Spoken
Word no. 166
Diligent
or Dilatory
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
May
23rd, 2010
This morning I would like to continue with paragraph
11 of The Spoken word is the Original Seed.
13
Now, this unwise virgin is a woman; she's a church; but she is unwise. See? She
has just been dilatory. And yet
she's called herself the bride. And remember everything runs in a three for
perfection. Three is the number of perfection: God's offices: Father, Son, Holy
Ghost. God the Father was a God that lived in the Pillar of Fire. He was trying
to draw
Romans
2:5-11 But after or according to thy hardness and impenitent heart
treasuretshup unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his
deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and
honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, wrath, tribulation
and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also
of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh
good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of
persons with God. Let us pray...
This evening we
have read from again after a several week sidetrack into the Message Follow Me,
and in Romans 2:
5 - 11 Paul speaks of a people who will be judged for the treasure
which they store up. Those who he says have a hardness of heart, he also says
that they have an impenitent heart, and these will store up wrath against the
day of judgment and they will thus receive the revelation or shall we say, the
manifestation of the righteous judgment of God in the day when the judgments of
God will be in the earth, which I believe we are now living in that hour when
the judgments of God are in the earth.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 64-0823M 986-287
The Bible said He'll judge the world by Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the
Word. So to me, it's the Word of God that He'll judge the world by. That's
right. And I believe His judgments are
in the earth now, and I believe... Let us seek with all of our heart to
escape the wrath of the damnation of the wrath of God that's going to be poured
out upon this unbelieving world; and there's no way at all for to it--escape
it.
So here we have it from a vindicated Prophet, He said,
I believe His judgments are in the earth now. Now, the attitude of some would
say, "well, you see, he never said, thus saith the Lord, he just said I
believe it is this, so you see to just believe it doesn't make it so." But
this is THUS SAITH THE LORD. But if you need one, I'll give you one...
And Peter told us that judgment begins in the house of
God. 1 Peter
5:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and
if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel
of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved,
where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?19 Wherefore
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their
souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Therefore how late an hour is it, when we must be
completely judged by the Word before the Judgments are released upon the people
who have turned down the Mercy of God which is His Shout. For there is always
mercy before judgment. And tonight being this is a communion service we have
come tonight to take inventory of our condition making to see whether we are
ready for the Voice of the Resurrection or not.
From the Message, WHO DO YOU SAY THIS IS? 64-1227 157 Brother
Branham said, I
took a rock and threw it up in the air, and said, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, The hour is here; judgments will start into
the earth. Earthquakes and everything will be taking place. And all the
west coast will be shook and so forth." Look how perfect, day by day,
everything just exactly the way He said. How can we turn back, brethren? Let us
keep our faith towards Him. They say, "Who is this?" We know Who It
is. It's Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Pillar of
Fire. When Moses time, look what it did: typed the Pillar of Fire today. It's
always... Why did they not believe Jesus to be the Word? They had the wrong
interpretation and understanding. Just as Eve did, so do they now.
Notice, it is
the wrong interpretation and understanding of Who is here that brings on the
judgments of God. But are the people victims or are they willfully ignorant?
2 TIMOTHY 4:3 The Weymouth
Translation says, "For a time is coming when they will no longer tolerate
wholesome instruction, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will turn
away from listening tot he truth and will turn aside to fables. And
the Amplified
version says, For
the time is coming when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and wholesome
instruction, but having ears itching for something pleasing and gratifying,
they will gather to themselves, one teacher after another to a considerable
number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors that they
hold.
Hosea 4:9 And there shall be
like people , like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward
them their doings.
Therefore as
Paul said, they store up for themselves based upon their own treasure.
"But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself
wrath against the day of. And in verse 8 he calls them contentious. But unto
them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
indignation, wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth
evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; In other words, they are
impersuadable. And why can't they be persuaded? Because they do not trust God,
nor God's Word, nor the ones whom He has sent. Why do you think He taught us
that every time the Gospel Trumpet sounded, it caused a War.
THE FIRST SEAL 63-0318 126-4 61 Here's the plan of
it: The first thing happens, there is an announcement in the heavens first.
What happened? A Seal is opened. What is that? A mystery is unfolded. See? And
when a mystery unfolds, then a trumpet sounds. It declares a war. Or a plague
falls, and a church age opened. See? What is the war part? The angel of the
Church catches the mystery of God, not fully yet revealed, but when he does, he
catches this mystery of God, and then he goes forth to the people (after the
mystery has been given to him), goes forth to the people. What does he do out there?
He begins to proclaim that message, and what does it start? A war, a spiritual
war. And then God takes His messenger with the elect of that age, and lays them
away asleep, and then He drops a plague upon them who rejected it: a temporary
judgment. And then, after that is over, then he goes on, and they denominate,
and bring in denominations, and start off with that man's work like of Wesley
and all the rest of them, and then it gets all in a scrapple again; and then
another mystery comes forth. Then what happens? Another messenger arrives on
earth for a church age. See? Then when he arrives, the trumpet sounds. He
declares war. See? And then what happens? Finally then he's caught away. And
then when he's laid away, then plague falls destroys them. Spiritual death hits
the church and she's gone, that group. Then He goes on to another one. Oh, it's
a great plan until it comes to that last angel. Now, he has no certain mystery,
but he gathers up all that's been lost in them other ages, all the truths that
wasn't truly revealed yet (See?), as the revelation come. Then he reveals those
things in his day. If you want to read it, there it is: A Revelations
10:1 to about 4. You'll get it. All right. See?
THE FIRST SEAL
63-0318 136-3 131 Now, a trumpet always denotes war or
otherwise political disturbance: the trumpet does, a political disturbance, and
that causes war. When you go to get messing in politics, you get them all
messed up, like we got it now, look out, war
is at hand. But, see, the kingdom still belongs to Satan.
Now, I would like to point out that
brother Branham said that when the trumpet is declared it causes first of all a
Spiritual warfare, and then it leads to a Political one. Therefore, as we read
earlier, Brother Branham told us that the reason why the judgments are here is
because the people have refused to believe Who it is that is Here. He said, the
reason for that is wrong interpretation or understanding has caused this. But I
hope that you can see that by rejecting the Presence of Jesus Christ Among us
in the form of the Pillar of Fire, they have gone to politics as brother
Branham has stated. And that causes war.
GOD IN
SIMPLICITY 63-0317M 59-2 380 He's already told us this, the rapture,
then judgments will strike: sin, plagues, sickness, and everything. The people
will cry for death to take them when the judgment... "Lord, why is this
judgment upon us when You said that there'd be a rapture first?" He will
say, "It's already come, and you didn't know it.": God hiding Himself
in simplicity. Oh, my. All right. "It's already happened and you knew it
not."
DOES
GOD CHANGE HIS MIND 65-0427 124 Now, in this hour, this great crisis is
on, when we know that this nation is shaking... Not only the nation, but the
world is shaking. It's at the end time.
Now, in getting
back to our text from Romans 2:5-11, if you will notice, Paul is
speaking of a people who are impenitent which means they are un-repented. Now,
can anyone tell me what the word repentance means? And if these people are
un-repented, then that means they are without a change of the mind.
Do you remember a few weeks ago when we studied the
difference between obedience and works? We said, the word Obey, or Obedience
comes from a Greek word, Peitho which means "to be
persuaded, to win over, and also means "to listen to, to obey".
and this obedience is not by cowering to authority, but it is a result of
persuasion which has to do with having "trust" The obedience of the
persuaded comes from the trust it has in the one persuading. Faith is of the
heart, and therefore invisible to men, obedience is of the conduct and may be
observed. Therefore, when a man obeys God he gives the only possible evidence
that in his heart he believes God. Of course it is persuasion of the truth that
results in faith, (we believe because we are persuaded the thing is true) and
therefore a thing does not become true just because it is believed. In other
words, just because you believe it is so, doesn't make it so. But we believe,
because we have been persuaded that the thing is true and therefore we believe.
But “Peitho”
Obedience, in the NT suggests an actual and outward result of the inward
persuasion and consequent faith.
That is why Paul could say, I have not
been disobedient to the heavenly vision. He was fully persuaded, and therefore
he obeyed. And that is what vindication is all about. Therefore, obedience has
to do with a Word being presented, and you following that Word. And therefore
our stewardship to that Word is the actual expression of our belief in that
Word.
Luke
12:34-48 For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye
yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the
wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching:
verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second
watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this
know, that if the Goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when
ye think not. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto
us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise
steward, whom [his] lord shall make ruler over his household, to give [them
their] portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord
when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will
make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart,
My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and
maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware,
and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the
unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten
with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Now, I want you
to notice that Jesus speaks of this Steward as a good steward. And He defines
what makes this steward good is that He is doing what he is called to do in the
season that he is supposed to do it. He asks the question, Who then is that
faithful and wise steward? And then He gives us the answer, when He says, He is
the one who as ruler over the Lords, household, gives that household their meat
in due season. And He is especially blessed if he is doing this when the Lord
returns.
Now, this thought here could have many
applications. We can see that it speaks of the Ministry that is feeding God's
people the Word for the hour. But we can also see a principle in stewardship
here that applies to every one of us. And that is that we are diligent and not
dilatory concerning our responsibilities.
He said, ? Blessed [is] that servant,
whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you,
that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. Find Him doing what? Doing
what His stewardship calls for him to do in due season. Now, this word due
season here simply means in the time fixed, or the appointed time. In other
words, with every responsibility we have there is also a time allotted for that
responsibility. Therefore, part of being a good steward is being aware of time,
and redeeming that time. and being on time with our duties and
responsibilities.
This same word
is used in LUKE
19:41-44 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things
[which belong] unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the
days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee,
and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even
with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee
one stone upon another; because thou kneweth not the time of thy visitation.
Look what happened to these people because
they were not aware of the time. Remember, brother Branham associates our
spiritual condition with knowing two things. The season and the message.
MODERN EVENTS 65-1206 14 Father, as we open this Word,
now speak to us directly out of this Word, that we might know the hour that
we're living. If we know the hour we're living, then we can prepare for that
hour; but if we go in blindly, not knowing what or where, then we don't know
how to prepare.
WHY I'M AGAINST ORGANIZED RELIGION - 62-1111E 81
Watch what He did before such a person. He rebuked him for his not knowing the
hour he was living;
MARK OF THE
BEAST 61-0217 37 Watch the Scriptures, watch the promise.
Know the hour that's approaching.
LETTING OFF THE PRESSURE 62-0518 111 But it's a sign to us. This
is the time when they're coming to buy that oil. The sleeping virgins been
sleeping all along. What's the matter with these pastors today? Don't know the
hour you're living? Jesus said, "If you'd have known Me you'd have known
My day." Said, "You can discern the face of the skies; but the signs
of the times you don't discern." Wake
up, people! Don't you know that the Bible said that... to this Pentecostal
church the way that it's going now, "In the time that you think
not..." Do you know the Pentecostal church is the
IDENTIFICATION 64-0216 111 Now, see, you must know the
hour that you're living
UNVEILING OF GOD 64-0614M 120 If they'd have only known the
Word, they'd have known Who Jesus was. If a man only knew the Word of God, he'd
know the hour we're living and what's going on. They just refuse to listen to
that Word. Their traditions...
13
THINGS THAT ARE TO BE 65-1205 25 If we know the Word of God, we know where
we are living. We know the hour that we're living in.
Now, then, if I am going to be found
feeding the people is due season, then I have to know two things. Number One, I
need to know the season, and number two, I need to know what to feed them that
is correct for the season.
And this does not just apply to me as a
Pastor, but it applies to everyone that is a good steward. Brother Branham
said,
VOICE
OF THE SIGN 64-0313 In
anything we do we want to know the hour, the age we're living. God even uses
time as part of his strategy.
I PETER 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Notice that He speaks of
the last time. The Wuest translation says, "For a salvation that is ready
to be revealed in a last season which is epochal and strategic in it's
significance."
And we find in ECCLESIASTES 3:1 To every thing
there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: And so we see
one of the central attributes of good stewardship also is to know the season,
and our responsibilities for that season. And being timely is not a bad thing.
It is a good thing.
GALATIANS 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for
in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
ECCLESIASTES 3:1 To every [thing there is] a season, and a
time to every purpose under the heaven:
EPHESIANS 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are
evil.
COLOSSIANS 4:5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are
without, redeeming the time.
Now this brings
us to our next thought here on stewardship. If God has a plan, and that plan is
strategic in nature and part of that strategy is the timing of that plan, then
we see His great Appearing in this hour, and the Rapture of the church is also
part of that great plan and strategy of God. There is a shout first, which is a
Message going forth. Then the next thing to happen is the voice which is the
resurrection, and finally the Trump which is the going home or the catching
away. But have you also noticed that within the shout, which is His Message,
and we know that Message is to declare His presence. But what if He is here and
you don't know it? Then what good can it do for you? So God has to show Himself
in a way to get your attention. Therefore we see a series of events which
constitutes the Shout, or Message. 1st there must be a shining forth, an
Epiphanaea to get the attention of the people. God uses His power or Dunamis
to do this to show without a doubt that it could only be God, the One
True God. In other words, He vindicates His Message of His Presence. Then when
the people have been attracted to His presence, there has to be an unveiling,
That is an apokolupsis, and of course this must not be in deception, but
is must be a revealing of Who He is in His True identity, which is to phaneroo
Himself to us. Then when we behold Him in plain view, the Mighty God unveiled
before us, we begin to understand and in understanding, we receive a knowledge which
is not just mental, but is actually based upon experience, therefore it is an
experiential knowledge. This knowledge or Ginosko, then gives us an assurance
or PARRHESIA.
And this
PARRHESIA causes us to lay in the presence to ripen. And thus to be ready to
receive the very assessment, opinion and judgment of God which is the Glory or
Doxa that is to be placed in the saints. Now, notice, Paul said it would come
in a certain day. A specific time was allocated in God's great plan for this to
happen. And in fact when God descends with this Shout, it is a Keleuma
or military command, and any military command or maneuver is based strictly on
timing. Timing is a crucial part of every campaign.
Jesus speaks of this thought process that
goes into any military campaign. He said, LUKE 14:31 What king, going to make war against another king, sitteth
not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him
that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a
great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
Notice here that He speaks of not only the planning in numbers and materials
and men, but also He must do this with a time element involved. He said, Or else, while the
other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions
of peace. In other words, time is a crucial factor in any campaign,
because if the opposing King is too close, he will figure that he has traveled
too far and might as well just continue right on. So the timing element is very
much a part of the strategic plan.
Now, the
thought of planning ahead is not used by Jesus to only speak of generalship. He
also ties it into business decisions.
In verse 28 He said, For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not
down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest
haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all
that behold [it] begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was
not able to finish. Here we find Him speaking of not only the costs involved,
but the element of time...to finish the business deal of building the tower.
So we can see this evening, that our
stewardship deals not only with the performance of our responsibilities, but
also on the timeliness of them as well.
When a man contracts out to another for a
service to be rendered, there must be a time element as part of that service.
When I built my house, I performed as the general contractor. I had a lot of
experience in doing this because of my role in purchasing. In fact the three
key elements involved in purchasing are Cost, quality and delivery which is
timely. What good will it do you as a company if you buy very good quality
components at a great price if you can't get them on time. One resister out of
three thousand components in a radio will cause that radio to not be shipped.
delays in timing causes havoc in any business arrangement.
Then not only
do I need to have my materials and labor on time, but I also must make sure that
my parts vendor will be paid on time. And this is all part of sewing and
reaping. If I want my materials on a timely basis, and even expect them, then I
must also expect to pay my parts supplier on time, or he will not deliver to me
on time when I need it again. I know of many companies that went elsewhere to
do their business because the customer would not pay their bills on a timely
basis. I have had to deal with corporate dictates where some executive level
decision was made to push out payments to 60 days, 90 days and even 120 days.
This never worked in our favor because we could not get materials in when we
needed them. It will always backfire when people do not live up tot he golden
rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That is your sewing
and reaping, and that is stewardship.
In other areas of our every day living,
we can see that timeliness is very important. If you don't pay you light bill
on time, you may get your lights turned off. If you don't pay your mortgage on
time you develop a poor credit history and once you have done that it becomes
very difficult to just conduct standard business transactions. You limit
yourself, and confine yourself and actually what you are doing is placing
yourself in a financial bondage. In 2 Peter 2:19 he said, "for of whom a
man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage." Now this word
here overcome means to be conquered by and made inferior to. And believe me,
when your credit record is lousy, the banks and creditors will do everything in
their power to make you feel inferior, and to control you. Then you become
their servant, instead of them serving you.
19
And when you have become a servant you are no longer the head, but you are the
tail, and under the curse as we see in DEUTERONOMY 28:16 - 45.
KNOWETH
IT NOT 65-0815 36-6 Clean your lives up; pay your debts; owe
no man. Jesus said, "Now... Now, I don't mean things like your house rent and
stuff. You got to do it. Get all your things off your hands. Get everything
right. Make ready. Get ready. Remember in the Name of the Lord, something's
fixing to happen.
In his sermon GETTING IN THE SPIRIT 69 Brother
Branham said, If
you've done something wrong, say, "I owe so-and-so some money." Well,
go pay it. You say, "Well, I can't pay him." Go tell him about it
then. That's right. Don't beat around the bush about it. Go tell him. See? And
then tell him, say, "I'll make it right, brother. You just give me a
little time. I'm fixing to straighten up right." Get all the trash and old
buckets and cisterns... Get all that stuff out of the way. Old dead horses and
ecclesiastical things that's laying in your way, throw the thing out. God ain't
going to come in on like that. It'll pollute the water. And the water ain't
going to be polluted, so you just get your own pollution out, of unbelief, and
God will pour the water in. It's already there. Only thing you have to do is
just move the cause, the cure is already performed. God's already healed you.
You just have to get your unbelief out of the way. That's the vision. I say
that in the Name of the Lord, the same as Elisha said it that day, THUS SAITH THE LORD, get your unbelief out
of the way. Watch what will take place. Get your systems out of the way,
watch what a revival will strike