Christ Revealed in His Own Word # 1
The Love of God
Shed Abroad in our Hearts
Sunday Morning March 17, 1996
[ Brian Kocourek, Pastor Grace
Fellowship]
This morning I
would like to begin a New Message in which we shall study from Brother Branham's
Message. As you know, we listened to the first tape of Brother Branham's
Message Christ Revealed in His Own
Word on Wednesday night and it is easy to understand why I have chosen
this Message. It fit's in so well with the last few weeks of our study from God's Only Provided Place of Worship
where we dealt with the condition of
the mind in the people and the change of the Mind that has come upon God's
People. What a contrast to think in this hour as man has become literally
insane, and are losing their minds and yet at the same time God has come down in this hour of insanity
to restore the minds of His Own Children.
We are
promised in [Malachi 4:5] that at the
end-time God will send Elijah the Prophet to restore the understanding of the
Children to the understanding of their Fathers. It literally reads, "See, I will send you the
Prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will
turn the hearts of the Fathers to their children, ( Which we know
happened in John the Baptist's ministry as He also came in the Spirit and Power
of Elijah the Prophet),
[Luke 1: 17] And he shall go before him in the
spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared
for the Lord.
Notice, the
scripture tells us that the angel of God that was sent in verse 11 told
Zechariah that John was to come in the Spirit and power of Elijah to turn the
Hearts of the fathers to the children but never said anything about him turning
the hearts of the children back to the fathers. And so in getting back to Malachi 4 and verse 5 we notice
that [Malachi
4]
also tells us, And he will turn the hearts of the children to their Fathers;
or else I will come and strike the
earth with a curse. Now the
question is, "what is this heart of the children that will be turned
to the fathers?" And,
"who
are these children?" Our first answer has already been revealed in our
studies of the past few weeks. We found that
Þ In his message
[PP 37 Inter veil 56-0121] Brother
Branham taught us that "There is an intellectual faith. And there's a faith that
comes from the heart. And we read in Ezekiel that God gives us a new
heart which is a new understanding first, then He gives us a new spirit which
is a new desire and finally when we are ready He gives us His Spirit. Now let's
just read this for ourselves...
Þ [Ezekiel 36:26-28] A
new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart
of flesh. And I will put my spirit
within you, and cause you to walk in
my statutes, and ye shall keep my
judgments, and do [them]. And ye
shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
And so you
will notice that this new heart and new spirit and finally His Spirit entering
into us is to bring about one thing, and that is that we will walk in His
statutes, which is His Word, and we shall do the things that His Word speaks to
us to do, actually becoming the Word of God manifested in flesh.
Þ From the
Message, IMPERSONATION.OF.CHRISTIANITY
JEFF.IN 57-Brother
Branham said, " God had to give you a new heart, not a patched up one, a new heart. That's your intellects that you think with,
a new way of thinking. Then He give you a new way of thinking, "Yes,
that's right Then He said after that, "Then I'll give you a new spirit." What's that? A new desire, ...
After you get a new heart and a new spirit, He said, "Then I'll put My
Spirit..." His Spirit, part of
the Logos in you controlling your emotions"
And so what we
shall find in this new study from Brother Branham's Message Christ Revealed in His Own Word, that brother Branham actually begins this
Message by dealing with the condition of the minds of the people and how the
insanity has overcome the people to the place where they shall see giant ants
and scorpions with hair like women's. But before we get to that let's just read
from His opening Prayer and begin our study by entering into the conduit of the
Word of God.
Now in
beginning with the Message [Christ
Revealed in His Own Word] And
reading from PP. 1 we shall examine
the opening prayer of Brother Branham. Let us bow our heads. Lord Jesus, the
Shepherd of the great flock, we are so in debt to Thee, Lord, that we could
never pay Thee for the love that Thou
has shed abroad in our hearts. We feel so unworthy as we bow our heads and stand in Thy Presence. We ask You to cleanse us from all faults and all sin.
We pray that You'll strengthen our bodies today. Many are sick and afflicted,
as it shows here of handkerchiefs and requests coming in on the phone and
everywhere.
Now, I would
love to read through the entire prayer this morning, but there is so much in
the first few words that I felt we must stop and look and listen to what these
thoughts really mean for us. Notice
first of all how he begins this Message
by going to prayer and notice carefully
the words he chooses for this Prayer. "Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the great
flock, we are so in debt to Thee, Lord, that we could never pay Thee for the
love that Thou has shed abroad in our hearts. Now as we are becoming more and more in the
image of God, our minds immediately go to the Word of God when we hear
anything, and we should try all things to see whether they be of God, is that
not correct? And how do you try
anything? You give it the Word test. And what
is it that comes into your Soul and governs and guides your Soul? It is
the Word of God, right? And when Brother Branham told us that we first must
receive a new understanding, then a new desire must come forth and then when
God sees this desire, He comes into our heart, or into our soul and anoints
this new understanding, bringing it down from a mental faith into a Spiritual
Revelation and their His Life abides in our hearts in the form of the Logos
which is His Word and which is His Spirit. For you cannot separate God's Word
from His Spirit. "For as a man thinketh in his heart so is He", and "out
of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". So you are what
you speak and that is because we came forth in His image and He is the Word. So if we are in the age where we are
coming more and more into His Image and He is the Word, then what should be
happening in our minds as we hear these words, that brother Branham says in His
opening prayer, when he says, "we
are so in debt to Thee, Lord, that we could never pay Thee for the love that Thou has shed abroad in our hearts. What comes first to your mind when you hear these Words,
"The Love that Thou has shed abroad in our hearts. The first thing that comes to my mind is
that Brother Branham is quoting Scripture
because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given
unto us was spoken by the Apostle Paul is [Romans 5].
[Romans 5:1-8] Therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also
we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only
[so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh
patience; And patience, experience
which is character; and character works into us hope which is an earnest expectation: And this earnest
expectation maketh us not ashamed;( why? ) because (1) the love of God
is(2) shed abroad in our hearts ( How? ) (3) by the Holy Ghost which is given unto
us. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Now, let's
read this opening Prayer of Brother Branham's again as we hear him say, "Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the great
flock, we are so in debt to Thee, Lord, that we could never pay Thee for the
love that Thou has shed abroad in our
hearts. We feel so unworthy as we bow our heads and stand in Thy Presence. We ask You to cleanse us from all faults and all sin" Now, notice how His Message immediately goes
back to Alpha to begin with. His Thoughts are reflected in His prayer and His
Prayer is a giving back to God His own Word which we find in [Romans 5] And so, in essence before
brother Branham even opens His Bible to begin His Lesson, we are already
brought into the Presence of God by the Word of God. And so we are looking at
Justification by Faith which we know is revelation.
A revelation
justifies us as though we never did do sin in the first place. It also frees us
from the guilt associated with sin and wrong doing. It leaves us clean and pure
in the sight of God our Father. Now let's read this from an amplified version
to see the effect Revelation has upon our lives.
[ Romans
5: 1 - 5] Therefore Since we are
justified - acquitted and declared righteous, and have been given a right
standing with God through Revelation, let us therefore grasp the fact that we
have the peace of reconciliation to hold and enjoy, peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, our Brother. And through Him we have our access and entrance
introduced by Revelation into This Grace, this state of God's favor - in which
we firmly and safely stand. Then let us rejoice and exult and triumph in our
troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction
and hardship produces patience and unswerving endurance. And endurance which is
fortitude develops maturity of character - that is, an approved Faith or
revelation and tried integrity. And character of this sort produces the habit
of joyful and confident hope or earnest expectation of eternal salvation. Such
hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured
out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
Who has been given to us.
Now in viewing
brother Branham's opening prayer in light of this scripture we see that Paul
spoke of a Faith which we know is a Revelation that will not only set us free
from guilt and shame, but actually exonerates us as though we never did sin in
the first place. Total and complete justification. God doesn't do things half
way like we do. He does a complete job. Now this justification sets us free from
the sorrow and guilt and shame that is associated with Sin and unbelief. And as
Paul states it thoroughly cleanses us in the sight of God. If you will notice,
brother Branham speaks of the same cleansing of the Word in his prayer as well.
He said, , "Lord Jesus, the Shepherd
of the great flock, we are so in debt to Thee, Lord, that we could never pay
Thee for the love that Thou has shed
abroad in our hearts. We feel so unworthy as we bow our heads and stand in Thy Presence. We ask You to cleanse us from all faults and all
sin"
Now I think
this prayer will be significant as we study this Message of Christ Revealed in His Own Word because
we are studying Christ and the effect of what He has done for us as we study
the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Remember, Brother Branham told us that His
Ministry is to declare Christ, #1, and that He is Here! #2. So we see that in declaring Christ, which
is to reveal Him, we then are looking at a total and complete Justification.
Because it is by Faith which is Revelation of Christ that we are totally and
completely set free from guilt and association with sin and unbelief. And until
you come to this Revelation of Christ you will be haunted by the deeds done in
this flesh knowing that you will be called upon to give an account of the deeds
done in the flesh. But thanks be to God Who giveth us the victory through Jesus
Christ our Lord, we are set free from this guilt because of the Revelation of
Himself as a Merciful and Loving Saviour which He has come down to give to us in
this last hour.
Now Paul said
in [ 1 Cor 13:9-12] When that which is perfect is come then that
which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child I spoke as a child but
when I became a man I put away childish thinking. And then Paul tells us in verse 12
that at the time of Perfect Love coming down among us we which see through a dark
smoked up glass now, shall at that time see face to face and then we shall know
Him even as we are known by Him.
And of course this brings relaxation and peace with it knowing
we are totally and completely justified as though we never did do sin in this
body.
Now as long as
we do not have this Love of God that has been shed abroad in our hearts which
is our understanding, we shall never have peace and freedom from guilt. We find
that we then have fear of reprisal which is do to the fact that we know what we
have done in this body of death, and thus we fear our judgment. But What Paul
and Brother Branham are teaching us here is that when we once receive this
Revelation of Jesus Christ we shall be totally overwhelmed and caught up into
the Grace of God and we shall have no fear any longer, knowing that we have
been totally declared righteous in the sight of God.
1 John 4: 16-18 And we have known and believed the love that
God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and
God in him. 17 ¶ Herein is our love made perfect, that we may
have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this
world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
I want you to
notice how this ties together with [
Malachi 4: 5] where God promised to send the Spirit of Elijah to restore the
understanding of His Children tot he understanding of the Apostolic Fathers or
else He would come and smite the earth with a curse. Now I believe that the
world is now under a curse but we to whom the Spirit of Elijah has come are
sheltered.
MALACHI 4:5 Behold, I will send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
LORD. 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the
heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse.
The NIV states
[ 1 John 4: 16-18] this way...And so we know and
come to rely on the love God has for us, for God is love and whosoever lives in
love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us
so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world
we are to be made like Him, ( and I might add, how does this come
about? Through the renewing of the mind). There is no fear in love, But perfect love drives
out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made
perfect, complete and mature in love.
So then what
Brother Branham is doing in this opening prayer is to bring us into a realm of
God as He truly is, A god of Love and Peace and also a God who is Judge. But to
Know Him in the power of His Resurrection and His Word, will set us free from
the effects of the sin which has been done in the body of this death and shall
set us free from guilt and shame.
Now in [1 Peter 1: 13] we read , Therefore, prepare your minds for
action; be self controlled; set your hope fully on the Grace which is to be
given you at the time when Jesus Christ is to be Revealed. And why is that? Because we
also read in [ 2
Peter 1: 2] Grace and peace are multiplied or brought into abundance through the
knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. He even goes on to tell us
in verse 4 that through this knowledge of Him we are given everything we will have need
of in this Life including Godliness and the Divine Nature which is God's own
Nature.
That is why we
hear Paul declare in [ Acts 17:28] For in Him we live and move and have our
being: for we are His offspring.
Finally this
morning I want to look at this thought that Brother Branham says as he moves
into His opening prayer,... We ask You to cleanse us from all faults and all sin"
Now how does
God cleanse us from all our sin?
Þ [ Psalm 119: 9] How does a young man cleanse his way, by
taking heed tot he Word of God!
Þ [ Ephesians 5: 26] we are
cleansed by the washing of water by the Word.
We find this
Love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit actually
makes the difference between those who are believers and cleansed by the Word
of God and those who are left to the delusion.
Þ [ 2 Thess 2: 10 - 13] 10 And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 ¶ But we are bound to give thanks alway to God
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth:
Þ [ 2 Tim 4: 8] 8
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but
unto all them also that love his appearing. Notice the crown of
right-wise-ness that is to be given to those who Love His Appearing. It is not
to be given to any others except those who love the Appearing. You've got to
love it.