Questions and Answers #39
Expectations
A Christmas Message
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
December 23, 2007
LUKE 8:40 ¶ And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was
returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for
him. They
were all waiting for Him…They were expecting Him…
Expectations, the people were glad to see him because
they were expecting Him and Brother Branham said from, GOD IN SIMPLICITY
63-0317M 6-1 {30} When
a minister walks into a congregation of people praying in the anointing of the
Spirit, you're bound to hear from heaven. That's just all. There's no way
to keep from it. But if you walk into confusion, then you're so confused, the
Spirit's grieved….
So
let’s remain standing as we go to God our Father this morning in prayer, and be
expecting to hear from Him this morning.
Dear father, it is my prayer this morning that your
people have come expecting to hear from You. Now, if
they have come to hear something from me, then they may go away disappointed.
But Father, if they came expecting to hear from you then I believe they will
receive what they came for and You won’t let them
down. For if they have come this morning all prayed up as Your Prophet taught
us, then they are bound to hear from heaven, and their expectation will be
rewarded openly, because we get what we expect.
As your prophet taught us that, "The right mental
attitude towards any Divine promise of God will bring it to pass,” and
we have come believing and ready to receive this morning Lord. Grant to us a
refreshing from Your presence this morning, Oh God, in
the wonderful name of Your Son Jesus Christ we pray, Amen!
You may be seated.
Now,
since this is the Sunday before Christmas, I would like to speak on a Christmas
subject this morning. Many a child will lay awake tomorrow
night for perhaps the entire night, waiting to arise early on Christmas morning
to see what awaits them in terms of Christmas gifts, whether it be new toys or
new clothing, it doesn't really matter. The excitement is not in what the gift is,
but the expectation of receiving something new, something we wanted. It’s the
expectation that brings the excitement. If we truly believe we are going to
receive something positive, then we can hardly wait, and the waiting builds up
within us an excitement that brings with it energies that we don’t normally
have. So the excitement comes because we are looking forward to something new.
But
I also remember a few very long days in my life when I had done something bad,
and my mother would say, you just wait until your
father gets home. She wasn't the type of
mother that would ground us to the house, or to the yard. That was what my
father would do. No, my mother would ground us from the yard. Don't you come
home until your father gets home, and then you’re going to get it. Well, I can remember some very long days, hiding in the
woods or out in the fields, knowing when dad got home, I was in for it. The
worst times of waiting was when he was out of town on a business trip and I had
to wait a few days, knowing when he got home I would get whipped. There wasn’t
any joy in those waiting moments, there was no
excitement about dad coming home at those times. It was shear terror, thinking
about the consequences that lay before me.
And so to make a point, our joy and anticipation comes from looking
forward to those things which are rewarding.
But
if we do not believe we will receive anything, or if we only believe that what
we will receive is no good, then we do not get excited, and we do not look
forward to that time. And so was it with the First Coming of the Son of God,
and so is it today at the great preview Appearing.
Now, this morning I would like to speak on this
subject of expectations, and to begin our lesson this morning, I
would like to read for our text from the Book of Luke.
LUKE 1:1-18 ¶
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration
of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2 Even as they
delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and
ministers of the word; 3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect
understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order,
most excellent Theophilus, 4 That thou mightest
know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. 5 ¶ There was in the
days of Herod, the king of
6 And they were both righteous. They were both rightly wise, that’s what the Greek
Word dikaios {dik'-ah-yos} means…1c)
it speaks of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the
will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life;
only Christ truly 1d) approved of or acceptable
of God 6 And they were both righteous: before God, (or in the presence of God) walking (They
had ordered their life, or conducted their life in such a way) in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
This couple had made a conscious effort to walk, and to
talk, and to live a life that honored and placed God's Word and His
Commandments above everything else in their life, giving God the preeminence.
They had made God's Word and ordinances the highest goal and aspiration or their
life.
I like what Brother Branham said about this couple.
From his sermon, Resurrection
of Lazarus 50-0813A E-20 he said, “Before God does anything here on earth... I
want you to catch this close. Before God does anything on earth, He always
sends a witness from heaven to declare it. Now, before Jesus was born,
why, God sent a witness of this. Signs and wonders begin to appear of His
coming, just as it's appearing today by witnesses of His second coming again.
See? Signs and wonders.. There's never been an age
through all the church ages that's ever produced what this age is producing
right now, for it's the coming of the Lord's drawing near. Don't you believe
it? Drawing nigh, rather... And we're nearing the time of the close of this
world's history when Jesus shall come. Notice, signs begin to appear. There
was a man by the name of Zacharias and his wife
Elisabeth: righteous, holy people, keeping the commandments of God and walking
in all the statutes and ordinances of God, blameless. That's the kind
of a home we need today. Don't you believe it? Instead of that in the
church today, we have everything else but holiness and righteousness. But they
were righteous people, godly people, walking in the commandments of the Lord,
keeping all the ordinances, blameless. Zacharias
was a priest at the temple. And his office was to burn incense while prayer was
being made. And one day, while he was in
the temple burning incense, Gabriel, an Angel from God, came down and stood by
the altar of incense, and said, "Zacharias, fear
not. Your prayers is heard." Oh, I love that.
They... His wife was barren. She hadn't had any children. She was past the age
of bearing. But he lived right before God and believed on God. And all
of his great, dark, long hours of worry finally the Angel come and said,
"God has heard your prayer." Now,
if you want God to hear your prayer, send an Angel to your home, live right, do
right, treat everybody right, be right before God, and God will grant that to
you.
We could close our sermon right there on that point
and go away blessed. Listen to what he is saying here…Now, remember, this is a
vindicated Prophet of God saying this,
"Now, if you want God to hear your
prayer, and
send an Angel to your home, then live right, do right, treat
everybody right, be right before God, and God will grant that to you."
And so Zacharias met an
angel from the Lord, His name was Gabriel, and He told Zacharias
all that would take place concerning he and His Wife and how they would have a child, and this child would go before and prepare the way
for the Son of God to come. And so what did Zacharias
do? He finished out his duties and then went home to his wife and prepared for
that little one to come.
LUKE 1:21-24 And
the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.22 And when
he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen
a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his
ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24 And after
those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,.
EXPECTATIONS! Could you imagine what went on in the minds of Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth? Here they were very old
and well stricken with age. That’s what the Scripture tells us, and yet the first
thing we hear from God's Word is that he could hardly wait to finish his job
and then like a bee to the hive he went straight home to give his wife the good
news. And what news it must have been to her. Now, I can just imagine what she
must have been thinking, here's my husband, he's been away for about 2 weeks
and he comes home with this story about having a baby. A promise from an
Angel of all things, and how do we have this baby? There's got to be a
preparation made. She must have thought, “I
know what must be on his mind. After all it must be lonely up there at the
temple, and all, but really Zacharias, you don't have
to tell me an angel told you to do this. I mean after all, I still do love you
my husband, and all you have to do is ask and I am yours. But
an angel?”
Now, babies don’t just come by spontaneous combustion.
Nor do they come by talking about them, nor by wishful thinking. There is something
the husband and wife must do in order for that child to come. And to know that
God is watching your every action, it would kind of make you uncomfortable if
you know what I mean. But notice what the scripture tells us, 23 And it came to pass, that, as
soon as the days of his ministry were accomplished, he departed to his own
house. 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself
five months,..
Now, notice that the Lord new the exact time of
conception, LUKE 1:26-80 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God
unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a
virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the
virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the
angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art
highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her
mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the
angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And,
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call
his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the
house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then
said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Now, Mary’s question
was not one of unbelief, but rather she just wanted to know how this would
happen. She wanted more details. Her question was not like Zacharias
question, because his questions came from doubt and for it he was smitten dumb
for the period until John was born. But Mary’s questions had to do with
desiring a better understanding of what was going on. She wanted to know how it
was going to take place.
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also
conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who
was called barren.
And so of course we
see that God knew exactly when that baby was conceived also. So don’t think
that God does not see what takes place in your bed…
37 For
with God nothing shall be impossible. 38 And Mary said, Behold the
handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel
departed from her. 39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the
hill country with haste, into a city of
66 And
all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child
shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. 67 And
his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost,
and prophesied, saying, 68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and
redeemed his people, 69 And hath raised up an horn
of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70 As
he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which
have been since the world began: 71 That we should
be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72 To
perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to
remember his holy covenant; 73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, 74 That
he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies
might serve him without fear, 75 In holiness and
righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 76 And
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go
before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77 To
give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78 Through
the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give
light to them that sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 80 And the
child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of
his shewing unto
So we see the atmosphere of
expectation upon Mary and also upon Elisabeth, her cousin. And when you expect
something you prepare for that thing which you are expecting to happen. And
expectations will produce what you are looking for. And it works both ways. If
your expectations are positive, then you will receive that thing you are
expecting.
Now, if your expectations
are negative, then don’t be surprised if things don’t go the way you would like
them to go, because they will certainly go the way you expect them to go. That
is why I keep telling you all the time, don’t look at the
negative, look only at the positive. Because the things you fear the most will
come upon you. Why? Because that is what you are expecting.
EXPECTATIONS AND WHAT LOVE IS 54-0228A
E-57 Now, I want each one of us now in our hearts to dwell on this thought
of "Expectations." Whatever
you expect is usually what you get. You heard about the lady that prayed
for the mountain to be moved and got up the next morning, looked out the
window, said, "Just as I expected,
still there." Well, that's the reason,… that
she expected it. That's right. Now, you want to have an expectation all the way
from heart, soul, body, and mind, that God is going to
give us a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now, I feel it, that it's near
us. And God is willing and ready to give it to us.
You know, part of
expectation is to prepare for the thing you are expecting. And if you don’t
really expect it, then you won’t prepare for it either. That is what the
Scriptures plainly tell us, and that is what Jesus said we should do.
Matthew 24:42-51 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth
come. 43 But know this, that if the goodman
of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have
watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who
then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his
household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord
when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I
say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. (You
see? Be prepared for what you expect to happen. That is what revelation is all
about. It gives us understanding, and then our expectation takes over and we
begin to make preparations for what we are expecting.)
48 But and if that evil
servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
coming;(So what is he expecting? He’s expecting more time to
live like the world, but watch what his lack of preparation has in store for
him?) 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that
he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him
his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Why? Because he did not
expect the Lord to come, so he lived like he didn’t expect the Lord to come. It's your expectations that produces
the results. If you expect Him to be here, you will conduct yourself as though
you are expecting him.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13: 13 And
now abideth
faith, hope, and love,
these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
So you see it all begins with Faith which brother Branham taught us is a
revelation. Faith is something that has been revealed to you. And then if it a
true revelation, then it moves from there into hope which is an earnest
expectation.
You earnestly expect what has been revealed to you. Now, you see, if it is not revealed but has
actually already manifested itself, then it is not something you will hope for,
because you already have it. For hope is something that has
not yet become materialized.
Romans 8: 24 For
we are saved by hope (Now, what is
Paul saying here? He is saying we are saved by our earnest expectation) but hope that is
seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he
yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
So you see, if you
truly are hoping for that which has not yet manifested itself
to you, then you will have patience to wait for it, if it has truly been
revealed to you.
Now if you
earnestly expect it, then that creates an atmosphere that moves into
preparation for that which has been revealed to materialize. And Hope then
moves into Love which is always characterized in Scripture by giving. For God
so love that he gave.
Now, love creates an atmosphere, a welcoming atmosphere. An atmosphere that you just love to be around. And that
atmosphere is creative. And it generates energy.
Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 1: 3 Remembering
without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in
our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
Now, the Wuest translation puts it this way. 1
Thessalonians 1: 4 Wuest “Remembering unceasingly your works produced and
characterized by the Faith which is yours, and your toil which is motivated and
characterized by your divine and self sacrificial Love, and your patient
endurance under trials which finds it's source in your hope which rests in our
Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of God, even the father."
So you see your hope or
earnest expectation builds up an energy and produces
an atmosphere of expectation which results in a preparation for the thing
expected to happen.
EXPECTATION 54-0220
E-26 I've asked that God will bless you all. And I want to speak just a
moment, and then we'll start praying for the sick. Now, first, we want to think
tonight on this text, if I would call it a text, just for a few moments. And I
would like to use these words in it: "Expectations."
As I mentioned here the other night, you
usually get what you expect, don't you? If you come tonight to the meeting,
just expecting to see something that you could criticize the meeting about, the
devil will show you plenty of it. You'll
go back with a lot of criticism just like you expected. But if you come
tonight expecting, just say, "Lord, I
come to see You. I come for the benefit of... to
be healed. I come for the benefit of my soul. Well, I expect You
to give it to me, 'cause I'm here in this place that's dedicated to Your
glory." And you'll get just what you expect. That's right. You always...
And you can never go above your
expectations.
What a statement that is.
Just think of that. How many people win the gold medal thinking that can’t do it. How many people achieve thinking they can’t achieve. No way. You don’t think you can and it is a cinch
that you won’t. Your negative thoughts have more power over your life than you
think, and so do your positive expectations.
Brother Branham continues… And you can never go
above your expectations. You'll always have to do that. And when a man's
born of the Spirit of God, filled with the Holy Ghost, everything he has need of in this life's journey, is in him right then.
And the only thing he has to do is just drink from the inexhaustible Fountain
of Life, which is Christ Jesus, until he pushes out Divine healing, powers of
God. He just pushes it out by his drinking from the everlasting inexhaustible
Fountain of Life, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Then what about those poor people in Africa and
Again brother Branham said
from his sermon Expectations and What Love is
54-0228A E-58
Now, if you expect, that's what you receive. If you've
come to the meeting saying, "Well, I'm going down, I'm going to find some
flaws of that meeting. I'll find some flaws of that preacher. I'll bet
you I can." Don't worry, you'll get
it. The devil will show you plenty of them. Yes, sir. You'll go back, say, "Mm, hmm. Just as I
expected. That's just the
way it was. Uh-huh." Same group found fault with Jesus when He went
through the pool of
E-59 Just as you expect,
that's what you get. But you come to the meeting expecting to see the glory
of God moving, the power of God, sinners being saved, filled with the Holy
Ghost, sickness being healed, then watch what God shows you. Yes, sir. See, you are a creator in yourself. If you're... How many's born-again
say, "Amen?" Do you know each one of you is a creator? You are
a part of God; you're a son of God, an offspring of God, a daughter of God. Is
that right? Then you are a creator. Now, did you ever see people, they
were nice people (I ain't saying this for any back now.), nice people but you
just couldn't hardly stand to be around them. You know that. Nice people, it's
their atmosphere they're in. Then you've seen other people that you just long
to be with them, is that right? It's that atmosphere that's around them all
the time. Now, my wife setting back here, she don't
know this, but... She's supposed to be here somewhere. And you can imagine in
our home about what takes place in a run of a day: people coming, going like
that. And I go in sometimes, and the poor little fellow in there in the kitchen
crying, not even a chance to cook the children anything to eat through the day.
And--and there it is. And the little girl about two years old, little Sarah,
and Rebekah, and they're in there, and they're crying
and going on. And my wife crying, she'd look up, she'd say, "Bill, I'm
just about to go crazy. I just don't know what I'm going to do." She said,
"I..." And gray-headed at thirty-four years old.
And so I said, "Well now, that's right, honey."
E-60 don't fuss at her. See? No.
"That's right, honey." See? "It's very bad, but you see we're
serving the Lord, so we..." See, what I'm doing all the time in my heart, I
am trying to create a different atmosphere. They're all nervous and they're
tore up. See? Now, I was thinking in my heart,
"O Lord, now send Your Presence and Your love to my poor little tore up wife."
And I say, "Yes, dear. That's right." I say, "What was this
here?" "Oh, we haven't had anything to eat and..." I say,
"Well, there probably won't be anybody else in for next couple of hours.
Let's get something to eat. And I'll help you." And I'll start getting up
my sleeves. She'd say, "Now, look, young man, you might be able to help me
wash dishes but you can't cook." I will say, "Who can't cook?"
Like that, you know, just going on. "Well, you haven't
never seen me fry potatoes yet. I was raised on them," something
like that. And I'll see a little bitty smile trickle on one side, you know. And
the first thing you know, I come over, and I put my hand on her. She don't know what I'm doing yet. And I say, "Bless your
heart, honey. I'll tell you, I'll help you do this." And then down in
my heart I'm saying, "Lord, send Your peace
that's in me into her now. O God, quieten my family
now. I'm Your servant, Father. Send..."
E-61 And the first thing you know, she'd
say, "Bill, you know a certain thing?" Them little old black eyes are
snapping again, you know. "You know?" "Yeah."
And I look at the baby, she's in there, got her blocks and the babies are
playing together. What is it? It's creating an atmosphere. Hallelujah. Brother,
let me tell you brothers. The atmosphere is what does it. It's exactly
right. Look, it's not the hen that hatches the egg; it's the atmosphere.
Yes, sir. Is that right?
E-62 You put that same egg
under a pup, it would--it'd hatch the chicken just the same. Put it in the
incubator; it'll bring the chicken just the same. It's the atmosphere.
Hallelujah. What we need is a Holy Ghost atmosphere (That's right.), an
atmosphere where the power of God's a moving, one accord, one place, gathered
together under that atmosphere of expecting God to move down and do signs
and wonders. Amen. Let's move ourself up into that
bracket. Step up in faith. Move out of these three dimensions up into the next
one.
E-63 Say, "Lord, I'm just believe that You're
going to pour Your blessings. I'm
expecting it now. All things are moving right in. And I'm expecting to see the exceedingly, abundantly now. I'm expecting it." And when you
go... You come down and say, "Well, I don't know about it." Well,
see, you hurt the other person. Now, you're setting by one of them, you say,
"O Lord, just tear him down now. I'm just... I'm expecting great
things." See? And that expectancy
will get that unity among the people. That's what
happened on the day of Pentecost, what brought the Holy Ghost in the first
place. They went up there and stayed ten days and nights, until they
were all in one place, and with one
accord, blessing God for something that they did not have. Is that right?
E-64 They was thanking God for the Holy Ghost; the Holy Ghost had never come
yet. But they had It in the seed form. Like if I'd
say, "Wonder if an acorn tree would grow down here?" You'd say,
"Well, I guess it would." And I'd give you an acorn. I'd say,
"I'll give you a acorn tree." And you say,
"All right, Brother Branham, we'd like to try, see if an acorn would grow
down here in my backyard." And I'd give you the... You'd say, "I'm
going to put it in the right kind of soil, just like you got up in the north
and I'm going to see if it'll grow." All right.
Now, if you put this acorn I give you... You say, "Well, Brother Branham, you
said you'd give me an acorn tree." I said, "I did." "Well,
how do... You give me an acorn." "You've got the tree already. It's
in the seed form." Is that right? You've got the tree already; it's in the
seed form.
E-65 And
that's the way we have to get: in the
seed form, all in one accord, one place. They was
blessing God for the Holy Ghost which had never come yet. But they believed that it was, because God was
going to keep His promise. And when they
kept blessing God until that atmosphere got just right, then there came a
sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind and filled all
the house where they were setting. See? The atmosphere got right. Oh, couldn't we get an atmosphere here
that every crippled, every blind, every sick person, everything, all with one
accord, believing until the sick... I seen it last week in
E-66 Oh, brother, God send us
an atmosphere that'll make it of one accord, one place. Let the power of God
surge down through... That atmosphere gets right, it opens up every--moves back
every clog, everything. The law of God will move. Here not long ago, we had a
man... For instance, these electric lights. Thomas
Edison was the founder of it. The world has been full of electricity since the
world began, all around. Well now, listen, I just want to ask you something.
Now, there was a man God was fixing to give electricity to the world. I believe
when God's program is ready, everything will work right to its place, don't
you? Has to, foreordained to do so.
E-67 Now, so Benjamin Franklin
went fishing with a kite. Well, lightning run down the string and he caught it,
and he begin to run and holler, "I got it. I got
it. I got it. I got it." He had it,
but he didn't know what he had. Well, that's what's the
matter with our Pentecostal church. You've got it, but you don't know
what you got. That's it. That's right. Yeah, you've got power enough to open
the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, to do all things. But you come in with a twisted up atmosphere.
Let's get it in one accord, so the Holy Spirit can pour out the gushers down
upon the people: one place, in one accord. Along come Thomas Edison, he said,
"Listen, it'll light up." He tried ten thousand wires. He said... He
wasn't tireless. He'd set with a cup of coffee and a sandwich all night long.
He'd try this one. If the electric wouldn't follow that wire, he'd lay it aside
and get him another one. He'd try that, until finally, he found it. And he gave
the world electricity.
E-68 Now, for instance, if you
was up here back behind some of these big dark mountains tonight, it was so
black dark down there till you couldn't see where you were going. You might
fall over a rock or step into a snake, or you didn't know what was going to
happen, or one of these big Gila monsters or something laying up there, and you
know electricity is all around you. You could scream till you got hoarse,
"Oh, electricity, electricity, light up. Show me how to get out of here.
Oh, I know you're here. I know you're here, electricity. It's scientifically
proven that you're here. I know you're here, so you light up." You could
scream till you got hoarse and it'd never light up. Why? Electricity will light if you'll follow the law of electricity. But you've got to follow the laws of
electricity.
E-69 If you had a fountain over
on this side, a artesian well gushing up, and a crop over on this side burning
up, now, you can say, "Oh, water, go over here and irrigate my crop."
It wouldn't do it. No. But if you'll
follow the laws of gravitation, you can make it do it. Is that right? Well
now, look. God is here this afternoon. Now, we got to follow the law of God. The law of God is one accord, love one for the other: "He that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God. Believeth, hopeth all things, trust all
things, to do with all..." Oh, my. There you are: one accord, everybody under expectations that God's going
to pour down His power. Listen, not... You know it's here. Scientifically,
you know it's here. Looky here. How could Mrs. Waldorf be setting here after dying
with a cancer? How many across the world, of the thousands times thousands of
cases?
E-70 How
could you a drunkard a few weeks ago, or a few months ago, and a gentleman this
afternoon? How could you a street harlot a few weeks ago, and a lady
this afternoon? By the transforming
power of God being transmitted by the Holy Ghost into your heart changed your
nature and changed your making. It made you another person. That's right.
You might not have felt... I don't know about that. But It's here's anyhow,
whether you feel It or not. Let's give God thanks for It,
for It's here anyhow. I can prove to you right now there's a radio coming right
through you. Radio... You don't feel it. But you know it's there. There's television pictures coming right through you now.
But you don't feel it, but it's there anyhow. Oh, my. Now, if our body was
magnetized to that, like that big word, say, "Yes," stretched out
from the window to this window. It's sweeping through this building,
"Yes" going right through you. Somebody saying,
"Yes" on the radio. Well, it comes right through you as it
goes through them powers, electronics and so forth, as it goes through your
body. Now, when it hits against that crystal in the set, it just catches like that and you hear,
"Yes."
E-71 Now, if God up there said,
"By His stripes ye were healed," the Holy Ghost entwines... brings
that down by the power of God. Your heart is set on that...?...
it says, "Yes, by His stripes we are healed. God you said in Mark 11:24, 'Whatsoever
things you desire, when you pray, believe you receive it.' Lord, we prayed for a meeting; we've been
fasting for a meeting; we've been crying for a meeting. Yes, Lord. I believe
the meeting's on the road." Then stand there like, oh, till the power of
God comes down, when It hits, It says,
"Yes." Next man says, "Yes." Look it, you got double power
yes, "Yes," triple power yes, four times power yes. First thing you
know, it becomes thousands powers of yes; then the Holy Spirit moves in and
confirms the Word of God with signs and wonders following. That's it. That's what we need: an expectation.
E-72 During
the time of the birth of Jesus, it was in a day something like this when the
people had wandered away from God. There was not many ways to send messages,
radio, telegram, and so forth like they got now, and television. The only way
they had to send messages then was from lip to ear. Quickly, listen to Him now.
Jesus was born in
E-73 Now, they kept time and
yet that... Here it is. I want you to get it. That star passed over every one
of those cities and not one of those men saw it. But our Bible declares that it
done it. And I believe it did. "We have saw His star in the east and have
come to worship Him." Is that right? And they moved, led by this star
moving them. And this greatest star of all the stars, the greatest of all,
moved right by the scientific world and they never saw it. Why? They wasn't
expecting it. But there was some wise men, who
heard Balaam's prophecies, there'd be a star of Jacob rise. They was expecting
it. They were looking for it. They
found it. They followed it. They
were looking for it. I'm looking for something, aren't you? My soul is
stimulated to the highest just before the coming of the Lord Jesus, to see
something happen that's going to shake the Gentile world before God leaves it.
Yes. I'm expecting it in
E-74 These wise men, they said,
"Someday, my father said... Here it is written in the Bible." His
father said, his father said, there'd be a star of Jacob rise. When they saw
that star when it appeared They were looking for
it. They saw it. The rest of them didn't see it. Somebody said, "Don't
you think them people who cry and shout are all emotional, worked up?" No, sir. No, sir. They're not.
"Brother Branham, don't you think it's psychology
speaking?" No, sir. I do not. They're expecting something. They're
expecting manna from heaven to feed their souls. While they're setting there under expectations, God is under obligation
to give them the manna from heaven, 'cause they're expecting it. You're
expecting a meeting, God's under obligation to give it to you.
E-75 Now, here they come. Then
we see the shepherds come out and sing on the hills of
E-76 Well, what was the matter?
He was expecting God to keep His Word.
Had a good reason, didn't he? "Well, how you know you're going to see it?
David looked for it, even Adam, all the way back has looked for it. Four
thousand years has passed and there has been no sign of it yet." "I don't care what's passed; the Holy Ghost
told me I was going to see it and I believe it." That settles it.
That's a good reason, isn't it? "You mean you're here eighty years old and
one foot in the grave?" "I don't care how old I am, but I'm going to
see the Christ before I die, 'cause the Holy Ghost said so. I'm going right
around expecting it, thanking God for His promise, because I'm going to see
Him." Oh, my. There you are. He was
expecting to see the Christ.
I hope this morning that we
can se what brother Branham was talking about. I hope also this morning that if
you are a negative person who is always looking for something to go wrong, that
you will die to that doubt, as brother Bosworth said, if you want to doubt
something, then doubt your doubts. Oh if this Christmas can bring you one thing
and that is to shed yourself of all your doubts, and start quoting the promises
of God, and start expecting to receive what God has promised you.
Again from his sermon EXPECTATIONS 53-0507 E-30 brother Branham said, “You usually get
what you expect. You come to
criticize the meeting, you... The devil will show you something to criticize.
You coming to get healed, God will see that you get it. You usually get what
you expect. Yes, say, "I was expecting this, and I was expecting
that." What you expect, God will see that you get, you'll usually get it.”
And from LEADING
OF THE SPIRIT 55-0807E
E-21 he said, “Expectations: If you're expecting it, you
will receive it. You usually get what you expect to get. If you come to the meeting tonight, expecting to find
something to criticize the meeting, the devil will show you. He will see that
you get satisfied. You get what you expect. If you come to get a blessing, God
will see that you get it. If you come to get saved, God will see you get it. If
you come to get healed, be expecting to get healed. God will see that you do
it. It's what ever you expect Him.”
And again from EXPECTATIONS 50-0405 E-13 he said, “We always get what we expect. When
people expect anything, well then they usually get what you look for. It's the
mental attitude that you have. Remember this, and never forget it. The right
mental attitude towards any promise of God will bring it to pass, the right
mental attitude towards any promise of God. It doesn't take gifts of healing to
heal sick people, any person in here has a right to
meet Satan anywhere, if you're a Christian, and defeat him on any grounds that
he could stand on.”
And in closing, from his
sermon GOD REVEALING HIMSELF TO HIS PEOPLE 50-0813E
E-39 he
said, The
right mental attitude towards any promise of God will bring it to pass. Do you believe that? The
Word is a Seed (Is that right?) that
a Sower sowed in the ground. And every Seed will bring forth of its kind.
If you need salvation, the Seed's here. If you need healing, here's the Seed in
the Word. The Word of God is a Seed. Put it in your heart. Don't dig it up
every morning to see if it's sprouted, put it in there and leave it there. It's
God's business to bring forth the harvest. You just leave it there; water it by
faith and praise every day thanking God for it. All right.
Let us pray…