The Parables of Christ no. 29

A Humble Attitude

Sunday 4, 2004

Rev. Brian Kocourek

 

LUKE 18:1  And he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: 3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. 7    And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? 8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

 

Luke 18:9  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

 

Now, before we continue with this parable I want you to notice that we are told that the reason behind Jesus telling this parable is that He wanted to make a statement concerning those who thought too much about themselves. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves…

 

Now, you probably think, “who in the world trusts in themselves? And the answer is most everyone. There’s an old expression which is off the word, but it goes like this, God helps them that help themselves.I believe Benjamin Franklin said it, and that could be no further from the truth. God helps those who can’t help themselves. Why would you need God to help you if you can do it. And so we see here Jesus telling a parable concerning those people who have placed their trust in their own selves.

 

And this Scripture tells us how they trusted in themselves. It says they trusted in themselves because … Because why? Because  that they were righteous, and despised others: Now, we know the word righteous means to be rightly wise, and the Apostle John told us in ,  I JOHN 3:7  “he that doeth righteousness is righteous”.  So we see these men not only knew what was right to do, but they also did according to what they knew to be right. But there was something wrong here with these men. Not in their actions, but in their minds. You see, what Jesus is going to show us here in this parable is that it is not enough to know what is right, but you must keep yourself humble about concerning what you know to be right, or your right-wise-ness. But these guys got puffed up with the knowledge they had and began to despise others. Notice  they were righteous, They had a right understanding, but there was something wrong… and we are told they despised others.

 

Now, the word despise means 1.  to regard with contempt or scorn: 2. To dislike intensely; and it means to loathe: 3. To regard as unworthy of one's interest or concern: So we see this condition in the hearts of the Pharisees showed a certain hardness of heart towards people who were less fortunate than they were.

 

You know if there is one attitude I do not like it is when people shove their nose in the air and if it rained they would drown. Sometimes I wish it would rain, right over their head, so they might choke on their own arrogance. I know that sounds rough, but I hate arrogance, and I hate haughtiness. To me, people that are haughty and arrogant are only showing their ignorance. And the trouble of it is, the people that are usually the most arrogant are the most ignorant as well. Now, I am not talking about those without an education. I am talking about willful ignorance. The know it alls who willfully turn away from “Thus Saith the Lord”.

Now, you might ask, why would they turn down “Thus saith the Lord”? The answer is because they only listen to “thus saith me, or thus saith myself”. And they are willfully ignorant.  But these are men that Jesus said are despisers. They have no respect for any but themselves. They look down on all but those they have deemed to be on par with themselves. They scoff at the righteous, and make light of the Truth. And it was prophesied of these that they would play a prominent role at the end time, when the Lord would come on the scene.

 

II PETER 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,(notice he said knowing this first, in other words, this is the first thing you will notice, there will come forth scoffers, people who despise the Lord.

 

ACTS 13:40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. And so we see it prophecied that God will do a work in our day, a work which no man will believe thought a man William Branham declare it unto us.

 

And notice the main characteristic given to us to identify them when they come on the scene, The Apostle Peter tells us is that they will be ) walking after their own lusts, And that is exactly what the Apostle Paul warned us they would be as well. II TIMOTHY 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; (that means there is coming a time when they will no longer put up with safe and sound doctrine) but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, (the  people) having itching ears (the people having itching ears for what? To hear the things they want to hear.); 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. And so they turn down the doctrine in favor of fables or stories. They want to hear the stories about the supernatural occurrences in the meetings, but they could care less to understand what it is all about. No, they don’t want that. It doesn’t fit with their lustful desires.

 

And so in getting back to what the Apostle Peter was Telling us, we hear what these people will be saying…verse 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? (that’s Parousia, see? They will be saying, where is the promise of his Parousia, where is the promise of his presence? And why do they say that? Peter tells us the reason is their attitude…) for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. All things continue the same? They do? It seems to me that God is still on the scene doing great and mighty things and is opening the eyes and giving sight to the blind. But they do not see what God is doing, and so Peter tells us…  5 For this they willingly are ignorant,Notice he said they are “willingly ignorant”. Why?  Because it doesn’t fit with what they want. And what are they willingly ignorant of? That God has come, and His Parousia Presence is doing mighty works, and that God is on the scene, and yet they are willingly ignorant of this. And what makes them willingly ignorant? Because it didn’t come the way they thought it should come.

 

ISAIAH 56:10 tells us  His watchmen are  blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand (notice they can not understand. They couldn’t understand it if they wanted to. And why is that? Because) they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. In other words, they can not in any way understand because they are not interested in the Truth, they are only interested in what they can do for themselves…

 

HEBREWS 10:26 For if we sin (and sin is unbelief, so if we disbelieve) willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,  And how many ministers have willfully turned down the doctrine of Christ, even among us in this message.

REMEMBERING THE LORD  62-1209  70 A man said to me once, "I believe that's the Truth. But if I preached that, I'd be begging there in the street."  Do you remember the rich man and Lazarus, what their last and their eternal stage stood at? Though one was a beggar, and the other was a rich man, but the picture changed one day and both of them could remember. So people tonight holler about Judas that sold Him for personal gain, and so many do the same thing today, sell Him for personal gain. The priest of them days will also remember they sold their chance of Him, their chance to become His servant, to become His disciple, to become a convert to Him. They sold it for green poisoned jealousy. They were jealous of His doctrine.

 

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 that isn’t the way of man. Always ignorant of God’s ways, and so they try to establish their own ways. And the trouble is they don’t see anything wrong with that.

 

JUDE 1:17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Notice every time we hear of mockers, it is followed with who walk after their own ungodly lusts …19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

 

Notice that scripture after scripture tells us that those who would mock or despise the Doctrine of God which is the teaching of God, they all do so because they are not focused on what God wants, but their focus is on self, and self importance.  II TIMOTHY 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves,(and notice the other character traits of these lovers of self…they are also ) covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (and what is the power of God? Romans 1:16 tells us the Word of God is the Power of God unto salvation…)    6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women (and remember women represents churches) laden with sins (laden or loaded or overloaded with unbelief), led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Never able, that means they couldn’t even if they wanted to.

 

Now, Brother Branham said “the guy that can hardly rub to nickels together is the guy that acts like he owns the world”, and yet he said, when he met Kings, and dignitaries from around the world, they made him feel like he was the important one.

 

GOD'S PROVIDED WAY 59-0415A   E-34    I was preaching sometime ago, and a fellow come that would--belonged to a certain denomination. He said, "Billy, I was enjoying your message. But" said, "that woman back there that kept saying, 'Amen,' and crying," said, "she just like to froze me to death." Said, "I'm telling you, shivers run up my back." And I said, "If she wasn't doing it, shivers would be running up my back." I wouldn't know where I was. Oh, I love to feel the Spirit of God moving among the people, saturating them with the Holy Ghost. He said, "Oh, that nearly froze me." I said, "Brother, if you'd ever get to heaven, you really would freeze to death. Because there's going to be shouting, and praising God, and rejoicing, and thousands times thousands rejoicing, and singing, and praising God when they come into the Presence. You might as well get customized here before you get started that way."

E-35    Now, the Oriental type was for the son to stand there receive invitation. Now, Paul's group... I mean John's group had to receive the invitation, but Paul said, "Have you been robed since you have got your invitation. Have you received the Holy Ghost since you have believed?" They said, "We do not know whether there be any Holy Ghost." He said, "Then, unto what was you baptized?" They said, "Unto John." He said, "Then, John baptized unto repentance, saying on them, they should believe on Him that is come, that is, on Jesus." And when they heard this, they were baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. And Paul laid his hands on them, and the Holy Ghost came on them. You see the difference? Invitation's just come, you're invited.

  E-36    But then when the son met them with the invitation at the door, then he fit them in a robe (Amen. Now I feel religious.), fit them in a robe. Had one there for their size, and he put the robe on them so that everybody would look the same. You see, there's no "big guys." Oh, when people begin to say this, "Oh, if Brother Branham's a coming to pray for the sick..." That don't have nothing to do with it. I couldn't heal no one. There's no "big shots" with God. We're all His children, every one of us. There's no difference in us. We don't have to have the biggest campaign, or the biggest this, or the biggest that. That's carnal. And God will never bless. I doubt, sometimes, the robe being on a person, act like that. I tell you, brother, God makes us all the same from the... All of us are of One when we got the robe on. No matter whether they can't talk, and don't even know their ABC's, or whatever it is, we're all the same in Christ Jesus. That's why I made that remark, what I did awhile ago. We all want to be the same.

 

Notice the attitude of these men. They had the right understanding, and they had the right actions, but they allowed their own attitude to become puffed up and by becoming puffed up it destroyed their ability to be effectual to others. 

 

PSALMS 51:17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Now, attitude is the number one destroyer of any ministry. If you can not love the people you are trying to help, then you should get out of the ministry.

 

Brother Branham said the reason his ministry was so effective, is because of his great love for people.

 

DO YOU NOW BELIEVE  55-0610  E-28 If you want to be a real outstanding person in your church, wherever church you go to, you just fall in love with God with all your heart; and when you do that, you will fall in love with every member of your church, and every member of everybody else's church with all your heart. Now, you can't bluff that. Now, there's something about it that people know. If there's anything I can contribute the success of my meetings to, earthly speaking, is to know that people have a conscious to know that I truly love people. I just love people. And they know that. And you can't fool them on that. If you are making out, or pretending... Just like Christianity, if you're pretending  to be a Christian, you will never make a go of it. No, sir. It's absolutely got to be there. That's all. Love will do it. I have been a great lover of wild life. You know that. And I've noticed in animal life, if you love animals, if you love them, you can do anything with them you want to. And if you don't love them, they know it. And if you're afraid of them, like a biting dog, if somebody said, "The dog will bite," if you're afraid of him, you're sure going to get bit. See? Now, you're not going to fool him. You might say, "I'm not afraid of him," but you... That better come from somewhere besides your lips, 'cause he knows better. See? Now, if you're not afraid of him, it's different.

 

And I would like to add, if you can’t fool a dumb animal, how do you think you will fool the church of the living God? But notice, and the thing I want to emphasize from this quote is that brother Branham attributed the success of his meetings to one thing in particular outside from the supernatural presence of God, and that is his love for the people. He said,  If there's anything I can contribute the success of my meetings to, earthly speaking, is to know that people have a conscious to know that I truly love people. I just love people. And they know that.”

 

Now, let’s look at this parable that Jesus tells us here, because we know that the reason for this parable was to deal with that self righteous spirit that comes upon people who know that they are believing the right things, and they know that they are walking according to what they believe, but someone, they juts have gotten puffed up in their own thinking, and that is when the Spirit of God leaves them.  Because God can not use a people that are puffed up. When you get puffed up, that is when God will take his flight.

 

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,(oh, no not me, I am special…but other men they are nothing but a bunch of) extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 But I fast twice in the week, and  I give tithes of all that I possess.

 

And notice how he goes on and on about I, I this and I that , it sounds to me like he has some kind of eye disease.

 

UNWELCOMED CHRIST 55-0911  152  "I, I, I, I, I, I," you know, that's a disease, so many people get it. "I will do. I did. I will." Get "I" out of the way. Where does Jesus belong in this thing? "I will do." See? "I will do," and "I will have," and "I will say." And, "I, I, I, I," that's all they think about.

 

From the sermon PRIDE  55-0807A  E-29 Brother Branham said,   I, I, I, I, I, I," that's all you can hear. "I did this; I will be better off; I will do this." I, I, I and no place for Christ.

 

But notice the other guy. The one that was despised and rejected like our Saviour Jesus was. 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

 

And if God can ever get a hold of a man that will willfully humble himself, or a group of people that will do the same, you watch what God will do with that man or that church. The way up is down. That’s right. Oh, how smug people get within themselves. You’re no going to tell me nothing. I already know everything I’m supposed to know. Well, that may be true but you don’t know what the elect are supposed to know, not with an attitude like that, anyway.

 

God wants a people with a humble spirit. Then he will use them. Look what He did with his own Son. He came to heal the sick, the palsy, then leper, the people who were reproached by society. That is who he came for. The stupid fisherman that couldn’t even spell his own name. Peter and John, dumb and unlearned, and yet the people knew they had been with Jesus.

 

THREE WITNESSES 51-0728  E-55  Be humble; let yourself be the lowest of all. Don't ever exalt yourself; if you do, you're going to become abased. Humble yourself, and God will lift you up. Don't figure that God owes you anything; remember, you owe Him all. And we're not under obligation, or God's not under obligation to us; we are under obligation to God. And love Him with all your heart; believe on Him and God will bless you, I'm sure.

REV CHAP 5 PT1 BRUISED SERPENT 61-0611 145   John was expecting to see a Lion come forth, but he saw a Lamb. There you are, brothers. Through meekness, through sweetness, through the Holy Spirit that we conquer, not some great mighty intellectual giant, but he that can humble himself is the man who conquers. The man who can be kicked around and still be a servant of Christ, that's the conqueror.

 

15 ¶ And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

 

In closing let me say this. It makes no difference with God how many gifts of the spirit he has given you, and how much knowledge He has allowed you to have, if you can not humble yourself God will never use you.

 

Now, you may ask why are I am  preaching this sermon today. And I will tell you that It has bothered me to see many of my brothers in Christ who know and love the doctrtine of Christ so much and who have taken such a good stand for it, and then to see them become so hard in their stand that they have become hard of heart to the things of God. If it doesn’t come by their church or by their pastor or by their person of choice, then it doesn’t come at all. And we must be careful to never get that denominational spirit on us that says, “If you are not looking through my glasses you are not lookingat all.”   

 

Brother Branham said from his sermon, GREATER THAN SOLOMON 63-0628E  94   We try to bring it over in one little bunch, and say, "We got it, and you ain't got nothing else to do with it, because you don't see through my glasses." We mustn't do that. It's not right. As long as the devil can make you fight one another, he don't have to fight. But when you see that uniting of the powers of God, gathering His church together from the four winds of the earth, then you're going to see something take place.

 

And that is exactly what God is doing right now. He is gathering together in one His seed from the four corners of the earth, and we are in great anticipation to see God’s presence Glorifies among His people.

 

In closing I would like to share with you a quote from Brother Branham concerning the attitude we must have if God is going to contiinue to use us to spread the light of His glorious  Appearing to others.

 

PALMERWORM LOCUST CATERPILLAR 59-0823  19    And if it so happens that you, your church doesn't believe, or you do not believe just the things that we speak of as our church Doctrine, we trust that it will by no means bring an offense. Because the very first step to successful Christianity, and to show that man has received the Holy Spirit, is humility, real God-given humility, that It must be given humbly. But, yet, a church without a doctrine is just like a jellyfish; it has no backbone. So, we've got to have backbone in it. And not also backbone, but teeth also, because the Church of God must eat the Bread of Life.

 

And so we must have a boackbone, but we also must know our place in Christ. For true humility is knowing your place in the Gospel.  Anyone can fuss and stew over what they think is right or not, but Jesus didn’t act that way.  He knew what was right and He stood his ground, and yet He could have called ten thousand angels, but he didn’t. He went to the cross totally rejected by all, even those closest to him denied him several times.  And yet when he returned to them, he did not lash out at them, he forgave them, and loved them.

 

Let’s bow our hearts in prayer. Dear gracious Father, we have come here this morning to draw closer to Thee. We know Father, that we can take no credit for the things you are doing, for you are the author and You also are the finisher of our faith. So we come with but one request, Dear Father and that is to get ourselves out of the way, that you might use us in a way which will help others to know you better, for we ask it in the name of Your firstborn Son, for it was He that showed us how to get ourselves out of the way when He let go of His own will to honor your will.