Questions and Answers #39
Expectations
A Christmas Message
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
December 23, 2007
LUKE 8:40 ¶ And it came to pass, that,
when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all
waiting for him. They
were all waiting for Him…They were expecting Him…
Expectations, the people were glad to see him because
they were expecting Him and Brother Branham said from, GOD IN SIMPLICITY
63-0317M 6-1 {30} When
a minister walks into a congregation of people praying in the anointing of the
Spirit, you're bound to hear from heaven. That's just all. There's no way
to keep from it. But if you walk into confusion, then you're so confused, the
Spirit's grieved….
So
let’s remain standing as we go to God our Father this morning in prayer, and be
expecting to hear from Him this morning.
Dear father, it is my prayer this morning that your
people have come expecting to hear from You. Now, if they have come to hear
something from me, then they may go away disappointed. But Father, if they came
expecting to hear from you then I believe they will receive what they came for
and You won’t let them down. For if they have come this morning all prayed up
as Your Prophet taught us, then they are bound to hear from heaven, and their
expectation will be rewarded openly, because we get what we expect. As your prophet taught us that, "The right mental attitude towards any Divine promise of God will
bring it to pass,” and we have come believing and ready to receive
this morning Lord. Grant to us a refreshing from Your presence this morning, Oh
God, in the wonderful name of Your Son Jesus Christ we pray, Amen!
You may be seated.
Now,
since this is the Sunday before Christmas, I would like to speak on a Christmas
subject this morning. Many a child will lay awake tomorrow night for perhaps
the entire night, waiting to arise early on Christmas morning to see what awaits
them in terms of Christmas gifts, whether it be new toys or new clothing, it
doesn't really matter. The excitement is not in what the gift is, but the
expectation of receiving something new, something we wanted. It’s the
expectation that brings the excitement. If we truly believe we are going to
receive something positive, then we can hardly wait, and the waiting builds up
within us an excitement that brings with it energies that we don’t normally
have. So the excitement comes because we are looking forward to something new.
But
I also remember a few very long days in my life when I had done something bad,
and my mother would say, you just wait until your father gets home. She wasn't the type of mother that would
ground us to the house, or to the yard. That was what my father would do. No,
my mother would ground us from the yard. Don't you come home until your father
gets home, and then you’re going to get it. Well, I can remember some very long
days, hiding in the woods or out in the fields, knowing when dad got home, I
was in for it. The worst times of waiting was when he was out of town on a
business trip and I had to wait a few days, knowing when he got home I would
get whipped. There wasn’t any joy in those waiting moments, there was no
excitement about dad coming home at those times. It was shear terror, thinking
about the consequences that lay before me.
And so to make a point, our joy and anticipation comes from looking
forward to those things which are rewarding.
But
if we do not believe we will receive anything, or if we only believe that what
we will receive is no good, then we do not get excited, and we do not look
forward to that time. And so was it with the First Coming of the Son of God,
and so is it today at the great preview Appearing.
Now, this morning I would like to speak on this
subject of expectations, and to begin
our lesson this morning, I would like to read for our text from the Book of
Luke.
LUKE 1:1-18 ¶
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration
of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they
delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and
ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect
understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order,
most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou
mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
5 ¶ There was in the days of Herod, the
king of
6 And they were both righteous. They were both rightly wise, that’s what the Greek
Word dikaios {dik'-ah-yos} means…1c) it speaks of him whose
way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God,
and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life; only Christ
truly 1d) approved of or acceptable of
God 6
And they were both righteous: before God, (or in the presence of God) walking (They
had ordered their life, or conducted their life in such a way) in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
This couple had made a conscious effort to walk, and to
talk, and to live a life that honored and placed God's Word and His
Commandments above everything else in their life, giving God the preeminence.
They had made God's Word and ordinances the highest goal and aspiration or their
life.
I like what Brother Branham said about this couple.
From his sermon, Resurrection of Lazarus
50-0813A E-20 he said, “Before God does anything here on earth... I
want you to catch this close. Before God does anything on earth, He always
sends a witness from heaven to declare it. Now, before Jesus was born,
why, God sent a witness of this. Signs and wonders begin to appear of His
coming, just as it's appearing today by witnesses of His second coming again.
See? Signs and wonders.. There's never been an age through all the church ages
that's ever produced what this age is producing right now, for it's the coming
of the Lord's drawing near. Don't you believe it? Drawing nigh, rather... And
we're nearing the time of the close of this world's history when Jesus shall
come. Notice, signs begin to appear. There was a man by the name of
Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth: righteous, holy people, keeping the
commandments of God and walking in all the statutes and ordinances of God,
blameless. That's the kind of a home we need today. Don't you
believe it? Instead of that in the church today, we have everything else but
holiness and righteousness. But they were righteous people, godly people,
walking in the commandments of the Lord, keeping all the ordinances, blameless.
Zacharias was a priest at the temple. And his office was to burn incense while
prayer was being made. And one day,
while he was in the temple burning incense, Gabriel, an Angel from God, came
down and stood by the altar of incense, and said, "Zacharias, fear not.
Your prayers is heard." Oh, I love that. They... His wife was barren.
She hadn't had any children. She was past the age of bearing. But he lived
right before God and believed on God. And all of his great, dark, long
hours of worry finally the Angel come and said, "God has heard your
prayer." Now, if you want God to
hear your prayer, send an Angel to your home, live right, do right, treat
everybody right, be right before God, and God will grant that to you.
We could close our sermon right there on that point
and go away blessed. Listen to what he is saying here…Now, remember, this is a
vindicated Prophet of God saying this,
"Now, if you want God to hear your
prayer, and
send an Angel to your home, then live right, do right, treat
everybody right, be right before God, and God will grant that to you."
And so Zacharias met an angel from the Lord, His name
was Gabriel, and He told Zacharias all that would take place concerning he and
His Wife and how they would have a child, and this child would go before and
prepare the way for the Son of God to come. And so what did Zacharias do? He
finished out his duties and then went home to his wife and prepared for that
little one to come.
LUKE 1:21-24 And
the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.22 And when he came out, he could not speak
unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he
beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. 23 And
it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were
accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24 And
after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months,
saying,.
EXPECTATIONS! Could you imagine what went on in the minds of
Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth? Here they were very old and well stricken
with age. That’s what the Scripture tells us, and yet the first thing we hear
from God's Word is that he could hardly wait to finish his job and then like a
bee to the hive he went straight home to give his wife the good news. And what
news it must have been to her. Now, I can just imagine what she must have been
thinking, here's my husband, he's been away for about 2 weeks and he comes home
with this story about having a baby. A promise from an Angel of all
things, and how do we have this baby? There's got to be a preparation made. She
must have thought, “I know what must be
on his mind. After all it must be lonely up there at the temple, and all, but
really Zacharias, you don't have to tell me an angel told you to do this. I
mean after all, I still do love you my husband, and all you have to do is ask
and I am yours. But an angel?”
Now, babies don’t just come by spontaneous combustion.
Nor do they come by talking about them, nor by wishful thinking. There is something
the husband and wife must do in order for that child to come. And to know that
God is watching your every action, it would kind of make you uncomfortable if
you know what I mean. But notice what the scripture tells us, 23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of
his ministry were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24 And after
those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months,..
Now, notice that the Lord new the exact time of
conception, LUKE 1:26-80 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God
unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a
virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the
virgin's name was Mary. 28 And
the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that
art highly favored, the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her
mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And
the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And
he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall
be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How
shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Now, Mary’s question
was not one of unbelief, but rather she just wanted to know how this would
happen. She wanted more details. Her question was not like Zacharias question,
because his questions came from doubt and for it he was smitten dumb for the
period until John was born. But Mary’s questions had to do with desiring a
better understanding of what was going on. She wanted to know how it was going
to take place.
35 And
the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old
age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
And so of course we
see that God knew exactly when that baby was conceived also. So don’t think
that God does not see what takes place in your bed…
37 For
with God nothing shall be impossible. 38 And Mary
said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And
the angel departed from her. 39 And Mary arose in
those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of
66 And all they that heard them
laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner
of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. 67 And
his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69 And
hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy
prophets, which have been since the world began: 71 That
we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To perform the mercy promised
to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73 The
oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That
he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies
might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and
righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 76 And
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77 To
give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78 Through
the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give
light to them that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 80 And
the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day
of his shewing unto
So we see the atmosphere of
expectation upon Mary and also upon Elisabeth, her cousin. And when you expect
something you prepare for that thing which you are expecting to happen. And
expectations will produce what you are looking for. And it works both ways. If
your expectations are positive, then you will receive that thing you are
expecting.
Now, if your expectations
are negative, then don’t be surprised if things don’t go the way you would like
them to go, because they will certainly go the way you expect them to go. That
is why I keep telling you all the time, don’t look at the negative, look only
at the positive. Because the things you fear the most will come upon you. Why?
Because that is what you are expecting.
EXPECTATIONS AND WHAT LOVE IS 54-0228A E-57 Now, I want
each one of us now in our hearts to dwell on this thought of "Expectations." Whatever you
expect is usually what you get. You heard about the lady that prayed for
the mountain to be moved and got up the next morning, looked out the window,
said, "Just as I expected, still
there." Well, that's the reason,… that she expected it. That's right.
Now, you want to have an expectation all the way from heart, soul, body, and
mind, that God is going to give us a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now,
I feel it, that it's near us. And God is willing and ready to give it to us.
You know, part of
expectation is to prepare for the thing you are expecting. And if you don’t
really expect it, then you won’t prepare for it either. That is what the
Scriptures plainly tell us, and that is what Jesus said we should do.
Matthew 24:42-51 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth
come. 43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in
what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have
suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath
made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord
when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all
his goods. (You see? Be prepared for what
you expect to happen. That is what revelation is all about. It gives us
understanding, and then our expectation takes over and we begin to make
preparations for what we are expecting.)
48 But and if that evil
servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;(So what is he
expecting? He’s expecting more time to live like the world, but watch what his
lack of preparation has in store for him?) 49 And shall begin to smite his
fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that
he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him
his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Why? Because he did not
expect the Lord to come, so he lived like he didn’t expect the Lord to come. It's your expectations that produces the results. If
you expect Him to be here, you will conduct yourself as though you are expecting
him.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13: 13 And
now abideth faith, hope, and love, these three; but the
greatest of these is charity.
So you see it all begins with Faith which brother Branham taught us is a
revelation. Faith is something that has been revealed to you. And then if it a
true revelation, then it moves from there into hope which is an earnest
expectation.
You earnestly expect what has been revealed to you. Now, you see, if it is not revealed but has
actually already manifested itself, then it is not something you will hope for,
because you already have it. For hope is something that has not yet become
materialized.
Romans 8: 24 For
we are saved by hope (Now, what is
Paul saying here? He is saying we are saved by our earnest expectation) 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.
So you see, if you
truly are hoping for that which has not yet manifested itself to you, then you
will have patience to wait for it, if it has truly been revealed to you.
Now if you
earnestly expect it, then that creates an atmosphere that moves into
preparation for that which has been revealed to materialize. And Hope then
moves into Love which is always characterized in Scripture by giving. For God
so love that he gave.
Now, love creates an atmosphere, a welcoming atmosphere. An atmosphere
that you just love to be around. And that atmosphere is creative. And it
generates energy.
Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1: 3 Remembering without ceasing
your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus
Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Now, the Wuest translation puts it this way. 1
Thessalonians 1: 4 Wuest “Remembering unceasingly your works produced and
characterized by the Faith which is yours, and your toil which is motivated and
characterized by your divine and self sacrificial Love, and your patient
endurance under trials which finds it's source in your hope which rests in our
Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of God, even the father."
So you see your hope or
earnest expectation builds up an energy and produces an atmosphere of
expectation which results in a preparation for the thing expected to happen.
EXPECTATION 54-0220
E-26 I've asked that God will bless you all. And I want to speak just a
moment, and then we'll start praying for the sick. Now, first, we want to think
tonight on this text, if I would call it a text, just for a few moments. And I
would like to use these words in it: "Expectations."
As I mentioned here the other night, you
usually get what you expect, don't you? If you come tonight to the meeting,
just expecting to see something that you could criticize the meeting about, the
devil will show you plenty of it. You'll
go back with a lot of criticism just like you expected. But if you come
tonight expecting, just say, "Lord, I
come to see You. I come for the benefit of... to be healed. I come for the
benefit of my soul. Well, I expect You to give it to me, 'cause I'm here in
this place that's dedicated to Your glory." And you'll get just what you
expect. That's right. You always... And you
can never go above your expectations.
What a statement that is.
Just think of that. How many people win the gold medal thinking that can’t do
it. How many people achieve thinking they can’t achieve. No way. You don’t
think you can and it is a cinch that you won’t. Your negative thoughts have
more power over your life than you think, and so do your positive expectations.
Brother Branham continues… And you can never go
above your expectations. You'll always have to do that. And when a man's
born of the Spirit of God, filled with the Holy Ghost, everything he has need of in this life's journey, is in him right then.
And the only thing he has to do is just drink from the inexhaustible Fountain
of Life, which is Christ Jesus, until he pushes out Divine healing, powers of
God. He just pushes it out by his drinking from the everlasting inexhaustible
Fountain of Life, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Then what about those poor people in Africa and
Again brother Branham said
from his sermon Expectations and What Love is
54-0228A E-58
Now, if you expect, that's what you receive. If you've come to the
meeting saying, "Well, I'm going down, I'm going to find some flaws of
that meeting. I'll find some flaws of that preacher. I'll bet you I can." Don't worry, you'll get it. The devil will
show you plenty of them. Yes, sir. You'll
go back, say, "Mm, hmm. Just as I expected. That's just the way it
was. Uh-huh." Same group found fault with Jesus when He went through the
pool of
E-59 Just as you expect,
that's what you get. But you come to the meeting expecting to see the glory
of God moving, the power of God, sinners being saved, filled with the Holy
Ghost, sickness being healed, then watch what God shows you. Yes, sir. See, you are a creator in yourself. If
you're... How many's born-again say, "Amen?" Do you know each one
of you is a creator? You are a part of God; you're a son of God, an
offspring of God, a daughter of God. Is that right? Then you are a creator.
Now, did you ever see people, they were nice people (I ain't saying this for
any back now.), nice people but you just couldn't hardly stand to be around
them. You know that. Nice people, it's their atmosphere they're in. Then you've
seen other people that you just long to be with them, is that right? It's
that atmosphere that's around them all the time. Now, my wife setting back
here, she don't know this, but... She's supposed to be here somewhere. And you
can imagine in our home about what takes place in a run of a day: people
coming, going like that. And I go in sometimes, and the poor little fellow in
there in the kitchen crying, not even a chance to cook the children anything to
eat through the day. And--and there it is. And the little girl about two years
old, little Sarah, and Rebekah, and they're in there, and they're crying and
going on. And my wife crying, she'd look up, she'd say, "Bill, I'm just
about to go crazy. I just don't know what I'm going to do." She said,
"I..." And gray-headed at thirty-four years old. And so I said,
"Well now, that's right, honey."
E-60 don't fuss at her. See? No. "That's right, honey."
See? "It's very bad, but you see we're serving the Lord, so we..."
See, what I'm doing all the time in my heart, I am trying to create a
different atmosphere. They're all nervous and they're tore up. See? Now, I
was thinking in my heart, "O
Lord, now send Your Presence and Your love to my poor little tore up wife."
And I say, "Yes, dear. That's right." I say, "What was this
here?" "Oh, we haven't had anything to eat and..." I say,
"Well, there probably won't be anybody else in for next couple of hours.
Let's get something to eat. And I'll help you." And I'll start getting up
my sleeves. She'd say, "Now, look, young man, you might be able to help me
wash dishes but you can't cook." I will say, "Who can't cook?"
Like that, you know, just going on. "Well, you haven't never seen me fry
potatoes yet. I was raised on them," something like that. And I'll see a
little bitty smile trickle on one side, you know. And the first thing you know,
I come over, and I put my hand on her. She don't know what I'm doing yet. And I
say, "Bless your heart, honey. I'll tell you, I'll help you do this."
And then down in my heart I'm saying, "Lord, send Your peace that's in
me into her now. O God, quieten my family now. I'm Your servant, Father.
Send..."
E-61
And the first thing you know, she'd say, "Bill, you know a certain
thing?" Them little old black eyes are snapping again, you know. "You
know?" "Yeah." And I look at the baby, she's in there, got her
blocks and the babies are playing together. What is it? It's creating an
atmosphere. Hallelujah. Brother, let me tell you brothers. The atmosphere is
what does it. It's exactly right. Look, it's not the hen that hatches
the egg; it's the atmosphere. Yes, sir. Is that right?
E-62 You put that same egg
under a pup, it would--it'd hatch the chicken just the same. Put it in the
incubator; it'll bring the chicken just the same. It's the atmosphere.
Hallelujah. What we need is a Holy Ghost atmosphere (That's right.), an
atmosphere where the power of God's a moving, one accord, one place, gathered
together under that atmosphere of expecting God to move down and do signs
and wonders. Amen. Let's move ourself up into that bracket. Step up in faith.
Move out of these three dimensions up into the next one.
E-63 Say, "Lord, I'm just believe that You're going to pour Your
blessings. I'm expecting it now. All
things are moving right in. And I'm
expecting to see the exceedingly, abundantly now. I'm expecting it." And when you go... You come down and say,
"Well, I don't know about it." Well, see, you hurt the other person.
Now, you're setting by one of them, you say, "O Lord, just tear him down
now. I'm just... I'm expecting great things." See? And that expectancy will get that unity among
the people. That's what happened on the day of Pentecost, what brought the
Holy Ghost in the first place. They went up there and stayed ten days and
nights, until they were all in one place, and with one accord, blessing God for something that they did not have.
Is that right?
E-64 They was thanking God for the Holy Ghost; the Holy Ghost had never come
yet. But they had It in the seed form. Like if I'd say, "Wonder if an
acorn tree would grow down here?" You'd say, "Well, I guess it
would." And I'd give you an acorn. I'd say, "I'll give you a acorn
tree." And you say, "All right, Brother Branham, we'd like to try,
see if an acorn would grow down here in my backyard." And I'd give you
the... You'd say, "I'm going to put it in the right kind of soil, just
like you got up in the north and I'm going to see if it'll grow." All
right. Now, if you put this acorn I give you... You say, "Well, Brother
Branham, you said you'd give me an acorn tree." I said, "I did."
"Well, how do... You give me an acorn." "You've got the tree
already. It's in the seed form." Is that right? You've got the tree
already; it's in the seed form.
E-65 And that's the way we have to get: in the seed form, all in one accord,
one place. They was blessing God for the Holy Ghost which had never come yet.
But they believed that it was, because
God was going to keep His promise. And when they kept blessing God until that atmosphere got just right, then
there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind and filled all the
house where they were setting. See? The
atmosphere got right. Oh, couldn't we get an atmosphere here that every
crippled, every blind, every sick person, everything, all with one accord,
believing until the sick... I seen it last week in
E-66 Oh, brother, God send us
an atmosphere that'll make it of one accord, one place. Let the power of God
surge down through... That atmosphere gets right, it opens up every--moves back
every clog, everything. The law of God will move. Here not long ago, we had a
man... For instance, these electric lights. Thomas Edison was the founder of
it. The world has been full of electricity since the world began, all around.
Well now, listen, I just want to ask you something. Now, there was a man God
was fixing to give electricity to the world. I believe when God's program is
ready, everything will work right to its place, don't you? Has to, foreordained
to do so.
E-67 Now, so Benjamin Franklin
went fishing with a kite. Well, lightning run down the string and he caught it,
and he begin to run and holler, "I got it. I got it. I got it. I got
it." He had it, but he didn't know
what he had. Well, that's what's the matter with our Pentecostal church.
You've got it, but you don't know what you got. That's it. That's right. Yeah,
you've got power enough to open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the
deaf, to do all things. But you come in
with a twisted up atmosphere. Let's get it in one accord, so the Holy
Spirit can pour out the gushers down upon the people: one place, in one accord.
Along come Thomas Edison, he said, "Listen, it'll light up." He tried
ten thousand wires. He said... He wasn't tireless. He'd set with a cup of
coffee and a sandwich all night long. He'd try this one. If the electric
wouldn't follow that wire, he'd lay it aside and get him another one. He'd try
that, until finally, he found it. And he gave the world electricity.
E-68 Now, for instance, if you
was up here back behind some of these big dark mountains tonight, it was so
black dark down there till you couldn't see where you were going. You might
fall over a rock or step into a snake, or you didn't know what was going to
happen, or one of these big Gila monsters or something laying up there, and you
know electricity is all around you. You could scream till you got hoarse,
"Oh, electricity, electricity, light up. Show me how to get out of here.
Oh, I know you're here. I know you're here, electricity. It's scientifically
proven that you're here. I know you're here, so you light up." You could
scream till you got hoarse and it'd never light up. Why? Electricity will light if you'll follow the law of electricity. But you've got to follow the laws of
electricity.
E-69 If you had a fountain over
on this side, a artesian well gushing up, and a crop over on this side burning
up, now, you can say, "Oh, water, go over here and irrigate my crop."
It wouldn't do it. No. But if you'll
follow the laws of gravitation, you can make it do it. Is that right? Well
now, look. God is here this afternoon. Now, we got to follow the law of God. The law of God is one accord, love one for the other: "He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.
Believeth, hopeth all things, trust all
things, to do with all..." Oh, my. There you are: one accord, everybody under expectations that God's going
to pour down His power. Listen, not... You know it's here. Scientifically,
you know it's here. Looky here. How could Mrs. Waldorf be setting here after
dying with a cancer? How many across the world, of the thousands times
thousands of cases?
E-70 How could you a drunkard a
few weeks ago, or a few months ago, and a gentleman this afternoon? How could
you a street harlot a few weeks ago, and a lady this afternoon? By the transforming power of God being
transmitted by the Holy Ghost into your heart changed your nature and changed
your making. It made you another person. That's right. You might not have
felt... I don't know about that. But It's here's anyhow, whether you feel It or
not. Let's give God thanks for It, for It's here anyhow. I can prove to you
right now there's a radio coming right through you. Radio... You don't feel it.
But you know it's there. There's television pictures coming right through you
now. But you don't feel it, but it's there anyhow. Oh, my. Now, if our body was
magnetized to that, like that big word, say, "Yes," stretched out
from the window to this window. It's sweeping through this building,
"Yes" going right through you. Somebody saying, "Yes" on
the radio. Well, it comes right through you as it goes through them powers,
electronics and so forth, as it goes through your body. Now, when it hits
against that crystal in the set, it just
catches like that and you hear, "Yes."
E-71 Now, if God up there said,
"By His stripes ye were healed," the Holy Ghost entwines... brings
that down by the power of God. Your heart is set on that...?... it says,
"Yes, by His stripes we are healed. God you said in Mark 11:24, 'Whatsoever
things you desire, when you pray, believe you receive it.' Lord, we prayed for a meeting; we've been
fasting for a meeting; we've been crying for a meeting. Yes, Lord. I believe
the meeting's on the road." Then stand there like, oh, till the power of
God comes down, when It hits, It says, "Yes." Next man says,
"Yes." Look it, you got double power yes, "Yes," triple
power yes, four times power yes. First thing you know, it becomes thousands
powers of yes; then the Holy Spirit moves in and confirms the Word of God with
signs and wonders following. That's it. That's
what we need: an expectation.
E-72 During the time of the
birth of Jesus, it was in a day something like this when the people had wandered
away from God. There was not many ways to send messages, radio, telegram, and
so forth like they got now, and television. The only way they had to send
messages then was from lip to ear. Quickly, listen to Him now. Jesus was born
in
E-73 Now, they kept time and
yet that... Here it is. I want you to get it. That star passed over every one
of those cities and not one of those men saw it. But our Bible declares that it
done it. And I believe it did. "We have saw His star in the east and have
come to worship Him." Is that right? And they moved, led by this star
moving them. And this greatest star of all the stars, the greatest of all,
moved right by the scientific world and they never saw it. Why? They wasn't expecting it. But there was
some wise men, who heard Balaam's prophecies, there'd be a star of Jacob rise. They was expecting it. They were looking for it. They found it.
They followed it. They were looking for
it. I'm looking for something, aren't you? My soul is stimulated to the
highest just before the coming of the Lord Jesus, to see something happen
that's going to shake the Gentile world before God leaves it. Yes. I'm
expecting it in
E-74 These wise men, they said,
"Someday, my father said... Here it is written in the Bible." His
father said, his father said, there'd be a star of Jacob rise. When they saw
that star when it appeared They were
looking for it. They saw it. The rest of them didn't see it. Somebody said,
"Don't you think them people who cry and shout are all emotional, worked
up?" No, sir. No, sir. They're not. "Brother Branham, don't you think
it's psychology speaking?" No, sir. I do not. They're expecting something. They're expecting manna from heaven to
feed their souls. While they're
setting there under expectations, God is under obligation to give them the
manna from heaven, 'cause they're expecting it. You're expecting a meeting,
God's under obligation to give it to you.
E-75 Now, here they come. Then
we see the shepherds come out and sing on the hills of
E-76 Well, what was the matter?
He was expecting God to keep His Word.
Had a good reason, didn't he? "Well, how you know you're going to see it?
David looked for it, even Adam, all the way back has looked for it. Four
thousand years has passed and there has been no sign of it yet." "I don't care what's passed; the Holy Ghost
told me I was going to see it and I believe it." That settles it.
That's a good reason, isn't it? "You mean you're here eighty years old and
one foot in the grave?" "I don't care how old I am, but I'm going to
see the Christ before I die, 'cause the Holy Ghost said so. I'm going right
around expecting it, thanking God for His promise, because I'm going to see
Him." Oh, my. There you are. He was
expecting to see the Christ.
I hope this morning that we
can se what brother Branham was talking about. I hope also this morning that if
you are a negative person who is always looking for something to go wrong, that
you will die to that doubt, as brother Bosworth said, if you want to doubt
something, then doubt your doubts. Oh if this Christmas can bring you one thing
and that is to shed yourself of all your doubts, and start quoting the promises
of God, and start expecting to receive what God has promised you.
Again from his sermon EXPECTATIONS 53-0507 E-30 brother Branham said, “You usually get what you expect. You come to criticize the meeting,
you... The devil will show you something to criticize. You coming to get
healed, God will see that you get it. You usually get what you expect. Yes,
say, "I was expecting this, and I was expecting that." What you
expect, God will see that you get, you'll usually get it.”
And from LEADING
OF THE SPIRIT 55-0807E E-21
he said, “Expectations: If
you're expecting it, you will receive it. You usually get what you expect to
get. If you come to the meeting
tonight, expecting to find something to criticize the meeting, the devil will
show you. He will see that you get satisfied. You get what you expect. If you come
to get a blessing, God will see that you get it. If you come to get saved, God
will see you get it. If you come to get healed, be expecting to get healed. God
will see that you do it. It's what ever you expect Him.”
And again from EXPECTATIONS 50-0405 E-13 he said, “We always get what we expect. When
people expect anything, well then they usually get what you look for. It's the
mental attitude that you have. Remember this, and never forget it. The right
mental attitude towards any promise of God will bring it to pass, the right
mental attitude towards any promise of God. It doesn't take gifts of healing to
heal sick people, any person in here has a right to meet Satan anywhere, if
you're a Christian, and defeat him on any grounds that he could stand on.”
And in closing, from his
sermon GOD REVEALING HIMSELF TO HIS PEOPLE
50-0813E E-39 he said, The right
mental attitude towards any promise of God will bring it to pass. Do you believe that? The
Word is a Seed (Is that right?) that
a Sower sowed in the ground. And every
Seed will bring forth of its kind. If you need salvation, the Seed's here.
If you need healing, here's the Seed in the Word. The Word of God is a Seed.
Put it in your heart. Don't dig it up every morning to see if it's sprouted,
put it in there and leave it there. It's God's business to bring forth the
harvest. You just leave it there; water it by faith and praise every day
thanking God for it. All right.
Let us pray…