Spoken Word no. 220
“Galatians
4 Adoption and Sincerity”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
January 16th, 2011
For the past couple weeks we’ve been looking at the
words of Brother Branham’s from paragraphs 141 and 144 of The
Spoken Word is the original Seed and we have spoken on
the thoughts of his where he quotes from
1 John
3:8 where he says, “Now, Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. You believe that? Now, I can't explain all this; I'm just
going to go through it just quickly now, hit the high place so you won't stay
too long. Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. Is that right? You all believe that? What was He? God's Word, which destroys the works of the
hybrid, the devil. Is that right? He was done to do that; He was born to be
that, to destroy the works of the devil.
144
Now, the body carries) on the works and
does the works that the Head commands it to do. Tell me where He ever said,
"organize."
Tell me where the Head says it's
all right for woman to cut their hair. Huh. Mention it; it's not
there. Tell me where the Head ever said, "These works I do, but you shall not do them."
Tell me that. But the Head said this (if you want to put the Scripture down,
I'll give it to you: John
14:12), "The works that I do, shall you also."
That's His body. See? See now, why I have been so zealous of the
kind of seed that I have planted for the body? The rain's going to fall
pretty soon; I mean the real rain. And it's
got to have Seed to fall on. I hope I live to see it. Do you understand
now? It will be the living Word as it
was at the beginning, the spoken Word of God, have His power; for it is in Him in His own body, working His
own way. Look to the promises that God gave this body.
Galatians 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as
long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of
all; Now, listen to what Paul is
telling us here. He is speaking about the heir to the kingdom, yet instead of
being treated real special, he is treated just like everyone else until
receives his throne. Then Paul tells us just how the father has his son raised.
2 But
is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Now, this time that is appointed of the father no one
knows except the father himself. Now, that time doesn’t have to do with
chronological age as much as it has to do with the maturity of the son himself.
You see, Joseph in the Old Testament was taken up at 17 and given his position
in the family but his brothers who were much older than he was never reached
that level of maturity until much later in life.
3 Even
so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: So what Paul is telling us here is that we are no
different than any other child that goes through the adoption process.
4 But
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law,5 To redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now, what he is telling us here is that the very
purpose of the Son of God coming as he did was to prepare the road to adoption
for all of us. In other words, there had to be a pattern for sons so that other
sons coming into the pattern of the first born could also attain adoption, to
whit the redemption of our bodies.
6 And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Notice
that we are told because we are also
sons, God has sent back the spirit of his first born son into our hearts, so
that the very nature of this one whom the father adopted on Mount
Transfiguration, that his very nature might live itself out in other sons in
order for us to meet the qualifications of adoption as well.
7 Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God
through Christ. Now, I believe the
meaning of this verse is to tell us that although we are treated no differently
while in the body of this death from a servant, yet we are not servants, we are
sons on our way towards the adoption of sons, and therefore our
inheritance.
8 Howbeit
then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no
gods. In other words, we really
didn’t know how to distinguish ourselves apart from other servants, so we just
adopted a kind of works programming in our beings. But that is not what the
spirit of adoption is all about. It is not just being a nice person and doing
works, but it is doing only that which pleases the Father, and doing nothing until
the Father commands us what to do, say, etc. That is exactly what he tells us
in the next verse.
9
But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly
elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? In other words, if you are sons of God then act like
sons of God. That means you have to shuck off the old habits which were not
ordained from your father in the doing thereof, and begin acting as the first
born son acted. Remember John 5:19 and 5:30 And 7:16 and John chapters 10 and
12 where Jesus said, I do nothing, say nothing, no doctrine and do not my own
will except it is what the Father whishes for me to say, to do, to act out, to
speak etc.
So we are commanded to
shape up and act like sons, not like a bunch of religious morons who act out
all manner of works trying to please a fearful God they do not know. Notice he
said, 10 Ye
observe days, and months, and times, and years11 I
am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. In other words,
Pal is telling them, look, I didn’t spend all my time teaching you about Christ
to see a bunch of religious zombies doing all manner of works trying to appease
an angry God. I hope I have wasted my time making you religious. Because you
are supposed to understand the relationship between the Father and His son so
that you might receive the spirit of God’s son into your hearts that you might
also cry abba father.
12 Brethren,
I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Now, what does Paul mean by that? Well, let’s see what
he says next?
13 Ye
know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the
firs OK, so Paul is going to tell us
that there is a price to be paid if we are to be like Him, because after all he
was like the first born son, and he was willing to pay the ultimate price of
his own life.
14 And
my temptation (or testing) which was in my
flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even
as Christ Jesus. Now, look, you saw what I had to go through and you
saw that I accepted my lot, what I was expected to do for the Glory of the
Father, and because you saw how I accepted it, you received me as a messenger
from God.
15 Where
is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had
been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to
me. Paul tells them here that there
was a time when they accepted everything he told them as though god Himself had
come down to tell them. But something changed, and here is what changed. Paul
begin to hammer down a bit about things he thought needed to be corrected in
their lives. He said, 16 Am I therefore
become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
Now, notice what he
tells us next because this is our key to understanding what was happening here.
You see, Paul brought these people into the Doctrine of Christ, the Revelation
of Jesus Christ and he expected the people to react as he had reacted. Instead
he saw there were some real problems developing among them. And it wasn’t because of what he taught them,
but what others had brought in among them that caused them to deviate from the
truth. That is what he told us in Chapters 1: 6-9 where he told them they had
deviated from the original Word that He had brought to them.
Notice he says, 17 They
zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might
affect them. They would exclude you
from what? From becoming who you were ordained to become. You see that is
exactly what Satan’s job is, to bring the sons of God under his control, and
not the control of the Holy Ghost. Now,
he was not stating that to be zealously affected is a wrong thing, but how and
for what you are zealously affected.
Notice he says in
verse, 18 But
it is good to be zealously affected
always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
Now, why is
consistency so important in our Christian life? Because God is trying to work
the very nature of Christ into us if we would just stay focused as he was
focused.
Notice Paul says, 19 My
little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in
you,
In Philippians 2:12
Paul said, Therefore,
my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now
much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and
trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to
his good purpose. 14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that
you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked
and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life--in order
that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and
service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So
we see here that he looked upon the Philippians as his children like he did
with the Galatians.
And with much love Paul desired to be with the Galatians, but the
report he was getting back was like a mother who was hearing of her children
not representing the family very well. Galatians 4:20 I desire to be present with
you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. And I see the same thing in this message. When we
ought to be teachers we have need of milk. Notice the milk of sincerity, that
is what’s missing. As peter said, 1 Peter 2: 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of
the word, that ye may grow thereby:
And I think the people who
follow the doctrine of Christ need to be more sincere than ever before, but I
do not see that sincerity being manifested. Now, you can’t pin that on William
Branham for he was deeply sincere in all that he did for the Lord. In fact the
angel had told him if he would be sincere then all things that God would
withhold nothing from his prayer. So don’t blame your lack of sincerity on Him.
Blame it your own selves.
From his sermon, I was not disobedient to the
heavenly vision 49-0718 P:18 If you pass through tonight,
if you come through the line, just go on and believe. If you'll believe it,
only thing I have is the Word of God. And this One Who talked to me, He said,
"If you (That's me.) will be
sincere and will get the people to believe you, and be sincere when you pray,
nothing shall stand before your prayer, not even cancer." Now, that is
true, friends. And that... If that little baby's eyes could come straight, just
passing through and laying hands on the child... The mother confirms, you might
talk to her if you wish to; she believed it with all of her heart. And
setting...?... babies, if it'd taken six weeks, she'd still believed it. And
the baby's eyes would've been all right. You believe that?
And from Experiences 2 47-1214 P:2 I don't believe you can get too sincere about the work of God.
That's right. More sincere you are, the
better God can lead you. So They told me that I might have a mental
break-up.
So what is hanging up the Bride from getting herself
ready? She’s not sincere as she ought to be sincere. For if she was truly
sincere than this message would be her meat, it would be her life.
21 Tell
me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? And I say, tell me you
that hear the message, do you not hear the voice of the Messenger? 22 For
it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid,
the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was
born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Now, look, your sincerity is not works, it is an
attitude, a way of Life, a reality.
Titus 2:
7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine
shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
Ephesians 6:
24 Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in
sincerity. Amen.
2 Corinthians
8: 8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the
forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
2 Corinthians
2: 17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as
of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
2 Corinthians
1: 12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience,
that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the
grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to
you-ward.
1 Corinthians
5: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.
Joshua 24: 14 Now therefore fear the LORD,
and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your
fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in