Rising of the Son no 22
Law of Life vs the Law of Life in Christ
December 4, 2016
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
Genesis
1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth
grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree
yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in
itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth
grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and
the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in
itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was
good.
Notice this Scripture we just read concerns the law of life.
Now, let's read what the Apostle Paul has to say about this Law of Life
as we read from Romans 8:1 There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. 2 For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
and death.
Notice in genesis we read concerning the law of life
which law is for all lIfe, but now in Romans we read about the Law of the
Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, and this law supersedes the Law of Life in that
The Law of the Spirit of Life supercedes the law of life. What I mean by that
is when you are born again, the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus is greater than
the natural spirit you are born with. "For greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world."
And one more scripture before we go to prayer...
Romans
8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;
but the Spirit is life because of
right-wise-ness.
Let us pray...
This morning I would like to speak of this Law of Life in Christ Jesus as
we apply it to the law of Life we see in Genesis 1:11. In order to do so we will read from
brother Br4anham's sermon Rising of the Son and begin with paragraph 20.
Rising
of the Sun pp. 20 The first time the sun rose in Genesis, it was bringing a message that there
will be life upon the earth: mortal life. But this time when the sun
rose, there was a dual sunrising, another sunrising. It was a not only s-u-n
rising, it was a
S-o-n had risen to bring Eternal Life to all God's promised seed,
that by
foreknowledge He's seen laying upon the earth. No more could
the botany life live back there at the beginning without the s-u-n to bring it
to life; no more than today, when sons of God is upon the earth, it take the
S-o-n Light to bring them to Eternal Life. His chosen ones that He knew
before the foundation of the world, He had chosen them in Himself before the foundation of the world. And on Easter
morning then, in this dirt somewhere, laid our bodies at that time, for we are the dust of the earth;
and in heaven there was a book of memory, and His attributes was in Him,
knowing that because this Son of God raised, It would also raise to Life every son that was foreordained
to this great time. He knew it would be, and what a more
glorious sunrise that was than it was at the beginning, at time when it first
dawn.
21 Now, on this great breaking of the Easter
Seal... Now, today we have a tuberculosis Easter seal. People sends a
message one to the other, and to support this great fund or drive for the
doctors and medical science to work upon something to retire or to help the
tuberculosis, they are seal, what we call an Easter seal, when we send message
one to another...But when we receive the message, that seal is broken, because
the seal is what's got a message bound on the inside. And now, the true
Easter Seal on this sunrise was broken, and the secret of Life after
death was revealed. Before that time we didn't know; the world groped in
darkness, groped around man's suspicion. Theories was among man's hearts, traditions, made
up. Men worshipped idols; they worshipped the sun;
they worshipped all kinds of gods. And all kinds of people that made
claims, they all went into the grave, and they stayed in the
grave. But the real Seal had been broken, and One, Who once lived as we
live, died as we will die, was risen from the dead. What a morning,
never one like it in all the history of the world. The secret was made known
that He was both Resurrection and the Life.
Now, this reminds me of listening to A Bible News
show the other night and I enjoy the program because they try to give the news
with Bible commentary, but sometimes the host gets preachy, and I wish he was
open to the Word because I would love to sit down with him, and help him to
better understand the end time events, but he is stuck on the church going
through the tribulation, and uses misplaced Scripture to justify his stand.
The reason many believe the church will go through the tribulation is
because they do not understand there is a difference between the Elect bride
and the church itself. And they do not understand the Appearing and Coming are
two different words and they mean two different things as br. Branham
emphasized. But God's vindicated prophet taught us the church will go through
the tribulation but the elect Bride will not. And the trouble is these people
do not understand the difference between the church and the elect bride of
Christ.
From his
sermon the Fourth seal 63-0321 P:44 brother
Branham said, How
anyone can get the Church going through the tribulation, I don't know. But... What's
it got to go through the tribulation for, when it hasn't got a sin? I mean
the... I don't mean
the church; the church will go through the tribulation. But I'm talking about
the Bride. The
Bride won't, no, it hasn't got a sin against it at all. It's done
been bleached out, and there's not even smell of it; there's nothing left. They're perfect before God.
So what's any tribulation to purify them, but the others do. The church does go through the
tribulation, but not the Bride. Now, now, we're just taking it
in all kinds of symbols now like the church, Noah, the carried over type, went
on out into sin. See? Now, they did go over, but Enoch went first. That was
the type of the saints that would go in before the tribulation period.
You know, I am so thankful for a vindicated prophet of God to come and
straighten out all that theological mess they have out there.
I feel sorry for the host of that program, I really like him when it
comes to the news, but when it comes to understanding Scripture, he is too tied
to his denominational thinking to understand the Scripture with a pure heart
and mind. And that is the way with the church, and that is why God has to take
His bride out from the church.
Again a
vindicated prophet said, Questions and answers COD
64-0830E P:46 392. The Bride, when she's taken from the church, then the church age will cease.
Laodicea goes into chaos; the Bride goes to glory; and the
tribulation period sets in upon the sleeping virgin for three and a half years
while Israel is getting its prophecy; then tribulation sets in upon
Israel; and then
comes the battle of Armageddon which destroys all things. And then,
the Bride returns back with the Groom for a thousand years, the millennium
reign; after that comes the white throne judgment; after that comes the new
heavens and new earth and the new city coming down from God out of heaven. Eternity
and time blends together.
Now, let's get back to the Rising of the Son
and pick up at pp. 22 Then He said
when He come forth on that morning, "Because
I live, you live also." Not only
was He the beneficiary of the resurrection, but all those Seed that was resting in God's great
providence was a benefactor of that resurrection to Life, because He
said, "Because I live, ye shall live
also."That was the breaking of the
Seal. Because He was brought up, so will every one that's in Christ be
brought up with Him. At this glorious sunrise God had proven or vindicated
His Word. All the glooms and doubts that had moved in people's minds was taken
away, because here was He Who once lived, eat, drink, and fellowship with
mankind that said, "I have power to lay
My life down, and I have power to raise it up again." And now, not only had He made the statement, but He
proved it to be the truth. Oh, what a glorious thing that is. I'm sure this
morning that even we, who believe it, cannot comprehend what a great thing that
was. Because He
raised from the dead, we also have already raised from the dead, for we were in
Him.
This morning I would like to examine this thought, "because he lives we
live also".
Notice what Br. Branham is telling us here. It is not how well
trained you are in the Gospel, that has nothing to do with it. It is not who
you sat under for a minister or teacher, that has nothing to do with it. But because he lives you shall live also if you were in Him before the foundations of
the world.
Christianity and even amongst Message churches
it seems are filled with people who think they have it because they knew this
preacher or that preacher, or they went fishing with this one or hunting with
that one. None of that stuff has anything to do with God. And God will not
accept any of that nonsense when you stand before Him at the white throne.
It won't make any difference if you fished
with Jesus or you fished with William Branham, or you sat around the table with
lee Vayle. None of that matters. But what matters is "have you received the Holy Ghost since you
believed?"
Peter didn't know Christ because he went
fishing with him, and Paul never even met Jesus in the flesh, and yet by
revelation Paul knew him in a greater way than the twelve apostle did who spent
a lot of time with him in the flesh.
And The Apostle Paul even told us in 2
Corinthians 5:16 that we do not know Christ after the flesh any more, although at one time we might have known Him
that way, so it is not the flesh experience we are talking about here. It is
what brother Branham vindicated prophet of God said so clearly, that I'm going
to repeat again.
And from his sermon Christ is the mystery
63-0728 P:147 brother Branham said, "God is not known by education; He's not known
by how to explain it. God is known by simplicity and of revelation of Jesus
Christ in the most illiterate person. See? Not your theology; it's a
revelation of Jesus Christ. "Upon this rock, I'll build My
Church." No other rock's accepted; no other thing's accepted; no other
Roman rock; no other Protestant rock; no other school; no other nothing; but on
exactly the revelation of Jesus Christ in a new birth. He born in there
and injects His own
Life, and your life is gone, and the Life of Christ is projecting Itself
through you with the preeminences to the people that they see the very Life, and
works, and signs and wonders that He did is doing the same thing through you.
Outside of that, the rest of it's not even called to at all."
Now, let me put this into other words, to help
you understand what brother Branham is saying here. Christ
is the Mystery 147, I'll paraphrasing, "you receive the revelation
of Jesus Christ in a new birth, and Christ injects His own Life in and through you,
and your life is
gone, and the
Life of Christ is projecting Itself through you with the
pre-eminences to the people that they don't see you or your life any longer, but you are so dead to
yourself that the only
life they see living in your vessel is the very same Life, and the very same works,
and the very same signs and wonders that He (Jesus
Christ) did and he
is now doing the same thing through you. Outside of that, the rest
of it's not even called to at all."
That is why
the denominations do not understand end time Scripture, because you cannot
understand the things of God until the Spirit of God is in you. I'm not talking
about baptism or anointing in your flesh, I'm talking about the baptism of your
soul.
From his
sermon Marriage of the lamb 62-0121E P:44 brother
Branham said, "But, you see, first, decision's made, next
engagement, then promise, and then the ceremony. And that's
when the bride takes the bridegroom's name. She is no more then of her own
name; she takes the bridegroom's name. And then when the church has the
ceremony, makes their promises, then she takes the Bridegroom's Name.
Then she's no longer
a church of the world; she's the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. I don't mean that by Name; I mean that by birth, by nature, by the power of God.
By the revealed truth of God in the heart she becomes a Christian church,
the great, universal apostolic Christian church. She becomes a part of
Christ. When she does that, she... Christ injects into her His own Spirit, His own life.
And the Bible said to Adam and Eve there, "You're no longer twain, but one." And when the woman, church, is married to Christ, they're no longer two. They
are one: Christ in you. Amen. That's it. His life has been
brought into you. Then you become the bride.
Marriage of the lamb 62-0121E
P:45 Then, another thing. After she has taken all these vows and
so forth, and the ceremony's been said... Like my wife's name was Broy before
she was married. Now, she's no longer a Broy; she's Branham. Now, she isn't no
more Broy; she's Branham. And when you come into Christ, you're no more of
the world; you are of Christ. You care not then for the things of the
world. They're dead to you. "For he that
loves the world, or the things of the world, the love of God's not even in him."
So (You see?), you can't be a artificial
Christian. You can be a artificial professed Christian, but you can't be a
Christian to become...?... until Christ injects Himself by the baptism of
the Holy Ghost into you. Then you're connected with Him, and you're no longer
twain; you are one. Christ promised to be in us, as the Father was in
Christ. "I and My Father are One. You and I are One," (See?) Christ
in us.
And from his
sermon, Earnestly contending for the faith 55-0123E
P:28 Paul
was down here in the natural realm with his Ph.D. See? He didn't know... He had an intellectual faith,
but he didn't have a Divine faith. There's quite a difference
in me having an intellectual faith than a Divine faith. There's where you,
my Baptist friends, fail to go on. You get the intellectual faith by that, but it must be a
Divine revelation of Jesus Christ to you that just came out of the heart.
The intellectual faith is not enough. That's all right, but it
only brings you to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a personal experience of the birth,
the new birth, regeneration, making a new creature in Christ.
Notice, Paul jumped on his steed, and down to Damascus with some letters from
the high priest, said, "I'll arrest
everyone of them heretics. I'll bring them back."
Look how the Gospel got spread. It didn't set still like it is today. Brother, when they seen the works of God
doing performed to those apostles, away they went. They were
really on fire. They were doing something.
And then
brother Branham lays it all out when he says in his sermon, Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:120 Look, Christ in you makes Him the
center of Life of the revelation. See? Christ's Life in you
makes Him the center of the revelation. Christ in the Bible, makes the
Bible a complete revelation of Christ. Christ in you makes you the complete revelation of the
whole thing. See, what God's trying to do? What is the new birth
then? You say, "Well, Brother Branham, what is the new birth?" It is the revelation of Jesus
Christ personally to you. Amen. See? Not you joined a church,
you shook a hand; you done something different; you said a creed; you promised
to live by a code of rules; but Christ, the Bible... He is the Word that was revealed
to you. And no matter what anybody says, what takes place, it's
Christ. Pastor, priest, whatever it might be... It's Christ in you. That is a--the revelation that
the Church was built upon.
So what we're looking at here is a
life so surrendered to him that He has full pre-eminence in your vessel to do
as what pleases Him to do to you or through you.
He said Christ Jesus, His very own Life has been injected into
the believer and He, Christ is born into your vessel. And on top of all that, he says and your
own life is gone. And how does he say
we receive this injection of Christ-Life into our vessel in order for that
injected Life to come to birth in our vessel? He says God injects it by the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
Think in terms of the
revelation of Jesus Christ as being an inoculation from God of His own Life.
God takes His Word which is His Life blood, and since it is sharper than any
two edged sword, he uses it to inject into your vessel, His very own Life, the same Life
He injected into His Son Jesus.
And when you've been injected with this God
Life, it begins to manifest God-Life in you, and thus you receive the
revelation of Jesus Christ. And remember we have shown you that the word "revelation" means "manifestation of Divine will or truth".
In other words "revelation" is not some intellectual affair, but rather it is a Divine truth in you that has manifested or
expressed that God-Life in you. Therefore it must
express itself in order for it to be revealed to you. So when you see the manifestation of the
revelation, you know that you know because you are actually experiencing Christ
for yourself.. Or as Paul said, "You know as you are known."
And brother Branham says, He (Christ's very
own Life) born in there (in where? in you) and He injects His own Life (where?) In you, and when that happens your life is gone, it loses its old focus and interests, and you receive a new focus
and new interests, which is the focus and interests that pleases God. Therefore
your new life is not you and Jesus, it is Jesus alone. You see what God sees,
and you think what God thinks.
Paul said in Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. 4. When Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Notice you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God, and therefore when Christ manifests in his true character you do also with him in
the same glory, the same doxa, the
same opinions and values, and judgments, and that makes your life and His Life
one life. And that is because "by
one Spirit we are all baptized into one body." and if you have the same Spirit then
you have the same life and thus the same nature.
Now, when Paul tells us that our life is hid with Christ the word "hid" was translated from a Greek word that means to hide by covering, hidden
as though covered.
So Christ Jesus, His own Life expressed in you,
hides
your own life and all it's expressions that were a result of being born
in sin, and shaped in iniquity and that came to the world speaking lies. Then the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus is greater than the law of Life because the Law of the Spirit changes the nature of your first birth to
that of your new birth. It is not just as joining up with Jesus, as
thought you are a separated body from Him, but you are now bone of His bone and
flesh of His flesh. Therefore it
actually means this union with Christ takes you out of the way, and brings
his life into the pre-eminent position and expression in your being.
And after all, he said "For
ye are dead", and if you are
dead then what kind of an expression does a dead man have? NONE!!! Dead men don't retaliate do they? Dead horses don't kick,
and dead men don't fight back. Then if you want to know if you are truly dead
to self and your life is covered over by the very Life of Jesus Christ, then
give yourself the Word test.
3 Ye are dead, and your life is hid (covered) with Christ in God.
And if your life is covered with Christ it is because you have put on Christ. And who is Christ? He
is the Word.
Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ.
Then Paul says, Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, (Shall phaneroo, which means to
manifest in ones true character) then shall ye also appear (phaneroo to manifest in your true character)
with him in glory. With
him in doxa, with him in the same opinions, with
him in the same values,
and with him in the same
judgments. Then he says, "Mortify therefore your members" (See? That means 'kill off', or 'put to death', or even
'crucify'. What?) all these attributes of self, which are fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Notice what he said
about 'covetousness'-it's idolatry-"worshipping
money, things". See?
And brother Vayle explained this verse by
saying, "What is that a sign of,
brother/sister? It's a sign of when
those things come against us, we're dead to them…let them come. We don't get
mad anymore…why? Just take it and let it come. See? Get it out of the way.
"
So what is that? That's is the cross of Christ!
Where Paul said "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I am
living". That's not a
man saying, "Well, I'm going to get
back at that guy, because he did me..." no, no, no. You are dead and your life is hid with Christ, covered
over by the life of Christ, and the
life you are now living in this body is not your life, but Christ’s life is now
projecting itself out from your vessel. And that is what brother Branham said next...
“and the Life
of Christ is projecting Itself through you with the pre-eminences to the
people that they see the
very Life,
and works, and signs and wonders that He did is doing the same thing through you.
The word “project” that brother Branham uses here means “to
reproduce outwardly,” or “to
display outwardly".
So what we are looking at here is a life that
covers over your own life and this new life projects itself out from your
vessel like a projector projects what is on the film outwardly for all to see,
and the whole purpose of the projecting of what is on the film is to make
visible to all what is hidden within the projector.
Now, in his sermon on the mount Jesus told us of many benefits we receive by believing in Him,
but what he was talking about in the sermon on the Mount was our projecting of God-life and in every facet of that projection we are
thus blessed.
After all, it is so simple that you have to
work at it to make it difficult. He said, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. In other words, the less
you have of self, the more room you have for Christ in you which is your hope of glory. So what Jesus is saying here is that "You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope and you
have nothing left in yourself to show forth, for with less of you there can be
more of God."
In other words, when you've finally died to yourself, and your life is
covered over by Christ, then if it is truly covered you cannot
see anything of self any longer. And the Law of Life in Christ Jesus takes over.
That is what Paul taught us in Galatians
2:20 when he says, "I am crucified with Christ," and of course we know that crucifixion
is the worst form of death, but it is death none the less. So Paul says, when Christ died, I died right there and I die
daily to self, "and
yet I am alive, but it is not me that is alive, but Christ is living in me, and
the life I now live in this flesh I am living by the faith, by the revelation
of the son of God."
And now all you can see is Christ living in
me. There is nothing left for you to show the world of yourself, and the only
thing you have worth showing to the world is Christ Himself who gives you the
victory.
This brings us to what brother Branham said in the Rising of the
son pp 21 Because He raised from the dead, we
also have already raised from the dead, for we were in Him.
So we are talking about Resurrection
Life, and its your guarantee that you will also receive a body change. Therefore, the God-Life has the preeminence in our lives. The Resurrection Life in us,
for He is the Resurrection and
the Life, and if you are in
Him and He is in you then you are already
resurrected and setting together in heavenly places in Christ.
And Paul
said in Philippians 3:7 But what
things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: For whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win
Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own right-wise-ness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the revelation of Christ, the right-wise-ness which is of God by
revelation: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and
the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
And the Apostle Paul says in verse 11
what it is all about, "If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead".
In other words, I am willing to lay everything
down, and call everything I ever held dear as though it is no more than dung, to
attain to the out resurrection of the dead and to know Him in the power of His
resurrection.
And then he tells us in verse 12 Not as
though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us
therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be
otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Notice it is all about apprehending Christ
Jesus. growing up into Him, as Paul said in Ephesians 4.
It's not about what we can gain in this life
for ourselves, it's all about gaining Him. And he says for those who are
perfect, for those who are mature, you will understand what I am talking about.
"I press for mark of the high
calling of God IN Christ Jesus."
In other words, that life I saw in Christ Jesus, that Higher calling to where he died to self, and made himself a love prisoner to God His
Father, that is the life I want as well.
Forget everything I have ever attained to in
this world. Forget all the knowledge I ever processed through this mind of
mine. I count everything that I ever attained outside of Christ as worthless
and no more use that the dung our bodies pass through into the drought.
16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the
same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17 Brethren, be followers together of
me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For many
walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they
are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Notice he did not say they were the enemies of
Christ but enemies of the cross of Christ. In other words, they are against the true suffering and will not come to Christ by means of the
cross. And when we look at the cross and our own crucifixion of self, we must
always realize that to crucify your own self and the lust's thereof is a very
painful thing for any person.
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory
(whose doxa, whose values, and opinions) is in their shame, (why? because) they
mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change
our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Notice he says for those of us who are
actually looking for our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, our citizenship and thus
our behavior is molded to be like His own Glorious body.
Now this word glorious is translated from the
Greek word Doxa again showing that it is not the physical body but the
expression of the values and opinions and judgments of God that are projected
from our vessel just as Jesus own body projected the same values and opinions
of God.
You see, that is why Paul died to self,
allowing Christ to live His Life through Paul.
Br. Branham said in paragraph (pp. 312 Christ is the Mystery) "Paul, this great intellectual man, (1) never tried to express his great theological terms upon the people.
(2) He humbly accepted the Word of the
Lord, and (3) he lived the Word so
that it (his life) expressed It (God's Word, God's Will and God's
Life).
(4) He lived so godly (Godly means God-like) until they seen Jesus Christ in
him so much, till they wanted his handkerchief to take it and lay it
upon the sick. (5) There's the Life of Christ.
From God's only provided place of worship 65-1128M
P:20 he said, "I believe the church is begin to hear the
message, and beginning to understand.
So by this time they had already
begun to hear, but they were still in the process of beginning to understand
what they heard. But, friends, listen, we've got to lay in the
Presence of the Son; we've got to be ripened. Our faith isn't ripe.
In other words, our faith has not yet matured,
it has not yet developed to where it is supposed to be. And of course if the
fruit or faith is not yet ripe it is not yet ready for harvest. So he is
talking about the condition that will help us to come to this maturity, and
that is to lay in the presence of the Son of God, just as the fruit must hang
on the vine and gather in sunlight to make the fruit better and ready for
harvest, so we must lay in the presence of the Light of the Son of God to do
the same thing.
So you see you could not come to this place of
being harvest-ready, rapture-ready, without the Doctrine being taught as a
relationship, so that your understanding might develop in that light. And
brother Branham said, "Intellectually
we're hearing the message that God has give us, and seeing the signs that He
showed us, and proving it by the Bible as that; but,...
Now, he wouldn't say but if those three things
was the all of it, but they aren't. So he says, you've heard it, you are
beginning to even understand it, and you are now able to take it back to the
Scriptures, BUT that's not enough... Notice he says those things are
alright, but there is something that you still need, and that is) BUT
oh, how the church needs to lay in His
Presence till it tenders up, you know, and gets sweet in the Spirit so that it can bathe down. Sometimes in
speaking the message, you get harsh, have to break it in like that, because
you've got to clinch a nail to make it hold. But when the church once gets it, the
Elected is called out and separated then in the Presence of God, I know it'll be something like the people
was there when it takes its rapture.
And that brings us to where we enter into
humility and what Paul said in 1
Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren,
when I came to you, I never came with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God. I never tried to impress you with how
much I know, but rather 2 I determined not to know anything among you, except
Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
In other words what I looked for in you is what I want you to see in me, Christ
only and my life crucified. A life that has died to self, and is now being lived by the
same life that lived in the body of Jesus, in other words, the Holy Spirit.
Paul continues, 3 and therefore when I was among you, when I was
in your presence, I was there in weakness, and not only that but I was also in
fear, and not only fear, but I actually trembled lest you not see in me what I
wanted to see in you, and that is Christ Jesus and
not only Christ Jesus, but to see Him crucified in me.
4 And it affected my speech for my
speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, No,
not at all. But it was in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power, not by my own ability, but by my death to self, and my giving over my
body to God the author and finisher of my faith, for Him to live in me as He
lived in Christ Jesus. 5 And my motive was that your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Because words
are nothing more than the sounding of a gong or cymbal, and can have the wrong
affect upon you if their source and motive and objective are wrong. That is why I feared, that is why I
trembled in your presence. Not fear of you, nor trembling at your presence, but
I feared myself and my own humanity.
I trembled at the thought of Paul getting in the way.
Because words, mere words, are powerless unless they have their source
in God who is the author and finisher of your faith.
What beautiful words to describe a surrendered
life vessel to God. What humility to admit that we are completely helpless and
hopeless without God in us working both to will and to do.
Now, listen to these words of Paul, a teacher
to the Gentiles, and an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, not selected by man,
but by God. All you have to do is read Paul's writings, and he saw something
that none of the other Apostles saw. As brother Branham said, they all fished
with him, and ate with him, and walked the dusty trails with Jesus, but Paul
saw something none of them saw, except later on John too saw it, and then
Peter.
But Paul did not receive this by schooling, he
received it by dying to self. And when Paul learned to die to self,
then God took over, and Paul saw God in action in Himself. And that is what
happened with brother Branham, and that is what will happen to you if you learn
to die to self, and let God's Life have the preeminence in you.
God-Life expressed. God life manifested. God
life projected. And it can come only when you get yourself out of the
way and let him live your life for you. In fact brother Branham said the greatest
gift is to get yourself out of the way. So if you pray for anything pray to
make yourself little that God might project Himself big as life in you.
Therefore, after his conversion Paul was
never proud. He was never arrogant. He was never boastful, but he was
always fearful that his position given him by God would not be understood by
the men in which he was called to bring to Christ. And he knew had it not been
for the grace of God he would not have come to the knowledge of the truth
himself.
Paul was very aware of his own humanity, and
he knew in his own abilities had brought him to be at war with the God he
desired to serve. And in his own abilities, he missed God altogether and had
become the enemy of the God he thought he was serving. He knew that were it not
for God finding him and knocking him off his high horse and blinding him, he
would have never known he was already blind.
That is why William Branham said, "Paul, this great intellectual man, never tried to express his great
theological terms upon the people."
He never tried to put one over on the people. he never tried to use his education to impress the people.
You know, I like the way brother Branham
approached the Word because it shows the reality of who actually has the right
Word or not. Now, you might say, well, what do you mean preacher? Well, brother
Branham said if God be God like Elijah said, then the God who is God will
manifest what he said to be true, and if he is not God then nothing will
manifest, right? So the proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof, isn't
that right? God interprets his word by bringing it to pass.
Even Moses ate the
same food Israel ate. He didn't give them food and eat something else. He ate
what they ate, and if it was good enough for him it was good enough for them.
That's why brother Branham would always say, "don't preach me a sermon,
live me one". then I'll
believe you. Why should I believe a man who says "say what I say but don't do what I do". Didn't Jesus tell the people, The
priests give you orders to do from the Scriptures, and so you must do it, but
don't do what they do. Don't let them be your example, because they are
hypocrites who do not do what they tell you to do.
The Scripture is God's Word and it matters not
who quotes it, but look at the lives of the one who quotes it and if their life
doesn't live that Word themselves, then forget it, you're looking at a
hypocrite. and why would you believe a hypocrite?
That's what brother Branham said, Be not afraid 60-0717 P:86 Now, if you want to say, "I've got the Holy Ghost standing on
my head," amen, go on. I don't care what you got. You say, "I got a,
I seen a big light." Go ahead and see the big light. Amen. If you live the life, I believe you got
it. You say, "I got it speaking in tongues." Amen. If you live the life, I believe you got
it. If you don't live the life, you didn't get it.
That's all. See? You've got to have that Life
behind there. "By their fruit, you shall know them." That's right. I believe in speaking in
tongues, and believe in shouting, and believe in all the Pentecostal
experiences. Yes. But if that isn't tied together with love, it'll never work. Love is what puts it over.
Unpardonable
sin 54-1024 P:47 You might do this, that, or the other, whatever
it is. But your life will tally to your
testimony. Your life testifies so loud,
till... No matter what you say, people don't believe it if you don't live it.
They ain't going to believe you. And you don't believe it yourself, and the
public don't believe it; so you're just making yourself miserable. Why don't
you come with a true heart, and say, "God, I confess my wrongs, and I
believe on Jesus Christ with all my heart. Now, God, give me the Holy
Ghost." He will do it. That's right. He will do it.
Hebrews Chapter 4 57-0901E P:79 Listen. Watch: Neither is there any creature that is not
manifested in his sight: but all things are naked and open before His eye to
him... who we have to do with. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into
the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confessions." Hold fast,"
that don't mean just keep testifying. If you don't live the life, you
don't hold it fast. You're
living a hypocritical thing. You'd better be on out and just say you're a
sinner and forget about it. Don't profess a Christian and live something else; you're the biggest stumbling block the
world's ever had. If you're a sinner, admit it and go on, get right with
God. If you're a Christian, hold fast
your confession; stay there.
Jezebel religion 61-0319 P:4 You want to live just what you talk about. If you don't live it yourself,
how could you expect somebody else to live it. See? So you are written epistles
read of all men; so
always be honest, just, true. Tell the
truth, no matter how bad it hurts something. Tell the truth anyhow, 'cause
you can always tell it the same way each time. And if you tell a lie, you'd
have to go a million miles around, and still you have to come back to that lie
again; and you just made an awful thing. Just be honest, and you can always
tell it the same way because it's the truth.
Believing God 52-0224 P:55 And I know this, that some of us has more faith than others, and
those who have abundance of faith are supposed to pray for those. But if you don't live the right kind of life,
you better leave away from it; the devil will laugh at your prayer. But when you live right, and do right, and act right, and
have faith in God, Satan will tremble when you speak, 'cause God
swore under obligation He'd take care of that prayer. That's true.
That is why Paul tells us in Romans 3:3 For what if some
did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? 4
God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; ...
Amplified
version: Romans 3:3 What
if some did not believe and were without faith? Does their lack of faith and
their faithlessness nullify and make ineffective and void the faithfulness of
God and His fidelity [to His Word]?4 By no means! Let God be found true though
every human being is false and a liar,
The
Message Version: Romans 3:3 Do you think their
faithlessness cancels out his faithfulness? Not on your life! Depend on it:
God keeps his word even when the whole world is lying through its teeth.
Scripture says the same: Your words stand fast and true; Rejection doesn’t faze
you. But if our wrongdoing only underlines and confirms God’s right doing,
shouldn’t we be commended for helping out? Since our bad words don’t even make
a dent in his good words, isn’t it wrong of God to back us to the wall and hold
us to our word? These questions come up. The answer to such questions is no, a
most emphatic No! How else would things ever get straightened out if God didn’t
do the straightening?
So what we see is that God wants for our words
to match our lives, which is the some of our actions, and if it doesn't, then
why should anyone believe what you have to say.
Brother Branham taught us The Word will bear its own fruit and your life and your
testimony are one and the same.
In paragraph 312 of Christ
is the Mystery brother Branham in
speaking of the apostle Paul he said that Paul so lived the Word so that it
expressed It. Now I want you to catch his words
very carefully here. Notice he did not say, he lived the Word so that he
expressed It. No, that's not what he said. He said, "he lived the Word so
that "IT
expressed IT."
Let me reword this for you in my own words so
that you can better see what he is saying here. He is saying, "Paul so lived the Word that The Word expressed Itself in
Paul". Now He is not saying
here Paul lived the Word so much until Paul expressed the Word. That's not what
the Apostle Paul said of himself. That's not his own testimony.
To find out what Paul said about himself we
read in Romans 7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under
sin.
So Here
is the first point I brought out this morning and I want you to
understand. The Apostle Paul said
that the "Law is spiritual" Therefore if the Law is spiritual then it cannot be satisfied with anything
that your flesh or any flesh can produce. That's why I always tell those who say "I
just can't live it", I tell them "of course not, no one can".
And they say "well, then what is the use of trying?" And right there
they miss the whole picture, because you are saying what is the use for ME to
try. And it's not about you trying, it's about Him doing. It's not about you,
it's about Him. Paul didn't say I
am now
living the life of Christ. He said, "I am dead, yet somehow there's a life living in me, yet it is not me that is
living but it is Christ that is living in me." John 14:12 is not about you doing,
it's about Him in you doing. The same one who did in Him will do in you, other-
wise He is not the same yesterday, today and forever.
No man can live it, but only one man did live
it, and that man when he lived it, he set the standard so high no man can live
up to that standard... But He can! And how do I know that? Because He already
did.
So Paul tells us the Law is spiritual but I
am carnal, and not only am I
carnal but I am sold under sin which is missing the mark or basically not believing. He says, I
sowed that way to begin with, we are all "born in sin, shaped in
iniquity, and come into this world speaking lies", so how do you expect to live it, when
you were not made to live it.
But He was and he did live it. Because He was
born from above, and He was not born by a sexual act of the flesh, but he was
born from above. Therefore, I want for you to get that out of your thinking right
now, and don't let that thought hold you down. When the devil whispers in your
ear that you can't live it, you tell him, you are absolutely right devil, but I
know one who did. And that one who did wants to live it in me as well, so stand
back Satan, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because "I am crucified
with Christ, and nevertheless, I know that I am still living, yet it is no
longer me that is living, but Christ Himself is living in me", and the
Life I am now living in this flesh I am living by the Faith, by the revelation
of the son of God, His Faith, His Revelation, because it is Him that is alive
in me."
Then Paul goes on to explain how that since the law is spiritual, and he is carnal,
he is not able to live out the Law Himself.
15
For that which I do I allow not: In other words, the things I seem to do in
this flesh, I really didn't plan to do them, they just happen because of my
flesh. I mean I don't even have to think to do them, they just happen. It's
just my human nature to do them. That is why I don't have to allow them, they
just happen. And then he says, "for what I would like to do, that do I not
do;
In other words the things I allow for, those I don't seem to do, and those things I
make no allowance for, that is what I seem to be doing. Notice his language here, "but
what I hate, that I seem to find myself doing".
Now, why would the apostle Paul make such a
statement as that? Because he is telling us that it has nothing to do with what I
can or cannot do in this flesh, because it has nothing to do with this
flesh because the law is
spiritual. He is saying, “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but
I myself am not".
Paul is saying, "What
I don’t understand about myself is that I decide to go one way, but then I act
another way, which seems just the opposite of the way I intended to act, doing
things I absolutely despise doing. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what
is best for my own self and then do it, it becomes very obvious that God’s
command is necessary".
16 If then I do that which I
really don't want to do, or if I find myself doing those
things that I never intentionally thought about doing, and I despise
the doing of them, then in reality I am
agreeing within me that the law that God set up is good for me. 17 Now then
if my desire is to do what God has shown to be holy and righteous, but my body
doesn't do what I wish it to do concerning what is holy and righteous, then it
is not really me doing those things, but sin (unbelief) dwelling in
me that causes me to do those things. 18 For I know that in me
(that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing:
for too will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find
not. 19 For the good that I would do, I don't seem to do: but the evil which I
don't want to do , that I seem to find myself doing. 20 Now if I do what I
don't want to do, then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then this law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I
am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but
with the flesh the law of sin
Now, what Paul is saying in this is that there
is a law called the law of reproduction, or the law of life, and it operates in
our body. And when I delight in the Law of God inwardly, I know that the Law of
God is spiritual, because even though I long to do God's will and obey His law,
yet my body is not spiritual, and was sown in sin, shaped in iniquity and come
to the world speaking lies.
So when we look at the body of flesh, it has a
law operating in our body that makes the body manifest itself according to the
nature of the seed that gave birth to that body. But he says there is also
another law within me which is spiritual, and this nature as it grows up within
me, seems to war against the nature of my flesh. And this nature is spiritual,
because it's the nature of the inner man by a new birth. And the two natures
war against each other. But since both are tied directly to whatever seed was
sown, then hence when I would to do good, there is another nature so in effect
the nature of the flesh wars against the nature of the spirit.
So here is the problem, I desire to live a life like
Christ but my body is not capable of going along with my desire. So
what do I do in this case? Am I held accountable for every act that's done in
this flesh? Absolutely you are held accountable.
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father
with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
So we see that man cannot get away from the
fact that he is held responsible for every work he does in the flesh, and yet
we know the flesh is not capable of doing that which pleases God.
Now it doesn't look good for man in his
ultimate sentencing because even if he wishes to do good, there is a law in the
flesh that will not permit him to do that which is good. So now, that we have
set forth the case against our bodies being capable of living a sinless life,
let's read again what brother Branham said in paragraph 312 brother Branham said in speaking of the apostle Paul
(3) he lived the Word so that
it expressed It.
Let me reword this for you in my own words so
that you can better see what he is saying here. He is saying, "Paul so lived the Word so that The Word expressed
The Word.
Notice, as Paul said in Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be
justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works
of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if,
while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners,
is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again
the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through
the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ is living in me: and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Let us pray...