Questions and Answers #21
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
October 3, 2007
This evening I would like to read something from brother
Branham’s sermon on the THE MASTERPIECE paragraph 10 where he said, Now, we got to
place our faith somewhere. And if I, or any of us in life tried to make a
success in life and become many times a multimillionaire... But what are we
going to do with that? We got to come down at the end of the road and what good
is it to us then? See? And money is a scrip; it's an exchange; but you can't
exchange it for Life. Only God has Life.
Now, that is the real question we should be asking
ourselves this evening. He said, “we got to place our faith somewhere.” So the
question I ask you this evening is, “where are you placing your Faith.”
We miss God so many times by missing what He is doing
in the little things in our lives. We focus to much on the large things, the
grand things, the super things, but we know that God hides Himself in
simplicity, and we even testify to that and yet when it comes to our own lives
we seem to have our thoughts elsewhere than the little things. But it is the
little foxes that spoil the vine, and it is the little things that are left
undone that will undo us. And it is the little things that God makes Himself
known in.
This day this scripture 65-0125 P:5 I
watch little things. Just every little thing has a meaning to me. I don't
believe that anything happens to a Christian by chance. I think it's ordained
of God, 'cause Jesus said He'd make all things work together for good to them
that loved Him.
And again he said from God's only provided
place of worship 65-1128M P:46 Every little jot, everything,
you must be faithful in. It's always the little foxes spoils the vine.
Sometimes you leave... It's not the big
things you do; it's the little things you leave undone. Remember, a chain
is only its strongest at its weakest link. "Blessed
are they that do all the commandments of God, that they might have a right to
enter in." Do all God said, if it said for
women to have long hair, you say...A man told me not long ago, said, "I
don't preach a clothes-line religion." I said, "Then you're not
preaching the Gospel." That's right. God laid it out there; He said what
to do. And you either do it... That's your natural, reasonable thing. What
little thing, the little insignificant. Jesus said, "Blessed are they that
would take all the little things, do the little thing." And a woman to let
her hair grow, that's just a, why, it's just something she can do, and she won't
even do that. She won't even do that." Oh, teach us the great
things." How can you teach the great things, when you won't do the simple,
common things? Because, you see, your motive and your objective is wrong.
Brother Branham
said from his sermon, Influence 64-0315 P:40 Here's
a good example. Always be conscious of your littleness, not your bigness. Today
we Americans so much... That we try to think that we're a big somebody, we
belong to something big, some big organization. Some great big something's
got... All great big, big, big is all we see. One time in the Bible we have an
example of that. There was a prophet went back in the cave, and Elijah... And
God was trying to attract his attention to come out. And there come the fire,
and smoke, and blusterous winds across the mountain, and thunder, and
earthquakes, and shakings and everything else. The prophet never even moved.
God wasn't even in it. But when that still small voice spoke, he covered his
face and come forward. When the still, small voice of God's Word speaks, not a
racket, not our big denominations, not our big something, but that still, small
voice of the Word that's looked over, that should call a man to repentance. God
in His Word. Yet he covered his feet and become conscious of his, our
littleness before God.
Evening messenger 63-0116 P:93 Notice, big noises, but it
didn't attract the prophet. The prophet didn't care about the big noises. But
when he heard that still small Voice, he knew that was the Word; he veiled his
face and come walking out. You know, the sun can draw more water in fifteen
minutes, without any noise at all, And we make more noise drawing a gallon of
water than the sun does a million barrels. That's right. We're always looking
for something that's got big and a lot of "hurrah," and a lot of
racket to it.
Now, as I said earlier in this message,
brother Branham said, “we got to place our faith somewhere.” So the
question is where do we place our Faith, and we know that faith is a
revelation.
Hebrews 11:4 tells us By faith (by
refelation) Abel
offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God
testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Now, notice that Abel’s sacrifice was a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain’s sacrifice. So then Cain’s sacrifice had to
be an excellent sacrifice if Abel’s sacrifice was a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain’s. And in order to be “more excellent”, the other must be excellent.
And Cain’s sacrifice was an excellent sacrifice because it was Deuteronomy 26
the “first fruit offering”. So Cain’s sacrifice was very Bible based.
Therefore, Cain was a fundamentalist believer.
Deuteronomy 26: 1 And
it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth
thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the
earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee,
and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy
God shall choose to place his name there.
Now, notice that Cain offered unto God a
first fruit offering which is a harvest offering or Resurrection offering,
because the harvest represents the resurrection time when the reapers shall
come and harvest the crop. But his revelation was out of season, for without
the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins, and there will be no
resurrection to life without the once for all blood sacrifice.
So Cain’s sacrifice although an excellent
one, was out of season. And when Cain had a son He called Him Enoch. But this
Enoch was not the Enoch from Adam that would be taken in the first
Rapture. But Cain was a fundamentalist
and he believed the Scriptures and could read them in the stars as could Adam
and all those who lived back then were taught to do so.
But John said he killed his brother because his deeds
were evil.
1 John 3: 11 For
this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 Not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own
works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Now, it does not
say here that the slaying of his brother was the evil deed, but he slew his brother
because his deeds were evil. And what was his evil deed? The same Apostle who wrote this epistle wrote
also the Gospel according to John, and said, John 3:
19 And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because why? Because their deeds were evil.
They won’t come to the light because they
think they have a better understanding of the Word.
So he offered unto God an excellent
sacrifice, and yet it was called evil by the Apostle John. And this same John said the evidence of God
seed is Love and Cain is not an example of Love. In fact if you look at the
spirit upon him, you would see that because God did not accept his sacrifice he
got angry and killed his brother. That is not Love, and that is exactly what
the apostle John pointed out that Cain is not to be an example of this love of
the brethren that will manifest who is God seed and who is not.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13,
“there remains Faith, Hope and Love and the greatest of these
is Love.” Therefore it begins with Faith but must come up from
faith into hope which is an earnest expectation, and then that earnest
expectation comes forth in an expression of giving which Paul calls love. The
first thing is faith which is a revelation, and then if that Faith is a genuine
revelation it will build up an earnest expectation from it. For if you truly
believe something then you earnestly expect that something to bring forth and
the bringing forth is what is called Love. Love is always characterized in the
scriptures as giving. For God so loved the world that He gave.
If a man has a revelation about a woman to
be his bride, it will build up an earnest expectation within him that will
bring forth a giving. So in fact the giving expresses the revelation. And so
does your sacrifice express your revelation.
You see, your
sacrifice is a result of what is revealed to you. And you become your
revelation. Abel offered up to God a bleeding dying lamb, and he became just
that.
From the Invisible union of the bride 65-1125 P:68 brother
Branham said, What is a revelation? Jesus
said, "Upon this Rock I'll build My church, and the gates of hell can't
prevail against it." Faith is a
revelation, because faith has been revealed to you. Abel, by faith offered by revelation (faith)
offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than that of Cain. Cain thought they
eat apples. They still got that idea, but it wasn't. It was adultery: serpent's
seed. And there, when the Seven Seals opened, it declared it and proved it. (My
book's just out on it. I think we have got a thousand here now. See?) Notice,
that's Scripturally from Genesis to Revelations. At the end-time both trees are
coming to the seed and proving themselves.
Now, if
something is truly revealed to you then it will produce within you an earnest
expectation which is hope, and if so then it will end in an expression of love.
And so if our sacrifices to God do not come from an expression of Love then
they are of no use to us or God.
Paul said, “Though I give my
body to be burned and I do not have Love, what does it profit me?”
And notice that Cain’s works were not an expression of Love, for when given an
opportunity to do right he rejected it and killed his brother to get him out of
the competition for God’s attention. And how many preachers have done the same
thing in this hour. When they know they don’t have the full truth they attack
the man and try to kill his influence. Now, that will never get you closer to
God!, So why do something that stupid?
Works is faith expressed
65-1126 P:50 In a audience of people, where a prayer
line comes through, you'll find some... And they were all good people, we'll
say. There's some that's trying hard to believe it, trying to work themselves
into it. Some just can't do it at all. And others,
it's just by grace; it's just given to them. Now, there is the difference.
See? That does it. That's the real
revelation, because faith is a revelation from God. It must be revealed
first.
And from The Rapture 65-1204 P:40 Brother Branham said, But
to the church, the Bride, the rapture is
a revelation to her. It's revealed to her, that the revelation, the true
Bride of Christ will be waiting for that revelation of the rapture .Now, it is
a revelation, for the revelation is
faith. You cannot have a revelation without it being faith. Faith is a
revelation, because it's something that's revealed to you. Faith is a revelation. Faith is something
that has been revealed to you
like it was to Abraham, that could call anything contrary to what had been
revealed to him as though it wasn't so. Now, faith... That's what faith is, is
the revelation of God. The church is built upon a revelation, the whole entire
body.
Now, brother Branham said in this sermon “The Masterpiece”
“we got to place
our faith somewhere.” So the question I want you to consider this
evening is where are you placing your Faith. What do you place your faith in?
Because, that will tell you where you are going to.
You see, if you have a faith, then there must be an
earnest expectation, and if so then what are you earnestly expecting? What is
your hope? And if there is a hope then that hope will manifest itself I what
you do.
Now the Apostle Paul said, Romans 8: 24 For we are saved by hope: But I thought
he said, Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
So you see it actually is by Grace that we
are saved, because it is not what we have done but what He has done for us, and
the grace given to us is by His Faith in the Father to keep His Word, and if we have His Faith and if it is truly
genuine, then out of that faith comes forth a hope or earnest expectation, and
out of that earnest expectation comes forth an expression resulting in an act
of love. And that is why this Same Apostle could say in Romans 8: 24 For we are saved
by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience
wait for it.
Martin Luther said, “Hope
denotes an expectation that is most intense. Hope that grows out of the ardent
longing for that which is greatly desired, makes love ever greater by the very
distance that separates it. Through such high tensioned hope there is created
so to speak, a unity between the one who hopes and that which he hopes
for.” And Paul said if you se it then you no longer hope for
it. If you see it you no longer earnestly are expecting it as though it is not
there. That is why hope is that which is not seen, and yet it is earnestly
expecting for that which is not yet arrived. But when it comes to that place
then Love takes over and the giving begins. And as Brother Branham said, your
faith has to have a place where it is focused in on. “we got to place our faith somewhere.” For where you place your faith is where you
are earnestly expecting from.
Questions and answers COD
54-0103M P:32 Now, notice then when they were captured
and carried away into
Explaining healing and Jairus 54-0216 P:37 The
devil's just trying to scare you out of something. He's trying to put something
off somewhere else, say, "Some of these days you'll be this." You are
now. Now, we're sons of God. Now, we're seated together in heavenly places.
Now, we have all powers in heavens and the earth. See? Now, we have it. Not in
the millennium, we won't need it then. We got it now. We're... Right now we are
the sons of God. "It does not appear what we shall be, but we know we'll
be like Him." What you are here is a reflection of what you are somewhere
else. "Those who He called, He justifies." Is that right? "Those
who He justified, He has glorified." Already in the Presence of the
Father, we have a glorified body. Whew! Wasn't that deep? All right. We'll find
out whether it's right or not. "If this earthly tabernacle be dissolved,
we have one already waiting." Is that right? That's right. So right now,
and what we are there, is a reflection. Here, what we are here, is a reflection
of what we are somewhere else. So if your deeds are evil, you know where it
comes from. You know where your other body's a waiting.
Questions and answers COD 54-0103E P:97 What
you are here... Get this in your mind now. I'm going to close. But what you are
here is a sign that you are something else somewhere. You've always wanted to
be in perfection, you Christians. There is a perfection, and that perfection is
not in this life. But every man and woman here that is a Christian, every
person that is a Christian here now is already glorified in the Presence of
Jesus Christ. And you've got another body. You won't have some other time; you
have right now. Right now there's another body waiting for you if this one
should perish. Could you think of that. Study that just a minute. Do you know
every one of us may be in eternity before sun rises tomorrow morning? Now, if
you're not a Christian, my friend, there's only one thing left for you. You've
got to go that way. If you're on that road, you have to go that road. If you're
a grain of corn, you'll produce corn. If you're a cocklebur, you produce
cocklebur life. Now, if you've been belonging to a church somewhere that
doesn't know and doesn't teach, and just lets you come to church and be a
member of the church... You say, "Well, Brother Branham, my church teaches
that we must accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. If we believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ we are saved." If your life doesn't compare with that, you
haven't made it yet.
Therefore if you are earnestly expecting
from what our faith or revelation has told you then your life will reflect it,
and your focus will be on that and your expectation will be focused on that one
thing. And thus your life will be given over to that which has been revealed to
you. And that is the sacrifice. For no greater love has a man than he lay down
his life for a friend. That is the ultimate sacrifice and expression of Love.
Where is your faith today? Is it in
storing up treasures on earth where the moth doth devour and the rust does
corrupt? Or are you storing up your treasure in Heaven where neither moth nor
rust can destroy. Where is your Faith today, where is your revelation? It
reflects in the life you live.
Let us bow our heads and our hearts in
prayer.