The Token no 3

It must be applied

Brian Kocourek, July 8th, 2015

 

Exodus 12:12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.  13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

 

Galatians 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

 

Let us pray

 

This evening we will pick up where we left off reading Sunday morning from Brother Branham's sermon on the Token,  so let's turn to Paragraph 21 and we'll begin reading.

 

Token Sep 01, 1963 pp. 21   So If He's all that there is to look forward to, then we'd be most foolish people not to accept It (See?) and cherish It. Not only accept It, but you come to something greater than that. After you've got It, don't take It and lay It on the shelf; It is to be put into use. See? Like going to the doctor to get medicine and then set it upon the shelf... If you go to get the medicine, take the medicine. If there's a disease bothering you, and this remedy's suppose to help you, you take what he gives you. And just the way he says, give it, because sometimes, just a few minutes makes a lot of difference in the way you give it. And how do we know, but in this case today, just one moment of your decision might determine your eternal destination? Take It just as He hands It to you.


Notice we read that the blood had to be applied, and if it was applied then there was a benefit, life. And if we apply the blood of Jesus today in our Lives, there is also a real genuine benefit we receive as well, and that also is Life, Eternal Life. Notice brother Branham said, After you've got It, don't take It and lay It on the shelf; It is to be put into use.

 

But today too many Christians claim to be Christians but have placed the Life of Christ on the shelf, and having a form of Godliness, they deny the power thereof. The power of What? The Power of godliness. You see they have put on a form but they have not put on Christ.

 

Hebrews 7: 15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there arises another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

 

So we see the Melchisedec priesthood spawned an order of priests, Kings and Priests as it is declared in Revelations 1:6 and Revelation 5:10. And the Scripture tells us we are that order, those who are the royal seed of Abraham.

 

Revelations 1:5-65  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Notice by spilling His blood for us, He showed He loved us, and He washed us, and he made us, ... Kings and Priests after the order of Melchisedec. 

 

And to be exact, this order of Melchisedec will live their Lives by the power of an endless life, in other words, an eternal Life, which is God-Life in them.

 

So brother Branham continues, 22 A token, "The blood shall be to you a token." Now, first what is a token? It is a word that's commonly used among we English speaking people, especially here in America.  token is really, the dictionary says that a "token" is a "sign." It is a sign of a fare price paid (See?), that the fare or a price (a required price) that's been paid, like a fare on a railroad or a fare on a bus line. You go in and purchase your fare, and then they give you a token; and that token cannot be spent for nothing else but to that railroad line. And it is a token to the railroad company that you have paid your fare. It's a token, and you can't spend it for nothing else. It doesn't work on any other line. It just works on that line only, and it's a token.


23   Now, down here, that we're speaking of, where we're starting in, is God saying to Israel, "The blood of the lamb is a token for you." Israel's lamb slain was Jehovah's required token. It must be the blood. God made a token and give it to Israel, and no other token will work.

 

In other words, if they had taken the blood of an ox, or the blood of any other creature than the lamb, it would not have been accepted by God. And as brother Branham said, it would not have worked.

 

See? It cannot be recognized. To the world, it's a bunch of foolishness, but to God it's the only way; the only thing that He requires is that token. It must be there, and you cannot have the token until the fare is paid. Then you are a possessor of the token which gives you the privilege of a free pass: "I'll see the Blood; I'll pass over you."


Notice this promise from God is to His People, it was not just for Moses, for he said "you", I will pass over "you" when I see the token displayed by "you" when the blood is applied to "your" house, then I will pass over "you". So what if "you" do not have the blood, the Token, the Life of Christ applied to your house, then what? Then the death angel will not pass over "you".

 

So what does it mean to apply the token?

 

from his sermon with the same title preached a couple months later, on November 28, 1963- in the evening time, he preached another sermon, called The Token and in paragraph P:36 Brother Branham said, "The token was no good unless the token was displayed. The token had to be displayed, not a sympathizer with the token; but the token must be applied. And no matter how much anyone could prove that He was a Jew, and a covenant Jew by circumcision, that didn't do anything about it at all. It took the token, not the covenant. He never said, "When I see the covenant sign," but, "When I see the token." So today you might be a professed Christian; you might be a covenant, with covenant with Christ; but unless that Token is displayed in this late hour that we're coming to now, there is no way for Him to pass over. The Token must be displayed. It must be on.

 

Now, this statement is a paradox considering that the token is the Life of Christ in this hour, the very life that was in His blood and that come back into the believers by the baptism of the same Holy Spirit that indwelt Jesus is now indwelling you. And the reason what he said is a paradox is because he said it mattered not that they were covenant believers.

 

Now, the covenant then was circumcision, and it was a cutting off of the excess flesh from the man. And it represents the cutting off of the world for the believer today. So you can live a life that is cut off from the world and the things of the world, and yet without being born again, without being filled with the same Spirit that dwelt in Jesus it will do you no good. And the flesh represents self, being self absorbed. Self centered, or self centric.

 

Romans 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

 

In other words, For they that are after self do mind the things of self; but they that are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit.    6  For to be self absorbed is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  7  Because the self absorbed mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  8  So then they that are into self cannot please God. 9  But ye are not into flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to self, to live after self. 13  For if ye live after self, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of self, ye shall live. 14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

 

So the Token which is the Life of Christ is no good if it is not projected from you. If your life projects you, you are still in your sins. But if your life projects the Life of Christ then the token has been applied to self, proving you have died to self and have been raised up a new creation in Christ Jesus. It shows you have put on Christ as Paul said we must do.

 

Token the 63-0901M P:92 Oh. Oh, it should make our hearts... Oh, apply it, church. Don't fail. Will you not? Don't, don't, don't let the sun set. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't rest day or night. Don't take no chance; it won't work, children. It won't work. You must have the Token. You say, "I believe, yes. Yeah, I believe the message." That's all right, but... That's good. But you must have the Token. Do you hear, Branham Tabernacle? You must have the Token displayed. Without it, all your believing is in vain. See? You'll live a good life; you listen to what the Word says; you go to church; you try to live right; that's fine, but that's not it.

 

There's got to be people reading this and because they do not understand what he is saying, they completely gloss over these most notable words. Listen again, "You'll live a good life"; and "you listen to what the Word says"  and on top of that he says,   "you go to church" and you  "you try to live right" and he says,  "that's fine, but that's not it."

 

Look, it's not about what you can do. Many men who lived as priests lived a very devout Life, but still were not born again. It's not your life that God will accept, it's the Life of His own Son that he has already accepted, and if you don't have that Life living your life for you, you have nothing that will ever be accepted by God. Because it is not about you, it's about Him and what he has done for you, and he has offered you the very same Life that was in His son, to come into you and live your life for you. And that life is what has to be displayed in your vessel, or your vessel will not be accepted like any other vessel that does not have His Spirit in it.

 

That is what Paul said in Romans 8.

 

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, (You are not in self) but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

 

And if you are none of His, why should he raise up your body, He has nothing to do with it. But listen to what brother Branham says about your having God's Holy Spirit living in you. he says, ...

 

24 What a time that, what a privilege to know that you pack within you the pass. "When I see the Blood, I'll pass over you." It's the only thing that He'll recognize. Nothing else that can take its place: no substitute, no denomination, no nothing else; it takes that. God said, "That alone will I see." No matter how righteous they was, how good they was, how much education they had, how they dressed, the Token was the only thing. "When I see the token, I'll pass over you." The Blood was a Token that the requirement of Jehovah had been met, that it had been done. The Blood stood for the Token. The Blood was the Token. See?

 

And it had to be displayed. You couldn't hide it and get by. You couldn't hide that light under a bushel, no! You had to let it shine, shine, shine, as the children song goes. And we teach that song to our children, yet are we letting that light shine in our own lives? If not then, shame on you.

 

Again brother Branham said, Token the 63-0901M P:35 Then the blood was a token of our identification. The blood identified that the worshipper had slain the lamb, and accepted the lamb, and applied the token to himself, that he was not ashamed. He didn't care who saw it. He wanted everybody to see it. And it was placed in such a position, that everybody passing by could see that token. See, many people wants to be Christians, and they like to do it secretly, so nobody would know that they were Christians. Or the associates they run around with, some of them would think, "Well now look, I want to be a Christian, but I don't want so-and-so to know about it." See? Well now, you see, that's not Christianity. Christianity has to display its Token (See?) publicly, in public life, at the office, on the street, when trouble is around, anything, in church, everywhere else. The Blood is the Token, and the Token must be applied (See?), or even the covenant is not in effect. The blood was a token or an identification, identifying this person has been redeemed.

 

Token the 63-0901M P:184 Don't let this message depart. Remember, never let this message depart. The Blood shall be a Token that the Life has been given. See? And when I see the Blood, I'll pass over you. The Holy Spirit is a Token that the Blood has been applied to your heart, and it's the Token that the Blood has been applied. If it never has been applied, then the Token won't come. You understand, say, "amen." The Blood must be applied, and then the Token comes. It is the Token that the Blood of redemption has been applied, and your fare is paid.

 

Look, that is what the Apostle Paul tells us 11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  And then the apostle says,

... 16  The Spirit (God's very own Spirit) Itself will bear witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And how does he do that?

 

As Paul said in Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I am alive; yet it is  not I that am alive, but Christ is alive in me: and the life which I now live in this flesh, I am living by the revelation of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

 

Now, here is the key to where it all comes down to right here. Brother Branham says this in His sermon The Token preached in March 08  1964 P:55 "Then when we pray, we must have the Token to present with our prayers, as I said, and now believe for ourself and apply the Token to the whole family like in Egypt, Jericho, or either in Acts 16:31. We find out that Paul told the Roman centurion, say, "Believe thou, and all thy house shall be saved." Apply it to your family. If you got a unsaved child, lay the Token right on top of him, say, "Lord God, I claim him." Stay right there. If you got a mother or a loved one that's lost, lay that Token on them, say, "Lord God, I claim it." Move out, all of  the worldly trash, out of your house, get ready for it. Burn up your shorts. Throw your card tables away. Get rid of your cigarettes. Dump your unbelief and your church papers in the trash can where they belong. Amen. Then you're getting ready. Then what do you do? Then apply the Token in prayer, with real evidence, real faith. Apply it, apply it with confidence. When you apply the Token, know that you're cleaned up. "If our hearts condemn us not, then we have our request." As long as you people are doing them things that's wrong, how you going to ask God to do anything for you when you know you're wrong? That's the reason we just stagger up and stagger back. I'm not saying this to hurt. I'm saying this to straighten out, to get things right. How you going to build it upon the chars of a Sodom and Gomorrah? Come back.

 

So what is he talking about? he's talking about having confidence that when you pray, God will hear your prayers. And if you know that your life is a written epistle, and that Christ has the preeminence in your life, then when you pray, it is Christ Himself praying through your lips, straight to God's ears. Then ask what you will and it will be done for you. That's the promise.

 

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

 

And how can your heart condemn you if he is truly living you life for you.

 

1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

 

1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, (notice he says at his appearing) we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming (at his Parousia which is His appearing). So this promise is for this very hour that we are living now. For brother Branham said in his sermon, End time evangelism 62-0603 P:30 "Now, we have already seen and are witnessing the appearing of the Lord. Now remember, appearing and coming is two different words: to appear and then to come. Now is the appearing; He's already appeared in these last days, right here with us in the last few years. Now, it's a sign of His coming. He's appearing in His Church in the form of the Holy Spirit, showing that it's Him, 'cause people cannot do these things that you see the Holy Spirit doing; so that's the appearing of the Lord. Now, you remember, it spoke both places, "appearing" and "coming."

 

And we are also told in Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. Why, because the Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

And also Paul said in Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

 

So therefore our boldness and access comes by the fact that we are in Him and he is in us. Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

 

So we hear brother Branham tell us in yet another sermon he preached on the Token, that the Token must be on display in our life.

 

Token the 64-0208 P:41Many people today... I say this through reverence and respect... Many people today say, "I belong to the biggest church there is in the city. My mother belonged to that church. It's one of the oldest churches." That don't have one thing to do with it. The Token has got to be applied. They might've thought that big thing they lived in, that big system, that was going to save them. But we find out every thing that didn't show that token perished in the city. So will it be at the coming of the Son of man. He's done said so.

 

The Token is the Life of Christ in you. And if you are to apply it to your children, they've got to see Christ in you. You've got to put on Christ as the Apostle Paul spoke in Galatians 3:27, and you've got to wear it before your loved ones, and they must see Christ in you and then they will want what you have. When your children see your consecrated effort to let Christ live your life, they will see the Token on display in your life before their very eyes. Then they will no longer mock you. Then they will no longer doubt your profession. But they will see you as a vessel dedicated to living as Christ lives, and dedicated to dying to self and allowing Christ to live your life for you.

Now, that doesn't mean you'll live a flawless life, and make no mistakes. It just means that when you do make mistakes you will quickly make them right. and making them right is not always saying you are sorry, or apologizing for them. That is a good start, but making them right is undoing the damage you did. But an apology is always a good start.

 

And notice the next thing I want for you to always remember is what brother Branham says next about applying the token.

 

From his sermon, The Token 63-0901M P:153 He says,  "Apply it, create that atmosphere around you, that they'll just drop right into it. See? Oh, you are, if you've got the Token, you create a spirit around you of power, that when you walk, people know that you're a Christian. They love for you to say something to them. They believe your word; what you say, they hold on to it. See? That is it. Apply the Token; then walk with it. Claim your household. You must do it now. This is evening time. Now, you've been listening a long time; now this is evening time. It's applying time now. The wrath will strike one of these days; it might be too late then. See, see? Apply the Token with confidence.

 

Notice, he says we've got to apply it and when we do, it will create an atmosphere around you that your loved ones will just drop down into. Now, how can you expect your children to live Holy and Godly if you don't live Holy and Godly. How can you expect your children to  not gossip if you gossip.  You live a consecrated life before your family and you watch the effect it will have on them. You sisters compromise the length of your dresses, and your daughters will want to do the same. You show them that you can dress modestly and still look nice and they'll learn to do the same. "train up your child in the way it will go and when it gets old it will not depart."

 

That's a promise from God, and "God is not a man that he can lie".

 

Token the 63-1128E P:82 Some people said, "Well, I belong to church. Mother went up there, and I was dedicated there as a baby." You must display the Token. Yes, sir. Move out all the worldly trash, all the things of the world, 'cause you can't love the things of the world. all your unbelief in God's Word... Remember, He promised these things in the last days. Anything in your life that's against That,...

 

He's talking about anything that's against what God has promised in these last days. And what are those promises? He's talking about anything that will keep you from being conformed to the Image of the first born son, anything that will keep you from manifesting as a son of God should manifest, anything that will keep you from being the right kind of son so that you will be adopted) move it out, and get ready, and bring the Token in. Then apply the Token, in prayer with consecration, and be convinced and concerned about it.

 

Token the 63-0901M P:146 Now, watch fully now. Fully obedience to the whole Word of God entitles us to the Token. Then when we pray, we must have the Token to present with our prayer. If you say, "I pray, Lord, but really I haven't..." Well, there you go. You just might as well stop. See? Go in first and get the Token (See?), 'cause that Token's what He will recognize. See? Yes, sir. When we pray, then we must present the Token: and how do we do that? He gives yo an example right here, so use it.

 

"Lord, I have obeyed You fully. I've repented of my sins. I feel that You have forgiven me. I've been baptized into the Name of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is upon me. Now, I have need of certain thing for Your glory. Lord, I ask for it. It's mine now." Then there's something anchors back there. Whew-whew [Brother Branham makes whistling sound--Ed.]. It's yours. So then it's all over; it's all over and settled. "I ask for this. I ask for it. I must have it. (See, see?) I want it for Your glory." See? Now, listen to it. Then He just gives it to you. Then you know it's yours. That is the way it is with our children, and so forth; we apply the blood. Believe it. That's all.

 

Token the 63-0901M P:113 Notice, they were not just yet come together to talk about the message. They come together to apply the blood, to apply the token. That's what you must do. Pastor Neville, and to this congregation, trustees, deacons, to you brethren, it's time that we laid aside all the foolishness of the world, time we laid aside everything else. We've seen enough now, that we're positive, sure, and the Token must be applied. Without it, you're going to perish; you must perish. That is the only thing. Oh, don't come together, say, "I believe it." Get beneath it. Get into it. How to do it? By one Spirit we're baptized into the Body of Jesus Christ. Everybody believe with all your heart. See? He was not responsible for any out from beneath it.

 

Let us pray...