Spoken Word no. 198
“Which Power?”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
October 31st, 2010
Matthew
7:15 Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even
so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.21 Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the
will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 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.
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.
Let’s bow our heads in prayer,
Dear Father we see in this Scripture that there was a
question in the hearts of some because they claimed to be followers of Your Son
Jesus, but he said they claim to cast out devils and all sorts of miraculous
things yet they are cast away. Help us to understand the day and hour we live
in when it seems there are so many who claim the power and yet deny thy word.
For we ask these things in Jesus Christ’s name.
Now, this morning we are going to examine a subject
that many are wondering about, because it seems that so many denominational
churches have more manifestation of the spirit among them than the genuine
Bride churches do. So this morning we will examine this beginning at paragraph
73 and reading onto paragraph 75.
73
She left Jesus, her Word Husband to marry a pope, so she can't give birth,
spiritual birth; she can give denominational birth now; she's got plenty seed
of that. She can't give spiritual birth, because she was a harlot. Only thing she can give is denominational
life and a lot of ballyhoo. The Catholic church itself is made upon a few
superstitions of Christianity and a bunch of Romanism, and the Pentecostal
church is just as bad: a bunch of
jumping and shouting and speaking in tongues and things like that. When it comes down: enough temper to fight
a buzz saw and turn you out of their congregation. If God come in there and raised the dead, if you didn't agree with
them, they'd run you out, if you don't belong to their organization.
74
Now, this old mother harlot (I'm going back to her a minute), she claims power to forgive sins, but you're not judged by your claims; you're not known by your claims. You're
known by your works. How could she forgive sin? Look at her. When Jesus did
the same thing, they... Said, "Condemn Me; show Me where I disbelieve the
Word." She claims power to forgive
sins, but that comes only by the Word. That's right. God only can forgive
sins. Is that right? Didn't those Pharisees say that? What was the matter with
the blind bunch of hypocrites. Why? Because they didn't see that was the Word standing with them. He is the
Word. Glory to God. That's the reason He
could forgive sins. He was God. He was the Word manifested.
75
Now, the Catholic church says Jesus gave
them power. He did. He give the
church power. That's right. We believe that. All her daughters are harlots.
All her daughters, her denominational daughters, are harlots. "Brother
Branham, that is a big word." Now, that ain't my word; that's His Word.
That's exactly. It's not mine; it's His.
All right, how? You say, "How are they? How do they become harlots? Why, they're good people.
So-and-so..." I don't say a thing about that. I'm not saying what they
are. I ain't saying the Catholics not good people, as good as anybody. They're
human beings like we are. But when it comes to that old church, she's wrong.
The Protestant's just as good... The Methodists as good as the Baptists, or
Pentecostals, or anybody else. They're all the same.
76
But the thing of it is, how then can she
be a harlot? Why? Give her the Word test. That's how you know it. Uh-huh.
Try her on the Word once and see what she says. "Oh, of course, we're
taught in the seminary that them days... Oh, it used to be that way, but
(ha-ha) that was way back in the days of the apostles. That was only for the
apostles only." You so-called
Now,
I received an email over the weekend from a brother in
Dear
Pastor,
We are very happy the way you replied and still we wait ne
booklet.
But I would like you to explain me also about the Power of the
Holy Ghost as promised by the apostle Peter in the book of the Acts and Joel .I
want to know more about . Cause in the field we seem not see God in
action the way he moved in the end time messenger Brother Branham ; and
the way he is still moving we TL Osborn and Billy Graham.
Dear Pastor I am seeking for God but the Pentecostal group we see here are
growing too easily in number and they seem also keeping the leadership in
Christianity thought the are Oneness. I am to much confused about the way
we sometime we notice that God is blessing them to much in Wonders and
Miracles.
Pastor
what did the prophet tell about the Power
of God ?We believe the ministry of the son
of man Luc 17 :30 has already gone away with the Holy Prophet of God
.But if truly speaking The Alfa is now the Omega but why is there this
quietness among us, (no wonders and
moving of God) among us ? I hope that you will have a short time to answer
me and why not pry for us in
Sincerely yours brother
So
you see there is much confusion out there because it seems that we do not see
God manifesting Himself among the elect while he seems to be very present among
the Pentecostals who have discarded His very Word for this Hour.
Now, to understand our brothers question, we need to
review what Brother Branham said in his sermon, “False Anointed Ones at the End Time”.
We know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust as was prophesied by
Jesus Himself. Hebrews 6:4 tells
us, For it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,5 And
have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,6 If
they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify
to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.7 For
the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth
forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is
rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
And in Matthew 24:24 we are warned that there will
be a genuine anointing fall upon men who teach falsely. For
there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs
and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect.
And remember in Matthew 7:22 Jesus said, Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out
devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. So the real thing is not whether we have
manifestations of miracles and healing among us, because that genuine rain is
falling as prophesied by the prophet Joel upon ALL Flesh. But this is the hour
that the elect are to come into total obedience to the Word of God and to be
transformed from Image to Image and from Glory to Glory. To be transformed by
the renewing of their mind.
Then Jesus adds in verse 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:
Now, remember that Rock is revelation.
Matthew
16:13 When
Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And
they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others,
Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto
them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon
Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say
also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.
Now, Jesus is not saying he will build His church upon
a man, peter, because if so that man fell three times and denied him, so what
kind of rock would that be? But upon the Rock of revelation that He is the
Christ, the Son of God. The same confession that so many had that received a
reward for having that same confession.
Remember Martha when her brother Lazarus had died, she
said to Jesus when he came, “If Thou would have been here my brother would not
have died, but even now whatsoever You are capable of raising him from the
dead, because I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God.
Now, you all remember we preached 45 sermons on the
benefits we receive by understanding and confessing that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. And in the Book of Ephesians chapter 4 concerning the True Five
fold ministry we are taught that in their teach the understanding and knowledge
of the Son of God it will bring people to The Faith, the Same Faith he had and
will build up the church to the place of maturity.
Now, in getting back to Matthew 16 and verse 19 And
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 20 Then
charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. 21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew
unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things
of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again
the third day. 22 Then Peter took him, and began
to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee
behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Now, just a few minutes earlier he said you are
blessed, Peter, and and upon this rock of revelation you have received I will
build my church, and now just a few minutes later because peter shoots off his
mouth with his own thoughts and not God’s thoughts, Jesus tells him, that
wasn’t from God that was from the devil.
24 Then
said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save
his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find
it. 26 For what
is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For
the Son of man shall come in the glory (in
the doxa, in the opinion and values and judgments) of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his
works. 28 Verily I say unto you, There be some
standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man
coming in his kingdom.
Now, if every man will be rewarded according to his
works, then what if your works are not accepted by God, like Cain’s works were
not acceptable to God, then what? Well you will still get a reward, but what
kind of reward. So you see as the Scripture tells us life is in the tongue and
so is death, so it depends on what reward you are sowing or planting.
Now, back to our Scripture, Matthew 7:25 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.
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.
So
in order to understand the question our brother has we must first understand
what power is the important power we should be seeking in this hour.
We
need to understand the difference between miracle working power and the Power
of an endless life and the Power to be conformed to the image of the first born
son, and the Power to become sons.
Now, we know this is the hour that " ALPHA has become
OMEGA."
Luke 24:
49 And, behold, I send the
promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of
Jesus told them to
wait for this power yet so many run, run, run and try to produce miracles, and
claim they have miracles and yet when I look into many of these claims, they
are made up and are ever so false.
They pray in Jesus
name, and it seems they get results and yet they lie, cheat, steal, and if you
know them by their fruits, then why do they get some results, and why do we not
see the same amongst the Message believers.
Well, first let me say,
I see the results in every country we go to. Now, I am not talking on the level
of William Branham, vindicated prophet of God, because that was Malachi 3 where
God comes with healing in His wings. But we see Mark 16 at work.
Now, the problem is
that the Pentecostals are trying to produce John 14:12 and that is not for
them. And many of these men out there if you look at their life you ask
yourself like this brother, why do they get results when we struggle so.
Well, you get what you
preach for. What you sow is what you shall reap. However this is not the hour
for sowing for miracles, not that we should not expect them, but those things
in the ministry of William Branham were not the man, those things were
sovereignly given. Even Jesus said he could not do anything but what the father
showed him first by vision to do, then he just stepped into that vision, and
then that vision became manifested in flesh, His flesh.
Now, Jesus spoke on the
Power that was to come from on high. So then where is the power from on High.
We have witnessed the power even as the apostles had in their own day in the
ministry of Jesus while in the body of flesh. But the promise was that they
were to tarry until that same power came back into them. Now, I'm not looking
for miracle working power because what would it be for. The people rejected
both Jesus and brother Branham's ministry with it, so what god would it do for
you and I. But what I'm looking for is that same power to come in and finish
the job that believing the promise has started. Now why did Jesus say that they
would receive power from on high. Why from on High.
What does "on
high mean?" EPHESIANS 4: 8 - 10 8 Wherefore he saith,
When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he
also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above
all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Notice that He
ascended up on high that He might fill all things. Why would He go up if He was
to fill all things? It said He that ascended is also He that descended. And the
Power had to come from "on high."
Now, in these closing
words of this Great Epistle spoken from the lips, heart and mind of the Apostle
Paul, he begins by saying, Now to him that is of power
to stablish you…I love these words for without God we are
nothing. Without the Blood of Jesus Christ we are but as the rest of the World,
lost in sin, hopeless in a wicked and chaotic world that is falling apart. But
we have hope that others do not share. We hop in our Lord Jesus Christ, and
that God is a God of His Word. And this is what Paul is telling us here. He
says, Now to him that is of power
(that is dunamai which is miracle working power, it also means He has the
authority to execute that power, and it also means he has the Will to bring
that power upon whomsoever He wills).
And so in Closing,
Paul says, Now to Him that is of power (To
HIM who is of such a nature that He is all powerful, and able, and willing) to
stablish you… and the Greek word that stablish was translated from is sterizo
stay-rid'-zo and actually means: To make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix:
to set one's face steadfastly, keep the face turned, to strengthen, make firm;
to render constant, confirm, one's mind. So Paul is talking about God
having the ability to make your mind firm and stabilized, constant and
strengthened. It is the mind that we have so much trouble with, and it is the
mind that we have these assuring words
that God will do this strengthening of our mind for us.
So we are looking at a
more important power for the believer and that is the power of an endless life.
A power or authority to become what we are ordained to become, sons of the
living God.
John 1:12 But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
JOHN
1:12 But as many as received him, (The Greek word for received here is Lambano and it
means to have experienced, or to have taken to one's self. And it is these that
truly experienced Him, they are the one's He says,) to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name: So these are believers,
predestined from the beginning to believe and receive Him. And He is the Word.
They Believe His word, and they believe in His Name. And to them He gives power to become sons…
Now the word power used here, is not the Greek word dunamis, which speaks of
great miraculous power, but rather the Greek word "exousia", which
means the power of choice, or the power to make a right decision.
And the word to become
was translated from the Greek word Ginomai and it means to generate, or to come
forth into manifestation. Therefore, to them that experience Him and openly
receive Him, to them are given an ability to make a right decision and to become
what they were meant to be in the beginning.
Paul said in, Galatians 4: 6 And because ye are sons, God hath
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
And John said in 1 John 3: 1-2 1 Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.2 Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is.3 And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Now, this evening for our communion service we will
look at this power to transform us to what we are ordained to become. The power
of transformation verses the power to heal.
Let’s bow our heads in prayer.