ONENESS # 20

Vindication

December 13, 1992

Rev Brian Kocourek

 

            ISAIAH 2: 10-12, 17-19 <read>

                  

            PRAYER ( The lofty shall be made low  & the Lord   alone shall be exalted).

 

Again this week, I would like to continue with brother  Branham's message of ONENESS. This will be number 20 in our series. We left off  last week at paragraph number 112, but while reviewing  last weeks  message  I saw something that struck me in  paragraph  108 that I feel is important enough that we should examine it  closer than  we did last week. So I would like to examine paragraph  108 in more detail before we move further ahead in this message.

             

Now before we turn to pp. 108, I would just like to bring you  up  to what brother Branham is illustrating here. He is talking about Cain and Abel's sacrifice and he tells us that Cain's  revelation is the same as most of the people today who say it was an  apple. But then he tells us more specifically that Abel's sacrifice  was more excellent because it was given directly from God Himself and thus vindicated. Now this is where so many have gone off in  this word.

 

They  don't seem to be able to hold to the vindicated Word as  it was given. They've got to have something of their own that  makes them  somebody  too. But God don't want your input. His  is  good enough.

 

Let's face it, our faith is no good. God is not looking for us to increase  our  faith.  What  good would it do  to  take  "0"  and multiply it by a thousand times. It would still be "0". Right? He
doesn't  want  our  faith, He is looking for us  to  receive  His Faith.

 

GALATIANS 2: 16, 20 <read> ( The faith "of") Not "in". Notice again, in EPH 3: 12.

 

EPHESIANS 3: 12 <read.

 

PHILIPPIANS 3:7-9[1]...<read You'll  notice  he said not of my own righteousness,  because  we  have none.         

 

ISAIAH 64:1-8 <read>

    

PHILIPPIANS 3:10-15 <read>

 

ROMANS 9:14-16 <read>

So we see that it is impossible to please God by our own efforts, or  our own righteousness. He will never accept what we  have  to offer  Him.  All  our sacrifices throughout the  history  of  our forefathers  have  always been rejected because  we  have  always tried  to offer Him what we ourselves think we should and  to  be honest  and  quite  candid, most of our efforts  have  been  half hearted and sometimes half baked, if you know what I mean.  Let's turn to Malachi to see what I mean.

 

MALACHI 1:6-2:17 <read>

 

It  is very apparent that God is not and has not been happy  with our  sacrifice. In fact He does not want our sacrifice. You  know why? Because you always try to use it with Him to show Him what a great people you are, and He won't accept it from you or any man.

 

 E-113 INFLUENCE 64-0315

  Look  at back in history, when you're reading this when you  go home.  What had happened to Israel? She'd got the same  place  we are.  They  had  called... All their sacrifices  and  things  had become  a tradition to them. There was no sincerity. They  didn't honor  the Word of God. That's when God raised up Isaiah to  tell them sacrifices stunk in his nose. He didn't want them. They were blasphemy to Him and He didn't want no more to do with them.

 

1 SAMUEL 15:22-23 <read>                   

 

1 JOHN 1: 9-10<read> If we say we have no sin we lie and His word is not in us. He isn't looking for you to  be righteous by your own efforts. Yes He wants you to be  righteous, but not of your own accord.

 

Now  that  brings us up to what brother Branham is  getting  into here  in  PP. 108. Now remember in pp. 103 he  said,  "Watch  her firstborn, Cain, a murderer, a lie, a deceiver, jealous,  jealous of  his brother. Notice how he was describing the  attributes  of Cain, and yet Cain was very religious and he sacrificed unto God. So  it isn't your sacrifice or what you can do for God, but  what He has done for you that counts.

 

Let's face it, what can you or I or anyone do for the Creator  of all things. You want to produce something for Him? What? What can you  give  Him  that He can't give Himself. As they  say  in  the commercial   world.  What  can  you  give  the  person  who   has        everything.  You  can only give Him one thing that  would  please Him. Your heart. Your mind. Your love. That's all he ever  wanted in the first place. And why is it so hard to do?

 

PP. 105-109 <read>

May we only see it the way he is seeing it. Why? Because then you will  be  seeing it through God's filter. Then you  will  have  a vindicated revelation of it. That's why.

 

Did you know, or are you aware, that brother Branham spent almost 80%  of  His  time pointing to VINDICATION. The Word  had  to  be VINDICATED. And He let us know that God couldn't just leave it up to some angel or a messenger, but He had to come down Himself  to Vindicate  His  Promise.  So  if he spent  80%  of  his  messages pointing  to the vindication of God's personal presence  actively  involved in the fulfillment of His promise, then what ought we to be preaching. The same thing.

 

Look, Who came down when Adam needed it most. Did God send a angel? NO! Did he send just a messenger? NO! He came down Himself

 

When  Abraham wanted a son who could he turn to. No one  but  God Himself,  right? And so who came down to fulfill that promise  to him?  Was  it an angel? NO! The two angels went  down  to  Sodom. Right?  So  who  stayed with Him and  granted  His  promise? God did!