Spoken Word #99
Conformed
to the Image of Christ or the church
Brian Kocourek
June 7th, 2009
Matthew
24:24 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. 25 Behold,
I have told you before.
Romans
8:29 29 For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them
he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he
justified, them he also glorified.
Now, this morning I would like to continue with the
topic we looked into last week from Br. Branham’s sermon, the Spoken Word is
the original Seed. And this is number 99 in our series. Now, last week we spoke
on being conformed to the Image of the first born son in a vast family of
brothers. That’s Romans 8:29. But this morning I
would like to take this thought one step further and speak on being conformed
to Christ r to the Church. Because the problem as I see it in this Message is
that people are taking on one another’s spirit, instead of the Holy Spirit.
And brother Branham warned us that the two spirits
would be so close that it would deceive the very elected if it was possible.
Jesus gave us the same warning, but brother Branham pinned down what those two
spirits were.
He said one is the
Holy Spirit and the other is the church spirit. From his sermon, Seed not heir with
shuck 65-0218 P:42 Notice, see how close it looks. St. Matthew 24:24, said that the two spirits in the last days, the church spirit of
the church people and the Bride Spirit of the Bride people, would be so
close together till it would deceive the very elected if it was possible.
That's how close. Look how it's come through the stalk.
And from God identifying Himself 64-0320 P:9 The Spirit of God
can be identified by Its characteristic. See the Spirit of God, and the spirit of the church... There's a church spirit. And the Spirit of God that's absolutely not
like the church spirit at all. There's a denominational spirit. There's a
national spirit. There's a spirit of the nation. Every nation, You walk in
there, you find a different spirit. I went into
Mark of the beast 54-0513 P:74 Now,
you see what the mark of the beast is?
It's the mark of apostasy. It's a
person who just thinks that, "Well, I belong to church, and I'm just as
good as the next fellow. Am not I
belonging to this church?"
God of this evil age 65-0801M P:31 The two spirits, one of them God's Holy
Spirit, the other one the devil's spirit working in deception.
The people of the earth are now making their choice. The Holy Spirit is here
calling out a Bride for Christ. … and
then he adds ….The devil's unholy spirit is here calling
his church by the error, as usual, by perversion of the Word of God like he did
at the beginning.
We would
see Jesus 61-0409 P:40 There's only two spirits; one believes and
the other does not believe.
Now, we must ask ourselves why would the church spirit
be so close it would deceive the very Elect if possible? Because it says the
same things the elect says. It does the same things the elect does. It copies
and acts like, and talks like, and holds to the same doctrine and everything
right down to almost a perfect impersonation of the real and genuine, except
without the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
It’s feasting at the same table you are, eating the
same food you do…James 1:12 said, These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves
without fear: clouds they are without water, (now,
what is a cloud without water. Paul said we are many clouds of witnesses. So
these are witnesses without doctrine, for Deuteronomy 32:2 God says, My doctrine shall drop as the rain,
and these are clouds, witnesses with no doctrine,) carried about of winds; trees whose fruit
withereth, (and what is Fruit? The teaching for the season, that’s
doctrine… and these are) without fruit, (without doctrine) twice dead, plucked
up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea,
foaming out their own shame; wandering stars,(always wondering about
this and that. No stability in the Word of God.) to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness
for ever.
Now, I said, people get one another’s spirit instead
of the Holy Spirit. Now, brother Branham also said this in many places.
You must be born again 61-1231M P:83 People
of today take all kinds of spirits. They go up and take a church spirit; they even take spirits that call themselves
God's spirits, born again, and deny the Word of God being true. Could you
imagine the Spirit of God denying His Own Word? Now, why is that church spirit so close to the genuine
Holy Spirit? The reason is that it is an imitator spirit. It has not Life of
it’s own, but looks at the real, the genuine Holy Spirit filled person in the
church, and then does everything it can to imitate what the person does, and
says, and what doctrine they hold to, and how they act and live, and you know
what? That church spirit will do the very same things it sees in the genuine
believer.
From his sermon, Abraham 56-1208 P:49 I've been into churches, and watched how
people a lot of time in churches, watch how the pastor acts. The church will
act that way. Friends, I say this (not as sharp
talking), but I say it as a servant of Christ to be honest with you. Many times they get one another's spirit
instead of the Holy Spirit (see?); and that's
the reason it makes them act alike. Notice but that's the reason
when I come to you, I know nothing but the Bible. I want you to have the Spirit that's in the Bible, which is the Spirit
of Christ; and that's the reason I try to stay in the Word and get nothing
but what's in the Word (See?), and bring it to the people.
And from his sermon, Doors in door 65-0206 P:68 brother Branham
said, You go into a church and
watch the pastor, if he's real wild and carries on, the congregation will be
the same. See? They take the spirit of
one another instead of the Holy Spirit. That's the reason we got so much perverted teaching of the Bible.
Hear ye Him 58-0328 P:43 Oh,
how God wants to bless the church. How oft would He have hovered you as a hen
does her brood, but you would not. You
listened to men leaders instead of the Holy Spirit Leader. You listened to men teachers instead of
God's Teacher, the Holy Ghost, Who
would teach you behavior, make you behave yourself nice, make you be
ladylike, make you the salt of the earth. The salt creates a thirst. And men
will thirst to be like you if you'll really live the Christian life. You can't
do it in yourself; you've got to have
Christ in you to do it. The world is wanting something genuine.
God keeps His Word 1 57-0306 P:39 Brother,
you take one another's spirits.
That's exactly right; you take one
another's spirits instead of the Holy Spirit. Just like a good man takes a
bad woman's spirit or vice-versa. You
take each other's spirit. And I have done this one thing, brother, if God,
if I know my heart with my Bible here tonight. If there's one thing I've tried
to stay clean of, I've never tried any sensations, or any thing to get people
to look at me. I've tried not to even to lay my hands on a person, but preach
the Gospel, and let God do it. And if
there's one thing, when I stand at the judgment bar, I don't want to have to
give an account for a bunch of illegitimate born children. I'm going to preach
to them the Word, the Word of God; and they have the Spirit of the Word, or
they don't have it at all. It's God's
Spirit comes by the Seed of God, is a Word of God that's planted in your heart
that brings Christ Jesus, not some emotion, not some fantastic.
God keeps His Word 57-0115 P:27 I've
went into churches, and you watch this. You go into a church and you'll find
usually the way that pastor acts, that's
the way the congregation will act. See? I believe they get one another's spirit instead of the Holy Spirit
sometimes. Well, that's possible. Absolutely. You take a real good woman
and marry her to a no account man, he will either become a gentleman or she'll
become no account. See? You just take
one another's spirit. You do. Birds of a feather flock together. And you're
a spirit being. That's what's the matter...
God's only provided place of worship
65-1128M P:64 The very hour that you mention denomination
among you, I don't care how sincere you are, take man for your leader instead of the Holy Spirit to confirm this
Word, that's the hour you die. The genuine Seed cannot, because there's
nothing left after the seed; it's the same thing was back at the beginning.
World's Falling Apart 63-0412M P:46 And
we've accepted politics, and let politics lead our ministers, religious
politics lead our ministers, instead of the Holy Spirit leading our ministers.
That's right. A man see a truth that he
believes, he can't go to it. His church will put him out right now. See? So
you see, you're letting man lead and
instead of God leading, because your dogmas of your creeds, and so forth,
keep a man away from it.
Now, the problem as I see it is that people are not hungering and thirsting
and so they are not being filled. A young man or woman comes into church and
they are smart enough to look around, and they see the way the others behave
and so they act out the same behavior and they look around and hear the people
talk, and so they join in and talk the same way, and so everyone looks at them
and thinks this person has the Holy Spirit because he talks like us and acts
like us.
But since when does talk and actions mean you have been born again? Well,
you say, they hold to our doctrine so they must have it, because the evidence
of being born again is to believe the Message of the Hour. And so we have
literally watered down the actual new birth and instead of a person having a
genuine experience with God, and knowing in their heart that they are filled
with the Spirit of God, we have told them, oh, may be not directly like this
but in a round about way we tell them they have the Holy Spirit because they
agree with us, and talk like us, and act like us, and believe the same doctrine
we have, and what we are really saying to these people is, you are born again
because you have my spirit on you.
Yeah, that’s what the churches are doing to the people who want to be
filled with the Holy Spirit. They err in substituting their own spirit for the
Holy Spirit. And some churches in this Message are so brazen as to believe that
the fullness of the Godhead is in them! What heresy. The fullness of the
Godhead was in One person, and that is Jesus Christ the eldest brother in a
vast family of brothers. We might have God-Life in us, but we do not have the
fullness of God life in us. That was reserved for one man. Now, I do not think
any church is brazen enough to say it like that, but by their fruits you shall
know them. Watch how they act towards someone who comes in to their church. If
that person accepts the party line, hook line and sinker, then he is quickly
moved up the ranks within that church. But if that person has his own personal
relationship with the Lord, then he is kept away from the people, or he is
watched or he is not allowed to hold a potion within that church.
Let him speaks a little differently than the church leaders and they will
not even concede that the brother is born again. That is why brother Branham
said we should pray about where we go to church. So do you go to church because
it is the easiest drive to make? Do you go to your church because your parents
do? Do you go to your church because it is the fashionable thing to do? Or do
you go there because you are confident that the man who pastors the work has
the Holy Spirit Himself and is being led day by day by the Holy Spirit, and he
teaches straight with the Word.
So what is your motive in coming to church? To find where you are off so
you can die to that part of yourself that you may have more room for God to
fill you, or do you come because it is the most convenient. Do you come to get correction by God’s Word,
or do you come to get a pat on the back, and an adda boy!
That is why brother Branham said we must be very careful in selecting our
church, because churches have spirits. From his sermon, Choosing of a bride 65-0429E P:24 he said, The
same applies of choosing a church. Now, you
must pray over the church that you are fellowshipping in. Remember, churches have spirits.
Now, I don't want to be critical, but I realize that I'm an old man, and I got
to leave here one of these days. I've got to answer at the day of the judgment
for what I say tonight or any other time, and therefore, I've got to be dead
earnest and truly convicted. But you go into a church, and if you'll watch the behavior of that church, you just watch the pastor awhile, and you'll usually find that the church acts
like the pastor. Sometimes I wonder
if we just don't get one another's spirit instead of the Holy Spirit. You
get to a place where a pastor's real radical and carrying on, you'll find out
the congregation's the same way. I'll bring you to a church where I seen the
pastor stand, jerk their heads back and forth. You watch the congregation; they
do the same thing. You take a pastor that'll just gulp down anything, usually
the church will do the same thing. So if I was choosing a church, I'd choose a genuine,
fundamental, full Gospel Bible church, if I was choosing one to put my family
in.
Now, this study today is not about how we choose a
church but to show you that there are two spirits that are so close that it
would deceive the very elected if it was possible. And so we have found that
brother Branham said that those two spirits are the Holy Spirit and the church
spirit of the church people.
Now, what does it matter to you if you go to a big
church or a small one, as long as you are being fed spiritual food in due
season. In Matthew 15:15 we hear Jesus tells us
a parable about the Condition of the Heart.
MATTHEW 15:10 ¶ And he called the multitude, and said
unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth
defileth a man; but that which cometh
out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said
unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this
saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath
not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of
the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15
Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And
Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand,
that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out
into the draught? 18 But those things
which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the
man. 19 For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with
unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Now, there are five things I would like to
bring out from what Jesus is telling us.
1. Jesus tells us what defiles a person comes from the
heart. Defilement He says, is not a condition of being infected from without,
or affected by that which is without, but defilement is a condition of the heart
expressing itself outwardly. Therefore if defilement does not come from that
which is without, then there is nothing that can defile you unless that
defilement is already in you to begin with.
Now, I say these things about defilement
not because I want to change the subject on you, but that you might understand
that what we are inside, in the heart is the real you. “You might be able to fool some of
the people some of the time, and even all the people some of the time, but you
can’t fool all of the people all of the time”. You know who said that?
Abraham Lincoln did. But what he said doesn’t finish the whole picture, for he
left out this: “You might be able to fool man and get away with it for a season, but
you can’t fool God, for He knows the very secrets of your heart”. So
you had better take a good long look into your mirror, and the mirror of the
Word, and if you are honest you will know where you need to die out in your
life. And that is where you then need to start in coming into the image of the
first born son.
So we are looking at being conformed to the church or
to Christ. That is where we are at in this Message in 2009. That is what God is
dealing with the Believers of Malachi 4 this morning. To whom are you being
conformed to this morning? Christ or the church. Then if you are afraid to
stand for what you believe deep down in your heart that is right, and you do
not follow the leading of your heart, because you know the church believes
another way, then you do not have the Holy Spirit, but you have the church
spirit.
You’ve heard the question asked, “Is a man a thief because he
steals? Or does he steal because he is a thief?” In these scriptures Jesus
tells us our answer to that question. It is clear to see from Scripture that a
man is a thief to begin with, and therefore he steals. The stealing does not
make him a thief for he must think it first in his heart, and then once he
thinks it, that thought becomes a seed that is planted. Once that seed is
planted, then any watering of that seed by that person will bring forth that
seed into manifestation.
Notice that Jesus links the heart of man with his
lips, and tongue. He says, “for out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."
2. We find in Matthew 7 where Jesus tells us, A tree can not bring
forth good and evil fruit and James tells us, neither can a well bring forth bitter and sweet
water. Therefore if you are a good tree you will not be a hypocrite
saying one thing and doing another.
Jesus said in MATTHEW 7:15 ¶ 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. Do
men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
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.
We also find James tell us concerning
sweet water and bitter water that any single fountain can not bring forth both
types of water.
JAMES 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father;
and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10 Out
of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things
ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet [ and
bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine,
figs? so [ no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
What do Jesus and James mean by these warnings?
They are saying that a person nature is what will show on the outside, no
matter how careful they are to make themselves show otherwise.
And why is that? Because it is your
words, the things you say that declares where your heart is and what things you
hold dear within your heart. So we are looking at what is in there, deep within
the heart. For that is the real you and if that has not been born again, you
are in a lot of trouble.
3. Therefore your heart is what defines who you are,… it
is what you think and what you express. It is a reflection of the condition of
your soul. And out of the abundance or overflow of the heart the mouth will
speak and the body will act those things out.
From his sermon, EXPLAINING HEALING AND JAIRUS 54-0216 E-37 Brother
Branham said, What you are here is a reflection of what you
are somewhere else. "Those who He called, He justifies." Is that
right? "Those who He justified, He has glorified" Already in the
Presence of the Father, we have a glorified body. Whew! Wasn't that deep? All
right we’ll find out whether it right or not "If this earthly tabernacle
be dissolved, we have one already waiting" Is that right? That's right So
right now, and what we are there, is a reflection. Here, what we are here, is a
reflection of what we arc somewhere else. So if your deeds are evil, you know
where it comes from. You know where your other body's a waiting.
Now, in the parable Jesus is telling us
that our mouth is our means whereby we can know what is really in the heart.
And if our mouth is not true to what is in our heart, then we are hypocrites,
which is the worse kind of sinner.
CONDEMNATION BY REPRESENTATION 60-1113 4-1
When a person is preaching a doctrine, then you've got to stay with your own belief, If you don't, then you're a hypocrite. If you say something because someone else says it, and in your heart
you don't believe that, then you're a hypocrite because you're saying something
that you don't believe. I'd rather be criticized a little upon things that
I do believe than to be a hypocrite in the sight of God trying to compromise with someone else.
Now, let' s see some other things brother Branham
tells us about these kind of people.
UNCERTAIN
SOUND 55-0731 64 As I was saying a few days ago, either
here or somewhere, speaking on the lie detector. Now, notice close now. I want
you pay close attention. Put a lie detector on you, and you try to impersonate
that truth, and try to say that it's truth, but down on the inside of you, in
the subconscious, lays a place called the soul. And this intellectual mind does not govern that vibration of the system.
The mind is only a director. It will direct you, and it's very incapable of
bringing you to God: your mind. You
cannot know God by your mind, intellectual It's one of the resources, or
the channels that would lead to it, but your
soul is what governs you. You are
what you are, by your soul. Jesus said to the Pharisee, said, "Why,
you hypocrites. How can you speak good things?" When, they was calling
Him, "Good Master," and so forth. Said, "Out of the abundance of the heart speaketh the lips. And in your heart you hate Me. And in your lips
you call Me, 'Good "' He said, "You hypocrites" See, your soul is thinking one thing, and
you're speaking with your lips another thing. What a case. What a horrible
thing. What a deceitful thing is a
hypocrite. For out of their mind they say one thing, when their soul says
another thing. 68 Now, the lie detector will not work on your mind. It'll
work on your soul It'll not work on your intellects. There ! some people can
impersonate the truth. They impersonate. Yet, it being a lie, and can
impersonate it till they can deceive like anything. And Satan is the best of
that there is, for he has deceived Eve by that way, saying them same things.
And the biggest lie was ever told, had a lot of truth in it. 70 Now, this
person, what if you could ever get this
soul on the inside, so in harmony with God, that your soul and God would be one
together, then you could ask what
you will, and it shall be given to you. Many people come to me, many times
in the prayer line, and stand there, and say, "Oh, Brother Branham, I have
plenty faith. I've got faith like to move mountains." And, yet, they
haven't any faith. They hardly have enough faith to get to the platform. But
they are conscious of one thing, that they do believe. They are believing intellectually with their mind. And their mind will never bring them to God.
Your mind is reasoning's. And God has no
reasoning's. 72 If you can reason it out, your mind will tell you,
"Now, looky here, the doctor says I can't get over that. It's
impossible." Now, the doctor, with his intellects, with His intelligence,
with His knowledge of medical science, he's told you the best of the travel of
his mind. And you taking your mind, and using the same thing the doctor has
told you, you... God can never touch that line, as long as you reason. But
let's put down reasoning. God never made
us to live by our intellect. We live
by the Holy Spirit that's in our soul, that says "no" to any
reasoning's that's contrary to God's Word. When God's Word says its so, there's
nothing in the world stands in Its way. Then when you do that, you're getting
down on the right side of God. You're getting down, till you can ask what you
want to, and it'll be given to you, 'cause there's nothing between there.
There's no reason. Let's cast away those reasoning's. They stand in your way.
Get your mind out of the way. And don't you say what you reason, what you see,
what you think; say what God says to be the Truth. And that can only come from
the inside, from the heart, not from the intellects.
And from his sermon, IMPERSONATION OF CHRISTIANITY 57-0120M E-29 And in this being
the intellectual type of churches that we have today in America, and all over
the world, when we get to that type of school, then the Christian, the believer, the church member, reading the Bible
sees that he must try to act humble. He
must try to be this way. But in doing so he only makes a carnal
impersonation. Let that soak deep. A
carnal comparison, he's trying to act something that he really isn't in his
heart. In his heart he's thinking one thing, and trying to act another,
which in real genuine language, that makes him a hypocrite E-30 Jesus said,
"You hypocrites, how can you speak good things, for out of the abundance
of the heart speaketh the mouth." If you don't speak according to what's
in your heart, your heart thinks one thing and you speak another, that makes
you a hypocrite. The very word
"Pharisee" means, "actor" They acted out their religion for
they had a stony heart. They come and said, "Good Master, we would see
a sign from Thee to prove that you are what You said." Said, 'How do you
call Me good, when there's none good but God?"
UNCERTAIN SOUND 55-0731 75 There's where so many people today, is going to be so
terribly disappointed at the day of judgment: to know that they've lived in church, to know that they have done good deeds, to know that
they have treated their neighbor right,
to know that they have been loyal to the
people, loyal to the church, and in
their mind have believed that Jesus Christ the Son of God and be condemned
at the day of judgment. Jesus said, "Many are called and few are
chosen. Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to Life, and but
few there will be that find it." Now, to you people here this
morning, I want you to set up and take notice to this. You're old enough now.
You've heard enough Gospel preaching, till you ought to be able to get off of
milk and to come to a real solid Gospel diet: come to a place where men and
women ought to stand. Paul said, "When you ought to be teachers,
why, you have to be taught to, yet" 78 Now, in the soul
where the man lives, you are what you
are in your soul, not in your mind, not in your reasoning. Not because you
say, "I will have a better standing. 1 can associate with
better company if I become a Christian." That's
reasoning. See? You mustn't do that Don't do that Let it become from a new experience, a new Birth, something that's
happened, not in the mind, but in the soul, that's taken all reasoning's away,
and you become a new creature. And you're in Christ Jesus.
GOD
MAKING HIS PROMISE 56-1209A E-17 Now, if you're trying just to impersonate
it, then it, you're just making a hypocrite out of yourself You see? 'Cause you
can do that. Christianity is something
that has to come from the heart. Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, said,
"Ye hypocrites, how can you say good things when out of the
abundance of the heart speaketh the mouth?" Then if the heart
thought one thing and the mouth spoke something else, it becomes hypocrisy.
See? We must from our heart express
exactly how we feel. We must express it from our heart And if we can't express
the right thing, then keep still Don't say nothing about it. And now, if the church ever gets to practicing that,
they might have fewer members for a while, but they'll have better members
while they're having it. God grant the day that when every man or woman
will be and express just what they are.
WORD BECAME FLESH
Ezekiel 11:19-21 And I will give them one heart, and! will
put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their
flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes,
and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will
be their God. But for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their
detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon
their own heads, Saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 36:26-28 A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will / put within you: and I will take away the stony head out of your
flesh, and / will give you an head of flesh. And! will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and
do [ And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall
be my people, and / will be your God.
PP
37 inter veil 56-0121 Notice. There is an intellectual faith.
And there's a faith that comes from the heart. The old unbeliever said years
ago, "When the Bible said, 'As a man thinketh in his heart... " Said,
"That's crazy. There's no mental facilities in the heart" Said,
"You think with your mind. There's no mental facilities in the
heart." But last year they found that's wrong. God was right down in the
heart, in the center of the heart, there's a little compartment where there's
not even a blood cell in it, It's not in the animal heart, only in the human
heart. And they say, it's the occupation, or the occupant of the soul The soul
lives in the head. Then after all, God was right, when He said, "As a man
thinketh in his heart." And I'd like to add, So is he!
And so this brings us to the last part of
this question, what about the heart? Now
this is very important that you understand about the heart, because "as a man thinketh in
his heart, so is he." And of course if the Soul resides in the
hear.
What does it take to make a Christian Life? 57-0113 Watch the order of the Scripture, "I will take away the stony heart and give you a new heart." Now, the heart
is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit "And I will give you a new spirit." I want you to watch the order. Now, many people get
mixed up there. They think they got the
Holy Ghost, but they just get a new spirit Watch.
What does It take to make a Christian Life? 57-0113
"I'll give you a new heart, and a new spirit And then I will
put My spirit.. "Now, the new Spirit God had to
give you a new spirit, but that's a new spirit God give you so you could get along with the Holy Ghost.
With that old spirit you had, you
couldn't get along with your neighbor; you couldn't get along with yourself;
so you know you couldn't get along with God; so God gives you a new spirit And
many times under enthusiasm, and if
you'll watch the life that it bears... I hope I'm not hurting, but I hope
I'm uncovering. See? A lot of times you'd think that you'd have the Holy Spirit
"Oh," you said, “I spoke in
tongues." Certainly. Being that
close to it you might do all of that, but that isn't the Holy Spirit yet See? The Holy Spirit bears record of Jesus Christ. Now, He taken, and
what did He do? Give you a new heart, give you a new spirit, and then He puts
His Spirit, His Spirit in you. It's just like.. You don't have to go around and pretend that you're a Christian man.
That new spirit brings new life. The Holy Spirit in your new spirit, in
your new head... Your new heart, your new spirit and the Holy Spirit goes right
in the center of your new spirit, and your new spirit goes right in the center
of your new head.
IMPERSONATION.OF.CHRISTIANITY JEFF.IN 57-0120M
Now, when you do that, and don’t bear the fruit of the Spirit, then you're in
the new spirit You didn't use to do that; that's right. But God had to give you a new spirit. Why, the
spirit you had, you couldn't even get along with yourself So how are you going
to get along with God? So God had to give you a new head, not a patched up
one, a new heart. That's your intellects
that you think with, a new way of thinking. Then He give you a new way of thinking, "Yes, that's right... {notice
the new heart is a new mindset, a new way of thinking) Then He said after that,
"Then I'll give you a new
spirit"
What's that? A new desire, "I want to do right" "Now,
I know I'm a Christian, I got to...
I'll smoke one more and then I'll throw it away. See? And I'll just see.. I'll
just stay home tonight, and you know, I'll just..." all these little just,
just, that's exactly.., Eve stopped just for a moment. That's all she had to
do. But now, that's the new spirit Then notice the order of the Scripture.
After you get a now heart and a new spirit, He said, "Then I'll put My
Spirit.." See? Oh, what? That's the what the Scripture says here. That's the order, the pneumatics and
numerical order of the Scripture: a new heart, a new spirit, and then My Spirit. E-44 Then
God's Holy Spirit.. God's new heart that He put in you, sets right in the
center of you. That's your-your impulse, where your emotions goes out And the
new Spirit sets right in the center of the new heart. And God's Spirit, the
Holy Spirit, sets right in the center of your new Spirit, and there It controls
your emotions. -69 But to accept it, and to have a new heart, a new spirit, and
His Spirit, part of the Logos in you controlling your emotions... And when He
coos through His Word, you coo back and answer to Him. "Jesus Christ the
same, yesterday, today, and forever..."
Impersonation
of Christianity 57-0127A Yes, watch the
order of the Scripture. "I will take away the old stony head, and I'll
give you a new heart." That's the first order. Some of them stop on that
first order. Now, you're just getting started. Then He said, "I'll give
you a new spirit." There's where a lot of you Pentecostals fail You had to
have a new spirit Oh, you felt good and you felt like that, "Oh, wel4 I
just, oh, I feel fine. I couldn't have it." Well, you just got started.
You're just getting fixed up now to just... You're just coming in line. He had
to give you a new spirit. Why you couldn't get along with yourself with the old
spirit So how could you get along with God's Spirit? So He had to give you a
new spirit.
Matt 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and
their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with eyes, and hear with ears, and should
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
So we are dealing with the heart as the
receptacle of the Soul. Then the heart and its condition is very important
because of the influence it plays on the condition of the soul. You raise up a
child in the way they are to go and when they get old they will not depart.
Therefore, if you raise up that child in a condition or atmosphere of unbelief,
it will have a very strong influence on what they believe the Word of God. A
child raised up in a very irreverent home will have a much harder time coming
to grips with his need for salvation than one who is raised up in a home where
love, and respect for God are taught. And the five fold ministry can not give
you a revelation, but they can prepare your mind to receive revelation from
God. And you parents can prepare the minds of your children to receive the Word
of God as well. That is your duty before God as a steward of your household.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, 0
Blasphemous
Names pg. 23, Coming to your mental faith, right here, comes
the Holy Spirit; coming down into your mental faith making it a Spiritual
Faith. Then the Spiritual Faith only recognizes the Word."
And so, in looking at this condition of
the mind, we see that God has come down in this hour to bring about a change of
our mind that we might receive His mind. “Let this mind be in
you that was in Christ Jesus." And we also know in Colossians 3:4
we are told, that "when Christ Who is
our Life shall appear, then we shall appear with Him in the same Glory or
mindset." So then, if it is a condition of the mind, then
it must first come to our mind, before it can move down into our heart and soul
and take over the very ambitions and desires of our heart. That's why the
scripture tells us, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also."
in Luke 6: 45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his
heart bringeth forth that which is good: and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance
of his heart the mouth speaketh.' And so here we find the Scripture
tells us our hearts will only reflect the real treasure that lays inside of it,
and it will show what our treasures really are in the things that we talk
about.
From the message IS YOUR LIFE WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL PP 151,
Brother Branham said, "the things that you think on, the things that you do, (the
actions), the
things that you talk about creates an atmosphere!'
What your mind is feeding upon is only a
reflection of your Spiritual condition which is only a reflection of your
Eternal destination. Gods Elect will hold His Word as their treasure, and it
will reflect in their thoughts and actions as well.
From Enticing Spirits brother Branham said, "you let me see what a man reads, let me see what he watches,
listen to the music he listens at, and I can tell what spiritual condition he
is in." He said, "because that's your
appetite!'
From What is the Holy Ghost PP 31, brother Branham
said, "You
let me talk to a man for two minutes; I can tell you whether he's received the
Holy Ghost or not So can you. It separates them; It's a mark, It's a sign. And
the Holy Spirit is a Sign. And it's... Any child that refused circumcision in
the Old Testament, which was a foreshadow of the Holy Ghost, was cut off from
amongst the people. He could not have fellowship with the rest of the
congregation if he refused to be circumcised. Now, pattern that to today. A
person that would refuse to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost can have no
fellowship among those that has the Holy Ghost You just can't do it You have to
be a nature. Like, it's... My mother there used to say, "Birds of a
feather flock together" Well) it's an old
proverb, but it's a true one. You don? see doves and crows fellowshipping.
Their diets are different; their habits are different; their desires are
different And that's the way it is with the world and with a Christian when you
have been circumcised by the Holy Spirit, which means to cut off a flesh.
And so we see that there is a certain
diet that we partake of. A crow can eat just anything, nothing hardly will
bother him, but a Dove can only eat certain kinds of food. That's his nature.
To eat like a Crow would kill it. And Ill tell you I believe that with all my
heart. I heard a tape other night of a certain preacher in this message, and
all he did was holler and scream and yet nothing was being said. I couldn't
stand it.
THIRST 65-0919 there is a control tower in your soul,
that tells you the spiritual things that you have need of, something in your
spirit, and, and you by this can tell
what kind of a life is controlling you. When you can see what your desires
are, then you can tell, by that, what kind of something that's in you, that's
creating this desire that you have. See, there is a certain thing that you
thirst for, and it can tell you in your soul what this desire is, by the nature
of the thirst that you have. I hope that you can understand that.
So what we are looking at here is the fact that God
has made us to receive His Word with our minds first and then He will anoint
the understanding He has given us and t then drops down into our Soul and
becomes a Spiritual Revelation. So we are dealing with the mind here and that
is why we see Brother Branham pointing to the deteriorating condition of the
minds in the people. Now this brings up a question that was handed in to me.
Now, as I have said, the Soul is that
part of man that identifies the man. It is His very Life, and nature of the
Spirit. When we read I Thess 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [pray God]
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. We see that the word for Soul here is the
Greek word, Psuche which is also translated as the word Life. When Jesus said,
he that will lose his Life for my sake shall save it, he was using the word
Psuche that is also used as the same word for your soul as we see in I Thess 5: 23
and so many other scriptures.
5. Did you
know that 1 John 3: 9 tells us that Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; because
God’s seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. So
when you are born of God you can no longer sin? You can’t, God said so in His
Word. He that is born of God can not initiate sin, Why because you do not have
sin in your soul. And if it is not in your heart then it won’t manifest itself
in your life. The problem is that most people have just about enough Holy
Spirit to make them conscious of sin, but they are not filled with the Spirit
of God until it has taken over their body, soul and spirit.
177-1
James
3:11, "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water
and bitter?"
Romans
6:2, "How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer
therein?"
Matthew
12:33-35 "Either make the tree
good and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt;
for the tree is known by his fruit. 0 generation of vipers, how can ye, being
evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the head bringeth forth good
things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things."
Now if a man is born of the Word, (Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth
and abides forever, then the Life in Him must reflect the very same thing as is
in this Word. Because it’s the same Life.
I
Peter 1:23 tells us we are born again by
the Word of God… then we must produce the Word, you can’t help it.
The fruit of his life will be a product of the kind of seed or life that is in
him. His works therefore will be Scriptural. And that Word will judge us in the
last day. In fact the Word is judging even now, for it is the discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the head. It cuts asunder the carnal from the spiritual.
It makes us living epistles read and known of all men to the glory of God.
"I know thy
works." If a man fears that he might not please God, then let
him fulfill the Word. If a man wonders if he will hear those words, "Well done, good and
faithful servant," let him fulfill the Word of God in his life,
and assuredly he will hear those words of praise. The Word of truth was the
criterion then; it is the criterion now. There isn't another standard; there
isn't another plumb line. As the world is going to be judged by one Christ
Jesus, even so it is going to be judged by the Word. If a man wants to know how
he is making out, let him do as James suggested: Look into the mirror of God's Word.
Therefore we must train the heart, and
the Soul by the Word of God. When a person is born again, he is not filled. The
filling comes as you replace the unbelief with belief in the Word of God. And
then how do we know what we are believing in our heart? By what things we speak,
what actions we take, what doctrine we hold onto. Unless you are a hypocrite,
and purposely are acting one thing while you are believing another, you will
speak from your mouth what is in your heart.
2
Corinthians 4:i3 We having the same spirit of faith,
according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also
believe, and therefore speak;."
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.."
PROVERBS 18:20 ¶ A man's belly shall be satisfied with the
fruit of his mouth; [ with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
PROVERBS 13:2 ¶ A man shall eat good by the fruit of [
mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence. 3 ¶ He that
keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: [ he that openeth wide his lips shall have
destruction.
PROVERBS 12:17 ¶ he that speaketh truth sheweth forth
righteousness: but a false witness deceit. 18 ¶ There is that speaketh like the
piercing of a sword: but the tongue of the wise [ health. 19 ¶j The lip of
truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue [ but for a moment 20 ¶
Deceit [ in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counselors of peace
[ joy. 21 ¶j There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be
filled with mischief 22 ¶ Lying lips [ abomination to the LORD: but they that
deal truly [ his delight
Proverbs 10:11
"The Mouth of a righteous man is a well of Life."
JUBILEE YEAR 54-1003E 127 When you are thoroughly
convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and in your heart, now, not in
your imagination, but in your heart something echoes down there, and said,
"Now, I am saved." that's all you need, right there, brother. Confess
it out, and let your words go out. And then watch, watch your life from then
on. No more than a corn could bear cockleburs, neither could that man bear evil
fruits. He will have to bear good fruits. Jesus said, "He
that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Everlasting Life,
and shall not come into condemnation but has passed from death unto Life."
That's because you believed, not imagine, but you believe It. It become a
thought in your heart. The next thing, you expressed It as a confession. He
that will confess Me before men, him I'll confess before My Father and the holy
Angels" Then something anchors. That’s the reality.
I JOHN 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he
is righteous. 8 He that commits sin (unbelief)
is of the devil;
for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil 9 Whosoever is born of
God doth not initiate sin; for God’s seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. 10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the
children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither
he that loveth not his brother.
Let's just bow our heads in a word of
Prayer.