What the Holy Ghost was Given for no
10
What is a So called Christian?
Brian Kocourek, pastor
Wednesday night we read from
paragraphs 11 and 12 for our communion service, and this morning we'll pick up
at the last half of 11 and read through the first have of 13 for our text.
11... God over
us, God with us, and now, it's God in us. All God was, come into Christ;
all Christ was, come into the church. What is it? God
working in you. Anywhere in the world, if He'd want to call
on you, you're right there: working in you to do His good will. How we ought to thank God for that. God
the Holy Spirit is sent for the purpose of God living in His church, moving
through each age, working out His Divine will.
12 When men makes fun of you, they're not making fun of you; they're
making fun of Him that sent you. So Jesus said, "Blessed are ye when men shall say all manner
of evil against you, falsely, for My Name sake. Blessed are you." And again, "All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution."
For when God made Himself known in Christ, they hated Him. Who hated Him worse?
The
church. The
church hated Him worse. They hated Him worse than the drunkard. They hated Him worse than all
the other people. It
was the church that hated Him. So therefore, when you see Kosmos, the world order... "The world knowed Him not" means the "church (so-called) knew Him not."
Notice brother Branham shows us
that it's the church that hates God the most, and thus they would have to hate the vessels God uses to
manifest His God Life through. Jesus said, "if they hate me
they will hate you." Notice then his next comment is very
important to see. He begins by saying, before we
leave this text or thought altogether, I want to bring out a point
for you to see, because if you see it by scripture you'll be wiser and know how
to deal with it when you see it manifested around you.
Notice, 13 "fore we leave that text, let's use
this."
Now, this is interesting
language God's prophet is using here, because he just made some very strong
incriminating statements about the church hating
God, and then he says, Now,
"before we leave that, let's use this",
so he is tying together
"that" with "this" next thought. Do you
follow me?
Notice as he ties in with the
thought of how the church hates God the most,
then he goes on to talk about how Naomi and her husband had been suffering through
many kinds of trials and hard times when they were in Israel, so they left
Israel and went to Moab.
Now, let's just read what he
says about that.
13 In the days of
Ruth, in the law of redemption when Naomi had left the country because of
trials, hard times, she went into the Moabite land, which were just
lukewarm, nominal Christians, because the Moabites come from the daughter
of Lot. And they were so-called believers and mixed up.
And then, her husband died and her two sons
died. And on the road home Naomi, Ruth and Naomi on their road home, and one of
her daughter-in-laws, Orpah, she
said that she would return back to her country, to her gods, and to her church,
and to her people.
Now, let me say this, Orpah had married an Israelite, but now she says she is
going to depart from the Faith and go back to the faith of her people. I
believe this story of
Ruth is a type of the End Time Bride of Christ. And notice Ruth
makes ready, she is steadfast while the other brides are falling away, she stays steadfast until she meets Boaz in the field. Ok,
there's your second coming. But noticed there had to be a falling away first.
And Naomi
tried to get Ruth to go back, but she said, "Your
people are my people; your God is my God. Where you die, there I'll die; where
you're buried, there I'll be buried. And I'll not turn back." That's
when a person's caught a vision. Don't make any difference what her
people said. "You're going over there and become a
holy-roller or something." That didn't make any difference to
Ruth. There was a purpose of God to be fulfilled.
Now
notice, brother
Branham is referring to the story of Ruth here and the decision that Naomi had made to follow her husband away from the
true believers in Israel because of certain trials they were going through, and therefore, to avoid those trials, they
left Israel and went to where their relatives were, thinking it would be better
in that place than with the people of God. And the family were " Moabites",
as brother Branham himself labeled them, "so
called Christians". Related to the children
of
Therefore
we can see by reading just one verse of Scripture William Branham, vindicated prophet of
God was able to discern the backslidden condition of Naomi and her husband for
leaving when the trials came. And as you read on you'll see their decision went
from bad to worse as her husband and two sons all died and she was left alone
in a strange land.
Let's
read, Ruth 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges
ruled, that there was a famine in the land. (and we know this is the same
scene as in the end time.) And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of
The name Elimelech
simply means "an Israelite". So the name is not important,
because it's not about this man, this Israelite, it was about His wife Naomi, and her decision to go back and where the blessing of
God was in the land of promise. By following this man, this "Israelite"
she had backslid with him, by leaving
And we see the same things taking
place today. Many women follow their husbands away from God fearing, Holy Ghost
filled churches, and they will either go to where sin is not preached or they
will just stay home and put on a tape. But usually when they leave they will go
to churches where weaker Christians go to avoid the confrontation of the Word
which is the reason they leave in the first place. And in doing so they have
gone into the land of weakness and unbelief.
Questions and answers COD 64-0830E P:113 429.
Now, listen, you're supposed to obey your husband; that's the Word. Now, if he
tells you and refuses you to read the Bible, go to church, or something
like that, you don't have to obey that, because, "He that won't forsake his father, mother,
husband, wife, or whatever it is and follow Me, is not worthy of Mine." That right?
And by following her husband into
And today, we see many people leaving
the Message and leaving genuine Message believing churches, where Holy Ghost filled
pastors preach the word without compromise, and they either just stay home, or they
end up getting together with others who also left also because they do not like
the sting of the Word, and are not willing to sit under a Holy Ghost anointed pastor
who will not compromise on God's Word.
They don't stay and sort
through their trials they seem to have, but in weakness, Like Elimelech they decide they can't handle the trial, and
therefore to avoid the trial, they go to where they think they won't have to
face those kind of trials which arise because of their
faith or lack of it. Because let's face it, I have proven here by Scripture
many times, and especially in the series we did on "The Garden of Your Mind", that all your
trials are a result of your own current state of being, and they come on you
because God is wanting to take you from that state to a higher state.
And that is what Naomi and her
family had done. When the times got rough for the believers in
This message is supposed to
help us grow to the place where we recognize our trials are placed upon us by God for
our own good. And we should not run from them, but we should face up to them as
they come.
It seems to me in this Message when
people come upon a disagreement with their pastors over something silly, something
very trivial, or something someone in the church said or did, instead of being
mature enough to say, "as for m and my house we
will serve the Lord, they get upset and leave the church.
God said, "Come now, and let us reason together" and that's
what we are supposed to do, open up the Word of God and find out
the whole truth of any matter that comes up. But many would rather run from debate,
than to come together and reason it out as the bible says to do. And then once
they've done that, they seem to be ever on the run from one church to the next,
running from the Presence of the Lord. And they never do settle down again
after that. They develop a flight
response.
It's either that or else they refuse
to go to church altogether and they just run and hide in the privacy of their homes,
and say, "we'll stay home and listen to a tape".
But brother Branham whom they claim to believe said in
his sermon, Christ is the Mystery 63-0728 P:45 And now, you've
got tapes on that. You've got tapes on what we believe. You got tapes
on discipline in the church: how we behave ourself in the
We would see Jesus 62-0704 P:45 Now,
that's a good statement for anybody. Don't stay home and criticize. Don't get up and walk out. Stay
and wait, and find out whether it's the Truth or not. See?
Be not afraid it is I 60-0720 P:27 That's
the best thing to do. Now, just don't stay home and say, "Well, the
Joneses said so-and-so." Don't do that. Come, bring your Bible,
and search the Scriptures, and see if it's right or not.
Now, the Bible says not to stay home, and there are 31
quotes from brother Branham that says "don't
stay home and criticise it," and yet
people stay home anyway because they are led by
feelings and not the Word of God. Notice
the reason brother Branham says for this.
Be not afraid it is I 62-0629 P:2 And then we're taught that as the day
begins to approach to the end, that we should not forsake the assembling ourselves
together, as some who have not faith; but we are to assemble
ourselves together.
So it shows right there according to Scripture there
is a lack faith. And getting together in the home is not assembling yourselves together. Brother Branham defines it as not going
to church in the following quote.
Unpardonable sin 54-1024 P:34 Not forsaking the assembling yourselves together (coming to church) as you see the day approaching, much more. People forsaking going to church, the churches are
beginning to be evacuated now.
And remember, the word forsake means to abandon. When Jesus said on the cross. My
God, My God why has thou forsaken me, it means why has thou abandoned me.
Hear ye Him 57-0322 P:16
If there ever was a time that we ought to be assembling ourselves together, the Bible said, "Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, and that much the more when we see the
end time approaching."
Oh, there should be every hall and every arena throughout the
So often people want the
promises of God but they don't want them the way God said we must receive them.
Because he taught us that our character and faith must grow through the trials
we face. But if we run from our trials, then we are outside the perfect will of
God like Jonah was, although God used his backslidden condition to work things back
into His perfect will.
We should never fear any trial
we are going through, because these trials are placed upon us for one specific purpose,
and that is for the purpose of testing us and correcting us in our
thinking, and for bringing forth in each of us the very Character of Christ in
us. If we believe our lies are predestined, then shouldn't we believe our
trials are also?
Peter said in 1 Peter 1:7 "the
trial of our faith is much more precious to us than Gold that perishes."
The Wuest
translation tells us in 1Peter 1:7 That we are tested for the
purpose of Approval.
1 Peter 1:7 "In which last season you are
to be constantly rejoicing with a joy that expresses itself in a
triumphant exuberance, although for a little while at the present time if
perchance there is a
need for it, you have been made sorrowful in the midst of
many different kinds of testings in order that
the approval of your faith, which faith was examined by testing for the purpose of being
approved,
that the approval being much more precious than the approval of Gold which
perishes, even though that gold be approved by fire testing, may be
discovered after scrutiny to result in praise and Glory and Honor at the time
of the Revelation of Jesus Christ."
Therefore when we pass the
test, there is always a reward. When we finish 1st grade we are tested, and
when we pass the test we are asked to come up higher. We don't give a child in
the first grade a college entrance exam. We wait for them to pass through all
the stages of their education that prepares them for college before we give
them that test. Therefore, a test is designed with the purpose of showing what
stage you are in. And we have a promise that we will not be tested beyond that
which we have been prepared to pass. And when we have been tested we can expect
to receive the reward for passing.
1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us
unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a
while, make you perfect, (that
finished of and fully mature) stablish, (that means to make you resolute and
steadfast) strengthen, (that means
to confirm you in spiritual knowledge and power, and then that will) settle you.
Therefore, your trials are ordained to,
build you up into the stature of Christ. But if you run away from them to avoid
the pain and suffering most trials bring, you will never receive any of the
benefits or rewards of passing the trial.
And let's face it, why would you run if you knew you were ordained to
pass the test. So running away shows weakness and insecurity. and that is exactly what Naomi and her husband had done.
That did not make him any less an Israelite. But He left the promised
land because of circumstances, showing a weakness in his character. But
once Naomi was freed from his leadership she headed right straight back to the
And in 1 Peter
God tests us for our reactions,
to bring about growth in our character. Instead though, may people who profess
to be Christian which means Christ-Like,
instead of taking heed to the test, and asking themselves, "what is
this all about? Why is God permitting this thing to happen?" Usually
what happens is they get offended by the test or trial and take it as a
personal affront against them, and want to blame others for their own personal tests
that God ordained for them. And that's how they end up
failing the test. So many fail the test because they look at the test as an
outside influence against them, instead of looking at it as something in
themselves that needs perfecting. When you are focused on self and not on God, it
shows you don't understand God's purpose behind your tests.
Our Trials are supposed to
bring growth in our character and our lives. Every test we take is for a
purpose. And the test is not to disprove the thing us, but the tests are
designed to prove us.
Hebrews 12:6-8 6 For whom the Lord loveth
he chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is
he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if
ye be without
chastisement, (if you run from the trials) whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and
not sons.
Now,
that's very strong coming from the apostle Paul, and it ought to cause you to
straighten up and bear whatever comes your way, and not run from it.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which
corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we
might be partakers of his holiness.
Look
what he wants to produce in you. His own Holiness, not your own holiness,
because we have none outside of what He does in and through you.
The
Scripture tells us, "There is none that is
holy, no not even one."
11 Now no chastening for the present seemd to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby.
And
what is this righteousness? It is a right-wise-ness.
It means the trial gives you a wisdom you didn't have before, a better
understanding, and it makes you more rightly wise.
12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest
that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather
be healed. 14 Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see
the Lord: 15 Looking
diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up trouble you, and
thereby many be defiled; 16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for
one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that
afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected:
for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Therefore, we should see that
the trial should mean everything to us, we should
count it all joy, knowing that the trial will not only teach us, but with the
trial always comes reward.
James 1:12 12 Blessed is the man that endureth testings: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of
life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Notice
again the trial and then the reward, the crown of Life.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Therefore
your trial are all about you, and your state of being.
You bring on your own trials. And the person who always wants to blame their
trials as someone else doesn't have a clue how God
is working in you both to will and do. And that is because those kind of people are not Christ centered, but they are
centered on self and self absorbed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sin:(unbelief) and sin, (unbelief)
when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not
err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with
whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a
kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Wherefore,
my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow
to wrath: 20 For
the wrath of man (anger of man) worketh not
the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and
receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But
be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Notice
what he's saying is if you are just a talker and not a doer of the Word you are
deceiving only your self.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer,
he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For
he beholdeth himself, and goeth his
way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he
was. 25 But whoso looketh
into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a forgetful hearer,
but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Well, then so much for those who mock and
say we don't have to do anything, All we have to do is believe that brother
Branham did and we are resting on that. Then why did brother Branham preach the
sermon, "Hearing,
Recognizing and then acting upon the Word of God." And Works is faith expressed?
Now, the Moabites were related
to Abraham because they were from the incestuous act of
In other word they were family,
they claimed to believe the same Message
And that is why we are so often
warned in Scripture to "try the spirits to see
whether they are in the faith."
Jesus warned us, Paul warned
us, John warned us, Peter warned us, James warned us and Jude
warned us.
And in our day we had a
vindicated prophet William Branham
warn us as well about those enticing spirits.
The Apostle John warned us in 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits
whether they are of God: (and how do you try the spirits? You
give them the Word test.) because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
And Paul said in Acts
And we are warned in 2
Peter 2:1 Wuest Translation: But as there
arose false prophets among the people, even so shall there be false teachers among
you who will be of such a character as to bring alongside of true doctrine
destructive heresies even denying the Lord who purchased them, bringing upon
themselves swift destruction. 2 And many
shall follow their licentious conduct to its consumation;
on account of whom the way of truth will be reviled.
These men come into the Message and give a wrong
understanding of the Word of God and the people will are caught up into what
these men say as evil interpreters of the Word of Truth. 3 And in the
sphere of covetousness with fabricated words ()that's words they just make up. They don't say what has
already been said, but come up with their own little revelations, and in doing
so Peter says,) they will exploit you, from whom: for whom from ancient times their judgment has
not been idle.
1 Peter
And we are warned by Jude
2 Peter
Now Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:24 that the two spirits would be so close it would deceive the very
elect if it were possible. Therefore, we want to know what these so-Called Christians
are that brother Branham is speaking about?
In closing I'd like to share some quotes from brother
Branham that he defines the attributes that make up a so-called Christian. Listen carefully, to see
if there are any that have your name on it. An if
there are, just repent quickly and change your ways.
1) First of all we see that the so called Christian
is a hybrid and you can't teach him anything. Calling
Jesus on the scene 64-0319 P:26 He's just a hybrid. ...these so-called Christians'...
"you can't never teach him nothing" Therefore ask yourself, "can I be taught
or do I respond as though I know it all.?
2) The so called Christians are spiritually dead
and eat on contaminated spiritual food. Turn on the
light 64-0125 P:35 That's the reason we got so many spiritual dead, so-called Christians.
... They're eating manna that's already contaminated. Therefore
ask yourself, "Am I focused on what God is doing right now, today, am I
alive in Christ"?
3) In
speaking of the so
called Christian brother Branham said in his sermon, Christ is the mystery
63-0728 P:206 where he was talking about the morals of the Shungai African tribes where they kill fornicators, he
said, "What if you did that in so-called Christians?
Ninety-nine percent of them would die before daylight (That's right. Right.), both man and women. Then ask yourself? Is
your life free from immorality? remember, Jesus said
not only to do it, but to look upon a woman with the desire in your heart.
4) From
his sermon, Lord just once more 63-0628A P:48 brother Branham called the so called Christian
a hybrid, That's the way it is with these hybrid, so-called Christians. ..."See,
you don't know where you do stand. But a genuine borned again
pedigreed Christian from the Book of Acts, knows exactly where he stands. He's
borned of the Spirit, and here's his pedigree: Do you know with
no uncertainty where you are standing with God? Can you show Scripture and
verse where you stand on God's Word? If not you are just following someone else, and you don't have it yourself. if
you can not explain your stand by the Word of God then you don't have a stand.
You are resting your salvation on someone else. Then you are not even saved
yet.
5) Brother Branham calls the so-called Christian "impersonators", and they deny the power
of the Holy Ghost in the individual. Jehovah Jireh part 2 62-0706 P:35 "But
heady, (they think they
are better than) high-minded,(intellectuals) lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God,(their
entertainment has the preeminence in their lives) trucebreakers,
(they like to start fusses and divisions)
false accusers,(they like to accuse and they resort to
stretch the facts) incontinent, (they
can not constrain themselves) and despisers
of those that are right. (notice the Bible says those that are good, and brother Branham
interprets that as those that are right, therefore they despise
you for your right-wise-ness)" Oh, you say, "That's Communists." No, no. That's
"so-called Christians."
"Having a form of godliness, but denying (disagreeing with and saying
no to) the power thereof, from such turn away. For
this is the sort that goes from house to house, (like
gossips, who are not content to tell the gossip once but they are obsessed with
telling everyone, and go from house to house)
leading silly (foolish) women, led away with diverse lusts, (who
themselves also are) never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." That's right. That's what it is. And we see that
day.
Notice the so called Christian has a form
of God-like-ness, in form only, by they deny
which means they say no to the Spirit, so brother Branham calls
then impersonators. That means
they are just acting like they're Christians when their life tells you they're
not.
World's Falling Apart 63-0412M P:50 The prophet said in II Timothy 3, the time would come when men would be
"heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasure more than lovers of God; trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, and despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady,
high-minded." You
say, "That's communists." That's so-called Christians. The Bible said,
"Having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof: from such turn
away. For this is the sort that go from house to house, and lead silly women
led away with divers lusts, never able to learn or
come to the knowledge of the truth. But as Jambres
and Jannes..." Remember they did exactly... They they were impersonators. That thing struck
the Pentecostal realms, as it has the rest of them--impersonators. When Moses thrown down the rod, Jambres
and Jannes throwed down the
rod. When Moses called for things, they called for things: carnal
impersonation. And how are you going to get away from it?
Paul describes them as "heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God; trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded." You
say, "That's communists." That's so-called Christians. The Bible said,
"Having a form of godliness and denying the
power thereof: from such turn away. For this is the sort that go from house to
house, and lead silly women led away with divers
lusts, never able
to learn nor come
to the knowledge of the truth.
7) In
Uncertain sound 60-1218 P:58
Brother Branham says so called Christians get offended easily by the
Word. a lukewarm bunch of cold, professed, so-called Christians,
that you have to watch what every word you say. And you can't preach
by inspiration; you have to have it so-so, and watch every judge and
every doctor and everything in there, so you don't say something to hurt their
feelings, because they're big payers on the church.
8) He
says they have no life, because they are cross bred with the world. Having conferences 60-0608 P:42 He can't reproduce himself. He's a cross breed. And
that's what's the matter with a lot of so-called Christians
today: cross breeds
with the world. No
wonder you can't never be settled: double minded, never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
9) in the
next quote he let's us know the so called Christian loves entertainment and
social drinks more than they love the word of God. Reaction
to an action 59-0810 P:15 I just believe in the old fashion, unadulterated Gospel
truth of the Bible. But drinking, used to be it was immoral
among the people. And card playing used to be wrong for the
Christian. And now, millions of so-called Christians have entertainment in
their churches playing cards, giving away little cars and so forth, bunco.
Blushing prophet 56-1125E P:10 Today
sixty percent of
so called Christians
take a social drink at least once a year. Then they get on a big spree
around Christmas when they have their celebration. Because they
have adopted education to take the place of salvation. It'll never
do it. What we need is a revival. do you
take a little social drink?
10) They
mock the true Word of God and will not take time to seek the Holy Ghost. Called out 58-0109 P:20 they
mocked at Him and laughed at Him.
And they would not receive the message. Neither do they do it today.
It's the very same thing, and they won't believe it. There's only one thing left;
that's judgment. But notice, the Bible said they'd be like that.
In II Timothy 3, the Bible said that they will be. "In the last days the Spirit speaks expressingly." That's directly, not
to that day, but to the last day. "Men shall be heady,
high-minded, lovers of television, things of the world." That goes in
with it. "Lovers of the world, more than the lovers of God, trucebreakers, and false accusers, and despisers of those
which are good..."You say,
"That's atheists, Brother Branham. That must be communists." That's
American, so-called
Christians: "Having a form of
godliness, but denying the power (the supernatural of the Gospel), from such, get away from their walls; from such turn away.
For this is the sort that goes from house to house, and with societies, and so
forth, leads silly women captive with sin, taken away with divers lusts," with all kinds of parties. And, "My
church does this, and we have so much time," but no time to seek the Holy Ghost,
and the notion and mind of God. They deny
it. No time...
12) They
are not even sure if all of God's Word is true. Second
handed robe 56-1206 P:67 And here's the way the Bible is to me. It's either
the truth or it's an error. If it's an error, I want nothing to do with it.
No, sir.... If it's a error, I want nothing to do with
it. If it's the truth, I'm ready to die for it. That's right. So make it
one or the other way. God speed the day when so-called Christians will either profess and
be Christians, or either say what they are to begin
with. I'd rather be a infidel than a hypocrite.
That's right. Be what you are. If you'll believe Christ, say, "Yes,"
and don't just, "Oh, I believe this, and I believe this, and I..." Either believe it all or believe
none of it. It's either God's Word or it's not God's Word. If God didn't write it, then just... If part of it's
wrong, then the other part's wrong.
13) So
called Christians are just church goers. Infallible
Word of God 56-0406 P:55 the so called Christians,...
and just so they belong to church,...
14) There is
about a million so called Christian for every one genuine Holy Ghost filled
Christian. Invisible
union of the bride 65-1125 P:102 There
were two million people come out, sung, shouted, done everything, and give God
glory, and danced up and down the sea, and done everything that all the rest of
them did. But there were only two went into the promised
land: Caleb
and Joshua, only two. That's one out of a million. It's
one out of a million in natural birth. Everyone of
them had the same blessing. Oh, you Pentecostals, I hope you don't wake up too
late. One
out of a million. Look, there's supposed to be five hundred
million so-called
Christians in the world today. If Jesus would come, there would only be five hundred
go with Him then, if that statistic would run true. Why, there's
more than that missing every day over the world. They know nothing about it.
One in a million 65-0424 P:29 There's approximately five hundred million so-called
Christians in the world today, and each day ends a generation. And now, what if the rapture
would come today and five
hundred people, universally, would be taken in the rapture? Is your whole life being spent to get ready for the
rapture or is it about making money and having a good social life? What is the
pearl of great price to you?
15) The so-called
Christian professes one thing but lives another, and gets their feelings hurt
by truth. Letting off the pressure 62-0513E P:37 Now, there's where
so many so-called
Christians make their mistake. See, they act like they're going to plow, but the first little thing
comes along, they blow up
about it.
16) The
so-called Christian stays home from church, and has to be begged to come to
church. Marriage of the lamb 62-0121E P:52 That's what too many so-called Christians do, sharing your love
with the world: playing, dancing, gambling, staying home from prayer meeting to watch
television, all kinds of worldly things that's took the place of the love of
God in the church's heart. She's gone on a tantrum. She's gone wild. She's
gone out after other men. She's sharing her love. She'll take her tithings that she should give to the church; she'll
spend it on other things out there in the world. Instead of loving God the
way she should do, and living for God, and loving to come to church, you
almost have to persuade her to come. If you don't get a text, do
you forget we have church every Wednesday night?
17) the
so-called Christian can not take the correction of the Word. Convinced then concerned 62-0118 P:113
And finally He turned around and said,
"It's not meet for Me to take the
children's bread and give it to dogs." Oh,
would that have made some of us so-called Christians really go up about it, "call us
a dog." She never. She knew that was truth. She
said, "That's truth, Lord, but the dogs eat
the scraps under their master's table." What
is your reaction when the pastor reads from the prophet or Scripture and it
stings your soul? Do you get mad at him, or yourself
for being so dull to God's Will?
18) So
called Christians are self centered, they are not Christ centered. Door of doors 57-1212 P:11 many people who call themselves Christian, yet they would not
dare to let Jesus in that little compartment, because it's the apartment of selfishness. Now, you
notice among so called Christians, ...selfish motives.
"Oh, it's all right, if it's for me and my denomination, it's all right.
But if my denomination has nothing to do with it, then I don't want anything to
do with it." That's a little compartment of selfishness that all
Christians ought to open the door and say, "Come in, Lord Jesus, and be
Lord of my heart."
19) So called Christian are not born again, and they are not spirit filled,
they are just like hot house plants that have to be babied. Be not afraid 63-0607 P:72 You have to spray, and baby, and pet around with so-called Christians.
... But it'll never do no good. Pat them on the back, and call them
brother, but until they are borned again of the Spirit of God,
they're just a nest full
of rotten eggs. That's all. They'll never hatch. We need the baptism of
the Holy Ghost.
Communion 62-0204 P:59
That's what's the
matter with too many so-called
Christians; they're hothouse plants (That's right.), subject
to every bug that comes along.
20) So
called Christians need a change of their nature, they haven't died to self yet.
Jehovah Jireh part 3 62-0707 P:26
That's the reason that so-called Christians
many times wallow in the mud, back in sin, is because... That's the only way that a man or
woman can ever line up with God, is change their nature, clean out, die to the old man's sin,
and be reborn again by the Spirit of God. Has your nature been
changed?
21) So called Christian are intellectual, not spirit
filled Take on the whole armor of God 62-0701 P:48 He makes it educational,
intellectual. Did not the Holy Ghost tell us in II Timothy, 3rd chapter,
that in the last days
it would become an intellectual group in the church? "Heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasure more than lovers of God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent,
and despisers of those that are good?" You
say," Them's communists." Oh, no. Them is so-called
Christians (See?), having a form of
godliness but denying the power thereof. And the power is the
Word made manifest. Said, "The
Gospel come to us not through word only, but through power and demonstrations
of the Spirit."
22) Brother
Branham types the so
called Christian with a Mule and says, he don't
know if he's a Christian or a sinner, a believer or an unbeliever. Perseverance 62-0608 P:47 he's mean. He's lowdown. He will wait all of his life to get to kick you just
before he dies. He's hybrid. That's what's the
matter with the church today: too many hybrid so-called Christians. ...You don't
know whether you're a Christian or a sinner. You don't know whether
you're a believer or an unbeliever. Hybrid. Do
you hold grudges? Do you wait to get even? If so you are a mule and not a pure
bred.
23) So
called Christians get mad and call you names when you show them their
condition by the Word. Way of a true prophet
62-0513M P:71 He's
a prophet. And that's the Word. He'd say, "You, Jezebels..." He'd
get rough with them. Why? He's a prophet. He'd have to stay with the Word.
That's right. You think they'd stop? No, sir. They'd
say, "It's a fanatic. He's bad as that old Paul was in the Bible: woman
hater." You bunch of imposter-ing, so-called Christians.
24)
25) So called Christians
fuss, quarrel and stew. Speak
to the rock 60-0723 P:26 Carnality had cut off
their spiritual supply. Carnality
had cut off all their joy, all... They begin murmuring and fussing; they took
them off in the desert. ... That's what's the matter with the churches, the
reason they fuss, and quarrel, and stew, and so called Christians, because they've
been bypassed from the land of blessing, from the fountain that never runs dry,
from the Rock in the weary land. And they have become dry and carnal. Are
you still excited to be a Christian every day, or do you fuss about everythning?
26) So-called Christian
have No Spiritual discernment Discerning
body of Lord 59-0812 P:38 Paul promised that in the last day, by the Holy Spirit, that
the church would fall away, millions of them. "There'll come a falling away, for men will be heady,
high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, truce breakers, false
accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that are good: not the right
discernment." Oh," you say, "that is the Communist." That is so-called Christians. Watch the
next verse. "Having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof," no spiritual discernment.
When you got spiritual discernment and the Holy Ghost is upon you,
you have spiritual discernment. It says, "Amen" to every promise
of God.
27) The so
called Christian has a religious spirit and likes to proselyte, and you can not
deal with them United under one head 58-0326 P:32 The unclean spirit, then what does he do? He goes
over and he gets into this person and he begins to tell him this. And you know
what he does? It's just like what
Jesus said, "You compass the seas to
make one proselyte." And what is he
when you get through with him? A more twofold child of hell than he was to
start with. You can
deal better with a street harlot. You can deal better with a prostitute
on the street or a drunkard in some dive, than you can with some of these old
moss-backed, so-called
Christians. That's exactly right.
Now, God commanded us in His Word to "try every
spirit to see whether it is of God". But do you? I don't
believe you do. Not when you talk to them that are known gossips.
That's 1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
And yet most people do what Naomi did,
they say, "well they're a relative and they call themselves
Christian, so its ok to leave church and get together with them."
Let me tell you something brothers and sisters, the moment you take the Word of
a so-called Christian
which is non other than a person filled with religious
demons, and when you take their word for anything, against the Word of
God, that is the day you open yourself up to enticing Spirits. Eve just stopped
to listen, and so did the girl who had the demon like bat cast out of her. She
just stopped to listen when she knew better than to listen at all.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits
to see whether they are of God or not: And if you know
the attributes of a so-called
Christian then you will not mistake them for a real genuine Holy Ghost
Christian.
God's prophet warned us to try
every spirit, and we are warned to never open ourselves up to
enticing spirit. And when you talk to people who have walked out from any Holy
Ghost church, and who wish to fuss about that church or preacher, you better be
very careful you do not open yourself up to an enticing spirit yourself. The
Bible says they went out from among us BECAUSE they
were not of us, for had they been of us they would no doubt stayed
with us. So the very fact that people leave let's you know one
thing, they are not of you or they would stay with you. That's Bible truth.
Unless that church is off the Word, you had better not leave it. Then you had
better be able to prove it by the Word.
Now, if you see a bird that looks like a duck, and
quacks like a duck and flaps its wings like and duck
and waddles like a duck, you know it is a duck.
And if you see a person who looks like a so-called Christian,
and acts like a so-called
Christian, and talks like a so-called Christian, and fusses
and like a so-called
Christian, and gossips like a so called Christian,
and stays away from church like a so called Christian, and gets
mad when he's rebuked like a so called Christian then that person no doubt
is a so called
Christian. For every seed will
bring forth after its kind. And by
their fruits you shall know them.
The hour is very late, there
is no longer any guess work involved. we have been
thoroughly trained in the Word by God's prophet and teacher, and we know what a
so called Christian
is, and we know they do not have a genuine Holy Ghost experience.
I spoke to brother Collins a year ago and asked him
what the policy of the Branham tabernacle was concerning people who leave the
church and he said, "we don't go after them,
we just encourage them to go to church somewhere and not stay home",
"because if they are not happy then why should
they stay here and fuss behind the scenes. A little leaven will leaven the whole lump, and it
infects the church, and the church can never move on and prosper while those
kind of spirits are permitted to enter." Just look what Achan did hiding that wedge of gold, it affected the whole
congregation.
Now, brother Branham and the Apostle Paul told us God's Word calls for a total separation from unbelief and
unbelievers. So if you are approached by those who left the message
or even a genuine church that preaches the truth and tries to get you to live
right and do right, and believe right then you should be very, very careful, because
the minute they try to bring up the reason they left, and you listen to them, they
now have an opening into your soul to hear their gossip, and instead of
doing what the Bible tells them to do which is to go to the one they have an
offense with they, they would rather spread
their gossip from person to person smearing the name of the person they have
ought against. And if you listen to it, you will take on a demon. I'll
guarantee that by the Scripture.
Proving His word 65-0426 P:25 you
have to separate yourself from all the gossip of unbelief, and stay away from
that. When people says, "Aw, those things don't happen.
That's a bunch of lunatic people. There's no such a thing as that happening,"
just close up your ears
and walk away. Don't pay any attention to it.
In closing, I would like to read from this sermon What the Holy Ghost is Given for and jump down a
few paragraphs to P:61 It's to quit making you smoke, and drink, and want
to be a big shot. It'll
take that out of you. It'll humble you when you do that. That's
what the Holy Ghost is for. It's for a holy life (That's right.): make you quit gossiping; make you quit playing
cards, shooting craps, and all these other things that you do around
the corner. It'll make you quit your carrying on the way you're doing, living untrue to your wife.
That's what It'll do. That's right. It'll quit making you want to
marry somebody else's wife. That's exactly right. That's what It is.
It's to make you
live a holy life. That's what the Holy Ghost is power for,
to set your affections on things above where
God stands at the...?... The mind of Christ in you. You can't help
from seeing those things. When you look at them, you turn your head. That's right.
It's to make you...You say, "I can't do it. Oh, I just can't do it."
Sure, you can't. But the Holy Spirit come for that
purpose. That's what It did. It come to take it out of you,
all of them old habits and things that you're doing. That old back biting, separating yourself,
saying, "Bless God, I'm a Methodist. I won't have nothing
to do with them old holy-rollers." The Holy Ghost come to take that
out of you.
Now, for homework, I would like all of you to listen
to Enticing Spirits preached in 1955 by Brother Branham and the
Seed of Discrepancy preached in 1965 as well.
Because there are more than 20 statements he says that
will help you to become a better discerner of peoples
motives and intentions when you talk to them.
Paul said "For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers".
In other words we wrestle with the enticing spirits which is demon power. And
don't think for one minute that these things are just a difference of opinion,
this is the Word of God and it is either life or death to you depending on what
you do with it.
Enticing spirits 55-0724 P:42 It's demons"... "
What's the matter? I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm only trying to tell
you it's demon possession and you're
listening to enticing spirits that's telling you that's all right. But it's
a lie. A grain of wheat will only produce wheat. If you're a Christian you
won't do that. You can't do it. You just can't do it. You got an
intellectual faith and say, "Brother Branham, I believe the
Bible." Your life tells that you don't. Amen. Enticing spirits versing the Word of God...
Enticing spirits 55-0724 P:79 Don't
listen to those enticing spirits. Come, listen to the Word of God, THUS SAITH
THE LORD. "Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."
Enticing spirits 55-0724 P:71 Our heavenly Father, when we see these
enticing spirits upon people and knowing that they are despising the things
of God, I pray, God, that You'll get a-hold of every man and woman in here
today. Let this be a day Lord, that they'll realize that their life doesn't
tally up with the Word, and they've been listening to the wrong things,
that the devil's been soothing them down... O God, cleanse Your house, Lord.
Hallelujah. Send the Holy Ghost with such old time conviction that it'll
clean a man's appetite, and clean his soul, and clean him up, and make him a
heaven bound creature..
Enticing spirits 55-0724 P:64 Enticing
spirits going around telling people this, that, or the other... What causes a person to gossip? Demon
power, brother, Demon power.
Enticing spirits 55-0724 P:52 It's enticing spirits. Your church puts up with it. Your preacher's afraid to say anything,
afraid that you won't pay in your tithes anymore. That's the reason. That's the
trouble. My goodness, how you going to preach to a bunch of buzzards 'less
you get them converted and right with God to begin with? They'll
root their nose in dead stuff all the time.
Enticing spirits 55-0724 P:41 But
this enticing spirit, look what it's done today. To make more church
members, to make better church members, it's let down the bars of all the
old fashion Holy Ghost teachings. It permitted the men to have social
parties with one another out into the basement where they would play games. That'll
never help to substitute the upper room where they were praying for the Holy
Ghost. It permitted women to come together and tell jokes and have a lot
of tommyrot that there's nothing to. That'll never take the place of a
prayer meeting. Women, the way they go out and dress today it's, it's a disgrace.
Enticing spirits 55-0724 P:38 It's
enticing spirits coming down trying to substitute something for the
Word of God. God has no substitute for His Word.
Listen, you don't have to take my word for it, just do
your own quote studies on "enticing spirit" and "religious
spirits', and "religious demons". Brother
Branham said, "The worst demon there is to
deal with is a religious demon. They are five times more horribler than any other evil spirit."
And the Bible says you should study to show yourself approved, a workman that needs not to
be ashamed.
People are falling away in many different ways right
now. Some have left the Message altogether, some have left the church, others just sit around and sow discord against what
the preacher is teaching them.
Philadelphian church age 60-1210 P:68 One
thing God hates
is sowing discord among brethren.
Taking sides with Jesus COD 62-0601 P:77 They was not willing to admit that He was
doing the work of God, so they were trying to sow discord and get the people
not to believe, but them people who believed Him stayed right with Him;
they took sides.
Have you taken sides with the Word my brothers and
sisters? or do you not even understand the Word to
take sides with?
Seed of discrepancy 65-0118 P:2 I went down and found the word of "discrepancy,"
so I got the dictionary and looked what the word "discrepancy"
means. And it means it's "sowing discord,"
or "being contrary," as Webster says, "sowing a
discord, something different," or, "being
contrary to what's already been."
And when someone tells you "I left the message because"
or "I left church because," they are sowing discord and showing
themselves to be contrary. You need to walk away as we already read the quote
earlier by brother Branham.
A certain brother approached me back in November last
year when I was in Tennessee for a wedding, and he wanted to get together with
me to talk, Fortunately I did not feel led to, and a few months later he left
the message. But before he did, he wanted to tell his church why he was
leaving the Message, like Satan talked to Eve just to plant some doubt in their
hearts and fortunately the board was strong enough to say, no sir we will not
permit you to do it.
Let us pray.