Spoken Word #19
“What motivates your actions, Christ or
self?”
Brian Kocourek
April 27th, 2008
15 I remember one
time a man named Moses. Those people constantly (we would call it in our
southern expression) aggravated him,
just constantly kept him on the
move. Everything was a murmur, or
complaint and so forth. But Moses, when it come to the showdown, when God
said, "Separate yourself from them, 'cause I'm
going to take you and start a nation," Moses threw himself in the path of God's wrath, said, "Take
me, and not the people," that he'd called rebels (rebellion against God
and against him) yet, he loved them so
much till he said, "Take me and
save them." That was Christ
in Moses. And if a man, no matter how much some other one would
disagree with him, if he doesn't feel
that way then there's a lacking of Christ I believe, if from his heart, not his lips, but his heart, if he don't feel that
way towards humanity...
Can I hear an Amen from everyone here this morning?
My, my, what condition the Church of the living God is in this morning. I only
wish I could honestly say from my heart that I loved everyone in that way, that
when they fussed and complained about me, that I could honestly say that I love
them anyway. I say this as a confession, because God does know my heart and He
knows that I have tried to love even those who have spited me.
Now, that does not say that I was successful in
showing them this kind of Love, and I do not believe that Brother Branham and
even Moses were altogether successful in showing this kind of Love all the time
as well. I mean, Moses got so angry with
the people that instead of speaking to the rock he struck it twice and yelled
at it, and God was not happy with his antics. But that is the human side. I am
sure his intent from his heart was right and pure, but his human side just got
tired of the lack of maturity in the people, who are so now focused that they
miss the principals that God is trying to show them through his testing. But,
human side or not, God was so disappointed in what Moses did that he forbade
him to enter into the promise land at that time. He allowed him to see it from afar, but
forbade him to enter in.
Exodus
17:1 And
all the congregation of the children of
So
you see, God told him to take his rod and strike the rock once and it will give
water. Yet we see in chapter 20 that this time God tells Moses to simply just
speak to the Rock and it will produce the water, but Moses had become so angry
with the people for their constant fussing that he struck the rock not just
once but twice, and in so doing disobeyed the Words of God to simply just speak
to it.
Numbers
20:1 Then
came the children of
2 And
there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
I
want you to notice how finicky the people are. When things are going good, “Oh,
man, Moses is the man”. But when things got tough, and I’m telling you, things
are going to get tough. You think you are having a tough time now, just wait
after a while and the problems you think you have now will be nothing compared
to what is coming down the pike. You think God is going to take a people in
that have no character?
Character
is not a gift, character is a victory. That’s what brother Branham said in the
Church Age Book.
Church Age Book Chapter 4 - The Smyrnaean Church Age P:14 Conditions of the Age Revelation 2:9,
"I know thy works and thy
tribulation, and poverty, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are
Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."
15 The key to this age is most
evidently tribulation. If there was tribulation in the first age, there is now
predicted an intensified tribulation throughout the second age. There is no
doubt but what the following words of Paul applied to the mass of Christians
wherever they were in the world and in every age.
Hebrews
10:32-38, "But call to remembrance the former days, in
which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly,
whilst ye were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and
partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had
compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods,
knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring
substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence
of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of
God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He That shall
come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if
any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."
16 The mere association of
kindhearted people with the true believer might
well bring death in return for their kindness.
17 Now the Lord God Almighty
says, "I Know." There He is walking in the midst of
His people. There He is, the Chief Shepherd of the flock. But does He hold back the persecution? Does He
stem the tribulation? No, He does not. He simply says, "I KNOW your tribulation, I am not at all
unmindful of your suffering."
What a stumbling block this is to so many people. Like
That
is what they asked in Malachi
1:1-3, "The burden of the Word of the Lord to
You
see, they could not figure out God's
love. They thought that love meant
no suffering. They thought that love meant a baby with parental care. But
God said that His love was "elective"
love. The proof of His love is Election, that no matter what happened, His love
was proven truly by the fact they were chosen unto salvation (“because God hath chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth”). He may commit you to death as He did
Paul. He may commit you to suffering as
He did Job. That is His prerogative. He is sovereign. But it is all with a
purpose. If He did not have a purpose, then He would be the author of
frustration and not of peace. His purpose is “that
after we have suffered awhile we would be made perfect, be established,
strengthened and settled.”
As
Job said, "He puts strength in us." (Job 23:6b) You see He, Himself, suffered. “He
learned obedience by the things that He suffered.” He was actually made perfect by the things that He suffered. Hebrews
5:8-9, "Though
He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; And
being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey Him."
In plain language, the very character
of Jesus was perfected by suffering. And according to Paul He has left
His church a measure of suffering that they, too, by their faith in God while
suffering for Him, would come to a place of perfection. Why did He want this? James
1:2-4, "My
brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
18
Why does He stand by? The reason is in Romans
8:17-18,
"And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified
together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Unless we suffer with Him we cannot reign
with Him. You have to suffer to reign. The
reason for this is that character
simply is never made without suffering. Character is a VICTORY, not a gift. A man without character can't
reign because power apart from character is Satanic. But power with character
is fit to rule. And since He wants us to share even His throne on the same
basis that He overcame and is set down in His Father's throne, then we have to
overcome to sit with Him. And the little
temporary suffering we go through now is not worthy to be compared to the
tremendous glory that will be revealed in us when He comes. Oh, what
treasures are laid up for those who are willing to enter into His kingdom
through much tribulation.
19 "Think
it not strange concerning the fiery trials that are to try you." That is what Peter said. Is it strange that God wants us to develop
a Christ-like character that comes through suffering? No sir. And we all have trials. We are all tried and chastened as sons.
Not one but goes through that. The
church that is not suffering, and is not being tried, hasn't got it isn't of
God. Heb. 12:6,
"For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom
He receiveth. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers,
then are ye bastards, and not sons."
20 Now this special condition in
21 The cloudy skies
and storms of life are no signs of God's disapproval. Neither are bright skies
and still waters signs of His love and approval. His approval of any of us is
only IN THE BELOVED. His love is elective which He had for us before the
foundation of the world. Does He love us? Ah yes. But how shall we know? We shall know because He SAID SO, and
manifested that He did love us for He brought us to Himself and gave us of His
Spirit, placing us as sons. And how
shall I prove my love to Him? By believing what He said, and by conducting
myself with joy amidst the trials that He in His wisdom allows to come to pass.
22 "I
know thy poverty (but thou are rich)." There it is again. See Him walking
up and down in the midst of His Church. Like a father He is looking down upon
His family. He is the Head of His household. He is the provider. He is the
protector. Yet He looks on at their poverty. Oh, how the untutored believer
stumbles at this. How can God bear to look upon His own in a time of need and
not just stop it all, just give in and lavish everything material upon them?
23 Here is where
you have to believe again in the love, and goodness and wisdom of God. This,
too, is needful. Remember He admonished, "Take
no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat or what ye shall put on. Your
Father knoweth the things ye have need of. He Who clothes the lily and feeds
the sparrow shall do much more for you. These physical things are not the true
basic necessities of your life, for a man's life consisteth not of the things
he possesses. But rather seek ye first the
The people of God are not material minded.
They are Christ-minded. They do not seek the treasures that are below; they seek those
above. It is absolutely true, the majority of Christians are NOT wealthy.
Rather they are on the poor side. It was so in Jesus' day. It was true in
Paul's day and it should be true today. Oh, it is not too true today for the
Laodicean Age is one of vast wealth where often the criterion of spirituality
is an abundance of earthly goods. My, how
rich the church is in goods. But how poor in Spirit. "Blessed
be ye poor, for yours is the
24 "Oh," cries the Spirit, "I see your poverty. I see your need. You
haven't very much, if anything, to boast of. What you did have has been taken
from you. You gladly gave up your possessions in exchange for eternal ones. You
are laughed at. You are scorned. You
don't have material resources to fall back on. But you are rich in spite of
it all. Your security lies in Him Who is your shield and exceeding great
reward. Your kingdom is yet to come. But it will come. And it will be an
everlasting one. Yes, I am mindful of your trials and woes. I know how hard it
is to get along. But I will remember all this when I return to claim you as My
own, and then I will reward you."
25 Now this is
nothing against rich people because God can save a rich man. Some of God's
children are rich. But money can be such a snare, not only to those who have it
but to those who don't have it. Way back there in the first age, James cried
out to those who were putting stock in wealthy people, "Have
not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons." The poor there were trying to butter
up the rich in order to get help, rather than trusting in God. "Don't
do it,"
says James. "Don't do it. Money isn't everything. Money
isn't the answer."
And today it is not the answer either. We have more wealth than we have ever
had and yet less is being accomplished Spiritually. It is not with money that
God works. He moves by His Spirit. And that
moving of the Spirit comes only to a life consecrated to the Word.
Now, in getting back to Numbers 20: we will pick up at
paragraph 3 And
the people chode with Moses,(that means they complained and chided with Moses) and spake, saying,
Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
Look at there attitude towards Moses and God. They
were angry. They had no patience to see what God was doing. And I see more and
more of this attitude in this Message all the time. People absolutely have no
patience anymore to wait on God for an answer. They say, I am tired of praying,
I want an answer right now. Oh! Oh!!, You had just better shut up before you die
in this wilderness journey like they did back there.)
Psalm 106:6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have
committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. 7 Our
fathers understood not thy wonders in
Look brothers and sisters, Hebrews 6: 10 tells us, For God is not
unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shown toward
his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Don’t ever think it is was not worth all the suffering
and shame to minister to the people of God, because not one little cup of water
given out in His name will be forgotten. The problem is that too many people
are storing up treasure here in this world where rust corrupts and the moth
destroys. What good dare your material things going to do on that day you
depart from this earth. You can’t take one of them with you.
Now, in getting back to Number 20: and picking up at verse 4. Notice
the evil thoughts being expressed by these so called “called out children of
God” as they speak against Moses and against God. “And
why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that
we and our cattle should die there? 5 And wherefore
have ye made us to come up out of
Now, I like this what Moses and Aaron did here. They
did not stay to argue with the people. They got away from all that unbelief and
got into the Presence of God right quick. And that is the biggest problem we
have in our homes today. When strife hits our home, instead of getting upset
and angry we should get away from those who are complaining and get into the
presence of God where our refuge is. And the you will hear from God. But as
long as you fight back, then there certainly is no peace, and God will not
fight your battles for you if you think you have to do the fighting. I don’t
think we are cognizant enough of the presence of the lord. Certainly these
people that were fussing with Moses were not so aware of the presence of God,
but Moses was.
7 And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8 Take the rod,
and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes;
and it shall give forth his water,
and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give
the congregation and their beasts drink. 9 And
Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10 And
Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said
unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his
rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the
congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Now, look, Moses had gotten so angry that he did not
do it by the Word the way that God had told him to do it, and look at the
results. Not only he and Aaron missed going in, but all the people that were
over 20 as well. And let me say this in words that might hit home to you, We
are coming upon a time in this world that the Bible warned would one day come.
And woe unto you if you open your mouth in complaint against God. IN Josephs
day the Famine came because God called for it. You think the famine the world
is beginning to feel is just circumstantial? No way. God declared it in the
Book of Amos. )
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:
So who is sending the famine? God is. He said in
Deuteronomy 28 that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you and
destroy you because you did not pay attention to the Voice of the Lord your
God. That’s what he said, and that is what is happening today, and people are
so dulled in their senses that they do not see God in this that is happening.
And that is what took place in Moses day, they soon forgot, and we soon forget
too.
Numbers
20:12 And
the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because
ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel,
therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given
them.
So Moses missed going in just like all
But what I am saying is that we must be conscious of
our reactions, because God looks at our reactions to every action. He measures
our state by our reactions to the actions around us. Now, our status is that we
are sons, but our state is where we are at in our maturity into becoming obedient
sons, and God will test every son so be ready for it. So we must be aware of
this or we will never have victory in the Love Divine.
Now, last week we saw what Paul said in Romans 12:9 Let
love be without dissimulation. In
other words, Love must be Sincere. He said, Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. And
then he said, Be
kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one
another; The NIV translation says, devoted to one another in
brotherly Love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Let us pray,
Dear Gracious Father,
we know that you are the Sovereign God over the entire creation, and we know
that you have a desire to see us mature into obedient sons with only Your will
as our daily bread. Help us Father to never react again with a spirit of doubt,
but rather help us to believe that all things are working together for our
good. Help us then to check our motives with everything we do, for You promised
us, that if we be any otherwise minded you would reveal it unto us, so help us
to be sensitive to Your Holy Spirit within us to hear from you when we get out
of line, and help us to consider anything in this world so dear that it would
get between You and Your desires to see us come to our role as Obedient sons.
In this we ask in Jesus Christ’s name. Amen!