Spoken
Word no. 145
The
Word Test
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
February
14, 2010
Eleven
believers were arrested and are currently in jail. A few days ago they were
judged as guilty of apostasy and sentenced. What was their crime? They left Islam and embraced salvation through faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ by the Message of the Hour, they are now deemed “apostate”.
In accordance with Islam’s Sharia Law, “…the apostate must be executed”,
though it is uncertain whether the courts will proceed with this penalty.
They are detained in prisons in the following
three cities;
Please
join us in sincere, fervent prayer for these believers in
In
1)
Brother Shahin; Married – Wife Sis Maryam; one daughter
2)
Brother Davoud (Married…)
3)
Brother Youcef Nadarkhani; Married – Wife Sis Tina; two sons Daniel and
Yoel. Brother Youcef is pastor of
the most important church in
4)
Brother Mahyar
In
5)
Brother Parviz Khaladj; Married - wife Sister Elahe; one son Samuel (1st
believer led to Christ in
6)
Brother Abdolreza Ali Haghnejad: (Known as Matthias); Married - wife
Sister Hannah; One daughter Hannah; Is Pastor in Bandar-Anzali
7)
Brother Iman Farzad
8)
Brother Mehdi Furutan; (Known as Pertos) Evangelist
9)
Sister Roxana Furuii
In
10)
Brother Behrouz Sadegh-Khanjani; Senior Pastor & church planter
11)
Brother Marco Sadegh-Khanjani; Married – wife Sister Marriam; One
daughter Espérance.
*All
the children are under the age of 10 years
When a brother sought help from the Voice of the
Martyrs for legal representation he was rebuffed by them because they do not
classify the Believers this Message as worthy of being called Christian.
The brother wrote, “Brothers…a
little more exposure for the believers in Iran – and this after the CEO of VOM
in Canada, Glenn Penner – made the following statements classifying the
believers as being “less than Christian”:quote: “the teachings of William Branham, a man who unapologetically denied
reality of the Trinity, a central doctrine for Christians. We respect the
rights of others to believe otherwise, but we believe it to be inaccurate
and disingenuous to call oneself a Christian if one
denies that God has existed for all eternity in three equal Persons: the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (then
he goes on to say,) “To deny these doctrines is to place oneself outside of orthodox Christianity.”
Glenn
Glenn M. Penner
Chief Executive Officer | The Voice of the Martyrs (
It is too bad that this man is a blind leader of the
blind, and has no clue concerning Scripture, because the scripture teaches that
“God is One” and is not a committee of three.
Now, Before we go to prayer this morning, I would like
to read an email sent to me this week from Br. Samuel Otaget, in response to my
sending out this prayer request to nearly 200
ministers around the world plus many other believers of the message.
Brother Samuel accompanied me to
Here is the letter
from Otaget I would like to read before we go to prayer.
It was
just here in our country
Let us now
go to prayer once again… Dear Father, we come
in the name of Jesus Christ, that wonderful name which is above all names, and
we ask for deliverance for Sister Frances VanKlink, Sister Karinas Serifovski, and the brethren that are being held against
their will for rejecting Mohammed as a false teacher and accepting Your Son
Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Father, we know that you have a history of
delivering your children out of the mouths of hungry lions, and from the fiery
trials, from the sword and from other perils, and even we have seen your
deliverance first hand from the fiery flames on the airplane and the bombs that
were set to go off when we were scheduled to arrive at certain places, and from
the destruction from storms and all manner of evil that the devil has tried to
destroy your children, Father we as your children are praying for our brothers
and sisters, Your children also, who are
now in peril of life and even the sword, and we ask that you would show
yourself the same yesterday, today and forever, and deliver them once again by
your mighty hand. We know that you saved
Paul from prison by using an earthquake to shake that city and open the prison
walls, and we know that You showed yourself in the Pillar of Fire that came to
the jail to set Peter free. Hear us o
God, Our Father, when we ask once again for your presence to set your children
free. Your Prophet taught us that the
persecution and martyrdom is not to be for the Elected Bride in this hour, but
rather you have come down to deliver us in a rapture so we ask that these
brethren of ours be not be martyred, but rather we ask that You father, deliver
them in a very supernatural way, a way
which only You can do, and we ask this
in the Loving name of Your eldest Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.
Now, This morning I would like to read from brother
Branham’s sermon The Spoken Word is the Original Seed and we will pick up at
paragraph 150 When
the unwise virgin, wants oil, and while she's buying it, that's the time that
the Bridegroom come. Oh, you Pentecostals, what's the matter? Well, you can't see it unless God shows it to you;
that's one thing sure. If you wasn't
born back yonder, predestinated to it, you're going to miss it. Blessed are
their ears that can hear; blessed are the hearts that can understand, for the
time is at hand, every sign pointing to it. See?”
151
Look what kind of revivals they're having: great revivals, have had. Looks good, doesn't it? You say,
"Well, Brother Branham, now you've got us on a limb." That's where I
wanted you. How you going to know what's
right and wrong? Give it the Word
test. That's the way to tell whether it's right or wrong. That's it; just
give it the Word test. See what it says about the Word. Any spirit, see what it says about the Word. If it denies the Word, it's not of God. See? No matter what it is, if it denies the Word, it's not of God. Look,
give it the Word test and see what happens. Jesus warned us of these things: Matthew the 24th chapter and the 35th verse. I just want to refer to
that, 'cause on account of the tapes.
152 Just a
moment. Now, we haven't got but just about twenty more minutes till we dismiss,
and I'm sure we're not going to even get one third of the way through, but I've
got to read this anyhow (See?), Matthew
24:35. Now, listen real close what Jesus said.
Now, how He told us that the two spirits
would be so close, it'd deceive the very elected. You know that, don't It?
Now, is it going to be true? Yes, sir. Matthew 24:35 says...... heavens and earth shall pass
away, but My Word shall not pass away. (See?) Now, He... That
the two spirits so close together... Now, it's got to be that way. It's got
to be that way. The Pentecostal
denomination has got to act so real like the real until Jesus said that only
the elected wouldn't be deceived. That kills me nearly. But, my
denominational brethren, can't you see why I've done what I done? See? So
close that it would deceive the very elected if it was possible.
But to the elected that's elected to Eternal Life... Now, you talk about
striking this; we're going to strike it after while, really hit it. See? See, remember it's the elected is the only kind
that'll catch it.
153 "Well,
you say, "how
do you know that you're not right?" Then test me by the Word. Come, test your denomination by this Word.
Let's see who's right. "Prove all things,"
the Bible said. You say, "It don't make any difference; be baptized
this way that..." It does make a difference. That's
what Satan told Eve. Somebody already been baptized in Acts 19, a good Christian man
baptized them too, John the Baptist. Paul said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you
believed?" We said... He said, "We know not whether there be any Holy Ghost."
Said, "Then
how was you baptized? If you'd caught it you'd have knowed it."
(See?) Said, "How would you have... How was you baptized?"
He said, "Unto John (the great man that baptized
Jesus)." Paul said, "That
will not work now." 'Cause John never baptized, only unto repentance, not for remission of
sins; the sacrifice wasn't offered. And when they heard this, they were
re-baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
So we are to look to the Word to test all things. That
is why I do not preach these sermons from my own words, because my words are no
better than your words and your words are no better than the next guys words.
In fact the Bible says “there is none righteous, or rightly wise, no not one.”
You don’t believe me, well let’s just look in your
Bibles to see if I am telling you the truth or not. Romans 3:9 Paul
says, What then? are we
better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and
Gentiles, that they are all under sin; 10 As it is
written, There is none righteous, no,
not one: 11 There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
So if there is none
righteous, and there is none that understandeth, then it isn’t your
understanding or my understanding that counts one lick. It’s his understanding
that counts for everything.
Now Brother Branham is
telling us in these paragraphs that we read this morning that only the Bride
will understand because she is predestinated to believe.
That is not something
out of the ordinary of scripture? That is Thus saith the Word of God.
Acts 13:48 And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the
Lord: (They were glad and glorified
What? The Word of the Lord…) and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
So there is a Word
identified Bride, no different than Jesus was the identified Word of God
manifested in His hour. And what is that? It was God’s mind on display for all
to see. Now the Bride believes the Word, because she understands vindication. Now we have a vindicated prophet in
this hour to tell us what the Word means where we can not read it with our own
eyes and get it. So God sent a man on the scene who can read, and he told us
what it says. So it doesn’t need you to interpret it, and it doesn’t need me to
interpret it, it means what it says.
Eve just disbelieved
one Word. That’s all it took to bring corruption into this world. She did not
believe what the Word of God had to say about the present condition under which
she was, and she perverted the whole thing; and caused an interruption in the
way life was on earth.
Eve did not believe
the Word, therefore, she either did not, understand it, or she just did not
believe in vindication. And who was vindicated in that Hour? God himself had
come down and talked to her husband before she even came on the scene. Genesis
2:15 And the LORD God
took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And
the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 18 And the LORD God said, It
is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet
for him.
She didn’t listen to her
husband when he was explaining the Word of God to her. She thought she had it
all figured out because this snake in the grass called the serpent told her
different than her husband had told her. But God had told him what they could
do and what they could not do, and she didn’t believe the vindicated word for
that day. But she had just enough knowledge of God’s Word to argue about it and she did. But she didn’t
have a clue concerning vindication. So she felt she could argue the Word, and
when you want to argue with God about His own Word, guess whose going to lose?
God came down and
talked the Word with Adam. Vindication. She didn’t believe it. Adam believed
the Word based on vindication, He saw with his own eyes what God had done, and
was able to do. But she wasn’t even on the scene when the Vindicated God had
come with His Word. Just like today, we have these young snotty nosed little
preachers who think they are something because they can quote the Word of God
from this bible.
SATAN can do that!!!
Paul said he would do it!!!
From the translation called THE MESSAGE I want to read from 2 Corinthians 11: 1-3 Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please,
just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so
much, and this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in
marriage to Christ, I presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now
I'm afraid that exactly as the Serpent seduced Eve with his smooth talk, so too
you are being lured away from the simplicity and purity of the Word of Christ.
4-6 It seems that if someone shows
up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—a different spirit, a
different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with
these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm
as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered
that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about.
I haven't kept anything back. I let you in on everything.
12-15 And I'm not changing my
position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds
for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting
themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying
preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And
no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as an angel of light. So it
shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But
they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end.
Now, Adam believed the vindicated Word, but he disobeyed it for Eve. Now, watch. Cain also refused God’s vindication. Because Abel was vindicated, the fire came down and consumed the offering. Burned it right up. Sure. Cain refused vindication. Then, what did he do? He killed his brother! So, number one: When you give them the Word check, make sure it’s the vindicated Word you are checking them with. Does he believe in vindication or not? In other words, does he believe that the prophet of God has brought an absolute revealed and perfect Word from Almighty God, or not? Then how can they even claim to be Message pastors and deny the vindicated Word that was brought by God’s prophet?
Paul said
in 2 Corinthians
4:1 Therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2 But have renounced the hidden things of
dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; (That's holding back the truth in unrighteousness.) but by
manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God.
You see, what Paul is saying
is that 2Since God has
so generously let us in on what he is doing, we're not about to throw up our
hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We
refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind
the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep
everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that
those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.
And then
Paul says in verse 3, But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost: IWhat
Paul is saying is, If our Message is
obscure to anyone, it's not because we're holding back in any way. No, it's
because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to
give it serious attention. They are failing to believe in the vindicated Word
of God.
4 In
whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
So Paul is telling us
that these people who refuse a vindicated Message are lost, and blind, and have
no clue as to what even is truth.
The Paul
says in verse 5, For
we preach not ourselves, The Message
is not about ourselves, who we are what we are? It’s
about Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. It’s
not about the ministry. It’s not about being somebody special. He says I am
just a messenger, an errand boy delivering a Message which was not even my
Message until God told me what to say and to whom to say it to. So it’s not
about me, it’s not about any living man or ministry, it’s about Christ. And
brother Branham said the same thing when he said in his sermon, 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.
Then
Paul says in verses 7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss
Him. We carry this precious Message around in these clay pots of our ordinary
lives. That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with
us. As it is, there's not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that
we're not much to look at. 8 We are troubled on every
side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but
not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not
forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; We've been surrounded and battered by
every sort of trouble you can think of, but we haven’t become demoralized;
sometimes we just are not sure which way to move, or what to do next, but we
know that God knows what to do and were we should go next; we've been
spiritually brutalized by others, but God hasn't left our side; we've been
thrown down and thrown out by many, but we haven't broken. What they did to
Jesus, they do to us, trials and torture, mockery and character assassination,
even outright vicious backstabbing and murder; but what Jesus did among them,
he has done in us, for He lives again in our beings! Our lives have been at a
constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in
us. While we're going through the worst, you're getting in on the best! And
13-15 We're not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like
the psalmist who wrote, "I believed it, so I said it," we say what we
believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus
will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your
advantage and to God's glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more
and more praise! 16-18 So
we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks
like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new
life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small
potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for
us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here
today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.
Now, brothers, knowing
there's a God in heaven, and this Bible open before me. I’m telling you this
Word is serious. Let me tell you something. Who are men pretending themselves
to be, arguing with the words of a vindicated prophet of God? I mean who
vindicated them? We know who vindicated William Branham, but who do they think
they are? What vindication do they have? There was only one man vindicated in
this hour and if he didn’t tell it straight then God help all of us is all I
can say, because without that SHOUT, the MESSAGE we would be all doomed for
destruction. But we are not all doomed because god came down for us, so have
faith in God.
Now, who are these men
who think they got it all figured out?
All you have to do is read or hear what they say and take it back to the
Word of God or this Message and you will see right quickly that they are all
wrong, wrong, wrong.
So give it the Word
test as brother Branham said,
The
Apostle John told us in 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but
try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world.
The Message Translation puts it this way, 1 My dear friends, don't believe everything
you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who
talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the
world. 2-3Here's
how you test for the genuine Spirit of God.
So when we are
commanded to try every spirit, that includes your own spirit.
I CORINTHIANS 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you,
that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
In
I Thessalonians
5:21 The Apostle Paul said, Prove all things; hold
fast that which is good.
II Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye
not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Galatians 6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and
then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
In Hebrews 5: 14 We are told to have our senses exercised to
know the difference between Good and this evil. ( But strong meat
belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil)
Did not Brother Branham tell us that there has got to
be another
Rev
2: 2 I
know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear
them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and
are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast
borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.
And did not John admonish us in 1 John 4: 1 as we have already read “to try or put to
the test every spirit?” Then why are people so gullible? I'll tell
you why. Because they are children of disobedience and not true sons. For the
True Sons of God will exercise discernment. They will be able to know the
difference between those who are true and those who are not. 2 Thessalonians 2: Wuest Do you not remember that while I was with you I
kept on telling you these things? And now you know with a positive assurance
that in speaking of the departure of the church, the saints shall be assembled
together to the Lord, and this assembling is preventing the full disclosure of
the man of lawlessness as to his true identity, but in his strategic, appointed
time he shall fully be manifested. However, this already mentioned lawlessness
is already now operating. Only He, The Holy Spirit Who is holding this
lawlessness down, will continue to do so until He goes out from the midst of
humanity. And then shall the lawless One be disclosed in his true identity,
whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His Mouth and render
inoperative amongst the Elect by the sudden Appearance of His Personal
Presence. Satan too shall have his own personal presence and become incarnate
in this man of lawlessness. His presence shall come forth with every kind of
deception which will be geared to the gullibility of those who are perishing,
this gullibility being caused by the fact that they did not accept the love for
the Truth tot he end that they might be saved. And because of this God will
send them a strong deluding influence resulting in their believing the Lie, in
order that they may all be judged who did not believe the Truth but actually
took delight in wickedness.
1 John 2:19 They went out from
us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt
have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest
that they were not all of us. 20 But ye have an
unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I
have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know
it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a
liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that
denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father also. 24 Let that therefore
abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the
Son, and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise
that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26 These
things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in
you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you,
ye shall abide in him. 28 And now, little children,
abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be
ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If ye know
that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born
of him.
1
John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he
that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whosoever is born of God
doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God. 10 In this
the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
I Corinthians 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest:
for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the
fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
The
Apostle Paul said in Galatians 1: 6 I
marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another;
but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now
again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received,
let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men,
or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be
the servant of Christ. 11 But I certify you,
brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle John told us that many deceivers are
entered into the world so we are commanded to try every spirit to see whether
it be of God or not.
The Apostle Paul told us that every son
that cometh to God must first be tried and tested. So the test is one of the
most important instruments in the hands of God to the believer today. And how
does God test you? God gives you good things to see what you are going to do
with them? He gives you opportunity to test you to see whether you are going to
serve God or man. He gives you gifts to see whether you use those things for
His Kingdom, or for your own selfish lusts.
In the book of Psalms we are told he
gives gifts even to the rebellious also. I have done the same as well. I have
given ministers overseas money to see what they are going to do with it. Money
is a great test. God will give a man a very good job opportunity just to see
whether that man is going to serve God or man. I was gifted to kick footballs,
and in my day I was one of the best in the nation, but God also gave me His
Message and I chose the Message over the money.
II Corinthians 10:18 For
not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.
II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I Peter 4:12 -
19 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is
to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
I Peter 1:3 - 7 That the trial of your faith, being much
more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might
be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
James 1:12 Blessed [is] the man that endureth
temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the
Lord hath promised to them that love him.
How can we think it will be any different
with us when God has always acted in this manner. He did it at the first
Exodus.
Exodus 16:4 Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I
will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a
certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my
law, or no.
Exodus 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not:
for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that
ye sin not.
Deuteronomy 8:2
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee
these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know
what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deuteronomy 8:16
Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he
might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter
end;
Judges 3:1 - 4 Now these [are] the nations which the LORD
left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the
wars of Canaan;
Judges 3:4 And they were to prove
John 6: 1 - 6 And this he said to prove him: for he
himself knew what he would do.
I
John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out
into the world.
I Corinthians 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you,
that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Discernment
of spirit 60-0308 P:8 Now, I think it's a good thing for us, as
ministers, to follow our order, when we see such things in the world as we see
today. And we have an order from God, is for the discerning of spirit, trying
the spirit. I believe that that is a very great lesson for the church today, is
to try the spirit of anything, have discernment of the spirit. I do not think
that we should ever, by any means, ever try to judge a person by the
denomination they belong to, or by the group that they are assembled with,
whether they be Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, or--or whatever
they are. We should never judge the man by the denomination that he belongs to.
We should always judge him by the spirit he has (See?), the spirit. Whether
he's latter rain or former rain or inner, outer rain, or no rain, or whatever
it might be, we should never judge him by that, but by his spirit. We are to
discern spirits. Watch what the man has in mind, what he has, what he's trying
to achieve. If the man, by a gift, no matter how great the gift is...
Questions
and answers COD 61-0112 P:14 Now, here's the way to do it. Find out
first... Well now, this is advice; only thing I can give on this is advice.
See? But make sure that your calling comes from God, and then check your
motives and objectives. See? Now, you know what I mean by that. What is your
motive for preaching? Was it just... You think it was a easier job than what
you have? Then you'd better forget it; it wasn't a call. A call of God burns so
in your heart you can't rest day and night for it. You just can't get away from
it; it's just constantly grinding at you.