago told me a week before she left that
God had told her to stay, but then a week later she said He told her to leave. I
asked her which one was God because God doesn’t change
His mind, He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. But what these two
illustrations point out to you is this one thing. The scripture plainly tells
us that Sons of God are led by the Spirit of GOD, not by their own
spirit or any other Spirit. Then how do we know the Spirit of God? Because God is the Word. (JN 1:1). And Jesus also told us that
His Words are Spirit and they are Life. (JN 6:63).
We find that even in this Message we
have people who will say, how can your doctrine be right because
your spirit is wrong. Now when I read
(1 JN 4:1)
It tells me that you are to “Try the
Spirit by the Word”, it
does not tell me to try the Word by the Spirit. Brother Branham
never told us to give it the Spirit test, He said, “give it
the Word test”.
Now the next question we must ask
ourselves in following the Spirit of God is this. The scripture plainly states
that Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. Then we should ask ourselves, if
Sons will be led by the Spirit of GOD, then what about The SON of GOD. And in
this thought we have an example to live by. God sent us His only begotten Son to show us
how this is to be done. Jesus came into flesh to show us how to follow the
Spirit of God. Now if you are Oneness you will believe that Jesus was following
His own Spirit. But that would be like a dog following it’s
own tail. You would never get any where.
Now, to show you this is so, God
sent forth His only begotten Son in to the world to give us an example of what
it means to be led by the spirit of God.
Luke 4:1 And
Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from
Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of
the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Now what Spirit do you suppose He
was following. If you check the verses just before
this you will see that The Spirit of God had just descended down and abode upon
Him. Then it’s Gods Spirit we are talking of.
Follow Me #2 (Created to be led)
Now how did Jesus go about doing and
saying what He said. Was He doing what He felt he should
do? NO! He said “The Son can of Himself do nothing, But what He
seeth the Father do, that the Son doeth Likewise!” (JN 5:19, 30)
Therefore ever Son of God must come
forth in the same image. And if in the same image, then the Pattern is already
set. “Jesus learned obedience by the things which he suffered.”
He learned to obey the Spirit’s call.
Now, how then can you follow the
Spirit of God if you do not know what the Spirit of God is? You say we must follow Jesus. The
denominational Christians sing, I have decided to follow Jesus, and yet I ask
you which Jesus. By what Spirit? By
what Gospel.
LUKE 9:23 And he said to [them] all,
If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. And what does He
mean by Deny Himself? DENY WHAT? HIS OWN THINKING.
Now point number II is this. II. We follow because we have confidence and trust in the one who is leading. You do not follow those who know less about
the way than you do, you follow because you are confident
that the person knows how to get there. And Jesus said,
I have gone to prepare a place for you that where I am you might be also. This
means that we follow because we believe. And you can not believe unless you are
ordained to believe. Therefore, only Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God
and the Spirit of God is His Word.
(Acts
(Matthew 13: 11-17)
( 1 Cor 2:7-16)
John
John 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there
shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will [my] Father honour.
John 21:20-22 Read .... Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what [is that] to thee?
follow thou me.
akoloutheo
{ak-ol-oo-theh'-o} Ä follow reach 1) to
follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant,
accompany
him 2) to join one as a disciple, become
or be his disciple, side with his party
Then to follow Him is the all important call. Notice that Jesus
went about selecting out his own disciples. He called unto them and they came.
They were obedient to the call. Therefore the call is all important to us. We
must take heed to hear the call and come when He says come. My sheep hear my
call. Be careful how you hear. And we know that brother Branham taught us that
to hear is to understand. Therefore, when the call comes it is an understanding
that comes and we must take heed to that understanding. And what is the call to the Virgins at the
end-time? Behold! And what does behold mean? It means to come
and look and see for yourself. And what was the next
thing said after behold the BrideGroom? Come out to Meet Him. reach 1) to follow one who precedes, join him as his
attendant, accompany him 2) to join one as a disciple, become or be his
disciple, side with his party
Now Jesus is looking at what our
attitude will be toward following Him. Some of the people that heard the call
said, “can you wait while I go bury my father? And He replied,
Let the dead bury the dead. Others
said, “Hay,. wait a minute
while we go make ready, we don’t have any oil in our lamps. We don’t have any
anointing to our understanding? But
what Did the Groom do? He shut the door.
Now why do we follow and drop
everything that would hinder our following the Spirit of God? Because we have confidence in His Word. He said, “All things shall work together for the Good of those who are
the Called according to His Purpose, His Plan.
Now, this brings us to point number III. We follow because we are asked to
follow. He said, My sheep hear my voice
and they follow. We are
not asked to wander by ourselves. We are not asked to go forth and make our own
way in life. we are not given this life to make the
best of it for ourselves. But we are asked to follow. “Seek ye
first the
By following Gods Spirit which is
His Word, we are showing that we are subject to Him in all things. Therefore we
are asked to follow to show our obedience to Him that we are willing to be
subject to Him in all things.
( JN 14 )
The Holy Ghost will lead you into all Truth.
(JN 6:45) Evidence that
you are sons is that you will be taught of God.
[Gal 5:18] But
if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
II.TIMOTHY.3:6 For
of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women
laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
I.CORINTHIANS.12:2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb
idols, even as ye were led.
II.TIMOTHY.3:6 For
of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women
laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
II.PETER.3:17 Ye therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know [these things] before, beware lest ye also, being led away with
the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
LUKE.18:18 And
a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life?
GALATIANS.5:14-6:7 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this;
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one
another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of
another. [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye
shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and
these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that
ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit,
ye are not under the law. Now the works
of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,
heresies, Envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I
have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God. But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, Meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections
and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not
be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the
spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one
another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself
to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and
then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
PROVERBS.22:6 Train up a child in the
way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
MATTHEW.6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
MATTHEW.15:14
Let them alone: they be blind leaders
of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
MARK.13:11 But when they shall lead
[you], and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak,
neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that
speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
MARK.14:44 And he that betrayed him
had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take
him, and lead [him] away safely.
LUKE.6:39 And he spake a parable
unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they
not both fall into the ditch?
LUKE.11:4 And
forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And
lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
LUKE.13:15 The Lord then answered
him, and said, [Thou] hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose
his ox or [his] ass from the stall, and lead [him] away to watering?
ACTS.13:11 And
now, behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not
seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by
the hand.
I CORINTHIANS.9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as
other apostles, and [as] the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
I TIMOTHY.2:2 For kings, and [for] all that
are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty.
II.TIMOTHY.3:6 For
of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women
laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
HEBREWS.8:9 Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the
REVELATION.7:17 For the Lamb which is in
the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
LUKE.21:8 And
he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name,
saying, I am [Christ]; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after
them.
E-40 EXPECTATIONS 51-0714 On down the street I went. Just
a little while longer. (And you people from
E-43 EXPECTATIONS 51-0714 In a few moments she
turned around, and said, "Oh," she said, "Brother
Branham..." And she come back. She said, "I
don't... I'm beside myself." I
said, "I don't think so, sister. What's the matter?" She said, "I'm from Canada. I'm only
allowed a hundred and fifty dollars a year to come over here." She said,
"I--I spent all my money." And she said, "I--I--I was in the
hotel lobby, and I had five cents for coffee this morning." She said,
"And I was on my road back to hitchhike back to
E-19 LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD 56-0723 Now, that won't work. Now, that's flesh. I
don't condemn the person, but I condemn the--the way they're using the gifts of
God. If they're used correctly, they're the most marvelous things there is, but
if you don't use them right, it'll bring a disgrace to the Church. So we must be led of the Spirit, and when
we're led of the Spirit, then God makes everything work just exactly in
harmony.
E-69 LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD 56-0723 I think that's a good way to feel today. And
while she was thinking on those things, the Holy Spirit got a hold of her and
led her right out to Him. She was led by the Holy Ghost, and she said,
"Lord, if Thou would have been here, my brother would not have died, but
even now whatever You ask God, God will do it."
Amen. Said, "Thy brother shall rise
again." How could He say anything else? Excuse me. Said, "Do you
believe I'm able to do this?" "Yea, Lord, I
believe. In my heart Something tells me; I'm led of
the Spirit to say this, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" Said, "Where have you buried him?" "Come and see." He went out to the
grave weeping. When He got out to the grave, He was always led by the Spirit of
God, 'cause God was in Him without measure. He was God, was on the inside of
Him.
E-43 EXPECTATION THE 58-0508 If God can lead a
blind woman... It's a lot worse to be spiritual blind than it is physical
blind. If I have to lose either sight, let it be my physical sight; let me keep
in touch with God, spiritually. And the
God that led them that day has not changed. He is the same God tonight. But the
trouble of it is, that people are looking to what someone else is going to say,
what John is going to say. What if King
George, when I prayed for him, with those multiple sclerosis, what if he
would've a went down and ask one of the Anglican
ministers, what would've taken place? He wouldn't have believe
it. What if Florence Nightingale, with a
shadow of a woman--the granddaughter of the great Florence Nightingale, the
founder of the Red Cross... There's her picture in the book. Weighed about
sixty-four pounds, dying with cancer... And when I flew to England to make
prayer for her, and while I was praying, a little dove come and set on the
window and cooed, while we were praying, and then flew away. And the woman is perfectly healthy, weighing
about one hundred and seventy pound. What if she would considered
what the people said? But she was led of the Spirit. Don't look to what anyone
says. Look to what God says and be led by His Spirit.
92 POSITION.IN.CHRIST JEFF.IN
AD.3 60-0522M Our sins; an
atonement, love for our sins, or we'd never have a chance. How we could just
anchor on them Words. ... according to the riches of
his grace; Wherein he--he has
abounded... (What is "abound"? Oh, my.)...
Wherein He has abounded,... (great
heaps of it)... he has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence;... "Prudence, all the wisdom He has
abounded towards us with all wisdom, not worldly. The wisdom of the world is
foolish to Him, and the wisdom of God is foolish to the world. Just like day
and night, one can't agree with the other one. But when the sun begins to rise
and daytime comes, night scatters from place to place. And when the Light of
the Gospel begins to come in, all the things of the world just begins to fade
out and what does it do? He abounds the Sunlight upon His children, walking in
the Spirit, led of the Spirit of God, abounding in His grace with all prudence,
and wisdom, understanding, and shrewdness to know how to walk. You see it's wrong; then be careful what you do, how you... If it's
wrong, be careful even how you approach it. Prudence... Be real close, real
sure that you know how to approach it: wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove.
That's what Jesus said.
E-53 REJECTED KING 60-0610 Puts me in the mind of some of these cold,
formal morgues that we've got today: get so far away from God you don't how to
get back. You'll never come back by creeds. You've got to have inspiration to
lead you, brother. And that inspiration comes by the Holy Ghost. Yes. Led of
the Spirit, Sons and daughters of God are led by the Spirit of God. They love
the Spirit. They don't try to say, "Now, wait a minute. My church, they
don't say 'amen.' My church, they never raise their hands; they're very quiet.
Why, we'd give our pastor chills and fever if somebody hollered 'amen.'"
Well, you ought to chill him up once in awhile then. Just find out what would
take place. That's right.
173 UNFAILING REALITIES OF GOD 60-0626 And if people want to act like they do on the
earth, and then go on and say they're going to heaven, but what a
disappointment that's going to be. Jesus said, "There'll be many come to Me in that day. They'll stand by the tens of millions and
say, 'I've belonged to this, and I've did this.'" He said, "Depart from Me,
you workers of iniquity. You served creeds." If you was led of
the Spirit... All sons and daughters of God are led by the Spirit of God. They
move by the Spirit, odd, strange. They stay right, and every action is with the
Bible. They stay, all their doctrine stays right with the Bible. They won't
vary on one thing. Where the Bible says it, they'll move right on into it. If
they stop for a minute, they're trying to study and see which way to make; and
then the Holy Spirit reveals it, and he moves right on. And he does the same
thing, follows the same rules, lays the same foundation, the same God comes
upon him, and the same wonders, the same miracles, the same sign follows him,
that followed Him. 175 He said, "If
you can't believe Me, being a Man, believe the works
that I do. Believe Me. If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe Me." See, there's works goes with this faith.
"Show me your works by your--without your faith, and I'll show you my
works by my faith," said Paul. See?
E-41 QUEEN.OF.SHEBA KLAMATH.FALLS.OR 60-0710 And Jesus had surely proved to them that He'd
give them the sign of the Messiah, that the end time was there for them; and
they did not believe it. And He was upbraiding them and telling them. And He
referred back then, back in the verse preceding this one, in the 41st verse; He
preferred there--referred (rather) to Jonah: "In the days of
Jonah..." I always felt sorry
for Jonah; so many people condemn Jonah. Why, Jonah was a prophet; he was a
great man of God. You hear them say, "Well, he's a Jonah." I believe
that Jonah did just exactly what God told him to do. I don't believe that any servant of God, led
of the Spirit, can get out of the will of God. Because as
long as he's led by the Spirit, that's God's will. Sometimes he does
things that he don't even what he's doing hisself and don't realize why he does
do it, but it's God working it around for the good.
"Everything works together for good to them that love God." said the
Scripture.
E-9 WHY
BEAUMONT.TX 61-0125 Now, so I moved out
into the country, about three miles out of the city. And so we were--been
having dinner over at a little Dunkard restaurant where the... I believe it was
the Mennonites. And they were a fine bunch of people that believes in holiness.
And them little ladies, dressed just as nicely and godly, with their
little--with their clothes hanging nice on them, and long hair, and clean as a
pin; I just loved to eat there. And they were attending my meeting, and we just
had a wonderful time. So on Sunday they closed the little place up. They was at the meeting. And especially, on Sunday they didn't
run it. So I'd been fasting for about
two or three days, and I was just going to preach that afternoon. I thought,
"Well, seems like..." You never want to fast until you're led to
fast. Then if you get hungry, it's time to eat. "Afterwards Jesus was
afterwards an hungered." Some of this saying,
these people fasting and say, "I'm going to fast forty days," and the
false teeth falling out and losing weight, and... My, you better stop that. You
wait till God leads you to do that on those things. Be led of the Spirit.
E-32 ABRAHAM.RESTORED LONG.BEACH.CA
61-0211 He said, "Then when the persecution come
on, they didn't have any home to go to. I guess you think that was a
mistake." I said, "Shame on
you. Not know no more, had been in Pentecost as long as you have, know no more
about God than that. That's exactly what God had to do. They had nothing to go
back to; they went everywhere scattering the message throughout the country.
God knows what He's a doing." Let them be led, sure. God don't make no mistakes. It's you and I that makes
the mistakes. God doesn't make it. When you feel led of the Spirit, move on,
move on, just keep going on.
E-26 WHY
61-0413 And they sent for Him. Did He go back?
"Your friend Lazarus is sick, ready to die." He knowed what the
Father had told Him, so He just went on. They sent again, "Lazarus is
sick. Come, see him right quick, he's going to
die." He just went on. If you'd sent for
your pastor and he didn't come, you would have went
and joined the next church. See? That's the reason you don't get nowhere.
You've got to believe the servant God sends you. See? If He's led of the
Spirit, let him alone. Then after four days,
Jesus turned around, 'cause that's what the Father, no doubt had told Him,
'cause He said He did nothing till the Father showed Him. He turned around and
said to His disciples... He knowed the time was fulfilled, He said, "Our
friend Lazarus is asleep."
"Oh," they said, "he's doing well." He said... Then He told them in their own language,
"He is dead. And for your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there." So He said,
"But I'll go wake him." And when He got to
the grave, listen what He said, "I thank Thee, Father, Thou has already
(See?) heard Me. But I just say these--this for those
who stand by. I said if for their sake," See? Then He said, "Lazarus,
come forth." Lazarus came forth.
E-57 GREATER THAN SOLOMON IS HERE 62-0725 Now, Moses, Moses was
God's servant. Now, Jesus speaking here, He said, "The men of