The Doctrine of Christ no 13

“God’s Spirit in your heart”

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

September 4th, 2011

 

This morning we will take for our text 1 John chapter 5 and we will read from verse 9 through verse 15.

 

1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10  He that believeth on the Son of God hath (echoes) the witness that is in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12  He that hath (he that echoes) the Son hath life (echoes that Life that was in the son); and he that hath not (echoes not) the Son of God hath not life (echoes no that life that was in the Son). 13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

 

1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

 

Let us pray…

 

Now, we are looking this morning at having the same witness in us as was in Christ Jesus the son of God. And that witness is not in our intellect, nor is it in our mind, but it is in our heart. And from the heart we will echo forth what the witness that is within us will want for us to witness.

 

The Apostle Paul said in Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto right-wise-ness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And why is the confession of what we believe in the heart made from the mouth? Because the Scriptures teach us that what a man thinketh in his heart so is he, and out of the abundance or overflow of the heart the mouth speaketh.  So if the witness which is the very life that was in the son dwells also in your heart then the echo must come forth from your lips.

 

The problem with most people though Is that they do not even know their own hearts and the condition therein.

 

The Scripture tells us 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 the heart his mouth speaketh.

 

Now, man does know if his heart is wicked or if it is righteous, but they can make their flesh to look righteous even though in their hearts they are still wicked. Acts 28:27 “For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them”.

 

And Jesus says in John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.”

 

Matthew 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 their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

 

So we see the condition of the hearts is dry and waxed gross and that makes them in their understanding dull of hearing. But although they can fake it until they make it, they can’t fake out God who is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

We read in Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

 

So God knows your thoughts and even the intentions you think you can hide in your heart. So evil will not get away with it, and can not say I did not know, or I wasn’t aware that what I said is evil. They know it. And so does God. But God also knows whether your heart is true, and righteous and desirous to know more of Him. And so we read in

 

Acts 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;  So we see then that when God looks down into the heart and sees it hungering and thirsting for righteousness, He will come into that heart with His Holy Spirit and impart that God-Life to you.

 

But if you are resisting the truth in your heart, he knows that too as we also see in Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

 

Notice that the children of Israel that left Egypt never actually returned to Egypt, but many did in their hearts, but were afraid to actually do it. But God looks at the heart and judges the heart, and knows the condition of the heart even better than we know it our-self.

 

Acts 7:39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,

 

And so it is the heart we wish to examine this morning, to see where our heart stands with God and his Word, because if we belief from the heart then we will make our confession from the mouth.

 

In 1 John 5:10 we read for our text, He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: (He will echo the witness in side of Himself.) he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. Now, the thing of it is, if we have the Holy Ghost we have the witness in us.

We are taught in 1 John 4:15 Whosoever shall confess (that word is homologeo, and means to say the same word. So if we say the same thing God says about His Son, He will say the same word about us. So if we confess) that Jesus is the Son of God, God will dwell in him, and he in God.  Remember, Jesus said, “he that confesses me before men, I will confess him before my father.

 

We see this promise in both Luke and Matthew.

 

Luke 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:

 

Matthew 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

 

In the book of Hebrews 10:15 we read, Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us:

 

And we find the apostle Paul tell us also in Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: Now, that means that God examines your heart and your spirit and then if he finds His word hidden in your heart, His Spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. And in knowing the heart he will give you His own Spirit, His own God-life. 

 

Acts 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;

 

And brother Branham calls this witness in your heart knowing the heart beat of God.

 

Uncertain sound 60-1218 P:76 Oh, brother, may the Holy Spirit get in our hearts this morning, give us the sound of that heartbeat of the Holy Ghost and His power.

 

And that is how Luke explains it in the book of Acts. Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

 

Why cry speak 63-0714M P:65 Now, notice, faith sees what God wants you to see. See? Faith sees what God sees, and reasoning and senses see what the world wants you to see.

 

And when we can feel God’s heart is beating in our heart, we think what God thinks, and we see what God sees and we speak what God speaks. You see, when you are so in tune with the mind of God until all your thoughts are of God, you don’t need visions to know what God wants done, because you see what God sees and you think what God thinks and you do what God does and you speak what God speaks.  

 

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

 

1 Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

 

Now, brother Branham explains to us what this Scripture means in quite a few places.

Looking at the unseen 59-0410 P:21 And I think that the Holy Spirit can lead man, and tell him things, and make him act different, and make him believe things and receive things that the world never could believe could happen. I'm a witness. I was a blind man once myself, practically had to be led. So I know now what I'm talking about; the Holy Spirit. Oh, can't you feel that pulsation of the Spirit begin to rise in your heart, saying, "Jesus Christ is in our midst. Wherever two or three are gathered in My Name, I'll be in their midst." Pulsations, something moving, like a heartbeat. It's pumping energy to your spirit. It's pumping energy to your mind. Then let the things that your eyes see black out, that you see not the things of the world. You're believing what God said.

 

Patmos vision 60-1204E P:39 While we're talking on Revelations, ask Him to give you a revelation of this. For it can only be known by revelation, and you can only be saved by revelation. You have a knowledge of it intellectually, but you can't be saved until it's revealed to you. "No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost." That's what the Bible says. No man can say Jesus is the Christ until he has received the Holy Ghost. He might say, "The pastor said so; the Bible said so." Them are true. "The church says so." That is true. But you don't know yourself until the Holy Ghost has revealed it to you, and He's become in you. "No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost." Not by knowledge, not by intellectual.

 

Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:120 Look, Christ in you makes Him the center of Life of the revelation. See? Christ's Life in you makes Him the center of the revelation. Christ in the Bible, makes the Bible a complete revelation of Christ. Christ in you makes you the complete revelation of the whole thing. See, what God's trying to do? What is the new birth then? You say, "Well, Brother Branham, what is the new birth?" It is the revelation of Jesus Christ personally to you. Amen. See? Not you joined a church, you shook a hand; you done something different; you said a creed; you promised to live by a code of rules; but Christ, the Bible... He is the Word that was revealed to you. And no matter what anybody says, what takes place, it's Christ. Pastor, priest, whatever it might be... It's Christ in you. That is the revelation that the Church was built upon.

 

Discernment of spirit 60-0308 P:56 And no man can call Jesus the Christ by intellectual conception. No man can call Jesus the Christ because he feels sorry for his sins and comes and repent. No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by that revelation of the Holy Ghost making it known to him. "Upon this rock I'll build My church, and the gates of hell will never prevail against it." There's the revelation. There it is, what He's built His church upon.

 

Who is this 59-1004M P:48 No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Spirit. You say, "I believe It because the Word said so." That's true. But the Word says that no man can say Jesus is Christ, until you have received the Holy Ghost. No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost.

 

Super sense 59-1227E P:34 Now, you cannot believe it until you are regenerated. The Bible said that no man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost. We went through that this last week. And it's been such a stumbling block, especially to the Pentecostal believing people, when they hear me say that. Jesus said in Saint John 5:24, "He that heareth My Word and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life.” Eternal Life comes from God alone. "And no man can say Jesus is the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost." You're only taking what somebody else said, what you learned by intellectual, what you learned by the natural five senses. But when the sixth sense comes in, the Holy Spirit, It takes away all the reasonings of these six senses, and the five senses, and lifts you up into that sixth sense, to make you believe things that you can't see, taste, feel, smell, or hear. It does something to you. Then you can say Jesus is the Christ, because you have witnessed it; not what intellectual teaching has taught you, but what you've experienced.

 

Why cry speak 59-1004E P:29 Jesus said, "The works that I do, he that believeth on Me..." Saint John 14:7, "He that believeth on Me the works that I do shall he do also. He that believeth on Me..." No man can believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God until he's received the Holy Ghost. You're only taking it by faith and accepting it. You can't say that it is. You can say, "I believe it is." But no man can call Jesus the Christ until the Holy Ghost is in him. The Bible said so. The Holy Spirit has to come in first, then It gives a witness. You know yourself that Jesus is the Christ because He lives in you.

 

Questions and answers COD 59-0628E P:27 Now, now, I knowed that great Scripture; I use It myself,  I've got It written here: St. John the 5th chapter, 24th verse. It's a pet Scripture to me. For Jesus said this: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, 'He that believeth on Me has Eternal Life.'" Let me read it, so that I'll get It just perfectly right. St. John 5, and I want you to listen close now as we go into this Scripture, 5 and the 24th verse. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." He that believeth on Me..." Now, the Scripture says that no man can say Jesus is the Christ only by the Holy Ghost. So you cannot believe that Jesus is the Christ until you have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You're only testifying or saying what the Scripture says, saying what the pastor says, saying what mother says, or some good preacher says. But you don't know it yourself until He has witnessed His resurrection to you. And no man can call Jesus the Christ until by the Holy Ghost.

 

That is what Brother Vayle meant when he said to me, “Brian, They’ve got it but they don’t got it.” They can quote it, talk it, but is it alive in the way they conduct their life?

 

Expectation 55-1001 P:24 Now, God is not known by intellectual faith. God is known by the experience of new birth, only alone. Jesus said, "Except a man be born again of the Spirit of God, he cannot even see the Kingdom of God." Now, any Bible scholar here knows that the word "see" there does not mean "look with your eye." It means "understand." You--you say, "I... Looking at something or other, say, "I just don't see it." You mean; you don't understand it; you're looking right at it. You look with your eyes, but understand with your heart. That's right. You can't understand it. And no man can know nothing of God, until first you're born of the Spirit of God. The Bible said, "No man can call Jesus, Christ." Only by the Holy Spirit is the only thing that... You can say, "Well, I believe He's the Son of God." If you haven't been born again, you're taking somebody's word for it. You say, "The Bible said so." That's right; the Bible's right, but what about you? You say, "The preacher said so." The preacher's right, but what about you? "Mother said so." Mother's right, but what about you? It's a personal experience of your own that you've got to be born again or you'll never understand God.

 

Things that are to be 65-1205 P:59 A certain denominational minister the other night said to me; he said, "Mr. Branham, looky here, Jesus said, 'Whosoever believeth...' The Bible said, 'Whosoever believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is born of the Spirit of God.'" I said, Don't the Bible also say that “no man can call Jesus the Christ only by the Holy Ghost? See? You can't make the Bible lie. It's got to hook right in, so you have to become absolutely born again of the Holy Spirit in you that witness out, yourself, you know that He is the Son of God. And then If you are a child of God in the Word of God, how can you deny the Word?

 

Unfailing realities of God 60-0626 P:27 The Holy Spirit comes today in like manner to present God to man; but man wants to go to church. It drowns his thinking. He cannot fathom it. And we must learn that God is not known by intellectual conception. God is known by the new birth, by the Holy Ghost, not by any other way. Jesus, the Bible has plainly quoted us that, "No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost." And if you've never received the Holy Ghost, you don't know that He is the Christ, for that's the only way He reveals Himself. You're not converted until you receive the Holy Ghost. The Bible said so. After Peter had both been saved and sanctified, give power to cast out unclean spirits, and to preach the Gospel, Jesus plainly told him he was not converted, until he received the Holy Ghost. And He said, "After you're converted, then strengthen your brethren." That was on the night of the betrayal, that he was not yet converted. And no man is truly converted until he's been changed, and died to himself, and the Holy Spirit has control of that person. They don't want to do it.

 

Book of Exodus 1 55-1005 P:8 Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot understand the Kingdom of heaven.” There's no way of understanding it until you are born again, and then God reveals Himself to you, and then you know that you've passed from death unto Life, because no man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Spirit. See? The only way that you'll ever know that Jesus is the Christ, is when the Holy Spirit personally witnesses to you that He is the resurrected Lord Jesus. No matter what He would do, what kind of signs, what kind of miracles, you'll never know it until your personal experience with God. You say, "Well, I believe it because the Bible said so." Well, that's good. The Bible, it's true. It knows it. "Well, the preacher said so." Perhaps, he knows it. "Mother said so." She knows it. But what do you know about it? You'll never know it until it's revealed to you individually by the Holy Spirit. And then, by accepting it, you become a new creature in Christ Jesus, born a second time.

 

Faith in action 55-1003 P:34 So if you just only got a mental conception of the Bible, if you say, "Well, I believe it because I read it. God's got to reveal it to you by your heart. No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit deals in the heart. So if a man really believes it from his heart, he's not afraid to put it to a test. But if you're just mentally, you'll reason it out, say, "Well, I couldn't do that. They might do it; this one might've done it. she might a got well, but I don't know about myself." But if you've really based your faith on God's eternal Word and it's down in your heart, all devils out of torment can't upset you. No, sir, you've got to stay there.

 

God's only provided place of worship 65-1128M P:99 My action, and the vindication of God's Word in my life shows whether I'm a child of God or not. Now, there's God's only place. See it? The only place that God will receive your sacrifice (I don't care how sincere you are.) is in Christ. And remember... You say, "Well, I believed; I come in too." Remember, the Bible says... You say, "Well, the Bible said, 'Whosoever believeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is saved, shall be saved.'" It says that, but remember it also is written, also is written, "No man can call Jesus the Christ, only by the Holy Ghost." See? You might say he is, but he isn't until the Holy Spirit Itself, which gives Life to the Word, proves it by vindication that you are the son of God then. That's the Scripture.

 

Queen of Sheba 60-0710 P:40 The Bible said that "No man can call Jesus the Christ only by the Holy Ghost." If you've never the received the Holy Ghost, you don't know that He's the Christ yet. Remember that. You're only walking towards that light. You can say, "My pastor said so." That's true. "My Bible said so." That's true. "My mother said so." That's truth. "My church believes it's the Holy Ghost." That's true, but what about you? As an individual, you don't know until you've received It. And when you receive the Holy Ghost, then you are a witness that He's alive forever more. Now, the Holy Ghost is within you; now, and then you watch Him as He works. If the Life of Christ is in you, it will produce His Life in you." The works that I do shall you do also." The same works, because it's the same life. If the life in a watermelon vine produces a watermelon, well, it'll... The next branch that comes out, it'll produce another watermelon; every time it'll be a watermelon. And if the church is really anchored in Christ, every church will write a book of Acts behind it. That's exactly right, because the first one wrote a book of Acts behind it. So, there we are.

 

Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

 

Hebrews 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

 

2 Thessalonians 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.

 

1 Thessalonians 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

 

1 Thessalonians 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

 

Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:

 

Ephesians 6:6 Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

 

Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

 

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

 

2 Corinthians 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

 

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 

Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

 

Romans 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

 

Romans 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

 

Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.