The
Doctrine of Christ no 50
“He that believeth no 4”
Is not Condemned
Brian Kocourek
As we continue to take our study from the thought of
the blessings or benefits the believer receives, tonight we will take our
thoughts from John 3:17-21, where we are told that the Believer will not come be
condemned with the world. 17 For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved. 18 “He that believeth” (ὁ
πιστεύων) on him is not condemned: but he
that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds
should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth
cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought
in God.
Now, the apostle Paul
also taught that there is no condemnation for the believer as well. Let’s turn
in our Bibles to Romans Romans 8:1 There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The Word condemnation
that the apostle Paul used here is a Greek word, katakrima {kat-ak'-ree-mah}
and it means a Damnatory sentence, hence condemnation. We found that it comes
from a rot word which means literally a -- damning or to give judgment against,
and to judge worthy of punishment, in other words, to condemn. Thus
condemnation.
Webster defines
Condemnation as “the act of condemning”. Which is to pass judgment upon.
Therefore, in this verse of Scripture that we are dealing with this, Paul tells
us that those who are in Christ Jesus shall not come into the judgment. 8:1There is therefore
now no judgment to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.
Again we see in Romans 5:16b
for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but
the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man's offence death
reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift
of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore
as by the offence of one judgment came upon all
men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life.
Another verse where we see Jesus make this promise is
in John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but
is passed from death unto life.
Notice we are promised a deliverance from the judgment
by walking in the light, then to walk in the light is of the utmost importance
to us a People, Now, the word that Jesus used for condemnation is the Greek
word, krisis {kree'-sis} which means -- judgment, damnation, and condemnation: and suggests a separating,
sundering, separation; a trial, or contest. Sentence of condemnation, damnatory
judgment, condemnation and punishment
The word condemnation used here by Paul is
the Greek word, katakrima {kat-ak'-ree-mah} and it means Damnatory sentence, hence condemnation.
This word {kat-ak'-ree-mah} comes
from the root word katakrino {kat-ak-ree'-no} which is a compound word kata
{kat-ah'} meaning -- against and kurieuo {ko-ree-yoo'-o} which means “to have dominion
over”. Hence the combination of these
two words means to have dominion over against. Therefore this thing Paul is
speaking of here has to do with something which
literally dominates against.
Literally a -- damning 1) to give judgment against,
to judge worthy of punishment to
condemn
Brother Branham quoted this scripture many, many times, and each time he quoted from this
verse he used the word judgment, rather than the word condemnation. Now, if he
read it this way, then we should do the
same, as I have shown you in the Greek that this is what Jesus Himself is
speaking.
Now, Paul must have been quoting Jesus when He said
these words, because they are so similar to what Jesus said. And since this is spoken of by Paul, Jesus,
and again by William Branham, I feel that we should understand what this means,
because after all “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall all things be
established. These are words of encouragement to us today, seeing that this
world is under the curse of God for having rejected His Word in this hour.
Now, what does it mean “To them which are in Christ Jesus?”
How can we be in Christ? Well, Jesus tells us how when He said, He that heareth my
word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Now, the Greek does not say “Believes on Him,”
but it simply says, “believes Him.” Jesus is not concerned whether you believe in God
but whether you believe what God says, namely His Word. Therefore, it is not a
believing on God, but rather
a believing
God period, that Jesus is telling us here. , He
that hears my word, and believes him that sent me… That’s the key.
That is what keeps you from the judgment…
I like the way the Amplified version translates Jesus
words here in John
5:24… The person whose ears are open to
My words – who listens to My Message – and believes, and trusts and clings to and relies on Him who sent me has (possesses now) Eternal Life. And he does not
come into the judgment – does not incur sentence of judgment; will not come
under condemnation – but has already passed over out of death into life.
Oh that we might believe in such a
way as to trust, and clings to, and rely on God our Father,
especially in the light of this Glorious End-time Message of Grace and Mercy
that He has come down personally to deliver to you and me.
Look at these wonderful words. To believe,
to trust, to cling to, and to rely on
God.
To Believe: Means: to take as true and have confidence in.
To Trust: Means: to have faith and confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability and
justice.
To Cling to Means: to
hold fast and embrace.
To Rely on Means to confidently depend upon for support or aid…
Therefore, when Jesus says, The
person whose ears are open to My words – who listens to My Message – and
believes, and trusts and clings to and relies on Him who sent me, (possesses now) Eternal Life. And he will not
come into the judgment – he will not incur sentence of judgment; he will not
come under condemnation – because he has already passed over out of the result
of judgment which is death and has already passed into life.
That is why God’s presence is so important to us in
this hour. He is here to deliver those who have believed and trusted and relied
upon His Word. When Brother Branham preached that most wonderful Message
telling how the rapture would come, he took his text from Psalm 27:5.
The
Rapture pp. 27 “In the
Book of Psalms... Now, I want to speak on a--a real strange subject tonight
just for a little while. I've got some Scriptures written down here, and--and I
thought maybe that... Tonight I was going to speak on something different, but
see the time get away, why, I didn't want to stay that long, so I just turned
over here and got some more Scripture. And I want to speak on the subject of
"The Rapture." See? Now, we
believe that there will be a rapture. All Christians believe that, that's Bible
readers believes that there will be a rapture.
And now, to read for--to background, we read the 25th
Brother Branham reads from Psalms 27 for his text for
the Rapture sermon. 27th Psalm, 1-5 verses. The LORD is my
light and my salvation; in whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my
life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my
foes, come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumble and fell. Though the host
should encamp about me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against
me, in this I will be confident. One
thing have I desired of the LORD, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in
the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the
LORD, and to require in his temple. For
in the time of trouble He shall
hide me in the pavilion: and in the
secret of his tabernacle shall he
hide me; he shall set me... upon a rock.
May
the Lord add His blessings to that reading of His Word. Now, today, speaking on this subject... And
now, some of you may different the avenues that I take, but how many in here
believes that the Bible teaches there will be a rapture of the church? Yes,
sir. That's right. That's right, a catching away of the church. Whether you're
a Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, or whoever you are, Pentecostal, there will
be a catching away. And I think that in
speaking I--I just don't try to get up here to say something that I think would
please the people. I've never been guilty of that. I want to get up here and
say something as I feel led to say it, that I think would be a help to you,
something that would further your experience with God if you are a Christian,
and if you're not a Christian, make you so ashamed of yourself that you will
become a Christian. And that's the purpose that I've always tried to line up my
thoughts as the Lord would lead me.
Now,
we are warned, as in the doctrine of this in the last days will be scorned at.
If you would... Let's just read that just a minute. It's in II Peter the 3rd chapter. Let's read
just a moment on this, the 3rd chapter and the
3rd and 4th verses. Let's see if this isn't right. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after
their own lust, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?... since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation. For this they willingly are
ignorant of, that is by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth
standing out of the water and the--and in the water: Whereby the world that... was, being
overflowed with water, perished:
Now,
we see that the reason that this subject is so lightened at,( that means to be made fun of, or not taken
seriously) is because that the prophet here has said that
in this last days these scoffers would
come saying these things. See? It's
predicted. The reason the people are acting today the way they're acting...
Why, you certainly are expecting it, because the Bible said that: "In the
last days they'd be heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, despisers of those that are
good, having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof; from such turn
away." Can we look for a impersonation of Truth? Certainly.
Now, having read from Brother Branham’s Message on the
Rapture, we find that He used Psalms 27 for his text which means his main
Scripture which is supposed to lay out the detail for his Message.
Psalms27:5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a
rock. Notice here that we read, trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle… and in
Psalms
31:20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the
pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of
tongues.
Then notice also in this scripture that brother
Branham used for his text for the Rapture Message, it speaks of a time of trouble. It is at this time of
trouble that we are told that we will be hid in His Tabernacle, or His
Presence…. Now He did not say that I
would be hid in the tabernacle, but His tabernacle… And this Tabernacle is His
Presence… and notice, He does not say it is something that will be open and
available to everyone, but he says that we will be hid in His Presence…. That
should tell us that His Presence will not be known to others, or it would not
be a hidden place of refuge.
Now, He also tells us that at the time of trouble, it
is at this time that we will be hid away from the pride of man. 20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from
the pride of man…
Now what is the pride of man? I would think it would
be in what man feels he can point to by way of accomplishment. And look how man thinks he is so smart
because of what he can achieve via the computer technology. The computer age
they call it, but God calls it the age of
So we see that
So we see that there is to be a time of trouble, but
notice also that at this particular time of trouble, we will be hid in His
Presence, secretly, and at this time of the hiding away in Christ we will be
set upon a rock…
Now, where else do we hear those words, upon a rock,
and what do they mean?
Matthew
16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed
[it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And
I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So we see that The Rock is Revelation of Who Christ
is? And that should be easily understood since Paul tells us the Rock that
followed the Children of Israel was Christ. I
Corinthians
10:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I would
not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud,
and all passed through the sea; 2 And
were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual
drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
We see This Rock identified with God’s Presence with
Moses. Exodus
33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place
by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass,
while my glory passeth by, that I will
put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I
pass by: 23 And I will take away mine
hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Again in the Book of Judges the Rock is associated
with the Presence of God…
Judges
13:17 And
Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What [is] thy name, that when thy
sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?18
And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my
name, seeing it [is] secret?19 So
Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered [it] upon a rock unto the
LORD: and [the angel] did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. 20 For it came to pass, when the flame went
up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the
flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on [it], and fell on their
faces to the ground.21 But the angel
of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that
he [was] an angel of the LORD. 22 And
Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
In Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand: 27 And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Now, notice how the time of trouble is shown here in
Matthew but the person who is considered wise is the one who build upon a rock,
upon revelation while the foolish ones did not.
The bible speaks of this time of trouble in several
places, but in each time it speaks of this time of trouble, it also speaks of
our deliverance by the Presence of God.
tsarah
{tsaw-raw'} 1) straits, distress, trouble
malat {maw-lat'} 1) to slip away, escape, deliver, save, be delivered to slip away - to escape - to be delivered
The word caught up was translated from the Greek word harpazo {har-pad'-zo} which means --
catch up -- take by force -- catch away -- pluck -- catch -- pull to seize,
carry off by force, to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly, to snatch out or away
In Elisha’s day we see in 2
Kings 7:1 3 men who had leprosy and who fled the city because it was
under attack, but when they went out into the camp of the enemy, God had scared
off the enemy and they left behind all their provisions
7:1 ¶
Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word
of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time [shall] a measure
of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel,
in the gate of Samaria. 18 And it
came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of
barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to
morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria:
19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, [if]
the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said,
Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
Psalms
50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving;
and pay thy vows unto the most High: 15
And call upon me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.