Token no 17
Witness of The Spirit no 4
Unless it's applied you'll still see the wrath of God
August 30, 2015
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
This evening we
will pick up at paragraph number 63 of brother Branham's sermon, The Token "Remember,
if that Token was not displayed, even
the covenant was annulled. That's right. The covenant was annulled. There
was no covenant as long as that Token wasn't there. The Token stood
for the covenant. God made a covenant with them. Yes, sir. But
the Token had to be... It wasn't in effect (the
covenant wasn't) unless the Token was there.
There might be many Jews could say, "Come here; I ain't got no blood on my
door, but I want to show you something. I'm
a circumcised Jew. I'm circumcised." That didn't mean that hardly. [Brother Branham snaps his
fingers--Ed.] "When I see the Blood, when I
see the Token..." You might say, "I'm
Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist," or whatever you want to be.
Notice he said, "whatever you want to be", so it really doesn't amtter what tyou
call yourself, the Message is, "do you have the Token and do you have it applied in your
life." You might say you're a Message believer, You might really
believe that you are. You might say, "Well I follow so and so He's the
best teacher in this Message. Or you might say, I follow pastor so and so, he's
the best pastor in this Message. But as brother Branham said, "That don't mean that (snaps his finger) to God". "You must have the Token applied."
"But when I see
the Token..."
"You say, "I'm a believer. My mother
was a member of this church; my daddy was a member of this church; I've been a
member there since a child." That don't mean that.
[Brother Branham snaps his fingers--Ed.]
I don't lie, steal. I don't do this,
I... That don't mean that.
[Brother Branham snaps his fingers--Ed.]
"I belong to Branham Tabernacle;
I do this, that, the other. I believe all the Word."
Them Jews could say, "I believe
Jehovah."
Notice, brother Branham even applied this to his
own church, and church members. "I belong to Branham Tabernacle; I do this, that, the other. I believe all the Word."
Listen to what
brother Branham is saying here. He is saying that you might say, "I
believe all the Word, Brother Branham, and I even go to your church, the
Branham Tabernacle. That's your church brother Branham, I go there to hear you
preach the Word, and I believe
everything that you teach." And he says, 64 "You'd have listened to the message of the
hour, if you did." (In other
words, he is saying, "had you really
listened to the Message you would have the token applied",
because that is what he taught year after year after year.)
He might not have used the words, "Token"
and "applied", but he
certainly spoke of having the Life of Christ expressed in your own life. I can
show you literally hundreds of times spread out throughout his entire ministry
that he spoke of John 14:12 throughout His entire ministry emphasizing the life,
nature and works of the Spirit expressing and manifesting themselves in you if
you are truly born again. Because John 14:12 is the Life of the Word. John 14:12
is the Life of the Spirit of Christ, the very nature of Christ expressed in
your life, thus it is the Token applied.
He continues in paragraph 64."They'd had a lot of messages, but this was the Message of
the hour. See? I believe the Message of the hour.
Yeah. The blood was applied at the evening time. They might have said,
"I'm a Jew." People say today, "I'm a Christian. I can show you my long membership. I want you to
tell me where I ever stole anything, was ever in a law court. Show me where I
ever committed adultery, I've ever done all these things (or something like
that). Show me one place." That don't mean a thing now.
No, no. See? No matter how much trouble he was, the covenant is without effect. It's non-effective. You say, "Well, I'm a Bible student." I don't care what you are. Without that
covenant, the wrath of God's upon you. That's right. It's caught
up with you. Yeah, your sins will find
you out.
In this next paragraph brother Branham let's you know that if you have
not applied "the Token", which is "the life",
which is the very "nature of the Spirit",, then you have
disbelieved the Message itself.
Notice in the next paragraph brother Branham asks the question
"what is sin?" and then he tells us the answer.
65 What is sin? Unbelief. You've disbelieved the message. You've disbelieved
the Word. You've disbelieved the witness of the Token
Itself, when It's identified Itself in the midst of us.
And have you disbelieved that? No matter how
much you disbelieve It, It's got to be applied.
You might say, "I believe it; I
believe it. I believe It's the Truth. I accept It as the Truth."
Then that is all good, but yet, It's got to be applied.
Notice, he is
telling you that you can say all you want that "you believe this message",
and you can say all you want that "you believe God has come down with a
Shout", You can even preach that His presence is here, His Parousia has
come into our midst, and you might with your mind believe The Appearing and
coming, the Parousia Presence of Christ is here among us, and you might even
tell others all about it, but unless you have it applied in your life,
it shows you do not believe it.
I'm going to read
to you a quote that sister Neesha sent me last week from the Church Age
Book Chapter 2 - The Patmos Vision P:60 "Those who heard and wouldn't listen will be judged by what they heard. Those that rested in it saying they
believed it, but didn't
live it, will be judged."
So go ahead and
say you believe the Message. Go ahead and say you believe Br. Vayle taught only
what brother Branham taught. Make fun of John 14:12 in the elect, and you'll be judged for
not believing it, because you are not living it.
Now, look, what Brother
Branham is telling us here, "there is no excuse". You might believe in
the Parousia, the presence of God. You might believe there is an appearing
before the coming. You might believe God sent a prophet. You might believe that
God followed up that Prophetic ministry with a teaching ministry. You might
believe every bit what was taught, but still unless the Token is applied,
you're still going to partake in the wrath of God.
And you all know
it's coming, You all see it's on its way. Don't wait until it's too late and
then try to apply the Token then, apply it now, while there is still time to
apply it. And how do you know when you
have the Token and that its been applied?
Let me read what
brother Branham said again and to make it so plain that it would be impossible
for you to miss what he is saying.
65 What is sin? Unbelief. So brother Branham is
going to talk about unbelief in the people. He's going to show us how we know
when a person really doesn't believe what they say they believe. Then he says, You've disbelieved the Message. You've disbelieved the Word.
You've disbelieved the witness of the Token
Itself, when It's identified Itself in the
midst of us. And have you disbelieved that? No matter how much you
disbelieve It, It's got to be applied. You might say,
"I believe it; I believe it. I
believe It's the Truth. I accept It as the Truth." Then that is all
good, but yet, It's got to be applied.
Notice he's
talking about The Token, the Presence of God in our Midst, and no matter how
much you believe that or disbelieve it, if the Token,
the Witness of The Spirit is not applied in your life, you've missed it all,
and you have nothing left for you but the wrath of God.
So It matters
not if you claim to believe the Presence of God is here, if you haven't applied His presence to your
life, it shows you don't believe it.
I've quoted
brother Vayle on this several times over the years, where a certain sister came
up to him after he finished his sermon in a certain place, and she said to him,
"I do
not understand therefore I am not responsible." and brother Vayle told that sister, "sister,
you've got it all backwards. You are responsible,
therefore you had better understand."
The Apostle Paul
said in Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Itself bears witness with our spirit, that
we are the children of God,”
But people are always
getting this Scripture all mixed up. They think that Paul is speaking about you
spirit bearing witness of God's Spirit and that your spirit bearing witness to
God's Spirit shows you are a Christian, and that you claim to have a relationship
with God.
But that is just
the opposite of what Paul is actually saying here. People do not read the
Scripture for what it says, but for what they want it to say. This scripture
does not at all speak of our spirit bearing witness with God's Spirit, but it
says, "His Spirit", "THE Spirit Itself" "beareth
Witness with our spirit that we are sons."
The Pharisees
used the same argument when they fussed with Jesus. The Pharisees believed they
were the children of God. Because in their spirit they bore witness to it. And
they claimed God was their Father. But when the God they claimed to worship
inhabited the body of His son, and manifested God Life to them, and expressed
God thoughts to them, they rejected the very God they claimed as their father.
And Jesus told them, "just because you
claim it, doesn't make it so".
And that is exactly what brother Branham
said in his sermon, God's only
provided place of worship 65-1128M P:114 The water baptism just put you in
fellowship with the people, that you recognized that you have accepted Christ.
That's the True. But it's Spirit baptism.
I can call the Name of
Jesus over you and baptize you; that doesn't make it so. But when once that Holy Spirit
really genuine Word comes into you (the Word, Jesus), then, brother, the Message
is no secret to you then; you know It, brother; It's all lit up
before you.
And from his
sermon, Thy
house 61-0808 P:47 Now,
I don't believe just because you say in your mind you believe. I believe your life tells whether you're really a Christian or not.
And from his, QA on Genesis COD 53-0729 P:76 But brother, Jesus Christ said, "Except a man be borned of the Spirit of
God he'll not see the Kingdom of God."Not just because you say,
"Yes, I believe that. Yeah, I believe that's that way.
I believe that. Yes." That don't do
it. It's got to be a actual
experience of the new birth. It's got to be something between you and God
that you know you've passed from death to Life.
Too many people
are hanging their life over the great chasm between life and death based upon
their own confession, but brother You had better know that you know.
Those Christ
rejecting Pharisees believed they were the children of God, and no one could
tell them they were not. Yet they rejected God manifested in the flesh of His
Son. Jesus told them, if you were God's children, God would have born witness to your
son-ship by manifesting His own Life in you, and through you and you would not have
rejected me Whom He did manifested Himself through.
He said, "if God were your
Father, your life would bear witness to His nature in
you, His Spirit living and working in you, doing deeds God would do, and
saying words God would say". But he said, "John 8:44 Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it.
Remember, Jesus admitted
himself that he could do nothing until the Father showed Him first. His Words
were not his Own, His actions were not his own. And the works he did were not
his own, nor could He speak His own doctrine, and neither did he exercise His
own free will.
He
said, "It
is written in the book, I have come to do thy Will of God". Therefore,
Jesus told the Pharisees, "they could not be from God because if they had been God's
Seed, then God would have born witness with them and through them for they
would have manifested God in their lives, as being their Father. And
yet he said, they were not without a witness as to who their real father was.
For he said "You do the deeds of your father, the devil."
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own:
for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you
the truth, ye believe me not. 46 ¶ Which of you convinceth me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God
hears God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."
Now, we were
speaking of God's Spirit bearing witness to our own spirit, that we are His
sons. Therefore it is God's Spirit that we are concerned with.
We find John
also speaking of this Witness of THE Spirit in I John 5:6b And it is The Spirit that beareth witness, because The Spirit is truth. 7 For there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:
and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness
in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree
in one. 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 in
himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he
believeth not The Record (Witness) that God gave of his Son. 11 And this
is The Record (Witness), that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in
his Son. 12 He that hath (echoes)
The Son hath (echoes) life; and he that hath (echoes) not the Son of God hath (echoes) not life.
Therefore we are
talking about the Witness will echo Himself and His Life in you and through
you. THE Witness
in us. The new birth, The new Life. The God-Life living Itself out in us.
From his sermon,
You Must Be
Born Again 61-1231M 28 brother Branham said, "I want to take
the subject this morning of Jesus' first doctrine. The first doctrine of Jesus
was, "You Must Be Born Again."
That was His first doctrine… 29 And we find out that there is so many different meanings that people put to it. Nearly
all churches say that you must be born again, but each one has their different interpretations to that, what it means
to be born again. I might go to the Methodist church this morning; they say,
"We believe that you must be born again." How do you interpret it? I go to the Baptist church, "And we
believe you must be born again." How
do you interpret it? And I would go to each church, and we'd find, if we
went to all the nine hundred different denomination of churches, there'd be nine hundred different interpretations.
So seeing that there is so many
different interpretations, and yet a Bible doctrine, there must be, and is, a truth somewhere. 64 Now, there is approach to this birth. And to approach this
birth, you have to go through a process, just like anything
that lives. Anything that lives again has got to die first.
And you cannot keep your same spirit. You cannot keep your same habits. You cannot keep your same thoughts. You got to die. You've got to die like He died. You got to
die on His altar, like Abel did with his lamb. You got to die with your Lamb. You got to die, die to your own
thinking to be born to His thinking. Let the mind that was in Christ be in you. You got to think His thoughts.
And now, brother, sister, let me say this as intelligent as I know how to say
it. How can you think His thoughts and deny His Word,
and yet claim you're born again? Just ask yourself that
question. How can you do it? You can't. If you're born
again, you got His thoughts. If the mind of Christ is in you, then you are a
new creature. The Bible teaches that.
And if any brother would like to, where you find that creature, look that word
"creature" up in the Lexicon, and you'll find out that the
word "creature" there
is interpreted or translated, "a new creation,"
because you are a one creation, a human being born in sexual desire here on
earth, and now you're a new creation born by Spirit.
Your own thoughts are dead. They're
so dead until they're crystal like the brass serpent, or like He died when
the heavens and earth and everything witnessed He was dead.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power (now this power
is not the Greek word dunamis which is mirace working power, but it is the
Greek word "exusia" which is the ability to make a right decision) to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
From his sermon,
Revelation
Chapter 4 PT 2 24 ELDERS 61-0101 244 brother Branham said, "And
when He said, "Repent, and be baptized in
the Name of Jesus Christ," He didn't
mean Father, Son, Holy Ghost. He meant
just what He said. When He said, "You must be born again,"
He didn't say, "You ought to be." He said, "These
signs shall follow them that believe." He never said, "Maybe they will." He says what He means. And He's God and He can't take it
back. He knows what's perfect, so He makes it that way, and that's the way He intends it to be, and you have to come up to that, not Him come
down to your idea, you got to come up to His idea. That's the difference.
Now,
we're speaking of God's Spirit bearing witness to our own spirit, that we are
His sons. And John tells us that we will have This Witness in us, because it is
"God's Own
Spirit", "God's own Life"
living and abiding in us, even as This same witness, this same God-Life lived and
abode in God's Only begotten Son.
To
understand this we must look at the word witness and understand it's
definition.
Now,
the word "witness"
means: to see, to
hear, or to know by personal presence.
It also
means: to be present as a formal witness, a
spectator, or bystander, etc.:
In other
words, to bear witness to; testify to; give or afford evidence of.
So you see, you
can be a witness to something unless you were physically there to observe it.
And you observe by seeing; you observe by hearing; or you observe by feeling.
But regardless of what sense is involved, you have got to be there in order to
be a true witness.
And we see this
in the first Psalm. PSALMS 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the
righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Now, let's
break this down to show you how it is that the Spirit of God beareth Witness
with our own Spirit that we are sons.
We shall look at
the first part of this Psalm in dealing with sons. The Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous: The word "knoweth" is the Hebrew Word "yada",
and it means "to know or make
oneself known in a personal way. To watch over."
Therefore we can
see that the Lord
actively watches over the way or (the course of life) of the righteous
and makes himself known to them, and thus knows them in an experiential
way.
But let's see
now the way the Lord deals with the ungodly. Psalm 1 continues by saying, but the way (the
course of life) of the ungodly shall perish. The
ungodly speaks of a people who are destined for judgment. They are called
ungodly, which means they are not God-like. The word perish used here is the
Hebrew word 'abad', and it means "to be given up as
lost,
to be
left to themselves and
thus to stray".
Therefore we can see that God takes a personal interest in His own Children, but He
leaves the ungodly to themselves, knowing that they will stray and
be lost.
Now, you might
be thinking, this scripture speaks of the righteous, it doesn't say anything that
these righteous are God's children. Well, let's see what else
God's Word says about that. I John 2:29 If ye know
that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born
of him. Notice it tells us that a righteous God will have
children that do righteousness. And if they do righteousness, then they are
righteous as we see in 1 John 3:7 Little
children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as He (GOD) is righteous.
Now, we were
speaking of the first part of being a true witness, is that you
must be present to observe. And we saw in the case of God's Spirit
bearing Witness to our Spirit, if He is a True witness, then He
must be present to observe, and we saw that He is not only there to
observe, but actually takes an active participation in our lives.
Now, the second
part to being a true witness is the telling or testimony part. This can be done
using three different methods. You can testify by spoken word; you
can testify by the written word; or you can testify by acting it out,
or bringing into manifestation. God Himself uses all three when His Spirit beareth
Witness with our spirit that we are His sons. His Spirit bears
witness with our spirit through His Spoken Word; His Spirit bears Witness with
our spirit through His Written Word; or His Spirit sometimes bears witness with
our spirit by bringing to pass before our very lives, the things He has Spoken
or Written in His Word.
Therefore, the
scripture does not speak of our spirit bearing witness to His Spirit,
because if it did, then in order for this to be so, we would have to look upon
our outward fruits of our own life and say, look what I have done for my Lord. Look what I have
said on behalf of my Lord. But we found that this
does not assure us of anything with God, as brother Branham said
earlier.
And actually Jesus
Himself said in this also in Matthew 7:21 ¶ Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity.
And the Apostle
Paul also said in Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Therefore, it is
not your will, or whether you will it, but it is whether He wills it. Therefore
it
is His Will that counts. It is not whether you run, but whether he
runs. What He acts out is what counts. Your spirit could feel good about yourself,
and that only makes you a charismatic. You can agree with every word the bible says,
and that will only make you a Fundamentalist, and you're still lost. You
can even believe every word brother Branham said, and that only means
you are able to read. He said so himself.
The
Token 63-0901M 32-3 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."
Notice then, it
is not the works we do. It is not the words we say. But it is what he says, and
if He says, I
never knew you, then it does not matter what you do or what you say
that counts. Therefore it is not your spirit bearing witness to His spirit that
counts, but His
Spirit that bears witness to your spirit is what really matters.
It is not our
words, and it is not our works, and it is not our doctrine, and it is not even
our will. In fact it is not our Glory, for Jesus said, It is not my words, but my Fathers which I
speak. It is not my works, but I do only what the Father shows me to do. It is not even my
doctrine, but it is the Doctrine of my Father, which I am pleased to teach,
and it is not
even my will, but the will of my Father.
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my
judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me. 31 ¶ If I bear witness of myself, my
witness is not true. 32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know
that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Now, let's
jump down to verse 36.
John 5:36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works
which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear
witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which
hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any
time, nor seen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom
he hath sent, him ye believe not.
And then He said
in, Matthew
16:27 For
the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then
he shall reward every man according to his works. Notice,
it is not even His own glory but the glory of the Father.
And again
in II PETER
1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and
glory,.. Notice again, what Glory he has he received from
His Father. And why is that? Because in John 17:5 He said, And now, O
Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was.
Now, in pp. 71 brother
Branham said, "But look, when this body receives the Spirit of God, the
Immortal Life inside of you, It throws this body in
subjection to God. Hallelujah. (1 John 3:9)"He
that's born of God doth not commit sin; he cannot sin." (Romans 8:1) "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus;
they walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." There you are. See, that throws your body subject. You don't have to say, "Oh, if
I could just quit drinking, if I could just..." Just get in Christ; it's all gone. See, see? Because your body is subject to the Spirit,
it's no more subject to the things of the world; they're dead. They are dead; your sins are buried in baptism; and
you are a new creation in Christ. And your
body becoming subject to the Spirit, try to live a right kind of life... 72 Like you women claiming you got Holy
Ghost and going out here and wearing shorts and things, how could you do it? How could the Spirit of God in you ever let
you do such a thing as that? It just can't be so. Certainly it can't be. He's not
a filthy spirit; He's a holy Spirit. And then when you become subject to that
Spirit, it throws your whole being subject to that Spirit. And that Spirit is
nothing in the world but this Seed Word made manifest, or quickened.
(Hallelujah.), made alive. And when the Bible said, "Don't do this,"
that body quickly turns to it; there's no question. And what is it? It's the
earnest of the resurrection. This body will be raised up again, because it's
already started. It was once subject to sin, and mire, and corruption, but now
it's got the earnest; it's turned heavenly. Now, that's the earnest that you're
going in the rapture. It's the earnest.
I John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit (initiate)
sin; for His (God's) seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 In this the children
of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that
loveth not his brother.
Well, there's your
answer right there for those who think they don't have to live the life because
brother Branham did and they are counting on that. He said, "whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God."
Psalms 11:7 For the
righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance (The Word
countenance speaks of the face and thus the Presence)Therefore His Presence doth behold (perceive
or provide for) the upright (Righteous).
II Timothy 4:8 Notice
God's Presence provides for His Righteous seed. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
I John 3:1 ¶ Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself,
even as He (God) is pure. 4 ¶ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for
sin is the transgression of the law. (Now, remember, sin is
unbelief for we read in John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
In the
sermon Jesus
Christ the Same 52-0810E E-58 Now, the Bible
said, "Go and sin no more, or a worse thing
would come upon you." Is that right?
That means, "Go and disbelieve nomore." Sin is unbelief. See? That's the first thing.
That's all there is to it, is unbelief, is sin. 'Cause when you believe...
Jesus said, "He that believeth shall not be
condemned. He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, has (echoes) Everlasting Life,
and shall not come into condemnation."
It's all in faith, if you believe it.
Ministry Explained 50-0711 E-48 What is sin? Not drinking,
not smoking, not gambling, not rejecting church. Sin is unbelief.
Is that right? He that believeth not is
condemned already. See? You're not destroyed
or separated from God because you're a sinner. You're separated from God because you refuse to walk with Him, to walk in His provided way.
You've got death and life before you.
Just like Adam and Eve, every man's a free moral agent. And the Tree of Life
and tree of death is before us all. You can take either one you wish to. It depends on what tree you eat off of is
what you are. That's right. And God created you a free moral agent to do
whatever you want to do about it. He can't make you love Him, and He don't
force you to love Him. E-49 If I forced my wife to love me, I'd be afraid to
marry her. But she accepted me for what I was and married me. That's right. And
she loved me and she accepted me that way. And that's the way we got to come to
God. He wants us to love Him, and come, and believe His Word.
Back to 1 John 3:5 And ye know that he
was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not: whosoever(disbelieveth) hath not seen him,
neither known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that
doeth righteousness is righteous (he that doeth what is right
is right), even
as He (GOD) is righteous (even as God is right). 8 He that (disbelieves) is of the devil; for
the devil (disbelieved) from the beginning. For this purpose the Son
of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9
Whosoever is born of God doth not (disbelieve); for his(God's) seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot (disbelieve), because he is born of God.
10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the
devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness (whosoever doeth not that which
is right) is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 11 ¶
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love
one another. 12 Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his
brother.
Now, this tells
us there is a way to love and a way not to love. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own
works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Notice, again he
says, "you
don't go Cain's way, you must go Abel's way which is the way of righteousness".
You can't love like Cain loved because let's face it, all of our actions must
come forth from what is in our heart. And if you do not have the love of God in
your heart, you can't possibly love right. Therefore this love John is talking
about must come forth out of righteousness which is right thinking.
Look, Jesus said,
I do not speak my
own words, but the father's which sent me. Therefore, I do not my own works,
but the Father's shows me what to do and that is what I do. I do not have my
own doctrine, but only that which the Father gave me, and I do not my own will,
but the Father's will. Therefore, what Glory I have is given to me because I
seek not my own will. This is the essentiality and innateness of
sons. If we could just come to the place where we take God at His Word. That's the
beginning. He promised to give us a new heart, which brother Branham said
is a new understanding. Then that new heart or new understanding
will produce in us a new desire. And when all our desires
have changed, then He promised to give us His Spirit, which is His Life through
His Word.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the
word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
Therefore, our
actions must come forth out of our love for His Word. And let's face it, if we
really knew His Word, and if we really believed His promises were real, then
why would we ever consider holding onto our own will. He said all things will work
together for our good. Then what are we afraid of. I'll tell you why
you are afraid. Because you don't believe God.
In his sermon, To See Jesus
54-0718E brother Branham said, And the Bible said in Hebrews, the 10th
chapter, "He that sins willfully, after
receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." Hebrews 10:47, I believe it is. "he that sins willfully."
What is sin? Sin is unbelief.
There's no other answer for
sin. E-41 Drinking, smoking, gambling, doing
evil things, that isn't sin; that's the attributes of unbelief. You do that because you're an unbeliever.
If you was a believer, you would not do those things. It bears the fruits of joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
patience, holiness. That's the fruits of the
Spirit. But the fruits of the evil spirit is doubt. "He that believeth not is condemned already." Then if
the truth comes to you in such a way, that you have a knowledge of it, and then
refuse to receive it, there remains no more sacrifice for your sin, but a fearful looking
towards the judgment. God have mercy, that
there'll not be one person like that in this audience tonight, or nowhere else
in the world, would be my prayer.
In his sermon, Seal Of The Antichrist
55-0311 E-44 brother Branham said, "Now, Paul picks it up in the 5th
chapter of Hebrews.
He said, "If we sin willfully..." Sin
is unbelief, then if we disbelieve
willfully, after the truth has been presented to
us, there remains no more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for the
judgment." Then if the Gospel truth has been presented to people and
they turn their head and reject it, then Satan takes them to the post. They're
willing to serve their creeds and so forth, stick their ear out, and bore it in
there, and you'll never be able to understand the truth no more. That's the type, and there's the antitype. Paul said
the same thing, "If we disbelieve
willfully--willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a fearful looking for the judgment,
fiery judgment shall devour the adversary."
There you are: To reject the Holy Spirit
of God, after you've received it, and believe and know, you hold back with
prejudice… 45 Sinner will come into the audience, he will look around and
say, "Aw, I tell you; there's nothing to that." Walk out just as
stiff as he can be. Brother, one of
these times you'll walk out for the last time. And some people will walk
into a meeting where they're seeing the Holy Spirit move, and say, "That's
the devil's work." Do you realize the danger line that you're on.
Again, in his sermon,
LAW 55-0115 E-29 Brother
Branham said, "Now, look. "For it is
impossible (See?) for those who were once enlightened, made partakers of the
Holy Ghost, to fall away again. For if we sin (disbelieve) willfully..." Let it soak. "If we disbelieve willfully after we have received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." If
the truth of the Gospel has been presented to you in such a way that you have
to see it, and because of popularity, or something else, that you turn your
back to it and walk away and don't want to see it, there's where you cross the line.
"For he that disbelieves willfully after he
has received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins."
I would like to
say like brother Branham, "what's the matter with you. What's the
matter with the people today". I'll tell you what's the matter, People
don't believe there is judgment for the sinner. They don’t believe there is a
hell for the unbeliever. And we need to preach more hell, fire and
Brimstone to shake you up.
Inter Veil 56-0121 And if you sin, disbelieve willfully, after the
Gospel's been presented to you, that
soul nature of yours will gradually move away from you, and you'll feel it no
more, just drawn away. You
won't know it. E-47 You say, "Well, I know, I
believe I'm right."… That's what's the matter with Michigan tonight.
That's what's with the matter with Indiana tonight. That's what's the matter
with the world tonight. They have been smothered to sleep with petty Hollywood
impersonation of Christianity. What we need today is the old fashion hell fire
and brimstone preachers back in the pulpit again to preach the truth
(Right.), a hell for sinners, and "Except
a man be born again, he will in no wise enter the Kingdom."
What shall we do with Jesus 64-0126 pp
144 Listen, Hebrews 10 says this, "If we
sin willfully (disbelieve willfully) after we received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." If you sin willfully after It's has been identified to
you, and then you turn It down, you are absolutely no chance of ever repenting.
The
Token 64-0208 62 If we
disbelieve willfully after we have a knowledge of the truth, there is no more
sacrifice for sin. Think
of it. No matter what you're thinking in your heart, the Token can never be applied. If you reject it the last time, then
it cannot be applied, for he that sins or disbelieves willfully.
God's Power to transform
65-0911 191 That's
THUS SAITH GOD'S HOLY WORD. If we
disbelieve willfully after we have seen It and heard It, then we're across the
line. There'll never be no more forgiveness for
it; you've crossed the line.
"Oh," you say, "God still blesses me." Oh, yeah.
Abraham's Grace Covenant "For if we disbelieve willfully,
any Scriptural thing or whatever it might be, if
we disbelieve willfully, say, " What
did they say? "We can't take it. They're too big for us. We
can't..." "If I have to step out my organization... If I accept
that, they'll turn me out. I won't have any place to go. Nobody will back me
up." Who wrote the Bible, your organization? Who's responsible for the
Word, your organization? God's responsible for His Word. God will take care of
His own. God will back you up. Any man that ever amounted to very much in this
life, were man who stood alone with God. That's the way, if you ever
stand, you'll have to stand.
The Token 64-0208 64
Don't sin willfully, don't disbelieve
willfully. If there's something in you, that'll say, "Well, now, I
don't see where I need the Holy Ghost. I might not need it. I believe when I
believed I got it." Paul said to the people that asked that question; he
said, "Have
you received the Holy Ghost since you have believed?" The Holy Ghost is a Token. A man believes God; that is true enough,
but the Holy Ghost is a gift of God. It's something different than
your faith. Your faith applies it; that's exactly right.
But The Holy Ghost is the Witness.
We'll see just in a few minutes how it works, and what takes place, where we
can be sure where we know whether we're right or not. It warns us that the time
is at hand. 67 We should love one another during this time. The church and the believers should be
unseparable. Believers should
separate themselves from all the things of the world. Everything that's
ungodly, the believer should separate himself from it. Notice. They were not just to come together to talk
about it, and say "We believe it." They were come together to apply the blood, not come say, "Oh,
sure I believe that," walk home. They
had to come and apply the blood, that the Token might be seen. Get beneath it. That's... Today, we set
and hear the message preached. We read it out of the Bible. We say "Oh,
yes, I believe that." That ain't
what God requires. No matter how
much you believe it, you've got to have it. Church, wake up.
70 America, This is your last hour. Judgment lays in the balance yonder
for this nation. If God would let this nation get by with what it's done now,
He'd be obligated to raise up Sodom and Gomorrah and apologize for burning them
up. That's right. We are going to pay for our sins. We're doing the same thing
they did in Sodom. And God has sent down, message just exactly the way He did
in Sodom. Just exactly, He sent one to the church out there, to the Lot group,
and to Sodom. And He sent to the elect, and so forth. And proved that the
church is setting exactly in the condition it was in the days of Lot. And Jesus
said it would be again. Friends, it's on our hands. What are we going to do
with it? You say "Blood on your hands?" Yes.
Let's now our heads
in prayer.