Spoken Word no. 221
“Galatians 4
Two sons Two Covenants”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
January 23rd, 2011
Wednesday evening we spoke from paragraphs 141 and 144
of The Spoken Word is the original Seed and
Galatians chapter 4 concerning the lack of sincerity among the Elect at this
time.
Brother Branham said from his sermon, 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 what seems to be hanging up the Bride from getting
herself ready is no longer lacking Revelation concerning the Godhead, but
rather her sincerity in taking heed to what the doctrine of Christ really means
for us and our relationship between ourselves and God even as Jesus main
concern was his relationship and standing with his Father. And that lack of
readiness comes as a result of her lack of sincerity. For if she were totally
sincere in that relationship with the father, then the elect would be walking
and talking just the same as Jesus walked and talked. In other words, we would
have the same character, the same attitude, and thus the same mind that was in
Christ.
And that is what the Apostle Paul is telling us in Galatians chapter 4
and verse 21 “Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, do ye not hear the law?” And
I think if he were living today, he might say, “tell me you that hear the message, do you not
hear the voice of the Messenger? Do you not understand the example the
Messenger left for us?” Do you not understand the great personal sacrifices he made
so that we might live like he lived, and walk as he walked and talk as he
talked?
Now verse 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.
Notice he is talking about TWINS here. And brother
Branham taught us that every revival produces TWINS.
From Br.
Branham’s sermon, Hearing Receiving and Acting 60-0607 16 So
we find out, that in every revival
that's ever been born in the world, it produces twins. That's right. Every
revival has twins. They have a bunch in there that's carnal believers and a bunch of spiritual believers. Every revival produces that: an Esau and
Jacob. And as they go along, first thing you know, the carnal begins to think,
"Well, these guys are
getting off of the deep end. I better separate myself from them." They
go back to the intellectual part. They
want a pastor that'll speak to them of pleasant things. They don't
want that Spirit-filled pastor, that'll obey the Holy Spirit from the platform,
just preach the Word just like It is. As John said, "Lay the axe to the root of the tree and let
the chips fall where it will."
Most of the churches today will vote that out of their pulpit. That's right. It'll come a separation, always does
that. It did it in the Methodist age; it did it in the Baptist age; it did it
in the Pentecostal age; it'll do it in every age.
So we see that God keeps on separating down and down
and down until he can find a people who will think His thoughts and walk His
Walk, and talk His talk.
You don’t believe me? Did not John say, “if you walk in the
Light as He is walking in the Light, it bring you into fellowship with Him?
Is that not walking His walk with Him, and talking His talk with Him in the
light of His Glorious Presence?
That is the kind of people He has come down for. Not
those who go to the intellectual side, and have a spirit that is as hard as an
oyster shell. He didn’t come down for oysters. He’s come down for His children.
Now look, your sincerity is not works, it is an
attitude, a way of Life, a reality.
Accepting
God's provided way 63-0115 P:69 And remember, I'm on record for this, that
any promise of God in the Bible, it's on conditions now. Just because you believe it's there, that don't make it so it'll
happen. Them Pharisees and Sadducees was just as religious with those
sacraments as they could be. But God said, "They stink in My nose." See, there was no sincerity. There was nothing to it that should be.
You've got to come basically upon the promise, and then upon your mental
attitude towards it.
The Apostle Paul speaks on TWINS in his next few
paragraphs and tells us there are two
covenants that God made. One Covenant was with Agar concerning the birth of
her son by Abraham’s flesh, and the other birth of a son was made by a promise
from God Himself. Notice that even in Scripture we find the two covenants
represented by two mothers
Two Covenants were made so which covenant are we under
this morning?
Now, since the law had
to do with God's Word, there were also two
covenants or promises between God and
From Brother Branham’s
sermon, God's
provided place of worship 65-0425 12 He also has two covenants. He had a
covenant with Adam, the first man on earth. And that covenant was on conditions, "If
you do so-and-so, I'll do so-and-so." Adam would had something to do in order to
keep this covenant alive before God. He
had to walk in God's ways, keeping all of His Word, not breaking one Word.
But then He made another covenant; that
was with Abraham. This covenant was
not on conditions, but was unconditionally. God gave the covenant to
Abraham, no strings tied to it at all: unconditional, not, "I will,"
"I
have. I've
already done it.” And that's the law that
Christians must live by. Is not what we do ourself, but what He has done for us. Christ has already been sacrificed, not He
will be; He has been. It's a finished product. He lived, died, rose again,
ascended into heaven, has come back in the form of the Holy Ghost. So it's a
finished work with God. Christ, knowing no sin, became my sin; that I might
stand in His place, He took my place. I was in Him at
God's only provided place of worship
65-1128M 38 I want you to notice again; there was also two covenants give. One covenant was given to Adam, which
was on conditions like law: "If you will not touch this,
then you will live; but if you touch this, you will die."
That was a law. Then there was another law given to Abraham, which was by grace, unconditionally: "I have saved you and your seed,"
after him. Amen. That is a type of
We will find out as we continue to read in Galatians
chapter 4
and verse 24, Notice Paul calls this an allegory: 24 Which
things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants;
the one from the mount Sinai, which genders to bondage, which is Agar.
Now an allegory is a literary, dramatic, or pictorial device in which characters and events
stand for abstract ideas, principles, or forces, so that the literal sense has
or suggests a parallel, deeper symbolic sense. So we see that there are two Covenants that were made, one which
leads to death and the other that leads to Life eternal. One given the covenant
given to Adam, and to man, and the other given to the children of the promise
as given to Abraham. Both speak of sons, both covenants. And both seeds are
religious, both serve God, both worship God, both believe in God, and both
think they have the covenant of Life from God. So how do you know which
Covenant you fall under this morning?
And God allowed the display of both Covenants to be displayed before us
as an act that we might understand that the natural types the spiritual. And I
hope in seeing this allegory, and that in it there were two covenants you might
also see Paul is speaking of TWINS here.
You say, “well I know that I believe in a vindicated Prophet?”
Well, so did the 2 million people who followed Moses. He was a vindicated
prophet, so these were a people who followed a vindicated prophet also. “Yeah, yeah,
yeah, you say, but I am following the Pillar of Fire”. Well, what do
you think the 2 million who perished in the wilderness were following? Well,
you say, “but
with me it’s different, I have personally witnessed His presence, and I’ve
drank from His Spirit and eaten of His spiritual food in due season”.
Yes sir, you are absolutely right, you have, that is right, but so did the 2
million believers who perished in the wilderness. They ate the heavenly bread, and they drank
from the Rock which was Christ.
“Well, bless God, I have witnessed the supernatural
Presence of God in many wonderful ways I have experienced His Presence.”
And did not the 2 million believers who perished in the wilderness not also
witness the great and supernatural Presence of God in a more mighty way than
you have in this hour?
The Apostle Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover,
brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized
unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all
drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Now, look, these people were actually there, they saw,
they felt, they heard, the smelled, and they witnessed what God did visibly
before all of them.
The most you can say is you were baptized under the pillar of fire and cloud. You drank of
the spiritual drink and ate of the spiritual meat in due season. And you may
have been eye witnesses, and you may
even have experienced things like these people witnessed, and yet what good did
it do them to see and feel and smell and hear what they heard. And what good
has it done you, if you are of the other Covenant.
Notice Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:5 But
with many of them God was not well
pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should
not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as
were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit
fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three
and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them
also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither
murmur ye, as some of them also
murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now, look, murmuring is looked upon by God no
differently than fornication, adultery and idolatry. So don’t think because you
were there and ate with the prophet and drank with him and were baptized in this Message that you
are under the right covenant, brother.
11 Now
all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the
world are come.
Now, here is the key to what Paul is saying, in verse 12 Wherefore
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall.
And that sin of pride, arrogance and lack of sincerity
is what killed off 2 million people who saw more, and heard more, and
experienced more supernatural than you have in your lifetime.
In the book of Nehemiah 9:7 we see why God dealt so harshly with the
Children of Israel who left
And has He not done the same thing today? Has He not
come down in the form of the same Pillar of Fire to give us light to lead us
and for us to walk in? Has He not also provided a Cloud for a witness to His
Presence to lead us in the way?
Verse 13 Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and
spake with them from heaven, and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good
statutes and commandments: 14 And made known unto them thy holy sabbath,
and commanded them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy
servant:15 And gave them bread
from heaven for their hunger, and brought forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promised them
that they should go in to possess the land which thou had sworn to give them.
Now, look brethren, did we not also have a Pillar of
Fire come down and make Himself visible also in this hour? Did not we have the
same Cloud come down to vouch safe His Presence among us? Did He not send His
prophet up into the mountain to receive the opening of the seals just as Moses
went up into the Mountain to bring down the law of God?
Is not God the same and changes not? But notice how
the people received such a great and sacred trust as God’s own presence and the
opening of His Word to them.
Verse 16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened
their necks, and hearkened not to
thy commandments, 17 And refused
to obey, neither were mindful of
thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their
rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage:
And what have we done In this Message? The people have
assembled unto themselves men who will take them back into Pentecost forsaking
the Message that God came down to give us. And so we see two Covenants, one is
Life and the other is death. And both are made plain by scripture, and in this
hour, we see the repeat of the same scene being played over again, until they
will have to receive their just dues even as God pronounced judgment over those
proud and arrogant and self indulged people back at the first Exodus.
But unto you who are troubled by all the lack of
sincerity in the Message, and among the preachers and laity, the Apostle Paul
has some good news for you…He continues by saying, “but thou art a God ready to pardon,
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsook
them not.
Then he gives us more good news…13 There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to
be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a
way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 14 Wherefore,
my dearly beloved, flee
from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I
say.
Now, in getting back to Galatians chapter 4 and
picking up at verse 24, Paul says, Which things are an
allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which genders to bondage, which is
Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia,
and answereth to
Now, the Greek word “douleia” which was translated
as the word “bondage” speaks of slavery
and obligation to man through service. In other words, that covenant
which leads to death is laced with works programs and service.
26 But
As I pointed out a week ago, Martin Luther said, 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.
20
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.
Now, in getting back to Galatians
chapter 4
and verse 29 The Apostle Paul says, But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit, even so it is now.
And so we see the same thing today. Walk in the light as
He is in the light, and say what he says on the tapes, and only what
he says, and watch the mockery begin in the name of William Branham and this
Message. As Jesus said, one day they will kill you thinking they are doing God
a service, just like they wished to stone Jesus in the name of Moses, and for
the sake of God. But we must understand that this too is part of our trail to
adoption that we must endure.
30 Nevertheless
what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of
the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but
of the free.
So we see that there is a certain liberty that wee
have as sons of God, and yet we must be sure, we must be certain of our
son-ship, for Abraham had two sons, and two covenants were given to these two
sons. Yet one covenant leads to death and bondage to man, while the other
covenant leads to life everlasting.
Now, as we study further into this book of Galatians
we can see that we still have these two covenants alive today. One leads to a
carnal approach with God while the other leads to a complete surrender and
obedience to God as our Father. And we have not only these two covenants
working among the 1 billion Christians in this world today, but to be more
precise we have these two covenants right here among us in this Message of
believers who claim to be following the Pillar of Fire and the Cloud. So which
Covenant are you under this morning?
So we see that in chapter 4 Paul begins teaching us
about the adoption of sons, and then seems
to deviate off his thought when he begins to deal with the difference between
the two types of sons, and the two covenants. But he was not deviating from his
teaching on adoption. What he was doing here is to teach us that though you be
a son, yet you have to be the right kind of son. That is what Paul is telling
us in chapter 4.
Blasphemous
names 62-1104M pp. 57 Do you remember over in the Book of Matthew
the 17th chapter, the 1st to the 5th verse, Jesus on
Now,
in the Old Testament when that son was
adopted or placed into the family, his name was just as good on the check as
his daddy's was. Yes, sir. They didn't have a... They had a ring in them
days, a signet; and they'd spit on
it, place it. That was a signet. He wore
his daddy's ring, his signet; and that was just as good as his daddy's. Now, when Jesus had been obedient, Jesus to God,
God placed Him positionally: "This is Him." Now, when the member is born by the Holy Ghost into the family of God
and has proven to have these virtues in him, that God can see virtue,
knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, and godliness in him, then
God seals him or places him. And there, that's when you see the sons and
daughters of God. 62 Then Ephesians 4:30
says, Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed until the day of your redemption. Now, some of you Baptists
that wants to go on eternal security, now, if you'll come to that stage, I'll
stand with you it's eternal security, if you'll come to that place. But just to
say, anybody says, "I joined the Baptist church"; "I'm a Presbyterian";
"I got eternal security"; that's wrong. Your own life proves you haven't got it, Until this is there and
God has adopted you and sealed you by the Holy Ghost into His kingdom... Then
there's no getting out of it. You are eternally secure. "Believe, Grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby all
you and your godly virtues are sealed until the day of redemption."
63 I believe there is a Bride that's
predestinated. I believe God said He would have a Church without spot or
wrinkle. I believe in predestination, that the Bride is predestinated; She's
got to be there. I hope I'm with Her. That's... See? I'm with Her. Now, it's up
to me to work out my own salvation with God until these things are approved of
God and then sealed into the
I
want to be with It, but the only way
I'll be with It, is to be part of It. How do I become part of It? By being
in It. How do I get in It? By baptism, by one Spirit. I Corinthians 12:
"By one Spirit we are all
baptized into one Body," one Body, baptized into it. 65
But you can't stick these little things, say, "I
spoke with tongues. I got It." You go out here, and angry, and swear, and carry
on (See?); that's putting peacock feathers in the jaybird. See? You can't do it. Your own life proves
that it's not. But when these things
are operating in you by God, then you're sealed. Then there's no put-on
about it. You're just yourself. That's when visions, perfect Holy Spirit
works of God, everything is made manifest. Because why? You and Christ become one (I hope
that's understood.); you and Christ
become one. I had something else I had wrote down here I wanted to think
of. Brings us to the place of Life, then you become, have Eternal Life.