Spoken Word no. 81
The
Falling Away
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
Let’s
remain standing as we open our Bibles this evening to the Book of Matthew 13:3-9 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a
sower went forth to sow; 4: And when he sowed, some seeds
fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them
up: 5: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not
much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness
of earth: 6: And when the sun was up, they were
scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7: And
some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them. 8:
But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an
hundredfold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. 9: Who hath
ears to hear, let him hear.
Let me say one
thing before we read from Matthew 13. Brother Branham said in his sermon, Jehovah Jireh part 2 62-0706 P:70 The
sower was only responsible for sowing Seed. And I want you to know, that I am not responsible for this Word. This
is God’s word. He hands out the rewards and he alone punishes. But I am responsible
to say what He said. I am responsible to water what He has sown.
From his sermon Unveiling of God 64-0614M
P:130 So no matter where the Word falls, if It
doesn't fall in the right kind of a heart...Jesus said so, "Some
fell by the wayside, upon stony ground, and the fowls of the air come and fed
on it." And then He said, "Some
fell into thorns and thistles, which raised up and choked out right away,"
traditions, denominations, cares of the
world choked It. But said, "Some went over into good
ground and brought forth a hundredfold," said, "that's
the
Now, let’s read another Scripture from Matthew 13:18
- 23 Hear
ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19: When any one
heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the
wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he
which received seed by the way side. 20: But he that
received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the
word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21: Yet hath he
not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or
persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is
offended. 22: He also that received seed among the thorns
is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23:
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the
word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some
an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Now, our study this morning continues from paragraphs 67 – 69 of brother
Branham’s sermon, Spoken Word is the original Seed and this is
number 81 in our series.
Now, in paragraph number 67 Brother Branham said, “A seed must have water to grow. Now, you
put a seed in the ground and if there's no moisture in the ground, it's dust,
and it won't grow in the dust: can't. It's got to have a certain percent of
moisture or it won't grow. Is that right? The letter killeth; the Spirit giveth it Life. See? Now, it
must have moisture to grow. His Word is a Seed. Now, to prove that, let's turn
to Luke the 8th chapter, the 11th verse and see if this is true or not, if the Bible says His Word
is a Seed. Luke the 8th chapter and the 11th verse, and we'll see what God said about it: Now, He goes ahead
and begins to tell. There's much things to say about it. Let's start at the 4th and just read. ‘And when much
people were gathered together, and there come unto him out of every city, he
spake by... parables: A sower went out to sow his seed to sow his seed: and as
he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of
the air devoured it. And some fell upon... rock; and... soon as it was sprung
up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.’
68 Moisture: Baptists, Presbyterians,
Lutherans without the water... And
when he's first converted, he looks
right straight to Christ; he believes. And the first thing you know, that
denomination binds him up into a place, and
the moisture of the Spirit's gone from him; he becomes denominational, and
he's dead. Not only Baptists but Pentecost. Don't believe that, I know many of
you don't, but you just wait a little bit. We'll see whether the Bible states
it or not.
69
All right, of lack of moisture, last
word in the 6th verse, of the 8th chapter... The lack of moisture...And some fell among thorns;
and... sprang up with it, and choked it. See,
what was that? He goes ahead and tells that some as soon as they get to be... I'm not going to pull one punch today on
nothing. Just what I think the Christian Business Men, and the rest of them
of these Pentecostal organizations, and these people that's building all these
big millions of dollars of things, the riches of the world has choked out the glory and
Spirit of God. Dying
because it's choked. The world, care of the world, has choked them out.”
Notice the first two where the word was sown fell away in due process.
One took a little longer than the other, but they nevertheless fell away. Why?
Because the Word is only meant to be believed by those who are ordained to
Life. All others can not receive it.
Acts 13:48
tells us, “as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” So they can not help to believe. But the only promise
in the Bible for the unbeliever is eternal separation from God. That’s what brother Branham said.
Trial a 64-0427 P:33 Some
fell just long enough to get enough roots to spring up, and the thorns and
thistles choked it out. But some did go in good ground and it brought forth a
hundredfold. He wants to call your attention to that. And He wants to say that
if this Word, in this Holy Ghost meeting where people were having hands laid
on, it only applies to believers. There's
no promise in here but eternal separation from God to unbelievers. It's
only to believers. Someone said to me not long ago, said, "I don't care
how much... I don't believe." I said, "Certainly not. It's not for
unbelievers; it's for believers, they that believe."
Queen of
Now we have been studying brother Branham’s sermon, “The Spoken Word
is The Original Seed”, and we know in this sermon, brother
Branham has been telling us over and over again that the Word of God is a Seed,
and as a Seed it must bring forth after it’s kind because that is the law of
reproduction as God gave to us in Genesis 1:11. And yet we see the parables of the
seed as is was sown and we ask ourselves why is it when the same seed is sown
in some places it will not take root or it takes root for a period of time, but
then because of the stony ground or thorny conditions it is sown in, it dies
and the life goes out.
The real question then is "Why are people losing
their faith?” What is happening and what do these parables tell us that can
help us to understand this falling away. To find our answer to this question,
let’s open our Bibles to the Book of
2 Thessalonians 2: 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, (so this time of which Paul is speaking here will be at the time of the
parousia of Christ, and it is at that time that the great gartering together
into Christ will take place. But notice that there is a warning that he is
giving for that time. He says do not be shaken when you see these things
happening.) 2
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let
no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Now, what he says here is that there is to be a falling away. And as
brother Branham said, that is the only promise there is in the Bible for the
Unbeliever is that they are ordained to be eternally separated from God.
Now, brother Branham said in his sermon, Way
back the 62-1123 P:120 You'll never see nothing no greater than the
Presence of Jesus Christ working in His church, performing the things that He
promised to do... So what are these
people looking for that are falling away from The Faith? They are looking for
something other than the presence of Christ.
Now, we know by
Scripture that one of the tell-tale signs of the Parousia or Presence of Christ
is that there has to be a falling away first. Now, we must ask ourselves a
falling away from what? And the answer is plainly given in Scripture as a
Falling away from The Faith.
I TIMOTHY 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart (That means to fall away) from The
Faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; So what takes them out?, seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils.
Take on the
whole armor of God 62-0701 64
So today these great intellectual spies are too much for the poor, humble
children of God. Now, Jude said in the book of Jude, last of Jude there, he
said that they have creeped in among us: creeped in. That's what's causing to go out in these big tantrums that they've
done. Creeped in among us, men foreordained to this condemnation, creeped in among us, drawing us away from the Word, causing us to lose faith in the Word:
You see
according to Brother Branham these that fall away have no discernment of the
Word. Let's read some other scriptures about this falling away from The Faith.
HEBREWS 6:4 For it
is impossible for those who were once
for all enlightened,(that's this
hour, the once for all enlightenment) and have tasted of The heavenly gift, and were made
partakers (that means companions) of the Holy Ghost, 5
And have tasted the good Word of God (that's the Shout which is the
Message), and the
powers of the world to come (that's all those miracles we have seen
in this hour),
having fallen away from all this, it is impossible to renew them again unto
repentance (which is a change of the mind); seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of
God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (And haven't they done
just that by making him his own Father. Yes, they have crucified Him, they said
away with him, away with Him, and they have cast aside the Son of God and
accepted a Unitarian message instead, just like the Jews and Muslims have
done.)
Now, from his sermon
entitled The Indictment
63-0707M 93. Brother
Branham said, “Now,
is that my word or His? If a man who comes to a knowledge, ... Remember, they never got it; they were borderline believers. After we have
received the knowledge of the Word of God (You get it from a knowledge, from
reading in It, seeing It.), and then reject It, then it's impossible for you to
ever be saved. Did you read that now? See? Have received a knowledge of the
Truth... Just you understand it; you
never got it.”
No, the scriptures plainly tell us what
will happen, what will come to the people, and why they will fall away, as we
will see in the next few verse I will read to you.
2
Timothy 4: 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto
fables. Notice they hear it but they
turn their ears away from it.
Jesus told us what kind of
nature they will have in John 3:19 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.
And in 2 Timothy 3: 6 Paul tells us how these men will
enter into the church with their heresies to lead the people astray that were
not ordained to enter into it. For of this sort are
they which creep into houses, and
lead captive silly women (churches) laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
So Paul warns us of this Falling away
that is ordained for the unbelievers in 2 Thessalonians 2.
2
Thessalonians 2: 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: 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 again in Acts 20: 30 Paul warns us of these
men who will arise among us right in the Message in order to lead those who are
not ordained to it away. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse
things, to draw away disciples after them.
And not only did Paul warn
us, but Peter also warned us in 2
Peter 1:1-21 (NIV) But there were also false prophets among the people, just as
there will be false teachers among you. (what makes a man a false
teacher? It is what he teaches that is false.) They will secretly introduce destructive
heresies, (In other words, they have their own revelation. and so
they will secretly bring in alongside of true doctrine destructive heresies,
even denying or refusing the one who bought them.) even denying (that means they are saying
“not so” concerning) the Lord who bought them (and so we ask, who
bought them that they are saying not so too? The one that bought them is the
Son of God by shedding his precious which is the purchase price. So they are
saying “not so” to the son of God. In other words, they are denying him, that
he was a person separate from the Father Who sent him. They deny the existence of
the son of God, and make him just a carcass that the Father used and not a real
human being.) and
in doing this they will bring swift destruction on themselves. (And
so you watch for the destruction to take place. And notice though that not just
on these but they will have a following, and not a small following but many
will follow their shameful ways.)
2
Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into
disrepute. (So notice that their
shameful ways will bring the way of truth into disrepute. Then by their actions
and by their false doctrine they will say things against the real truth of the
Message, and by their over whelming masses they will come against the way of
truth to bring the way of truth into disrepute.) 3 In
their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.
(So Paul warns us to stick with the same Gospel He brought to us. He
warns us not to be so gullible as to believe everything you hear the preachers
tell you. Check everything with the Word. Test everything by the Word. And how
do you check anything out to verify it? In the mouth of two or three witnesses
let all things be established. If a minister comes and says he had a vision and
in it Brother Branham came to him and said this one telling the dream or vision
is to now lead the Elect, don’t you for one minute believe it. Take what he
preaches back to the Word and test it by the Word. And prove whether what he
preaches is true or false based on the Word, not based on some dream or some so-called
vision.) Their
condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not
been sleeping.
So you see they
have worked themselves right into this message and have caused others to fall
for their doctrines that deny the Lord that bought them. Now, as I noted
earlier in scripture, the word depart was translated from a Greek word which
also is translated in Luke 8: 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the
word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of testing they fall away.
So you see this falling away or departing
is something that they do themselves.
The Greek word actually means to withdraw
oneself. And that means that no one is responsible for their
falling away but they themselves who choose to depart. We live in a society
today where no one wants to take the blame for their own actions.
Discerning body
of Lord 59-08123 Paul promised that in the last day, by the
Holy Spirit, that the church would fall
away, millions of them. "There'll
come a falling away, for men will be heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure
more than lovers of God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, and
despisers of those that are good: not the right discernment. "Oh,"
you say, "that is the Communist." That is so-called Christians. Watch the next verse. "Having
a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,"
no spiritual discernment. When you
got spiritual discernment and the Holy
Ghost is upon you, you have spiritual discernment. It says, "Amen" to every promise of God.
In 28 years as pastor, I have heard every
excuse possible from those that have eventually left and gone their own way. One
family that came to church only a handful of times, but never gave the Message
much time or discipline, fell heavily into sin and darkness and adulteries and
you name it, and when the family was totally destroyed, they blamed me for not
chasing after them. I am sorry but I can not save you. You must die to your own
self to live with Christ.
The wise virgin
did not chase after the foolish virgin, and take of their own oil and give it
to them. She had only enough for herself only and so they told the foolish
virgin where they got theirs, and told where to go get their own oil. And you
know that is where I need to smarten up myself. I have tried to get this
doctrine out to the world because it is suppose to smarten us up and mature us,
so we understand our position in the family of God, but what I have seen in my
own church over the years I see among the preachers around the world. People
just don’t want to grow up and be responsible for their own life in Christ.
They want others to do their religion for them, and I will not do it my brother
and sister. I have but enough oil for my own self.
The Apostle Paul told us the role of the
five-fold ministry is to help the people to mature, but I have found out that
if they are not ordained to it they never will mature in Christ, and in fact,
if they are not ordained to it, they most assuredly will fall away from it.
EPHESIANS 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, (that means for the maturing of the saints) for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying (the building up) of the body of Christ: (And for how
long are we supposed to do this?) 13 Until we all come in the unity of the faith, (now,
he did not say until we all come into a unity of faith, but he said until we
all come into the Unity of THE FAITH, because this same Apostle just a few
verses earlier said there is only ONE FAITH and that ONE FAITH is in the ONE
LORD, the Lord Jesus Christ.) 13 Until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, (now, how are we going to come into a
Unity of THE Faith if we have no knowledge of The Son of God? You can't have a
unity of The Faith if you have any other faith than what Jesus the Son of God
had himself.)
PHILIPPIANS 3:9
And be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith: And that is where
we are to place our trust and confidence. Not in what we do but rather what he
has already done for us.
GALATIANS 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not
by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified. Notice Paul says, not our
faith in Jesus Christ, but by His Faith we are justified.
And in GALATIANS 2:20 Paul said, I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Not my faith in
the Son of God, but I live By His Faith living itself out through me. You see,
your faith means absolutely nothing to God, but the Faith of His Son Jesus
means everything to Him. Why, because Faith is a revelation and that revelation
is of who God is and even Jesus said, No man hath seen the Father at any time,
but the e Son of God hath declared him. That means that without that
declaration of invisible God to the world through the agency of His visible
Son, we could not even know who to worship. And So the Apostle Paul even tells
us that whether we believe or not makes no difference to the plan of God, and
can't even affect it in any way.
Romans 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect? And so what
access we do have to God we owe to the Son of God who made that way open for us
to the Father.
Ephesians 3:12 In
whom we have boldness and access with
confidence by the faith of him.
Jesus Himself said, "No man can come to the father except through me."
Therefore this Faith, in fact "The Faith" of Christ is so
important to us that the apostle Paul said in II Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves,
whether ye be in the faith; (not just faith but The Faith) prove your own
selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye
be reprobates?"
Now, as I said that is the ministry of the five-fold
to bring you to The Faith, the same faith that of Jesus that you might become a
fully mature Son or daughter of God.
Paul said in, Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some,
apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers; 12 For the perfecting (maturing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying (building up) of the body of Christ:
13 Until we all come in the unity of the faith unto a perfect
(or finished off)
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
Now, in Romans 12:3 Paul tells us that “every man is given a
measure of faith”, but
here he is telling us that we are to come to the same measure that Jesus Had.
In other words, a lesser measure will not do, but he is speaking of the same
measure of faith that Jesus had. 13 Until we all come in the unity of the faith unto a
perfect (complete or finished off) man, unto (not a measure, but) the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ
And why is this
necessary? Because Paul continues 14 That we henceforth be no more children, (You
see God wants us to grow up and become mature Sons and daughters. You can not
come to the place of adoption if you are an immature child. Only fully mature
sons and daughters of God will come to the place of adoption.) 14 That we henceforth be no more children, (not
children, but grown up sons and daughters of God, not like little children that
are) 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;
And believe me at the end time is a time of deception
like no other time on earth. Remember we just read from 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive
you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first,
In fact Jesus told us Himself that the sign that his
Parousia was at hand would be marked by deception. Matthew
24:3 And
as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately,
saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy parousia, and of the end of the
world? 4 And Jesus answered and said
unto them, Take heed that no man
deceive you. (so the time of the parousia will be a time of
great deception. And what will they say to deceive others?)5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am
Christ; (Not saying I am Jesus. But I am Christ…I am anointed, come
follow me…) and
shall deceive many. (so you see that is how many will be deceived…)
And in verse 10 And then shall many be offended, (and the
actual Greek word for offend means then shall many be tripped up, that’s what
the Greek says here. Then shall many be tripped up and stumble big time. And
what happens when you trip? You fall, that’s what. And so we see how the
falling away takes place. The NIV says, 10At
that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each
other, And so we see what happens
when they turn away from The Faith…) and shall betray one another, (they betray one
another…) and
shall hate one another.
The
Amplified version says, 10And then many will be offended and repelled
and will begin to distrust and desert Him Whom they ought to trust and obey and
will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with
hatred. And if that is not what we
experience in the mission field everywhere we go. Some men actually will travel
all the way around the world just to cause trouble and spread lies so the
people will not attend our meetings. Men getting on the phone to threaten
pastors that if they attend our meetings they will be dealt with severely. You
say, not tin this message they don’t? Don’t tell me what is happening out
there. I have experienced it first hand. I know no other minister whose
meetings have been boycotted like mine have. Whose meetings do you know there
ministers have traveled the seas to get their before you do so they can try to
disrupt your meetings. But God has been gracious and many souls have been saved
in these meetings.
Matthew
24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
I like what the new translation called “The Message”
says, 11-12"In the confusion, lying
preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the
overwhelming spread of evil will do them in, nothing left of their love but a
mound of ashes.
And so we see Jesus prophesied here that there will be
no love outside the elect of God.
He cares
do you care? 63-0721 P:38 You know, the Bible speaks that, that
there'd be no love in the last days but just amongst the elect people. That's
right. The Scripture speaks of that, that the husband would be against wife,
and wife against husband, children against parents. Just among the elected of the
Lord will there be any love left.
Matthew
24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved.
Now, in verse 24 we are
told that the conditions will be so bad that if it were possible even the elect
would be deceived, but we know that it is not possible, because how can you
deceive the Holy Spirit. That is why so many were deceived by this man who ran
for president. I wasn’t deceived for one second. The very first time I heard
him speak I could tell when he deviated into a lie. It does not take rocket
science to know when a man is lying to you, all it takes is the Holy Ghost in
you.
John
1:12 tells us that "to them that
received Him to them gave He power to become sons'. That means the
ones who were able to receive him were those were given the ability to make a
right decision. And without that germ of life in you from God you could not
come to full terms as a son of God.
The Apostle Paul further told us in Romans 16:17 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. Now, we are not called the simple.
We are called the wise if so be that we have the mind of Christ. Notice,
they do not serve Christ even though they may be preachers. But they serve
themselves and their own belly as Paul tells us.
The Apostle
John said, I
JOHN 2:21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth,
but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but
he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth
the Father and the Son.
Therefore if you deny that there is a
Father and a Son and try to make Jesus his own Father, this Apostle plainly says
that you are anti Christ. Because he continues in the next verse, I JOHN 2:23 Whosoever denieth
the Son, the same hath not the Father:
but he that acknowledges the Son hath
the Father also. This same Apostle also says, II JOHN 1:8 Look to yourselves,
that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full
reward. Now, why is that?
Because he is talking about falling away, and that we should be on guard with
our own selves that we not fall away. Now, what is this reward that we will
lose? It's our Glory, because the Glory is the Doxa of God, the Opinion, the values,
and the judgment of God in us, and if we lose our Faith, or fall away from The
Faith, then we fall away from The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
By Faith Moses
58-0720M 17 Now, we
lose our glory, if we lose faith. Now, if
we get away from faith, then we take the church into an intellectual realm.
And many times, it's been thought amongst people, that because a congregation
was large, and they had great churches, great steeples, and a great lot of
well-dressed and groomed people, and a lot of finances, that they could afford
such things, we many times, thought that was inspiring--that this certain
church must be inspired. Or we've often referred to different ministers, who
get out on the field and have great gatherings of crowds, and we think,
sometimes, that they are the signs of inspiration. But that's not altogether the truth. That's human inspiration. But the
real inspiration comes by doing the will of God (See?), whether it is a one or just a handful.
Whether it is a big church or a small church, it matters not. Whether he is a
great eloquent speaker or just a man that hardly knows his ABC's, it doesn't
matter. It depends on the message that
he brings, whether it is inspired by the Word of God or is it inspired by intellectuals conceptions of
human inspiration. Some people can
be inspired because of an eloquent speaker. That doesn't make it right. Sometimes they're inspired, because the
man is so trained, till he could put his point over. That doesn't mean that it's of God. See? It's only through God's everlasting, eternal, blessed Word can we
receive inspiration, and that's given by the Holy Ghost. By faith we
receive it.
So how does
this falling away come? It comes by turning down the doctrine of Christ. And
there is only one doctrine of Christ and to turn down that you turn down God.
II John 1:9 Whosoever goes beyond the limits, and
remains not in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
So if you have
a doctrine of Christ that teaches there are not two concerning the doctrine of
Christ, a Father and a Son, one being God and the other being the Son of God,
then you do not have the doctrine of Christ, and thus you do not have God. You
do not echo God, which means you do not say the same thing he says about
Himself. John believes this so strongly he says, 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not
this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11
For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
Now, we have been talking about the end
time falling away from The Faith which is The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Now,
in his parables Jesus tells us how this falling away takes place and what
circumstances are involved in this falling away.
Matthew 13:18
"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the
kingdom and does not understand it, (notice
that understanding is the key here.) When anyone hears
The Message and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches
away what was sown in his heart. Now, always remember, brother Branham taught
us that when ever you see the word heart used in scripture it always refers to
understanding. So to understand this passage according to what he taught us we
must read it like this: When anyone hears The Message and does not understand
it, the evil one comes and snatches away what little understanding he did have.
This
is the seed sown along the path. 20 The one who received the seed that fell on
rocky places is the man who hears the Word (The Message) and
at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root, (in other words, because he has no representation in
heaven) he lasts
only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he
quickly falls away.
Now, that is
the second kind of person who hears the Message. The first just doesn't get it
and the next one might like what he's hearing but because he has no germ seed,
he quickly falls away. Now, notice then the third kind of person that hears the
message.
The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man
who hears the Word (The Message), but the worries of this life
and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the Word (it chokes off the Message), making it (the Message) unfruitful.
And we are told in the
book of James 1: 14 how
we can be enticed away from the Message…14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Notice in this group we have those
who get so caught up into the rat race that all their focus becomes on how they
can get more and more wealth and that effort draws them away from the Waters of
the Word and they soon dry up and die. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is
the man who hears the Word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a
hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
Seed shall
possess the gate 61-0212E 20 Then God was so pleased with
complete obedience. God had tried his patriarch. He had tried his servant. And every son that
cometh to God must be what? Tried. Chastened. That's where that many
fall away, because we can't stand that trial. A person come to the altar in
time of revival. And you'll watch just a little while, and the hot trials begin
to come. Jesus plainly taught it, said, "The
sower went forth sowing seed. Some fell by the wayside, some fell into stony
ground, and amongst thorns and thistles, and the others fell over in good
ground." And He said that's the way the
Word went, goes out. Some hears the Word, go out; birds come along, pick it up.
See, they don't do no good at all. Others come up overnight. Oh, they're going
to do great things. But when the trials
begin to come, it chokes them down. But some goes all the way over into
good ground, and that brings forth a hundredfold.
And so we see
this same parable repeated to us in the book of Luke and it is the scripture
brother Branham used in the Spoken Word is the Original Seed in paragraphs
67-69. . Luke 8:11 "This is the meaning of the parable: The
seed is the Word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and
then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they
may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the
Word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a
while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among
thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked
by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the
seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the
word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”
Not only has
the false anointed coming into the Message caused some to lose faith, but the
fact that God has done so much that the Word and the power of God just becomes
so common to the people, and they have allowed it to become too common to them,
and that can become just as great a danger as false doctrine coming in among them.
Jehovah Jireh 2 60-0802 62 I'm telling you Pentecostal people are seeing so much, and have
through your life since you've become children of God, seen so much of the
goodness, and mercy, and glory of God
till it's become too common to you and... It's too common. that makes you
lose faith.
HEBREWS 10:28 He
that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: (now the Greek word for despised is a word that means
to do away with, to set aside, disregard: to thwart the efficacy, to nullify or
make void, to frustrate or reject, to refuse.) 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye,
shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and
hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing,(The Greek word there for unholy means common, they treat the
covenant of God as though it is just a common thing) and hath done despite (that is an
insult) unto the
Spirit of grace?
By Faith Moses
58-0720M 16 Now, if
we lose faith, then we will never get a prayer answered by God. "For
He that cometh to God must first believe that He is, and a rewarder of those
that diligently seek after Him." So if we lose faith, our prayers are annulled; we get no where. So if all that we can think of this morning is to
hold onto faith. Then if we lose faith,
all our hopes is gone. And if we
lose faith, all our spiritual reality is gone. For you cannot have faith in
things that you see. For the things that you see are all perishable. If we look at some great person, or great
minister, or a great congregation, they will all perish someday.
Third seal the
63-0320 27 We've been through all that and showed how
they missed John, how they missed Elijah, how they missed Jesus, how they
missed them all the way along, and they'll do the same thing, 'cause the Bible
said they would. See? So then, in that time it'll be very humble. It'll be so simple. That'll what'll makes people fall away from it. It's too simple for
them. We find out that always when people get smart and educated and know a
whole lot, then that's just the kind that misses it, you know. See?
Ever present
water 61-0723M 38 So then that process of time, there's where the great falling away come
in
Ministry
explained 50-0711 51 When
you lose faith... You get out with a bunch of unbelievers, and they say,
"There's nothing in it," and Satan begins to lie to you, then you'll
fall right back down in the category where you was the first place.
Everlasting
Life 54-1231 9 You can have optical illusions, and things
that looks like it is, when it's not. See? But when the picture that...And it
could be psychology. You can say, "You see that there?" And you just keep saying, "Yes, I
believe it." And believe it so much
till actually you think you see it, when you don't. See? That's right. But
that's psychology. It's just got you so
mentally pressed towards it, till you just imagine it, so imagine it so much
till it becomes a reality. You just imagine somebody hates you, once. And
they don't hate you, but you imagine they do, and you just keep thinking,
"They don't like me." And the first thing you'll be shunning that
person, when they haven't done nothing to you. And after while, it become so a reality to you, till you'll actually
believe that that person doesn't like you. And you'll might bawl them out
or say something to you, for instance your wife, or your husband, or some
neighbor, or something like that, when
the person is absolutely innocent of any ill thing. It's because that you just imagine it so, till it become a reality to
you. Now, see what I mean?
And you know the problem with what Branham is telling
us here, is that you create this atmosphere of negativity around you towards
people that pretty soon they will begin to be repulsed by the atmosphere that
you created. And they begin to avoid you because of what you have created, and
thus you bring into reality what was only in your own mind to begin with. They
did nothing to you to deserve the attitude you show towards them, but
eventually they just want to avoid being near you because of the atmosphere you
created. So it’s not them who are to blame it’s yourself.
Law having a
shadow 56-0621 58.The Bible said, it's impossible for that
man to do that; said, "If a man once been enlightened and made partakers
of the Holy Ghost and tasted of the powers of the world to come, it's
impossible for him to fall away, to renew himself again unto repentance." So if your constantly on the up-and-down,
remember brother, you have never correctly ever come to Jesus Christ yet.
GREATEST BATTLE EVER FOUGHT 62-031 17-2 It must be accepted in the mind; then it's
believed with the heart; then the Word of God becomes a reality; then every
senses of soul and body is just scoured out with the Holy Spirit. Then you're
sense of God; you're conscience of God; everything that's godly flows through
you. There's not a doubt anywhere.
Let’s bow our heads in prayer…