Spoken Word no. 199
“Power to Conform and Transform”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
October 31st, 2010
This morning we spoke on paragraphs 75 where brother
Branham said He give the church power, but
then we examined which power is it that she should be focused on in this hour.
As we have mentioned before, John 14:12 speaks of a ministry of one person when it says “he that
believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also.” Notice it is he, which
is singular and from the Super Sign, brother Branham after quoting from John
14:12 said, “now you all can’t be that one. There was only one Moses, and One
Paul and One Jesus, but you can become a part of that by believing what they
brought. In fact they would not have had a ministry unless there were someone
to believe what they taught.
Now, if you listen carefully to this quote from brother Branham’s sermon, Super sign 63-1129 in P: 69…you hear him quote John 14:12 "The works that I do..." If His Life is in you, it'll manifest Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now, it is here that they stop and say, see. We can manifest John 14:12,
but listen to what he says next in paragraph 70.
70 Now,
you all can't be that one, but you can be a part of that with your faith.
All of them couldn't be a Jesus,
when they was on earth, but they could
believe Him and accept the message. There was one Moses, one
Elijah, one Noah, on down,
always been that, but the rest of them
could accept it. And they would've
had no ministry unless there'd been somebody believe it. Jesus would've had no ministry 'less
somebody believed it. Paul
would've had no ministry 'less somebody believed it. The Holy Ghost has got no ministry by
the Word today unless somebody's willing to get away from their creed and come
back to the Word again, no matter how well it's here and how real it's
here. It's here now. I know it's
here. I feel it. I know it's here. The Word says it's here. "Wherever
two or three are gathered in My Name, I'm in the midst of them."
And I truly believe that He's here, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
So we see that John 14:12
as far as the works goes concerns one person for each age and that is the
messenger to that age. But they would not have had a ministry unless there were
a people to receive what they taught. He even said the Holy Ghost Himself who
is here right now, would not have a ministry if there were no one to accept it.
So the works is one thing, but the ministry is another aspect that we must
understand. It takes the speaker and the hearers in order to have a ministry. A
man without a congregation to hear has no ministry.
Now in paragraph 74 brother
Branham said concerning the mother harlot church, “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.”
Now,
in getting back to John 14:12, the one thing I believe that are missing and even those
some of those who claim it only for William Branham is that those works were
sovereignly given.
Now, in Questions and Answers Conduct Order
and Doctrine 64-0823M P:86 someone asked brother Branham the
question, 248... this the third pull and is speaking the Word. It seems entirely possible for you to speak
the word and one would be completely and fully restored, placed entirely ready
for the rapture in the resurrection, the Son of man. Is this so, or is it not? And you would do this if properly pressed
upon. Would you not? "Escape all these things (it's got a ditto there) Escape
all these things and stand before the Son of man"? (Luke
21:36)
Now, that is the
question that was on some bodies mind. But I want you to listen to the answer
brother Branham gives. Now, listen carefully to what he says in his
answer.
Now, my dear friend. See? Now, I think here
that you got a good statement. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Now, that would be so. You
said, "Brother Branham..." In other words, here's what I'm... I don't
think that it's... Not polishing up what you said, but I believe I can make it
a little clearer to people. See? You are
believing, because of the Spoken Words and things like that that He said about.
And all of you here witnessed the squirrels and all these other things that's
been done. But did you notice,
that was Sovereignly given. I
never asked Him, "Lord, let me do
this, speak these things in like that, do these things there." I never asked Him that. He by His own Divine will came to me and
said, "You go do this." See?
I wasn't asking one thing about it. Moses never asked to go down in
So you see this is where the Pentecostal mindset in our midst who are
looking for John 14:12 to be manifest among the bride are getting it wrong,
because they are looking at the works. But
here is the thing, some of the brethren who are standing with us that St. John 14:12 is totally brother Branham’s
ministry are also missing the fact that it isn’t William Branham it is a
sovereign God dealing with the man, but the man has really nothing to do with
it himself either, except that he is an obedient son who sees the father work
and he works hitherto. So it all comes down to sovereignty. Because an son of
God conformed to the image of the first born son will realize that isn’t he
that willeth or he that runneth, but God that shows mercy. And that is the
attitude that needs to be in each son and daughter of God. And you can’t run
with something you are not ordained for, you must step into what God has
ordained your role to be, and that only.
From the Message of Grace 61-0827 P:105 Brother
Branham said, Then there's a prophet. Now, there, now you come into an office. Them
gifts, they are, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues, and
knowledge, and wisdom, and discernments, and so forth. Those are all gifts. But
then there's five offices. First is apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists,
and pastors. That's ordained offices of
God. Men hold them. See? They
are not, … You can't wish for them; you can't pray for them; they're sovereignly given; you're
born. A prophet is not a prophet if
somebody lays hands on him and makes him a prophet. A prophet's born from his mother's womb as a prophet. See? That's
why he's always a prophet. See?
So this is the point I
wish to make concerning John 14:12. and that is the attitude of the one
who believes must be the same as the Son of God, because if you think you can
pray for this or wish for this you are totally missing the picture. But the
thing of it is, is that you can be a part of it by receiving that ministry. And
you can have the same attitude and mindset of the one who actually is called to
do the works.
Now, listen, brother
Vayle is a teacher sent by God, and what identified him as a teacher sent by
God was not his ability to teach, nor his use of big words. No, that is all
carnal to think that way. What Identified him to be a teacher sent by God is
that he was able to die to his own thinking and say what the prophet said, teach
what the prophet taught, and not add to or take from what was taught.
The same with the
office of an Apostle. That means one who is sent. So if one is sent and he
teaches only what has been taught and deviates not from what was taught then
that identifies that person as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we are
looking at a harmony with the very mind and will of God.
Now, we know in Romans 8: 29 For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? That
means he renders us glorious, or renders or makes it possible for us to express
the same opinion, values, and judgments of God. He does it not you.
When Paul says we are
ordained to be conformed to the image of the firstborn son in a vast family of
brothers, he used the Greek word summorphos to describe this process
of being conformed and the word summorphos means jointly formed. Or
similarity formed, or fashioned like unto. So there has to be more than one
involved here for this to happen.
Just as brother
Branham said the way we are a part of John 14:12 is that there is one who is
acting out that role or that work, and there are those who are accepting and
receiving what is being projected through that role. That then becomes a joint
ministry. As I mentioned earlier in this Message that to have a ministry it
takes more than just someone who feels a calling. It takes one who ministers
and one or ones whom are ministered unto. You can not have a Father without
having a son or daughter, and you can not have a word expressed without first
having a Word that had been thought.
As
The word summorphos
is made up from two Greek words, sum and morphos. The word sum being
a primary preposition denoting union; And how do you have a union
without more than one to unite together? It means also: with or together i.e. by
association, companionship, process, resemblance, possession, instrumentality,
addition, etc.: and it also means beside, or with. And In composition it has
similar applications, including completeness.
So basically it means
that to be alone you are not complete. In fact that is what the apostle Paul
said to us in Colossians 2: 10 And ye are complete in
him, which is the head of all principality and power: so if we
are complete in him, then we can not be complete on our own. And neither can
the plan of God be complete without His first born son, right? And neither can that plan be complete without
you and I.
Now, listen? He said
the holy Ghost today would not have a ministry without someone to believe Him
and receive Him. So there you are. The plan of God, the Adoption of Sons is all
interdependent upon one another, first upon having the same Father, then having
a first born son who is the example or pattern for all other sons, and thirdly
for the other sons and daughters to be conformed to.
Now,
the second half of the word conform is the word Morphe which speaks
of the idea of adjustment of parts; ie:
shape; figuratively, the nature: or form.
So
just as we have a law of reproduction that says every seed must bring forth
after its kind, that means the law of reproduction also is subject to the law
of SUM MORPHE because it is all interdependent the upon the laws governing the
nature or characteristics of the original seed. Thus the Spoken Word being the
original Seed will produce and must produce by the laws or life, the laws of
reproduction, the laws of SUM MORPHE duplicates or similar seeds with similar
life, nature and form.
Now, let’s look at another interdependent process the
Apostle Paul speaks of in Romans 12: 1-2. 1 I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. The NIV
says, which is your spiritual act of worship. And remember, that the word
worship comes from two words, “worth
and Ship”
And the word worth means the value or assessment we allocate
to something, and the word ship is a suffix which mean the
state or condition of being.
But notice what the Apostle Paul is telling us here.
He says, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God which is your spiritual act of showing forth the true value
you have of Him in the way you act and
Then the Apostle Paul
adds in verse 2 And
be not conformed to this world: and this word conformed is not summorphe which speaks of
that process of uniting to Christ, but is suschematizo which means
conforming to a fashion of the world. In other words, it deals not with a
uniting together as one to become complete, but rather as looking at and selecting
the pattern of the world to fashion yourself after. So Paul says, do not
conform or fashion yourself after that, but rather he says, 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.
So we see that this
transformation is to prove the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect for
you. Then the very process spoken of here is to unite with the will of God in
such a way that it will actually unite you together.
Now, the Greek word
for this word transform is metamorphoo which simply means to
change, transfigure or transform.
The word is actually two Greek words meta and Morphoo, the word META
being a primary preposition properly
denoting accompaniment; (there’s your two again, ) it also means "amid"
and with which it is joined; among, together,
So we see the plan of
God is that we are family and how can family be family without a commonality
and a sharing of space, time, life, attributes, characteristics, nature etc.
That is why the
Apostle Paul continues in verse 3 For I say, through the grace
given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; (in other words, no man is an island unto himself.
Eternal Life is living for others, you can’t go through this life alone and
think that you are a part of anything.)
but
to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 4 For as
we have many members in one body,
and all members have not the same office: So even though there are individual
differences in a family yet they all work together for the building up and the
edification of that family. And when a family gets out of sync with its purpose
is when the members begin to think selfishly and for themselves trather than
the whole.
5 So
we, (not so me, but we) being many, are one
body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 6 Having
then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether
prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7 Or
ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him
do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy,
with cheerfulness. 9 Let
love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which
is good. 10 Be kindly affectioned one to another
with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;