Brian Kocourek
The word condemnation
used here by Paul is the Greek word, katakrima
{kat-ak'-ree-mah} and it
means
Damnatory sentence, hence condemnation. This
word {kat-ak'-ree-mah} comes
from the root word katakrino {kat-ak-ree'-no} which is a compound word kata
{kat-ah'} meaning -- against and
kurieuo {ko-ree-yoo'-o} which means “to have dominion
over”. Hence the combination of these
two words means to have dominion over against. Therefore this thing Paul is
speaking of here has to do with something which literally dominates against.
Literally a -- damning 1) to give judgment against,
to judge worthy of punishment to
condemn
For even Jesus Himself
promised us in, JOHN 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto
life. Therefore if we are promised
a deliverance from the judgment by walking in the light, then to walk in the
light is of the utmost importance to us a
People,
Now, the word that Jesus
used for condemnation is the Greek word, krisis
{kree'-sis} which
means -- judgment, damnation, and
condemnation: and suggests a
separating, sundering, separation; a trial, or contest. Sentence of
condemnation, damnatory judgment,
condemnation and punishment
And furthermore, brother Branham quoted this scripture on 45
occasions, and each time he quoted from this verse he used the word judgment,
rather than the word condemnation. Now, if he read it this way, then we should do the same, as I have shown
you in the Greek that this is what Jesus Himself is speaking.
Now, Paul must have been
quoting Jesus when He said these words, because they are so similar to what
Jesus said. And since this is spoken of
by Paul, Jesus, and again by William Branham, I feel that we should understand
what this means, because after all “in the mouth of two or three witnesses
shall all things be established. These are words of encouragement to us today,
seeing that this world is under the curse of God for having rejected His Word
in this hour.
Now, what does it mean “To
them which are in Christ Jesus?” How can we be in Christ? Well, Jesus tells us
how when He said, He
that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Now, the Greek does not say “Believes on Him,” but it
simply says, “believes Him.” Jesus is
not concerned whether you believe in God but whether you believe what God says,
namely His Word. Therefore, it is not a believing on God, but rather a believing
God period, that Jesus is telling us here. , He that hears my word, and
believes him that sent me… That’s the key. That is what keeps you from the judgment…
I like the way the Amplified
version translates Jesus words here in John
5:24… The person whose ears are open to
My words – who listens to My Message – and believes, and trusts and clings to and relies on Him who sent me has (possesses now)
Eternal Life. And he does not come into the judgment – does not incur sentence
of judgment; will not come under condemnation – but has already passed over out
of death into life.
Oh that we might believe
in such a way as to trust, and clings to, and rely on God our Father, especially in the
light of this Glorious End-time Message of Grace and Mercy that He has come
down personally to deliver to you and me.
Look at these wonderful
words. To believe, to trust, to cling to, and to rely on God.
To Believe: Means to
take as true and have confidence in.
To Trust: Means to
have faith and confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability and justice.
To Cling to: Means to hold fast and embrace.
To Rely on: Means to
confidently depend upon for support or aid…
Therefore, when Jesus says, The
person whose ears are open to My words – who listens to My Message – and
believes, and trusts and clings to and relies on Him who sent
me, (possesses now) Eternal Life. And
he will not come into the judgment – he will not incur sentence of judgment; he
will not come under condemnation – because he has already passed over out of
the result of judgment which is death and has already passed into life.
That is why God’s presence
is so important to us in this hour. He is here to deliver those who have
believed and trusted and relied upon His Word.
When Brother Branham
preached that most wonderful Message telling how the rapture would come, he
took his text from Psalm 27:5.
The Rapture pp. 27 “In the Book of Psalms... Now, I want to speak on a--a real strange
subject tonight just for a little while. I've got some Scriptures written down
here, and--and I thought maybe that... Tonight I was going to speak on
something different, but see the time get away, why, I didn't want to stay that
long, so I just turned over here and got some more Scripture. And I want to
speak on the subject of "The Rapture." See? Now, we believe that there will be a rapture. All Christians
believe that, that's Bible readers believes that there will be a rapture. And now, to read for--to background, we read
the 25th
Psalm--I mean--I beg your pardon--the 27th
Psalm, 1-5 verses. The LORD is my light and my salvation; in whom shall I
fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the
wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, come upon me to eat up my flesh, they
stumble and fell. Though the host should encamp about me, my heart shall not
fear: though war should rise against me, in
this I will be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that I will
seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to require in his temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in the pavilion: and in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he
shall set me... upon a rock.
May the Lord add His blessings to that reading of His Word. Now, today, speaking on this subject... And
now, some of you may different the--the avenues that I take, but how many in
here believes that the Bible teaches there will be a rapture of the church?
Yes, sir. That's right. That's right, a catching away of the church. Whether
you're a Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, or whoever you are, Pentecostal,
there will be a catching away. And I
think that in speaking I--I just don't try to get up here to say something that
I think would please the people. I've never been guilty of that. I want to get
up here and say something as I feel led to say it, that I think would be a help
to you, something that would further your experience with God if you are a
Christian, and if you're not a Christian, make you so ashamed of yourself that
you will become a Christian. And that's the purpose that I've always tried to line
up my thoughts as the Lord would lead me.
Now, we are warned, as in the doctrine of this in the last days will be
scorned at. If you would... Let's just read that just a minute. It's in II Peter the 3rd chapter. Let's read
just a moment on this, the 3rd chapter and the
3rd and 4th verses. Let's see if this isn't right. Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lust, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?... since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation. For this they willingly are
ignorant of, that is by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth
standing out of the water and the--and in the water: Whereby the world that... was, being overflowed with water, perished:
Now, we see that the reason that this subject is so lightened at,( that means to be made fun
of, or not taken seriously) is because that the prophet here has said
that in this last days these scoffers
would come saying these things. See? It's
predicted. The reason the people are acting today the way they're acting...
Why, you certainly are expecting it, because the Bible said that: "In the
last days they'd be heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, despisers of those that are
good, having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof; from such turn
away." Can we look for a impersonation of Truth? Certainly.
Now, having read from
Brother Branham’s Message on the Rapture, we find that He used Psalms 27 for
his text which means his main Scripture which is supposed to lay out the detail
for his Message.
PSALMS 27:5 For in the time of trouble
he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the
secret of his tabernacle shall
he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
Notice
here that we read, trouble he shall hide me
in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle… and in PSALMS 31:20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the
pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of
tongues.
Then notice also in this
scripture that brother Branham used for his text for the Rapture Message, it
speaks of a time of trouble. It is at
this time of trouble that we are told that we will be hid in His
Tabernacle, or His Presence…. Now He
did not say that I would be hid in the tabernacle, but His tabernacle… And this
Tabernacle is His Presence… and notice, He does not say it is something that
will be open and available to everyone, but he says that we will be hid in His
Presence…. That should tell us that His Presence will not be known to others,
or it would not be a hidden place of refuge.
Now, He also tells us that
at the time of trouble, it is at this time that we will be hid away from the
pride of man. 20 Thou
shalt hide them in the secret of thy
presence from the pride of man…
Now what is the pride of
man??? I would think it would be in
what man feels he can point to by way of accomplishment. And look how man thinks he is so smart
because of what he can achieve via the computer technology. The computer age
they call it, but God calls it the age of Laodicea…And we are warned by
God, in the Book of Proverbs,
So we see that Sodom was
judged by the Judge Himself, and what was her judgment? Fire and destruction…
Now, Wednesday night we looked at this time of trouble that is spoken of here
in Psalm 27:5… For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in
his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he
shall set me up upon a rock…
So we see that there is to
be a time of trouble, but notice also that at this particular time of trouble,
we will be hid in His Presence, secretly, and at this time of the hiding away
in Christ we will be set upon a rock…
Now, where else do we hear
those words, upon a rock, and what do they mean? MATTHEW 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. 18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it.
So we see that The Rock is
Revelation of Who Christ is? And that should be easily understood since Paul
tells us the Rock that followed the Children of Israel was Christ. I CORINTHIANS 10:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I would
not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud,
and all passed through the sea; 2 And
were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same
spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
We see This Rock identified
with God’s Presence with Moses. Exodus
33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and thou
shalt stand upon a rock: 22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee
in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Again in the Book of Judges
the Rock is associated with the Presence of God… JUDGES 13:17 And
Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What [is] thy name, that when thy
sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus
after my name, seeing it [is] secret?19
So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered [it] upon a rock
unto the LORD: and [the angel] did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked
on. 20 For it came to pass, when the
flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD
ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on [it], and
fell on their faces to the ground.21
But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife.
Then Manoah knew that he [was] an angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we
have seen God.
In MATTHEW 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was
founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand: 27 And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Now, notice how the time of
trouble is shown here in Matthew but the person who is considered wise is the
one who build upon a rock, upon revelation while the foolish ones did not.
As I said Wednesday night,
the bible speaks of this time of trouble in several places, but in each time it
speaks of this time of trouble, it also speaks of our deliverance by the
Presence of God.
tsarah {tsaw-raw'} 1) straits, distress, trouble
malat {maw-lat'} 1) to slip away, escape, deliver, save, be delivered to slip away - to escape - to be delivered
harpazo {har-pad'-zo} -- catch up -- take by force -- catch away
-- pluck -- catch -- pull to seize, carry off by force, to seize on, claim for
one's self eagerly, to snatch out or
away
Now, Wednesday night we
showed you examples of the deliverance during this time of trouble. In Elisha’s
day we read in 2 Kings 7:1 about the 3 men who had leprosy and who fled the
city because it was under attack, but when they went out into the camp of the
enemy, God had scared off the enemy and they left behind all their
provisions ¶ Then
Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about
this time [shall] a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two
measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 18 And it came to pass as the man of God had
spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of
fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of
Samaria: 19 And that lord answered the
man of God, and said, Now, behold, [if] the LORD should make windows in heaven,
might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes,
but shalt not eat thereof.
PSALMS 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: 15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou
shalt glorify me.