What the Holy Ghost was Given
for no 2
Imparting life
Brian Kocourek, pastor
Last Sunday we began a new
series, this one from a sermon brother Branham preached entitled, What the Holy
Ghost was Given for. We looked at the three Scriptural
roles of laying on of hands, and we also looked at the
role of Godly women concerning who were used by God.
This evening we will pick up at
paragraph no 2 where brother Branham said, 2 "Last
night we were speaking what It was, "What Was
the Holy Spirit?" And we found It to be just
about everything that God promised to us. In It we
found just what God's church would need. We found It
to be a Seal,
a Comforter,
the Rest,
and the Joy,
and the Peace,
and the Resurrection.
And all that God
promised to His church lays within the Holy Spirit.
And now, tonight we want to preach on, or talk on, teach on... I have about
three or four sheets of texts here, or Scriptures, on It.
And which last night I left my Cruden's
"Concordance" laying here, and I didn't get it. And I just had to go
through the best I could today with the Scriptures.
3 Now, tonight
we're teaching on, What was the purpose of God sending the Holy Spirit? What's It for? If
It's such a great thing, then why did God send It?
Then tomorrow night we want to talk on, Is It for You; and How Do You
Get It; and How Do You Know When You've Got It? And then, after we get
through that with the Scriptures, explain it by the Scriptures, using the
Scriptures for all things, then those who are seeking the Holy Spirit will
come forward then. And then, I hope the revival's on from then on, to move on
then with the Holy Spirit. Now, being that tomorrow night many might stay quite
awhile at the rooms and in the church, I feel that if we could get as many
ministers and those people who are experienced in leading people to receive the
Holy Spirit (to encourage them, to go into the home with a woman and her
husband, or with someone that's seeking the Holy Spirit), that's well
instructed on what to do, if you would just give your phone number or address
to the pastor tonight or tomorrow night. Just give it to Brother Neville, then
that'd save us gathering in for a meeting. Just give your phone number where we
could reach you. And then say, "I'll be available, and if we--you want to
place me into a home..." If it's a--a woman alone, then we could send a
woman (See?) to this woman. And then, if it's in a home where there's a man,
his wife, why, we could send a minister. And we'd be glad to have you to
cooperate, because I know you're every one interested in this, this most
essential. And remember, "He that saves a soul from his
error, has covered a multitude of sin." See? And the Bride of Christ is hungering and thirsting. She's in
travail to give birth to the children of God.
This evening would like to
focus our thoughts on one statement brother Branham makes here in paragraph
number two, and that is where he says, And the
Bride of Christ is hungering and thirsting. She's in travail to give birth to
the children of God.
And
I would like to examine this travail of soul to give birth to Children of God.
That day on
QA on the Seals 63-0324M P:91 Before there was an atom, or electrons, or
before there was even cosmic light, electrons, or anything, He was God. He's
the Creator. And that's the only way you can be eternal, is to receive
Eternal Life; that Greek word there, I think, is Zoe. Isn't that right? Zoe, Zoe. And
then that Life God
imparts to you, as the father, your father imparts his life to you through
the marriage vow with mother, and he, by that, imparts the joy of imparting
(Catch me?), of the
imparting life for a son. And that's the way God does: a joy in
imparting His Life to a son. See? And then you become part of Him which
is Zoe, God's Own Life. "I give unto them Eternal Life, raise them up at the last day." That's the only thing... He got
Eternal Life; and that Eternal Life knows its body, and it must have to
come forth. It's impossible for it to lay there.
Path of life 62-0621B P:40 A man might look like a Christian,
impersonate a Christian, or walk like a Christian, or so forth. But unless that germ of life is
there, he cannot rise again. Jesus said, "I come that they
might have Life," Zoe, God's own life in them. And there's...
Everything that had a beginning has an end. It's those things which had not a
beginning that has no end. There's only one thing that never had a beginning;
that was God. And we
become His children, part of Him, then Zoe, God's own
Life, Eternal Life, is imparted to us. And that's the only way that
we can live. And that's the only way that our lost friends out here, even
church members, can ever live again, is because Zoe has been imparted to
them, and we become a part.
1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of the Word of life; He calls it the Word of Life because he goes on to say in verse 2 For the life was manifested,(How was it
manifested? In the body of God's Only begotten son,
that's how.) And we have seen it, and bear witness,
and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was
manifested unto us; (How was it manifested unto us? he tells us through
His Son. How will it be manifested unto you? Through sons). So
we see the Word is Life, It is God-Life, and every
seed must bring forth after its kind, or nature. When that Word of
God-Life manifests itself, it manifests the God-Life that is in it.
Man that can Turn on the Light 63-1229M 74 So life is only by the Word of God made
manifest. Life comes only by the Word of God made manifest.
As long as it is just in the Book like this, it still can be questioned; but when
it's made manifest, then you see the product of what It spoke of being
manifested; then that is Light on the Word. See? That's what brings... The
Word said so, and then when it comes to pass, that is Life in Light, Light
bringing Life. Light brings life. Plant the wheat out here, it'll...
You put it in a basement, cover it all over, and it'll never bring forth
anything, because it can't; there's no light there. But as soon as light
strikes it, then it'll bring forth life if it's a germitized
seed. That's the same thing it is in the Word. See, the Word is God, and
when the Light strikes It, it brings the Word to life
again. Every age has always been that.
That day on Calvary 60-0925 P:56 What
is Eternal Life? The
Life that He lived, the Life that was in Him: impart that to others. Can a man do that?
A Son of God can.
Jesus said, "Whosoever
sins you remit to them they are remitted. Whosoever sins you retain, to them
they are retained."
Now, here's where the Catholic church and many of the
others made their big mistake. They go out and say, "I forgive
your sins." That wasn't it. How did they get sins forgiven in
the Bible? Peter answered that question on the day of Pentecost. They said,
"What can we do to be saved? How can we get this that you all got?" He
laid down the prescription. He told them what to do. He said, "Repent, every one of you towards God, and be
baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ." What for? "The
remission of your sins." There's the
greater works.
Now, let's just stop here for a minute because brother
Branham is giving us the key here to a life without sin. Jesus never said whose
sins you forgive they are forgive. He said whose sins you remit they are
remitted. There is a difference between remit and forgive.
The word remit
means: to lay aside or desist. To cancel out, or refrain from doing, to give relief from. to restore or consign to a former status or
condition and thus to release from the guilt or penalty of sin or
unbelief.
Now contrast that to the word forgive and what it
means. to stop feeling anger toward
(someone who has done something wrong) : to stop blaming (someone).
Notice the difference between the two words. to Borrow a common phrase from brother Branham, but they are
two different words and they mean two different things altogether.
Forgive means you come to the place where you are
willing to forgive, or not be angry with someone who does things to you even
though they keep on doing them.
Notice forgiveness has nothing to do with the person
who is doing the wrong. It doesn't change his nature, it only changes your
response to the way you view that person.
In other words, as brother Vayle used to say, "dog bite me once shame on dog, but dog bite me twice shame
on me". In other words, I can forgive you but that's not going to change
you. That only changes my response to what you do. I just learn to accept that
you are what you are and no one can change you unless you want to be changed.
So you will continue doing what you do best until you have died and God comes
in to live your life for you.
But to remit your sin (unbelief) is to
do something to you that changes you forever, and changes the way you live your
life. To remit your sin is to do away with you sin or unbelief
altogether. And just saying it won't make it happen.
Just because you say it doesn't make it so. Something
has to happen to change your life that you don't want to sin any more. That's
the real meaning of the remitting of sin. You don't do it
any more because you can't do it any more. There's another life living
in you and you can't sin.
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of
God.
The sin question has been canceled out in you. And the
word Remit means: To cancel out. To lay
aside altogether, to desist. And you can not do that until you are dead and your life is hid together with Christ in
God.
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, "Receive
ye the Holy Ghost": 23 Whose
so ever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
Now, the Greek word for Remit that Jesus
used was apheimi,
which is made up of two Greek Words, The first "apo",
used as a prefix which denotes separation, and it means: to depart and
cessation. Which means to "stop altogether". And the
word main word heimi
which means: to go, or to send away.
So when Jesus breathed on them and imparted the Holy
Ghost to them, he told them that with receiving the Holy Ghost you now have
power to give the same to others, and in doing so it
will cause sin (unbelief) to depart from them.
John 20:22 And
when he had said this, he breathed on them, and
saith unto them, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost":
23 Whose so ever sins ye remit,
they are remitted unto them; and whose soever
sins ye retain, they are retained.
Now, let's look at
this laying on of hands we began to speak of last week, because in this we see
a great mystery, in that the Believers were commissioned to do the same works
that Jesus did.
Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles which were at
16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the
apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands,
he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because
thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
21 Thou
hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the
sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and
pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
Thy seed shall possess the gates 59-1121 P:6 Great Author of Life, the Writer of the
sacred Scriptures that's given to us, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and can only
be interpreted by the Holy Spirit... And I pray that You'll
send Him tonight, the Divine Interpreter of this Scripture and place It into
our hearts, each one of us, so that we can receive faith for everything we have
need of tonight. If there are those here who does not know You as Saviour, may the Scripture be imparted to their heart tonight by
the Holy Spirit, that Christ died for their sins according to the
Scriptures. And grant, if they haven't received the Holy Ghost as yet, may this
be the night, that when this part of the Scripture will be imparted to them;
and may they receive the blessed Holy Spirit to work in their lives the will
of God.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we
were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but
also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
Now, the word "impart" means: to
convey, to give, to bestow or to grant. And
how can you give someone something you do not own yourself. So when you receive
The Holy Ghost (Which is Eternal Life) you in fact own it and are expected to
give it to others. That is why the doctrine of receiving the Holy Ghost was
taught that you receive it by the laying on of the hands from one who has it to
one who does not.
Notice the Greek word for imparted here is metadidomi and it means: to
give over, i.e. share: give, impart, to bestow.
Luke 3:11 He answereth and
saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath
none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
That day on Calvary 60-0925 P:55 How much greater is it to say to this sick
woman laying here, "I can pray a prayer of faith," and she'll
be healed. That's a great thing. That's what He was doing then, but said,
"Greater than
this shall you do. I'm going to give you
power, not
only to raise him up for a while, but to give him Eternal Life, which will be
eternal forever." Poor, blind, wretched people, how do you miss that?
Don't you see what the
greater thing is? That's the greatest thing that could ever happen was to impart
Eternal Life to people.
Brother, that is John 14:12.
That's what sister Haddie Wright did.
She was given power to do whatever she asked for. And she asked for her sons to
be given Eternal Life. That's the third pull. It's al about Life.
First we see the squirrels were given Life on two
different occasions. Next we see a fish was given life, and then Sister Hattie Wrights sons. And we read a few weeks ago where brother
Vayle taught us that John
Revelation Chapter One 60-1204M P:56 "He that believeth in Me..." Saint John 14:12, "He that believeth in Me,
the works that I do shall he also. Do the same works, and greater than this..." Because Christ cannot preach the
baptism of the Holy Ghost would be greater. He could not bring it to them,
because the Holy Ghost hadn't yet been given. But when Jesus came and
sacrificed His Life, and the Holy Ghost returned, then
they could impart Eternal Life to the people. That's the greater. But
the signs and wonders, Jesus plainly said in Mark 16, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the
Gospel to every creature." How far? All the world. How many? Every creature. Long as the Gospel's being preached, these signs shall follow them that believe. And when that becomes a revelation, brother, you're near the
Kingdom then. "On this rock I'll build My church, and the
gates of hell can't prevail against it." Because the man or the woman that's ever been in that
back desert alone like Moses was, and the revelation of God be made manifest to him through the
Holy Ghost, there's nothing can shake him. He's just as sound and
solid as he can be. Satan hates revelation. He don't
like it at all: upsets his plans.
Now, this not the same as imparting gifts of the Holy
Spirit. We showed you last week that is an error which was working its way
through the church in brother Branham's day.
Do you now believe? 52-0817 P:48 Now,
that man can't help because he doesn't dream. Neither can you help because you
do dream. Now, look. God made you that way. Is that right? Now, what if I told you, "Dream me a dream." Could
you do it? No, sir. Yet, you dream dreams. But
I say, "Dream me a dream." You can't do it. The one
who puts a dream upon you, has to do it. Is that right? How many understands
that far, what I'm talking about? Now, let... That's right. Now, look. Now, you
begin to be germitized, as your body, in your
great-grandfather, the germ begin to begin to become active. Did you know that?
Why here, Levi, paid tithes when he was in the loins of Abraham, his
grandfather. Is that right? See? Now, if you germitized
in your great-grandfather, come out through your grandfather, down to your
father, then in, and that's how you become germitized
for your body. But your spirit, your soul was made up before the
foundation of the world, when God made man in His image. Now, a person that
cannot dream, his subconscious is there, that's God's way of doing it. The
man that does dream, his subconscious is here, he can't help it. But a
seer, that's borned a seer, His subconscious is neither back there, nor here.
It's right here with him. You don't go asleep. You're wide awake and see it.
Now, who understands what I mean? See? It's not laying
on of hands. It's not in imparting spiritual gift, as the error is going across
the country today. That's wrong. If you believe me to be a prophet sent
from God, hear my word: That's an error, no such a thing. Gifts and callings
are without repentance. God ordains them; God has set in the Church. See? All right.
Indictment the 63-0707M P:12
Now, when they laid
hands upon Timothy and upon those brethren, they had noticed in them men was
the gift. Remember, "stir up that gift, which
was in you, come from your grandmother Lois." And they seen this in
Timothy; and therefore, the elders laid hands upon him, ordaining him, not put
hands upon a man that nothing has ever been showed forth. You see? And they
just asked the blessings, and we all believe that. So we don't impart
spiritual gifts; we only recognize them and lay hands upon them to
sanction them, that we believe that God has done such
things for the people.
Indictment the 63-0707M P:11
Now, we realize that
the Scriptural way of ordaining a minister is laying on of hands. I think
that's where our Latter Rain brethren, or the Battleford
people, and so forth, and when they seen that laying on of hands to impart
spiritual gifts. Now, we do not believe that gifts comes
by laying on of hands. We believe that laying on
of hands is a sanction to what we've already seen. See? It's a
"amen." See?
So this what we are talking
about today is not about your imparting gifts of the Spirit to others, but it
is about imparting the same Spirit you have to others.
Hebrews Chapter 7 part 1 57-0915E P:106 It's God. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. "It's God that worketh; not him that willeth or him that runneth, but
God showeth mercy."
If Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world, it
taken four thousand years before it actually happened. But when God
spoke it back here, every Word of God is steadfast. It's immutable; It's impartable; It cannot fail.
And when God slayed the Son before the foundation of
the world, He was just as much slain then as He was at
That day on Calvary 60-0925 P:54 Now, notice, the greater works was to have the power in the
church, not only to heal the sick by prayer, cast out devils by prayer, but
to impart Eternal Life to believers. The Holy Ghost was
coming and given into the hands of the church to impart life. Oh, that's what
And that is what receiving the
Holy Ghost is all about. It's not so you can know more
than the next guy concerning doctrine. It's not to make you smarter, or more
knowledgeable about God. It comes to
allow God to live your life for you. But you have to die first. That is what
it's all about. You die, so that Christ can live again in you.
And then when you receive the
Holy Ghost then God expects you to live in such a way that others will be drawn
to the life you live. And you are given power by the law of Life to impart that
same Life to others. But never forget, the power is sovereignly
given. Therefore, Jesus never went about doing just what he wanted to do, but
did only what was pleasing to His father.
Token the 64-0308 P:53
Look, then when we
realize and present the Token, the Life it took for the Token, the
Blood speaks for us. Remember, the covenant Blood was recognized with the
Token, and the Word assures us of the promise. The Token is the sign that
the purchase is made for us. Now, if you're not included in that, well, of
course, you'll never get nothing; you're just walking through a prayer line, walking
back out, walking up to the altar, and looking up, walking back out. But, oh,
brother, when that Token's once placed in your heart, and you know it's the
resurrection of Jesus Christ in you, something's happening. There isn't nothing going to turn you. You know where you belong. Full obedience to the whole
Word of God entitles you to the Token, and nothing else. "Blessed
is he that does all of His Commandments, he might have right to the Tree of
Life." Then when we pray, we must have the Token to present
with our prayers. Now, don't fail to get that. When you pray, you must have the
Token to hold over your prayer; if you're not, you pray until the
Token comes, 'cause you're not promised to receive it. See, you've got to have
this Token first; that's the paying price, your faith to believe it.
Token the 64-0308 P:13
The Life, the Life that was in the Blood was the Token now. I'll prove it to you, just in a minute by
the Bible. It is the Token that's to come upon each of us to show that we
have been identified with our Sacrifice and have carried out Jehovah's request.
Token the 63-0901M P:89
The blood's not the
Token now, the Life is
the Token. The Life could not be there, 'cause it was an animal. The
chemistry was the Token. You'd have to have literal blood applied on the door;
but now, it's the Holy Spirit. We're coming to it just in a moment to
prove that. See? It's
the Life that is the Token. Your life is gone, and you are dead,
and your life is dead. You are hid in God through Christ, and sealed in there
by the Holy Spirit. The mind that was in Christ is in you, and Christ, and the Bible, and the Word is the same." In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God."
Then you, and the Word, and God, and Christ are the same. "And if ye abide in Me
and My word, you ask what you will, and it'll be done." See?
Token the 64-0208 P:73
He expects us now to display the Token over our faith, to Satan's group, the unbelievers, and
cults, and so forth, that don't believe in it, that we, believing what He has
said of His promises, and that Jesus Christ has raised up from the dead,
showing Himself alive... And that is the badge, the Token of identification, because it's
Christ's own Life in you identifying the Word. It doesn't need anything
else. That's the Token. Without the Token...Shows the fare is paid, shows
that you're a subject for the resurrection, that God, that same power that raised up Jesus from the grave, you're holding within
yourself as a Token. The Holy Ghost in you is the Token that brings you from
the grave, because the Token is God, the Holy Spirit, which is Eternal Life,
coming from the Greek word "Zoe," which means "God's own
Life," in you. That's the only thing that paid the price. If that
Token isn't there, how are you going to raise?
Token the 64-0208 P:65
Not the Blood
chemistry, but the Token, the Holy Ghost, the Life out of the Blood that
comes... What does that Life do? Comes and confirms what the Token has
been purchased for. The Token confirms what the Blood bought for you. The
Blood purchased your redemption. The Token is an evidence of it. The
Blood... He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastisement of our peace was upon Him. With His
stripes we were healed. See? All Blood, Blood, Blood. Then when the Token
come, it shows that you've been identified with that sacrifice. Amen. The
devil can't keep you from it.
Token the 63-0901M P:54
It's yourself gone.
You're no more... You're--reckon yourself dead, and the Token is what
lives in you, and it's not your life; it's Him. Paul said, "The life that I now live..." He lived a different life from what
he once did. "It's
not me, but Christ liveth in me." There is the identified Token that God required. Identified with our--identification with our sacrifice. The
Life of our Saviour in us, the Holy Spirit...
Token the 64-0308 P:61
God once gave a rainbow sign for a token (I'm closing.), gave a rainbow sign for
a token. I've just got about ten minutes and then have my prayer line. He
ever remained true to that token. Did He? He does yet. All these
thousands of years, He has never once, one time, failed to display it. He was
true to that token, shows us that He never will fail
to honor His tokens. I don't care if Jesus don't come for ten thousand years,
you have the Token; He's still got to honor It. No matter how many things
changes, and what ever more, He's got to honor that Token. He said He
would. All right. He expects us now to display His
Token over our God-given faith, to every unbelieving cult in the nation and in
the world, that
believes that signs and wonders don't follow the believers. And be true to
this Token, and It shows that the fare has been paid and we've been accepted
for the resurrection, having the Token Life inside of us.
Token the 63-1128E P:76
Now, when you want
Eternal Life, you receive a Token, showing that the price has been paid. It
isn't the Blood, but it's the Token of the Blood. It's the Life Itself.
Amen. Full obedience to the whole Word of God, to God's entire Word, will
entitle you to this Token. How do you do it? Peter said, on the day of
Pentecost, "Repent,
every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Token. For the
promise is unto you, and to your children, to them that's far off, even as many
as the Lord our God shall call."