Masterpiece 42
On What Foundation
are you Standing?
January 7th, 2006
Pastor, Brian Kocourek
2. 1 Corinthians 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye
not carnal? 5 ¶ Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye
believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
3. Let us bow our hearts and our heads in a word
of prayer. Dear Father we come into thy presence this morning in the most
precious name that we know and that is the name You gave to your son to share
with you. Father God, we humbly approach Thy throne of mercy this morning
knowing that there is still a sacrifice there to witness to the Shed blood of
your Son Jesus who died on our behalf.
4. Father, we
would ask that your presence would radiate within us and kindle a fire in our
hearts to Love you more and more and to become a part of you even as your Son
Jesus said He and you were one. We know our oneness with you comes by our being
one with your word for you are the Word, and we pray that the mind that was in
Christ would be in us, and we pray that we would be one even as your Son Jesus
Prayed that we might be one with you as He was one with you. And we would ask
that you would anoint us to your word this morning in order that we might give
you the supreme preeminence, and that no other would receive what is solely due
to you and you alone. For we ask it in Jesus Christ’s name, and for Thy Glory
we pray, amen.
5. Now,
I hope that you will notice from our text that the Apostle Paul was telling us
that if we are focused on the man whereby God is using to feed you, then you
are carnal.
6. Look,
one thing has bothered me more than any other since I came into the Message, in
1974 and that is to see people idolize their minister that they are sitting
under. When I came to the Message, I was alone for a couple years with no
church to attend, and no leadership of man to follow. Then when I graduated
from college, I met Br. Vayle and while he was preaching something spoke to me
and told me to get under his ministry. The next week I was at the Minnesota
Viking training camp where I had signed three one year contracts to play
football and I will never forget seeing grown men in their forties standing in
line to get my autograph as I prepared to enter the playing field.
7. Now, here I was just a
kid fresh out of College and I will never forget some man with several of his
young sons standing there waiting to get my autograph. And when he stopped me,
and asked me for my autograph, I felt so humbled that I said to him, “I should
be the one getting your autograph, because you are the one that is
accomplishing something by raising those boys”. And I sincerely meant that from
the bottom of my heart.
8. The next year, I remember
going to a camp meeting in the Black Hills of South Dakota and as I sat with
the ministers, I heard a lot of tearing
down other ministers, and I can still
remember thinking in my heart, They have a better attitude in the Catholic
Church than I am seeing displayed here. And I said, if that is the spirit that
gets on the ministry then I do not want any part of it. And I meant it.
9. Look, I do not mean to
tear down anyone for their beliefs. And if I ever appear to be doing so just
pray for me, for I do not like that attitude in any one. We all believe what
God has allowed us to believe. One of my favorite verses of Scripture is
Matthew 13 where Jesus said that He spoke in parables because it was given for
some to know and understand while it was not given for others to know and
understand. And so I see that what we know, we know only because of the
sovereign will of God, and therefore how could any boast before God of knowing
more than another. To me that is just carnal. And that is what the apostle Paul
was rebuking the
10. Look, when I came here
to
11. Now, I do believe that
most of you have come to
12. That is not to say that
those churches that have all those programs are wrong for doing so, it is
simply because in my heart I do not believe God wants us to be programmed into
programs, but rather, I believe he wants us to be free from programs and
focused purely on His word.
13. Perhaps I am not saying
this right, but what I am trying to say is that I do not have anything against
programs in the church if they can do it without detracting from the individual
walk with God. But what I see so often is that churches grow by programs, and
the larger the church the more programs they have to keep the people. Now, you
might think that is ok, but I just feel that our motive for coming to church is
to hear from God and to have nothing standing between us and Him come our time
to cross the river.
14. And to me, when you see
people more interested in programs than the word of God then something is wrong
somewhere. Now, that is all I am going to say about that.
15. But to get back to what
Paul was saying, he saw that the people had become carnal in comparing one
minister to another. That’s ok in sports, and in music, but that is so carnal
when you are dealing with the Word of God, because what have we got that was
not given to us from God? Did you get those things on your own? If you think
you have a successful ministry because of your own efforts then you are not too
mature in the things of the Lord. That is what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4: 7 For who maketh thee to differ from another?
and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
16. And in verse one of the same chapter he said, 1 ¶ Let a man so account of us, as of the
ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in
stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing
that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own
self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he
that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until
the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and
will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have
praise of God. 6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to
myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think
[of men] above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one
against another. 7 ¶ For who maketh thee
to differ [from another]? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now
if thou didst receive [it], why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received
[it]?
17. The apostle Paul said in
Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By
what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. And Faith
come by God and God alone. For it is not even our own Faith that saves us, but
the Faith of Jesus Christ. His Faith that He had in His Father to raise Him up.
His Faith, and not our own.
18. Now in getting back to
our text the Apostle Paul continued in 1 Corinthians
3and verse 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the
increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he
that watereth (anything); but God that giveth the increase is (everything). 8 Now he that
planteth and he that watereth are one (Why are they one? Because
they are planting and watering with the same intention, and that is for the
purpose of bringing forth or sustaining God-Life.) and every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labor. 9 For we are laborers together with God:
19. I like that. He is telling
us that we do not act alone, but our actions are in accordance with the plan of
God and if God does not give increase we could plant all day long and we could
water all day long, but if God is not there to bring the increase then all our
efforts are in vain. So it is all dependent upon what God’s will is. That is
why even Jesus himself said, “The son can of himself do nothing, but whatsoever
the son seeth the father do, that the son doeth likewise.)
20. Then The Apostle Paul
adds. ye are
God's husbandry, [ye are] God's building. 10 According to the grace of God
which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation,
and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth
thereupon. 11 ¶ For other foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man
build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of
what sort it is.
21. In other words don’t get
too puffed up thinking you or your church or your preacher is tops, because it
will all come out in the wash one day when every man’s work will be judged by
fire.)
22. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built
thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (and if it is a genuine
work that God is doing and using that man then there will be genuine results.
Maybe not all in one place, but there will be results wherever that ministry is
taken to if God is the one taking it.)
23. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall
suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 16 ¶ Know ye not
that ye are the
26. THE MASTERPIECE64-0705 54
Now, I'm trying to watch that clock. And I asked Mike, my nephew, to ring that
bell in thirty minutes, but he's not doing it, and I've already been thirty
minutes. We'll continue on a little bit. See? Now, I don't want to break these
rules; I made these rules. See? And here's breaking your own rule.
27. Now, I
want you to notice now that he comes back to the subject and in a few paragraphs,
we’ll skip up to paragraph 61 he speaks of this foundation that the Masterpiece
is placed upon. Therefore, he never left the subject. Because he was talking
about rules, and in having rules the very first foundation of having rules is
that you don’t break them, at least not willfully.
28. Now, let’s stop here for a few minutes this
morning and look at this thought first about rules. A rule is an authoritative, prescribed direction for
conduct. That is one definition, but notice the next definition, The body of regulations prescribed by the founder of a religious order for
governing the conduct of its member.
29. Notice in paragraph 61
brother Branham says, Now, watch. Every masterpiece is put on a foundation of sculpture. Angelo's
30. Now, I think it is interesting that the official
English definition of rules refers to the body of rules prescribed by the
founder of a religious order, because a founder according to the American
Heritage Dictionary is the One who
establishes something or formulates the basis
for something: And the word basis means A foundation upon which something
rests. So you can see what brother
Branham said about rules tied exactly into what he was speaking about
concerning the foundation piece for the Masterpiece to rest upon.
31. Greatest news flash in history 61-0424
P:27 They wasn't going over to argue their
religious points. They were going over to say, "I know He's alive. I know
Him because He appeared to us, and we seen Him do the same thing He did before
He died, before they killed Him up there. And they never stole His body away.
And the women is exactly right because He did raise from the dead, because it
was Him." Then they looked at one another when they stopped under a, somewhere
to rest a little bit. Said, "Did not our hearts burn within us?” We ought to have knowed that was Him. Why, it
went all the way back in the Scripture. “Didn't our hearts burn within
us as He spoke to us along the road and opened up the Scripture?"
Said, "Fools and slow
at heart to understand. Ought not Christ to have suffered and entered into His
glory," as the Scripture said. See, they knowed that was
Jesus, because He lined straight with
the Scriptures no matter what the others said. And sooner the church gets
to a place it'll line up with the Scripture teaching instead of trying to take
some manmade theology, quicker you'll find the resurrected Christ. That's
right, my brother. God builds on no
other foundation than what's already a laid by the apostles. That's right. Oh,
yes they were happy.
32. So we see that there is only one foundation and that foundation was
laid by the Apostles and that foundation was Christ, and if we preach anything
but Christ Jesus then our preaching is in vain. And the apostle Paul said if we
preach anything that he had not already preached then we are cursed. So don’t
tell me that this preacher is great or that one is great, because all they can
do is say what has already been said.
33. Satan's
34. The problem we have today is best displayed in sports. People idolize the winner and loathe the
looser. They get behind the ones that have the biggest stats. No one wants to
follow the man that doesn’t have the biggest bat, or the most homeruns, or the
greatest strike out record, and in the spiritual it’s the same way. The bigger
the congregation the better, the bigger the missionary programs the more we
think God is in it. But what about that man that God tells to go to a place
that is not big? Does that mean he is all washed up. One of the greatest leaders
I know in this Message is a man that is so humble that you would easily bypass
him if you were looking for a what the world terms as a leader.
35. Rejected king 60-0515M P:27 Now,
that's the kind of man that the people like to choose today. The people does
not seem to be satisfied with the way that God placed His church to be governed
and controlled by the Holy Spirit. They want somebody, some man, some
denomination, some certain people to govern the church that they're not able to
throw themselves completely into God's hand to be spiritual to be led by the
Holy Spirit. They want somebody to do their religion for them, somebody that
will tell them just how to do it and all about it. So this man seemed to suit
the place exactly, because he was a very intellectual man. And it's a whole lot
like today. We like to choose such people too, to control our churches, to
control the
36. Pastor Desire Mavinga is a man who knows God. I knew that the first
time I met Him. He was one of the first
to embrace the Message in
37. Jehovah Jireh 61-0209 P:50 Well,
God will raise up all kinds of things if the church will just get in condition
to receive it, but He will never build
His foundation upon something man has laid. "For there's no other
foundation can be laid than that which is laid, Christ Jesus, the Son of God," and the
revelation He'd build His church upon of Christ Jesus. Yes, sir. Make Him the
same yesterday, today, and forever.
38. The reason I love the mission field so much is that I get to meet men
of God everywhere that will forsake all for the truth of the Message. These are
the real heroes of Faith. Not those who can quote all the quotes, and recite their
Bible verses from memory. No that is not what God-Life is all about. But those
men who place self last and the Word of God first and then children of God
next, that is what God-Life is all about. Brother Branham said Eternal Life is
living for others.
39. To whom shall we go 60-0604 P:30 Now
listen, many times education leads to the demon of education, and that demon of
education leads you to a know it all. And when you get there, then you become
an infidel and deny Christ. So you can't build upon the foundation of
education. Neither can we build it upon political powers. You say, "Well,
my... I'm so interested; I'm Democrat." "I'm a Republican;
I'm..."Both parties is rotten. There's only one Foundation; build upon
Christ! This nation don't need to build upon any other foundation but Jesus
Christ. That's right. No other foundation is laid; no other foundation can get you
to heaven. No other foundation is secure, but the Foundation of Jesus Christ.
40. Listen, I teach at the University, not because I’ve got a bunch of
degrees. No, in fact I have the least amount of wallpaper of any of the
faculty, but I teach there because they like the way I teach and I know God
gave me that Job at least for a season, for a reason. And I know by experience what
brother Branham is saying here is the truth. He said education leads to a demon of education,
and he said that
demon of education leads you to become a know it all. I’ve seen it
amongst many of the faculty who have never held a decent job in their entire life,
but they think because they have some pieces of paper that say BS or MBA, or
PHD that they are smarter than the rest. They don’t realize that BS is an
acronym for bull dung, and MBA just means more bull added, and PHD means piled
higher and deeper. Brother Branham said you get colder by degrees, and those are the people you can’t tell them
anything, because they think they have it all figured out and will they be
surprised one day when they find out they were lost and didn’t even know it.
41. Now, fortunately not all the professors are that way. I happened to
know several personally that have worked good jobs before they entered
academia. But you have to be careful in that environment because that spirit is
strong and when it gets on those people they do not know it. And we have that
same spirit right in the Message. Let God show a man some things he never saw
before and they get puffed up and think they have it over others who don’t see
it. That is the same spirit of education that brother Branham is talking about,
so don’t think too highly of yourselves just because God has given you
understanding or you will open yourself to that same devil.
42. From the Message, It was not so from the
beginning 59-0405A P:12 Brother Branham said, And
Jesus found those people, the Jews, perverting the Word of God, making the
commandments of God of non-effect. He said, "You, with your traditions, take the Word of
God and pervert It into making It saying something that It does not say. And
when someone says that the Word of God does not teach Divine healing, they are
saying something that the Word does not say. And when they say the Word does
not teach the baptism of the Holy Ghost for believers in all ages, they are
saying something that the Word does not say. They are substituting something to
take Its place. When we try to say that shaking hands, or membership, or some
of those things, which are all right, but it'll never take the place of the
Holy Spirit in the church. That's God's
foundation, and there can be no other foundation laid. We can hear the
Author of this Book so solemnly warn, "Except a man be born of
the Spirit, he will in no wise enter into the Kingdom."
43. That’s it. Its not how much education you have, but do you have the
Spirit of God living in you. Moses was educated, Paul was educated, Daniel was
educated. But they knew how to think God thoughts above their education. They
held the Word of God above all worldly wisdom.
And how do you know if you have the spirit of God living in you? Jesus
said, “he that
hungers and thirsts for righteousness, (right-wise-ness) shall be filled.”
So I ask you this morning, are you hungering and thirsting for the Word of God?
Are you listening to the word of
God or reading it every chance you get? Or is it something you do on Sundays
when you come to church. Let me ask you the question, where do you keep your
Bible? Is it with you all the time, or do you keep it in your church pew, or
the car so you won’t forget to bring it to church.
44. And what about listening to the word of God? We all have access to
MP3’s with the entire Message of 1200+ sermons, and I ask how many are you
listening to each day? Ask yourself how
many movies you watch a week, or how many television programs do you watch, or
how many radio programs you listen to each week, and then ask your self how
many sermons are you listening to with intent to understand better your own
role as a son or daughter of God. That will tell you what preeminence you have
for God’s Word.
45. Why
so hard to live a Christian life 57-0303A P:36 No
wonder we can't have real healing services. Where can God lead those sincere
people upon a foundation? This is God's Foundation. No other foundation could
be laid. We might think we're laying a foundation, but we find out that
mainspring's gone. The builders thought they could build the temple, and the
little old funny mainspring that didn't even fit in any where, they kicked it
out over into a weed pile, but they come to find out it was the chief
cornerstone. My brother, sister, we've had all kinds of sensations, all kinds
of evidences, all kinds of everything else, but until we come back to the
mainspring, our church is only just as dry as the rest of them. We've got to come back to where there's
something in the member that gives him peace and joy, he's always on the
mountain top shouting the praises of God. Oh, my, I wish I could get you to
see it. Then the yoke becomes easy. It doesn't chafe around the collar. It's lined with love. If it's only
lined with emotion, it'll soon chaff around the collar.
46. Look, there is no other foundation but Christ. So what are you
resting on? What are you learning about? What are you studying? What are you
spending so much of your waking hours doing? We spend so much time tending to
the 1/3 part of us that is flesh and we starve the 2/3’s part of us that is
spirit. It just doesn’t seem to make sense.
47. MATTHEW 7:21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name
done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew
you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his
house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the
winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon
a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat
upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
48. Making a way 56-0304 P:38 But,
brother, God made a way of escape, and you'll have to come to God's terms, and that's through Christ Jesus our Lord.
No other foundation is laid but that which has already been laid. No, no one to
build upon any other foundations, like stubbles and mud, the floods will wash
it away and great will be the fall. But Jesus said, "Upon
this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it." What is it He built it upon? On the spiritual revealed truth that He is
the Son of God. "Who does man say I, the Son of man
am?" Some say, "Elias, and some say Moses, and some say John the
Baptist, and so forth." "But Who do you say I am?" Without
hesitation, without taking a second... Listen sinner, that's the way you
receive it. He'd been with Him, he knew what He was. And then before he could
even think a second time, the Holy Spirit got a hold of him, and he said, "Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Said,
"Blessed art thou,
49. All
other ground is sinking sand.
50. Let’s bow our
heads in prayer