Subject to the Father and Live
Brian Kocourek
WHO IS THIS
MELCHISEDEC 65-0221E 70 Before the
foundation of the world his Name's put on the Lamb's Book of Life. Then from that
He become the Word, the theophany, that could appear, disappear; and then He
become flesh and returned back again, resurrected that same body in a glorified
condition. But you bypassed the theophany and become flesh-man to be tempted by
sin. And then "if this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we have one
already waiting." We have not yet the bodies. But look, when this body
receives the Spirit of God, the Immortal Life inside of you, it throws this
body in subjection to God. Hallelujah. "He that's born of God doth not
commit sin; he cannot sin." Romans 8:1. "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus; they walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit." There you are. See, that throws your body
subject. You don't have to say, "Oh, if I could just quit drinking, if
I could just..." Just get in Christ; it's all gone. See, see? Because your
body is subject to the Spirit, it's no more subject to the things of the world;
they're dead. They are dead; your sins are buried in baptism; and you are a new
creation in Christ. And your body becoming subject to the Spirit, try to
live a right kind of life...
Now the key in this being
subject that brother Branham is speaking of here, is that it must come from the
heart. The scriptures speak of our being
subject to the Father, and this being subject brings with it a reward: Life.
HEBREWS 12:6 For whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (So what if the Lord does
not receive you? Then there will be no child training.) 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons;
for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our
flesh which corrected [us], and we gave [them] reverence: shall we not much
rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Now, this coming into
subjection to the Father is what we are going to focus upon this morning.
Brother Branham said we bypassed our theophany and came to this world for
testing. And the real testing comes from the role we play. Either we enter into
the role of a son, or we do not. And Jesus demonstrated the proper role of the
Son when He was obedient even to the point of death.
Brother Branham said, "See, that throws your body subject. You don't
have to say, "Oh, if I could just quit drinking, if I could just..."
Just get in Christ; it's all gone. See, see? Because your body is subject to
the Spirit, it's no more subject to the things of the world; they're dead.
They are dead; your sins are buried in baptism; and you are a new creation in
Christ. And your body becoming subject to the Spirit, try to live a right
kind of life."
Now we read from Hebrews
Chapter 12 that God has called us to come into subjection to Him in the role of
Father, and we shall live. But this subjection must be a willfl submitting on
our part. It must be from the heart, or it will do us no good.
ROMANS 6:16 Know ye not, that to
whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God
be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became
the servants of righteousness.
Notice, by obeying from the
heart the doctrine, it makes our subjection not a servant of works but a
servant of right-wise-ness.
The Greek word for subjection
that we read in Hebrews and now in Romans is the Greek word Hupotasso
{hoop-ot-as'-so} (And it means) AV -- put under (6) -- be subject to or unto --
submit (one's) self unto -- submit
(one's) self to -- be in subjection unto -- put in subjection under
1) to arrange under, to subordinate; to
subject, put in subjection; to subject one's self, obey; to submit to one's
control; to yield to one's admonition or advice; to obey, be subject
Remember the vision brother Branham
had of the bride marching right on up into Glory. Well, the word Hupotasso was a
Greek military term meaning "to arrange [troop divisions] in a military
fashion under the command of a leader". In non- military use, it was
"a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming
responsibility, and carrying a burden". "
In PHILIPPIANS 2:5 we read, Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus: But the actual Greek word
means Let
this attitude be in you which was also in Christ Jesus". It is the Greek word, phroneo
{fron-eh'-o} and means
to -- think
--or regard
-- to be of the same mind, thus to be like
minded 1) to have understanding, be
wise
2) to feel, to think: to have the same
opinion, to be modest, not let one's opinion (though just) of himself exceed
the bounds of modesty; to think or judge what one's opinion is; to be of the
same mind i.e. agreed together, cherish the same views, be harmonious 3) to
direct one's mind to a thing, to seek, to strive for; to seek one's interest or
advantage; to be of one's party, side with him (in public affairs) Thus it should have been
translated, Let this attitude be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus
As I just said previously,
Remember the vision brother Branham had of the bride marching right on up into
Glory. Well, and the word which is translated 'to be in subjection": Hupotasso, was a Greek military term meaning "to arrange [troop
divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader". In non-
military use, it was "a voluntary attitude of giving in,
cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden". "
And the Lord has descended
with a SHOUT, a kalusma, a military command. I just wonder if that SHOUT, that
MESSAGE, wasn't what that vision of Brother Branham's was sort of referring to.
Remember how he stood there with the lord watching them as they went by.
Marching to the tune of "Onward Christian Soldiers". Notice,
they were on parade just as soldiers will be presented to the Chief Officer.
In the military one of the
most important training procedures is the military parade. Any of you that went
through boot camp probably remember, one of the first things you began working
on was with the drill sargeant barking orders at you, and lining you all up by
height, and then training you how to march. Everything you did had to be just
right.
You had to hold your hands a
certain way. You had to cup them like you were holding a roll of coins in each
hand, and your thumb had to cover the end of the roll. Your posture had to be straight, your left
foot had to move when the left foot of every other soldiers moved, and so their
had to be a cadence song to help you. "Lo right, right a lo, right a
lo right lo." Your step had to be the same length as every other
soldier, and as your left foot rose, everyone else's rose in unison. That's
called the cadence. You marched to a cadence. And Brother Branham told us that
God showed him a vision of the Bride marching in cadence. Each one tied to the
walk of the next. Each one, marching to the tune of "Onward
Christian Soldiers, marching as to war, with the Blood of Jesus Going on
before." All in
subjection, to the cadence. All in
unison, marching to the same beat. "EYES LEFT" and every eyes shall
behold Him.
Then toward the very end,
two little ones at the end of the procession began to get out of step, and
brother Branham cried out, "STAY IN LINE"
Therefore, it is a command
we are marching to from the heart. We are walking in the Light as He is in the
Light, and we are fellowshipping one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ
His Son is cleansing us from all sin. And we are expected to be walking in the
light from our heart. And we are expected to do this willingly.
This word Hupotasso is also
used in speaking of other relationships in which one party willingly subject
themselves to the other.
In EPHESIANS 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the
Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of
the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is
subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every
thing. The
wife is expected to willingly submit her own will over to the will of her
husband. And if she is not, she isn't fit to be a wife.
Again we see in I PETER 2:18 Servants,
[be] subject to [your] masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward. Peter is telling those who work for others to
be subject to them. Not only to those who are gentle he says, but to those who
seem to be taking advantage of you as well.
I PETER 5:5 ¶ Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto
the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with
humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Again we see Peter here
giving advice to the young that they should be willingly submissive to their
elders, for God resists those who are proud, and giveth grace to the Humble.
Now, it is not always an
easy thing to be submissive, especially in some of these situations that Peter
pointed out. It's easy to be submissive
to the man who is good and gentle, but what of the guy you know is a crook, a
cheat, and yet he is your boss. That is why it takes discipline to do
this. But the alternative is to be proud
in which case you will not win any favor with God either. "For God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.
"
Paul tells us that it is
like being in a race. In which case, you don't just go out there and start running.
But there must be a plan that you have. In any
race of significance the runners all know each other and what the competition
is able to perform. Therefore, you must plan out your strategy of how you will
run. The same way with our submission to God. We
know what He is asking, and we know our weaknesses. Then walk in the light.
I CORINTHIANS 9:24
¶ Know ye not that they which
run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. (That means he is self
controlled) Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so
fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body,(Now, he's talking like a
wrestler, I keep under my body, giving it no leverage) and bring [it] into subjection: (That's how I
bring it into subjection, I get under it, lift it into the air, like a wrestler
holding the opponent on his shoulders, and thus he has no power, he has no
leverage, and I can do anything I want to do to him) lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be
a castaway.
Paul is telling us here that
there is a strategy involved in controlling this body of death. He says it is
like running a race. You've got to be temperate, you've got to have self
control. Your Spirit has to be in charge and it has to have a plan to keep the
control. For you are going to be held accountable. Then he tells us how to
control the body. He says give it no leverage. Do not allow it to control you.
When a wrestler has his opponent in a fireman's carry, who is in control? The
one who is holding the man over his shoulder? Or the man who is on his shoulder? I tell you that if
you don't know, just try it sometime. When you are on someone's shoulders, you
are helpless. You have no power, no matter how strong you might be. Your
strength is useless. And no matter how strong your flesh might be, if you get
under it and bring it into subjection to the Word by the Spirit of God that is
living in you, then you never have to worry about losing another match with it.
ROMANS 8:1 ¶ [There is] therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. 3 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: 4 That the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 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. 6 For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be
spiritually minded [is] life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind [is]
enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 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. 10 ¶
And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit
[is] life because of righteousness. 11 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.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the
flesh. 13 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. 14 For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 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. 16 The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 ¶ 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. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For
the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
who hath subjected [the same] in hope,
ROMANS 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal
of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. And
if they do not submit themselves unto the righteousness of God, what good fdoes
their zeal do for them. He says, they have a zeal, but not according to
knowledge. No matter how much zeal you have. No matter how much you tel
yourself and others that you want to serve God and you want to fight the good
fight; if you do not have knowledge, your fighting is in vain, your running is
in vain, your zeal is in vain.
Now, in getting back to
Brother Branham's sermon WHO is THIS Melchisedec, we pick up at paragraph 72 where he says, Like you women claiming you got the Holy Ghost
and going out here and wearing shorts and things, how could you do it? How
could the Spirit of God in you ever let you do such a thing as that? It just
can't be so. Certainly it can't be. He's not a filthy spirit; He's a holy
Spirit. And then when you become subject to that Spirit, it throws your
whole being subject to that Spirit. And that Spirit is nothing in the world
but this Seed Word made manifest, or quickened (Hallelujah.), made alive.
And when the Bible said, "Don't do this," that body quickly turns
to it; there's no question. And what is it? It's the earnest
of the resurrection. This body will be raised up again, because it's already
started. It was once subject to sin, and mire, and corruption, but now it's
got the earnest; it's turned heavenly. Now, that's the earnest that you're
going in the rapture. It's the earnest. A sick person laying dying, nothing left
but death, that's all can happen. I've seen the shadows of people done eat up
with cancer and tuberculosis, and see them persons a little while after that
perfectly normal and strong. If there is no Divine healing then there's no
resurrection, 'cause Divine healing is the earnest of the resurrection. Amen.
You know what the earnest money is don't you? It's the down payment. "He
was wounded for our transgressions; with His stripes we're healed."
76 Notice, how wonderful, we love Him. Now, this
body is subject to the Spirit. Have not yet entered into the Word form, but
we are still in the flesh form, but subject to the Word. Death in the
flesh will take us there.
EPHESIANS 1:19 And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his
power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at
his own right hand in the heavenly [places], 21 Far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come: 22
And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the
head over all [things] to the church, 23
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
EPHESIANS 5:21 ¶ Submitting yourselves one to another in
the fear of God. 22 Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the
husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and
he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto
Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing.
PHILIPPIANS 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself.
Remember, it's an attitude. Let this
attitude be in you that was in Christ Jesus. And what attitude was
that? His Words were not his own, but the
Fathers. His Doctrine was not His Own, but was the Fathers that sent Him. His
works were not his own original idea, but He simply did what he saw the Father
do. And let's face it, his own life was not his Own. For the Father not only
dwelt in Him, but did so pre-eminently. As Paul said, "I am a prisoner of
the Lord." He did not even brng
forth His Own Will, for He said, "I came not to
do my own will but the Fathers Who sent me." And Paul quoting
the Lold testament prophecy of Christ, said, "for
it is written in the Book, "I have come to do thy Will O God."
Therefore, if you still have
your own thoughts about how it should be, you need to get rid of those
thoughts. If you have your own thoughts about what doctrine to believe, get rid
of your thoughts, and believe the Doctrine that is Thus Saith the Lord. When
you can say as Jesus said, It is not my doctrine, but His that sent me, and
when you can say, I do nothing but what the Father shows me first, and when you
can say, "Father, Not my will but Thy will be
done", then you have come to the place where the attitude that
was in Christ is now in you.
HEBREWS CHAPTER
7.PT.1 57-0915E 314-146
But, if you notice, the old crow can set over here on a dead carcass and
eat half the day. The dove will set in a wheat field and eat half the day. And
the crow can fly right out there and eat dove food, as much as he wants to. He
could eat just as much wheat as the crow can--as the dove can. But he... The
crow, can eat the dove food, but the dove can't eat crow food. That's right. So
an old hypocrite can come to church and rejoice and shout and praise the Lord,
and go on like that, and go right back out and enjoy the things of the world.
But a born again Christian cannot do it, because the love of God constrains him
to such a place He can't do it. So if you're just a Christian by joining the
church, and quitting doing this and that, and the same desire is in you, you
need another dip. That's exactly right. 315-149 And you women who can dress with them
little old shorts, and run out here on the street, and then call yourself a
believer. You're a believer, but you're a poor example of one, maybe. If you
really had Christ in your heart, you wouldn't have to think about such things
as that. I don't care what the rest of the women does, and the rest of the
girls do, you'd be different; because you love Christ too much. I talked to a
woman the other day in a house, and she throwed her hands up like this, said,
"Reverend Branham, I'm almost naked here in my house; I'm walking
around." I thought, "Shame on you." In your own house, I don't
care where you are. That's right. Dress and act like a woman, like a lady ought
to. Shame on you. But you keep... And the Bible said, "If you love those
things, the things of the world, the love of Christ is not even in you."
And if you love the Lord just with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your mind, you'll keep them little old dirty, nasty things off of you. That's
right.
In fact one of the
attributes of being elect Seed is that you can be submissive to the Leading of
God's Spirit. All others will not let go of their own thinking. They will not
let go of their own will. And thus they show whose lineage they are from, and it
is not God. They might be very religious, but so was Cain. They might believe
in God, but so does the devil. They might say they believe god's word and can
even quote it, but so does the devil. He quoted it to eve, and he even quoted
it to Jesus, trying to lead Jesus into false worship him.
ALL THE DAYS OF
OUR LIFE 59-0612 E-18 However, the man is very religious. Cain
was very religious. And he thought on the thought of coming back to God. And
God was willing to receive him back, but Cain wanted to come his way.
And God wanted him to come His way. And we find out that there was a conflict
completely with them. Now, men today who try to say that they make their own
creeds up and so forth, he's doing that by the power of his father, Cain, and
his father, Adam. Not as in the Christian, who's born of the Spirit, and
depends on the Holy Spirit, is after the second Adam which was Jesus, the
atonement that leads the man by the Holy Spirit. And when men today tries to
say that they don't have to have the Holy Ghost today, then you can see what
kind of a state that man's in. He wants to be religious though, but he wants
it in his own way. E-19 And
he's so much like Cain. Cain wanted to be religious, so he went and made his
own religion. And when he did, he brought it before God with something like
this: "Here's the best I got. This is all I can do about it. Now, take it
or leave it." That's about the way man does today. "I helped build
the church. I send my children to church there. I put money in it every year.
And that's the best I can do. Take it or leave it." Oh, see, he wants his
own way. That's the way Cain did. But God still loved him, and He still went
after him. What did God tell Cain? "You'll do well if you'll just worship
like your brother, Abel." Abel come God's way. But Cain wanted his way.
And God said, "Now, Cain, I've got nothing against you. If you'll just
come over and go the way that Abel goes, you'll do well."
Hebrews chapter 7 pt. 2 Church order 57-0922 354-384 And I say this: O people, O people, how oft the
Holy Spirit would've hovered you as a hen does her brood; but you want your own
way; you're going to have your own way about it. One of these nights I'd like
to preach on, "Your Own Way." You know, Cain wanted his own
way. Man wants his own way today. "But there is a way that seemeth right, but the end is
death."
GOD'S WAY MADE FOR US 21 Man has always wanted to make his own way.
In the garden of Eden, God made a man so he didn't have to shift for nothing.
God made him perfect, but man wanted his own way. He wanted to tamper.
He wanted to find out. And then as soon as he fell... We've went through that
this week, in the studies of the Scripture. He made himself a religion. He
didn't wait for God to make him one. He made one hisself, but he found out that
his religion, his covering, wouldn't work. That's always been man. He wants
his own way. But God had a way. So man made fig leaves and put them over
him, him and his wife, but when he come down to face God, he found out that
wouldn't work. And I tell you, friends, there's been a many a man, and is
tonight, that's coming down to the end of the road, will find out that that
little shallow religion that you're holding onto won't work. Nothing short of
being borned again will work. Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water and Spirit, he
will in no wise enter into the Kingdom." No wise, no matter if he's Methodist, Baptist,
Presbyterian, whatever he is, he will not enter in until he's born of water and
Spirit. :Born: means he's "changed." He has to die before he can be
born. So you got to die to yourself, be reborn again in Christ Jesus. That's
right.
JAMES 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he
saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [ye]
sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [ye] double minded.
Let's sing that wonderful song in
closing, "Have thine own way Lord, Have thine own way."