Romans #8, 1: 16-17
Sunday December 28, 1997
Brian Kocourek
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek. Let’s
Pray................
Paul speaking to the
Saints, that is the sanctified ones, those who have been set apart for service,
those who have come out from among that which is unclean and who have allowed
the Word of God to cleanse them through a separation from the unclean thoughts
of the world, it is to these people
that Paul is speaking here when he says, For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth....
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, I am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, I am not ashamed....I am not ashamed.
Why would Paul be
speaking to this group of people he called saints, or sanctified ones, to this
group of people who had come out from the filth of the world, and had been set
apart for service. why would Paul be speaking to them about not being ashamed
of the Gospel of Christ. To me this is
a paradox. we all know what the people at Rome suffered for their commitment to
the Gospel. They were blamed for the burning of Rome which Nero himself had
done so he could tax the people more for new buildings, and then he blamed the
Christians for the burning.
It sounds to me that
history repeats itself. We have a massacre at Waco Texas where the government
went in and burned out the people and killed everyone they could so no witness
could testify and then they had to the audacity to blame the burning on the
people whom they burned. Telling the press that the Davidians started the fire that destroyed themselves.
Just like in Oklahoma City, there has been so much disinformation going out to
the public that we will never really know the full story until the white thrown
judgment. Yet we are hearing bits and pieces of information being leaked out
that the government knew well in advance of an attempt to blow up the building
and did nothing to ensure the safety of those inside except for the BATF agents
were told not to show up for work that day.
And so we see the same
scenario taking place in this hour where the government has come down against
those that it arbitrarily considers to be a
cult just because they are different. Anything or any one who is
different they want to classify them as a cult or a cult leader. Just like they
did back in Paul’s day. In fact we hear Paul testifying on his own behalf
before the governor of Judaea [Acts
24:14] Paul said, “But this I confess
unto thee, that after the way which they
call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which
are written in the law and in the prophets:“
Now it is interesting to
not that Paul was considered a heretic in his day. But just like it has always
been, the people today who profess to be Christian look to Paul as God’s
anointed in his day. In other words, they can look back and bless but when it
comes in their own day, they just look upon the One who God has truly anointed
and consider him to be some kind of a flake. And man does not change. They told
Jesus right flat that they believed Moses but had nothing to do with Jesus.
They even called Him Beelzebub, which is a name for the devil himself which
means the lord of evil spirits. And if they did this to Jesus, then how much
more will they do to you and me.
[Matt
10:25]
Therefore, I believe
that Paul in his address to the sanctified ones at Rome, to those who had
separated themselves from the world and the filth of the world, I believe that Paul was telling them early
on in his epistle to them to get ready for a spiritual warfare. And he was
telling them that whatsoever happened, they like him were not to be ashamed of
the Gospel of Christ, for “It is the very Power of God”.
Now, in understanding
what Paul is telling not only the early Roman Believers, but ourselves in this
hour as well, we must first know what it means to be ashamed. Therefore if we
are to know what it is to be ashamed, then we must know what the word itself
means. Now, our best source for this is our friend Noah Webster. And he tells
us that the word ashamed simply means to be shamed, or to put to shame.
Therefore if Paul tells us that he is
not ashamed, it is because he does not want us to be ashamed either. For to
allow yourself to feel shame is to allow within you a painful feeling of having
lost the respect of others, because of
some improper behavior or incompetence on your part. Because after all, Shame
is a feeling of dishonor or disgrace and is associated with guilt. And guilt is
associated with knowingly doing wrong.
Romans #8, 1: 16-17
But how can we then feel
guilt or shame because of the Gospel?
When you are walking in the Light as He is in the Light how could you
feel guilt? For Jesus Said, I am the way , the Truth and the Life.” And since
guilt is fear of condemnation, how can you have this fear when God tells us in
His Word that “there is no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus.” In
[Romans 8:1] we read , [There is] therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
Now, this morning I
would like to focus our thoughts upon this text and to look more deeply at this
thought that Paul is bringing to our attention here. Here we find Paul telling
us that He himself is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, now why would Paul
say this to this group of people who know what it means to be separated and
ostracized on account of their separation.
Look, Paul knew first hand himself what it means to be made fun of for
his beliefs. Because after all, he had been one of those who made fun and even
to the point where he felt that it was his duty to do away with those who
believed in Christ.
But something happened
to Paul. He came into the Presence of the Pillar of Fire, the very God He
worshipped, and he became a changed man. And if you once ever into His Presence
you will never be the same again. And so Paul was changed. And the proof of his
change was the way he committed himself to the Truth. Therefore, when you know
something to be the Truth, and that everything else is headed for death and
destruction, it has a way of making you act different. You talk different, you
act different, and your life has a different focus about it. Things which may at one time in your life
seemed to be important don’t seem to have the same effect upon you any longer.
I remember back in the
mid seventies, when many of us came into the Message. The imminence of the
end-time was made very real to us and all we could think about was the end of
the world. we lived it and we breathed
it and when it did not come as we thought it would come, many fell away and
then tried to make up for lost time. But those people never really believed it.
They just fell under the influence of a
Truth which they could not endure for more than a short season. But I still believe that although more than
23 years has gone bye since I first heard this Message, I still believe that
anytime now, the world will end as we know it.
The only difference between what how I act now and back then is that my
actions now are seasoned with more years of knowledge and experience, and I
know that I must live everyday as though it is my last and yet I must also plan
as if I will be around for another fifty years. And that is where a balance
will come into your life, because I do not believe that God is in any big hurry
to kill of the entire planet. In [II Peter
3:9] we read, “The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
And the more we learn of
Him the more we come to rest in His Promises. He promised that He would not
leave His Elect behind, and that in order to take them out of here in what we
term a Rapture, but what He terms a catching away, He promised to send us an
end-time Message that would gather us together and would bring about a change
of the mind and get us ready for a change of the body. This Message is called
the Shout according to scripture, and those who are caught up into it are
guaranteed to be caught away with Him when He leaves this earthly dimension.
Therefore, the more I
have learned of Him the more I have come to trust in His Promises and the more
I trust in His Promises, the more I enter into His Rest as Peter taught us in [II Peter 1:2] Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God,
and of Jesus our Lord,
Now, this brings us to
the next thought that Paul is bringing to our attention here in this first
chapter of his Epistle to the Romans.
Romans 1:17 For therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just
shall live by faith. Now, Paul is telling us
here that the very righteousness, or the right-wise-ness of God is revealed from revelation to
revelation. In other words, we do not just stop once we have first received the
revealed word. But as brother Branham taught us in the church age book about
revelation, He said, it is like a roman candle that goes up and out from it
comes another flame and from that another and from that another and another and
on into eternity. And this is the key to understanding our day and it’s
message.
Romans #8, 1: 16-17
Now, this what Paul said
here is exactly the order in which God works through His Word. Remember, we had
just read in verse 16 where Paul was telling us that the Gospel is nothing to
be ashamed about because in fact, it is the very power of God to us and it
brings forth salvation to the believer. In other words, it is believing the
Gospel that saves the believer.
Let’s read again what
Paul says here in verse 16. For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Then notice in the next verse how
Paul tells us this Power of God goes into operation. He says from faith to
faith, from revelation to revelation. Therefore if this Power of God is unto
something, then that ought to tell us that it’s very purpose is to bring forth
something, or to bring us forth to something. And when he adds that it comes
from faith to faith, he in turn is telling us that this salvation is more than
just a saving of the soul. In fact the word he uses here for the word salvation
is a Greek word soteria which means salvation, deliverance, preservation, and
safety, and does not restrict itself to the soul alone but also tot he body as
well.
Therefore what we should
be gaining in our understanding here is that the Gospel of Christ is an actual
power that through the release of this power, or the exercise of this power we
have been given promises of strength for our earthly journey, health for our
bodies, preservation of our souls, deliverance for our minds, and over all
protection and safety for our Body, soul and Spirit. In other words, everything we have need of pertaining to life comes
from and out from this Word. Then how in the world could we ever find ourselves
feeling guilty or ashamed of that?
[II Peter 1:3-4] According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life
and godliness, ( and how does it come?) through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these( That by these what? Precious Promises, and what
will these precious promises produce in you?) ye might be partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust”.
Now, with something so
full of power as this word, how could anyone be ashamed of it? But many are and
I will tell you why they are. Because they do not understand what it is Paul is
telling them. They hear us talking about what this Power of God will do for you
but they have never experienced that power in their lives and therefore it is
only a myth to them. And that is the condition of many children today who are
raised in this Message unless they have seen for themselves what I am talking
about.
[Psalms 34:1-22]1 [A Psalm] of David, when he changed his
behavior before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless
the LORD at all times: his praise [shall]
continually [be] in my mouth. 2 My soul shall make it’s boast in the LORD:
the humble shall hear [thereof], and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he
heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked unto him, and
were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard [him], and saved him out
of all his troubles. 7
The angel of the LORD encampeth round
about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 8
O taste and see that the
LORD [is] good: blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him. 9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for [there is] no want to them that fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger:
but they that seek the LORD shall not want
any good [thing]. 11
Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the
LORD. 12 What man [is he that]
desireth life, [and] loveth [many] days, that he may see good? 13
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace,
and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD [are] upon the
righteous, and his ears [are open] unto their cry. 16 The face of the LORD [is]
against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17
[The righteous] cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of
all their troubles. 18 The LORD [is] nigh unto them that are of a
broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many [are] the afflictions of the righteous:
but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his
bones: not one of them is broken. 21
Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The
LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him
shall be desolate.
Now, how could anyone
who had any knowledge of God not want to receive all that God promises.
Romans #8, 1: 16-17
Remember, there are some
800 promises in this Bible that are just waiting for you to take God at His
Word. He said, try me and prove me. We have seen this morning just a few of
them, where He has promised to deliver us out of all our trials and how can you
be ashamed of receiving a promise like that. I would much rather take my
chances with God than without Him. What hope do the young people of today have.
If they live another 30 years from now, we are promised a tax rate of 85%. Now,
you know that is a trick of the devil to take away all that you have. But don’t
you worry, I don’t believe we will be here long enough for that to happen. But
what if we are? I am sure today many young people think about that and it
drives them to desperation. What will they do when 85% of their income will go
to the government. The make believer will say, well it look’s like I won’t be
able to pay my tithe then. And the believer will say, I can’t afford not to pay
my tithe then. And the make believer will say, How in the world will you be
able to pay your tithe to God when the government takes 85% and tithe would
take another 10%. That would only leave you with 5%. But the believer says, Oh
but God promised that I my barns would never go empty, and my cup will
overflow.
You see, the devil wants
you to look to his promises, which he speaks through his messengers the governments
of this world. But God wants you to look only to His Promises, which will never
fail. Though Heaven and earth itself will pass away, yet God has promised that
not one of His Words will fail.
[Isaiah 55:10-56: 7] 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: 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. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth
with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into
singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir
tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be
to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut
off. Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye
judgment, and do justice: for my salvation [is] near to come, and my
righteousness to be revealed. Blessed [is] the man [that] doeth this, and the
son of man [that] layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting
it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Neither let the son of the
stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath
utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I
[am] a dry tree. For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my
sabbaths, and choose [the things] that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
Even unto them will I give in mine house
and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I
will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve
him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that
keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even
them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of
prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] accepted upon
mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
He promised never to
leave us, nor forsake us. The Son is always there. Sometimes you don't see it
because of the stormy clouds, but
behind those dark and gloomy clouds shines the same Son that shone
yesterday, today and forever. He will not leave you, He promised He would not
leave here without taking His Elect with Him. Therefore, when those clouds of
fear and doubt get between you and the Light of the Son, just remember one
thing, He’s still on the scene. All you have to do is to look beyond those dark
and gloomy clouds and you’ll find yourself in the Presence of the Son. Hallelujah!
119 Be Certain Of
God V-5 N-12 59-0125 In Germany once I saw a picture, and it
always stuck with me. A German painter has painted the--a picture
that's--that's called "The Cloud Land." And when you see it off at a
distance, it's the horriblest looking gloom you ever seen, just clouds matted
together when you're looking at it from a long distance. But when you get real
close to it, it changes; it's angels' wings beating together, singing
hallelujahs to the Lord. So that's what gloom is sometime. If you look at it at
a long distance, it looks gloomy and dark; but take God at His Word and be
certain that He's God, and move up close to it; you'll find out it's just
angels' wings a-beating together.