Spoken Word no. 242
“Malachi Four, the Heart of the Children”
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor
April 17th, 2011
Let us pray, Dear Father we come to Thee in the name
of Thy Son Jesus Christ, and under the blood of Your dear Lamb of God, knowing
that as we walk in the Light as you are in the Light we have fellowship with
Thee and One another, and the blood of Your son cleanses us from all sin. Help
us Father this morning to Better understand The Prophecies of Malachi Four, and
to better prepare ourselves for all that it entails. We have already received
the Shout which is Your Message, and we await the Voice of the Resurrection.
Help us to be ready for it, and to prepare our Lives for the Resurrection
meetings, and the soon return of Your dear son, our eldest Brother Jesus. For
we ask it in the wonderful name in which your Whole Family in heaven and earth
is named, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Last week in our last study of Brother Branham’s
sermon The
Spoken Word is the Original Seed we took out thoughts from paragraph
184 where brother Branham said, 184
God has promised (Be careful.) God has
promised Malachi 4
for this last day, and Malachi
4 has not yet has been fulfilled,
(which means completed) but it must be
fulfilled (it must be completed) for it is a germitized Word of God, spoken through Malachi
the prophet. Jesus referred to it. It is to be just before the coming of Christ
the second time.(Listen close, now.) All Scripture that has not been fulfilled,
must be before that time. The Gentile dispensation is to be finished with the
church age when this anointed messenger arrives. Of course, he will plant the
Seed of the entire Bible, come from the serpent to the messenger in the former
rain. Then he will be rejected by the denominational people as his forefather
John and Elijah, as was spoken by our Lord--people as Elijah was the first time
to Ahab's time. It will happen here in this country, as this country is a type
of
So we turned to Malachi four last week to study this
end-time ministry and show it’s importance right before the coming destruction
of the world which ends in burning.
Now, I said last week that I would like to further
investigate this end time scene of the coming destruction, but it is such a
voluminous study that I will need more time with it, so there is another aspect
of Malachi Four that I wish to look at this morning, and that is that This
ministry is said to turn the the heart of the children to their fathers,and
so this morning I would like to look at this turning of the hearts of the
children.
Now, I want you to notice that Malachi did not say hearts
of the children but he said heart of the children. One Heart, not hearts.
Now, children is plural but heart is not plural, it is one heart, one
mind that he is speaking of. Because in Scripture when the heart so spoken of
it refers to our understanding.
That
is what we see in Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them
(plural) one heart,(singular) and I will put a
new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and
will give them an heart (one heart) of flesh: A
flexible heart or a flexible understanding. One that does not place a period
after what they understand, but are willing and open to whatever God wants for
them to understand.
And again we see this promise in Jeremiah 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may
fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
And we see that Jesus said to the believers who were
walking away from
In Jeremiah 24:7 we
hear God say, And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people,
and I will be their God: for they shall return
unto me with their whole heart. With
their whole understanding.
Solomon spoke of our understanding from our heart in
Ecclesiastes 7:25 I
applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the
reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and
madness: And again in Eccl 8:16 When
I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon
the earth:
And the Apostle Paul spoke that our thoughts proceed
from the heart in Hebrews 4:12 For
the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
And we see also that Jesus spoke of our thoughts
coming from our hearts.
Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Matthew 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the
mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies:
Now, this morning I would like to look at this heart of the
children that Malachi four was to turn to the Fathers, because
unless we understand what this heart is and the condition it is in, in order to
turn to the Fathers, we will never appreciate what God has done in this last
days, because unlike the hearts of the Fathers, it is not stiff and old and rigid,
and inflexible, but the heart of children is young and pliable and very
flexible and able to learn new things, because it is full of life.
We have an old saying, “You can’t teach old dogs new tricks” And that is why God sent the
Spirit of Elijah to revive the children in this hour just like he did to the
woman of Zarephath’s boy. Fore when death sets in the heart become hard. But To
restore that heart the heart had to become soft and flexible again in order to
pump the life blood through it. So the heart must be flexible. Not a stony
heart which is old and inflexible, but a flexible heart which is flexible concerning
its ability to understand new things.
So we see just as Elijah of the old Testament
restored the hearts of the children back to life in his day, so too we
understand that the Elijah of Malachi four is to restore the heart of the
children in his day. So in essence the spirit we see in Elijah in 1 Kings 17:22 is the same spirit we see in Malachi
four. So let’s read both Scriptures to see for ourselves. 1 Kings 17:22And the LORD heard the voice
of Elijah; and the soul of the child
came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him
down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and
Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
So this morning we want to see how that heart of the
children is to be restored. In Brother Branham’s sermon, Leadership 65-1207 P:118 He prayed,… Dear God, as we stand here tonight, a dying
people, our faces are turned towards the earth, the dust. We just... You have
give us this cutting sermon, Lord. We see the example of two men. One of them,
being a religious man, went to church but rejected the leadership to Eternal
Life. And the other rejected the worldly fame and turned to Eternal Life. And
we see both of their conditions tonight according to the Bible: the rich man is
in torment, and Moses is in glory. Father, we want to be like Moses. We want to
be led by Your holy Son Jesus Christ to Eternal Life. Give It to our hearts
tonight, Lord. Tear out the old stony
heart; place into us the new heart,
the heart of flesh, the heart that you can talk to and deal with, and we will
not be haughty or different. May the Holy Spirit never leave, Lord. May It
come and ordain this people. Speak to them; tear up their stony will, and put
in the will of God. Save every one, Father. Give us of Thy love. Get us to a
place, Lord, that we'll get away from all the--the emotional part, to the real
solid part of the feeling, the heartfelt part, the deepness of the Spirit, the
riches of God, the Kingdom of the Spirit in our hearts. Grant it, O great
Leader, great Holy Spirit, before You take Your flight into the skies with Your
church.
Ezekiel 36:26-28 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of
your flesh, and I will give you an heart
of flesh. And I will put my spirit
within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell
in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will
be your God.
From brother Branham’s
sermon Impersonation
of Christianity 1957- he said, “God had to give you
a new spirit. Why, the spirit you had, you couldn't even get along with
yourself. So how are you going to get along with God? So God had to give you a
new heart, not a patched up one, a
new heart. That's your intellects that you think with, a new way of thinking.
Then He give you a new way of thinking, "Yes, that's right....(notice
he's telling us that the new heart is a new mindset, a new way of thinking) Then He said after
that, "Then I'll give you a new
spirit." What's that? A new
desire, "I want to do right."....
But now, that's the new spirit. Then
notice the order of the Scripture. After
you get a new heart and a new spirit, He said, "Then I'll put My Spirit..."
See? Oh, what? That's the what the Scripture says here. That's the order, the numatics
and numerical order of the Scripture: a
new heart, a new spirit, and then My Spirit. Then God's Holy Spirit... God's new heart that He put in you, sets
right in the center of you. That's your impulse, where your emotions goes
out. And the new Spirit sets right in
the center of the new heart. And God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, sets right in
the center of your new Spirit, and there It controls your emotions. and to have
a new heart, a new spirit, and His Spirit, part of the Logos in you controlling
your emotions... And when He coos through His Word, you coo back and answer
to Him. "Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever..."
watch the order of the Scripture. "I will
take away the old stony heart, and I'll give you a new heart." That's the
first order. Some of them stop on that first order. Now, you're just
getting started. Then He said, "I'll give
you a new spirit." There's where a lot of
you Pentecostals fail. You had to have a new spirit. Oh, you felt good and you
felt like that, "Oh, well, I just, oh, I feel fine. ...Well, you just got
started. You're just getting fixed up now to just... You're just coming in
line. He had to give you a new spirit. Why you couldn't get along with yourself
with the old spirit. So how could you get along with God's Spirit? So He had to
give you a new spirit.
So we see then
that this new heart is a new way of thinking or a new mindset. Then it brings
with it a new desire in your heart. He that hungers and thirsts for
righteousness shall be filled. Then this new desire opens the door of your
heart to let in the Holy Spirit, or as Brother Branham put it, the Logos which
is the Word of God into your heart. So with God's Word taking it's place in
your heart, then it becomes the tie post to your soul. Then until a person has
received the Word of God into their Soul they can not tell the difference
between any word and God's Word. Because the Word, when it comes in, measures
all things according to it as Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 2 that we discern all
things comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
I Corinthians
2:10-14 But God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit: for The Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a
man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth
no man, but The Spirit of God knows.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (So God gives us His Spirit in order to understand His
Word.) Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teaches;(You
see the Holy Ghost is the real Teacher, that’s what Brother Branham told us,
and that is what the Apostle John also taught us.) comparing
spiritual things with spiritual.
So
why don’t people even who claim to believe this Message want to know the deeper
things of God? because they are not born again. They do not have the Spirit of
God living and abiding in them, for if they did they could not get enough of
the Truths of God’s Word. Now, don’t get mad at me for saying that, because
that is exactly what Paul says next here.) But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness
unto him: neither can he know[them,
because they are spiritually discerned. So if it is spiritually
discerned then that means it takes the Spirit to discern them. So if no spirit
no discernment of Scripture.
The
Apostle Paul told us in Philippians
2:1-9 If there be
therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be
done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every
man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name:
Now notice Paul
is speaking of being of one mind, and he is not speaking of us all giving up
our mind to the pastors mind, or some other man’s mind, but he tells us let the
mind that was in Christ be in us. That is the only way we can all speak the
same thing and have the same thoughts. And that is the One heart that the
prophet of Malachi Four came to bring to us. The Mind of Christ, the heart of
God.
Therefore,
what I am trying to address to you this morning is this: namely, we are to
receive an understanding first, this understanding creates a desire in our
heart for God's Word. God sends forth His Word into our hearts by the Holy
Ghost who is the Teacher and He anoints the understanding in our heart thus
becoming a Spiritual Revelation. This Revelation then takes over the guiding of
our whole body, Soul and Spirit thus perfecting the believer by the washing of
water by the Word. So in effect every fiber of our body is becoming subject to
the Word of God which lives and abides in our hearts, bringing us into
captivity to the Word for the day and bringing us into subjection to it. Thus
the sacrifice becomes a living sacrifice, not just a mental conception. And as
that, it actually changes the actions done in the body because our thoughts
have changed first.
Galatians 2:17
- 21 But if we seek to be justified by Christ, we
ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God
forbid. For if I build again the things which I have destroyed, I make myself a
transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. For I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I am alive; yet not I, but Christ that
lives in Me; and the life which I now am living in this flesh, I am living by
the Faith of the Son of God, (not my own faith but His Faith that He
had when he went forth from Gethsemane) who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do not frustrate
the Grace of God: for if Right-wise-ness came by the law, then Christ is dead
in vain.
Now in Romans 7: I want you to notice in verse 14 Paul tells us the law is Spiritual, and not for the flesh, for if it were
for the flesh then we could be expected to fulfill the Law by our flesh, but
since it is spiritual and not for the flesh, then the flesh can in no way
fulfill it. Therefore God does not look upon the flesh but upon the desires in our
heart, and thus although your desires may be righteous and Holy yet
your body may backslide a thousand times daily due to the mixed nature because
of Eve's transgression. But God is not looking at the body of this death, but
at His promise through the blood of His Son.
Romans 8: 1 - 18 “There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh: 4 That the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh; but they that are
after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (You see, there’s your one heart.) 6 For to be carnally
minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they
that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if
Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit
of Him (that’s Godhe’s talking about) If the spirit of God that raised up Jesus from
the dead dwell in you, he that raised up
Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that
dwelleth in you. (Now, a mortal body is not a body that has died
and lays rotting in the grave. A mortal body is one that is capable of dying.
So he is talking about, if the Spirit of God that raised up Jesus from the
Grave also dwells in you, it will make your body obey your confession.)
12 Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: 17 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.
That’s why brother Branham said in his sermon, Why it is so hard to live a Christian life 57-0303A P:28 You
get a new spirit; you quit your drinking. You get a new spirit you quit your
lying. You get a new spirit; you can do most anything with that spirit, but
that isn't what God's talking about. "A
new spirit," He said, "I'll give you..." Now watch, "I'll
give you a new heart and a new spirit." Why, He'd have to give you a new spirit to live
for Him. Why, you couldn't even live
with yourself with the spirit you did have. You couldn't live with your
neighbor. You couldn't associate with the next man on the next corner. You
couldn't associate with these Christians. Why, you'd have had an awful spirit.
So He has to give you a new spirit. "I'll give you a new heart, a
new spirit." Now, watch. "And
I will put My Spirit in you." There's the difference. "I'll
put My Spirit in you." And there's where you find it so
hard that you go down to church and you get a different concept. "You know
what? I believe I ought to go to church."
Why so hard to live Christian life 57-0303A P:25 The
old church needs to be born again. Now, He never said, "I'll polish up the
old heart." He said, "I'll take the old, stony heart out of you
and put a new one in." That new heart sets right in the
middle of your innermost being. The
heart is the occupant place of the soul. They didn't know that in science
till not long ago. The old critical science used to say, "God
made a mistake when He said, 'As a man believeth in his heart.' The
Bible was wrong.” Said, "There's
no mental faculties in the heart. You believe with your head."
I'm a literalist. I don't want to spiritualize any of the Word. I want to say
just what the Word says. I believe It that way. The Bible said, "It's
of no private interpretation." And if God would've meant
"head," He'd have said, "head." But He said, "heart.”
So when we find out that a few years ago (about three years ago now, two years
ago it's been), on the headlines of the Chicago paper, there come an article,
that they found a little compartment in the human heart (It isn't in the animal
heart, or no other heart but the human.), a little place where there's not even
a blood cell. And they say it is the--the apartment--compartment there that
occupies, the soul. So God was right.
Now,
remember Brother Branham taught us that the Soul resides in a small cavity in
the center of the heart. He said that’s what the scripture teaches. And from PP 37 Inter veil 56-0121 He said, Notice. There is an
intellectual faith. And there's a faith
that comes from the heart. But let me tell you something,
God doesn’t look at your intellectual Faith, that is just reasoning. And that
is the reason why so many fall short of the Glory of God. His Values, His
Opinions, His Judgments. Because they have their own thoughts about it rather
than what he said about it.
Why some people can't keep victory 57-0324 P:61 Now,
notice. A new heart, a new spirit, and then I'll put My Spirit within you. Now,
and you'll keep all my statutes and all my judgments. When that mainspring
begins to tick, when the Stone that's rejected, when the love of God is brought back amongst the people of God, then
you're going to see the church of God all fellowshipping with one another
without any friction at all. Now, you remember when the servants in the
Bible, they said, "Our Lord delays his coming." They begin
to devour one another and bite and fuss and stew. And
the Lord come and caught them that way. They had lamps but no oil in them. See?
And when they did, they were cast out into outer darkness. Brother,
why take a substitute, when the genuine's here at hand? Why would you take
something different when the real thing is here at hand? Then when you get that Mainspring working within you,
Christ, the love of God, in your heart, working within you, then it will begin
to express these kind of a tick: Love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, gentleness, patience, faith, mercy.
Oh, my. It'll just tick right with those.
Why some people can't keep victory 57-0324 P:51 Now,
many times we try to make that thing just say... Well, as soon as you get the
new spirit, you quit your stealing, you quit your lying, things like that. You
say, "Oh, hallelujah, I got it." And you find out the first time anyone crosses your path a little bit, oh
mercy, what a difference. Sure. You
blow up like a frog eating buckshot. But let me tell you, brother. That's
the reason you never got God's Spirit. That's true. "Oh," you say,
"he stepped on my toe; I'll
just not put up with that." All right. That shows what you got in you. That's
true. "I'll put a new spirit in you, and then I'll
put My Spirit in you." Now, the heart is in the center of the emotions of the human being. Your
heart is the middle of you. That's exactly right. So God puts a new heart in the middle of the old man, then He puts a new
spirit in the middle of the new spirit, or heart, and puts His Spirit in the
middle of the new spirit.
Notice that brother Branham speaks of our hearts
like a main spring in a watch. Well, in a way it is, because the mainspring
goes tick, tick, tick, and our hearts go pump, pump, pump. But if the main
spring is old and rusty it will not wind up, nor will it tick, tick, tick. And
if the heart is so hard and indifferent and inflexible, neither will it pump
your blood bring life to the body. And so we see that the ministry of the
Elijah of Malachi four is to restore the hearts of the children, to turn them
to the Faith of the Fathers. And if they are not willing to turn then they are
dead. But seeing that God promises a ministry that would turn our hearts like
you turn the dial on your watch to wind up the mainspring, it shows He has come
to a people with a flexible heart. For if we are not flexible in our hearts we
become rigid.
And they say when a person dies the first thing that
takes place in the body is the person becomes rigid in their heart.
In his sermon, Trying to
do God a service 65-1127B P:43 brother Branham prayed, “Dear
God, we are a grateful people this morning, but yet, Lord, we're living in a dark
world that there isn't a one of us here this morning, Father, but what feels
that we want a closer walk with You, we
want that touch of You in our lives that can tender us, and make us flexible so
that You can change us at anytime, and mold us into sons and daughters of God.
That's our purpose here, Father, that's my only objective that I have is to try
to live before You and to get Your Word and speak It back to the men and women
that, not to be a different person, but to try to honor Him Who's give me Life.
Grant it, Lord.”
Why so hard to live Christian life 57-0303A P:24 That
is the principle of a revival: a people who are flexible, not to an
intellectual talk, but to the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of a
baptism, that gives away to the Word of God and rejoicing and is flexible in the anointing of the
Spirit. What does it do to the Church? It
loosens up the roots of the Church, and makes it go over, and wraps the
roots around Jones' church, and Jones wraps the roots around this church. And
the first thing you know, together they are one big united forest together. All
the devils in hell couldn't shake them then. But that's the trouble. That's
what it is. Now, notice the Scriptural order it says here; "I will give you a new heart." Not a
polished up one, not one that's kindly a old... The old lady don't need a
face-lifting; she needs a birth. That's what she needs.
Getting in the spirit 61-0428 P:30 That's what's the matter
today with too many people's experiences: too dry and stiff. We need something flexible so it can--the
wind comes down, it can blow it, and rush it around, and pull it around, and
make it grow, get life into it. I'd rather be a little green and be flexible to
the Holy Spirit, so I can give to it instead of standing making a mournful
noise, like a funeral service, when it's blowing across me. Saying, "Days
of miracles is past. No such a thing as Divine healing." That's a funeral
service. Oh, them young trees, though,
when they're flexible and can give to the Spirit, and the Spirit begin to move
them like a rushing wind, filling them full of God's goodness. Oh, that's the kind of a life. It may be a
green bunch, but it, yes, it's a bunch that's got life in it. That's good. And
if anything it hasn't got life in it, it's dead. That's scientifically known
that it's dead.
Expectation 61-0205M P:2 And now, you can learn
another thing on the desert that I think would kind of pay us to look at--all
those cactus needles. When I... You see those needles, and I don't believe
there'd be a machine could sharpen one that sharp. My son could say
"amen" to that, 'cause we had to pick them out of him all day
yesterday. And now, if that little cactus was, was in my country, it would
unfold and be a beautiful soft leaf, because what it is, is a leaf rolled up.
And nature's sharpened it that way. That's the way it protects itself. It might
be good for us to think of that just a moment. Now, put water on this desert
and leave it here for several years, that cactus would come up with leaves on
it, would be soft. And that's the way the churches get sometimes when we run
without spiritual water. We just roll up real tight and sticking one another.
But put the water on it, it softens out, and
flexible, and... I think that's what
we have churches for, is where we can have spiritual water that keeps us sweet
and soft so that God can use us; and flexible, not sticking one another,
but just laying softly and sweetly upon the other fellow's shoulder, and each
one of us bearing one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
God's provided approach to fellowship 60-0630 P:31 Now,
you cannot do that by your creeds. You cannot... Creeds will never satisfy a hungry soul. They're all right. I've
nothing against them, but what we need today is Divine fellowship. There's only one way to get it: through the
Blood, into the Shekinah Glory. In the Old Testament, the high priest went in
once a year, once a year, and that, bearing the blood before him. He was
anointed. Oh, I like to study that, how he anointed with the anointing oil. I
believe David cried, "How sweet it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity. It's like the precious anointing oil that was on the beard of Aaron, it
run all the way to the hems of his garment." Oil makes things run easy,
soft. You know, when a man gets really anointed and ready for God, he's just flexible. You know when he's not, he sets back real
stiff, you know,…
Why so hard to live Christian life 57-0303A P:23 So
you see, brother, the Holy Ghost wasn't sent for starch, stiff, dead intellectuals; It was sent for free born again men and
women in the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit wasn't sent to the intellectual. It's sent to those who are humble hearts
and contrite spirits, no matter if they're educated or not educated, whether they're scrubs, or
whatever they are. They're
flexible to the Holy Spirit. "
Why so hard to live Christian life 57-0303A P:16 When
the Holy Spirit begins to say that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,
and forever, and that falls in an old, dry church hide, you know what happens?
They just blow up. That's all. If you say the baptism of the Holy Spirit was
promised on the day of Pentecost to you, and to your children, and to them that
is far off, even as many as the Lord, our God shall call, the old dry skin just
bursts open, and you lose your sermon. That's right. It doesn't do any good. And I'm ashamed that Pentecostals skins are
drying like that. That's right. Come back to the Word. Notice. Now, a new skin... He said, "New wine is put into new bottles,"
and the new skin has oil in it: flexible.
And then when the Holy Spirit comes down and says, "The baptism of the
Holy Spirit is the same today as it ever was, Divine Healing is the same as it
ever was," that new wine begins to spread out and the skin gives with it. Every time the Word of God is preached in
Its power, the new skin will holler, "Amen." It'll give away. So you see the wisdom in a new bottle for new
wine. On the day of Pentecost there was one hundred and twenty new skins laying
on the floor. Now, you find out the old skins was cast outside. But when God
came from the heavens and filled these new skins, they got new Life and begin
to bounce all over the floor, even bounce out the door, and through the windows
into the streets, new skins with new bottles, new Wine, Holy Ghost Wine. Pour
It out, full of Life, just stretching and giving and... "Oh, Brother John,
I don't care what denomination you belong to I love you anyhow." There you
are.
Jesus told us in Mark
2:22 And
no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the
bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine
must be put into new bottles. To put
new unfermented wine that has life in it into a skin that is old and dried out,
wouldn't show any wisdom, because when the wine begins to ferment and to
stretch, the skin would burst, and you would lose both bottle and wine.
True vine and the false vine 55-0607 P:53 I
want to be flexible to the Spirit of
God, that wherever it moves me, I can go through the streets with joy,
happiness in my soul.
And so in closing I would like to read something
brother Branham said, because it really applies not only to all Christians who
have lost their first love, and their flexibility in the Holy Ghost, but it
applies to even in this Message. From his sermon, Divine
healing 54-1219M P:31 brother Branham said, “All them, and yet, having their heads set
strong on one solid thing that
they'd been taught, and not willing
to be flexible to the Gospel, the
whole power of God, they failed to
recognize the Lord Jesus Christ. There He was, and the whole Scripture
spoke of Him coming, but they failed to
recognize it, because they had their own theology. "We are the church.
And if anything comes, it comes through us.
I will restore 54-0809A P:54 "I
will restore," saith the Lord! "I will restore all the days of the
caterpillar was. I'll restore all the blessings the
Lutheran had, the Baptists had, the Methodists had, I will restore, saith the
Lord." A tree that won't stand stiff,
but when the Holy Ghost falls they're flexible, just... We might be green, but we're flexible,
brother. Hallelujah. That's one thing about us. We may not be Doctors of Divinity and have all the theology, but we're
green enough to bend to the power of God and rejoice and have a real good
old fashion Holy Ghost meeting, is what we need today, brother, more than
anything else, sweeping the world. Amen! I thought, "Lord, truly, You will
restore, saith the Lord." I thought, "But what You shaking them
for?" The Lord said to me, "You see, if I shake them, it loosens them up at the roots so they can reach down
and get a better hold." Amen.
That’s why every where Paul went there was no small
stir. Why? because it was the Holy Ghost stirring the nations. And that same
Holy Ghost is still stirring the nations. When I was in
Brother Branham said in his sermon, Whatever he saith unto you do it 54-0722 P:10 Sometimes
it might seem like, if you see something different. We got a regular routine,
Christianity has; we just have to stay right in that routine or we're not
Christians. We have to believe just this a way or we're not Christians. That's
too bad we get that way. See? We must be
flexible to the Spirit. Let the Spirit of God lead us. Many things are
strange.
I will restore 54-0620A P:58 It's flexible; when the
Spirit moves, it moves with it. Flexible..
End time the 54-0307A P:75 I thought, "Lord, how
are You going to restore?" (when
the rain comes, it restores the dried out, stiff backed stems, and restores
them to flexible, thirsting stems that want to drink in all they can get of the
spirit.) I was
sitting there on my horse looking around, him starting around. I got him to
stop in a few minutes, I said, "Lord, how will You restore?" And the
first thing you know, the wind come
again. And I noticed that down beneath these old trees come up a bunch of
little trees, and the wind hit them. They were flexible. I said, "If that ain't a Holy Ghost revival, just
stepping and frolicking in the woods..." Hallelujah. Praise Him for
the Spirit of God moving. When the Holy
Ghost comes like a rushing, mighty wind, there is an undergrowth coming up
called in the eyes of the world backwash. Hallelujah.
Resurrection of Lazarus 53-1122 P:67 'I will restore, saith the Lord.'"
Yes, sir. Nobody can't say they're not churches; But, brother, the life's eat
out of them. What the Methodists left,
the Baptists eat; and what the Baptists left, the Presbyterians eaten; what the
Presbyterians left, the Lutherans eaten. Brother, they got it down, one taken out healing; one taken out
speaking in tongues; the other one taken out all these other things, till they
haven't got nothing but a big old starchy thing that don't believe a thing the
Bible says. Hallelujah. That's right.
Why I am a holy roller 53-0830A P:67 I want to be flexible. Wherever the Lord leads, that's where I
want to go. What He says, I want to do. If He sends the power of the Holy
Ghost, I want to believe it. If He says
He still wants me to do this, I want to do it. No matter what the world
says, I'm following Jesus Christ. There you are.
How faith acts 52-0816 P:49 I must be flexible in His hands, and do just what God leads
me to do. Philip would've stayed in Samaria, very happily would he have stayed.
What a revival he was having, preaching, healing, demons screaming, and people
confessing their sins. And God told him, "Now, I'd like you to go out to
the desert to meet one colored man coming down from
God providing healing 54-0719E P:16 That's what's the matter with
the church today. The water supply is
cut off because of our grumbling and doubting. If you'll go into a desert,
you'll find that every bush that you come up against, will perhaps, have thorns
and stickers on it, because it's raised in a dry land without water. You take
the same variety of bush and put it in a land of moisture, it'll be soft,
because it gets plenty of water. And you
take a church that's always fussing and stewing about this is days of
miracles is passed, just remember they're
in a desert and out of the water. And a
church that's loving, and humble, and flexible, and feels, and goes with the
Word of God, remember they're living by the fountain that never runs dry. David
said, "Blessed is the man whose trust is in the
Lord, setteth not in the seat of the scornful, walketh in the way of sinners,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord; and he shall be like a tree that
planted by the rivers of water. (See?) Whatever he doeth, it shall prosper. His
leaves will not fail. He will bring forth his fruit in season."