Unveiling no 54

To believe and to understand part 1

October 7, 2018

Brian Kocourek, Pastor

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12  For the perfecting (maturing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of The faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

So we see the five-fold ministry is to bring the body of Christ to the place of Faith which is a belief in and a knowledge of which is an understanding as we just read.

Now, this morning I would like to begin a mini-series within our study of br. Branham's sermon "the Unveiling of God" and I would like to begin by first showing you several quotes within this sermon where brother Branham speaks of both believing and understanding as well.

From this sermon The Unveiling of God 64-0614M P:42 he said, "We are mortal, and He knows that. And we only understand as mortals. We only know as mortals. We only know as our senses will let us know, and the rest of it we have to believe by faith. We have to say there is a God, whether we see Him or not; we believe it anyhow. See? Whether there is or not, we still believe it because God said so.

Let me read the other place where brother Branham says this.

From his sermon Lean not unto thy own understanding 65-0120 P:47 he says, "But look, friends, listen. Nowhere in the Bible are we asked to understand. We're not asked to understand It. We're asked to believe It. Believe It by what? By faith. If you understand It, then that makes faith annulled. You can't understand it, but you believe It anyhow. If I could understand God, I wouldn't have to believe God. I do not understand God. No man understands God. I cannot understand the Word of God, but I accept It. I believe It. I'm not asked to understand It. I don't, went to no seminary and all this great understanding of man's knowledge on that. I just know that the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and I look for Him in that same category. I know He promised what He would do in this day; I look for Him to do it and He does it. That's right. He promised grace; I looked for it and I received it. He promised healing; I believed it and I accepted it, and I received it.

Now, if you take these two quotes and isolate them from everything else the prophet of God and the Bible said you will end up not studying the word of God as you are supposed to do to know what it says and you will end up in error as the Apostle Peter warned us would happen at the end time.

Therefore, the reason I feel led to go into this study here is because there are many in this Message who take these two quotes and isolate them to make a doctrine that all you have to do is believe. And they teach that you do not have to understand the Message, or the doctrine of Christ, but all you have to do is just believe. And that doctrine has led many to not study the message of Christ to us in this hour and therefore they are not only not aware of the false doctrines which have crept into the message but many have actually opened themselves up to those false doctrines because men claiming to be believers in the Message actually will use the words of God's prophets to deceive with.

We are warned in 2 Peter 2 that at the end time men will bring in alongside of true doctrine destructive heresies as Peter gave us warning in that this will occur at the end time.

II Peter 2:1-3 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,

Now the Wuest translations says, "These men will be of such a character as to bring in alongside of true Doctrine destructive heresies.) And that is exactly what the King James version says if you read it correctly. It says these false teachers will bring in, so we must ask the question, "bring in to where"? And if it is brought in, then it really wasn't meant to be there in the first place. So if we are talking about the Word of God we are talking of the very thoughts of God. Then what these men are ordained to bring in alongside of true doctrine are words which are not God's Word, but their own words.

And look what it says these destructive heresies will produce, "even denying the Lord that bought them",( So we ask the question, who is the Lord that Bought them? Now, remember there is only one Lord, so that can only mean they will deny the God and Father of Jesus Christ. Because it is the Father who bought them with the price of His only begotten son. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son...John 3:16"

Therefore Jesus, the son of God, the lamb of God, was the price that God the Father paid. And Who came down in this Hour? The Lord that bought us, the Lord Of Glory. None other than the Father Himself in the form of the Pillar of Fire. And not only do they deny Him, which means to say no to Him, but they deny "He is Here", And they do not believe the record that God gave of His Son by the very doctrine that they preach which makes Father and son one like your finger is one.

Now, remember the record is that God spoke and said "this is my begotten son in Whom I am pleased to dwell in." That is what John taught us.

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 30  This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. 32  And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

And we also see Peter attest to this record God gave of His Son in 2 Peter 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And again as we see John attest to the record of God in 1 John 5:10 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 that God gave of his Son.

Therefore it is of the utmost importance that we show you the balance between believing and understanding and that the two are united by having a true revelation of the Word.

So when brother Branham speaks of not having to understand but it is necessary to believe he is pointing to belief in God's Word. And God's Word will take us to the point of seeing vindication, and bring us to the point of placing our confidence and trust in that vindication. But if we just stop there and allow our belief to become our absolute, we may find ourselves deceived by every wind of doctrine that comes along using the words from this Bible or even from those who would use the words of the last day prophet out of context.

Therefore, I would like to begin take as Point number One in our study the definitions of these words, Believe, Understand and Revelation. Because so many think all you have to do is to believe and therefore they do not have to understand.

As we break down these two words which have two different meanings, we will show you that you must not only believe but you must also understand what you believe or your belief can be a false belief.

But before we go much further let me read two quotes from God's prophet up front lest those who are listening walk away from what I have to say believing in their heart I am not teaching what the prophet taught.

Therefore, by reading the next two quotes, and believe me I have many dozen more that say the same thing, so I want you will see that I am not preaching contrary to what William Branham taught but I am preaching what he also said, by going into more detail than what you have already heard in the two previous quotes.

From his sermon Seed not heir with shuck - 65-02180. brother Branham said, "There is no judgment to the royal, spiritual,  predestinated Seed of Abraham, for they are predestinated to Eternal Life. They have accepted God's provided Sacrifice, and that Sacrifice which is Christ, the Word. "And there is therefore now no condemnation (St. John 5:24, if you want the Scripture)... There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1... walk not after the flesh, but the Spirit." And Romans 5:24, "He that heareth My Word (the word there is 'understandeth.' Any drunkard anything else can hear it and walk away.)... But he that heareth My Word (understands My Word) and believeth on Him that sent Me hath Everlasting Life and shall not come into the judgment, but's passed from death unto Life." Yes, sir. He that this great mystery of the God made known, understand, how that God was in Christ reconciling Himself to the world, how that He and the Father were One, how that the great mysteries of the fulfilling of God taking and bringing Hisself, manifested in the age of human beings, and in the strain of human beings, and in the company of human beings, to make His Word manifested in the day in the eastern rising of the sun and to do the same thing as the sun sets in the west, to make Hisself manifested in a Bride church, the Word made manifest. See? It will to... "He that understandeth (that is, to know), that's been revealed to him of Him that sent Me, has Everlasting Life and will not come into the judgment, but has passed from death unto Life."  

Easter seal - 65-0410 45. Now, the little eagle probably in the barnyard was eating all right, but he--he knowed it wasn't just exactly right. But then when he heard the truth, then he received this truth.Now, in John 14--John 5:24 rather, Jesus said, speaking this way, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting Life and shall not come into the judgment, but's passed from death unto Life." Just think how simple that is. "He that believeth..." Now, the correct way of saying that, "He that understandeth..."  46. Now, you go out here on the street and say to this prostitute, "You believe?""Sure." "You believe that He's the Son of God?" "Certainly." "Been baptized?" "Sure." Go down to the drunkard and say, "You hear that, hear that preacher preach?" "Yeah." "You believe that?" "Sure."  47. See, but he that understandeth, he that knoweth his place in this hour... "He that heareth My Word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath (present tense) Eternal Life, shall not come into the judgment, but's already passed from death unto Life."Then when this new Eternal Life dwells in you, it is the potential or the earnest of you being quickened from mortal to immortality. Let me say that again. When this Spirit has found you, the individual, and has come upon you, it is the potential of your eternal inheritance that God thought of you and made for you before the foundation of the world. That is your potential.

Now, I hope I have gotten your attention that you can read anything from the Bible or hear it from a tape, but if you do not understand it, then you have a false belief, or you are believing in something you know not what you believe and that can be critical to your walk with God.

Therefore, let's begin by looking at these two different words because they have two different meanings.

So we will examine the definitions of both the words Believe and Understand, in order to know the difference between these two words, and to also know the importance of how each word has its proper place in believing and recognizing the Word for the day that we live.

Hear recognize act on word - 60-0221 19 First, faith cometh by hearing, hearing of the Word of God. Then the believer hears It, recognizes It, and acts on It. The carnal man will hear It, the sound of It, but never... "Hear" means to "understand" It. Look at, is looking at something; but to See it, is to "understand" it. "Except a man be borned again, he cannot See or understand the Kingdom of God." 

Now, this is where many people will fall short in this hour because they may believe a truth but when that truth is presented alongside of error as Peter warned us, they have difficulty understanding which is true and which is not because both the true and false use the same Word of God whether spoken word or written word to justify their belief.

Irenaeus also pointed out how these men  in Paul's day came into the Message of that hour and by weaving together a hybrid mix of men's perverted understanding with the Truth it brought the church into error and that is how they built or put forth their doctrines. but as you will see, it does not hold up in the light of Vindication. 

In fact the Apostle Paul warned us to preach anything contrary to what he preached will bring on a curse, and he says they preach the Message but they add here and there take away there and they bring a perversion to the message.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another (heteros) gospel: (that means it is a Gospel of a different ature than what he preached. Then he goes on to say) 7  Which is not another;(allos, which is not a totally different Gospel altogether) but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (So Paul says, there are those who have come in among you who are teaching the Gospel with a different nature, but it is not a totally different Gospel in that they use a lot of the same terminology, but what they have done is they have perverted the nature of the Gospel so that it brings with it a different Spirit.) 8  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other (para) gospel (or Gospel in the same vicinity) unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Now, that is exactly what we read by Peter saying they would not come along and teach a totally different message, but they would bring in alongside of truth destructive heresies, twisting the truth to say what they want it to say.

Now, that twisting of the Gospel began in the very first age, and by the second age Irenaeus told us what had happened and what he had to fight against in his age. Men fell into error because they believed without understanding what they believed.

Now, remember, Irenaeus was the Messenger to the second church age. And in his book, “Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 1”,  In as much (1) as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says, (2) "minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed plausibility’s draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretense of [superior] knowledge, from Him who rounded and adorned the universe; as if, in truth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein. Therefore, by means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and impious opinions respecting the Creation; (3) and these simple ones are unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth.

Now, what Irenaeus is saying by using the wording specious and plausible words, he is saying they use words that seem to be good, but are very deceptive. having  an  appearance  of truth or reason; seemingly worthy of approval or acceptance; credible; believable yet deceptive.

he continues, 2. Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous, as the expression may seem) more true than the truth itself. "A clever imitation in glass casts contempt, as it were, on that precious jewel the emerald (which is most highly esteemed by some), unless it come under the eye of one able to test and expose the counterfeit. Or, again, what inexperienced person can with ease detect the presence of brass when it has been mixed up with silver?" Lest, therefore, through my neglect, some should be carried off, even as sheep are by wolves, while they perceive not the true character of these men, because they outwardly are covered with sheep's clothing (against whom the Lord has warned us to be on our guard), and because their language resembles ours, while their sentiments are very different, (that's their attitude and opinion he says are very different from ours. Notice he is saying exactly what Paul said, their other gospel is one of a different nature, and brings with it a different attitude and opinion) --I have deemed it my duty (after reading some of the Commentaries, as they call them, of the disciples of Valentinus, and after making myself acquainted with their tenets (beliefs and assertions) through personal intercourse with some of them) to unfold to thee, my friend, these portentous and profound mysteries, which do not fall within the range of every intellect, because all have not sufficiently purged(6) their brains. I do this, in order that thou, obtaining an acquaintance with these things, mayest in turn explain them to all those with whom thou art connected, and exhort them to avoid such an abyss of madness and of blasphemy against Christ. I intend, then, to the best of my ability, with brevity and clearness to set forth the opinions of those who are now promulgating (openly declaring) heresy. I refer especially to the disciples of Ptolemaeus, whose school may be described as a bud from that of Valentinus. I shall also endeavour, according to my moderate ability, to furnish the means of overthrowing them, by showing how absurd and inconsistent with the truth are their statements. Not that I am practiced either in composition or eloquence; but my feeling of affection prompts me to make known to thee and all thy companions those doctrines which have been kept in concealment until now, but which are at last, through the goodness of God, brought to light. "For there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be made known."(1)

And then from Chapter VIII. --[How the Valentinians pervert the Scriptures to support their own pious opinions.] he says, "Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures; and, to use a common proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, 

Now, that is exactly what brother Branham said in his sermon Christ revealed in His own Word  65-0822M where he said, "Now, you must not misinterpret the Word. You say, "Well, I believe it means this." It means just what it says. It needs no interpreter. And you must not misplace the Word. And you must not dislocate the Word. And if we would do either of these, it throws the whole Bible in a confusion and in a chaos.

Now, lets continue with Irenaeus, "and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skillful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skillful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king's form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner do these persons patch together old wives' fables, and then endeavor, by violently drawing away from their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found, to adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We have already stated how far they proceed in this way with respect to the interior of the Fullness.

Now having read Irenaeus’ description of their practice and their teaching techniques, we should be able first of all to see how it is that they are able to draw away people's minds from the Truth into error. Because "the ignorant", as Irenaeus calls them, do not know the Truth, they therefore open themselves to error. Which reminds me of one sister years ago who said to brother Vayle, "Since I don’t understand, I cannot be held responsible," but she was rebuffed by br. Vayle who told her, "on the contrary my sister, you are responsible, therefore you had better understand."

How many foolish people will try and twist brother Branham’s words. The Oneness believe he's a Trinitarian, while the Trinitarian believe he's oneness.  Others try to make him say things he never said, and some claim he taught that you do not need to understand, you only need to believe. But he explicitly taught that only the Elect will understand. For how can you believe without knowing what you believe?

But as Irenaeus said, they disconnect the words, and take from here and from there and build up what they want you to believe and so present it ever so sincerely that many people by hearing their sincerity let down their guard and believe the testimony they are hearing.

And the best example of that you could see last week in the Kavanugh hearing when a woman comes along with no details, but brings a railing accusation against the man and has everyone eating up her story because she put on a good act with sincerity and soft spoken words. When I saw it my Word trained mind said this is hogwash. No dates, no place, no true witnesses, because the witnesses she claimed all denied it happened, yet people believed it because let's face it, they wanted to believe it.

And the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2: 10-12 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness (that is un-right-wiseness which means it is a wrong understanding) in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness

And so we see here because they have not a love for the Truth, God Himself will send them a strong delusion that will cause them to leave the Truth.

Now if you think for one minute that you are more than able to resist what God sends, you are a fool. And remember, God Himself is ever watchful of your attitudes. And also remember, He knows the very inner-most thoughts that you have. And you've got to love His Word with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul, or you will  open yourself up for deception. And believe me when I tell you, spirits are very, very deceptive, because they give you just enough word to get you leaning and then when you lean their way, they get behind you and give you a push.

We read in I Timothy 4:1-2 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from The Faith, (from The Revelation of Jesus Christ. And how do they depart?) by giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

These are hypocritical lies, because they know better but refuse to teach the truth. And the scriptures does not tell us, “some shall depart from faith”, but from “Some shall depart from The Faith,” and we know that faith is a Revelation.

Ephesians 4 tells us, There is only One Lord and One Faith or Revelation, and we know by scripture that this One Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Therefore,  the deception will have to be concerning this One True Revelation. Also it will  come via doctrines of devils. So their doctrine will be error concerning the Godhead and this will produce error in the people. In other words, as it was in the days of Elijah, the false ministry of that day were successful in getting the people of Israel to worship God in a wrong way and thus to worship God outside of Truth is to actually worship other God's. That is why they worshipped Baal, which actually means Lord. So when they speak of worshipping the Lord, if their worship is based on wrong understanding, they are in fact worshipping a wrong Lord,  and the sad part is they don't even know it.

But will they open their heart to listen? Never. For Jesus said, the reason they will not receive the Truth is that they have no place for the Truth in them.

So we see that Irenaeus pointed out that the wrong connection of the scriptures will give a wrong presentation of the Only True God and therefore will present a perverted Lord.

In John 4: 22 Jesus said, "the gentiles worship what they know not," and He said, "But we know what we worship," and that is the Key, you have got to know Him who you are worshipping or you will be lost in your unbelief.

He further stated "They that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." 

Therefore, apart from Truth your worship is in vain. You must worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Worship apart from a True Revelation is satanic, and God will not reveal anything without it coming via His Prophet. So, any revelation that comes outside of the vindicated channel of God is a part of the great deception.

In 1 John 3:12 We see that Cain slew His Brother because his own works were evil. It did not say that the slaying itself was what was evil, but the reason he slew his brother is because his own works were evil. And what were those works? His offering to God apart from a Vindicated Revelation. He offered a first fruit offering which was perfectly scriptural and in fact it was a resurrection offering, but it was out of season. And it is not that he did not know better. He named His first-born Enoch, which is the name of the first saint to be Raptured. But Cain's revelation, and therefore his offering was actually considered evil because it was not the Revelation for the hour, and in fact the Revelation that the Lord Himself descended with. If you will recall, The Lord descended with a shout in the Garden of Eden. And what did He reveal to Adam through this Shout or Message? That Because the serpent's blood was mingled with Eves blood, then blood must be required for an atonement, and Cain refused God's vindicated message and Revelation for that hour.

In Genesis 4:7 After we see that God rejected Cain’s offering, He said to Cain, "If thou do what is right, shalt thou not be accepted?

The Septuagint reads this way, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? Thou hast rightly offered, but thou hast not rightly divided."

Notice how much importance God places on having the right division of His Word. Cain's Revelation was rejected and considered evil because he did not rightly divide the Word of Truth.

This is why we find Paul in Galatians 1 and  2 Corinthians 11 speaking so vehemently about the people just putting up with any old thing. He said it results in the preaching of a different Jesus altogether, and the scriptures being presented are presented in such a perverted way that they take on a different nature, thus bringing forth a different spirit altogether.

And that is what Irenaeus has shown in his illustrations of men who would make an image of a dog or fox and try to pass it off to the ignorant people as the image of a  King. Talk about ignorance. How can you mistake a dog for “The King of Glory”? Yet that is what has happened.

Jesus warned us to, "Be careful how you hear, for with what measure you measure it out, it is with that same measure you shall receive it back." And he also told the Serpent Seed that they filled up the measure of their fathers. Then He said to them, "You do that which you understand through your father, and I only speak that which I understanding My Father to have said." So what we are dealing with here is a certain mindset that is being applied. Pharaoh looked out the same window Moses did, and he saw a mud Dobber. Moses saw the Children of a Promise.

Therefore, these men through their teaching methods, and the way they connect the scriptures and quotes, are presenting error in its naked deformity. The ignorant people, those lazy Laodicean's, who will not check the Word for themselves, believe what they are taught without so much as a challenge. Yet when those Elect, step forward to bring forth the Truth declaring, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, that He is here, these same  spiritually lazy people, look upon the True as though they were misfits who have a wrong spirit. Was not Jesus, the author of Truth, also branded by the unbelievers of his day as having a wrong spirit as well. Was not it our Lord, who was put out of the church in this day, and He’s standing at the door knocking. Then to be branded with the same accusations just places us in good company with our Lord. Jesus said, “which of your fathers did not persecute the prophets?" And so we see the repeat of this in the Omega season.

Irenaeus continued by saying, "by wallowing in falsehood, they have lost the True Bread of Life or the bread of True life, and have fallen into vacuity, (which is an emptiness of the mind) and an abyss of shadow. (An abyss is a bottomless pit without any foundation), And that is what their doctrine consists of. He said, "They are like the dog of Aesop's fables, which was walking across the bridge and had in its mouth a nice piece of meat, but when he looked down in the water he saw his own reflection and therefore dropped the meat he had, and made an attempt at seizing what was only a reflection or a Shadow, and thus lost the real food.

Now in getting to where I would like to bring us this morning, we are reminded of what the apostle Paul said that the purpose of the five fold ministry is to bring the body of Christ to the place where they may grow up into Christ in all things, and be no more children tossed to a fro by every wind of doctrine.

From his sermon Lean not unto thy own understanding 65-0120 P:46 brother Branham said, "You know, the Bible said you can believe a lie and be damned by it. See? That's exactly the truth. They form, no matter what the Word of God says, they lean to their own understanding. They lean on it; they believe it; they think it's the Truth. You can keep believing a lie over and over and over till it's the truth to you. That's right. But how do we know whether it's Truth or not? God proved it's Truth, 'cause it's in His Word and He a-vindicates It. He does His own interpretation of It. How do they do, get to this? They do it by their culture, their education, of their understandings of their, the degree of doctor's degree, and so forth, that they have come from some certain seminary and learned these things.

Now, listen, what he is saying can be duplicated right in this Message. Your church culture, your church indoctrination, your understanding from the group your church associates with. Either you receive it from a vindicated prophet and know it from the Bible or you don't know it at all. As brother Billy Paul always testifies, line up the Spoken Word with the written word, and you will be on target.

Again br. Branham said in his sermon Lean not unto thy own understanding 65-0120 P:24 "Notice, Jesus said in Saint John 10, "My sheep know My Voice," A Voice, of course, is His Word when He's speaking. "My sheep know My Voice. My Voice has been proven to them to be true. It's been vindicated that it is My Voice." Now, now, notice, they are not subject to following any other voice. They won't. "My sheep know My Voice, and a stranger they will not follow." In other words, they will not understand a theological voice that's teaching contrary to the Word. The sheep don't understand that no more than the eagle, last night, could understand the clucking of the hen. They don't understand it, because he was an eagle. And that's the same thing with a genuine born again child of God, they understand only the things that are of God. Now, somebody'd say, "Well, now look, you could do this, I think. It's, I believe that it isn't this a-way. I believe that the days of miracles is passed. I don't believe that that's Divine healing. I don't believe this." Now, a genuine born again Christian, that'll never stop in his ears; he don't understand it at all. And how could a man that believes in God, and can read the Bible and see that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, will ever accept such a thing as that, I don't understand it. So they do not lean to their own understanding.

Therefore, what he is telling us is that when you have a true understanding, you can not understand something that is contrary.

And we know that only the truly born again sons of God can understand the things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:7 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.

Discerning body of Lord - 59-0812 16. Jesus said once, "That except a man be borned again, he cannot See the Kingdom of God," or understand. And in other words, you can't discern the Kingdom of God until you are borned again.

Jesus Christ the same - 58-0312 4. We preach the Gospel; we believe first that a man must be borned again. He must be borned again. And then, well, if he's not borned again, then he cannot understand the Kingdom of God. Jesus told Nicodemus that. "Except a man be borned again, he cannot See the Kingdom." The word "See" there, is the English translation which really means, "cannot understand," the Kingdom of God, until he's borned again.

It shall be even as it was told me - 50-0818 23. No matter what it looks like here... We don't look at what we See; we look at what we do not See. Is that right? Anyhow, "to See" doesn't mean "to look at." The word "See" means "to understand." Jesus said, "Except a man be borned of water and Spirit, he cannot See the Kingdom of God." In other words, he can't understand the Kingdom of God until he's borned again. See? You have to accept it by faith. And then when He comes into you, you understand it.

In fact Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 10:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear (understand) my word. 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. 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 heareth (understandeth) God's words: ye therefore hear (understand) them not, because ye are not of God.

Let us pray...