Christ Revealed in His Own Word # 2

Two kinds of Faith

Sunday Morning March 24, 1996

[ Brian Kocourek, Pastor Grace Fellowship]

This Morning I would like to continue to study this Message of Brother Branham's He called "Christ Revealed in His Own Word" . Last Sunday as you know we began the study of this Message after listening to Brother Branham preach the first half of it the previous Wednesday night. Now, As we review last Sunday's message, you'll remember that we were promised in [ Malachi 4: 5-6 ] that at the end-time God will send Elijah the Prophet to restore the hearts or understanding of His Children to the understanding of the Apostolic Fathers. In other words, Omega will look to the Alpha, as Brother Branham put it Himself, as he said, "I am only teaching what Paul taught". Now [ Mal 4: 5-6] literally reads, "See, I will send you the Prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. 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 as we read in God Holy Word.

[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 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 he never said anything about John turning the hearts of the children back to the fathers. And so we find in [Malachi 4:6] that this end-time Elijah will " he will turn the hearts of the children to their Fathers; or else the Lord Himself will come and smite 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?"

Þ Now, remember, 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 so we are looking at this Faith or Revelation that comes from the heart. We've read in [Ezekiel 36], 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 after we have received this new desire or welcoming Spirit, to welcome the Word of God, then He gives us His Spirit which is His Word. 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 of for us to do, which then brings about our actually becoming the Word of God manifested in flesh.

Þ From the Message, IMPERSONATION OF CHRISTIANITY-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"

Now, furthermore, we find Paul speaking of this condition of the heart in [ 2 Cor 3: 15 - 18] But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We see that a veil still covers the hearts or understanding of those who do not look to the Word of God, but who look rather to their church or the traditions and creeds they are familiar with instead of God's Word only. But we are also told that one day there will be a people who will look to the Word of God and these are the people in whose hearts (or literally their understanding) will change. And when it does change, then God will Unveil Himself to them. And I believe this Message of Christ Revealed in His Own Word is part of that Great Unveiling of God to us in this Hour.

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 again as we did last week. So let's read it together, "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 want you to notice how Brother Branham begins this Message by going to prayer, and that is not so unusual for men of God to do, but I want you to also notice carefully the content of his Prayer. After He asks us to bow your heads, he begins praying, ... "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 I mentioned last Sunday morning, that in this little preamble of prayer, we already see two very distinct thoughts and scriptural identifications being brought forth by God's Servant.

The first thought and scriptural identification which we see is the thought, "Lord Jesus, the Shepherd of the great flock," which we know was addressed by St. . Peter in [ 2 Peter 5: 4] "And when the Chief Shepherd shall Appear, you shall receive a Crown of Glory that shall never fade away." Now, here we find two things, namely this: Number one, He is addressing the Lord Jesus Christ by this title that Peter gives Him where He calls Him the Chief or Great Shepherd. And secondly, we see Peter speaking of this Chief Shepherd in association with the Appearing of the Lord. So then We should be able by scriptural identification, see that brother Branham's Message of Christ Revealed in His Own Word is pointedly identified to this Great Appearing of the Chief Shepherd. And that the Appearing of the Lord is, and must be, considered as part of the Revealing of Christ. For if He is not here, then how can He be Revealed.

Secondly, we also find Peter speaking of this Appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ as The Chief Shepherd, and Peter tells us that When Christ does appear, we are to receive a Crown that will never fade away. We also find Paul speaking of this Crown as being a crown of righteousness, or Right-wise-ness in which the Righteous Lord, or rightly wise Lord shall give us at that day as we read in [ 2 Tim 4: 1-8] In the Presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His Appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather a great number of teachers around them to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all your duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the Faith. Now there is in store for me the Crown of Right-Wise-ness, which the Rightly Wise Judge shall award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all those who have longed for and Love His Appearing.

Now this ought to tell you how important the Parousia or Appearing of the Lord is to us. For God Himself let's us know that there is a crown of Right-Wise-ness that awaits all those who love His Appearing. Now, we should all know by now that Brother Branham taught us that there is a difference between the Coming of the Lord and the Appearing of the Lord. In fact from the Message, FROM THAT TIME PP 227, brother Branham said, "How many knows there’s a difference between the Appearing of Christ and the Coming of Christ? It’s two different words, Now’s the Appearing; the coming will soon be. He’s Appearing in the midst of us, doing the works that He once did, in His church.” And then in the same breath just after he said this He also said those most notable words, "My ministry is to declare Him, that He is here.” And so we see there is a two fold work involved in brother Branham's Ministry, # 1 To declare Christ, and # 2 to declare that His presence here among us.

So we see in this Message Christ Revealed in His Own Word, brother Branham is setting the stage for what this Revealing of Christ is all about when He opens in Prayer and Quotes from [ 2 Peter 5: 4] "And when the Chief Shepherd shall Appear, you shall receive a Crown of Glory that shall never fade away." Now we have already pointed out that Paul spoke of this Crown also as pertaining to the Appearing. Now, this is important for you to understand. Why would Paul and Peter and even James all speak of this Crown of righteousness that is to be given to us at the Appearing of Jesus Christ? Now, because I believe there is a great significance to this scripture and the association of our receiving a Crown of righteousness at the time of the Appearing or in association with the Appearing, I would like to examine this thought this morning. What is this crown any way? What is any Crown ? Just what exactly is a crown? WEBSTER CROWN = from the Latin word Corona meaning garland and the Greek word korone meaning wreathe. In the scripture the word used is in reference to a Loral wreathe which is a reward or honor given after victory. It is worn on the head and brings pre-eminence to the head.

Then I would like to ask the question, what is this Crown of Right-Wise-ness, any way? And why is it stated in several scriptures that we receive it at the Appearing of Christ? What then does it have to do with the Appearing? Well, First of all we know according to [ 1 Cor 9: 25] That we are not to receive a corruptible crown but an incorruptible One. Now we find according to [St. Peter 1: 4 ]and [1: 23 ] That this incorruptible crown is actually part of our inheritance and if it is incorruptible, it can only be one thing and that is the Word of God. In fact we read in [Isaiah 40: 8] tells us, The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of the Lord shall stand forever." In fact Jesus Himself said, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but not one jot or tittle of Gods Word shall fail." And so if this Crown according to [ 1 Peter 5: 4 ] is incorruptible and can not fade Away, then it must be One thing and One thing only, The Word of God! In [ 1 Thes 2: 19 ] Paul tells us this Crown has to do with the very Presence of the Lord Himself. And in [ James 1: 12] it is called the Crown of Life. So here we have a crown that is promised to us and it is called a Crown of Life, a Crown of Glory and a Crown of Right-wise-ness. And in all passages of scripture it is identified with the Appearing of the Lord. And in examining these three Crowns, we must ask ourselves, since these are all three associated with the Appearing of the Lord, are these three different Crowns? Or are they these three actually the same Crown but called by different terms or descriptions. A [Crown of Life, a Crown of Glory and a Crown of Right-wise-ness.]

To find out we must first ask ourselves "Now what is a crown any way?" A crown is a head-piece that is worn on the head to bring preeminence to the head. Now, let me repeat that. A crown is a head-piece that is worn on the head to bring preeminence to the head. That is why we are called the jewels of His Crown in [Malachi 3: 16 - 18]. So what we are looking at here is something that is to happen to the Elect that will bring preeminence to the Head, which is God. And we find it in 2 Thess 1: 10 where we are told that He will come to be Glorified IN His Saints. Now we know that this word GLORY is the Greek word DOXA which means "the opinion, assessment or judgment of".

In fact we can read of this Crown of Glory that was prophesied to come even back in the book of [Isaiah 28: 5 - 6] Notice that He will not only be our Crown, but The Spirit of the Judge will be upon His People in that day. And why is that? Because as He is so are we to be in this World. And if He is here as Judge, then if we are to come into His Image and become reflectors of what He is, we too will become Judges, or discerners of the Word of God. So we see then that the very mind of God is to come into the Elect in this End-time because we believed Paul's Report in that day which is this day. And didn't brother Branham tell us that He only preached what Paul preached? And so we see that at the Appearing we are to be like Him for we shall see Him as He really is and by seeing Him as He really is we are to be changed to be like Him. Let's just follow this through in scripture.

1 John 3: 1-3 ¶ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Colossians 3: 4 When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

1 Cor 13: 9-12 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these [is] charity.

1 John 4: 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.

Notice it tells us that in this world we are to come into a confidence because of His Love. And this Love also ties in with the next part of brother Branham's prayer. But before we actually get into that part of Brother Branham's prayer, I want to examine further this thought of the Crown.