Questions and Answers #25
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
October 17, 2007
Before I begin this morning
I would like to thank brother Vayle for the inspiration for this message. Some
of the thoughts I am bringing out here come from a sermon he preached called
Negative confession back in 1965. It was one of his great sermons on faith that
he preached back in those days, but it is still very appropriate for us in this
hour.
Now, we have been
speaking about faith, and we looked at the faith of jesus from
But this morning we
want to answer the question, why does Faith seem to work in some while it
doesn’t in others? Well, we have already shown that we all are given a measure
of Faith. But we know since there is only one faith, then that measure of faith
no matter what the measure it is a perfect faith, but the problem is that this
perfect Faith is in an imperfect vessel.
It’s like when we have
a light go out. The same current still works in the other bulbs but just one
seems to go out. That is because that bulb was weaker than the others. But the
current doesn’t change, and neither does the faith. It’s the weak vessel that
causes the current to not do what it is ordained to do. So we need to look into
this problem because we all have weakness in our vessel. That is why we came to
earth in these vessels is for testing. So the vessel is what causes your faith
to waver.
When brother Branham
spoke on the token he said that a token is an evidence that the price has been
paid. Therefore it is the assurance of having that thing which has been paid
for. And Faith is the assurance of things hoped for the evidence of things not
yet seen. So your measure of faith is your God given assurance that you can
have every promise in the Bible which is extended to you.
Now, The reason most
people are impoverished concerning the blessings of God is either because of
their imperfections in the vessel, or just their unawareness of what they
really have within their grasp, or else it is just their inability to use what
God has given them.
To begin our study
this morning let’s turn in our Bibles to, Gen 25:27-34 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of
the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. (Now, the word plain is a
mistranslation there because the Hebrew word is ‘tam’ which does not mean
“plain”, but rather it means “complete”, or “perfect” as in “undefiled”. Thus
we see that Jacob was an undefiled man suggesting that Esau was not.)
And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 And Jacob sod pottage: and
Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray
thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called
Now, here is an
example of a confession of unbelief. In order to better understand what was
going on in the mind of Esau we must understand that in Chapter 26:1 we are
told that there was famine in the land and that is what caused Esau to speak
the way he did. Esau was not just a careless man who could care less about his
birth right. If that were the case then he would not have been so angry with
Jacob for taking it and the blessings that went with it.
No, Esau was raised in
the same faith as Jacob, and he wanted that birthright, but he was at the point
of starvation and in his mind he reasoned that it was better to eat and live
than to hold onto his birthright since it would not do him any good if he were
dead.
God had given Esau a
“Trial of His Faith”, and his reaction was in response to some very grim and
desperate conditions he was going through. Now, a famine meant that there was no
rain, and if no rain then very little if any vegetation would be growing. Now,
you might say, yes but Esau was not a farmer he was a hunter. Yes, that is
true, and when there is no rain there is no vegetation for the animals as well,
and the animals must migrate further and further in order to find whatever
little vegetation that can be found. So Esau had traveled a great distance and
for days without food and perhaps very little water, and the body can not do
well without food and water. In fact the body becomes very weak at this point
and that is the picture we see in Genesis 25 where Esau came into camp and the
Bible says he was “faint” which means he was in very thirsty, and weakened and
somewhat delirious condition when he came into the camp. He was dehydrated and
weak, and when he smelled the food that Jacob was cooking for himself, he was
perhaps half beside himself with hunger and thirst.
Now, what we see here
is the picture of a man that is desperate to eat or in his mind he believed he
would perish. However, he had a promise of the birthright, and God had made
promise to Abraham that his seed would be multiplied as the stars of the sky.
So Esau instead of looking at what God had to say about his trial, looked at
the circumstances that he could see, taste, feel, smell and hear.”
Esau was a man of the
earth, very earthy, and he was in very fine tune with his flesh, but there were
some promises that God had made that he was overlooking because he was focused
on the circumstances around him and not on the promise. And so Esau focused on
the circumstances of the trial set before him said, what profit
shall this birthright do for me? In other words, what good is it
doing me, I am about to die! What am I getting out of it? And that is when he
died spiritually right there. That is when he proved what seed he is right
there. And that is why God hated Esau and loved Jacob.
When a person says,
“What good is it for me to give and give and give, what am I getting out of it,
that is when they fail right there.
Brother Branham said our motive must be right in order for our faith to
work. From his sermon Queen of
But Esau showed his motive for the birthright was totally for self, and
not to please God. Nor was his motive to stay with the birthright because it
meant fulfilling the role of tribal leader with all the responsibilities of
leadership for many other lives in the tribe.
No, all he could see was his own situation. All he could see were his own
trials. All he could see were the circumstances surrounding him at that point
and because his focus was wrong he failed.
Godhead
explained 61-0425B P:33 And you must test your motive and objective
first. First, find the will of God, and then find your objective, and then test
your motive and see if your motive is right. Then as Jesus said in Mark 11:24,
"If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your
heart..." But as long as you got doubt in a heart whether it's the will of
God, or your motive or objective is wrong, how is it going to move? But when
you know that your motive is right, and it's the will of God, and your
objective is right, it's got to move. That's all, or God told something wrong.
Hebrews 12: 15-17 tells us, Looking diligently lest any man fail of the
grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator,
or profane person,(the word profane means contempt or irreverence
towards that which is sacred, and that is what God considered) as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the
blessing, he was rejected:
for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Look, we are told he sought it carefully with tears, but it
mattered not with God.
Now, people try to say
that Esau was just indifferent towards the birth right, but that is not what
the Bible tells us. The man cried crocodile tears and he tried carefully to and
with an great effort to gain back that birthright but it was no longer his to
have. He had given it away. And later on when he realized what he had done, it
was already too late by then.
God had a great
blessing and not a curse for that man, and he cast it away. And the apostle
Paul warns us in Hebrews 10: 35 Cast not away
therefore your confidence, which hath great
recompence of reward.
So many people are like
the parable that Jesus tells us in Mark 4:5 And
some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it
sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But
when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered
away.
And he tells us the
meaning in verses 14 The
sower soweth the word. And in verse 16 he tells us about
those sown on stony ground. 16 And
these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard
the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 And have no root in
themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or
persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
(and this word offended comes from a Greek word which means enticed to sin or
disbelieve).
So we see there are
those whose flesh is weak and they say they believe but when they are tested
concerning their belief they fall short and can’t hold out until the end.
So we see the reward
has to do with your confidence. And Paul tells us that unless we hold fast our
confidence in the promise unto the end, we will not receive the reward.
Hebrews
10: 36 For
ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might
receive the promise.37 For yet a little while, and
he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. (Now, look, that is a promise from God. He said he
will not tarry, he will bring the reward but he says you must have patience,
and the person who is not patient enough to wait will not receive the reward.
Then Paul goes on to say,) 38 Now the just shall live by
faith (And Faith is a Revelation,
something that has been revealed to you) but if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are
not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul.
If you are going to make it in God’s game, you will either have patience
to wait, or you will loose out in the end. God is not interested in mamby,
pamby little children who cry constantly and have to have it now. He makes you
wait for the promise. That is how he tests your faith in the promise. To see if
you are willing to wait for it.
Now, most Christians are just too smug when it comes to what Esau did.
They say, I would have waited. I would have believed God would do something for
this tribe that he promised would be numbered as the stars in the sky. Well,
one day many Christians are going to face this same seen as Esau, and they will
be confronted with a very similar trial.
God already has promised in the Book of Revelations
chapter 13 that there will be a boycott and you will not be able to
buy or sell, so you won’t be able to eat unless you take the mark of the beast.
Then what? What are they going to do then? Yeah, the trial will prove what they
are right then, that’s for sure. And how many for a morsel of meat will trade
their soul to the denominational system.
Well, most message believers say, I will be in the rapture so that won’t
affect me? How do you know you will be in the Rapture? And how do you know that
when the squeeze comes down that you won’t go through something very similar at
that time?
People do strange things under pressure. Look how many millions of Jews
were killed in
We haven’t even a clue as to what is coming upon this earth. Brother
Branham said there is coming something so horrible that he could not even speak
about it because the people couldn’t handle it if they knew. So be prepared,
for that thing he couldn’t speak of is on it’s way.
So what does it mean to confess unbelief in God? In order to confess
unbelief in God, you must first of all
admit to a condition. It means that you admit to a condition and to the
natural conclusion of that condition, instead of what God has already said
about the conclusion of that condition.
Esau said there was a famine, and there was a famine! He said, I have
hunted and there is no food, and he was absolutely correct. He said, I am faint
and I am going to die, and that was also absolutely correct in view of the
circumstances. All his thinking was so rational because if you don’t eat you
will starve, and if you starve you will eventually die, and then if you die
then what good is the promise to you anyway. And that is the reasonable way to
think if you do not think like God thinks. But God does not want for us to think
like man thinks.
God said in Proverbs 16: 25 There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of
death. And he also said in Isaiah 55:7 we read, “Let
the wicked forsake his way, and the un-rightly-wise man his thoughts: and
let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD. 9 For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the
rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but
watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to
the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
So God has promised us that his Words will bring forth exactly what He
sent them to bring forth.
We see in Genesis 15: 1-6 that God
had made a promise to Abraham to be not only His provider but also his
protector as well, because what good does it do if you receive the reward but
can’t hold onto it, or loose it. 1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and
thy exceeding great reward. (I am thy protector and thy provider, believe me…) 2 And
Abram said, Lord GOD, (if you are my
protector and my provider,) what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the
steward of my house is this Eliezer of
Notice, God didn’t
give him an action, God gave him His Word. Abraham said, I am getting old Lord,
and you promised me a seed, and I have nothing yet but this man here that is my
servant, and if I don’t get what you promised, he will become my heir because I
haven’t yet received what you promised. Abraham was looking for action from
God, but God just gave Him His Word, but told Abraham that His Word was still
for the future.)
This shall not be thine heir; but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall
(future tense,) be thine heir. 5 And
he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the
stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall (future tense) thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; What
did he believe in? He believed in God’s Word to Him, that what he believed in… and he counted it
to him for righteousness.
So we see that the promise to Esau was through Abraham and that was that
through Abraham’s seed the lineage would become as many as the stars in the
sky. Therefore he had a promise that he would not die, for God said, this
promise is unto you and your seed after you, and I am your protector, I am
present to watch over you to see that you get your reward. And you will not
die, but you will live, and your seed will be as the sand of the sea. And Esau
lived to regret that he didn’t believe God. And God hated Esau.
But what about Jacob. He faced the same famine that Esau was facing. We are not told how much food he had left but
it could not have been much being that they were all facing the same famine.
But he chose to get that birthright, even if he had to give up his last bit of
food. Just like the woman of Zarephath who was down to her last bit of meal and
she and her son were preparing to make their last meal cake and then die for
there was also a famine in the land, and then Elijah appeared on the scene.
1 Kings 17:1 And
Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants
of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of
Now, what if this woman had been like Esau and said, there isn’t enough
to share with you, so get lost young man. She would have eaten her last cake
and died. But she had faith in the Word of the Lord that was given her by the
prophet of God. And her meal and oil sustained her and her son for many days
and through out the drought.
But what about Eve? She turned down God’s Word for what appeared to be
good food to eat to make one wise. And then what About Moses? He turned down
the treasures of
God does not want us
to talk about and evaluate the conditions of life and look at their end. He
wants us to look at one thing and that is His Word. He wants us to only look to
His promises and to where they will lead. We are not to be negative in our
confession but positive giving God praise for what He has promised.
The problem is that we
just don’t take God seriously enough. If he gave you a promise then he will
come through with what He promised. But we are Laodicea, and we think we have
rights to think anything we want to think and say whatever we want to say, but
I am here to tell you this morning you do just that and you won’t make the
rapture. “That is Thus Saith the Lord” because it is Thus Saith His Scriptures.
God said in Proverbs
16: 25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death.
So go right ahead and
complain about not getting the promise when you think you should get it, but
I’m here to tell you this morning, They that are willing to wait on the promise
are the ones who will receive the reward.
I can just imagine Sarah saying to Abraham, how much longer do we have to
wait honey? We’ve already waited 2o years? And so what did she do? She said
take my made and have a baby by her and we can say this is the promise that God
gave you. You think God was pleased with that? Huh!!
You think God was pleased with Abraham’s wife saying that? I tell you
what. It angered God so much that he told Abraham to go ahead with her plan and
Abraham’s Seed by Sarah have been battling for their lives against Abraham’s
seed by Hagar for more than 4,000 years now.
And will that negative attitude that produced that Ishmael finally find
peace? Not until the New Jerusalem because that seed will not be there.
And then after waiting 25 years to receive the promise God tested him and
asked him to offer up his son. What would you do in that situation. But Abraham
didn’t look at the circumstances, he just looked at God’s word. What God
promised. And so he said, the lad and I are going up to do sacrifice and WE
shall return. He had a testimony just like Job did, “though He slay me, yeti’ll trust Him, and in my flesh I shall see God.”
Abraham knew that if God allowed him to slay his son, God was obligated to
raise him up again.
Thy seed shall possess gate 62-0121M P:55 When
you receive the promise, how are you going to stop the thing? How you going to
ever expect to be a father of nations, and here you are a hundred and fifteen
years old now? Little Isaac about fourteen or fifteen years old. How are you
going to be a father of nations when you're a hundred and fifteen years old,
and here's your only child, and you're destroying your only evidence that you
have? Amen." How am I going to make it if I get out of an organization?
How am I going to make it if I do this?" Oh, listen to that still small
voice that comes with the Word. The Word...You say, "I heard a voice tell
me this." If it's contrary to the
Word, it wasn't God's voice. God's voice comes with the Word.
Faith
56-0815 P:80 And then, when you receive the promise,
call anything contrary to that promise as though it was not, and God will bring
it to pass.
And what About Noah, He preached his message for 120 years and built the
ark over that time frame, and what if he said, “You know, I have been building
on this ark for 100 years and still no sign of rain, so I think I will just
stop? You think that would have stopped the rain from coming? And what about
Influence 64-0315 P:57 Jesus
promised them that He would send the promise of the Father upon them (Luke
24:49), "Behold I send the promise of My Father upon
you. But tarry ye..." "Tarry" don't mean pray; it
just means "wait." "Tarry" means wait. "Wait up there
at the city of
Shalom 64-0119 P:52 Some
people says, "But, Brother Branham, I have tried and I have tried."
But wait a minute. Patience is virtue. Patience is Holy Spirit virtue.
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." You say,
"How can I wait any longer?" Just keep on waiting. When you've done
all you can do to stand, then stand (See?); just stand. "How am I going to
do it?" Stand. He said it's the Truth, and it's the Truth. He said it'll
happen. How, I don't know; but it'll happen. He said so. He promised it. If He
promised it, it's going to happen. That's all. It can't wait. So now just
remember, God took thousands of years to fulfill His promise of a coming
Saviour. Four thousand years God took to fulfill that promise. But He knew from
the beginning just when it was going to happen. He knew; no one else did. He
just said it would happen. And when it happened, the people was in such a
delusion, till they didn't know how to accept it. If that same thing hasn't
repeated again. It always does, never fails, both sides always.
God of this evil age 65-0801M P:90 But
in obedience this little faith woman, that lives by faith, the Bride, the
person here, there, here, off somewhere else, some other church, some other
denomination, whatever it is, and some...?... believes the Word of God,
obedient, waiting in love for the promise of the age to be confirmed. She's
watching for it. She is part of that Word, and she's watching for Her life to
manifest that Word. Brethren, can't you see that? I hope that didn't go over
you. The Body is waiting for, which is the Word, waiting for the Life, which is
the Spirit, to confirm or make It alive. That's what she's waiting for. No
other life will work in her. She can't come to life any other way, yet she
feels it out there, and she knows it's going to happen; then here it happens,
then she wakes up. God said, "Let there be," and She came forth like
the first one come forth.
Who is this 59-1122 P:18 What
if Abraham would've took what it looked like, twenty-five years waiting for a
promise that God gave him? Why, he'd have never had the baby. He'd never been
the father of little Isaac. But he believed God's Word and wouldn't turn It
loose. But he watered it day and night, strong, giving praise unto God. Oh,
when Sarah would say, "Honey, it's been twenty-five years ago since the
promise was made, here I am nearly a hundred." He'd say, "Praise God,
we're going to have it anyhow, 'cause God said so, and that settles it."
That's right. He knew the nature of God because he was a friend of God. He knew
how to take Him, because he knew that His promises, no matter how foolish they
looked, or how simple they looked, or how unreasonable they looked, they were
true because God said so, and that settled it forever. That's the way every
seed of Abraham does today. That's the way the born again Christian does today.
No matter what the world says, what science says, what they say, this, that, or
the other, God's Word stands above it all. And they're looking at His Word and
what He said to be the truth. It doesn't matter if they say today the world
can't be burned up, and the dead, or them bodies can't rise again. God said so,
and that's the truth; that settles it forever. God said so, and we keep our
eyes on what He said.
Led by the spirit 59-0407 P:10 If
you make a promise to anybody, you're obligated to that promise. And if you're
a man or woman of honor, you'll do everything you can to keep that promise. But
it could be that something might happen that you could not keep it. But did you
know God's more obligated to keep His promise that you are? When God makes a
promise, He's got to keep it in order to be God. Every promise He makes is
true. And He's obligated to that promise. If you'll keep that in mind while
you're crossing through this prayer line tonight, something will happen to you,
to know that God cannot make a promise and not stick to it. He's got to. And He
knows all things, so He's infinite. We're finite and can make a promise and
have to take it back. But He can't, because He's perfect. He knows everything,
the end from the beginning. So He has to keep His promise. And He's always got
somebody who will believe that. God, let me be one of those. No matter how much
you have to be criticized and laughed at, let me believe God's promise and stay
with it.