What the Holy Ghost was Given for no 29

The Holy Ghost our Assurance of Resurrection

Brian Kocourek, Pastor March 25, 2015

 

 

John 3: 1-8 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

 

1 Peter 1:22-23 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24  For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25  But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

 

Let's us bow our heads in prayer…

 

This evening I would like to speak concerning what brother Branham said in paragraph 83 of What the holy Ghost was Given for. 83   There can be two men, one of them just exactly, both of them just alike. One of them can be a good man; he could do good works; he could do so forth; but except that man has Eternal Life in him, he'll never rise in the resurrection. He can't do it; there's nothing there to raise. There's nothing to bring him up; there's no life. So you see, my dear brother, my dear sister, except a man be borned again, he can in no wise come back into this Kingdom. He can't. "Except this Corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies..." He's talking of Himself. But He had, not perpetual life; He had Eternal Life. And the Life He gave to you, that you might have the same kind of Life...Now, if you've just got human life, enough to move you around, lust... "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she is alive." You can't rise. You might be the most popular girl in school. You might be the most popular girl at the card game of your society. You might be the best dressed woman in the country. You might be the prettiest. You might be the best built. You might be a idol to your husband. You might be all these things, which that's wonderful. But, sister, unless you have the Holy Ghost in you, which is Eternal Life, at the end of this road you are finished. And I don't care what you look like, or how these things are, or how unpopular, or popular you are, how pretty, or how ugly; if you've got Eternal Life, there, you'll live forever and forever.

 

Now, there are a couple other Scriptures I would like to read to you because we hear brother Branham speak to us about having eternal Life and without it we will not go in the Rapture, and yet there are so many who think they are born again when they are just good church members and nothing more.

 

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God,

 

Now concerning Romans 8:16 men have always erred concerning this scripture, because they think that it speaks of their own spirit bearing witness of their own Christianity, and their own relationship to God. And they fall short, and they stop right there, and never consider that this scripture doesn't speak at all of our own spirit bearing witness with God's Spirit. It says, "The Spirit Itself beareth Witness with our spirit that we are sons". There's only one "The Spirit Itself", and that is God's Spirit.

 

In John 8 Jesus had an argument with the Pharisees concerning whose children they are. They claim God as their Father, but Jesus tells them "just because you claim it,  doesn't make it so". He told them, "if they were God's children, God would bear witness to their son-ship by manifesting His own Life in them, and through them". He said, "If God were your Father, your life would bear witness of His Spirit in you doing  the deeds He would do, and Saying the things he would say".

 

Remember, Jesus could do nothing until the Father showed Him first. His Words were not his Own, His actions or works were not his own, nor did He speak His own doctrine, and neither did he exercise His own 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 they did the deeds of their real father, the devil.

 

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.  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 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. It is God's Spirit that we are concerned with. We find John also speaking of this witness of THE Spirit.

 

He says, 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 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 The Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 

 

The word translated as “hath” that is used several times in this verse was translated from the Greek word “echo”. Now, if the translators had left that word un-translated as they left the word baptisma un-translated, where we get our English equivalent  baptism from, then our understanding of this verse of Scripture and thus this particular benefit that we receive as a result of our understanding the role of the Son of God, would be completely different than what most men will have when they read this using the word hath instead of echo.

 

Now, in reading this verse with the word un-translated we read it as: He that echoes the Son echoes life; and he that echoes not the Son of God echoes not life

 

Now, that means that since God is the fountain of Life, then in John 5:26 we hear Jesus say, For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; So we see that the life comes from the Father and then into the son. And in reading this scripture also with the word echo left un-translated it reads,  John 5:26 For as the Father echoes life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to echo life in himself.

 

And as the heart pumps the blood over and over again to echo forth the life in the body, so too the Father’s Word echoed over and over and over again in His mind as thoughts and then when it begin to come forth from the Father this same echo of life moved forward into manifestation as Word, first into His Son and then into Sons.

 

Now, we can see that 1 John 5:12 is a perfect echo of 2 John 9, in the sense that both speak of this great echo of Life that comes forth from God and was echoed by the Son of God and then by us who are able to receive the doctrine of Christ.. Let’s just read 2 John 9 again.  Whosoever  does not keep pace with, or goes beyond the limits of the doctrine of Christ, echoes not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he echoes both the Father and the Son.

 

Now, for any who might think that this talk on echoing the son echoes life is just my own little thoughts, let me show you that William Branham spoke of the same thing.

 

Come let us reason together 55-1004 P:90 And now, not knowing nothing about you, and this is our first time meeting in life, if Jesus will tell me, what you come up here to ask Him about... You come up, not to see Brother Branham; you come up to see the Lord Jesus. And now, you believe that I'm just like this microphone. See? This microphone can't speak 'less something speaks through it. See? It's just a piece of metal. It's got to have a sound here to hit it first, before it will echo (See?), 'fore it'll carry out. Now, that's the way I am. I'm just like the microphone. See? Now, there has to be some real intelligence behind here, Something that knows you, and knows all about you, knows what you're here for, to speak through these lips to say that. Isn't that right? Now, the audience believes that, don't you audience? See? 'Cause we don't know each other, but He can tell me. Then you believe Him.

 

Now, let’s look at what Jesus said about himself. Notice in the next 4 verses of Scripture Jesus tells us exactly what Brother Branham said here.

 

John 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

 

John 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

 

John 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

 

John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

 

Therefore we are talking about the Witness in us bearing witness Himself.

 

You Must Be Born Again 61-1231M  28 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 (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.

 

Revelation Chapter 4 PT 2 24 Elders 61-0101  244    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-Life living and abiding in us, even as this witness, this God-Life lived and abode in God's Only begotten Son. Remember, The word witness breaks down into two parts. The first part deals with observation and presence. 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: This word knoweth is the Hebrew Word yada', meaning 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 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.  

 

I John 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. Now, notice it tells us that a righteous God will have children that do righteous things. And if they do righteous things, 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 to be a True witness, then He must be present to observe, and we saw that He is not only their 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 uses all three when His Spirit beareth Witness to our spirit that we are His sons.

 

1) His Spirit bears witness to our spirit through His Spoken Word;

2) His Spirit bears Witness to our spirit through His Written Word;

or 3) His Spirit bears witness to our spirit by manifesting in our very lives, the things He has Spoken or Written in His Word.  Thus we become a written Epistle known and read of all men.

 

Therefore, the scripture does not speak of our spirit bearing witness to His Spirit at all, 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 for my Lord. Look at the works I have done in Thy name.

 

But we find this does not assure us of anything with God, for Jesus said 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 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, nor 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 deceived 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 speak. But it's what he says, and what He does through you. And if He says, I never knew you, then it doesn't matter what you do or what you say that counts. Therefore it's not your spirit bearing witness to His spirit that counts, but his Spirit that bears witness to your spirit is what really matters.

 

It's not our words, and it's not our works, and it's not our doctrine, and it's not even our will. In fact it's not our Glory, for Jesus said, It's not my words, but my Fathers which I speak. It's not my works, but I do only what the Father shows me to do. It's not even my doctrine, but it is the Doctrine of my Father, which I am pleased to teach, and it's 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. 

 

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 of Who is This Melchisedec, 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 sin; for his 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.

 

Psalms 11:7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance (His Face His Presence) Therefore His Presence doth behold (provides for) the upright.

 

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 John3:1   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 no more." 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 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.

 

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 (disbelieves) has not seen him, neither has known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous (he that does 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.

 

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 of our sonship. If we could just come to the place where we take God at His Word. That's our 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 loves me not keeps 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.

 

To See Jesus 54-0718E 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.

 

Seal Of The Anti Christ 55-0311  E-44    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.

 

Law  55-0115   E-29 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, they 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 Gods 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.

 

1 John 5:12 that says,  He that echoes the Son echoes life; and he that echoes not the Son of God echoes not life.

 

In other words our life in Christ becomes an echo of the Father’s Words for everyone to hear. For the Son of God echoes forth the Words of the Father and when we echo His Words we are echoing the Words of Life.

 

Now, in closing. It's not enough to echo what God says, but the real assurance is to know that you are echoing Him. To know that you are a reflection of His own Life expressed in your. Then noting can separate you from the Love of God.

 

If we know we echo His Life then our whole nature changes, and our relationship with God changes, and we enter into such a peace that no man could ever rob you of your confidence in your relationship to God and thus God’s word. 

 

So in closing, let's read the next verse from 1 John 5, and that will be verse 13.

 

1 John 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have (that you echo) eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

 

So here is not the fact that you echo but the fact that you know that you are echoing. Because then the echo is not just something being done out of  rote learning or just repetition, as though you are able to simply repeat what you hear. Because to just repeat does not mean that you truly know and understand what you are repeating. But to know that you are echoing back the same words and the same Life as the Son means that you also understand what those words are that you are saying.

 

How many people can quote the scriptures verbatim and not even know what it is that they are saying. The denominational world is full of such people. And Jesus faced those kind of people all the time.

 

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye “Echo Eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

 

Knowing that we echo brings a certain peace and rest from our own works, and enter into an assurance of Faith that brings us into a peace that surpasses all understanding.

 

We find ourselves saying the same thing as the prophet said, when we are confronted by the same unbelief he was confronted with.  I do not know how many times this has happened to me when men will bring up a question, or will challenge our understanding of the doctrine of Christ, and I find words coming our of my mouth that I had not even thought about, but when I check them out later, I find brother Branham had said those very same words and so it brings comfort.

 

Remember, Jesus said, “He that will confess me before men, I will confess before My Father which is in Heaven.” And knowing the word confess was taken from the Greek word Homo-logeo which means the same words, I find it quite comforting to find myself saying the same words as the Son of God said, because those are the Words of Life that came forth from the Father. For Jesus said, “My words are spirit and they are life.”

 

 I John 4:17 " Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have parrhesia (rest) in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world.” Notice, there is that echo again. As he is so are we…In the Day when the Judge is present, which we find in James 5: 9, Rev 3: 20 and John 12:48 we shall have parrhesia, which is an absence of fear. It also let's us know that this parrhesia comes as a result of seeing Him as He truly is. Because, "As He is so are we". And thus we know that we echo eternal life.

 

This statement alone ensures us of tremendous blessings and confidence or absence of fear. How could God deny any part of Himself. He can't. Then how could He deny His Seed? He can't. Then what have we to fear? He is here to ensure that we do not fall this time.

 

In Ephesians 3:12 We read, "In Whom we have parrhesia and access with confidence by the faith of Him." Notice, this uninhibited confidence or absence of fear comes by receiving His Faith. It tells us that it comes by the faith of Him. It is not our faith, but His faith that does this. Jesus was the first one to display this uninhibited boldness because He knew who he was and Who sent Him as we find him in John chapters 6,7,8,9, and 10 Jesus really lets into the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day, and lets them have it with both barrels. I John 5:14 " And this is the parrhesia that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us." Notice he said “according to His will. That’s what Jesus said, “I have come to do thy will O God”. Let us pray...