ONENESS
# 40
God
Deals with us through His word
Brian
Kocourek
ONENESS PP. 167-168 <read>
" God deals with individuals keeping his Word". So
then we might
say that this let's u know that God
does not deal with
individuals who do not keep His Word. I know this
might sound
tough but it is the same rationale that Martin Luther
used in
viewing Justification in Paul's letter to the Romans. Let's just
review it again.
ROMANS 10: 13 - 17 <read>
NIV verse 17 " Consequently, faith
comes from hearing the
message, and the message is heard through the Word of
Christ.
Now let me read to you what Martin Luther said,
ROMANS 10;14
<read>
Even though they say that they hear, they boast in vain,
unless
they hear [1]true
preachers[1];
for to hear false prophets means as
much as not to hear. They hear and they do not
hear; they have
ears, but do not hear, nor do they preach the
Word of God. This
is a striking statement against all conceited
hearers and stu
dents of the Bible.
ROMANS 10: 15a <read>
That's the problem we see so much of today. Men with
itching ears
wanting to be somebody by being claiming they have a
calling and
yet they have no church of their own. So they let you
know in no
uncertain terms that they are called, yet God hasn't
given them a
flock.
Now the scripture gives us 4 points
to reckon with.
1) They can not call upon the lord unless they
believe.
2) They can not believe unless they hear the truth.
For it
wouldn't do them any good to hear error. They'd be better
off
not hearing at all. Because if they hear false they will
believe what is false.
3) They can not hear without a True preacher. For what
good would
it do them to hear a false preacher.
4) Unless the preacher is God sent, they can not
preach.
So as Luther put it...
1) The scripture says, "It is impossible that
those preach, who
are not sent".
Now, I would like to add,
"doesn't the Word itself say in
Proverbs
before great men". So if these who claim they
have a calling are
truly called and have a gift, where is their
flock. Why do they
always have to come behind someone else who is called
and try to
ride their coat-tails. Like brother Vayle always says, "Let them
get their own soap box", then you'll see if
there is a gift or
not.
But most of them have struck out and so they hang around someone
Who is genuinely called and sent by God. If they
are called why
don't they have a people to preach to. They want to blame every
one else for their poor showing. Don't blame it on the people,
blame it on the lack of a gift! Doesn't Matt 7 say? "Not all who
say Lord, Lord, shall enter therein. But He that
doeth the will
of my Father". And the other thing they
keep misreading is that
they want to say the gift belongs to the
Holy Ghost and He is
only channeling it through the man. But my bible
says, "a
man's
gift maketh room for him". Now it may have been God's
Gift to
begin with and actually, it had better have been His
to begin
with, but when I give you a gift, it's not mine
any more. It's
yours to do with as you please. And that is why God must
not only
foreordain His gifts to the church, but He also
predestinates
that Gift to the correct vessel who is made in such a way
to give
it out readily to those entrusted to his care. I won't
hand over
the car keys to my child that is not old enough and
trained to
receive them. Brother Branham did not always have the sign in
His
hand or the discernment. He received it after he was child
trained.
So in reading the scripture correctly it says, unless God
sends
you, you had better shut up, because even though
you might run,
your running will be in vain. Doesn't the very
word [1]messenger
imply one who is a deliverer of a message. And if God never sent
him then who is he a messenger of, but himself. It's got
to be .
What message he brings he brings of his
own accord.
JER 23: 21 <read>
As I just said, "if God
did not send them, then who's message are
they speaking"? I like the NIV translation best here.
NIV "I did not send these prophets, yet they have
run with their
message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophecied."
Didn't Jesus say, "I
come in My fathers name and you receive me
not, yet another will come in his own name
and you'll receive
him". Let's read the full passage around that
scripture.
JOHN
"And you have not
His Word (His thought) living in your hearts,
because you do not believe and adhere to, and trust
in, and rely
on Him Whom He has sent- That is why you do not keep His
Message
living in you, because you do not believe in the Messenger
Whom
He has sent".
"You search and
investigate and pore over the scriptures dili
gently, because you suppose and trust that you have Eternal
Life
through them. And these very scriptures testify about me! And
still you are not willing, but refuse to come to
might have Life. I receive not glory from men - I
crave no human
honor, I look for no mortal fame. But I know you and recognize
and understand that you have not the love of God in you".
"I have come in my
Father's name and with His power and you do
not receive me - your hearts are not open to me, you give me
no
welcome. But if another comes in his own name and his own power
and with no other authority but himself, you will
receive him and
give him your approval".
"How is it
possible for you to believe - how can you even learn
to believe - who are content to seek for and receive praise
and
honor and glory from one another, and do not seek the
praise and
honor and Glory which come from Him Who alone is God?"
I have yet to meet one of these guys who claims to
have a calling
and really doesn't who is not at the receiving line
most the
time. They are not the ones who are constantly giving, giving,
giving. They are the ones who think the world owes
them a living.
And since the world isn't stupid enough o
fall for it, they think
the church will. And you know what? Some churches do. But this
one won't. You'll have to do it over my dead body.
I've learned my lesson. I work hard for my living and I do not
sponge off of the people. I can say like Paul said, I have
labored with my own hands and have ministered to my
own needs
lest I put a burden upon any man. But also as Paul
said, so say I
"I have not shunned to declare unto
you the full Gospel of Jesus
Christ!" I work hard because God
made me that way and any man who
won't isn't fit to call himself a Christian.
258
Q & A JEFF.IN COD
919-992 64-0823
" A minister came to me the other day, said,
"Brother Branham,
they're getting the awfullest cult
down there you ever seen."
Said, "Each
one of them, every morning, they go out; and they
said they ain't going
to work, it's too close to the rapture."
They're not going to work. Well, that just shows you they don't
even understand. See? Right.
(This tape's going down there!) So,
yes, sir! You ought to take a lesson from the ant, the Bible
says, you know. If they don't work, they
don't eat. So that's
just exactly right".
46 MAN.RUNNING.FROM.PRESENCE
JEFF.IN V-5 N-8 65-0217
"And here we find
an example of all of us. Every one of us, we
always are running from something. We run from
trouble; we run
from
responsibilities.
We're all prone to do that. We're more
prone to run than we are to stand and face it out. See? We just
find ourselves running. Sometimes we find ourself
prone to run
from work. We don't want to--we don't want to
work. Some people
just think they can make their living without
working. But I
think Solomon, it was that said we could find here the
answer in
watching an ant. You know a little ant, they tell me if every
ant
doesn't work and lay in, that ant doesn't eat that
winter either.
So everybody has to work".
125 SEED.NOT.HEIR.WITH SHUCK JEFF.IN V-6 N-4
65-0218
" They're vultures like the world.
They're lazy, soft,
compromisers. That's all
there is to it. Did you ever see an
eagle compromise? No, sir! There's no compromising in him.
Neither does a genuine Christian. He ain't
soft. He will hunt
till he finds it. Amen! Yes, sir! He will find his
meat. He wants
fresh manna. He will get down there an
dig till he finds it. He
will fly higher and higher. If it's not in this valley, he will
raise a little higher. The higher you go, the more you can see.
So it's time for the eagles of this day to get to flying
higher,
dig into God's promises, not live on vulture food
that's been
killed years ago. Get out of it".
JER 48: 10 NIV
" A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord's work! A curse on
him who keeps his sword from bloodshed."
Jer 48:10 AMPLIFIED
" Cursed be he who does the work of the Lord negligently -
with
slackness, deceitfully; and cursed be he who keeps back his
sword
from blood ( in executing Judgment pronounced by the
Lord)."
Now Luther put it this way.
2) "It is impossible that those who hear, are
without a
preacher". In other words, he's saying, it is
impossible for
those who are without a preacher to be hearing.
Then He says,
3) "It is impossible that they believe who do not
hear".
In other
words, if you don't hear how can you believe? You
can't. They say, I got the tapes, I don't need a
pastor.
Then go
ahead and rip out Ephesians 4 because it says that
The five
Gifts of God to His church, Apostle, Prophets, and
teachers, Evangelists and pastors are for the perfecting
of
the church. So no 5-fold, no perfection,
period.
Then Luther says,
4) "It is impossible that they call on Him, that they do not
believe". How
can you call on Him if you don't believe
Him. How can you believe or even call on Him if you
don't
even know Him? You'll have to call upon a false god.
And finally he makes point number 5.
5) "It is impossible that they who do not call
upon the name of
the Lord shall be saved. So, then, the entire source
and
origin of salvation rests on this, that God sends out
some
one, (a true minister of the Word). If He does not send
out
any, then they who preach, preach falsely, and their
preach-
ing is no preaching at all. In
fact, it would be better for
them not to preach. then, they also
who hear, hear error,
and it would be better for them not to hear. Then also
they
who believe, would believe false doctrine, and it would
be
better for them not to believe".
" Then they who would call upon Him would call falsely (upon a
false Lord) and it would be better for
them not to call."
You know, that is exactly 2 COR 11: 1-4,
where they receive
another Gospel, another spirit and thus another Jesus.
He goes on to say..."For such preachers do not
preach; (they
might talk but not preach. I know a brother who claimed to
have a
gift of gab, and he pastors a very large church up
north, yet he
was perfectly right. He does have a gift to gab, but that is a
far cry from being called and set apart for service by God
Him
self). Now back
to Luther.."such hearers do not hear; such
believers do not believe, such callers do not call;
they will be
damned because they would be saved by falsehood. So we read in
Proverbs
answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find
me: for
that they hated knowledge, and did not
choose the fear of the
Lord."
He then said, "Only
they can preach with certainty who proclaim
the Gospel without error." Now, I know there are those who want
to believe that only brother Branham preached without
error. But
if there is a true five fold ministry, then they will
have to be
teaching Truth and not error.
ROMANS 10: 15b <read>
"By this quotation
the Apostle shows that only those can preach
truly, who are sent by God. Those cannot preach
the Divine Word
and be messengers of God, whom He has not sent, and to
whom He
has not entrusted His Word. With the same words the Apostle also
points out the nature of spiritual peace and its
gifts. These
blessing are heard only in the Divine Word and are
apprehended by
only by Faith. They can not be presented in visible form as the
Jews expected".
"In Verse 15
the word "beautiful" stands for purity, for they
that preach the Gospel of peace and bring glad
tidings of good
things do not proclaim the Gospel for their own advantage or
on
account of vain Glory, as this happens here and there today.
They
preach solely from obedience to God and for the
sake of the
salvation of their hearers".
So then those True Preachers who preach the True
Gospel will echo
the sentiment of Paul when he said in
1 COR
"Did the
word of God originate with you? Or are you
the only
people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or
spiritually
gifted, then let
him acknowledge that what I am
writing to you is the Lord's command. If he ignores this, he
himself will be ignored."
156-2 SMYRNAEAN.CHURCH.AGE -- CHURCH.AGE.BOOK.CPT.4
"In every
age we have exactly the same pattern. That is why the
light comes through some God-given messenger in a certain
area,
and then from that messenger there spreads the light
through the
[1]ministry of others who have been faithfully taught[1]".
Now that is the key right there. Faithfully
taught. There are
those who have never subjected themselves to the elders in
this
message. And if you can not submit, how do you expect others to
submit to your teaching them. "He that will teach must first be
taught". There's no other way. This pattern is all through the
scriptures. When you get someone who isolates
themselves, they
show right there that they are out of the will of God and
don't
even know His Word much less believe it.
E-52
THIRSTING.FOR.LIFE -- PHOENIX.AZ -- 60-0304
" And this little deer will get out to
itself, away from the
herd. That's the one the wolf works on. And to you, old man or
woman, when you separate yourself from believers... People say,
"I can
stay at home, be just as good a Christian as I can at
church." You can't.
The Bible said, "Not forsake our
assemble
ourselves
together, and
that much more as we see the time
coming."
If you're a Christian, you long to
go where other
Christians are, and fellowship with other Christians.
So you
cannot stay away from church and live the same life. You
can't do
it, because it's like, "I'm hungry, but
I will never go to a
table. I just... I will never eat. I just, I ain't going to do."
See? You've got to go and feed on the
Word of God, and fellowship
one with another. We need one another more now than we ever did
need each other is now. When you get yourself singled out from
the rest of them making yourself just a little
different, you
don't want to associate with them because they believe
this, and
don't want to associate with that, you're getting on
dangerous
ground, right then, keeping away from church.
Find the one of
your choice, and remain there, and be a Christian brother
to all
of them. That's the way to be a real Christian. Then we've got
fellowship, protection; people love you and pray for you".
3 IDENTIFICATION -- TUL.CA -- V-22 N-14 -- 64-0216
"If you don't have a church, you must see
that you'll die
spiritually. You'll just dwindle away".
HEB 10: 22-25, notice 26 follows <read>
EZEK 3: 17 - 21 <read>
HEB 13; 17 <read> They watch as they which
must give account. To watch means to be sleepless, to keep
awake.
Standing vigil over you. Grief = sigh, moan, murmur, grudgingly.