Follow Me #7
(Choice)
Sunday morning
Rev Brian Kocourek
To begin this study we need to take the
picture of rich young ruler off the wall and place in front of the pulpit or on
the easel while you preach.
[Joshua 24 : all] vs 14 sincerity = complete, whole, entire, unimpaired,
with integrity and innocence
vs 15 evil = displeasing,
sad, injurious, to do you hurt,
In vs 15 Joshua is telling us that you will serve a god, whether it be the gods ofd the ammonites or the gods that the people
had before the flood, but they will serve some god who will direct their life.
And He is telling the people that they have to make that choice of who they are
going to serve, and who is going to direct their life... Therefore, when we are
dealing with this Message of brother Branham’s called Leadership-Follow Me, we
are dealing with the fact that we are made to follow,
only who or what we follow is the all important question. And As we hear Joshua bring the choice of who we will follow
right down to the people themselves, and then he tells us his choice is to
Follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now, let’s read this morning from
brother Branham’s message and see how He points out this same thing to us as
well.
61 Follow Me: And you girls that's just getting out of school, you graduate probably,
some of you, pretty soon, and you young boys; the greatest leadership there is
Jesus Christ, 'cause that's the leadership to Eternal Life. Now, this leadership confronts every human
being; ( now before we continue, let’s focus down here and see what brother Branham
means by this statement, this leadership confronts every human being.
How does it confront us? What does he mean by this leadership
CONFRONTING us? By what means does this Leadership of Jesus Christ CONFRONT us?
Now, the word confront comes from two
words, COM which is Latin and means
together, and FRONS which refers to
your forehead. Therefore the word speaks of a coming face to face with
something, to stand or oppose boldly. Coming face to face with your adversary
and staring him down, and holding your position. That is what confrontation is
all about. And Brother Branham is speaking here of coming to grips with our
position in Christ and how we must come face to face with the Leadership of the
Holy Spirit.
Now, the thing of it is that we are
living in a time which has never seen the Presence of the Lord in the way we
have seen Him in this hour. Because after all, we are living in the time of no turning back,
and if we choose to follow Him we will follow Him right out of here into
another dimension. Right into Eternity.
Now, at the first Exodus we saw how
that God led the Children of Israel and even fought their battles for them, and
Joshua was reminding the people right before He went off the scene that God had
led them all the way. And notice in the reading of the book of Joshua, that we
are told that generation that followed Joshua over the
Then it was up to Joshua to lead
them in, and so God has remained on the scene, and His Spirit is in our midst
still pointing us to the land of promise and as we enter into the shout, we are
thus entering into the land of promise just as the children of Israel did in that
first Exodus. They were given the
opportunity to choose for themselves what direction they would go and who they
would serve, because let’s face it, let’s come face to face with the real
facts, it all boils down to one thing and one thing only and that is worship.
Who are you going to worship? Who are you worshipping? And how do you worship? Romans 12:1 gives us the answer. [Romans 12:1-2] we then worship by
service. Who are we serving tells us who we are worshipping. And brother
Branham is speaking the same sermon as Joshua here to these families that were
assembled out there in the dessert together, just like Joshua did. He said, And
you girls that's just getting out of school, you graduate probably, some of
you, pretty soon, and you young boys; the greatest leadership there is Jesus
Christ, 'cause that's the leadership to Eternal Life. Now, this leadership confronts every human
being; they are given the
opportunity to (1)choose. And that's one great thing we have in life,
is to (2)choose.
Someday... You know, papa and mama, they(3) chose to have a nice little boy and girl like you
all are. Then, you have the right, after
while, to (4)choose whether you want to learn from the teacher
or not. The teacher can teach you, but you can just be a little bad boy, you
just won't learn; a little, bad girl, won't listen at all. See, you have a (5)choice to
do that, yet you're little. And mother say, "Did you get A's on your report
card?" "No, I got very
poor." See, now you can...
Follow Me #7 (Choice)
Mother say, "Now, you have to study."
And you have to do that then, keep studying like mother told you, like daddy
told you. See, you have to study. But
you have a (6)choice, you
can do it or not do it. You can say, "I don't want to." See? You have a (7)choice. You know, Daniel had a choice too? When
he was young he chose to learn all he could and it set him in a place where One
day God could use him in a mighty way before the King to save God’s people. [Daniel 1:1-20]. (read)
66 After while, you'll have a (8)choice of what girl you are going to marry, what
boy you're going to marry. You have a
(9)choice
everywhere in life. [And what about Ruth? She had to make a choice between Boaz
and Tabor. And do you see how her choice was actually God’s choice?] And then you've got a (10)choice
again to whether you want to live after this life, or just be a good popular person, a movie star, or a dancer, or
something another.[Look at Moses, He chose as a young man the things of God
rather than the riches of Egypt. And what if he had chosen the riches of
69
Brother Leo here, your brother (See?) now he had a talent to come and
lead people. Now, what's he going to do with it? Is he going into business and make hisself
a millionaire; or should he come out here and make a home where people that
wants to come together and get all you little children? See, you have to (12)choose what
you're going to do. Each one of us has to make a (13)choice. And
it's confronted to us. But we're all confronted with this one thing: "What
are we going to do about Eternal Life? We going to
live hereafter or not?" Then we have to come to Jesus to get That. The opportunity of (14)choosing, that's one thing God gave us. He don't force nothing
on us. He just lets us make our
own (15)choice. So you have to not be forced, but
just make your own (16)choice.
71
Now, let's just follow this, adults and
all now, for a few minutes, and the children, all together. Let's follow this
young man, and the (17)choice that
he made, and see where it led him. Now, these girls with that
pretty voices, these young boys... Now, maybe you come up and be you'd have a voice to sing. I'll just take that one
thing: music. My, you might someday think about it. You know this boy called Elvis Presley? You've heard my tapes. You've heard how I
don't degrade the boy, but that boy was had the opportunity that you all got.
See? And what he... He found out he could sing. And
watch what he did, just the same thing Judas did, Judas Iscariot, he sold out Jesus. Jesus gave that boy that good voice. And what does he do? Turn around
and sell it out to the Devil. See? he's got to
come to the end of the road. See? He refused to walk with Jesus.
Now, before we go further, Let’s look to the Scripture and see what this choice is all
about. Because if our having a choice is such a great thing, and can determine
so much in our life, then there certainly has to be a Bible principle involved
here. And there is indeed a principle of God that is tied to choice and it is
called sowing and reaping. And it all has to do with what choice you take with
this Word of God. We find it in the Book of The Two Laws, [Deuteronomy] And this is Moses farewell
sermon to the people. Now, as we read this from [Deuteronomy 30:19-31:3] I want you to notice the similarity between
Moses farewell sermon and Joshua’s that we have already read. (read)
Therefore we see that the word
choice or to choose has to do with sowing and reaping. Because after all what
seed we sow is what we shall receive back. Therefore, our choices must all
reflect what seed it is we are choosing to sow in this life that we live. You will all look
back upon your life one day and you will see the choices that you have made
along the way. Have you ever thought if you had to the power to go back in your
life and undo some of your decisions you made that were bad? Well, the other
night I lay in bed and my mind went back through some of the decisions I had
made in my life, that if I could have changed a handful of wrong choices I would have done it. And as I lay there reflecting on the choices I made, I could recall
some things I did that I would have like to have said differently, or actions
that I would have not made the same.
Follow Me #7 (Choice)
Then I thought of how, as a
Christian my senior year in college, I had the best stats for a kicker in the
big ten and I had devoted myself to follow God to the best that He would show
me, and yet another fellow received the honors I had wanted. There was a churchmen’s
all American selection for kicker that I should have received, and as I thought
back about that. Now, I didn’t
understand at the time why I never received that acknowledgment. But God knew
why I could not receive that. And there are many things we don’t know why now,
but somewhere down along the raod, we will someday. I knew that I had the
better record, and that I was living a Christian life, and had even helped to
start a chapter of the Fellowship of Christian athletes, but because I never belonged to an
organized church, I had no-one putting me forth to receive this honor of theirs.
It wasn’t enough to be a Christian
serving God to the best of your ability, you had to be a church man. And in reflecting back upon this, finally after all
these years, I realized that there was nothing I could have done to change that
outcome, because God called me out of the church, and to be honored by it wasn’t
to His choosing.
Yes, there are some things I would have liked to have changed, But did you ever stop to think about how those choices come.
what causes you to repent after you have made a wrong
decision. Who brings the guilt into your heart when you have made a wrong
decision? You moved you and motivated you to believe the Great Lord of Heaven
and earth Who has come down in this hour? He did! Therefore, Over-all I am
pleased with the choices in my life, because I chose to serve Him. Just
think, you are serving Elohim, the same one Abraham did. The
same One Moses did. The same One Paul did. The same one Jesus did. The very Creator of the Heavens and earth. The One who indwelled Jesus. The One who
has come down in this hour to gather together all that are His and to take them
out. I chose this one to serve, the One William Branham chose to serve, and
yet did I do the choosing? Was it my choosing after all? Who guided me away
from professional sports. Who guided me away from the high
paying jobs? I believe the One who called me to serve Him is the One who has
looked over my life and has actively participated in My Life with me. I look
around and see the brethren who have worked jobs for 20 and thirty years with
the same company, and I have never made it working for any company for even
three years. Why? Because God called me to the ministry.
I’ve been shepherding this flock here since March of 82. In
our 17th year together.
Then have I had to make these
decisions on my own? Then have I ever been really alone? No. I don’t believe I have.
I’ve never really been alone, because He
has been with me in the most trying times of my Life. [Psalm 1:6] [Psalm 37:1-40]
[Psalm 47:4-5] And He which ascended is also He which has descended with a Shout
and Trump. [Jer 10:23-24] [Proverbs 3:1-6] [2 Thess 3:5]
Now, I believe that the purpose for
this message from Brother Branham is to help the people to see the importance
of the choices that you make in this life, and how they will reflect throughout
your life and how they will affect you even in the life to come. And that is
why he chose as his subject to study, the rich young ruler.
74
Now, this young fellow here, this rich young ruler, he did the same
thing. Let's follow and see what he done. No doubt, with the great man that
he was, probably a handsome young man, dark hair combed down on the side, nice
clothes. The young ladies thought, "Boy, that's a handsome young
man." Oh, they'd... He'd maybe wave at them, and they'd flirt back with
him, and things. And he thought he was a
great fellow, person (See?), because he was handsome, he was young. He wasn't
looking down there at the end of the road. He was just looking here. "I'm
young. I'm handsome. I'm rich. I can buy anything I want to. I can take these
girls, and, boy, they all like me. And they know I'm a great man." And,
see, he had all that. He had followed the instructions of his father and
everything. "And I'm very religious. I go to church." And now he
could follow that (See?), very popular, rich, and famous.
76 Just like today, like you had the opportunity
to become a movie star (See?) or something like that. Most young kids today,
you talk to them, they know more about these movie stars than they know about
Jesus. You see? And, see, you children are learning about Jesus. Where they set down, and some play come on a movie, or something
another, they know the actors and all there, all about it. They know all
that better than that. You tell them about the Bible; they don't know nothing about the Bible. See? It's making the wrong choice.
Now, some singer selling their God-given talent for fame...
Follow Me #7 (Choice)
77 Then we see him at life's end. Let's follow him a little further. You know
what the Bible says about this young fellow? He become
more successful. So
sometimes success don't mean that you've made the right choice. You
know what he did? He went out and he had all big times, and throwed big
parties, and spent lots of money and everything on the girls and everything. And
then he got married and maybe had a family. And he just increased so much till he had
to build new barns and things. And he said, “You see, I didn't follow Jesus,
and look what I got." See? You may
hear people say that, and I have, "Well, look, He's blessed me." That don't mean it all. See? And after while his barns swelled till even
he said, why, even, "Soul, take your rest. I've got so much money and so
much success. And I'm such a great man. I belong to all the clubs. And I have
the riches of the world in my hands. I own great sums of land and sums of
money, and, why, my, there everybody likes me, a very fine person to
be." But you know, the Bible said
that that night, God said to him,
"I'm going to require your soul."
81 Then what did happened?
Now, there was a beggar, a poor old Christian that laid out there by his gates.
And just when they... Up in
86 Well, you know, after while,
this rich man, when he thought he had money to buy all kinds of medicine if he
got sick; he had all kinds of doctors. But, you know, sometimes doctors can't
help us; medicine won't help us; nothing can help us; we're at the mercy of
God. And he come down to the end of his road; the
doctors couldn't help him, and the nurses couldn't help him, the medicine
couldn't help him, and he died. And then when his soul left his body (See?), it
left all of his money, all of his education, everything that he had, all of his
popularity. They give him a great big funeral, maybe a half-mast the flag,
and--and the--the mayor of the city come, and they, and the preacher come and
said, "Our brother now has gone to glory," and all like that. But the Bible said that, "He lifted up
his eyes in hell, in torment, and looked way across that great gulf there, and
seen that beggar that had been laying there in his sore, over in heaven. And he
cried, 'Send Lazarus down here with a little water. These flames are
tormenting.' Said, 'Oh, no.'"
88
See, he took the wrong choice in life.
See? When he come to the end of the road to step out
of life, he had been led by religion. He'd been led by education. He'd been led
by the influence of his--of his success. But, you see,
he had nothing to hold his hand; those things end there. You understand, little
fellow? You adults do what I'm... See? He had nothing to hold him. His money
couldn't hold him. His friends with the doctors couldn't hold him. Medicine
couldn't hold him. His priest, his religion, couldn't hold him. So was only one
thing for him to do. He'd--he had refused to accept Jesus, Eternal Life. So
what did he have to do? Sink down into death, into hell. What a fatal mistake
that young man had when he refused to walk with Jesus, be led by Jesus. He
refused to do it. So many young people
are making that mistake today, refusing to be led by the--by the Lord Jesus.
Now, we see what a fatal thing it is to refuse Eternal Life and be led by
Jesus, a leadership, when He said, "Come, follow Me."
90 See what this handsome little man said this
afternoon? When you get out of school, when you get away from, you need another
leader, but let that be Jesus. And Jesus
is the Bible. Do you believe that? This is Jesus' Life and His commandments
to us in letter form. So we have to look into This to
see. This is the blueprint. This is the map that He told is to follow to--to
begin Eternal Life. Now, we find out that this young man was lost.