Spoken Word No 56
Inheriting the promises
Pastor Brian Kocourek
HEBREWS 6:10 For God [is] not unrighteous to forget your
work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have
ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the
full assurance of hope unto the end: 12
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and
patience inherit the promises. 13 For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC 65-0221E 1 Let us bow our heads for prayer. Dear heavenly Father, we
hear this song of "Only Believe"; it makes us to know that that's all we have to do
to inherit any of God's promises, just believe them. For it is written,
"All things are possible to them that
believe." As we cry as the man who had the
epileptic child, "Lord, I believe, help
thou my unbelief!"... We thank Thee for Thy
great power, Thy great revelation of Thyself to us in this last days.
It makes our heart most happy and joyful to know that we have come in
contact with the living God, Who vindicates it right back in physical,
material evidences as He did in the days gone by and as He has promised
for this day. We're so grateful to Thee our God. This dark day where no
one seems to know which a-way to go, we're so glad that we found the safety
zone, the retreat. Now, bless us tonight, Lord, as we speak of Thy Word. And
the promises that's given to us, may we (1) nurture them in our
heart, (2) cherish them with reverence, and (3) obey them with real
godly discipline. For we ask it
in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Paul Said, Romans 7:24-25
"Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So
then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of
sin..
Then in I CORINTHIANS 15:57
Paul said, "But thanks [be] to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 ¶ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye
stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye
know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Then we must admit that the victory was given to us,
and if it has been given to us, then it is a gift, and if a gift then it
belongs to us whether we choose to abide in it or not, it is still ours.
In fact, as we examine the promises that Brother
Branham spoke of in his opening
statement I want you to notice again what he said.
Dear heavenly Father, we hear this song of
"Only Believe"; it makes us to know that that's
all we have to do to inherit any of God's promises, just believe them. For
it is written, "All
things are possible to them that believe." As we cry as the man who had the epileptic child,
"Lord, I believe,
help thou my unbelief!"...
ROMANS 9:15 For
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then [it is]
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
sheweth mercy.
And this is what we believe for, a God, not just a
God, but a God Who is our Father, A God Who is Great and full of mercy, to show
us mercy. Notice Brother Branham said, we hear this
song of "Only Believe"; it makes us to know that that's all we have to do
to inherit any of God's promises, just believe them..
And remember this, "Only
those who are ordained to eternal Life can believe". Let's turn in
our Bibles to ACTS 13:48b "and as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed."
Did you know that Jesus said the same thing? In Matthew 9:29
He said, "According to your faith be it unto
you.".
And what is Faith? It is a revelation, something that
has been revealed to you. And did you know that if it has been revealed to you,
then it belongs to you? Certainly does. That's what God Himself said in Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret
[things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed
[belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words
of this law.
Therefore the things which are revealed belong to us,
and that is they are meant to produce something in us. He said, "that [we] may do all the words of this law".
Now the word "do"
used here does not necessitate works, but it speaks rather of observing, or to
attend to in order to acquire, and thus to step forward and to act upon, as
brother Branham preached the Message, "Hearing,
Recognizing and Acting upon the Word of God." And if we truly
do "hear", then we will truly "recognize", and if we truly
recognize, then we will truly "act upon" what we hear and recognize.
And the acting upon shows that we have truly recognized the Word for what it
truly is. And that makes the Word
manifested to us in a reality, not just some sort of intellectual conception to
debate upon.
That is why brother Branham could say, "God interprets His Own Word by bringing it to
pass." And then if you
actually see that Word come to pass, and you know it is the word which God had
promised in His Word, then when you see it, it is revealed to you and when it
is revealed to you, it is yours. Because God promised us that whatsoever is
revealed belongs to you and to your children.
Then let's look again at brother Branham's statement
that he makes in his opening prayer. He
said, Dear heavenly Father, we hear this song of
"Only Believe"; it makes us to know that that's all we have to do to inherit
any of God's promises, just believe them. For it is written, "All things are possible to them that believe." As we cry as the man who had the epileptic child,
"Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief!"...
Now, what we see him telling us here is that if God
said it, and we believe it, then it is ours. And notice how He clarifies this
by quoting the man who had the epileptic child. He said, Lord, I believe, help though my unbelief. Even
when we seem to have our doubts, it is not your doubts that you must look to
but we must focus upon what God said, and aask God to help us through our
doubts.
Let me use an example of what I mean from the
scriptures.
Let's turn in our Bibles to MATTHEW 14:22 ¶ And straightway Jesus constrained his
disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while
he sent the multitudes away.23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he
went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was
there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with
waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus
went unto them, walking on the sea. 26
And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus
spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter
answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. Now, notice, there's the
promise… Jesus said, COME. And when Peter was come
down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Notice,
he walked, it didn't say he took a step or two, he actually walked on the
water. How many minutes did he walk? How many steps did he take? It really
doesn't matter. He walked the Bible tells us. He walked on the water to go to
Jesus. 30 But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to
sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Now, he didn’t go down instantly, for if he had, he
would not have been able to blurt out Lord save me. No, I believe his sinking
was gradual. Like the waters turning from ice under his feet to snow and as he
began to sink, he cried out to the Lord to rescue him from drowning, and notice
what took place then. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched
forth [his] hand, and caught him,Immediately Jesus reached out and
caught a hold of Peter. Jesus didn't wait until he had gone under 3 times, like
a bobbing buoy. But Jesus immediately grabbed a hold of him. The
Then after the rescue, comes the rebuke. and said unto him,
O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come
into the ship, the wind ceased. Notice, the wind ceased once the
walk was over. Once the test was over, the winds stopped. 33 Then they that
were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son
of God.
Even when Peter seemed to have faith to walk on water,
he did ok until he got his eyes off the promise and onto the waves. Then he lost his faith and when he
lost his faith he began to sink, but notice that Jesus was right there to reach
out and take a hold of his hand and help him to walk again in the promise of
God.
HEBREWS 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of [our]
faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)
Now, how can we apply this in our lives?
I JOHN 1:9 If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our]
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make
him a liar, and his word is not in us.
JAMES 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry?
let him sing psalms.14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of
the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of
the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith
shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess [your] faults one
to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17 Elias was a man subject to
like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it
rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18 And he
prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
19 Brethren, if any of you do err from
the truth, and one convert him; 20 Let
him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall
save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.