LOOK # 28

The Impersonator

July 5, 1992

Brian Kocourek

 

PP.  148 <read> Since we shall have two baptism's  this  evening,  brother Gary and sister Judy, I want to bypass the first half  of this paragraph until then, since it deals more specifically  with
the issue of water Baptism and Holy Spirit Baptism.  For  this morning, I want to focus our thoughts upon  the  second half of this paragraph.      

 

PP. 148b - 149. <read>Notice  here that Brother Branham mentions three things  which  I want to take as the three points for our message this morning. Now  he say's that there is nothing "put up" about this.  There's nothing  [bogus] (false or counterfeit) about this. [Now what  is  counterfeit?] It is something that is just a put on, and is meant  to deceive with an ulterior purpose behind it. And he says,  this  is not that.

 

And  then he goes on to say, " And it's  not a [hoax]" ( a  trick
or fraud, meant to deceive). So that tells you that every  motive
is  with the utmost truthfulness and sincerity in declaring  this

message to you.

 

 

I COR 2: 1 - 13 <read>

 

No selfish motives, only truthfulness. Because when you are aware

of  God's  presence,  you are most careful  in  how  you  portray      

anything, knowing that we shall all give an account of what we do

and say. That is where I believe the vast majority of people  who

claim to be Christians today, do not really believe in The  JUDG­MENT.   Though  they might say that they do, their  actions  speak

louder than their words.

 

MATTHEW 12: 33 - 37 <read>


Your own words will either condemn you or justify you. There  are

many  people  who have spoken evil of what God is doing  in  this

hour, and have died a horrible death because of what they said. I

know of several instances where men had come with the purpose  to

deceive and trick brother Branham and expose him as some type  of

mind  reader. They put down diseases and things that they  didn't

really have on their prayer card and thought that brother Branham

could read their mind and would say what they had on their  card,

but he didn't. He exposed them every time even to th place  where

he  would tell how they had gotten together in their  motel  room

before hand and plotted there devise. Then if the person did  not

repent before God they were many times struck down with the  same

disease that they had written on the paper. If they only believed

the  Full Word of God. Many of them were packed out either  para­

lyzed  or  dead  from those meetings. You  don't  mess  with  God     

brothers  and sisters. He's not some doting old  grandfather  who

gives  warm fuzzies all the time. He's here as the Judge. And  if

you  don't give the judge the proper respect, He could throw  you

out  into outer darkness where there will be weeping and  wailing

and gnashing of teeth.

 

PROVERBS  26: 27  WHOSO DIGGETH A PIT SHALL FALL THEREIN: AND  HE

THAT ROLLETH A STONE, IT WILL RETURN UPON HIM.

 

Then  there are some that God has allowed to be a thorn  in  your

flesh  for whatever reason, and He has not taken them out of  the

way.  We  do not always understand why He destroys some  and  not

others, but we must never forget that we shall all appear  before

the Judgment seat of Christ.

 

II COR 5:10 <read>

 

That  word  appear is phaneroo which is to manifest in  our  true

character. There'll be no hiding there.

 

Now before we go to far I should mention the three points that  I

want to bring out.

 

 

PT #1.pp.148b "NOW, WE HAVE A LOT OF IMPERSONATORS, WE KNOW THAT"

 

PT #2. " BUT DON'T LOOK AT THEM. THERE WAS A MIXED MULTITUDE WENT

WITH MOSES.

 

PT. #3 "lOOK  AWAY FROM THE  IMPERSONATORS.  LOOK  AWAY FROM  THE 

ONES THAT WOULD BE FANATICS. LOOK AWAY FROM  ALL OF  THAT         

 

AND LOOK TO THE "REAL JESUS".

 

Now in saying this like he did, he is telling you that there  are

not  only  Christian  impersonators, but there must  also  be  an

Christ impersonators, or why would he say look to the REAL JESUS,

as if there is another Jesus which people are looking at?.

 

There you are. get your eyes off of everything false and fake and

that is not genuine and place them upon the real Jesus.

 

Now, in looking at these three points, I want you to see that  we

are  going to look into something that I feel is  very  important

for you to understand.

 

What he is telling us here is that Satan does not want you to see

the Real Christ Jesus, so he brings in amongst you those who  are

an impersonation of the real in order to throw you off. A  farmer

puts  a  scarecrow in his corn field because he can't  afford  to

just  hang around his field by himself all day long. So  he  puts

out in his field an impersonation of Himself. Now, the reason  he

does this is to keep the crows away from the food. And Satan uses

the same tactic in trying to keep you away from God's food.  Now,

Isn't  God  the great Husbandman. The great tiller  of  (not  the

soil,  but souls?) And notice that Satan, thinking that  he  will

outsmart  God,  only  falls into God's  master  plan  every  time

because let's face it, God must allow the impersonation to  exist

in order to keep away the crows. Those who are not genuine seed.

 

So let's take a look at these three points here this morning.

 

Point  #1.  We have a lot of impersonators. That's  point  number

 

one.  He  then  backs this up with the  statement  that  a  mixed

multitude  followed Moses. So let's go to the  scripture  to  see

this point.


EX
12: 30 - 38 <read>

 

Now it is apparent by scripture that at this first exodus a mixed

multitude   went  with  the  Children  of  Israel.  It  is   also

interesting to note that the Hebrew word for MIXED is <  e.r.e.b.

which is pronounced (AY-REB)> It actually means a mongrel people,

hybrid. and that's what the ARAB's are.

 

Now,  we know that God has always hated anything hybrid. When  he

saved  the species on earth from perishing, he saved them in  the

ark, male and female of each species were saved. But here we find

that the children of Israel left Egypt and a mixed multitude went

with them.

 

Now,  remember  what brother Branham said at the opening  of  our

message  today, he said, "Impersonators, a mixed  multitude  went

with  Moses."  So we must not be shocked when we see  people  who

claim  this  message who are of a mixed sort. Or shall we  say  a

"mixed up" bunch.

 

Impersonators : An impersonator is one who impersonates. One  who

acts the part out or pretends to be for purposes of fraud.  These

are deceivers. In other words, they have ulterior motives. So  if

we  are to understand what these impersonators are all about,  we

must also understand what their motives are.

 

And  to be perfectly fair about this, we must ask ourselves  this

question. How do we know who is an impersonator and who is  genu­ine?

I know we should not judge and that is right. But Jesus said

 

My word will judge in the last day, and The Word has come that we

might  discern  between  right-wise-ness and that  which  is  not

righlty-wise.  Discern is to judge. So the same Word  that  comes

down  in this hour is to enter into the Elect and bring  forth  a
people who can not be deceived.

 

Did not Jesus say in MATT 24:24 that the two spirits would be  so

close  that  they  would deceive the very Elected  [if]  it  were

Possible? Did not the Apostle John warn us in I JOHN 4:1 to  "try

the  spirits  to see whether they were of God or  not?"  Then  in

order  to try or test them, [ which is to judge them after  we've

tested them] they must be compared to a standard or an  absolute.

And we know there is only one standard and that is this BIBLE  as

revealed in this hour. That's the Word test.

 

MALACHI 3: 16 - 18 <read> You say, "How does this come about?

 

HEBREWS 5: 11 - 14 <read>

 

It is evident that the Word (not the milk toast stuff that you've

heard  for  years, but the strong meat will bring you  into  this
condition whereby you will have discernment.

 

NUMBERS 11: 4a <read>

 

Let's examine these attributes of these mixt or hybrid Group:

 

They  fell to lusting: They were longing for something.  Now,  to

long  for something isn't necessarily bad. I long to be  with  my

Saviour  in  the New Jerusalem. So then we must look  further  at

what they longed for.

 

NUMBERS 11: 4b - 5

 

They  longed for what God had taken them from. The types of  Food

that  they were accustomed to back in Egypt. And If you lust  for

the  things of the world the religious denominational  food  that

God has come to deliver you from, you better be careful, you  are

showing signs of being only an impersonator of Christianity.

 

Notice, they went backwards: they began to long for what they had

come  out  from.  Now these things back then  were  done  in  the

natural  as  only  types  of what is  taking  place  now  in  the

spiritual.  The  food  of Egypt still enticed  them.  They  still

wanted their Pentecostal Food from another day. They were used to

a  great variety of food. They had revolving door churches.  Any­

thing  goes, smorgasbord style. They were not satisfied with  the

Plain old Word or Manna.

 

I COR 10: 1 - 15 <read>

 

I have a couple of translations that read thus in:

 

MALACHI 1:10

 

OH,  THAT  ONE OF YOU WOULD SHUT THE TEMPLE DOORS,  SO  THAT  YOU
WOULD NOT LIGHT USELESS FIRES ON MY ALTAR!

 

God  hates  compromise!  He will not accept it.  And  he  doesn't

expect you to accept it either.

 

Now,  that  was  the first exodus of the church  (which  means  a

called out ones).

 

In  the  second  Exodus of the church,  we see  Paul,  under  the

Pillar of Fire leading  the people out from the traditions of man

into  the grace of Jesus Christ. Yet in His day we see  the  same

thing repeat again.

 

GAL 3: 1 - 3 <read>

 

These  people had begun on track but somewhere along the  journey

they got sidetracked. Now what did they get side tracked by?  The

same thing they had come out of.

 

GAL 1: 6 - 7  Not another Gospel, But the same one perverted.

 

GAL 5: 7 - 9 <read>

Someone cut in on you and steered you off course.

Who were these men that did this?

 

 ACTS 15: 5 - 6

 

Why would they even consider it? It was off the Revealed Word. Oh

it  was right for another day, but The Word had turned  a  corner

and  Paul exposed it. These Apostles were backslid. Then if  they

were backslid, what  condition was the church in.

 

Remember  a few weeks ago our message on doubt? That is when  you

vacillate  between two opinions. God's opinion and your own.  The

people  were in that condition and because of it they had  opened

themselves up to doubt and false teachers (scarecrows) to come in

and  lead  them  away from the truth. As a result  we  see  their

condition in the following scripture.

 

II COR 11: 1 - 4 <read>

 

Notice how this ties in with II COR 11: 13 - 15. <read>

 

II PETER 2: 1 - 3 <READ>

 

Notice, these are impersonators. They come with [feigned]  words.
 

 [Artificial, fabricated and molded. Empty words, without life but

fitting a mold]. Remember when we spoke to you about how God made

a  pattern  of Himself in order to reproduce  Himself  and  bring

forth children?

 

DIAGLOTT: ROMANS 8:29

THOSE WHOM HE FOREKNEW, HE ALSO PREDETERMINED TO BE COPIES OF THE

LIKENESS OF HIS SON.

 

He is Eternal thought, Eternal Mind and He brought forth His Word

as  the pattern or mold. Yet we see that Lucifer who was "son  of

the  morning" was brought forth by this same molding  process  of

creation yet he was empty and void inside.

 

EZ 28: 11 - 15<read>

 

Thou fillest up the pattern. You know what that Hebrew  word  for

pattern  is?  The Hebrew word is T.O.K.E.N.! That's  right.  Thou

that  sealest up the "T.o.k.e.n., token" Brother, he was  a  copy

right off the printing press, a mirror image, but with a flaw.

 

No  wonder brother branham said, "you could be baptized with  the

Holy Ghost every hour of your life and still go to hell.  Lucifer

was. He wasn't Seed. You've got to have that seed of God.

 

Notice,  he  was the first created being, but Jesus  Christ  (the

Word)  was  the first born. And the two of them were  coequal  in

heaven.  Twins. Both lead in the worship of God.  Until  iniquity

was found in him. His own thinking.

 

And  notice  as we said before the two cherubs that  stood  guard

over  the mercy seat were Lucifer and Christ. In the  center  was

the  Presence  of God Himself, the Shekinah Glory.  The  Shekinah

What?  [GLORY] And what is the GLORY? [ GOD'S OWN  THOUGHTS,  HIS

OWN  OPINION AND JUDGMENT]  Then on the right was Christ  in  the

form  of Michael, and on the left side was Lucifer. You say,  how

do you know who was on the right hand and on the left.

 

 We know that Jesus sits at the right hand of the majesty on high.

There are many scriptures that refer to this. Now if He is at the

right  hand,  who was at the left hand. The thief  on  the  right

received Eternal Life but the one on the left received his curse.

 

"Cursed is he that hangeth on a tree."

 

39-3  .REVELATION.OF.JESUS.CHRIST. - .CAB.CHAPTER.1.

 

  But  notice  another  glorious revelation  in  this  typing  of

Joseph.   Joseph, while in Egypt, was given a Gentile  bride  and

through  her  he  received  a family of  two  sons,  Ephraim  and

Manasseh.   Joseph  asked his father to bless the two  boys.   He

placed  them in front of Jacob so that Manasseh,  the  first-born

would be on Jacob's right and Ephraim to the left.  As Jacob  was

about  to bless them he crossed his hands so that the right  hand

fell  upon the younger.  Joseph cried out, "Not so, father,  this

is  the first-born to your right."  But Jacob said, "God  crossed

my hands."  Here in type we see that the blessing which  belonged

to  the first-born (the Jew) was given over to the  younger  (the

Gentile)  through  the cross (crossed hands) of  the  Lord  Jesus

Christ.   The blessing comes through the cross. 

 

Galatians  3:13-

14,  "Christ  hath redeemed us from the curse of the  law,  being

made a curse for us:  for it is written, Cursed is every one that

hangeth on a tree; That the blessing of Abraham might come on the

Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the  promise

of  the  Spirit  through faith."  The blessing  of  Abraham  came

through the cross to the Gentiles.  The Jews rejected the  cross;

therefore, Jesus got the Gentile bride.

 

Now, we go back to this thought on how do we know the  impersona­
tor  from the real genuine seed of God? That is a good  question.

As we said earlier, there are certain attributes of the real  and

there are certain attributes of the impersonator.

 

Now we know that in the first Exodus and the second Exodus we saw

in  both  cases the impersonators or the mixt multitude  went  to

lusting  or  desiring to go backward to what they  had  come  out

from. Then if this main attribute was in their fathers, won't  it

be carried down to the children? And what was it? They wanted  it

their  way.  They could not enter into the GLORY which  is  GOD's

opinion because they were not meant to. So the only opinion  they

could enter into was the one they already had

 

Now  didn't we say last week that everything we know and  do  and

even  think is based upon knowledge that we received  from  some­

body? Let me just read again what I said,

 

Now  we  are all taught by someone. The only thing we  have  ever

done on our own is probably going for mothers milk right after we

are  born,  and some of us did not even know enough  to  do  that

right. Someone stuck a bottle in your mouth and changed even that

which nature had placed within you. From that time every response

became a learned response. We spend our whole life learning  from

somebody.

 

There  is  no man that can truly say he is true product  of  free

moral  agency  because  every opinion we have,  is  learned  from

somebody.  Every fact, every opinion, every reasoning we have  is

because  of  information that we have received from some  one  or

some institution, or some book, some classroom. And didn't  some­body

write that book? Doesn't somebody teach in that institution? Then  

how can we say we have a true free moral agency. We  can't. Every  

thing we think and do and say is the product  of  somebody else.  

And  these men were the product of their  father,  who  is Satan.

 

Now  remember  also we read from PROVERBS 22: 6 " to train  up  a

child in the way it should go and it will not depart."

 

EXODUS 20: 5 - 6 <read> So we see that So  as  we see that the only

opinion they had was  the  one  they learned  from  somebody else,

usually their own flesh  and  blood parents.

 

JOHN 8: 38 - 41,  47 <read>

 

So  in looking at the attributes of the impersonator we see  that

they really have no understanding of repentance and the change of

the  mind that is so needed. They are stuck in their own  opinion

which  they  learned  from someone else but are  not  capable  of

changing that opinion to God's OPINION.

 

JOHN 8: 43 - 44 <read>

Because they cannot come into the GLORY, and this is because they

are  not made to be of such as to come into the GLORY, they  then

must revert back to what they already know.

 

MARK 4: 24 <read> this is the same as

LUKE 8: 18 <read>

And  notice these that were able to ECHO shall be given which  is

MATT 13: 10 - 17 <read>

 

JER 7: 23 - 28 <read>

 

ISA 28: 9 - 13 <READ> niv

 

So  we see today the attributes of the IMPERSONATOR of the  mixed

multitude.  Brother  Branham warned us to LOOK only to  the  REAL JESUS.

 

Not a historical JESUS but the one who is here. COL 3:4