The Doctrine of Christ no 48
“He that believeth in Me no 2”
Shall
not Perish
Brian Kocourek
This evening I would like to speak on the subject of He
that believeth in Me again, and tonight
we will look at the second promise we have in Scripture from God for those
who are believers.
If you recall last Sunday we began a new mini series within the Doctrine
of Christ series that will deal wit the 19 Scriptures where Jesus speaks of
those who believe in Him.
As I mentioned last Sunday, knowing we are believers and sons of God, we
thus understand that we are recipients of all that God has for us through our inheritance
which Jess made possible by his death on the cross.
Last Sunday we found that all 19 of these verses deal not with only one
believer, but all believers. And we also found that only those who are born
again and have received God’s Spirit are capable of being called a believer. The
Apostle Paul was very plain when he said, “no man can understand the things of God unless the Spirit of
God be in him.”
We also focused our attention on the fact that no one can be saved unless
they were in God’s thinking to be saved before He even began the creation
process of the Universe, or what is called the foundations of the world. We
examined the Scriptural evidence of this salvation in God’s thinking before the
foundations of the world, and showed how by
having been in God’s thinking, He chose us back then as Sons and
daughters of Himself, and placed the law of Reproduction, the Law of Life,
where every seed would have to come forth into manifestation after the same
nature, same life attributes as the original seed.
We read from Mark 16:16 “He that believeth” (ὁ
πιστεύσας) and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned.
We showed the Greek word that the King James translators translated as
the word “he”
and which all other translations translated
as the word “whosoever” when used alone is actually translated
as the word “son”
when using the Google translation software.
Therefore this evening without further ado, I would like to proceed to
the second Scripture in this series, that deals with the phrase “he that believeth”
and begin our study.
For our second verse let’s
open our Bibles to John 3:15 and read
both 15 and16 since
they are continuous in thought and were given at the same time by Jesus. 15: That
“whosoever believeth” (ὁ πιστεύων)
in
him should not perish, but have
eternal life. John
3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that “whosoever believeth” (ὁ πιστεύων) in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
Notice our promises as spoken in both these verses are
two-fold. Number 1) those who are believers shall not perish, and number two)
they shall be given eternal life.
Tonight we will focus our thoughts on the first
promise contained in these Scriptures. “He that believeth in Me shall not perish.”
Now, to me this promise is very significant, because
we have certain brothers who teach that when the word “he” is used it is singular
and only speaks of one person, and if this is true, then this scripture tells
us that this promise of not perishing is only for one person, and of course
they believe that one person is William Branham.
Now, I would like to point out once again that the
Greek word used that was translated as the English word “he” by the King James translators, when
translated with the “Google translation” software, is translated son. Therefore
as we see in every other language on earth, the translation is “Whosoever” or
the best translation would be “Every son that believeth” shall not perish but
shall receive eternal Life. Again tomorrow morning we will go more into the
second part of this promise, which promises eternal life to every son that
believeth.
But for now, we want to focus on just the one
thought and that is that every son that believeth shall not perish. Now, this
is important for us to understand because this word “perish” means “to destroy fully”.
The Greek word is “apollumi” which is taken from the
same root word as “apollyon the destroyer” which speaks of satan. The word
apollumi speaks of “death and total destruction
and it speaks of being lost”.
So we see that this promise can not be to just one
person only or what good would the Gospel be? It’s called “the Good news” but
good news for who? If only one person can be saved from perishing, from the
total annihilation as these two Scriptures suggest through the theology of
some.
For if this “he” is singular, then it only refers to
one person that believes shall not perish. Then all men are doomed to perish,
to be totally annihilated, except for that one person William Branham who is
the one and only believer, according to this concept of reading the Scripture
from a grammatical standpoint rather than through revelation as given to us by
God.
Toheology based upon personal experience is very
dangerous theology. Very dangerous to view the Scriptures by what you know
about your own language. Jesus said to Peter, “blessed are you peter, for flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you but my Father which is in Heaven, and upon this rock,
the rock of revelation, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall
never prevail.”
Mark 4:24-29 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear (1): with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you (2): and unto you that hear (3)
shall more be given. 25 For he that hath (4), to him shall be given (5): and he
that hath not (6), from him shall be taken even that which he hath (7).
Now, notice that Jesus is telling us to
take heed what we hear. In other words he is telling us to be careful what we
hear. Don’t just take any mans word for what he says because he has been
endorsed by your camp as being a real student of the Word.
The
Apostle John said you must try everything by the Word. “try the spirit” he said to see
whether it be in the Faith.
Now
when Jesus said, “Take heed what ye hear”, this word translated "what"
was the Greek word "tis" and actually means "in what way"
you are hearing. We are commanded to be careful "in what way" we are hearing.
And it also means, "Who" and therefore could be read, “be careful of whom
you are listening too”. Now, why would it matter whom you listen
too? Well, look what happened to the whole world because Eve listened to the
wrong person.
Because we are warned by the Apostle
Paul, in 2
Timothy 3:13 “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving, and being deceived.”
This same Apostle was afraid the church
at
II Corinthians 11:1 ¶ Would to God ye could
bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2 For I am jealous
over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I
may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety (that's his cunning
use of false wisdom), so your minds should be corrupted (that means to
become polluted)
from the simplicity (which means the single focus) that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus (that word another
is the Greek word allos which means a different one altogether), whom we have not
preached, or if ye receive another spirit (and this word another is
the Greek word heteros which means of another nature), which ye have not received, or another gospel (and
this word another also means one of a different nature), which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear
with him (or you seem to put up with it so easily).
Paul
was shocked by the lax attitude of the believers at
Notice he calls these men evil and he
also calls them seducers. Now seduction is not clubbing you over the head and
beating you to a pulp. But seduction is done by using flattering language. It
is the kind of language used to lure you into their scheme. And notice Paul
said, 2 Timothy
3:13 But
evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
Now, teaching is the essential ministry
of the Holy Spirit, and it is God's way of instructing His Children. Without
the Teaching of the Holy Spirit through his chosen vessel, you can not in any
way understand the
And in the Book of John 6:45 we are told, It is written in the
prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Therefore unless you have been taught and
have learned you can not even come to God, because what God are you going to
come to? Now, those are Jesus' own words. And so the Ministry of the Holy
Spirit has always been one of instruction. That is why doctrine is so
important, because doctrine is teaching.
Notice how important teaching was to
Jesus. We are told in the Gospels that Jesus taught the people daily. Luke 19:47
And he taught daily
in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the
people sought to destroy him, 48 And could not find what they might do: for all
the people were very attentive to hear him.
Mark 4:2 And he taught them many things by parables,
and said unto them in his doctrine,
Matthew 7:28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the
people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as [one] having
authority, and not as the scribes.
Now, there is one thing you should know
for sure, that if God sends a man and backs up that man with His presence and
His power, then that man will not be there with a message that is the same old
teaching the people have been believing all along. For why would God send a
message if you already know what it.
God
doesn’t do anything in vein, and he doesn’t waste His time either, and nor would
God waste your time. What would be the reason for sending a messenger with a
message if that message is not new, or at least a clearer understanding than
you had before.
From the message, The Token 64-0308 73 brother
Branham said, Now,
when you see signs going on, and no message behind it, just the same old school
of theology and on down, that wasn't from God. But where there's a sign showed,
a Message follows it. The reason God performs the signs and wonders is then to
attract the attention of the people to the teaching, which is the message. And
yet just because God's main purpose is to teach you, does not mean the people
always get it.
Why it has to be Shepherds 64-1221 147 All
as we know,
So
we see then the main emphasis that God places on His personal presence is to
teach man, and yet man most often doesn't get it. They want the fishes and
loaves, but they do not want to be taught. And yet, unless they are not only
taught but learn they can not even come to God, for how are you going to come
to God if you do not even know what God to come to?
And the teaching cannot be just the
thoughts of the man, or he can not be a messenger from God. For if he is a True
Messenger He will say what has been told Him to say by God. And what good would
it be if God sent a man to be his messenger if that man did not say what God
told Him to say. He certainly would not be a true witness. He would be a
deceiver.
In John 8:28 Jesus said, Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted
up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of
myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. Even the Son of
God could not teach contrary to what He had been taught by God Himself.
And in the Book of Galatians 1:11 we hear the apostle
Paul tell us the same thing. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither
was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now
the fact of it is, is that we are told by the apostle John that the Holy Spirit
is our teacher, and yet we know that God has placed in the church a 5 fold
ministry to do just that, to teach. And why is that?, because we know that God
has always used men to teach His word.
In
the Book of Acts they taught from house to house and from church to church and
from temple to temple. Wherever they could gather together anyone that would
listen they scattered forth the Seed which is the Word of God.
And you are commande3d to give back the
word which you are taught back to the one teaching so that he might know where
you are standing. Because if the one teaching does not have any feed back, he
then will not know how to instruct you further.
In
Galatians 6:6
Paul said, Let
him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good
things.
And in the Book of Titus 1:9 we read, Holding fast the
faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine
both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. 10 For there are many unruly and
vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 11 Whose mouths
must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought
not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Now, we know the purpose behind God
teaching us is to draw us to Him, and not to some other object of worship. And
believe me there are plenty of deceivers out there who would try to influence
you after there own persuasion.
I John 2:26 These
things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27 But the
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that
any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is
truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
John also let's us know that the evidence
that we are of God is that we will hear those that are of God. I John 4:5
They are of the
world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are
of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us.
Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
And
that is why I believe that those who will not hear the true five fold ministry
and shut themselves off from the ones that God is using are not even born again. Now, the Apostle Paul makes it very clear in
the Book of Romans why we need to hear only those that God has sent.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on
him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher
(Even though they say they hear, thy
boast in vain, unless they hear true preachers; for to hear false prophets
means as much as not to hear. They hear and they do not hear; They have ears,
but do not hear, nor do they preach the Word of God. ? 15 And how shall they
preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! ?
This is directed against all conceited teachers and arrogant instructors.
If you will notice in verse 14-15 there
are four statements that Paul makes that of which follow together in such a way
that one leads to the other, but so that the last forms the foundation on which
the others rest. Thus we see from what Paul said, that it is impossible that
those preach who are not sent, It then is impossible for those to hear who are
without a preacher, and it is impossible for them to believe who do not hear,
and thus it would be impossible for them to call upon the name of the Lord who
do not believe. And thus it would be impossible for them who do not call upon
the name of the Lord to be saved.
So
then, the entire source and origin of salvation rests on this; that God sends
out someone. Now, would just anyone do? Not according to God's Word. God will
send out a true minister of the Word.
If
God does not send out any, then they who preach, preach falsely, and their
preaching is not really preaching at all. In fact, it would be better for them
not to preach, because what they are preaching is not what God wants the people
to hear, and therefore is false.
Then
also they who would hear such an one would hear error, and it would be better
for them not to hear.
Then
also they who believe based on hearing this error, would believe based on false
doctrine, and it would be better for them not to believe.
Then
also they who call upon Him would call falsely (upon a false Lord), and it
would be better for them not to call.
1 For such preachers do not preach,
2 such hearers do not hear;
3 such believers do not believe;
4 such callers do not call;
5 they will be damned because they would be saved by falsehood.
Then we can see what Proverbs 1:28 means when it says,
"Then shall
they call upon me, But I ill not answer; they shall seek me early, but they
shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of
the Lord."
And so we hear Paul
conclude in verse 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who
hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God. The true, revealed, and vindicated Word of God.
Then
can you see the importance this evening of receiving a vindicated Ministry?
Because if it is not vindicated, then how do you know what you are hearing is
not error? And if it is error, then you would be believing error, and if you
believe error, then you would be calling out to a wrong God, and if you call
out to a wrong God, then how could you be saved?
Now, Jesus said, unto them, “Take heed what ye
hear”…
Now,
we’ve already covered that. It means to take heed or be careful in what way or
in what manner you are hearing. And then He goes on to tell us what he means. “with what measure ye
mete, it shall be measured to you”. In other words, we could say it
this way…
“With what measuring
instrument you use to divide my word that is the measure you will get. If you
use a righteous measuring instrument you will get a rightly divided word, but
if you use some other means to divide my word, then you will get what you are
looking for. If you examine the Word with a Baptist filter you will
get a Baptist Bible. If you use a Catholic filter to divide the Word you will
get a Catholic Bible. And if you use a Pentecostal experience to measure the
Word you will get a Pentecostal Bible, and no more. If you examine the
Scriptures with an Englishman’s filter you loose out on a whole lot of promises
to “whosoever
believeth”, because to you do not believe those promises are for all
believers, and since you lean so much on your English language skills, you see
this word “he” as singular instead of questioning the translation, you form
your doctrine around your language skills, and thus you see that it speaks of
only one person. But if you rightly divide the Word you will receive a right-eous-ness
which is a right-wise-ness.
And then Jesus continued, “and unto you that
hear”. Now, we know that not every one can hear or else he would not
be saying “unto
you that can hear”.
In
Matthew 13:10-17
and Mark 4:
10-12 Jesus told us, “not everyone is ordained to understand”. Not
every one will hear and perceive, or see and understand what they are seeing,
so the Bible is not for everyone, but that does not mean that it is only for
one person either. He said “they have ears but can not hear and eyes but cannot see.”
Let’s
read it for ourselves. Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing
see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them
is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and
shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 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. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see:
and your ears, for they hear.
And then Jesus continued saying, “and unto you that
hear shall more be given. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be given”.
Now,
we have covered this before, but that word “hath” is the Greek word “echo” and an echo is being able to repeat back the same words with the same
expression so that it is clear that you do understand. For I can use the
same words with different expressions and mean completely opposite meanings. I
could say with assurance "William Branham is
a vindicated prophet!" and you will know by my statement
that I am sure of what I am saying. And I stand firm behind that statement. But
I could say those same words, and instead of an exclamation mark, I could use a
question mark, and it would give a totally different meaning, "William
Branham is a vindicated prophet?"
Notice how one expression evidenced
assurance in the statement that William Branham is a vindicated prophet, but
the others statement although the same words evidenced doubt as to whether
William Branham is a vindicated prophet. Therefore, just being able to repeat word
is not being able to echo those Words. A parrot can repeat words and not know
what he is saying. But it takes a certain gift from God to be able to echo back
what God has said. Because in doing so, you are expressing the same spirit as
the composer.
Brother Branham said in his sermon, The Token 63-0901M P:103
Don't
just come this far, say, "I believe
the message." You obey the
message. Come into Christ. You
say, "Oh, I believe every word you said, Brother Branham." That's
good. But that is just being able to
read. Take the Message; take it into
your heart, that you must have the Token, the very Life that was in Christ, be in you. "When I see
that, I will pass over you."
Now,
let's continue with what Jesus said, and “he that hath not”.
That means to
those who are not made in such a way as to understand and therefore echo or
give back to God what He has given to you.
So
therefore, to believe that the word “he”
means it is singular when speaking of the believer is a very dangerous path to
be going down, and will most certainly cut you out of all the benefits and
blessings God has for “whosoever believes in Him”.
Now, some of you might be asking, why are you hitting so hard on these
things, brother Brian? Well, let me tell you something. Those brothers who are
taking their stand to believe that the word “he” is singular and thus only one
person can fulfill that Scripture and thus receive the blessings as a result,
Those are my brothers and I do not wish for them to loose out on these
wonderful blessings that God has in store for all them who Believe Him. Brother
Branham made it very plain in the next quote, where he said,
God's
provided way of healing 54-0719A P:26 Now, in you, up here, every
person here this afternoon, I want to believe, believes in Divine healing, every one of you. You say, "Sure,
Brother Branham, I
believe in Divine healing. "Now, maybe you mean that with all the intelligence you know how to speak it.
You believe it. That's in your head. But remember, there's a subconscious down there, that's got to say the same thing.
If it doesn't, you'll never get nowhere.
You might read the Bible, say, "Well, here Brother Branham, the Bible says
this." That's true. That's exactly right. There's where people say today,
"Well, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and I'm saved." "How
do you know He's the Son of God?" "The Bible said so." See? And
I say, "Well, how do you know He's the Son of God." "Mother said
so. The preacher said so. "Well, they're right. But how do you know? The Bible said that you cannot know it
until you have received the Holy Ghost. You're only taking somebody else's
word. Did you know that? That didn't go very good. But that's the truth. Quote
it, "No man can say Jesus is the Christ, only by
the Holy Ghost." That right? The Holy Ghost in you has to bear record to the resurrection and Jesus
being the Son of God, or you're only taking somebody else's word for it.
You're only taking what the Bible says. The Bible's right. Or you're only
taking what the minister says. The minister's right. Or what some other good
person said. They're right. But you, as
an individual doesn't know that Jesus is the Christ until the Holy Ghost has
brought it to you. That's right.
And that is what this is
all about. You do not believe just because you read it in your Bible and you
say I believe the Bible therefore I am a believer. No, that is not right. You
must have God’s supernatural revelation deep in your soul, that you know it by
the power of his resurrection. Not what God did for and through someone else.
That man, that son of God, that vindicated
Prophet William Branham that God worked with has been gone for more than half a
century. He’s gone brothers and sisters, but God is not gone. God is still
here. God is still on the scene, and it’s only your own unbelief that withholds
you from every divine promise of God because you think you are smarter than
William Branham who took God at His Word.
Well, I take God at Hs
Word, and whether he ever does or does not do for me what He promised to do,
will not change the way I believe. He said it, He is here to perform it, and I
will not stand in his way.
He gave promises to
all believers who believe, but as brother Branham said, saying you believe
doesn’t mean you believe. You might believe in your head but do you believe
down in your heart. Elijah was not to come to change the minds of the children
but the hearts of the children, and God is still dealing with our hearts if we
will let him. But they just get so starchy and so dogmatic that unless it comes
from their camp they won’t hear it. Well, God said it and it will be just as He
said it would. Now, how many are tired of the condition of their heart tonight?
Raise your hands now
and let’s surrender our hearts to the One who can know the very secrets of the
heart, our heavenly Father Who is the Word.
Let’s pray…