Spoken
Word no. 63
God
working in you to will and to do
Brian Kocourek
This morning I would
like to read from Philippians 2: 13 for our text. For it is God which worketh (oe
energizes) in you both 1. to
will and 2. to do of
his good pleasure. So it is God that worketh in us all if so be that
we are born again, and have surrendered our vessels to Him.
Now, Wednesday evening we spoke on “God energizing His Word in your body”, and I
believe the Holy Spirit was here in a very special way that evening. My prayer
is that he will be here this morning in the same way. Now, during our watch
night and communion service we spoke from EPHESIANS 3:19 where the Apostle Paul said, “And to know the
love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh (energizes) in us, 21 Unto him be glory in
the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Now, we noticed here that
Paul is speaking of how that God works his work in our beings. It is Him doing
it, and we are but passive recipients to what He is doing. And yet it is not
just Him doing, but you are given credit for the doing, because God is using
your body, your ears, your lips, your hands, you body to do his work.
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Brother Branham said in his sermon, JEHOVAH JIREH
57-0106 63 “Now, the vine doesn't bear fruit, does it? Who was He
talking to? The church. "I'm the Vine. You are the branches." The branch is
energized by the life of the Vine; therefore Jesus has no lips tonight on earth, but mine and yours. He has no eyes but mine and yours.
He has no hands but mine and yours.
He energizes us, and we bring forth His Life, as He brings it through us. Whether
it's preaching the Gospel by lip, or
it's seeing vision by eye, whether
it's whatever it is, laying hands on the sick, whatever it
is, it's Christ working through
the branches of His Church, every
office literally electrified by His Presence.
“Every
office literally electrified by His Presence.” Electrified… that speaks of power
entering in to make possible. And notice the conduit is the very presence of
God, His personal presence here among. And He always uses the conduit of His
Word to make Himself known to us.
Now, this morning I
would like to continue in this manner but to show you the other side of this
which we are speaking of, God electrifying his church to be His lip, His ears,
His hands, His legs, etc. because Paul was talking about the church in EPHESIANS 3:19 when
he said, “And to
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, (Oh, to know the
Love of Christ, the emptying out of our eldest brother who did so in order that
you might receive your inheritance. He didn’t have to do that, you know. He
already received His when He was transfigured on
In Philippians 2:
5 The apostle Paul told us. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus:” and the NIV translation says, “Let the attitude that was in Christ be in
you.”
Now, how was the Love of Christ manifested to us? Christ manifested
that love by what he did, not what he said. He suffered and died to self before
he died on that cross. And He did that for your behalf, not His.)
Now, let me read to you what James the half brother of
Jesus said concerning the manifesting of
our faith through our actions which we do. You know there are people who call
them Christian’s and yet will say that James was a legalist. Listen, either you
believe this is God’s Word or it isn’t. And if it isn’t then rip it out of your
bible right now, and flee it my brother. But I believe that James is just as
much a part of god’s Word as Paul’s Epistles are. And they do not conflict with
each other either.
In no way is what James said contrary to what Paul
said.
Now, Paul said, you are justified by Faith. But what
is this faith and how is it recognized by God that you have it? What is the
evidence of your faith?
Look at what he said in Romans 5: 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ: So our justification which Paul said
comes through our faith gives us peace with God.
And then we read, Romans 3: 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the
deeds of the law. And so the Baptist will say, I’m not a legalist, I am
justified by my confession. Hah!! Your confession means nothing. It’s His
confession that counts, not ours. He said if you confess me before man I will
confess you before my Father. And confession means to say the same thing. So is
there confession saying the same thing when they say, Bless God I’m a Baptist?
I don’t think so, show me where Jesus called Himself anything other than “The
Son of God’. But what does Paul means
without the deeds of the law. Many will say, like the Baptist says,
The same Paul that said, Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law. And this same
Prophet, Apostle and Teacher to the Gentiles also said, Hebrews 11: 17 By faith Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son, he offered up his son, he didn’t
just talk about it. He didn’t just confess it and say by my confession I show
that I believe. He did something. He got the wood, he got the knife ready in
his hand. He tied down his only son, the love of his Life, and he would have
surely plunged that knife into the heart of his first born, and at that time
only born by promise, if the angel had not intervened in the last possible
second. Right up to the very second before plunging that knife into his son, he
did not waver. Oh, God if only we could show forth that same actualization of
reality in our Faith. I don’t even think it takes a second for a man to plunge
that knife in that downward action. So his faith was manifested in his
Obedience to the Word of God.
Again the Apostle Paul said,
in Hebrews 11: 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go
out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, he obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Look, he did not
even know where God wanted Him to go. He just started walking knowing with whom
he was walking. That is what Faith is, Faith is the Substance, Faith is the
Person, God Himself.
The same word “hupostasis” translated as the word
“substance” in Hebrews
11:1 is the same word translated as the very “Person” of God in Hebrews 1:3.
And that Faith according to Paul and James is manifested by what we do with
what we know.
In James 1:25 we
read, But whoso looketh (that’s passive faith) whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
So he is not a forgetful hearer, because he shows that
he really did hear and understand by what he does. And his blessing comes in
the deed that he does. James says, this man shall be blessed in his deed. There’s
where your blessing comes from, not by what you know but by what you do. The
same with tithes and offerings. It’s not enough to say I believe it. God taught
us that in the doing of it, he will bless us and pour out His blessings upon
us. Now just by saying, “I believe every word”, but by applying it.
Brother Branham said, believing the Token is not
enough, you must apply it.
Token the 63-0901M P:113 Notice, they were not just yet come together to talk about the message. They come together to apply the blood,
to apply the token. That's what you must do. Pastor Neville, and to
this congregation, trustees, deacons, to you brethren, it's time that we laid
aside all the foolishness of the world, time we laid aside everything else.
We've seen enough now, that we're positive, sure, and the Token must be applied. Without
it, you're going to perish; you must perish. That is the only thing. Oh, don't come together, say, "I believe
it." Get beneath it. Get into it. How to do it? By one Spirit we're
baptized into the Body of Jesus Christ. Everybody believe with all your heart.
See? He was not responsible for any out from beneath it.
Token the 64-0208 P:41 They must have believed they were safe in
that great wall where they were at, their great big family, their great big
place. Many people today... I say this through reverence and respect... Many
people today say, "I belong to the
biggest church there is in the city. My mother belonged to that church.
It's one of the oldest churches." That don't have one thing to do with it.
The Token has got to be applied. They
might've thought that big thing they lived in, that big system, that was going
to save them. But we find out every
thing that didn't show that token perished in the city. So will it be at
the coming of the Son of man. He's done said so.
Notice he said, “every
thing that didn't show that token perished”…so it’s got to be
displayed. It has to be manifested in your flesh. Not hidden away in your mind,
but on display. Why do you think God answered so many prayers of William
Branham? He lived a life that was pleasing to his Father. Jesus said in John 15: 7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you”.
If my words abides in you, then it’s got to show my
brother and sister. If you Abide in My word and My word abides or is living in
you, then ask what you will, but until then don’t bother asking because you ask
amiss to heap it upon your own lusts. Look,
it’s got to show outwardly or you haven’t got it. Even brother Branham said to
brother Vayle, “the highest form of Love is doing for others even when you
don’t feel like it”. So just do it, and leave the results up to
God.
One plants, one waters but
God brings the increase. Just be his feet and go where he wants you to go, be
his lips and say what He wants you to say, be his eyes and look out for the
brethren’s needs, then be his hands and do what He wants you to do. Let Him use
your hands to lay upon the sick and they shall be healed.
From the Token the 63-1128E P:36brother Branham said, If the token, or the blood, in the time of
And if the world does not
see Christ in you the hope of Glory, then The Token is not displayed in your
life. Not if you scratch my back I will scratch yours. Any carnal hypocrite
will agree to that. But if Christ is displayed in your body, using your lips,
your hands, your ears, and your feet, then I will pass over. The organization minded says, if you don’t go
to my church you really don’t believe. If you don’t go to my church I won’t
support your efforts. And that’s churchianity, not Christianity. The Token
which is “Christ among us” must be on display in your life. And how do you
display the Presence of God on the scene? By what you say with your lips and
what you do in your actions, and not by whose in your camp. How did Jesus
manifested The Token, which was God Himself dwelling in His mortal being? By
doing and saying only what was pleasing to “The Token”, which was
God Himself. And how did God react to the manifested life of the Son? He said, “This is my beloved
Son in Whom I am well pleased, or in whom I am pleased to dwell in.” God was so pleased he adopted His Son.
In his sermon Faith 61-0813 pp. 7 brother Branham said, “The Philippian
jailer, being a centurion (which to lose his, his prisoners was to be... His
own life would have to pay for the prisoner's.), he pulled his sword and was
going to commit suicide, when Paul run forth and said, "Do yourself no harm; we're all here!" And this centurion had...?... some impressions
they'd had about Paul and them. They might have sung hymns; they might have
testified or done something. But whatever it was, they knowed that they were holy men. They knowed there was something different about those men, because
quickly he asked, "What must I do to be
saved? What must I do to be saved?" Now,
Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou and thy house shall be saved." 8 Well
now, if believing on the Lord Jesus Christ... that don't mean that his salvation would save the house, but if
he's got enough faith in God for his own salvation, he can have the same faith
for his house; and his house will have to come in. See? It's the same thing. Same
as Job did, as I said the other night down at
Now, brother Branham said in
his sermon The Token 64-0308 P:55, Then when
we pray, we must have the Token to present with our prayers,(listen, that’s what
Job did. He offered the same sacrifice to God for His kids that he did for
Himself. He didn’t just talk it, he did it for them. Now, listen carefully what
brother Branham is telling us here. He says not only should we pray, but when we
do pray, you’ve got to have the Token displayed which is a life surrendered to
God’s very presence here among us. There’s got to be evidence in your Life that
you do believe.)
as I said, and now believe for our self
and apply the Token to the whole family like in Egypt, Jericho, or either
in Acts
16:31. We find out that Paul told the Roman
centurion, say, "Believe thou, and all thy house shall be saved." Apply it to
your family. If you got a unsaved child, lay the Token right on top of him,
say, "Lord God, I claim him."
Stay right there. If you got a mother or a loved one that's lost, lay that Token on them, say, "Lord God, I claim it." Move
out, of all the worldly trash, out of your house, get ready for it. Burn up your
shorts. Throw your card tables away. Get rid of your cigarettes. Dump
your unbelief and your church papers in the trash can where they
belong. Amen. Then you're getting
ready. Then what do? Then
apply the Token in prayer, with real evidence, real faith. (Notice
brother Branham said, apply it with real evidence that you believe it.) Apply it, apply it with confidence. When you apply the Token, know that you're cleaned up. (know
that you are cleaned up, then
you can have confidence that God will hear your prayer. But if you are in sin,
and won’t clean yourself up, then how do you expect God to hear your prayer
when you are showing him by your very life that you don’t believe Him. As long
as you don’t have the evidence of your belief in your life, you are guaranteed
that He will not hear your prayer. That’s James 5 a double minded man is
guaranteed that he will receive nothing. Then brother Branham quotes 1John 3:21"If our hearts
condemn us not, then we have our request.)
1 John 3: 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then
have we confidence toward God. Now back to what brother Branham was saying, "As long as you people are doing them things
that's wrong, how you going to ask God to do anything for you when you know
you're wrong? That's the reason we just stagger up and stagger back. I'm
not saying this to hurt. I'm saying this to straighten out, to get things
right. How you going to build it upon the chars of a
So if you have faith it must
be displayed like Abraham displayed his faith in God’s Word.
In James 2:14 we
read. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a
man say he hath faith, and have not works? can
faith save him? (now that is an
interesting question? Can your faith save you? Did Faith or just believing what
God said save Noah? Or did his response to what God told Him save him and his
family? Did just believing God called Moses save the Egyptian people? Or did
doing what God showed him to do save the people. Did Jesus just believing He
was the Son of God save us? Or did His obedience unto death save us?)
James 2:17
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. You know people have
made comments to me from many corners of the Message around the world, and what
they told me is that they thought what we had was dead, and useless because it
was not showing in the lives of the brethren who were associated with the
doctrine. You all know the criticism has been, “I would rather have the right spirit and the
wrong doctrine than a wrong spirit with the right doctrine”. And
that argument was used to hold onto their unbelief, but now that argument has
been taken away. They had just considered what we believe was worthless because
it wasn’t producing anything for others. But now, I’m getting comments from even
some of the greatest skeptics, who have opposed us for years. They are saying
they are no longer consider our doctrine to be dead, but they see that it is alive
in Christ Jesus.
Look, brothers and sisters, if you believe that the
Judge is here then act like it. If you believe that the Fountain of Grace and
Mercy has come down, then live like it. If you have the living waters of life flowing
forth in your own life then let it bubble up and flow out to others. In
Revelations we hear “The Spirit and the Bride say come and drink of this water of
life”. They don’t hide what they got under a bushel basket. They
don’t shut out all others. They don’t act like they are the only ones who are
supposed to know and understand, they want everyone to have this tremendous
Revelation of Christ. They know the Doctrine of Christ is for all sons, and
they are willing to reach out and help out every son that cometh to God,
because they know they are brothers in a very large family of brethren. And
they will reflect what they have in their life and in their speech. We know our
Father has no hands but our hands, and no lips but our lips, and no feet but
our feet that have been shod with the preparation of his Gospel. And knowing
this, we go where He tells us to go, and do what he wants for us to do, and say
only what he wants said, because we have
surrendered our own will over to His will.
Then when they see that Token on display living itself
out in our lives, then they will come if there is any coming to be done. Brothers
from every continent and some even who have opposed us, have told me that what
we are doing is a real testimony to what we believe. They have said, what we
have shown the world brings a reality to what we believe, and until we began
doing, they didn’t even think we believed what we were proclaiming, that Christ
is here, because they didn’t see it in the lives of those claiming it.
So when they used speech
like, you can say what you want and you can be defensive about it, or you can
see, you know, I have been the son of God that I should have been. Look how
brother Branham took his criticisms. He didn’t fight back. David, when the man
came up to him and smote him in the face, one of his soldiers said, “Shall I
let the head of this dog stay on his shoulders? And he drew his sword to cut
off the man’s head, and David said, “Don’t do it, put your sword away.
Then he said those words
that only Christ living in Him could say, “put away your sword, God told him to do it”. And isn’t
that exactly what the rejected King Jesus told Peter centuries later?
James 2:18 a
man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy
works, and I will shew thee my faith by
my works. Now, what James is saying is
that you can not show your faith without showing it visibly in what you do. Oh,
you might talk it but you need to walk it. Brother Branham said your actions
speak louder in heaven than your words.
John taught us that we must
walk in the Light. He said, “if we walk in the light as he is in the Light, then we have
fellowship with one another and the blood of jesus Cleanses us from allour
unbelief. He didn’t say, if we talk about the light as he is in the light, he
said if we walk in it with Him while he is walking we are walking, because our
legs are his legs, and our hands are his hands and our kips are his lips and
our ears are his ears. He said, Walking.
Then as he walks we walk. Acts 17: 28 For in
him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your
own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Flashing red light 63-0623E P:88 Did you ever hear the old saying, "Actions speak louder than words"?
Well then, does it? Action speaks louder than words. No matter what you're saying, your life speaks so loud till they can't
hear your testimony. As I said this morning, just jump as high as you live. See? Your action speaks louder than your
word. And you just might as well come out and say it, because your own words
speak,... No matter what it is, your
actions speaks what you are. If you speak anything different than what you
really are, it becomes hypocrisy. Jesus said, "You hypocrites, how can you say good things,
when out of the heart speaketh the mouth?" See, they were saying something they
didn't mean.
Convinced then concerned 62-1125M P:31 And then, this same class of people say that they believe that Jesus is coming
in this generation. Don't you know, people
are not completely blind? Why, your own testimony bears record. Your actions speaks louder than your words.
How can you say that you believe Jesus is coming, and want to put up a million
dollar building? And missionaries,
true, that hasn't got shoes on their
feet? And because they don't belong
to a certain organization they're not supported. And then say that we
believe the coming of the Lord is at hand, "He's going to come in this generation." People know better
than that. See? They're not convinced: that's all. They don't believe it. They
just take it as their tradition. Somebody says it, "Oh, Glory to God.
Jesus is coming pretty soon." The next one says, "Glory to God. Jesus
is coming pretty soon." If you
believed that, there'd be the biggest cry in this city you ever heard. It's
a tradition. It's not a reality to
the people. It doesn't pan out. It proves it doesn't. They're not convinced that He's coming
in this age, and not convinced again
that He is with them, not thoroughly convinced.
O, what an indictment
against those who claim to believe His Presence is here and by their own life
they deny it. They haven’t faith in what they are saying. Faith is the evidence
of things we do not see, and yet by living and abiding in your faith, you are
actually showing that it is there. A man that says he believes and there is no
living evidence showing itself in that man’s life? It shows me he doesn’t believe
what he claims to believe. His theology says “the Supreme Judge is here” and he spends his idle time playing
games showing no concern for others who are hungering and thirsting for the
bread of Life? Shows me he isn’t eating it either. Just slopping up discarded
bread down in the mud, like a pig pushing his nose through the mud to find a
kernel of seed. Shows he doesn’t have what he claims to have. He can say he
believes he is a brother in a vast family of brethren, but unless he is willing
to help his younger brothers, he’s not much of a brother is he? His lack of
evidence in his life is an indictment against his profession.
James 2: 20 But
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou
how faith wrought with his works,
and by works was faith made perfect?
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith
only. 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Now, that is “Thus Saith the Lord”,
brothers and sisters. That is “Thus Saith God’s own Word”. Argue with that
all you will but your arguments will prove idle on the day of judgment. Now, from this sermon of brother Branham’s we
are studying, The Spoken Word is the original seed
62-0318E P:175 he said, Here is the secret: the
Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what He wants done
with the Word, and She does it in His Name. She has THUS SAITH THE
LORD. Then it is germitized;
so the Holy Spirit waters it until it is
grown and serves its purpose. They
do only His will. (Amen. I'll believe that.) No one can persuade them
different. They have THUS SAITH THE
LORD, or they keep still. Then they
will do the works of God. For it
is Himself in them, continuing His Word to fulfill as He did complete in
His day. All things when He was here, He did not complete all when He was here,
for it was not time yet.
But it is time now,
and He is here to finish that which He promised, but he needs your lips, and
your hands to do it. Paul said in, 2 Corinthians 11:20 For
ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you,
if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. 21 I
speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Notice Paul tells them the only
reproach they get are ones that have nothing to do with there profession of
faith. Just those that are common to all men.
Then in verse 23 he says, Are they ministers of Christ?
(I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once
was I stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in
perils by the heathen, in perils in the
city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness. 28 Beside
those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not
weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 30 If I
must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed
for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
Paul was a living testimony. He showed he believed what Jesus had come
and died for. The other Apostles were just huddle in
So I ask this question to you here and out there listening. How many of
you have suffered for the sake of the Gospel you profess? How many of you have
taken beatings literally of even verbally? How many of you have your name
dragged through the mud for your profession. How many times have you suffered
in your bodies the reproach of the Gospel? In peril he said in the air and on
land, and of the false brethren. How many attacks have you had for your life in
Christ and your stand for His Word?
He said, In hunger often, in dehydration, in malaria, in African sleeping
sickness, in cold sweats and in fevers often, in pneumonia and in other sicknesses
often. Crammed into seats like chickens in a coup, to travel for dozens of hours in order to preach
the gospel… tossed about by in the air and on the sea, eating foods and
drinking water his body rejected. Attacked by false brethren, and attacked by heathens
in strange nations, In riots often, in death threats often, rejected often,
abused often, talked about and smeared often… that is the life that is
projecting the image of Christ.
Paul said to Timothy whom he was mentoring, 2
Timothy 3: 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution. Therefore if you are living Godly in Christ Jesus where
is your persecution? The Apostle
Peter said the same thing in 1 Peter 4: 1 Forasmuch then as
Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm
yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the
flesh hath ceased from sin; When you begin to live for Christ, and you
suffer for Him, then you begin to cease from your own unbelief. You no longer
live for self but to Live is Christ.
From his sermon, What is that in your hand
55-1120 P:51 brother Branham said, If everybody talked good
about me, and everything went fine, didn't have any troubles and trials, I'd go
back to the altar and say, "Lord, what's the matter here? There's
something wrong. For all that live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution." That's the Bible. That's what Jesus
said. He can't fail. His Words are true. All,
not just some of them, all that live godly in Christ Jesus...
Five identifications 60-0911E P:48 Walking
in the Spirit; misunderstood, laughed at, made fun of... "All
that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If they persecuted
the prophets which were before you, called the Master of the building Beelzebub,
how much more will they call them of His disciples."
But you're walking in the Spirit, turning your back on the things of the world,
not bound by any fetters. "He who the Son has made free is free
indeed." Amen. That's the church of the living God.
Let us bow our heads
in prayer. Dear Gracious Father, we come to The in the name of Your beloved Son
Jesus and ask you Father to take our little sufferings and may they be
sufficient for the stand we take for your Word. Help us Father to lay aside all
our own desires for self and help us to become a living and abiding vessel for
your spirit so that our feet are your feet, our hands are your hands, our eyes
are your eyes, and our lips are your lips, and then we pray that you would use
us as you used your son Jesus for we ask it in His name. Amen.