The
Doctrine of Christ no 56
“He that believeth on Me no 10”
Shall not be confounded
Brian
Kocourek
Let us stand for the reading of the Word, and let us
open our Bibles to the Book of 1st Peter and we will read from
chapter 2 and verse 6 for our text this evening.
1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the
scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and “he that believeth” (ὁ πιστεύων) on
him shall not be confounded.
Now,
this word confounded was translated such from the Greek word Kata-isch-uno from and it means to shame down, i.e. to bring to disgrace or (by implication) put to
the blush: confound, dishonor, (be or make ashamed).
And the English word confound
means: 1. To cause to become confused or perplexed. 2.
To fail to distinguish; to mix up: confound.
The word is used quite a few times in Scripture as follows:
It is translated as the word ashamed in the
following verses.
Romans 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
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.
Romans 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed.
2 Corinthians 7:14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of
you, I am not ashamed; but as we
spake all things to you in truth, even so our
boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.
1 Peter 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they
speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
The word is also translated as dishonor, and is
found in these Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his
head covered, dishonors his head.
1 Corinthians 11:5 But every woman that prayeth
or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonors her head: for that is even
all one as if she were shaven.
And the word is translated as confounded in the
following Scriptures.
1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the
scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of
the world to confound the wise; and
God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are
mighty;
Now, for our text which we are basing our study on
this evening, the word
Kata-isch-uno was translated as confounded. 1 Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious:
and “he that believeth” (ὁ πιστεύων) on
him shall not be confounded.
Now, as I said the word confound means 1. To cause to become confused or perplexed. 2. To fail to distinguish; to mix up: confound.
But
what I want to bring to our attention this evening is that we have this promise
from God in 1 Peter 2:6 that the believer shall not
be confounded, perplexed, mixed up.
Now,
that is because this message is for us, but to those who are confounded,
perplexed, or mixed up it is not for them as we see in Matthew 13.
Matthew 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him,
Why speakest thou unto them in parables?11 He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away
even that he hath.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.17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and
righteous men have
desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.18 Hear
ye therefore the parable of the sower.19 When any
one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth
away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the
way side.20 But
he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the
word, and anon with joy receiveth it;21 Yet hath
he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for
when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of
the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed
among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and
the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh
unfruitful. 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that
heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Now,
what I want you to notice in this parable is that those for whom the Message is
for, they believe it when they hear it, and to show they believe it, they bring
forth much fruit. But those who hear it but do not believe it, they will not
bring froth much fruit, because to them, they hear it only mentally, but what
they are hearing they are confused by what is being said, and thus they are
confounded, perplexed, and get it mixed up.
Now,
that is what I believe is what we are coming down to in this last days and that
is where the separation is taking place. There is a separation between Life and
death, those who receive and bring forth fruit and those who do not. For many have heard the Message. Millions and millions have
heard the Message. And perhaps about 2 million people today hang the shingle of
Malachi four and profess to believe it. But of that 2 million people who are
professing this Message, how many of them are actually living it?
I
mean, of those 2 million professors, how many are actually quickened by it? I
mean to most people it is a confession only, or profession, but to them it is
confusing, and they are perplexed by it, and get the Message and what it means
mixed up because they have grasped only a mental understanding, and thus they
struggle with the Message and what it means for us in this hour.
I
believe that the time of the falling away is represented in those who have
heard, but have not understood, and hey are those who have grasped some notion
of what they believe the message to be, but in actuality they have missed the
entire kernel of the Message which is the Life of the original seed becoming
manifested again in the seed life of sons and daughters of God.
Harvest time 64-1212 P:69 "Bringing to
remembrance." He vindicates every
Word, and we live by It. Hallelujah. Live
by It. "Man
shall live by every Word," every Word vindicated.
Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. Shall follow them that believe." Take a-hold of It; God vindicates It, that It's the Truth. Where, the seminaries and theologians, inspired by Satan, say, "You can't trust It. That's for the
apostles. The days is passed. There's no such thing.
That was only meant for the apostles to prove the Gospel then.
We have learned people today." They had better learning then than we got
now. Tell me any church that can come up with that Sanhedrin, when their
great-great-great-great-grandfathers had to be priests behind them. One crooked
word in that scroll, or, why, they'd stone them for it. They had to stay right
exactly. But they missed seeing the real
Kernel of the Word when It come, the Life.
That's why they were condemned and called the workers of Satan.
So we see the real kernel of the Message is the very
Life that it will produce. That is why since 2007 I have gone around the world
teaching that we need more than just a theological understanding of the
revelation of Jesus Christ, we need the very life that comes forth from that
relationship that the son of God had with His Father. Why do you think that God
came down in that rainbow and verified what I was teaching the truth? Because
it’s more than head knowledge, it more than a metal understanding, there is a
relationship there for all the world to see if they want to, and that
relationship will produce the very Life of Christ back in the believer today,
not just because they say so, but because their life proves the Life of Christ
is back in the church, back in sons and daughters of God.
Brother Branham said tells us what that kernel of
the Message, the life will produce in the people of God in his sermon, Christianity verses idolatry 61-1217 P:9 In
studying in the early history of the church, Broadbent's, and Hazeltine's, and many of their comments on it, Nicene
Fathers... And yesterday I just wound up with the complete life of
Again from his sermon, Hebrews
Chapter 6 and 7 57-0915M P:31 listen carefully to what brother
Branham says about the real kernel of the Message is to live the Life, to
reflect the life of the Lord Jesus Christ here in these bodies. And how can you
reflect his life living in you if you don’t have a life to reflect. You see,
it’s not mental, it’s your life before God and before the world witnessing the
very life of Christ living itself out in your vessel.
Hebrews Chapter 6 and 7 57-0915M P:31 “Jesus
said in St. John 5: 24,
"He that heareth (not he that shaketh, he that speaketh, he that...) He that
heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life, and shall
never come to the judgment; but's passed from death
unto Life." It's your faith. And your faith,
confessed by your lips, make manifest to the people that can hear, but your life is open before all.
So no matter how much you try to act this and do this, it'll never work; it's got to be in you. That's the real kernel of the whole
story; your personal faith in the
resurrected Christ as your Saviour, that He's at the right hand of God acting
in your place this morning, as you're acting in His place down here as a
witness. A witness is to act instead of somebody, stand for you as a
witness. And as your life reflects here,
what your testimony is in Christ, it reflects there and it reflects here,
And He is up there; as what He is for you, reflects both there and here. So you
are... By your faith are you saved, and that alone. So sensations, emotions,
feelings, anything has no place at all in it.
He cares do you care? 63-0721 P:41 That's even become in
Pentecost, in the churches. It's become into the Pentecostal realms, that
they're always a-promising something that they never get to it. It's always
that every fellow has a different sensation, and make it whether it's
Scriptural or not, and they're promising something that they never do get to
it, until it seems like it's got to a place to where there doesn't seem to be
any sincerity. The people don't get down to that real kernel of sincerity. It's
lost the... The very English word of
sincerity has lost its value to the people. Or, by the people's way of living,
it's lost its sincerity to them. Now, they don't seem to understand.
And from his sermon, Show
us the Father 53-0907A P:42 he
tells us that when you have the real kernel of truth, the devil will throw up
his scarecrows every time to keep you from it. Because that is what a scarecrow
is for, is to keep the birds from eating the kernel of life. And why do they
want to eat it? To Live!!! Man doesn’t live by read alone but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God. We are talking about life coming from the
Word.
Show us the Father 53-0907A P:42 Let me tell you. When you see
old scarecrows standing out, remember it's a dinner bell. Right in behind the
thing lays something good. Amen. When people say, "They're holy-rollers
and they're this, that, or the other." Don't pay no... We have got a bunch
of fanatics, but brother, right behind
there lays a real kernel of God. Amen. Right
there the real power of the Holy Ghost, the resurrection of Jesus Christ...
Yes, sir. So the Devil puts a lot of old scarecrows out, but just don't pay any
attention to it. I was remarking one time. I was going down a road, and there's
a... I seen a bunch of crows or blackbirds, and they were just a squawking and
going on; I thought, "What's the matter?"
Peter told us in 2 Peter
1:4 our very Life, that everything we have need of divine Life comes
from the Word of God.
2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According
as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness
charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and
abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. 9 But
he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see
afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your
calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto
you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put
you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
But we are warned that many will not only deny
coming in themselves to this which brings forth Life, but they will also try to
keep others that would wish to enter from entering in themselves.
Matthew
23: 1-3
Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had
gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent
teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on
Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they
don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their
behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer. 4-7"Instead of
giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they
package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem
to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think
of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows,
embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to
sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent
positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary
degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.' 8-10"Don't
let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a
single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over
your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let
him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you
have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you
into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and
them—Christ. 11-12"Do you want to stand out? Then step
down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of
you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for
plenty. 13"I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you
religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's
kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either.
Brother Branham said from his sermon, World is falling apart 63-1115 P:52 Now we find then that the religious world
in that day was falling apart, and they had always done it before. And why? Is
because that the coming prophets, and the coming Messiah, did not meet their
specification, their theological term for it. It didn't. And that's the way it
would be today. This is why, I believe, today that we're stunted in this day,
because in the move of God, because it, even in the churches, it doesn't
exactly come to the terms of what they've got it figured out it should be. They
figure out that, there should be a time that certain-certain things will
happen, and then when the real kernel of
it comes down, well, then they
reject that. See? And what's the use of putting up an electric wire if you
refuse the dynamo? See, they can't get no current in it; it's just a dead wire.
That's what's the matter with the church today. We got all the wires up; and
press the button, there is no Life.
What we need to do is get connected. That's all. That's right. Get connected
with Christ, our lives of our
emotions, the lives of our mind connected in Him.
Too
many can teach it, but they sure don’t live what they teach.
Token the 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."
That’s
why brother Vayle told me last week, he said, brother Branham said we should
get the people pointed to the higher level, not get so involved anymore in
doctrine, or performance, but get involved with the Life. Therefore the real evidence that you are
indeed a believer is that you bear fruit as a believer. Your life will bear
record that what you are saying is one with what you are living. Let’s read
this story again from the words of the Apostle Mark.
Mark 4:1 And he began again to teach by the sea side:
and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a
ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables, and
said unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And
it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the
air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and
immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun
was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And
some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded
no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang
up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an
hundred. 9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the
twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said
unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the
kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 That
seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not
understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven
them. 13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all
parables? 14 The sower soweth the word. 15 And
these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have
heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in
their hearts. 16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who,
when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but
for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth
for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. 18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the
word, 19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear
the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some
an hundred. 21 And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed?
and not to be set on a candlestick? 22 For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither
was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. 23 If any man have
ears to hear, let him hear.
Notice
here we see the same parable told, and the key here is that those who truly
understand and thus believe are those who bring forth fruit showing that they
indeed did receive the Life of the Word that they claim to be believing. But
what of those who alone have a mental conception? Remember, Jesus said they
would see but would not perceive, and they would hear but without
understanding. Well, that only sets them up for the great deception. Because
they do not have a true divine revelation which leads to life, and only a
mental conception which leads to law, they then open themselves up for the great
dec4eption or delusion.
2 Thessalonians 2:10
And with all deceivableness of
un-right-wise-ness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe the lie: 12 That they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in un-right-wise-ness. 13 But we are
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
FIRST SEAL THE
63-0318 44 And with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness... (deceiving people by un-righteousness)... in them that
perish;... (not this Bride, in them that's looking for such a thing)... because they received not the love of the truth...
(And Christ is the Truth, and Christ is the Word, but they'd rather have a creed.),... that they might be saved. And for
this cause God has sent them strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie:... (It should be translated there, as I looked in the Lexicon, "the lie," not "a lie"; "the lie," same one he told Eve.) That they... might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.
Now,
I want you to contrast this verse with the verse we used for our text this
evening, One believes and receives remission
of their sins, the other does not believe and therefore are turned over to
believe “the Lie”
the same one satan told Eve. They are confounded, confused, perplexed, you name
it. But Peter told us that Grace and peace come through the knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Not a mental knowledge, but an experiential
knowledge, a new birth.
Now,
what was that life satan told Eve in case we have forgotten? It was that you
are all right. All you have to do is to disbelieve that God meant what he said
and you will now be as wise as God Himself. Then what are we looking at? We are
looking at entering into disbelief through a mental decision. In other words
intellectualism is the sign of the disbeliever who thus is turned over to
believe “The Lie”, which means they like eve believe that they are ok, and they
will be saved when in fact they will not receive remission of their sins and
thus they will not be saved.
From his
sermon, GOD OF
THIS EVIL AGE 65-0801M 33 brother Branham said, Making a strong delusion, as the Bible said it
would (II
Thessalonians), how this man of sin would
come into existence and set in the temple of God, showing himself he was God
and caused the people to go into strong
delusion to believe a lie; and believe it will be damned by it. That's the
same thing he did to Eve, give her... Never
told her the Word wasn't right, but give her a strong delusion that she
believed a lie. The spirit of delusion
is of the devil, devils now working in the children of disobedient.
Disobedient to what? What's the children of this day disobedient to? Like Eve
was at the beginning: the true Word of
God.
So now we have a definition by God’s prophet as to what or who the
children of disobedience are. These are people who choose not to believe The
Truth when it is presented to them, because they are respecters of persons. And
if the Truth comes to them from someone outside the one they have chosen to
lead them they will reject it just like Eve rejected the truth that came
through her Husband, thought he was the vessel God used to bring forth the
Truth in that hour.
But
as Jesus said, they will only receive from the person of their choosing, even
though it may not be the person of God’s choosing.
They
have chosen to lead them is not the one to tell them, then they will not
believe it though it be the Truth of the Word.
Paul
said, Philippians 2:5"Let this mind be in you that was in Christ
Jesus." But he also said, in Philippians
3: 15 Let
us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise
minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
And in fact when it comes to having the
mind of Christ, you can not have the mind of Christ without the new birth which
is missing in so many today. And the greatest deception is that many who think they
have it don’t, and that is the lie that the devil tries so hard to get you to
believe what you don’t actually have. But that is what he did with eve. But
what gives us the ability to be Thus Minded is Revelation that comes from God.
1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined
not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the
princes of this world, that come to nought: 7 But we
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the
hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the
world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of
this world knew: for had they known it, they
would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as
it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even
so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to
us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in
the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the
Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all
things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.