What the Holy Ghost was Given
for
It's not me, It's Him
Brian Kocourek,
This morning we will speak on paragraphs 91 through 94
of What the Holy Ghost was Given for. I do not know how
many more sermons we will have because I take each service one thought at a
time. But there will only be 4 more paragraphs to consider, and I do not know
what brother Branham says in them because I have not looked that far yet. But
this morning may be the most
important sermon we have preached yet from this series, because
if you can get a handle on this, what you are going to hear this morning, you
are going to get the jest of what brother Branham has been hammering to us
throughout this Sermon, and to be frank, most of his sermons.
To begin let's go to the Scriptures for our text.
Philippians 1:12 But I would ye should understand, brethren,
that the things which happened unto me have
fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13 So
that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;
14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident
by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some
indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16 The one preach Christ of contention, not
sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17 But
the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence
of the gospel. 18 What then? notwithstanding,
every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein
do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. 19 For I know
that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 According to my earnest
expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall
be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as
always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in
my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 21 For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But
if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot
not. 23 For
I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be
with Christ; which is far better: 24 Nevertheless
to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
Let
us pray,
Dear
Loving Father, we have read these wonderful words by your servant Paul, and we
see that he was at a cross roads in life. His desire to leave this world and to
dwell in your presence was so great, and yet he knew that to suffer yet a
little longer was more beneficial to the brethren, so he did not take his own
will, but rather chose the afflictions of this world, to be able to stay a
little while longer for the benefit of the brethren.
Father
I ask you this morning to help us to come to our own cross roads, and to ask
ourselves first, why are we here. What is our purpose in living? Is it to make
an income, and satisfy our worldly lusts? Or is it to live for others. You know
father how I long to go home to be with you, but I look at the needs of my
family, and the saints that are so dependent upon this ministry to point them
to you Lord, and I ask you Father to help me find the same grace as Paul, and
to choose to live for others, for we know that is the nature of your Life that
was lived out in your son Jesus, and we ask to manifest the same in Jesus
Christ's precious name, amen. - you may be seated.
Before we begin to read from brother Branham's text,
let's finish what we were reading in Philippians.
Notice what Paul is telling us here. We read, Philippians
Now,
remember, this is the same Apostle who said to the believers in Galatia that we
see in Galatians 2:20 I am (present tense) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I am living;
yet it is not I that is living, but it is Christ that
is living in me: and the life which I now living in this flesh I am living by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
And thus to the Philippians he said the same thing, For to me to
live is Christ, why? Because it is Christ that is doing the living for me.
Then Paul continues speaking to the Philippians by
saying, 22 But
if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my
labor: yet what I shall choose I know not. 23 For
I am in a strait between two things, having a desire to depart, and
to be with Christ; which is far better: 24 Nevertheless to
abide in the flesh is more needful for you. 25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall
abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for
me by my coming to you again. 27 Only let your
conversation (This word conversation does not mean what you talk
about, it means the life you live) Only let your life
be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether
I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for
the faith of the gospel; 28 And in nothing
terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition,
but to you of salvation, and that of God. 29 For
unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but
also to suffer for his sake; 30 Having the same
conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be
in me.
I would like to read
this from the Message Bible. 12-14 I
want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite
of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually
prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m
in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now
they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of
the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the
faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah.
15-17 It’s
true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think
they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the
others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by
pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The
others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get
something out of it for themselves. Their motives are
bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the
better—they think—for them.
18-21 So
how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really
don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every
time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them
on!
And
I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn
out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of
Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done.
I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in
the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only
serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I
live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger;
dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.
O, my, I wept when
I read that last night. Life
versus even more life. I can't lose.
Brothers and
sisters, can we come to this same position as Paul did? Can we look at the
trials we go through and realize that if we don't have to got
through them, we benefit, but if we must go through them we benefit even more. Life versus more life.
And then he says, ...
22-26 As
long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If
I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The
desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can
think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going
through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan
to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of
trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I
come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.
27-30 But in
the mean time, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let
nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must
be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a
distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for
people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging
in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them
what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you, and both because
of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him.
And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in
the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting
an updated report in this letter.
Now, this morning we will examine four paragraphs from
Br. Branham's sermon, which in essence say the same thing you hear the apostle
Paul say.
91 My brother, my sister, as your brother,
as your servant in Christ, let me persuade you with all my heart, don't you
let this go over your head, or go by you, or under you. Receive
It into
your heart, and
you'll be a happy person on earth. I'm not promising you you'll get
a million dollars. No, sir. Brother Leo, I think
there's been too much of that promised now, millions of dollars and things
that... Different ones said, "If you'd be a Christian, you'd get a million dollars, and you'll
be a rich man."
I'm not promising you nothing. I'm promising you
this. The only
thing I can promise you is salvation. His grace is sufficient for every trial.
92 The people at
Pentecost, they didn't even want what they did have. Now, talk about
millionaires. They didn't want what they had, Sister Angie. I'd like to hear
you and Gertie sing one of these days (Where is she
at?), "Homecoming Week," one of these days. Many of them has done passed across the border since then. Oh, my. They didn't ask for great things.
They didn't ask for money. Why, Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I
have, I'll give it to you." And I say that tonight, friends. The joy, the love, the assurance, that I have of
Christ and His resurrection: such as I have, I offer to you. I offer
to you as God's children. And you come and stay at the cross if God calls
you, and don't you get up. When you come tomorrow night, you come either to go in here and stay till it's over, or come up,
and we're going to pray and lay hands on you. Though...
That's the order of the
Bible: lay hands on them for the Holy Ghost. And then we're
going--you go to your home. If you stay right there, if you stay all night, stay the next day, stay
the next day, stay through the holidays, stay till the first of the year and
stay on; stay until. That--whatever we instruct about tomorrow night, showing you
the Bible what has to come, will come. And when It comes, then there isn't enough devils in torment...
You know you've passed from death unto Life. You're a new creature in Christ
Jesus. The joybells of heaven will ring.
93 Brother Othal, I'm telling you, it just sets you afire. Here's
an old boy setting here, an old brother of mine, that was a gangster walking
with guns on his side, looking for a man around the corner, somebody to blow
their brains out. And what
happened? One
day he looked and believed unto Life. And he walked on. He followed
my meetings. And the poor guy, with not enough to eat, and laid,
and slept in bushes by the side of the tent, hungering and thirsting. One
day the Holy Spirit come. Oh, my brother, it
changed you, didn't it? It
brought Life and took death away. Hatred left and love come in. Oh, my. Enmity and strife all fell away;
new Life come in. Look here at others times others, others
times others, and out through there. Oh, the joybells
of heaven ringing. Friends, there's no way for me to express it.
94 Listen, that I
might leave this. If you have believed my testimony as a servant of Christ and
have tried to show you out of God's Bible it's right, and if my words seem like
they might be just a little strange about this, look at that picture in the
scientific world. Watch
the fruit that this Pillar of Fire that led the Children of
It's
not me
that sees the vision, it's Him that speaks through you.
It's
not me
that heals the sick; it's Him
that's in you heals the sick.
It's
not me
that preaches; I'm a backward coward that'd run from the very thought; but it's Him that
speaks through.
I
don't know the
Word; but He knows It. That's it. That's it.
That's what it is, and there He is. And that
same Angel of God is right here in this building tonight. Oh, how I love Him.
If
God would help me this morning to convey to you what we have just heard God's
prophet say, it will change your life forever. If you can receive what he just
said, and apply that in your own life, it will change you for ever and for
eternity. It's not me, it's Him, it's all about Him.
That was the Theme of Christ Jesus, and that will be your theme.
Jesus
never came to manifest himself to the world. he came
and died to Himself that His Father might live in Him and manifest Himself
through the body of His son.
1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, I came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God.
I did not come
as an expert with all the answers. I didn't pretend to explain the mystery of God with
eloquent speech and human wisdom. I didn’t try to impress you with polished
speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first
Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among
you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
I claimed to
know nothing with certainty other than the reality that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Liberating King, who was crucified on our behalf.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear,
and in much trembling.
I was moved to utter despair during my time with you. I
would find myself trembling in dread and fear. In other words, I was unsure of how to go about this, and I
felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and
so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else.
4 And so my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
The sermons I
preached were not delivered with the kind of persuasive
elegance some have come to expect, but they were effective because I
relied on God’s Spirit to demonstrate God’s power. Therefore, the Message came through anyway. God’s
Spirit and God’s power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith
is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional
footwork by me or anyone else.
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men, but in the power of God.
If this were
not so, your faith would be based on human wisdom and not the power of God.
You
know that is exactly what Jesus said.
He
said in John 5:19 19 Then
answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for
what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise.
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.
And
did you know that you can exact same testimony? Paul told us in Romans
John
Look, what Jesus is telling us here is that if your
whole purpose, your entire motives and objectives is to seek only God's Glory,
God's Doxa, God's opinions, God's values and God's judgments, then there will
be no un-right-wise-ness coming forth from you. But
that also tells us that if you get puffed up, and start to look to self you are bound to
say something wrong somewhere.
Because he that exalts himself
shall be abased. That is a law you can count on.
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.
Now,
look, if that is the Spirit that lived in Jesus Christ saying that, and we see
that the Apostle Paul said the very same thing, and we saw William Branham
tells us that same thing, then brother, sister, what about it?
Can
we look to this principle as a Gospel principle to live by? Now, let's look at
what Jesus said in the next verse.
John 12:50 And I
know that His (God's) commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even
as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
And
again we see Jesus tell us in John
In
other words, it's not about me, it's about Him. That is the image we are to be
conformed to.
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.
Now,
listen... Brother Branham not only pointed out this principle to live by in
this sermon we are studying, What the Holy Ghost was Given for, but in his
sermon,
Anointed ones at end time 65-0725M P:193 he said, "Now, I
want you to know this is sure. And you that listen to this tape,
(that's you and me, brothers and sisters, we are the
ones listening to the tapes.)
As
Brother Branham says,) you tape listeners might have thought today that I was
trying to say that about myself, being
that I was packing this Message. I have no more to do with it than nothing,
no more than just a voice. And my voice, even
against my better judgment... I wanted to be a trapper. But it's the will of my Father that I declare to do, and
determined to do. (now, I put those words
in red because those are Jesus own Words he is saying here.)
I wasn't the One that appeared down on the river; I was only standing there when He appeared. I'm
not the One that performs these things and foretells these things
that happens as perfect as they are; I'm only one that's near when He does it. I
was only a voice that He
used to say it. It wasn't what I knew; it's what I just surrendered myself to, that
He spoke through. It
isn't me. It wasn't the seventh angel, oh, no; it was a
manifestation of the Son of man. It wasn't the angel, his Message; it was the
mystery that God
unfolded. It's not a man; it's God. The angel was not the Son of man;
he was a messenger from the Son of man. The Son of man is Christ. He's the
One that you're feeding on. You're not feeding on a man. A man, his words will fail,
but you're feeding on the unfailing Body-Word of the Son of man. If you haven't
fed fully on every Word to give yourself strength to fly above all these
denominations and things of the world, will you at this time do it,
while we pray?
Now,
we have seen where Jesus said, it's not me, It's Him, and where Paul said it's
not me, it's him, and where brother Branham said, It's not me, It's him. Then
can you say the same?
Let
me say this, you tape listeners might have thought today that I was trying to say
that about myself, (in
other words, there are some people who think when a man of God speaks of the
wonderful things that God has done in their ministry, Things that they were
witnesses to that God did, and there are people who think when you speak of the
wonderful supernatural things that God has done, that you are talking about
yourself, or referring to yourself.
Listen,
brother Branham said those words, because he knew there were people saying that
about him, that he was speaking about himself. I know, because I've been
accused by some of pointing to myself because of what I have testified of what
I've either seen first hand of what God has done, or others saw it happening
during my meetings overseas.
But
I will say it just like brother Branham said it, I wasn't the one who appeared down in
It's not a man; or about a man, it's
about God.
The angel was not the Son of man; he was a messenger from the Son of man. The
Son of man is Christ. He's the One that Came
down in this hour, and he's the one that you're feeding on. You're not
feeding on a man. A
man, his words will fail, but you're feeding on the unfailing
Body-Word of the Son of man. If you haven't fed fully on every Word to
give yourself strength to fly above all these denominations and things of the
world, will you at this time do it, while we pray?
Listen,
if you can't echo those same words, then you haven't been positionally placed
into the family yet. It's not about you, it's not about me, it's
about Him. And John
John 14:7 If ye had known me, ye
should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have
seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father,
and it sufficeth us.
(Now, look this conversation is all about seeing the
Father. How do we see the Father?)
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and
how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father,(the Word) and the Father (Who is the Word is) in me? The Words that I speak unto you
I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he
doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father (who is the Word and the Life), and the Father (Who is the Word and the
Life is) in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. 12 Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He (whoever)
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall
he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go
unto my Father. 13 And (and the word "and" is
a conjunction that links two thoughts together) And
whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will
I do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Now, listen! He is saying, you ask, and I do, you ask
and I do, Then it's not about you doing, it's about
you asking Him to do.
pp.
94 "Watch the fruit
that this Pillar of Fire that led the Children of
It's not me
that sees the vision, it's Him that speaks through you.
It's not me
that heals the sick; it's Him
that's in you
heals the sick.
It's not me
that preaches; I'm a backward coward that'd run from the very thought; but it's Him that
speaks through.
I don't know
the Word; but He knows It. That's
it. That's it.
That's
what it is, and there
He is. And that same Angel of God is right here in this building
tonight. Oh, how I love Him.
John
John
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the
world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but you know him; for
He dwelleth with you,
and He shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you
comfortless: I will
come to you.
Mighty conqueror 56-0401 P:78 You could touch me all day; it wouldn't
make a bit of difference. See? You come, touch me and I wouldn't know it, but you
just touch Him once, and watch Him turn around, and tell you about it. See? Just touch Him one
time with faith. I'm
not the
one that's raising the dead. He's the One raised
from the dead (See?), and I'm just His servant.
Can
you say the same? .... Let
us pray.