Brian Kocourek
The last Message I preached before I went away for a
little rest was from Romans 6 and verses 16-17. Again this morning I would like
to look at these verses and focus our thinking on what the Apostle Paul was
telling us in light of this end-time Message. So let’s begin by reading from
Romans 6 as This was the Alpha Message which is to be manifested in the Omega
hour, which is this hour.
Remember Brother Branham
said in the Message Shalom, PP 222, “All the new Testament speaks of this hour.” Therefore, if we are to believe all that the
Prophets have spoken, then , “All
the new Testament speaks of this hour.” Then when I read from Romans 6:
16-17 it applies to this hour, exactly. So let’s read it in light of this
understanding....
Romans 6:16-23 ¶ 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Now, before we go any
further, I would like to ask the question, “What is sin?” Sin is
unbelief....Brother Branham taught us that drinking and smoking are not sin,
but they are attributes of unbelief. Therefore, Sin is unbelief. And Paul is telling us here that if we yield
our members, or the different parts of our body to unbelief, it will result in
death. That is plain talking. Pure and simple Truth. And if we yield our vessel
to God’s Word, to believe it and obey it, it will result in righteousness. Now,
what
is righteousness? Scofield
defines righteousness as coming from the old English Word, Right-Wise-ness. In
other words, you have a right thinking. Like what Brother Branham taught as a
thinking man’s filter which is the Word of God. If you are righteous it is
because you are rightly wise. You have a correct understanding based upon a
correct revelation. Therefore, having a correct understanding is so very
important to where we are going. For if we are following error we will
definitely end up in error. But if we are walking in the Light as He is in the
Light we will end up in His Presence. Let’s read [1 John 1: 7]
In [Isaiah 30:21], the Lord says, “This is the way, walk ye in it”
Proverbs 2:1 My son, if
thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine
ear unto wisdom, [and] apply thine
heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after
knowledge, [and] liftest up thy
voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as
silver, and searchest for her as [for]
hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou
understand the fear of the LORD, and
find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD giveth wisdom:
out of his mouth [cometh] knowledge
and understanding. 7 He layeth up sound wisdom for
the righteous: [he is] a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8 He keepeth the paths of
judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness,
and judgment, and equity; [yea], every good path. 10 When wisdom entereth into
thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion
shall preserve thee, understanding
shall keep thee: (Keep thee
from what?) 12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil [man], from the man that
speaketh perverted things; 13
Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice to do evil, [and] delight in
the (perversity) of
the wicked; 15 Whose
ways [are] crooked, and [who] deviate
in their paths:
Now, we see here by God’s
infinite Wisdom which He so readily wants us to have that God is more than
willing to pour out from Himself this
Wisdom on our behalf. God wants us to have understanding and He wants us to
have knowledge, and wisdom because it will keep us and protect us. That is where Eve made her fatal mistake,
She didn’t think she needed God’s Wisdom, and so she left God’s Word for
further enlightenment that she thought she would receive from the serpent.
Notice in this proverb that we find the warning going out. He says, 6 For
the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his
mouth [cometh] knowledge and understanding. 7
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous, and then He says, . 10 When
wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion
shall preserve thee, understanding
shall keep thee. : (Keep thee
from what?) From the evil men who deviate from the Vindicated Truth. [John
3: 19-21] They love darkness in a greater measure than they love the Light.
And why is that? Because Jesus said in John 8 that they have no place in them
for the Truth. [John 8:37] And
because they turn down the Truth, God turns them over to believe The Lie. And yet they call those who study this word
intellectuals. Why? Because they don’t want the Word. They don’t want to talk
it either.
[2 Thess 2: 10-13 You have got to love the Truth or you will be turned
over to believe the Lie.. And if you
are ordained of God you will believe the Truth, for that is the evidence that
you are God’s Seed.
[Acts 13:48] “as many as were ordained to Eternal Life,
believed.” We also see Jesus
Explain this in [Matthew 13: 10-17]
Now, this is what Brother
Branham was referring to when he said from,
104 Israel in Egypt PP.
104
53-0325 Well, they say, "I don't
need anybody to teach me. Glory to God, I got the Holy Ghost." Well then,
the Holy Ghost was wrong when It said It set some in the church, teachers. God
put them in the church as teachers. That settles it. Why'd He put teachers in
there, if the Holy Ghost is going to do all the teaching? See? What people needs is their brains baptized,
besides their water. That's right. All right. Excuse that sharp expression, but
I like to really let her soak in.
178 Demonology 2 Religious 53-0609 I said, "How little you preachers
know." I said, "Instead of baptizing your body, you need your brains
baptized." That's right. You don't stop to think of things. You don't try
to consider it."
[Ezek 36:26-27] New heart, new spirit, then
I will place My Spirit....
E-42 Impersonation of
Christianity 57-0120M But God had to give you a new spirit. Why, the spirit you had, you
couldn't even get along with yourself. So how are you going to get along with
God? So God had to give you a new
heart, not a patched up one, a new heart. That's
your intellects that you think with, a new way of thinking. Then He give
you a new way of thinking, "Yes, that's right. The Bible looks to be
reasonable. I use to didn't believe that. I believe it now." Now, there's
your great revival. See?.....43 Then He said after that, "Then I'll
give you a new spirit." What's
that? A new desire, "I want to do
right." .... Then notice the order of the Scripture.
After you get a new heart and a new spirit, He said, "Then I'll put My Spirit..." See? Oh, what? That's the
what the Scripture says here. That's the order, the numatics and numerical
order of the Scripture: a new heart, a new spirit, and then My Spirit.
22-1 Blasphemous Names 62-1104M And the biggest part of our faith is mental
faith. By hearing the Word it brings us to a mental recognition of God. But if
this coming from above, oh, brother, if it ever strikes this, there is a godly,
spiritual faith. Then what does that faith do? That faith recognizes only the Word. No matter what anything else
says, it only recognizes the Word, because "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (And the Word's still God.)
And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us." And when the word Itself is pouring into our faith, our mental faith
becomes a spiritual revelation. "And upon this foundation I'll build
My Church," (See?), not upon a mental conception of church joining, a
mental conception of that, but upon the revelation. When them streams of grace
has poured into that mental faith that you've got, then upon this, a spiritual
revelation, "I'll build My Church and the gates of hell can't prevail
against it." See? That shows they would be against it, but it'll never
prevail. Oh, what a glorious thing.
23-4 Blasphemous Names
62-1104M And then, that was number one. Number one, coming to you, your mental faith, right here, comes the
Holy Spirit, coming down into your mental faith making it a spiritual faith.
Then the spiritual faith only recognizes the Word.
Now, this leads us back to
what Paul was telling us in verse 17... But God be thanked, that ye were the slaves
of sin, but ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18
Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness.
Now, this is the point I
wish to speak on this morning, ... Paul says, God should be thanked, because you who were at one point the slaves of
unbelief, have come to the place where
you have obeyed from the heart (you have obeyed from the right
understanding) that form of doctrine, or as the Weymouth translation says, “you
have yielded yourselves wholeheartedly to the System of Truth” and the
Wuest translation says, “You obeyed out from the heart as a source,
a type of teaching into which you were handed over.” ....that
form of doctrine which was delivered you. And notice then what
believing the right thing will do for you? He continues by saying, 18 Being
then made free from sin, ye
became the servants of righteousness.
Therefore, Paul wants us to
know that having a correct understanding is what begins your spiritual setting
free and places you on your journey into righteousness which is simply a being right,
or having a right understanding. After all, if God is the Word and you have a
wrong word, then you have a wrong God. This teaching that you have
wholeheartedly obeyed is not only the True teaching of God’s Word,
but it is more
specifically a certain type of teaching
called doctrine, which Weymouth calls a
“system of Truth”, and a system, according to Webster is a “set of
facts, principles, rules, etc. that have been classified or arranged into a
regular, orderly form so as to show a logical plan linking the various parts
that there might be an established way of doing things, orderliness, in ones
way of proceeding.
But the people do not want
this system of teaching called doctrine, they didn’t weant it in Jesus day, and
neither do they want it in our day. . [Mark
1:22] astonished = ekplesso = to cast off by a blow, to strike with panic,
shock, amazement... And just as in the
Alpha so has become the Omega. The people do not want this system of teaching
called doctrine And so they call those of us who do want the doctrine,
intellectuals. Yet brother Branham calls them intellectuals. He said from the
message, Uncertain Sound 62-0714 Intellectual--they
don't want somebody to really stand up and pull the Scripture out and show it. They want somebody that's trained to
bypass It. They don't want to know that. Oh, they just can't stand
that. He says, the intellectual is
one who has been trained to bypass the Word, Bypass the doctrine. They don’t
want those who can pull the scriptures together and show it. They don’t want
that. So then what do they do with the scriptures? They use them just like
Satan did. They can not believe the Word for their hour, so they preach the
word for another hour. They think the word for this hour is missionary
endeavors, and so because they have no success preaching in America, they think
they are to take the Message overseas. But that is what John Wesley’s hour
called for. Brother Branham said America
is a nation full of heathens, intellectual heathen’s who have rejected
the Word of God. But let me tell you,
you can go overseas, and you will find the same unbelief. It’s every where.
There are not but a few here and there scattered out among the masses overseas.
The real sowing ground is here where the light has come. But you can sow and
sow and find only one here and one
there and the seed is running out.
Now, we said that they don’t
want God’s system of teaching, the way He does things. This system of teaching
is not just a shot gun approach to the Truth, but is rather an orderly
progression set forth in a logical manner in order to accomplish something. And
that something is a completely surrendered and yielded vessel. Paul said, ¶But thanks be to God that , though you used
to be slaves to sin, you have
wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You
have been set free from sin and have become
slaves to righteousness
Now Paul uses the word Slaves for a specific reason. The Greek
word he chose to use here is the word doulos
{doo'-los} which means: metaphorically, one who gives himself up to
anothers will; devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests or
more plainly said, One whose will is swallowed up in the will of another.
This is important to
understand what Paul tells us here because after all it concerns us and our
approach to God. He is telling us on the one hand that we are to be set free
from the slavery of sin. This simply means that we are set free from having our
will swallowed up by the will of others. You no longer feel compelled to follow
the peer pressure, or the ways of the world, but you have had you will set free
from the bondage that the world enslaves you by and you are free to place your
will where so ever you choose. Yet it is ironic that Paul also says in
following this system of teaching, you will engender yourself to a full and
complete surrender of your will to righteousness which is a right wise-ness and
instead of this slavery bringing forth nothing for you, it will produce in you,
or yield itself in you eternal Life. Now, I think it is important for us to
know and understand these things in light of the fact that we are in the year
of Jubilee.
On May 12 this year Israel
celebrated it’s 50th year as a nation and this year has become the jubilee of
Israel in her home land. Now, I also believe this has significance to us as
Gentile believers, because this means that the scriptures have been fully
fulfilled concerning Israel in her home land.
Now, in verse 19 Paul gets
down to the crux of the whole matter. He says, 19 I
speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye
have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto
iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto
holiness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin or
unbelief, ye were free (exempt) from
righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things
whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things [is] death. 22
But now being made free (exempt)
from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto
holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin [is]
death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We talk about applying the
Token, but most people in this Message who speak of applying the Token don’t
even know first of all what the Token is, and secondly they do not know what it
means to apply it. Therefore, we must first of all, be able to identify the
Token. What is the Token, or more precisely, Who is the Token.
23 Desperation 63-0901E The Token, Jesus Christ,
the Holy Spirit, is among us. We should reverence that. We can't humble
ourselves enough. Taking off your shoes or getting on your knees wouldn't expel
it, it wouldn't satisfy; it wouldn't suffice us, but a life that brings forth
the fruit of the Spirit... Remember this morning? Preparation, sent the
messenger with the message. Next thing He done after He sent the messenger
with the message, He sent the Pillar of
Fire for a vindication. Next thing was after that, was consolation. See?
You knew that it was right; you was at peace. We have peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. See?
Now, why would brother
Branham speak of the Token as Being
Christ Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit if he doesn’t mean it. You see,
many people want to say the Token is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but that
is not what he is saying here. He says the Token is Jesus Christ, the Person,
in the form of the Holy Spirit, and is identified by the Pillar of Fire which
is the Shekinah presence of God. Then if we truly believe this, then we will
conduct our life in accordance with it.
18 Desperation 63-0901E Now, now, there's just not...
No certain evidence. See? You say, "Brother Branham (I feel it in your minds.
You see?), why will I know?" Look. What were you? And what are you?
There's how you know. See? What was you before this Token was applied? What are
you after It's applied? What was your
desires before, and what is your desires after? Then you know whether the
Token's applied or not. And these other things just automatically go with that.
See?
48-5 The Token 63-0901M Believe the Lord Jesus Christ
for you house. Apply the Token to your house. Then what do you do when you
apply It to your house? Move all the trash out. Get all the short skirts, and
the shorts, and the cards, and the cigarettes, and televisions, and
whatevermore, and kick them out the door. You're going to apply the Token,
won't stand still for it. Yes, sir. Take it all out. All the dances and the
parties, and rock-and-roll, and old vulgar newspapers, and the stuff that's of
the world, kick it out the door. Say, "We're cleaning out this place
around here."
49-5 The Token 63-0901M Apply it, create that
atmosphere around you, that they'll just drop right into it. See? Oh, you
are--you are--if you've got the Token, you create a spirit around you of power,
that when you walk, people know that you're a Christian. They love for you to
say something to them. They believe your word; what you say, they hold on to
it. See? That is it. Apply the Token;
then walk with it. Claim your household. You must do it now. This is evening
time. Now, you've been listening a long
time; now this is evening time. It's applying time now. The wrath will strike
one of these days; it might be too late then. See, see? Apply the Token with
confidence.
134 The Token 64-0208 Yes. Clean out the cupboard;
clean out the house. Oh, we have a good old fashion house-cleaning. Let the
Blood be applied. Then the Token will come in. Clean it out. Sanctify it. Then apply the Token in prayer, with
confidence, when you've cleaned yourself up. You've got away from the things of
the world. You dumped all the unbelief out. "I don't care what the people
says. If the Word of God says it and promised it, I believe it. If the Word
says it, that settles it. I don't care what anybody else says." See? Then
when you got all that done, you've applied the Blood, and you believe every
word, then take your Token in prayer, be fully convinced.
138 The Token 64-0308 Associations and ministers
have let the people do anything and get by, and just put their name on a book
and call them this, that, and the other, when it's a disgrace. And it's got so
that faith is something that's not even--don't even--very seldom ever know what
even it is. They--they got a hope, but no faith. You've got to get back to everything's combed out and clean.
Then take your Token, that you know that it's Jesus Christ in you, then apply
it. If something don't happen, there's something wrong; go back again, got the
wrong thing in your hand. He promised it. He was the One Who promised it. Apply
It. Read Ephesians 2:12, sometime, if you--if you wish to, and you'll find out
there.