Spoken
Word no. 65
Be
not deceived, God is not Mocked
Brian Kocourek
Let us open our Bibles this evening to the book of Galatians and we will
read from Galatians 6: 7 for our text. Be not deceived;
God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. So we see here that God is admonishing us to be
careful that we are not deceived. We also find in 1
John 1: 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us. Now, if you read this carefully, it does not say
that we are deceiving others. It says we deceive only ourselves. The Wuest
translation says, If we say that (indwelling) sin we are not having, ourselves
we are leading astray, (nobody else) and the truth is not in us.
And let us read
one more word of exhortation from the Apostle Paul before we go to the Lord in
prayer…
1
Corinthians 3: 18 Let
no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in
this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
Let us remain standing as we bow our hearts and our heads in a moment of
prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we come humbly and with fear and trembling in our
hearts knowing that we are approaching
the Supreme Judge, and knowing that one Word off is Satan’s Kingdom, we
ask Thee O God, to look upon us not as the Supreme Judge, but as Thy Children
begotten with thine own God-Life by Thine Own Word. Help us therefore, “to walk
in the Light as you are in the Light, that the Blood of Your first Born Son
might cleanse us from all of our sin and unbelief, for we ask it in Jesus
Christ’s name. Amen.
You may be seated.
We read this evening several Scriptures that warn us to be ever so
watchful that we do not allow ourselves to be deceived, or rather that we
deceive not our own selves.
The Apostle John said, if we deny our own unbelief exists we only deceive
our own selves, and the Apostle Paul said, Let no man deceive himself , So I hope you can see that it is not only possible
for you to deceive yourself, but actually, I want to tell you that it is very
easy to do so.
In ROMANS 16:17 we read, Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine
which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly;
and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Notice
here that Paul warns us to mark them that do not teach the doctrine as was
taught by Him. Then he tells us to avoid these people because their purpose is
to deceive. And furthermore, don't place yourself in a position that you allow
yourself to be deceived. Because a man can repeat to himself a lie over and
over again and he will begin to believe it is true.
Proverbs
16: 25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death.
God's
power to transform 65-0911 P:129 How many in here that doesn't have the Seed
of God, the baptism of the Holy Ghost? Would you just raise your hand, say,
"Remember me, Brother Branham, that I will receive that Holy Spirit."
Now, you take the Word in your heart and believe It. Now, if you can, look at you... Go up, look at the mirror, and
you can see where you are. See, you can know. You say, "Well, I didn't
raise my hand, because I believe I have..."Look at yourself in the mirror, then you see what kind of a spirit is
deceiving you (See?): deceived
thinking. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a
man, but the end thereof is the ways of death." Is that true?
And from his sermon, Christ revealed in His own Word 65-0822M P:93 brother
Branham said, Notice, we cannot; we must
not, listen to any other man's word. We don't care how smart, how educated. The
Bible in Proverbs says we must cast down
reasonings. See? Now, here in this second realm... First realm is your
senses of see, taste, feel, smell, and hear; that's in your outer body. On the
inner body, which is the spirit, is reasonings, and thought, and so forth. We
must cast all that down. Can't reason, say, "Now, wait, if God is a good
God..." And we're told so much today that He is. "If He is a good
God, then if I be sincere, though I can't see that in that Bible being right,
though I be sincere, I'll be saved." You'll
be lost. "If I go to church and just do the things that I believe it's
right and try to hold up for what I think is right, well I..." You're still lost. "There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of
death. See? You won't be
saved; you'll be lost. See, see? It must be that inside control man.
LEAN NOT UNTO THY OWN UNDERSTANDING 65-0120 118 You know, the Bible said you
can believe a lie and be damned by it. See? That's exactly the truth. They
form, no matter what the Word of God
says, they lean to their own understanding. They lean on it; they believe
it; they think it's the Truth. You can
keep believing a lie over and over and over till it's the truth to you.
That's right. But how do we know whether it's Truth or not? God proved it's Truth, 'cause it's in His Word and He a-vindicates
It. He does His own interpretation of It. How do they do, get to this? They
do it by their culture, their education, of their understandings…
So you see, salvation
is not based on your understand, or your having good thoughts, or even right
thoughts, Salvation is God’s business and you can not be saved outside of how
God said you can be saved in His Word.
In other words, if we
say we have no sin, no unbelief in our hearts, we are deceiving only our
selves. The Baptists thinks because he made a confession that his confession
wipes away all his sin, but let me tell you something, sin is unbelief, and we
all have unbelief of some degree within our hearts or we would have no need of
redemption.
The Apostle Paul said,
Galatians 2: 20
I am crucified with Christ:
(Not I was, but I am… Your crucifixion is an ongoing event in your life, not a
historical event. That historical event was His Crucifixion, but you have your
own and that is to die to self.) I am crucified (right
this moment) with
Christ: nevertheless I (am alive and living) I live; yet not I (that am living), but Christ (Himself,
His Life is alive in me) Christ liveth in me: and the life (what Life? His Life) and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
(Whose Faith? His Faith, the faith of The Son of God) who loved me, and gave himself for me. And
remember, Faith is a revelation, and it was the Revelation that Christ had and
the complete trust and obedience to His Father that saves me from my own self.
So the legalist who thinks by works he
can perfect himself, goes around with his or her nose up in the air but they aren’t fooling
anyone but themselves. Look, I know you are all a bunch of rank heathens saved not
by any thing that you have done, but you are saved by the blood of the Lamb. And
how do I know that? Because that's what I am, and that is what saved me. I was a rank heathen that
came out of Catholicism, which is nothing but a bunch of Creeds and
superstitions, and if I thought otherwise about my salvation, then I would only
be deceiving myself. But I've been saved by His Grace, and by Faith I am
walking in the Light of His Glorious Presence. And John taught us that, “if you walk in the
Light as he is in the Light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all
sin.” So keep walking and the blood will keep cleansing.
It is really an indictment against so called believers in all forms of So
called Christian organizational systems because most have been taught that based
on their confession they once made that they are saved and will go to heaven.
In the Church
Age Book Chapter 9 - The Laodicean
Church Age P:68 Brother Branham said, Take
a good look around you. Examine the people as they walk by. In the multitudes
you see, can you pick out those that
have the appearance of Christians? Watch how they dress, watch how they
act, hear what they say, see
where they go. Surely there ought to
be some real evidence of the new birth amongst all those we see go by. But few
there be. Yet today the fundamental churches are telling us they have millions
saved and even Spirit-filled. Spirit-filled? Can you call women Spirit-filled
who go around with frizzy bobbed hair, shorts and slacks, halters and briefs,
all painted up like Jezebel? If these are adorned in modest apparel as becometh
Christian women, I would hate to think what it would be like if I had to
witness a display of immodesty.
Matthew 7:
13-22 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is
the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be which go in there at:Notice, he tells us that many will go the way that is
broad and wide, but notice what he tells us next… 14 Because
strait (that word means narrow) So narrow is the gate, and narrow
is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. So
the way of Life will not be a very popular way, will it? Then Jesus warns us… 15 Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. 16 Ye
shall know them by their fruits.(and William Branham taught us
these fruits are their teaching, what they teach the people. You shall know who
is a ravening wolf by what he teaches. Then he says,) Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Of course
not, because if the figs had thorns it would be hard to gather the fruit in,
and so with the harvest of God’s seed.
17 Even
so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; That doesn’t mean that
they can just talk the doctrine that’s right, but they also must live what they
are teaching. Jesus taught us, “As a man thinks in
his heart so is he” and “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”.
Brother Branham said your thoughts are heard louder in heaven than your words.
And he also said in
his sermon, Hidden
life with Christ 56-0213 P:52 You know the best thing is to live a sermon
instead of preach one, you know that. You're
written epistles. And you can't do it in
yourself; you can impersonate it for a little while, but your sins will find
you out. You better just consecrate yourself to God and get on the inside, shut
the doors behind you and burn every barrier there is behind you, and every
bridge, and launch out. Amen. I know it's the truth; I know it'll work. If it
hadn't been for that, I don't know what would become of me. That's right. But it
ain't the people you that you look at then, it's Christ.
In Jesus
Christ the same 61-0118 P:8 And then as we are sons and
daughters of God, and joint heirs with Him in the Kingdom, then we express Him
in our lives. If many of us would just live our sermons instead of preaching
it, I think it'd be better, if we'd just go ahead and live the sermon. You know
it's a lot better to live me one than it is to preach me one, I believe,
because I can see your life. God looks
at our lives, and the world looks at our lives. He wants to know what our
lives are. And people know us. No matter,
our action is so loud it drowns our testimony. Depends on what we say. If we are Christians and don't live it,
then the people know better. But when we are Christians, and say we're
Christians, and live like Christians, our lives will do it if we never said
nothing else. Our lives... We're written epistles read of all men. So they
watch how you walk. And I was thinking the other day about being sealed by the
Holy Spirit. A seal is marked on both sides. They see you coming and see you
going. Look like a Christian coming, you look like a Christian going so, when
you're sealed by the Holy Spirit.
And Jesus continued
saying, “but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit”. Why? because it is a living epistle of being
corrupt. It walk is corrupt and it’s talk is corrupt. But then he said, 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,(it will
not talk corruption and it will not walk in corruption. How can it if it is
walking in the light as He is in the Light.) neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth
not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore
by their fruits ye shall know them.
Now, look, it’s not just by what they say, it’s by
what they do… If you walk in the light, it didn’t say if you talk about the
light. Talking is cheap. That’s what Jesus tells us next. He says, 21 Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And
then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity.
And what is iniquity?
It is going beyond the limits of God’s Word. It’s knowing to do what is right
and you won’t do it.
Power of
transformation 65-1031M P:73 Jesus said, "Many
will come to Me in that day, and say, 'Lord, Lord, have not I cast out devils,
and--and worked great and mighty works and wonders in Your Name?'"
He said, "Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity."
What is iniquity? David said, "If I conceive iniquity in my heart, God
will not hear me." See? Iniquity's something that you know that you ought
to do and you won't do it. You know better, but won't do it. It's iniquity.
See? You know that you should stay with the Word of God, but for the church's
sake, or somebody else's sake, or something else, you'll stray from the Word of
God and do what the organization says. "Well, I don't know. My church says
we should do it this a-way, and I believe it this way." See, and it's
right before you that you shouldn't do it. That's iniquity. "Depart
from Me, you that work iniquity."
Anointed ones at end time 65-0725M P:135 What is iniquity?
Ask somebody. It's something that you
know you ought to do and you won't do it. They know that Word; they hear it. You're listening to this tape;
you're listening to this message. You see the Lord God say so; you see Him
confirm it, make it true. And you know this just as plain as the sun
shining outside. But you that'll hold on to your denomination, hold on to those false things, you worker
of iniquity..."Oh, yes, I had great campaigns. I done this; I done
that." Said, "You depart from
me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you." "Well, the Holy
Ghost fell on me." I don't doubt that a bit. "I spoke in tongues. I
sang in the Spirit. I done..." I don't doubt that a bit. No question to
that. Oh, brother, sister, what kind of a condition? This is a trembling time.
Where we at? This Word is coming to Life now.
I like the way the New
Translation called the Message puts it. Matthew 7:23 The Message 21-23 we hear Jesus saying, "Knowing the correct password, saying 'Master, Master,'
for instance isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is
serious obedience, doing what my Father wills. I can see it now, at the Final
Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our
God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going
to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves
important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
What a pity on that day, when there’ll be thousands
that will hear those frightful words because they have chosen to teach contrary
to God’s End-Time prophet even though they claimed to believe God sent Him. So many say, “Well bless God I believe God
sent a prophet in this hour. And they think just because they get together and
talk about the Message that will mean something to God. Or they say, bless God
I believe God’s prophet. I believe every word he says, but listen friends, that
don’t mean one thing with God.
Branham said in his sermon, The Token 63-0901M P:103 Don't just come this far, say, "I believe the
message." You obey the message. Come into Christ. You say, "Oh, I
believe every word you said, Brother Branham. "That's good. but that is
just being able to read. Take the Message; take it into your heart, that you
must have the Token, the very Life that was in Christ, be in you. "When I
see that, I will pass over you."
So don’t deceive yourselves into thinking that just because you attend
church you will be alright, or just because you believe the Message or you
preach the Message, that you will be alright. Listen friends, the people in
this message should be living on a much higher plane than the rest of the
world. But statistics show other wise.
Right in this Message we have preachers and laity living in adultery, and
un-confessed sin. Right in this Message
we have men pulling deals and women getting on the phone and gossiping.
Churches in this Message that claim to believe Brother Branham where the
preachers have been married several times and you can’t be a deacon in their
church it seems unless you have done the same thing. And we call ourselves the
righteous seed of Abraham?
As I told the ministers in
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6: 9 Know
ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
And again in 1 Corinthians 15: 33 Be
not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. And that word communications means companionships. The
people you hang around with.
So Jesus warns us to not allow ourselves to be deceived. In Luke 21: 8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: (Be ever so careful that you be not deceived.) for many shall come
in my name, saying, I am Christ;(I am anointed) and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore
after them. Notice that Jesus Himself warns us to not go after them.
And then the Apostle John tells us in 1 John 3:
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. In other words, I don’t care what he tells you, unless
his life is righteous, then don’t believe a word he tells you. I don’t care if
he hunted with the prophet or had his own visions of Jesus Christ. If he pulls
deals and you find that he has been involved in crooked money schemes, then get
as far from him as you can.
And Paul warns us again in 2 Thessalonians 2: 3
Let no man deceive you by any
means: (he
says, by any means…in other words, I don’t care what moves he uses, and what
schemes he has, nor do I care what he tells you, if his life is not righteous,
then watch out for that bird. ) for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; And we
know that man of sin is the devil himself, and when they fall away, it isn’t
from a so called Christian church but from The Faith. And we see many falling
away from The Faith right among us in this Message.
And the preachers are the worst of the bunch. Having affairs and then trying
to justify their filth by teaching polygamy is better than divorce. Bilking
widows our of their life savings, and bilking entire churches out of what
little income the people might have calling on them to make all sorts of great
financial sacrifices yet living lavishly on the money that was meant for
missions. I know their schemes and I will be a witness against them at the
great white throne. Don’t try to come in that day and say, 'Lord,
Lord, we preached the Message, we
bashed the demons, our God-sponsored world-wide missionary endeavors have
everyone talking.' And do you know what Jesus is going to say? He’ll
say, 'You haven’t
got a clue you puffed up toad... All you did was use me to make yourself
important, and to set up your own kingdom down on earth. You don't impress me
one bit. To the lake of fire with you.'
So Paul warns us in Ephesians 5: 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words:
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of
disobedience. Because of what? Vain words,
empty and useless words. Like the minister who promised his people that when
the resurrection took place he would drive by their house and honk their horn
and they would need to be ready immediately. Such nonsense, and yet the people
love to hear those things, and they love to have it so.
Paul said we are not to be deceived like little children. We are to grown
up and mature. Ephesians 4: 14 That
we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby
they lie in wait to deceive; Notice
the very purpose of these men is to deceive, so don’t think they won’t be very
good at their craft.
Paul warns us again in the book of Romans 16:
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord
Jesus Christ, but their own belly;
and by good words and fair speeches
deceive the hearts of the simple. Notice,
he warns us not to just listen to the way they speak but be careful about what
you hear them saying. Because it is with fair speeches and good words they will
deceive.
Jesus Himself warned us as we see in Mark 13:
5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take
heed lest any man deceive you: And
again in Matthew 24:
4 And
Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
And don’t let miracles and the supernatural become tools to deceive you
either, for Jesus warned us that deception would come this way as well. Matthew 24: 24 For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch
that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
And he also warned us in Matthew 24: 11 that And many false prophets shall rise, and
shall deceive many.
Matthew 24:
5 For many shall come in my
name, saying, I am Christ; (not
saying I am Jesus, but I come to you in the name of Jesus and He has anointed
me) and shall
deceive many. So be on guard for the deception is ordained to come, but
woe to those in whom it comes and are not on guard against it.
Now, we know that we are living in the time of the great deception, but
why is it that people are able to be deceived?
Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians 2: 10 And
with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness (with all
deceptiveness of un-right-wise-ness, in other words, with all deceptiveness in
a wrong word they will come to ) them that perish; because they received not the love of the
truth, that they might be saved. So you see their not loving the
truth and placing the Word as the Absolute in their lives opens them up for the
hour of deception.
The Wuest Translation says that this deception is geared to the gullibility of
those who are perishing and that this gullibility is caused by the fact that they did not have
a love for the Truth.
2
Thessalonians 2: 10-12 "Of every kind of
wicked deception geared to the
gullibility of those who are perishing. This gullibility being caused by the fact that they did not accept the
love for the Truth to the end that they might be saved. And because of this
God sends them a deluding influence resulting in their believing the lie, in
order that they all might be judged who did not believe the truth but took
delight in wickedness."
So if they are geared that means they
were made that way. I like his illustration of them that are perishing are geared to the
gullibility which if you understand what a gear is, it is made in
such a way that it fits itself to the gullible delusion. And in the Book of Romans Paul
said, Romans
9:22 What
if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted
to destruction:
So if they are
fitted for destruction then they were made to be taken and destroyed. John 3: 19-20 And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be
reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be
made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
2 Timothy 3: 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth. They can't
come to the understanding of the Truth because they will not give up their own
thinking.
And it is not going to get better, only worse…2 Timothy 3: 13 But
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Let us pray,