Satans
Eden no 52
Questions
and Answers for African Ministers Meeting
For Saturday May
18, 2022 – to be preached Sunday June 19, 2022
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
Question 1: Brother Brian,
seeing the chaos and apostasy among the clergy today, would you please, comment
concerning the following scripture to edify the ministries among us.
1 Timothy 4:16 Take
heed unto thyself, and unto the
doctrine ; continue in them: for
in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
PS:
We would like you, if possible to take your time on this, because ministers
need to be established on the fundamental principles.
All,
I can say is that the apostle Paul nailed it perfectly for this hour when he
said these words. So let’s break it down thought by thought what he said here.
And I see 6 points he is making and will list them as such as we read it again.
1 Timothy 4:16 1)Take heed 2)unto thyself, and 3)
unto the
doctrine ; continue in 4) them: for
in doing this thou shalt both 5) save thyself, and 6) them
that hear thee.
Pt 1) First of all we read, “Take heed”.
Now, this word take heed means to be ever so watchful and ever so careful.
The word “heed” was translated from the
Greek word “epecho”, which is made up of two
Greek words, “epi” which is a primary
preposition use primarily as a preface
before another word, “meaning superimposition or taking charge of “time, place,
order”.
The
second part of that word “epecho”
is the Greek word “echo”, which speaks of possession in
having, holding or keeping
and is expressed in the giving back or echoing
back what was received, because in order to echo
you must first receive it. Placed together with “epi” the word “echo” means
taking charge of our echo.
And
this gives us a meaning that says, “unless
you properly have heard and understood
what you’ve heard, you cannot
possibly echo it back.” As
brother Branham taught in the sermon he called, “Hearing, recognizing then acting upon the Word.”
Therefore,
in “taking heed”, we are to be “carefully watching” and “carefully
thinking” about swhat it is that we are taking heed concerning.
In this case the apostle Paul tells us the two things we are to be taking heed
concerning. Number 1 - he says, “Yourself”
and 2 - “the doctrine.”
So
let’s look at these “two things” in light
of what he is saying here, because both have to do with Life, ours first and
then the Life that comes from the doctrine.
Reading
his thought here, “Take
heed unto thyself,” The Apostle Paul is
telling you that when it comes to “yourself,”
we must take heed, we must “epecho”,
we must epi-echo. Which means we
must hear and then be able to recognize the effects of what we hear as it
pertains to our own selves. Now, contrast that with the millions of people who
see the Word of God manifest itself, and and yet get nothing from it. Better
yet, they see the acts of God yet have no clue what it means. Therefore, the
apostle Paul is saying, “your full attention must be on the Word that is manifesting,
and its results upon you, yourself, your life. Because it is somehow not
interlinked to who you are.
We see this admonition in 1 Kings 2:3 And keep the charge (the order or commandment) of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways,(His
course of life or mode of action) to keep his statutes,
and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written
in the law of Moses, that thou mayest
prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:
So what does that mean? It means
that you are to study the ways of God, his course of Life and his manner of
actions because it has all to do with you personally, and where you will end
up.
We also see in Joshua 22:5 But take diligent heed
(be vigilant) to do (to
keep) the commandment
and the law,(Torah, which are the Instructions from the Father) which Moses the
servant of the LORD charged you,(placed in order and commanded you) to love the LORD
your God, and to walk in all his ways, (Derek - His
course of life or mode of action
) and to keep (take
heed to yourself and observe) his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to
serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
So
as you see, God doesn’t put on a show just to be seen. He has a purpose behind
everything he does, and he demands our full attention to his course of Life and
mode of action).
The
Prophet David spoke of the children of Israel in contrast to Moses concerning
the different approach each took to the ways of God.
He said in Psalms 103:7 “He made known his ways (His course of
Life and mode of actions) unto Moses, his acts
unto the children of Israel.
So
we see the Word of God tells us Moses knew God's way because he observed Gods
course of life in the mode of actions that God took, whereas the people only
saw God in action, but never stopped to ask themselves what it is all about and
how it affected them personally.
Moses
wasn’t always so observant, and he had to learn the hard way.
The
people didn't know God’s ways (His course of Life and His mode of action). But
Moses did. But it wasn't always that way with Moses. Moses tried to deliver
God’s people his way and all he had to show for his efforts was one dead
Egyptian. So he realized real quickly that he could not do it himself. And so God
took him to his training field on the back side of the desert for 40 years in
order to teach Moses that he had to just let go and let God.
And
God trained him by beating him down, and humiliating this prince of Egypt by
making him to become a sheep herder, the lowest thing among the Egyptians. But
in doing so, God molded Moses until he had made Moses into such a yielded
vessel, that he was able to invade Egypt all by himself. And God let Moses know
by experience what it means to stand alone, and to trust God and God alone.
Then and only then, did Moses learn to trust God.
Look
at Jonah: He ran from the presence of God. But he finally learned that God will
have the last Word. How did he learn this? He learned obedience by the things he suffered.
And
what about the apostle Paul? He even started out fighting against God, thinking
he was serving God in doing so. But God just had His own way with Paul and Paul
was forced to yield himself. The apostle Paul also “learned obedience by the things he suffered.”
The
same with William Branham! God had to beat Him down until he realized God will
always have the last word. Therefore, he also learned obedience by the things which he
suffered.
And even the son of God Himself
had to learn to yield to His Father, The Word. The Apostle Paul said of Him in Hebrews 5:8 “Though
he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;”
Therefore, the very first thing
the apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:16 is to “take heed
unto yourselves”. In other words “Pay close attention, even a special
attention to your own selves, as David said, “to see if
there be any wicked way in me.”
And as God tells us through Paul
to the Philippians, Philippians 3:15 “Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be
thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even
this unto you.”
Now,
why is that? Because God’s Word is Life and if we do not pay attention t it,
His Life might jut pass us by and we will miss receiving eternal life, and
instead think we are ok, because we know that God sent a prophet. But I would
love to ask every single person who has ever thought because they know God sent
a prophet, so what make them any better than the next guy who doesn’t know
about it.
I
am asking you to ask yourself this question. Do you even know what the Message
is? Jesus told us, “if a man bears witness to himself, his witness is not true.”
And
if William Branham came just to bear witness of William Branham as God’s
prophet, he would have been bearing witness to himself, and according to
Scripture, we would not have to believe him. But that is not what he came to
bear witness to. He said, “My ministry is to
declare Him, that He is here.” And that means His ministry was
to get us to see the appearing of Christ is before the coming.
From his sermon From that time 62-0713 P:102 How many knows
there's a difference between the appearing of Christ and the coming of
Christ? It's two
different words. Now's the appearing, the coming
will soon be. He's
appearing in the midst of us, doing the works that He once did,
in His church. Now, you're a part of that church, and by grace you believe. I
am a member of that church. Now, I'm not a preacher. You know I'm not. I have
not the education to do it. Sometimes I feel reluctant standing here by men of
God, who's called to that office. There are apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, and evangelists. Not all are
apostles, not all are prophets, not all are teachers, not all evangelists. I'm
standing here...But my ministry is a different ministry from a pastor or
teacher. I'm not. And if I say things wrong, brethren, forgive me. I
don't mean it. But this
is my ministry (See?) to declare Him, that He's here.
So
it is all about taking heed too Christ’s Presence. And taking heed to yourself,
because His presence is supposed to have an effect upon your life. And yet the
vast majority of them that follow the ministry of William Branham are ignorant
of the Appearing which is the parousia of Christ as Jesus spoke of it, and
Paul, and Peter, and James and John. They all taught on the parousia of Christ,
yet we have most ministerial leaders who claim to follow William Branham’s
Message call it a false doctrine. Why?
And
what Good can His Presence do you if you think it is a false doctrine? We are
commanded to lay in His presence to ripen, but how can you do that if you do
not understand what His presence is?
Ok,
so far we have looked at the first part of the Apostle Pauls statement here in 1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, but
lets now read the rest of what he said, and lets focus on the next thing he
wants us to take heed to.
Now,
let’s continue to read, … 1 Timothy 4:16 Take
heed unto thyself, and 3) unto
the doctrine ;
Now,
let’s examine what he means here as well. Not only are we to take heed or pay
close attention to our own condition, our own selves, but at the same time, we
are to pay close attending to the doctrine. So I ask the question why? Most
preachers will de-emphasize the doctrine and will focus on Mission work, or the
production of books and tapes as though that takes pre-eminence with God.
I
have made this statement before and I will say it again, “what good does it do
me to know God sent a prophet, if I do not know why God sent His prophet? And
what good does it do me to know that many miracles took place if that is the
extent of the matter. Sure God does miracles, but what good does a miracle for
someone else do for me?
What
good does the change of the body in someone else do me, if I do not receive the
change of the body myself. What Good is the fact that God came with healing in
his wings, if I am not healed myself? And so what the apostle Paul is doing
here is to personalize the taking heed to you personally. And he says keep an
active watch on yourself and the doctrine as it pertains to you.
Everyone
can point to Malachi 4 and talk about how God sent a prophet, and yet when it
comes to themselves they are oblivious to the end time promises for the Bride
of Christ. They think its all over for us if we just know God sent a prophet.
But there are so many promises of God to us that are still in the midst of
becoming manifest that if we take our eyes off them, and just look back 50-60
years we are going to completely miss what God has for us.
As
I brought out in my series on Faith, there are certain end time promises for
the Bride of Christ beyond just receiving a prophet. And let’s face it, anyone can look back on a
historical fact and say they believe it and by listening to the tapes of the
prophet we show we are believers in him. And that is so far from the truth. 2
Million people heard Moses, followed Moses out into the wilderness, were
baptized in the cloud, and yet perished in the wilderness.
1 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. 5 But with many of them God was not well
pleased: for they were overthrown in the
wilderness. 6 Now these
things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things,
as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as
it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some
of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither
let us tempt Christ, as
some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither
murmur ye, as
some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them
for ensamples: and they are written for
our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from
idolatry.
And
brothers and sisters, that way of escape has always been to stay behind the
protection of God’s Word.
So,
let’s go back to our text again and continue on. 1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine
; Now, we know the word doctrine simply means teaching. And he does
not say take heed to doctrine but take heed to THE Doctrine. And Christ is the
doctrine.
In 2 John 9 we
read, “Whosoever transgresseth, (whosoever goes
beyond the limits) and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not (echoes not) God. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath (he echoes) both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your
house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he
that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”
So
the Apostle Paul is telling us in 1 Timothy 4:16 that we must take heed to the
doctrine of Christ. For there is only one doctrine or teaching in all of this
Bible that we are told to not have it you do not even have God. And the apostle
John bears with that himself in 2 John 9.
And
the apostle John is telling us here that if we do not abide in the doctrine of
Christ we will not have nor will we echo God nor His Son. And John also tells
us in 1 John
5:10-12 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he
believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this
is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath
the Son hath life; (he that echoes the son echoes Life) and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (he that echoes not
the son of God echoes not life) 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have
eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of
God. 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him,
that, if we ask any thing according to
his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Now, the Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving
the principles (the elementary stages) of the
doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Now, Paul is not saying that we must
leave the doctrine of Christ in order to go on
unto perfection, for the Apostle John told us if we do not have the doctrine of
Christ we do not echo God nor do we have God. So what the apostle Paul is
telling us here is that we must not only have the doctrine of Christ but we
must go beyond the very principle things concerning the doctrine of Christ in
order to move up into perfection or full maturity. We have to move on from the
principles which is the first principles, the elementary principles in
understanding the doctrine of Christ in order to move up and on unto
perfection.
I have seen too many people stop at
the principles of the doctrine of Christ which is to understand there is One
God and He had a son. But Paul is saying, don’t stop there, for you must
continue into the doctrine of Christ going beyond the very first principles,
and fully into what John said “he that echoes the
son echoes life.”
And in 1 Timothy 4:16 when Paul tells us “Take
heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; he is not
talking about the doctrine of Balaam, nor is he talking about the doctrine of
the Nicolatian, and he certainly is not about
the doctrine of Buddha, or of Mohammed, nor is he talking of the Baptist
doctrine, nor the Methodist doctrine, nor of Catholic Doctrine, nor of Pentecostal
doctrine. But Paul and John called it the doctrine of Christ. They both said,
"The Doctrine of Christ".
Then Christ is the Doctrine.
Yes, He is the Doctrine. Then to
preach the Message-Doctrine you must preach Christ. And yet the brethren
everywhere have been cut off from the mainline churches for the simple reason
they are teaching the Message-Doctrine which is the revelation of Jesus Christ
the way brother Branham taught it. And He was vindicated by God to be teaching
it correctly.
And
the apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:16 “Take
heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for
in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
So
how do we continue in the doctrine of Christ? Remember, John told us what it
does for us. He said in 2 John 9 He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he echoes both the Father and the Son. And
what does that echoing the father and son produce in us? 12 He that echoes the Son echoes life; and he that echoes not the
Son of God echoes not life. (he that echoes
not the son of God echoes not life)
So getting back to what Paul said, in 1 Timothy 4:16 “Take heed unto
thyself, and unto the
doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself,
and them that hear thee.
Ok,
I believe we covered that for our brother, now let’s move on to question 2.
Question 2: Can you help us
to understand more the 3 fundamental
principles of the Scripture, that brother Vayle taught?
Question 2: To understand
what hose three principles are let me read from br. Vayles sermon
Lee
Vayle Misc Sermons Three Basic Principles Of Scripture P:5 “What I'm going
to speak on are three principles that I've discovered in Bro. Branham's
teaching. Now, there are many more, but there are three that I've
discovered that I believe give us definite spiritual knowledge, understanding,
confirm the Word of God to us and help us to be steadfast in this Word of God;
the three principles.
And those three
principles of which I speak are these: 1. The Alpha and Omega
principle.2. The Parallelism of Scripture principle, 3. The
Theorem or vindication principle.
Now,
using the term parallelism of Scripture is a very hard thing to understand. And
brother Vayle told me that he made things too difficult for people to
understand. One time we were setting on his couch talking, and he said to me, “Brian, You can teach this Message better
than I can, and I said, now brother Lee, you know that all liars go to the lake
of fire, and he smiled and said, well, what I mean is that you make it so
simple for the people to understand, and I can’t do that.”
And
listen there is nothing wrong with what he was saying. Because brother Branham
said, “a
teacher can take the word to a depth the Pastor or Evangelist could never do.”
In his
sermon Warning then judgment 63-0724 P:51 brother
Branham shows us the difference between the ministries. “But, you see, in the church there is the
pastor, and that pastor is a special person. He's built to where he can
put up with the fusses of the people. He's a burden-bearer; he's the ox of the
team. He's a man that can set down when somebody's got something against
somebody else, and set down with them two families, and take neither side, and
reason it out, and bring it right back into sweetness. See? He's a pastor; he
knows how to take care of things. The evangelist is a special man. He's a man
that's burning like a fireball. He runs into a city and preaches his message,
and gets out of there somewhere else. See, he's a special man. The teacher
is a special man. He sets back under the anointing of the Spirit and is
able to take the Words and put them together by the Holy Spirit, that the
pastor or evangelist either one could not compare with him. And then we
find out the apostle is a special man. He's a setter-in-order. He's a man
that's sent from God to set the things in order.
Hebrews
Chapter 3 - 57-0901M There's something
about where you go, what church you go to, and what teacher teaches you. Do you know
that? It’s got something to it. Therefore, we
ought to seek out the very best that we can find, so we're getting the
best; not because it's sociable and so forth, but the real Bible teaching.
You
must be born again - 61-1231M 92.
Now, false teachers will bring false
births. True prophets will bring the
Word, the birth of the Word, Christ. False
prophets will bring false birth, the birth of churches, the birth of creeds,
the birth of denominations. And here you are, Pentecostal brother, false
sent--or sensations, and tell a man he's got the holy ghost 'cause he speaks
with tongues.
Perseverance
- 62-0608 Now,
remember, not the man. That's a
office in the church. Not the marvelous
teacher man; it's the marvelous holy ghost teaching in the man. Not the
marvelous man with the gift of discernment; the marvelous holy ghost in there
using the man. See?
E-7 Balm in Gilead 59-0707 Now,
there's five offices that God put in the Church; there's nine spiritual gifts
that accompany that offices and all the members of the Body. The first is
apostles, which is missionaries. The word "apostle" means "one
that's sent." The word "missionary" means "one that's sent," the same word. Apostles,
prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists, these
offices God sets in the Church. They're all in operation, or should be. We
cannot bypass one and say there's teachers without saying evangelists. We
cannot say there's evangelists without saying there is apostles. We cannot say
there's apostles without admitting there's prophets. All of them are for the perfecting of the Body of Christ. The
Lord gives me visions. Those things begin when I was a little baby. I do not believe that man can be
called of man and be a successful minister. I believe gifts and
callings are without repentance, that God
by His foreknowledge foreordained His ministers into the Gospel, and the
gifts into the Church. Oh, I know
there's many rise up and go out and say, “Oh, I don't need to go to church anymore. Praise God, the Holy Ghost
has come; He's the teacher.” When
you get that idea, you're just wrong. For why did the Holy Ghost set teachers
in the church, if He was going to be the teacher? See? There are first
apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors. The Holy Spirit set teachers in the church, so He could teach through
that teacher. And if it isn't according to the Word (God doesn't confirm
it) then it isn't the right kind of teaching. It must compare with the entire Bible, and be just as alive today as it
was then. There's the real thing made manifest.
Questions
and answers COD - 54-0103E 11.
Someone said not long ago, said, "Why, Brother Branham, we don't need
anybody to teach us. When the holy ghost comes, we don't need anybody to
teach." Said, "the Bible says you do not need teaching." I said,
"then why did the same holy Spirit set in the church
teachers?" See, see? He set the church in order. He was. We got to have teachers. That's right. But
you oughtn't to have anyone... Don't have to teach you saying, "Thou shalt
not commit adultery; thou shalt not sware, and take..." You already know
that. Your very conscience of the holy Spirit tells you it's wrong to do that.
But now, as far as Scriptural
teaching, it takes a holy ghost anointed. That's right. And God has set the church in order by apostles
and prophets, and gifts of healing, and miracles, and so forth. He set the church in order and put the
teachers and so forth in there to guide and direct His church. And this
morning, as we said, Jesus over the earth as His Body... And just as His body
moves, it's just like a shadow reflecting to the earth. It'll move with
it.
QA
Image of the beast - 54-0515 144.
You say, "Well, glory to God, the Bible said when the holy ghost is come
you don't need any teacher; He's the teacher Hisself." Oh, brother. How can you be so little from reading the
Scriptures... Why did the holy ghost set
teachers in the church then? Say, "I don't have to have anybody teach me; the holy ghost teaches me."
It does through a teacher. He set teachers in the church. He said,
"Are all teachers, are all apostles, are all gifts of healing?" the holy ghost set these things in the
church; He operates them all, and each one of them operates orderly.
Hebrews
Chapter 5 and 6 - 57-0908M 24.
Paul, speaking to this Hebrew group, yet scholars he's speaking to now,
scholars, well learned. We find that in a few--a few moments, very scholarly.
But the deep spiritual mystery, the church is still blinded to it. He said,
"When you ought to be teaching others, you're still a babe."Oh, I
know there's many rise up, and go out, and say, "Oh, I don't need to go to church anymore. Praise God, the holy ghost
has come; He's the teacher." When
you get that idea, you're just wrong. For why did the
holy ghost set teachers in the church if He was going to be the teacher?
See? there are first apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and
pastors. the holy Spirit set teachers in the church, so He could
teach through that teacher. And if it isn't according to the Word, God doesn't confirm it, then it
isn't the right kind of teaching. It must compare with the entire Bible, and be just as alive today as It was then. there's the real thing made manifest.
Baptism
of the holy spirit - 58-0928M 104. We thank God for the holy ghost Who is our teacher, and He doesn't
just go out and get some little old mythical idea, and bring it up here, and
say "Oh, hallelujah, here it is right, wrote right here. Hallelujah."
the holy ghost goes back and brings it right down through the
Scripture, places her right down, right on through the Scripture.
See? That's when you got the truth.
That's exactly. For precept must be upon precept upon
precept, and line upon line upon line. That's the way the Bible
said to do it.
Jesus
Christ the same - 56-0426 But the Holy Spirit is here working through His
sanctified vessels. And God has set in the church what? First apostles, then prophets,
then teachers, then evangelists, then pastors (Is that right?), for
the perfecting of the church. God has did it. It's not the
preacher that preaches; it's God preaching through him. It's not the prophet that sees the vision; it's God
speaking through him. "I do nothing except the--the
Father shows Me first what to do."
Arrow
of God's deliverance - 56-0801 I
want to tell you: a God-sent, Holy Ghost
borned preacher won't compromise with any congregation.
Queen
of Sheba - 61-0219 And
now, His Holy Spirit is here, which the Spirit was upon Christ, which is God,
in human flesh, your flesh, my flesh, as the Blood cleanses us. He preaches the Gospel through the preacher, prophesies
through the prophet, and reveals the secret hearts, speaks
through tongues, interprets tongues, and everything's setting in order. You
believe that? All right.
Lee
Vayle Misc Sermons Three Basic Principles Of Scripture P:46 Now, this
absolutely coincides perfectly with Matthew 25:1-13. And you know the story there, the sleeping
virgins. And you'll notice that absolutely the one went in
and the others were taken out into the great tribulation.
Revelation 22:10, when the seals are opened, the righteous
are righteous, the filthy are filthy. Only those that are righteous go to
the Tree of Life and the rest are called dogs outside the city. So
you can see here, brother/sister, the parallelism of Scripture. There is no place where God does
not bless and curse at the same time. So when you read your
Bibles and you see a curse, look for the blessing. And when you see a
curse, it isn't yours. No, not yours, it's somebody else's. See? And
when you see a blessing, you claim it.
Lee
Vayle Misc Sermons Three Basic Principles Of Scripture P:36 He comes down
and exonerates the Bride by the washing of water by the Word. Now I could go
on and on about Alpha and Omega, but look, our time's running out fast. Number 2. Look at the parallelism of
Scripture. That is two lines always running parallel to each
other and never joining, going plumb into eternity. Let's look at a few of
them. That's over here in Deuteronomy 27. Should have
called this meeting for 9:00 this morning. Hate to mumble in my beard up here,
but it's the truth. I'm going to get nervous running out of time. I don't like
to get nervous. All right. Let's just read a little bit here. Deuteronomy 27 and verse 11. This is the cursing of mount Ebal and
Gerizim the blessing.(11) And Moses charged the people the same day,
saying,(12) These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, (he named
them).(13) And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; (and he named
them).(14) And the Levites shall speak, unto all men of Israel with a loud
voice, (and they start at mount Ebal, cursing.)(15) Cursed be the man that
maketh a graven image. Cursed be this man, curse that man, (16) curse, (17) curse,
(18) curse, (19) curse, (20) curse, (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), curse,
curse, curse.
Also
just read Deuteronomy 28 and you will see
the blessings are for those who hearken unto the Voice of the Lord and the
curse is for those who will not hearken unto the voice of the Lord.
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the
voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and
to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that
the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all
these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be
the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy
cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be
thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
Now
notice this is the same language that the apostle Paul used in 1 Timothy 4:16 1 Timothy 4:16 “Take heed unto
thyself, and unto the
doctrine; continue in them: for
in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
But now
if we go to Deuteronomy 28:15 and read to
the end of the chapter we see the parallelism in that to not hearken to the
voice of the Lord your God and obey all his commandments the curses will come
upon you and overtake you.
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt
not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his
commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these
curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt
thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the
field. 17 Cursed shall be
thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be
the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and
the flocks of thy sheep. 19 Cursed shalt
thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou
goest out. 20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing,
vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until
thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of
thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. 21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave
unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to
possess it. 22 The LORD shall smite thee with a
consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme
burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall
pursue thee until thou perish.
Now the
curses run all the way out to the end of the chapter until verse 68. And so we
see the parallelism of Scripture is in how we hearken or not to the voice of
the Lord and how we respond to His Voice. To simplify it I call it twins, and Brother Vayle
taught me that in order to never error in a sermon you must hit those three
principles in every sermon pointing the
people to the Alpha repeating in Omega, showing the principle of Twins (which
is the parallelism of Scripture blessings and cursing) and thirdly, pointing
the people to the fact that our prophet was vindicated. And if you can keep in mind and bring forth
each of these principles in every sermon you preach you will never go
wrong. The words parallelism of
Scripture is a difficult word to use, so to keep it simple just think of it in
terms of twins, and blessing and cursing.
1.
Alpha and Omega, 2. Twins and 3. Vindication. Know them, what they are
and weave them into each and all your sermons.
Let me give you
an example of parallelism of Scripture.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because
that your faith groweth exceedingly,
and the charity of every one of you all
toward each other aboundeth; 4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations
that ye endure: 5 Which is a
manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also
suffer:
Now,
watch how Paul shows the parallel of the other branch. He has been extolling
the righteousness of the saints, and the blessedness by which they are the
focus of God’s attention. But now he shows the other side, those are cursed.
6 Seeing it is
a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you;
Then
he goes back to the blessings in verse 7 And to you who are troubled rest
with us, when the Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, There is your
promise of being in His presence when he comes with his angels. This is the
blessed of the Lord, But then he reverts back to the cursed which is the
parallel group.
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ: 9 Who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction out from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Now, the apostle Paul reverts
back to the blessed of the Lord in verse 10.
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his
saints, (endoxazoe,
the doxa is to manifest in our zoe or life) and to be admired in
all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in
that day.11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his
goodness, and the work of faith with
power: 12 That the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in
you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
So you
see the going back and forth blessing, cursing, blessing, cursing, all the way
through his epistles.
Lee
Vayle Misc Sermons Right Hand and Left Hand of God P:60 See? And at the
same time, "In
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God..." They
turn down Ephesians
1:17. Come on. They deny Him according to Paul. See?(9) Who shall be
punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of our Lord, (He's talking
about the Presence now. And the White Throne is already started. We're before
it. They're already condemned that there's neither root nor branch left. It's
over. Right in this hour it's over. Right hand, left hand.) And I'm preaching
this way to get you out of your fear to understand the parallelism of
Scripture, blessing and cursing. Right hand and left hand. When
He comes it's the same God who does one thing to one and another to another
according to seed and the just judgments of God. The Judge--left hand
and right hand. Absolutely. Over here in Luke 17:26-30.”
So
let’s just read that for ourselves. Luke 17:26 And as it was in the
days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they
drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was
in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Now,
we could go over many of these parallelism of Scriptures but just think in terms of Twins, Esau,
Jacob, Cain and Abel, Judas and Jesus, Righteousness
and unrighteousness, good and evil, blessings
and cursing. Brother Branham simplified it a lot more than Br. Vayle, he called
it the two laws.
God's
only provided place of worship 65-1128M P:37 Now, the word "Deuteronomy," the
word itself means "two
laws," the word "Deuteronomy." And God has two laws. The two laws: one
of them is disobedient to the Word and die; and the other one is obedience
to the Word and live. That's the two laws, and "Deuteronomy" means
those "two
laws." They have both been absolutely displayed to
us in the Scripture. One of them is death; the other one is Life: Life and
death. God deals only in Life, Satan only in death. And these was displayed to
the world publicly, openly before every eye, and there's no excuse for it. One
of them was displayed on Mount Sinai when the law was given, which condemned
the whole human race to death. The other one was give on Mount Calvary, that
brought the whole human race to Life, when the penalty was paid in Jesus
Christ. The two laws of Deuteronomy was fulfilled in these two great things.
God's
provided place of worship 65-0425 P:11 "Deuteronomy" being a Greek word meaning "two laws," the
word "Deuteronomy"... And God has two laws.
And one of them is the law of death: to disobedient to His Word. We find
that when Eve disobeyed His Word; it
brought death. That's one of His laws, "The day you eat
thereof, that day you die."And then He has another law, which is the law of Life to obedience,
if you don't do such a things... Why, keeping His Word, you'll live. Boils
down to two things to my way of thinking: that's either keeping His
Word or disobeying His Word. One of these laws was given at Mount Sinai.
And the other was... That's the law of death. The other law was give
at Mount Calvary, where the law of Life was given through Christ Jesus.
God's
chosen place worship 65-0220 P:14 Now, we took this text out of Deuteronomy. It's a Greek
word, which has a compound meanings, or it means "two laws." The
Greek word "Deuteronomy" means
"two
different laws." And that's just what God has: two
different laws. And one of them is a law of death, and the other one is a law of Life.
God has two laws. To follow Him, and serve Him, and worship Him is Life;
to reject it is
death. There's two laws in God. Now, one of those laws
was made--recognized to the world at Mount Sinai. God gave the law to Moses and
Israel. Not that the law can help them, but the law only pointed out to them
that they were sinners. Until that time they didn't know what sin was, till
they had a law.
There cannot be a law without a penalty. A law's not
a law without penalty. So therefore, the transgression of the law is sin, and the wages of sin is death. So therefore,
until God made them a law, there was no transgression reckoned to them. If
there's no law here that says you can't run over twenty miles an hour, then you
can run over twenty miles an hour. But when there's a law says you can't do it,
then there's a law and a penalty behind it.
God's
chosen place worship 65-0220 P:15 Now, death was, the law of death was the
commandments given on Mount Sinai which told man that he was a sinner, and to
transgress God's law he died. But there's no salvation in the law.
The... It was only a policeman that could put you in jail; it had nothing to
bring you out with. But then He gave another law. That was at
Mount Calvary, where sin was reckoned in Jesus Christ. And there the
penalty was paid, and not with, without law, but by grace you are saved by
the grace of God through predestination of God's foreknowledge of your being.
Now, we see these two laws, Deuteronomy, speaking of two laws. There was two laws; one was the
law of death and the other one, the law of Life.
Question 3: How the angel came to me 55-0117 P:56 And He designated (God, Who's my Judge, knows)
that, He designated cancer. Said, "Nothing... If you get the people to
believe you, and be sincere when you pray, nothing shall stand before your
prayers, not even cancer, (See?) if you get the people to believe you."
What does it mean? Is salvation depends
on our ministry, whereas according to the Bible, salvation depends on God ?
Answer no 3) No, salvation
depends upon election, and that alone. And God is the One Who does the
electing, the choosing. And God makes sure He sends a ministry to those He has
predestined to hear it. Someone who will be faithful to teach His truth for the
hour. Someone who He sends to where there are predestined seed to receive that
Word.
For
Jesus said in John
6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him
(giving him the desire to come to Me); and I will raise him up from the dead on
the last day.
Ephesians 2:8 For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God:
In
this quote, the Angel said to brother Branham, “If you get the people to believe you”
Faith is about belief, and always
remember that healing is based on your faith. If you do not believe then you
will not receive what you do not believe. James wrote, “James 1:8 “2 My brethren, count
it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that
the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5 If any
of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But
let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not
that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double
minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Therefore
not only is a double minded man unstable, but he will also receive nothing from
God because he really has not even made up his mind what he wants.
Works
is faith expressed 65-1126 P:137 But listen, brother (See?), these people got prayer
cards, but that don't mean they're going to be healed. There's people
setting out there in the audience, maybe... That don't mean they're going to be
healed. That doesn't say that--that they will or will not be healed. That all depends on their faith
in God. How many knows that to be true? That's all, just
your faith in God. Well, now, how many knows that that's true? No matter
how religious you are, how good or how bad you are, unless the grace of God
drops that into your heart, you'll never get well.
Identified
Christ of all ages 64-0409 P:9 Now, but there's many, many healed out in the
audience, many more than there is healed than when you're here on the platform.
It's your faith that does the healing; it isn't our prayer. Our
prayer will help, there's no doubt. We all get together and pray for you, it'll
help.
Why
cry speak 63-0714M P:65 Moses saw this by a vision and Pharaoh said that,
"This is great."God said, "It's an abomination." So Moses
chose what God said. Now, notice, faith sees what God wants you to see. See?
Faith sees what God
sees, and reasoning and senses see what the world wants you to
see. Notice, reasoning. "Why, it's only human sense; it's only--only
reason it's this. This is... Well, ain't this just as good." See? That's
just exactly when you use those senses which is contrary to the Word (See?),
then that's what the world wants you to see. But faith don't look at that; faith looks what God said.
See, see? You don't... You cast down reasons. Reasons... Reasoning sense sees
what the world wants you to see: big denominations."Well, are you a
Christian?""Oh, I'm Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal,
whatmore. I'm this, that, or the other. See, that's senses. "I belong to
the First church," (See?) "Oh, I'm Catholic." "I'm this,
that." See? You say that.
Question 4: How the angel came to me 55-0117 P:90 "What do you think It is then," you say, "Brother
Branham?"I believe that It is the same Pillar of Fire that led the
children of Israel from Egypt to Palestine. I believe It's the same Angel of
Light that come in the jail and come in to Saint Peter and touched him, and
went forward, and opened the door, and put him out into the light. And I
believe that It's Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. He's the same Jesus today that He was
yesterday. He will be forever the same Jesus. And while I'm talking about It,
that same Light that's on that picture is standing not two feet from where I'm
standing right now. That's right. I can't see It with my eyes, but I know
It's standing here. I know It's settling with-inside of me right now.
Oh, if you could only know the difference when the power of Almighty God
catches, and how things look different.
So the question is when the Pillar of Fire is
settling with inside the prophet, is that what we called God’s Presence?
Answer 4) No, the presence
is God Himself having come down, remember it has noting to do with the vessel.
Always
remember and never forget what brother Branham told us in The Anointed ones at end time 65-0725M P:193 Now, I want you
to know this is sure. And you that listen to this tape, you might have
thought today that I was trying to say that about myself, being that I was
packing this Message. I have no more to do with it than nothing, no more
than just a voice. And my voice, even against my better judgment... I wanted to
be a trapper. But it's the will of my Father that I declare to do, and
determined to do. I wasn't the One that appeared down on the river; I was
only standing there when He appeared. I'm not the One that performs these things and foretells
these things that happens as perfect as they are; I'm only one that's near when
He does it. I was only a voice that He used to say it. It wasn't what I knew;
it's what I just surrendered myself to, that He spoke through. It isn't me. It
wasn't the seventh angel, oh, no; it was a manifestation of the Son of man. It
wasn't the angel, his Message; it was the mystery that God unfolded. It's not a
man; it's God. The angel was not the Son of man; he was a
messenger from the Son of man. The Son of man is Christ. He's the One that
you're feeding on. You're not feeding on a man. A man, his words will fail, but
you're feeding on the unfailing Body-Word of the Son of man. If you haven't fed
fully on every Word to give yourself strength to fly above all these denominations
and things of the world, will you at this time do it, while we pray?
Question 5: Questions and
answers COD 64-0823M P:36 Now, the first thing happens
when we're resurrected... The ones which are a-living will just still
remain... The resurrection will set in first, the resurrection of
those that are asleep. There'll be a wakening time, and those which are asleep
in the dust now, not those that are asleep in sin, 'cause they sleep right on.
They don't awake for another thousand years. But those who are sleeping in the
dust will be awakened first, and these corruptible bodies will put on
incorruption in the rapturing grace of the Lord. And then we'll all get
together. And when they begin to get together, then we which are
alive and remain shall be changed. These mortal bodies will not see death,
but just of a sudden, there'll be like a sweep go over us, and you're
changed. You're turned back like Abraham was, from an old man to a young
man, from an old woman to a young woman. What's this sudden change? And after
while you're traveling like a thought, and you can see those then who
are already resurrected. Oh, what a hour. Then we'll gather with them
and then be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air.
a) According to this quote, there’ll be like a
sweep go over us, first, then we can see those who are already resurrected,
will this means that it’s the changing
of the body, which will allow us to see the resurrected saints?
b) If it’s so, what do you think
about what he says in the following quotes :
Recognizing
your day 64-0726M P:110 Oh, won't that be a time? Just walking along
someday, you just hear somebody. "Who is it? Mother." Amen. "It
ain't going to be long now." Just in a few minutes you're changed.
And we'll meet them and then be caught up together with them to meet the Lord
in the air. Oh, in a
moment in the twinkling of an eye. Say, "Here's Brother Seward (the
old brother that used to be at church here). Why, here's Brother DeArk. Here's
Brother... So, why, looky here, they're all around me. What's the matter?"
You're just in a few minutes... "I know they've done appeared to me. It
ain't going to be long now; I'm going to be changed now, just in a
moment, just in a moment." Oh, yes. When the morning breaks eternal,
bright and fair. All the mystic clouds...
Going
beyond the camp 64-0719E P:12 All of us know Brother Bill Dauch setting here in
the corner. And oh, how thankful we are for all of God's great blessings. May
it continue to be with us until that last trumpet blows. And you know, we'll be caught
up together to meet the Lord in the air. Think of it. Missing people, they
can't see you no more, but you're getting together with the rest of the
group. "They which are alive and remain to the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent (or 'hinder,' the word is) those which are
asleep." Not dead, no, Christians don't die. They're just taking a little
rest (See?); that's all. Oh, my. "And the trump of God shall sound, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first, appear to many..." And all at once you happen
to stand and look, and "Well, there's a brother..." And
you know it ain't long. In a few minutes we'll be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye, and
together with them be missing on earth, caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Answer no 5) Ok, so the question is, looking at the difference between the
two quotes it appears in the first that we get our change before we see the
saints, and in the second two we see the saints and then get our change. Well,
let me throw in a third one, we get our change in the little room inside the
Tent.
Lifting
out of history 5 There was a little building, wooden
building, inside of this tent. And there was a woman, standing there or man
one, taking names. And people were going in on crutches, and stretchers, and
coming out the other side, walking. Well, I wondered what all had taken
place in there.
So which is it? Before we see the
resurrected saints? After we see the resurrected saints? Or when we come
through that little room inside the tent?
I
do not know my brothers, but it will all happen under the voice of the
resurrection. To me it is not a matter so much of how, but when. And I know we
are just about in the season for the change to happen. So set back and enjoy
the ride, God is moving and we are moving with him. If I had the answer to what
is in the future I would be a prophet whom God revealed it to, and I am not. I
can only say what he has already told us so let me just say that if we have
been basking in his glorious revealed word under the Shout, we will also
partake of this glorious revealing of His Word under the Voice.
You
brethren are a very privileged people to be able to see what God see, and to
say what God says. So cherish it and hold it close to your heart.
Why
cry speak 63-0714M P:63 That's the way we sing that song, "I'll take the way with the Lord's despised
few..." See? Oh, my. For, you see, faith sees
what God wants done. Oh I hope this goes in. Faith doesn't look at the
present time. Faith doesn't see this here. Faith looks to see what God
wants, and works accordingly. That's what faith does. It
sees what God wants, and what God wants done, and faith operates through that.
Faith is a long range vision. It don't lower its sights. It holds to
the target. Amen. Any good shooter knows that (See?), that it's long range;
it's a telescope; it's a binocular that you don't look around here; you don't
use binoculars to look to see what time it is. See? You don't use that, but you
use binoculars to look away off, and faith does that. Faith picks up God's
Binoculars, both of them, both sides, the New and Old Testament and sees every
promise that He made, and faith sees it out yonder. And faith chooses
that, regardless of what the present tense says here. He looks at the
end. He don't drop his sights down to look this way; he looks out yonder. He
keeps the crosshair dead center on the Word. That's what faith does. That's the
faith that's in a man that does those things.
Let
us pray…