Spoken Word no. 142
The
Two Harvests
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
January
30, 2010
Now, this morning I would like to focus on just a few
words that Brother Branham said in paragraph 145 Moureh, moureh, the rain, former rain,
planting rain, has went forth. Now, what had happened? The former rain was
being planted. The latter rain fell.
What happened?
146 The two denominations will unite,
Pentecostal and these other, and will unite, but the Word will stay with
Abraham's promised Seed as It did then. Jesus said, "As it was
then..." Can... Have you got ears
to hear? eyes to see? understanding
to understand with? Jesus said, "As it was... Is not it
written..." would He say if He was standing here this morning? Would
not...would not He say this: "Is not it written that as the days of
Now, tonight we are going
to look at these two harvests that brother Branham is speaking of here.
Notice he said there will be two harvests so in order
for us to distinguish one harvest from the other we must know more about each
harvest.
He said, Don't you see
the two harvests coming up here, receiving their last shower? They've come along to that last shower.
See? Then what happened? The angels and
the Lord disappeared. Then the rain
took place.
Now as for these two harvests, we need to know what are
their distinguishing attributes that will be displayed for each, for we must
know this if we are to be able to discern the one from the other.
Now when Brother Branham said, "Let
them grow together. The tares shall be bound, bundled, and burned and The wheat will go to the garner…" he
is quoting Scripture, and in fact he is quoting Jesus from Matthew chapter 13, the parable of the sower.
MATTHEW 13:24 ¶ Another parable put he forth unto
them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed
in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and
sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth
fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the
householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy
field? From whence then, hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath
done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather
them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up
also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in
the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first
the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat
into my barn.
Notice Jesus points out the
fact that there are two very different types of (seed life) that have been sown
pr planted alongside of each other in the same field.
There are a few facts that
are given to us in order for us to understand this parable, and end-time
condition. First, Jesus tells us that the field represents the world, and the
sowing is done first by the owner of the field, and then his enemy comes into
his field and imitates his sowing, but with a different life (seed).
The facts of this parable
are as follows:
1)
There is one field that the seed is placed; i.e., a woman, we are
husbandry,
2)
There are two who sow seed there, these two who sow represent two sources
of life.
3)
The seed that is sown is said to be two different kinds of seed,
therefore manifesting two different kinds of life which manifest two different
natures. Wheat and tares.
4)
The tare seed is does not belong as an enemy came into the field which
was not his, but is allowed to grow up alongside the wheat until the time of
harvest, for the sake of the wheat, until the wheat is mature enough to
withstand a separation.
5)
Each kind of seed
has a different form of harvest.
6)
At the time of harvest is to begin there is a separation that takes
place.
7)
One harvest is represented by a binding and bundling of the tares, and
they are destined for burning.
8)
The Wheat harvest is identified not through any binding or bundling, but
rather taken as they are and deposited into the garner or storehouse of the
owner.
Notice the two seeds having
two different harvests, are allowed to grow up side by side until the time that
the harvest is to take place. Then at the time of harvest a separation is to
take place. The first harvest to begin is the tares which are bound into
bundles for the burning.
Now, in this parable, Jesus
uses the word "deo" to describe the binding process of
the tares, and this word “deo”
means: to bind by placing under
obligation. Now, this binding is needed in order to control the assembly
of tares. And by placing the people under obligations, which take
them away from the Word of God and places them into a system of organization,
we can see then that organization is the tool that is instrumental for this
harvest to take place.
They are bound or placed
under obligation and so their focus becomes this obligation they have been
placed in. The bundles Jesus said, bind the people, keeping them from searching
further for more light than what is available in their church.
Now, remember, Brother
Branham said, The
two denominations will unite, Pentecostal and these other, and will unite, but
the Word will stay with Abraham's promised… So the one harvest speaks of the two united
denominational groups, the Pentecostals and the Evangelicals, which are
represented by two figures, Oral Roberts and Billy Graham. And the way that
they unite their people behind them is through organization and by making uses
of programs in the church.
If you will notice their
main push is for numbers, not character, “a million more in 44” and you know
the schemes through the last few decades.
If you look at their churches
that have united under their organizational banners, you see no difference
between the two different organizational types except for how they conduct
their worship service. After that everything else is the same. You see people
are not content to come and hear the word of God, but rather the churches have so
many programs going on that there is bound to be something for every one, and the
larger the congregation, the more programs they will have to keep the people
obligated.
Now, after these tares are
bound, Jesus tells us they are placed into bundles. Now in using the word
bundle, Jesus is telling us that there is a certain characteristic concerning
this binding process. We already know the Greek word used to bind them is “deo”
which literally means to place under obligation, but the Greek word for
“bundle” is “desmeo” and actually means to
be chained together by shackles. The connotative meaning then means to impede
or disable by placing into bondage via some instrumentation whether shackles or
chains.
So the instrument that
places these people in bondage to a system is important for us to understand if
we are to understand the characteristics of these two different forms of
harvest.
For the one harvest is
represented simply by gathering together and placing them into their final
destination, while the other form of harvest has to do with gathering together
using some form of inducement which binds the people to a system. So one is the
free seed and the other is the obligated and in bondage seed.
Now, let’s take for a moment
the words of the Apostle Paul concerning these two types of seeds, the free and
those in bondage. Let’s turn in our Bibles to Galatians chapter 4.
Galatians
4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a
child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 2 But
is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
So we are looking at the time that has been appointed
for the heir, and time of the adoption for this scene to act itself out.
3 Even
so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of
the world: 4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons.
Now, I want for you to understand here that what Jesus
was speaking of concerning the time of the two harvests, is the time that Paul
is calling the time of the adoption of sons. This is the time that all sons
(seeds) that were in God before the foundations were predestinated unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. This is one of the two kinds of seeds that
Jesus is speaking of. This is the son of God seed, that the whole world and all
of creation are groaning for, waiting for them to manifest themselves as Sons
of God conformed to the image of the first born son. That’s Romans 8 we are
talking about, verse 19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. And
again in verse 20 we read, For the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
So we see these two
harvests are peculiar in that one is bound, and in this state of bondage is
bound further for the fire, while the other is delivered from bondage and set
free and gathered together and not bound in the process, but remain just as
they are when placed into the garner.
22 For
we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now.
Notice then that the
whole world groans and travails together, they are experiencing a common
calamity, and they are bound together in this experience they are sharing.
23 And
not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body.
So the whole creation
is bound, and waiting for the setting free of the sons of God. and what has
bound the whole creation? That organizational spirit? The people can not even
vote for a good man because if a man is capable and good his party will not
endorse him. They give us no choice in the voting process, and the system is so
bound that it will never be free as long as man is in control. And no matter
which nation you go to it is the same system everywhere, and in every place.
Government is no different that the church. They are all controlled by the
whims of men. But God has promised us deliverance from this system of
corruption and bondage.
24 For
we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth,
why doth he yet hope for?25 But if we hope for that
we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26 Likewise
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray
for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searches
the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession
for the saints according to the will of God.
So you see, God
Himself had to come down in this hour to set us free, for the whole creation
has become bound by organizational systems, Government, politics, the school
systems, and even church. But God came down and has delivered us by His Word,
and in the process of His Harvest is gathering us all into Christ, and in
Christ we are set free, that we might be conformed to the image of the
firstborn son in a vast family of brethren.
Jesus was not bound by
the governments of His day, nor by the Church politics of his day. And he came
to set us free so that we can become conformed to the image of the first born
son.
28 And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of
his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
And so we see in Galatians 4
and verse 6
Paul says, 6 And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but your
a son; and if a son, then you are an heir of God through Christ.
Notice, he said, No
more a servant, no more a bond-slave to a system, but as a son, you have been
set free by receiving the same spirit that dwelt in Jesus Christ the first Born
son of God.
8 Howbeit
then, when ye knew not God, ye did service douleuo unto them which by nature are no
gods.
Now, this word douleuo
means: to be a slave to (literally or figuratively, involuntary or
voluntary):--to be in bondage, So you see that the one harvest sets the
people free while the other harvest they are gathered in their bondage. And
what condition of the mind and heart made them this way? He said, when ye knew not
God, ye did service douleuo unto
them which by nature are no gods. So you see these are they who have not come
to know God. In other words, when God Himself came down to make Himself know,
these people did not receive it, nor understand it, and so they continued in
what they were already in, and that is an organizational system of bondage. But the son of God seed were at the same time
set free by the Presence of God and His Message.
9 But
now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye
again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again
to be in bondage?
In other words, how
can you who claim to know God, who have come out under the Pillar of Fire, to
become free in Christ, how can you ever go back to that organizational system
again in which you came out from?
10 Ye
observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I
am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. 12 Brethren,
I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured
me at all. 13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I
preached the gospel unto you at the first. 14 And
my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received
me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15 Where
is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had
been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have
given them to me. 16 Am I
therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? 17 They
zealously affect you, but not well;
What does Paul mean, They zealously affect you but not well? Paul
is saying, “look? You might be zealously affected by their schemes and their
programs to work harder and harder for them, but that is not what I want to see
in you. yea, they would exclude you from
us, that ye might affect them.
The Translation called
the Message puts it this way, 17Those heretical teachers go to great lengths to flatter you,
but their motives are rotten. They want to shut you out of the freedom of God's
grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making
them feel important. In other
words, they want to keep you under their thumb, and so long as you stay that
way, they are happy with you. Notice we are dealing with being free verses
being bound. And Paul goes on to say, 18 But
it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
Look, Paul is saying,
I came out of that system that binds men to it, and I am set free more than any
other, so be like I am, and then he says,… 19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth
again until Christ be formed in you, So Paul was looking for The
Life of the Spirit that we have received from the First Born Son into our
hearts, to begin to come free from the bondage of the bodies of this death and
to begin to be set free within us to bring us into that which would conform with the literal life nature that was
in the first born son. For whom the son has set free shall be free indeed.
Now, let’s move ahead
to verse 20 and
as we read we will further see that these two seeds come forth from two sources
and what distinguishes them from each other is their ability to accept being
free. One comes forth in bondage, while the other is born to be free. 20 I
desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I
stand in doubt of you. 21 Tell
me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For
it is written, that Abraham had two
sons, the one by a bond-maid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But
he who was of the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of
the freewoman was by promise from God. 24 Which things are an
allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which
genders to bondage,
which is Agar. 25 For
this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Galatians
5:1 Stand
fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free,
and be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold,
I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit
you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man that is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from
grace. 5 For we
through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For
in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. 7 Ye did run well; who
did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not
of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump.
Notice then that the
harvesting of the two different kinds of seeds will each have a different kind
of harvest. One is bound together by an outward influence upon them controlling
them as a group, which only gets them ready for the fire, while the other sets
them free to be who they are, and even when they are gathered together, they
are still allowed to be individuals, and are free in their soul, with one thing
in common with the others being gathered with them, and that is they have the
same destiny, the same gathering place, where they are being gathered into
Christ, by being conformed to the image of the first born son.
Therefore I want you to really understand the
difference between law and Grace, works vs. doing from the heart out of love. Martin
Luther laid this out very well in his Introduction to the Book of Romans. Here
he stated, “When
Paul speaks of the law, You must not understand the word law here in human
fashion, i.e., a regulation about what sort of works must be done or must not
be done. That's the way it is with human
laws: you satisfy the demands of the law with works, whether your heart is in
it or not. God judges what is in the depths of the heart. Therefore his law
also makes demands on the depths of the
heart and doesn't let the heart rest content in works; rather it punishes
as hypocrisy and lies all works done apart from the depths of the heart. All
human beings are called liars (Psalm 116), since none of
them keeps or can keep God's law from the depths of the heart. Everyone finds
inside himself an aversion to good and a craving for evil. Where there is no free desire for good, there the heart has not set
itself on God's law. There also sin is surely to be found and the deserved
wrath of God, whether a lot of good works and an honorable life appear
outwardly or not.
Therefore in chapter 2,
Outwardly you keep the law with works out of fear of punishment or love of gain. Likewise you do
everything without free desire and love of the law; you act out of aversion and force. You would rather act otherwise
if the law didn't exist. It follows, then, that you, in the depths of your
heart, are an enemy of the law. What do you mean, therefore, by teaching
another not to steal, when you, in the depths of your own heart, are a thief
and would be one outwardly too, if you dared. (Of course, outward work doesn't
last long with such hypocrites.) So then, you teach others but not yourself;
you don't even know what you are teaching. You've never understood the law
rightly. Furthermore, the law increases sin, as
In chapter 7,
You
must get used to the idea that it is one
thing to do the works of the law and quite another to fulfill it. The works
of the law are every thing that a person does or can do of his own free will
and by his own powers to obey the law. But because in doing such works the
heart abhors the law and yet is forced
to obey it, the works are a total loss and are completely useless. That is
what
But to fulfill the law means
to do its work eagerly, lovingly and freely, without the constraint of the law;
it means to live well and in a manner pleasing to God, as though there were no
law or punishment. It is the Holy Spirit, however, who puts such eagerness
of unconstrained love into the heart, as Paul says in chapter 5. But the
Spirit is given only in, with, and through faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul says
in his introduction. So, too, faith comes only through the word of God, the
Gospel, that preaches Christ: how he is
both Son of God and man, how he died and rose for our sake. Paul says all
this in chapters 3, 4 and 10.
That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfills the law; faith it is that brings the Holy Spirit
through the merits of Christ. The
Spirit, in turn, renders the heart glad and free, as the law
demands. Then good works proceed from
faith itself. That is what Paul means in chapter 3 when, after he has
thrown out the works of the law, he sounds as though he wants to abolish the
law by faith. No, he says, we uphold the law through faith, i.e. we fulfill it through faith.
Sin
in the Scriptures means not only external works of the body but also all those
movements within us which bestir themselves and move us to do the external
works, namely, the depth of the heart with all its powers. Therefore the word “do” should refer to a person's
completely falling into sin. No external
work of sin happens, after all, unless a person commit himself to it
completely, body and soul. In particular, the Scriptures see into the
heart, to the root and main source of all sin: unbelief in the depth of the heart. Thus, even as faith alone makes just and
brings the Spirit and the desire to do good external works, so it is only
unbelief which sins and exalts the flesh and brings desire to do evil external
works. That's what happened to Adam and Eve in
That is why only unbelief is
called sin by Christ, as he says in John, chapter 16,
"The Spirit will punish the world because of sin, because it
does not believe in me."
In this way, then, you should understand chapter 7, where
Finally I would like to close by
reading what Luther refers to as real faith.
He says Faith is not that
human illusion and dream that some people think it is. When they hear and
talk a lot about faith and yet see that no moral improvement and no good works
result from it, they fall into error and say, "Faith is not enough.
You must do works if you want to be virtuous and get to heaven." The result is that, when they hear the Gospel, they
stumble and make for themselves with their own powers a concept in their hearts
which says, "I believe." This concept they hold to be true faith.
But since it is a human fabrication and thought and not an experience of the
heart, it accomplishes nothing, and there follows no improvement.
Faith is a work of God in us,
which changes us and brings us to birth anew from God
(cf. John 1). It kills the old Adam, makes
us completely different people in heart, mind, senses, and all our powers, and
brings the Holy Spirit with it. What a living, creative, active powerful
thing is faith! It is impossible that faith ever stop doing good. Faith doesn't ask whether good works are to
be done, but, before it is asked, it has done them. It is always active.
Whoever doesn't do such works is without faith; he gropes and searches about
him for faith and good works but doesn't know what faith or good works are.
Even so, he chatters on with a great many words about faith and good works.
Faith is a living,
unshakeable confidence in God's grace; it is so certain, that someone would die
a thousand times for it. This
kind of trust in and knowledge of God's grace makes a person joyful, confident,
and happy with regard to God and all creatures. This is what the Holy
Spirit does by faith. Through faith, a
person will do good to everyone without coercion, willingly and happily; he
will serve everyone, suffer everything for the love and praise of God, who has
shown him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from faith as
burning and shining from fire. Therefore be on guard against your own
false ideas and against the chatterers who think they are clever enough to make
judgments about faith and good works but who are in reality the biggest fools. Ask God to work faith in you; otherwise
you will remain eternally without faith, no matter what you try to do or
fabricate.
Those are tremendous words
of advice from this Messenger of God who set the world on fire in his hour. Let’s
bow our heads in prayer…