Spoken Word no. 181
A Deceived Church
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
August 18th, 2010
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.
Now, from Paragraph 33
of the second half of Brother Branham’s sermon, the
Spoken Word is the Original Seed he said, Now, she mingled her seed
illegally, illegal to the Word. What was she trying to find? (Now, listen
close.) What was she after? Wisdom, wisdom. And that's what she's done today.
She's sent her preachers away to schools, incubatored them out on a machine,
psychology, all kinds of stuff that should not even in the Bible. And she's
incubatored her eggs. And when she's done, she's brought out a product of a
bunch of people that will compromise anything and refuse the very message of
God, not knowing what she's doing. She's ignorant of it. She don't believe, she
don't think she's wrong. Neither did Eve think she was wrong. Eve thought she
was right. And if that was a type, and this is the antitype, it'll have to work
the same way the type did. Now, that's just... To me that's just two times two
equal four.
Now, let me read it from a new
translation called THE MESSAGE 6-9I
can't believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who
called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! (that’s a modified Message, one that has been tampered
with.) Then Paul says, It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely another
Message, a different Message, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God.
Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of
Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of us, even if an angel from
heaven!, were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let
him be cursed. I said it once; I'll say it again: If anyone, regardless of
reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received
originally, let him be cursed.
10-12Do you think I speak this
strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular
applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being Christ's slave.
Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to
you is not mere human optimism. I didn't receive it through the traditions, and
I wasn't taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the
Message directly from Jesus Christ.
So they do not realize that they have turned down life
in favor of the curse. And all who teach such are under the curse of God. But
the problem is that they do not even fear God anymore, that is how mentally
disturbed they have become.
In Luke 6: 39 Jesus
said, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not
both fall into the ditch?
Now that’s an excellent question. But I think if you
look around today you will find the great majority of Message churches where
the people are blind and they are following blind leaders of the blind. As I have said before I will say for the
record tonight, I doubt that 90% of Message preachers are even born again.
I was just in South Africa last week after finishing
our meetings in both Congo’s and Zimbabwe, and on Wednesday night to be in
church I attended one of the largest Message churches in South Africa, and I
was shocked when I heard them sing, and saw the words with my own eyes up on
the big screen say the following; “Behold, Elijah’s
God is in our hearts today, behold He’s here to do just what we will and say.”
And I could not help to think how deluded people in
this Message have become. That is exactly opposite from what God tells us in
His word. He says, that God works in us to will and to do what He says, not
visa verse. They must believe that they are in charge and God is just some sort
of servant to them? They actually teach that the Holy Spirit as comforter is no
longer in that office because they don’t understand the Godhead correctly and therefore they do not know who actually
came down in this hour. So don’t tell me that understanding the Godhead is not
important? If you do not have the doctrine of Christ correctly you do not have
God, and it is very apparent what happens to them who do not have the Holy
Ghost. For without the Holy Ghost there is no way they can understand the
And to make things worse they actually believe that
the fullness of the Godhead is in the Bride. And they believe that Christ is no
longer making intercession for our confession because they do not understand
who is has come down. And on all counts they are false, false, false, and have
fallen into a very degenerate Gospel. And where do they get that junk from?
False preachers, cursed preachers as the Apostle Paul called them. And why do
the people not protest? Because they love it.
Jeremiah 5: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?
Hosea 4: 9 And there shall be, like
people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them
their doings.
And the preachers are just giving them what they want
to hear? And what is it that they want to hear? They want to hear all about how
they have become God because they love hearing that the fullness of the Godhead
is now in them. And what has it produced in them? A people who know not the
fear of God. God is not in all there thoughts. And they have turned down the
truth and will be damned by it.
Lucifer could have not prepared a better deception
than to get the people to believe that they are God. After all did not he try
to do the same and was kicked out of heaven for it? Then how could these people
think they will be welcomed in heaven when they have done no different than
Lucifer did in the beginning. These are a deceived people, horribly taught, horribly
deceived.
Now, after Jesus says in Luke 6: 39 Can the
blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
We then see Jesus say in verse 40 The
disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his
master. Now, this word perfect comes from a Greek word that does not
mean perfect as though you have reached some sort of a perfect state where you
make no error. But the word simply means to equip.
Therefore we should read this statement that Jesus is
making here as thus: Luke 6:40 The disciple is not
above his master: but every one that is equipped by His master shall be as his
master. And why is that?
Because it really does matter what teacher teaches you. If you sit under a
false teacher, you will hear false teaching, and thus your mind will be filled
with error.
As the Apostle Paul said in ROMANS 10:13-17 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. 14 How then shall they call on
him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be
sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel
of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So
then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Martin Luther in his comments on these verses said,
"Even though they say they hear, they boast in vain, unless they hear true
preachers; for to hear false prophets means as much as not to hear. They hear
and they do not hear. They have ears, but do not hear, nor do they preach The
True Word of God. There are four statements
which follow one another is such as way that one leads to the other, but so
that the last forms the foundation on which the others rest. Thus, 1. It is
impossible that those preach who are not sent. 2. It is impossible that those hear who are without a preacher. 3.
It is impossible that they believe who do not hear. 4. It is impossible that
they call upon Him who do not believe. To these must be added a fifth, it is
impossible that they who do not call upon the name of the lord shall be saved.
So, then, the entire source and origin of salvation rests on this, that God
sends out someone, (a true minister of the Word). If He does not send out any,
then they who preach preach falsely, and
their preaching is no preaching at all. In fact, it would be better for them
not to preach. Then also, they who hear, hear error, and it would be better for
them not to hear. Then also they who believe, would believe false doctrine, and
it would be better for them not to call. For such preachers, do not preach;
such hearers do not hear; such believers do not believe; such callers do not
call; they will be damned because they would be saved by falsehood. As we read
in Proverbs 1:28 "Then shall they call upon me, but I
will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that
they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord". Then
only they can preach with certainty who preach without error."
Now, we know what Paul said in Romans 10, and we know what he said
in 2 Corinthians
11, and again in the book of Galatians, that if they receive a wrong word, then
they will receive a wrong spirit. How
then can we think that anyone who sits under a wrong ministry and has a wrong
conception of the message has the right spirit, which is the Holy Spirit? A wrong conception is a wrong quickening to
life. Conception means to quicken to life.
We know Peter said, in 1 Peter 1:23
that "we are born again, not by a corruptible
seed, but by an incorruptible seed, by the Word of God which Lives and Abides
forever." Jesus told us that the Sower sowed a seed which is
the Word of God. And that seed will produce a life according to the law of
reproduction, which states, "Ever seed must
bring forth after it's own nature."
Then to receive a wrong Word is to receive a wrong
seed, and therefore must produce a wrong spirit or a wrong life. How can it be
any other way. Did you know that brother
Branham said we must have a right teaching in order to receive the baptism of
the Holy Spirit?, to receive the Seal of God? And if you don't receive the seal
of God there is only one seal left and that is the seal of satan, which is the
mark of the beast.
Now notice that Jesus has been speaking about not
following blindly, because you could be following someone who is as blind as
you are. And then he tells us that if your teacher has rightfully equipped you,
then you will become as that teacher. In other words, you will think like him,
and speak like him, and act like him. Now that is not to say that you are to
look at the flesh, but we are guided by one thing and that is the Word of God.
Jesus said, “The son can do nothing but what He seeth the Father do, that
doeth the Son likewise. Then the
son will do and act and speak and think as the Father thinks and speaks and
acts. Now, let’s face it, the Holy
Ghost is the teacher, and if a man is yielded to the Spirit of God and called
to teach this Word then he will do as the Father has shown him to do, and the
people that look to that ministry will reflect the same principles and will
become in a fashion as the lord is to the disciple. 40 The disciple is not
above his master: but every one that is equipped by His master shall be as his
master.
Now, catch what Jesus says here next. Luke 6:41 And why beholdest
thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is
in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me
pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of
thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in
thy brother's eye.
Now, if you have become one with your teacher, how is
it that you are looking for fault in that teacher. It makes no sense to me, but
they did it to Moses. He led them by following Christ and they followed Him as
he followed Christ. And yet they wanted to stone him. And Paul said, Follow me
as I follow Christ and yet they wanted to stone Him. And the same with William
Branham and I have seen it with Brother Vayle and even with my own ministry. So
we see Jesus warning the disciple about getting his focus wrong.
Now notice the very next thing Jesus tells us here. 43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt
fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is
known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble
bush gather they grapes. And we know that in the message “Anointed
Ones at the end Time”, William Branham taught us that the fruit is the teaching
for the season., what they are teaching for the season. In other words, the fruit is what they are
teaching. The fruit of their ministry. And
he tells us that if you are a good tree, then you can not teach error. Your teaching
will be right smack on target. For the word sin means to miss the mark. But the
word righteous means to be rightly wise. And how could you be a righteous man
if you are un-right in our thinking.
45
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
good; (now remember the heart
represents the understanding,) and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth
speaketh.
Now in the light of what Jesus is saying here he is
saying if your understanding is good you will bring forth good things, and if
your understanding is evil then you will bring forth evil things. If you
recall, Several years ago I preached a series on the garden of your mind and
showed that the mind is a garden, and in it are planted many seeds, and the
seed that are planted in your mind are those things that become manifested in
your life. Therefore whatsoever you sow, you will surely reap. And therefore
what things you are feeding your mind
will become manifest in your life. Now, this is the end time and people must
manifest what seed they are. And we know that whatsoever doth make manifest is
manifested by the light. That’s Ephesians 5;13. So then, we must understanding
that all seeds here on earth must come to a manifestation of what they are and
the nature of the seed that they are will manifest itself openly once that
Light strike the seed.
And so Jesus continues as we read from verse 46 And why call ye
me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? And how can you
say you believe this message if you are not living it? How can you say you have
believe that token if you do not apply it in your life?
Now, we are going to get to the heart of this parable,
as we pick up at verse 47. Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth
them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an
house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: (now
remember that a rock represent revelation, so this man built his house upon
revelation) and
when the flood arose, (And remember the Bible tells us that the
devil will come in like a flood) the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not
shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49
But he that heareth, and doeth
not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth;
against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the
ruin of that house was great. Now, notice that the only difference
is that one heard and did what he heard and the other also heard but did not do
what he heard. Thus the revelation that the one had was to do and the
revelation of the other was that he did not have to do.
Look, what saved Noah and his household? His believing
God that it was going to rain? Or His actions which came as a result of his
believing God? In other words, his doing what God had instructed him to do and
that was to build the ark. And we have
been commanded to apply the token, and I just do not understand how people can
think that that means to simply believe it. If I told you to apply the paint
you would find a roller or a paint brush and something to open the can if you
are going to apply it. And brother Branham said we must apply it.
THE
TOKEN 63-0901M 34-9 You should love one another. Believers should
separate themselves from the world. Don't
just take it now, lightly. And then, you people that's listening to this on
tape, you women, you men, you listen a minute. If you ever believed me, you believe
it now. It's time to quit fussing with one another. Believe the message of the
Bible. Believe Jesus Christ; and love, and honor, and respect one another. Men
respect your wives; you respect your home. Bring your home together, because,
you remember, this Lamb was for the home, not just one. The whole home too had
to be brought; everything had to be brought in. We should love each other, and
believers should separate themselves from the world.
35-3
Notice, they were not just yet
come together to talk about the message. They come together to apply the blood,
to apply the token. That's what you
must do. Pastor Neville, and to this
congregation, trustees, deacons, to you brethren, it's time that we laid aside all the foolishness of the world, time
we laid aside everything else. We've seen enough now, that we're positive,
sure, and the Token must be applied. Without it, you're going to perish; you
must perish. That is the only thing. Oh, don't come together, say, "I
believe it." Get beneath it. Get into it. How to do it? By one Spirit
we're baptized into the Body of Jesus Christ. Everybody believe with all your
heart. See? He was not responsible for any out from beneath it.
We find this same parable in Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house
upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock. Now, if we want to apply the symbols in this parable we must
know what they mean first to understand what this is all about.
Now, he said the rain would descend, and we know
according to Deuteronomy 32: 2 God said his Doctrine would fall as the rain. So
we see here that the rain must come before the floods. Now, we know that satan comes in like a
flood, but we also know that a flood
represents judgment by the Word, as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be
when the Son of Man is Revealed. And as the doctrine begins to pour forth upon
the face of the earth, then the judgments that the doctrine bring with it begin
to take apart every house that is not founded in the rock which is revelation.
You see the flood is the waters of separation, and we know the waters of separation
is the Word itself. Notice the rains come first, then the flood which is the
waters of separation which will take away any house that has not been build
upon a rock which Is Revelation. And not just any revelation will do for Christ
is that Rock. And therefore there is one Faith or one Revelation and that is
the revelation of Jesus Christ. And building your house upon that rock which is
Christ will weather any storms that will come.
So he says the rains will come, that’s the doctrine,
and then the floods will rise which is the waters of separation that will come
as a result of that word, and then the winds will blow, which speaks of every wind of doctrine, and cunning
craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
And will beat upon that house, and if it was not founded upon the Rock
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, then
it will not last.
If you just come to church because you know you
should, watch out? The rain is falling, and the next thing will come is the
waters of separation! Then you will find out where your home was built upon. As
I pointed out Wednesday night, that If you have receive the revelation of Jesus
Christ you will be tested to see whether you have it or not. That’s the trial
of your faith, which is the trial of your revelation.
26
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall
of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Now the King James version uses the word astonished
here but the word astonished is not a good translation of the word ekplesso
that Jesus used here, because it gives you a wrong idea of what was taking
place. The Greek word used here is ekplesso and it means to strike out, to
expel by a blow, to drive out or away; to cast off by a blow, or to drive out.
In others words, they didn’t want His doctrine.
They wanted to expel him to get him to go away, for his doctrine was too
hard for them to hear. And they didn’t want it. Why? Because they all liked to talk
about the Lord and to talk about the Word but he said with their mouth they
draw near but in actuality their hearts were far from God.
From ISAIAH 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near
me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their
heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
And that is what Jesus quoted to them in MATTHEW 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well
did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with
their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from
me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men.
JEHOVAH
JIREH PT 1 62-0705 23
See, you can't go by emotions. See, your
life that you live testifies what you are. See? No matter what kind of a
sensation, you cannot base Christianity on any sensation. It's a life. Jesus said, "By their fruit you shall know
them." Not by their profession, not by what they say. And
Jesus also said, "You draw nigh unto Me with your lips, but
your heart is far from Me." That's their profession. See, your
life tells what. And if a man says that he believes God, and denies one Word of
this Bible, or changes It in any way, why it's got to be wrong.
Luke
6:47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom
he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid
the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently
upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a
foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat
vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Luke
21: 34-36 <read> NIV 34 "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with (1) dissipation, (2)drunkenness and (3) the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all
those who live on the face of the whole earth.36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able
to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before
the Son of
Now, let’s stop here
for a moment to see just exactly what this means. He told us to be careful
about three things that could weigh and close in on us like a trap.
Dissipation:
which means Wasteful expenditure or consumption. 3. Dissolute indulgence
in sensual pleasure; intemperance. 4. An amusement; a diversion. So we
are warned to be careful not to become too weighed down by these things which
are rampant in our society today. That’s
Drunkeness:
which implies a losing of ones ability to rightly reason. And to be resolute in
our minds.
Anxieties of
this Life: And we are told by Jesus
to be anxious for nothing. You see, God is not pushy, and he does not want us
to get pushy about anything. He said we need to lay in the presence of the Son
to ripen. Not run, run, run, but lay in
His presence until we get mellow in our spirit and ripe in our soul.
Now, this scripture tells us that if we are not
focused on Christ when that day comes, we are going to miss Him, and yet these
three things are what the entire world are focused on and they have missed Him
altogether. Notice he said, if you are
caught up in these things, that day will close on you unexpectedly
like a trap. 35 For it
will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.36 Be always on the watch,
and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that
you may be able to stand before the Son of
So we are looking at the condition at the end time,
and we know that we must be focused. If the eye be single, that means focused,
then the body is full of light.
AMOS
8:11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD,
that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for
water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And
they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they
shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find [it].
Now, in the Book of Romans, chapter 7 and from verse 7
through the rest of this chapter Paul deals with the Struggle of sin which is
unbelief. Now, in verse 6 Paul speaks to us about living in a newness of the
Spirit. He said, But
now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit,
and not [in] the oldness of the letter. And brother Branham in
speaking of the Shunamite woman, he said, When she was willing to give what she had in support of the
Word, God fed her. And if you're willing to give what Spirit you do have, what
Spirit that God's give you to support of the Word, then God will keep you
alive.
Now, I do not believe for one minute that God is
taking a count of whether you are naughty or nice. He does not look upon your
mistakes, and believe me we are all capable of making a lot of them. God looks upon your heart and your attitude
towards His Word. The support we give to this Word is what God looks at,
because that support is a reflector of our heart and shows what spirit
motivates our life.
Romans 7:7-25 (NIV)
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not!
Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would
not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not
covet." 8 But sin,
seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind
of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the
commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10
I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually
brought death.
Now, that is a tremendous
statement Paul made there. I want to read it again and I want you to think
about what he is saying here.
The
Now, in understanding the two natures that dwell
within, we must first understand that although we have two natures, we do not
have two souls. What Paul is speaking of
here is the nature of the Spirit or soul, verse the nature of your flesh. It is you flesh that was sown in sin, and
came forth to the world speaking lies, but not your Soul. That is the Life that
God breathed into you. Now, I realize that the Scripture tells us the soul that
sinneth, that soul shall die. And this is true. But that speaks of the life
that sins that life is what must die. And here Paul is telling us that we have
two natures warring within us. The nature of God by the Spirit and the nature
of the flesh by the natural act of procreation. Now the miracle of the whole
thing is that God could bring together the two to make one vessel.
From Q & A August 30,
1964 brother Branham said, you can't be in two bodies at one time, but
there can be two natures in you at one time. Now, the nature of the Spirit of
the Lord... When you're borned again, you're not borned of physical, like the
baby was; but what's happened, the spiritual birth has come to you. And while
this spiritual birth is growing into your heart, of God, there is a physical or
a celestial body growing to receive that spirit. And when the life leaves this
body, it goes to that body. Just as when the body is presented to the earth,
the spirit comes in, and when the spirit goes out of the body, there is a body
waiting. "For we know that after this earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we
have one already waiting." See? That's it, the spiritual body of the
people.
Communion
December 12, 1965 I
was born of Charles and Ella Branham. In their nature I was a sinner; I came to
the world, a liar, and all the habits of the world laid right in me. But down
in there too, was another nature present (See?), predestinated, was in there by
God. In this same body (See?) two natures in there. Well, I only catered to
one. As it growed, I gooed as a baby, "Da-da." First thing you know,
I become a liar, become everything else that's a sinner, because I raised up
that way. But down in there was a little speck of Life all the time.
EXPERIENCES 47-1221Are
you two people in one? You're soul... Your soul, that's the nature of the
spirit 'course. But now, you're body and spirit. Is that right? You are a body,
flesh, and you're inside, then, spirit. Is that true? All right.
CRUELTY
OF SIN 53-0403 55
020 Made him out of the dust of
the earth, now, not in His Own image. He had already made the man. Then He
breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul. So the soul of man is the nature of the
spirit. Now, when you're reborn, you
don't get a new spirit. You get a new nature of that spirit. It's the same
spirit, but a new nature of it. You take two men, stand them together, both
look alike; and one of them is a sinner, and one of them is a Christian. One
man say, "I got a spirit the same as you have." See? But one of them
is a different, his soul, his nature's different. He's been changed.
WORD
BECAME FLESH 54-1003M 083
We are a threefold being: soul, body, spirit. We know that what this
flesh is; we realize that; it's here. We know what the spirit is; it controls
the flesh. But what is the soul? The soul is the nature of the spirit.
Now, where some have gone off in looking at
what Brother Branham is telling us here is they teach that since the soul is
the nature of the spirit, and since we are born with one nature, and then when
we are born again we receive another nature, then it must be that we have two
souls. The first soul is the one we are born with, and the scripture tells us
that “the soul that sinneth, that soul
shall surely die.” But what they
don’t quote you is the next verse of that Scripture which says, “But,
if that soul shall repent, it shall surely live.”
Ezekiel
18:20 The soul that sinneth, it
shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the
father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall
be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21
¶ But if the wicked will turn from all
his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is
lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he hath
committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he
hath done he shall live.
THIRSTING
FOR LIFE 58-0611 A soul is the nature of the spirit. And
when a man is converted, he doesn't get another spirit. He gets a spirit
change, a conversion means to change his thinking, change his way of living and
so forth.
Therefore, in getting back to what Paul is telling us,
as long as we are living in the body of this death, we will have a struggle
with this body to bring it into submission to God’s Word. Because, the body was
created from the wrong seed or the wrong desire. Therefore it will always
manifest wrong desire. But when our Soul is quickened to Life it will seek
first the
EPHESIANS
2:1 ¶ And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature
the children of wrath, even as others. 4¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, 5Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye
are saved;) 6 And hath raised [us] up
together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: 7
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in
[his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is]
the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man
should boast. 10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Martin Luther in His Preface to the Book of Romans said,
“God judges
according to what is at the bottom of the heart, and for this reason, His law
makes its demands on the inmost heart and cannot be satisfied with works, but
rather punishes works that are done otherwise than from the bottom of the
heart, as hypocrisy and lies. … “The law is spiritual,” For if the law were made for the body, it
could be satisfied with works; but since it is spiritual, no one can satisfy
it, unless all that you do is done from the bottom of the heart. But such a
heart is given only by God’s Spirit, who makes a man equal to the law, so that
he acquires a desire for the law in his heart, and henceforth does nothing out
of fear and compulsion, but everything
out of a willing heart. That law then is spiritual which will be loved and
fulfilled with such a spiritual heart, and requires such a spirit. Where that
spirit is not in the heart, there sin remains, and displeasure with the law,
and enmity toward it, though the law is good and jut and holy.
Sin,
in the scripture, means not only the outward works of the body, but all the
activities that move men to outward
works, namely the inmost heart, with all its powers. Faith
on the other hand is a living, daring confidence in God’s Grace, so sure
and certain that a man would stake his life on it a thousand times. Faith is not that human notion and
dream that some hold for faith. Faith, however, is a divine work in us. It
changes us and makes altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and
powers, and it brings with it the Holy Ghost.
Ezekiel
36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your
flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Impersonation
of Christianity 57-0120M So
God had to give you a new heart, not a patched up one, a new heart. That's your intellects that you think with, a new way of
thinking. 043
Then He said after that, "Then I'll give you a new spirit." What's that? A new desire, "I want to
do right."
E-6 Looking At The Unseen 59-0410 About
four years ago up in Chicago, I was reading a great headline in a paper where
that the medical science had found a little compartment in the heart of a human
being that did not even have a cell in it. It was not found in the animal life;
it was only found in the human body, the human heart. And they said, "It must been the dwelling place of the
soul." So then man does think with his heart. You look with your eyes, but
you understand with your heart.
Therefore, if you heart is right with God you will
want to have the right thinking which are His thoughts, and if He has given you
a new spirit, then you will have a desire to think His thoughts. And not until
your desire changes can He place His Holy Spirit which comes to you in the form
of His Holy word in you. Jesus said, “My Words are Spirit and they are Life.” Therefore,
God would not place His Holy Word in a vessel that had not the right
understanding nor the right desire to have the right understanding. That is why
I have said all along that the only thing the Five-fold ministry can do for you
is to teach you the doctrine that God might anoint it to your heart, and bring
forth the life of His Word abiding in your life.