Why
Do we Answer questions, and what Kind of Questions should we Answer?
May 20th, 2007
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
Let us Pray. Dear
Father we have come into Thy Presence this morning to seek further light on the
many truths which have been presented to us by Your Prophet William Branham.
Although we recognize that we are not vindicated, yet we do believe you’re Your
Spirit indwells us and that You have given us Your Mind, that You also gave to
Your son Jesus. For You said, “let the mind that was in Christ be in You. And
that Mind in us tells us that all things in which we say, and do must come
forth from Thy Word. Therefore, Father, we come in respect to Your word, and
ask that You might establish us deeper and deeper into Thy Truth, for Your word
is Truth. And You are the Author and
Finisher of Our faith which is based in Thy Word. Comfort us Through Thy Truth, for Thy Word is
Truth. Teach us Thy ways of Lord, and we shall find rest for our souls. Be with
us as we approach Thy Word for the answers that so many people around the world
have on their hearts, and may we find solace in Thy Word. All this we ask in
the Lovely name You gave to your Son Jesus, and in which you have given to us,
Amen.
Now, this morning we are
going to begin looking at Questions that have come to me from you that are here
locally and also from other believers from all over the world. Now, I do not
say this as though I am some sort of authority, but William Branham was the
authority in this hour, and He took everything back to the Bible because He
told us that is our absolute. And the Bible he read from is the same Bible that
you have on your lap with you this morning. So there are no answers that come
to us via some super duper impression, or some supernatural way. Our answers
must come from God’s word. And God is the Word, and therefore, where there are
questions concerning Him and His word, the answers can be found in His word
which was written before the foundations of the world.
Now, just think of that. Any
question you have this morning concerning God and His Word, God Himself already
knew you would have that question, even while you were yet in Him before the
foundations of the world.
Now, I have heard people
say, “no question is a dumb question, because people who ask them truly want
answers. But that is not Scriptural at all. I will say this, that where there
is a question there has got to be an answer.
Doors
in door 65-0206 P:47 Oh,
what does a man knock on a man's door for? He's trying to gain entrance. He's
trying to get in. He's perhaps got something he wants to tell you or talk over
with you. He's got a message for you. And that's the reason people knock at one
another's door. They've got some reason to do it. There cannot be that happen
without some reason. You would not go to a man's house unless there's some
reason to go; if nothing else to visit, take him a message, or some...?...
There's some reason for a man to go knock on another man's door. Wherever there's a question, there has got
to be an answer. There could not be
a question without an answer. So that's what we look for in the Bible,
these questions of the day; the Bible
has the answer. And Christ is that
Answer.
And that is exactly the way that I am able to come up
against a mixed multitude of preachers where we many have several hundred
preachers in one gathering, and you know that some are just lying in wait to
try to trick you with questions that you can not answer. And in fact knowing
that Jesus Christ is the answer to any question concerning the Godhead, that is
how I am able to stand in the face of the critics and answer their questions
just as fast as they can ask them.
This happened in
But God is not mocked, and
when we finished the 12 questions they had given to us before lunch to study, I
asked for the pile that had been withheld from us so we had no time to study
them. When the minister brought up that pile, The Lord was very good to us, and
with what seemed like only 5 minutes or so, I was able to read their questions
and given them very explicit Bible answers and it seemed that God spoke through
my mouth as rapid as a machine gun could fire, and within a mere few minutes
the ministers just sat in awe and became very quiet and they asked no more
questions.
And we read in Luke 20: 40 19 And the chief priests and the scribes the
same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they
perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. 20 And
they watched him,
and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might
take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and
authority of the governor. 21 And they asked him,
saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither
acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest
the way of God truly: 22 Is it lawful for us to
give tribute unto Caesar, or no? 23 But he
perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt
ye me? 24 Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it?
They answered and said, Caesar's. 25 And he said
unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which
be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's. 26 And
they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at
his answer, and held their peace.
And then as we read on we
see that the Pharisee also asked questions trying to trick Jesus into saying
something they could use against him. But his answers were so perfect that we
read in verse 40 And after
that they durst not ask him any question at all.
Again we see also this same
thing take place in the following Scriptures.
Mark
12:13 And
they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. Notice their motives
for being their. to catch him in his words.
And again in Luke 11: 54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his
mouth, that they might accuse him.
And sometimes when they ask
you questions and you know their motive is not right, then you just don’t give
them an answer. You don’t have to. And Jesus Himself didn’t answer every
question asked of him. Luke 23: 9 Then he
questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.
So you see sometimes they
will use questions for motives other than to learn. In fact many times they sit
and listen, not to learn but to find an opening so they can speak their own
thoughts.
Church
Age Book Chapter 9 - The Laodicean
Church Age P:78 John
9:40-41. "And some of the
Pharisees which were with Him heard these words, and said unto Him, Are we
blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but
now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." The attitude of this age is exactly what it
was then. People have it all. They know it all. They cannot be taught. If a
point of truth from the Word comes up and a man tries to explain his view to
one with an opposing view, the listener is not at all listening that he might
learn, but is listening only to refute what is being said. Now I want to
ask a fair question. Can Scripture fight Scripture? Does the Bible contradict
the Bible? Can there be two doctrines of truth in the Word that say the
opposite or oppose the other? NO. IT CANNOT BE SO. Yet how many of God's people have their eyes open to that truth? Not even one percent, as far as I know,
have learned that ALL Scripture is given by God and ALL is profitable for
doctrine, reproof, correction, etc. If all Scripture is thusly given, then
every verse will dovetail if given a chance. But how many believe in
predestination unto election and reprobation unto destruction? Those who don't,
will they listen? No, they will not. Yet both are in the Word, and nothing will
change it. But to learn about it and
reconcile the truth of those doctrines with other truths that seem to oppose,
they will not take the time. But they stop their ears, and gnash with their
teeth, and they lose out. At the end of this age a prophet will come, but they
will be blind to all that he is doing and saying. They are so sure they are
right, and in their blindness they will lose it all.
But as far as a dumb question?
If you give a dumb question, you can expect a dumb answer. In Luke the first
chapter we see the story told of two people in whom the angel Gabriel visited.
One was Zacharias a priest and a righteous man. The other was the young woman
Mary. Now, the angel Gabriel came with good news concerning two births. The
first to Gabriel telling him that in his old age he and his wife would have a
child, and what ministry that child would be called to do. The other visit was
to Mary to tell he that she would conceive and bear a son Who would be the Son
of God.
Now, the thing God wrote
about Mary is that she didn’t question with doubt what was said to her, but she
said, “be it done unto me according to Thy word.” But that wasn’t the case with Zacharias. When
he was told what was to happen, he doubted that it could happen to one who was
as old as he and his wife. Therefore, he
questioned how that could be, and he was struck dumb and could not ask any more
dumb questions. So there are dumb questions and if you ask a dumb question you just
might get a dumb answer. And Zacharias was stricken dumb for asking a dumb
question. So he got a dumb answer.
Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby
shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am
Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and
to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold,
thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things
shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be
fulfilled in their season.
Notice he was stricken dumb
for asking a dumb question when he should have know better. And notice that it
had to be a preacher, because surely the dumbest questions I have heard all
around the world come from those preachers who have rejected the Words of God’s
vindicated prophet.
Notice what Brother Branham
said about this from his sermon called the Unchangeable word of God 60-0724 P:42 Now, Zacharias, under the shed blood of the
lamb, standing there...And Gabriel came to him and said, " I'm Gabriel, I’ve
come from the Presence of God." And He said, "You're going home. And
your wife will conceive, bear a son; you'll call his name John. He will be great,
and he will turn the hearts of the children of
But notice the difference
between him and Mary. From the same sermon brother Branham said, Unchangeable word of God 60-0724 P:55 Zacharias stayed right there on the
platform, and the Angel left him. And he was stricken dumb. Now, the Angel
said, "Your cousin, Mary, is already six months, as it is to be with a
mother." And said, "Now, this holy Thing that's born in you, will be
the Son of God." You know what Mary said? I wish we had more Marys here
now. Mary said, "Behold the handsmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according
to Your Word." Oh, my. She never questioned; she never questioned. And
another thing, she never wait till she felt life. She didn't wait till she was
positive. She didn't wait till she'd seen that something ceased by her.
So there are dumb question, but I am not saying this
to frighten you as though your questions are dumb. But we are commanded not to
answer questions which are meant to gender strife and contention.
2
Timothy 2: 23 But
foolish and unlearned questions avoid,
knowing that they do gender strifes.
Now, what are foolish and
unlearned questions? Well the word foolish was translated from the Greek word
Moros which we get the English word
In English we the word mo·ron
is a noun. 1. A moron is a person regarded as very stupid. 2. In Psychology a moron is a person of mild mental
retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having
communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational
education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is
now considered offensive. [From Greek moron, neuter of morosstupid, meaning
foolish]
In Titus 3: 9 Paul says, But avoid
foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about
the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
So we are told by the
Apostle Paul here in 2 Timothy not to
waste our time on moronic questions knowing that they only gender strife.
In 1 Timothy 6: 3-4 we also hear the Apostle Paul tell us to 3 If any man teach
otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to
the doctrine which is according to godliness; (God-likeness) He is proud,
knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil
surmisings,
So we see there are certain
types of people who have a tendency to delve into discussions that end up
provoking strife and envy and railings and surmisings. Now, what are these
words that are attributes or manifestations of such men and their dumb
questions.
Now, let’s read what the
Apostle Paul said again and as we read one of these words that needs further
light let’s insert that definition into the Words of Paul.
1 Timothy 6: 3-4 we also hear the Apostle Paul tell us to 3 If any
man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, (now, this word
wholesome was translated from the Greek word hugiaino which means to have sound
health, i.e. to be well (in body); or figuratively to be uncorrupt concerning
true in doctrine: To be in health, be safe and sound, to be whole or wholesome. 3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to
wholesome words,(and what doctrine is healthy? What words are healthy?
He continues) even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to
godliness; (which is God-likeness. And there is no other
doctrine that speaks of God-likeness but the doctrine of Christ so if any man
teach contrary to the doctrine of Christ or the Words of Jesus) He is proud,
knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words,(now, what does it mean to be
doting?
The word doting was translated from a Greek word which
means to be harping about something or to have a hankering about something, and
it speaks literally of having a diseased appetite. And in so doing they bring
about the following.) whereof cometh envy (which is ill-will and
jealousy. And Paul said this kind of mindset also brings), strife(which is defined as debate,
contention and quarreling. But nt only that, but the atmosphere they created is
also filled with),
railings (which is evil speaking and vilification. In other words
they use their mouth to cast blame and vilify others. And they also produce), evil surmisings, which
are evil suspicions that they throw out to try to get you to stop viewing the
truth.)
In other words these men produce nothing but evil
gossip to put out scarecrows to keep you from entering into the truth.
Now, let’s read this verse
again with the understanding of the words which the Apostle Paul is speaking to
us.
1 Timothy 6: 3-4 3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome
words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to
the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words,
And pride cometh before a fall. And pride tells the whole story. These are
proud Boasters
Yes, Paul even called them Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Romans 1:
30
And prophecied that they
would be this way at the end-time. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 2 Timothy
3:2
So we must be wise as
serpents and harmless as doves, but we must know this, that all questions have
motives, and we must come to an understanding first of what the motive is
before we can honestly answer the questions presented to us.
In 1 Timothy 1: 4 The Apostle Paul said,
Neither give heed to
fables and endless genealogies, which
minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
Now, what are fables? Fables
are made up stories with a moral to them. But William Branham, vindicated
prophet of God also called the Oneness and Trinitarian doctrines fables.
From Questions and answers COD 62-0527 P:88 brother
Branham said, I was laying the cornerstone that day of
the foundation there. It's wrote, laying right there in that cornerstone now,
and said:... “do
the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry. For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts
shall... heap for themselves together teachers, having itching ears;... and
shall be turned from the truth unto fables. (That's both oneness and trinity;)
So you see there are certain
types of people who can not possess the truth in their minds. They do not have
a mind geared to God and His Word, but they themselves are geared to the
gullibility of them that perish. In fact that is what Paul also said in 2 Thessalonians 2:10 And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that are geared to the
gullibility of them who are perishing; this gullibility caused by the fact that
they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. 11 And because of this God sends them a strong deluding influence that they
should believe the lie: 12 That they all might be
damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
So we see there are motives
in the questions people ask. And we must be able to discern the motives if we
are to answer the questions that are given to us, even if they be pure
legitimate questions concerning an understanding that perhaps someone is having
difficulty in perceiving the answer.
Brother Branham said in his QA on Genesis COD 53-0729 P:1 Now,
if anyone's got any questions that
they want to hand in, why, just push them right on up, let some child bring
them or whatever you want to. Or maybe, if we get through... I got about six
here on one page, and then here, then we got two over there. Now, we want to find out. The reason we do this is to find out what's
on the people's mind, what they're thinking about. See? And that's what makes a good strong church.
You've got to have the times, just like you got to comb the cockleburs out
like, you know, and everything, get all the things out of the way so that you
can move steadily. So now that's the
reason we have question night once in a while, is to find out.
Therefore, on the one hand
we ask the people to write down their questions so we can get a feel for where
they are at in their Spiritual maturity. Just like in School the teacher asks
the students questions to see whether they know the material or not. We call it
getting a pulse on where the people are at. And in the medical profession we
check the heart to determine the health of the individual whereas in the
Spiritual we also check the heart to see where the people are at with their
Sovereign God.
Now, sometimes there are
other reasons for questions as well. Sometimes we ask questions to see where
the person is standing. Or we ask questions in order to judge or prove that
person before we give them our confidence and trust. And that is exactly what
the Queen of Sheba did when she came to Solomon.
1 Kings 10: 1-3 And
when the queen of
Finally in closing we will read from 1 Thessalonians 5: 21
Prove all things; hold fast that which is
good. Let
us pray…