Christ Revealed in His Own Word #67
The Old and New Testament
Wednesday, January 7, 1997
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor Grace Fellowship
This evening I
would like to continue with this Message of Christ Revealed in His Own Word,
and we will begin reading at PP. [71]
[71]
Now, remember, the Old Testament is not
complete without the New. And the
New could not be complete without the Old. That's the reason I said, two
halves: one whole. For the prophet said, "He'll be here; He'll be here; He'll be here. ( Now I you to
notice that he is speaking in future tense here,) They'll do this to Him; they'll
do this to Him." (therefore
the prophets spoke in future tense, which is prophetic). Now as he speaks of
the New Testament, he say’s, “And
here He is, "He was here; He
was here. And they did this to Him, and
they did this to Him." (Now by this he is speaking in the present
or past tense).
So then, in PP. [71] we hear Brother Branham telling us
that the Old Testament represents the
Promises made by God, concerning Himself and His Son, which is future
tense. In other words, things which will happen, and have not as yet happened.
That is what a promise is. Secondly, he
tells is the New Testament represents
manifestation, or fulfillment of those promises. Therefore, the Promises
alone does not fully reveal the
complete revelation, because as long as it is still in the state of being a
promise it is still in an incomplete condition. As long as we can still guess
at what it means, there’s still room for error, so God interprets His Own Word
by bringing it to pass. Therefore, the interpretation is the manifestation of
the revelation. And when we see this interpretation, we then have a Word that
has been made more sure, as we are told in
[2 Peter chapter 1].
Now, Sunday
morning, in studying this point we further read from PP [72] Now, in order to study
the Scripture... Paul told Timothy, "Study
It, rightly dividing the Word of God which is Truth (Let’s look at this statement here. [2 Tim 2:15]( The word rightly divide
here is a Greek word which means to teach directly and correctly). Now,
notice how brother Branham puts this. He says, , "Study It, rightly
dividing the Word of God which is Truth”.
Now Sunday we
found that the right division of the Word is essential in our worship of God.
For Jesus Said, “We must worship God in Spirit and in Truth.” And if we do not
have the right division of the Word, then we have error. And we found in [Gen. 4] that although both Cain and
Abel offered sacrifices to God, Cain’s sacrifice, although it was an excellent
sacrifice, it was rejected, because it was wicked Now you might ask, how can it
be both and excellent sacrifice and yet a wicked one as well? [Heb 1:4] (read) The scripture tells us
that Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain. So Cain’s sacrifice was excellent, but not as excellent as Abel’s. Now why was
this? Because it was out of season. Although Cain’s sacrifice was
scriptural, as we see in [Deut 26:2], yet it was wicked because
it was out of continuity with the plan of God.
[1 John 3:12] Notice here that we are
told that he slew his brother because his works were evil. The slaying of his
brother, although this was a wicked deed, was not the evil works. The evil
works is what caused him to slay his brother in the first place. And the evil
works was his own sacrifice to God which was rejected by God, while Abel’s
sacrifice was received by God. [Gen. 4:
2-8] Now notice that after he talked with Abel, he slew him. And why did he
talk with Abel? Because God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not his own. And
God had told Him that “if he did well, he would be accepted,
but he didn’t do well, and therefore he was not accepted. Now the Septuagint
translates this here as: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted? You did rightly offer, but
you did not rightly divide.”
And so we see the
right division of the Word is essential in our relationship with God. Cain’s
offering, although it was scriptural and a first-fruit offering, or harvest
offering, which is a resurrection offering, was rejected, because it was out of
season. For in [Hebrews 9] we are
told, “without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins”. And therefore, because Abel offered blood
first, it was accepted, whereas Cain offered another scriptural sacrifice, but
because it was not in the continuity of God’s plan, and it was therefore out of
the season of God’s plan, it was therefore rejected.
Christ Revealed
in His Own Word #67
Wednesday,
January 7, 1997
Br. Branham
continued in PP. [72] saying, Now,
in order to study the Scripture... Paul told Timothy, "Study It, rightly dividing the Word of God
which is Truth, And then he goes on to tell us what this means. He
tells us: "Then there's three musts in the Scripture. In using God's Word
there is three things that you must not do. Now, let's study those for the next
ten minutes: Three things that you must not do... And all out in the land
wherever you are across the nation, be sure to put these down in your mind if
you haven't got a pencil. You must not
do these things. We tell you all the time how you must do; now, I'm going to
tell you what you must not do. Now, you
must not misinterpret the Word. You
say, "Well, I believe It means
this." It means just what it says.
It needs no interpreter. And you must not misplace the Word. And you must not dislocate the Word. And
if we would do either of these, it throws the whole Bible in a confusion and in
a chaos.
Now, first, let’s
see what Webster tells us these three words
“Misinterpret, misplace, and dislocate” mean.
#1) Misinterpret : to
interpret wrongly, to understand or explain incorrectly.
#2) Misplace : to put in the wrong place. To wrongly
place or to improperly place.
To take away
from the proper, or natural position, time, or character
#3) Dislocate : to upset the order or connection of.
And so we see
that God does not only require that we believe His Word, but that we believe
and apply the correct Word for the Correct time and occasion. And so it goes
beyond just saying that we believe every word. The Bible tells us that the
devil believes in God and he trembles. In the Message The Token, brother Branham said, “Don’t just come this far and say,
“I believe the Message, “ You obey the Message. Come into Christ. You say, “oh,
I believe every word you said, brother Branham.” That’s good, but that is just
being able to read. Take the Message; take it into your heart, that you must
have the Token, the very Life that was in Christ, be in you. “When I see that,
I will pass over.”
And so we see the
importance of not only hearing, but how
we hear. In [Luke 8:18] we are
commanded to “take heed how we hear.”
And in [1 Cor 3:10-15] we are
commanded to take heed how we build upon the Word seeing that the foundation is
Christ. [Romans 10:13-18] But although they might have audibly heard the
voice, yet they did not understand what was said. [Matt 13:10-16] and [Mark
4:11-12]
So we see Paul
raise the question, How can they call on Him if they don’t believe in Him, and how can they believe in Him if they have
never heard of Him. And how can they hear of Him without a preacher. And yet
what if that preacher is not a True God sent Preacher? Then, unless they hear a
True God sent Preacher, they will not hear the True God sent Message, and
therefore, if they hear a false
preacher, they will receive a false message, and therefore they will have a
false hope in a false Word, And there you are. That is why Paul was so
concerned in the First Church Age, because already by this time false brethren
had crept in unawares.
2 Corinthians 11: 1 - 4 Paul worried about the Corinthians because they were too open
to any old thing that came by just like Eve was. And what did it produce?
Another Gospel first. Then another Jesus and another Spirit. Remember, Jesus
said in John 6: 63, “ My words are Spirit and they are Life.” But so too is the devils. And in 2 Corinthians 11: 13 => 14 we see that
Satan’s ministers actually appear to be ministers of light. But who are they
serving? And what is the end product? Another Jesus and another Spirit
produced from another Gospel.
Now the Greek
word for another is the word heteros and it means that these are not another as
though numerically they are different. But it means they are of a different
nature altogether. Just as a man and woman are heterosexual, or of a different
nature sexually. So too as these men preach another Gospel which is different
in nature from the genuine, when the people open themselves up to it they
receive a seed that has a life that is also different in nature, just as the
Serpents seed was different in nature from Adams seed.
Now, remember,
the Word is a Seed that was sown. And as a seed, it is by definition a carrier
of Life. Therefore, whether it be sown by God or Satan, it is a word that
contains a life.
Christ Revealed
in His Own Word #67
Wednesday,
January 7, 1997
In [Matt 13], after the Son of Man went
forth sowing His Seed, or His life, we find the devil following closely behind
also sowing his seed. So then we can see that two different life seeds were
sewn. The first coming forth from the Son of Man which is God Life and the
other coming forth from the devil which is perverted life. So then those people
who receive the false word seed, will receive the life of that word into
themselves and therefore they will receive another spirit or life instead of
the Holy Spirit. 1) First comes forth another Gospel (one of a different nature
pointing the people to a different Jesus, and by receiving it they birth in
themselves another spirit which is one of a different nature than that of the
Holy Spirit of God’s new birth by His Word.
[Gal 1: 6-9] This “another Gospel “ is a perverted Gospel. Metastrepho
: Meta meaning to transfer and strepho meaning to twist or
reverse.” To transmute...Webster : to
change from one from, specie, condition, nature, or substance into
another. Notice, the men in 2 Corinthians 11 : 13 => 14 transformed themselves from Satan’s ministers into
what appears to be angels or ministers of light. We see the same example in
Matt 7 where these men are likened unto wolves in sheep’s clothing. So what is
the end product of their doctrine and seed that they sow to these gullible
people? These people will think they are what they aren’t and therefore we
would call such as these make believers. Make believers therefore are actually
hybrid products. And we know that there is no life in a hybrid.
Martin Luther in his Commentary on Romans. How shall they call on Him in whom they have
not believed? (10:14) Here the apostle meets
the arrogance of all who teach falsely and are a haughty mind. Oh, that
the false prophets (or teachers) only would heed these words! How shall they believe in Him of whom they
have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (10:14) Even
though they say they hear, they boast in vain, unless they hear true preachers;
for to hear false prophets means as much as not to even hear. They hear and
they do not hear; they have ears, but do not hear, nor do they preach (the Word
of God). This is a striking statement against all conceited hearers and
students of the Bible. How shall they
preach, except they be sent? (10:15) This is directed against conceited
teachers and arrogant instructors. These four statements (10: 14 -15) follow
one another in such a way that one leads to the other, but so that the last
forms the foundation on which the others rest. Thus, 1) It is impossible
that those preach who are not sent. 2) It is impossible that those hear who are
without a preacher. 3) It is impossible
that they believe who do not hear. 4)
It is impossible that they call upon Him who they do not believe. To this add a
last one, namely: 5) It is impossible that they who do not call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So then, the entire source and origin of salvation rests on
this, That God sends out someone, ( A true minister of the Word). If He does
not send out any, then they who are preaching are preaching falsely, and their
preaching is no preaching at all. In fact they would be better off had they
never preached at all. Then they who hear, hear error, and it would be better
for them to not have heard . Then they who believe, would believe false
doctrine, and it would be better for them to not believe. Then also they who
call upon Him would be calling falsely (upon a false Lord), and it would be
better for them not to call. For such preachers do not preach; such hearers do
not hear; such believers do not believe, and such callers do not call; and they
will be damned because they would be saved by falsehood. So we read in Proverbs 1: 28 “Then shall they call
upon Me, but I will not answer, they shall seek Me early, but they shall not
find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the
Lord.” ... Then only they can preach with certainty who proclaim the Gospel
without error. How beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the Gospel of Peace ( 10: 15). By this quotation
the Apostle shows that only those can preach who are sent by God. Those cannot
preach the Divine Word and be messengers of God whom He has not sent and to
whom He has not entrusted His Word. So with these same words the Apostle points
out the nature of Spiritual Peace and it’s gifts. These blessings are heard
only in the Divine Word and are apprehended only by Faith. They can not be
presented in visible form...Now the words “ Beautiful” stands for purity, for
they that preach the Gospel of Peace and bring glad tidings of good things do
not proclaim the Gospel for their own advantage or on account of vain Glory, as
this happens here and there today. They preach solely from obedience to God and
for the sake of the salvation of their hearers. ( this word
beautiful is a Greek word Ho-rah-yos and according to Strong’s it means
belonging to the right hour or season ( timely) by implementation to be
flourishing. )
Christ Revealed
in His Own Word #67
Wednesday,
January 7, 1997
CHAP. VIII.--HOW THE VALENTINIANS PERVERT THE SCRIPTURES TO
SUPPORT THEIR OWN PIOUS OPINIONS. 1. Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord
taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect
knowledge. They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures;(4)
and, to use a common proverb, they
strive to weave ropes of sand, while they
endeavor to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions
the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the
apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support.
In doing so, however, they disregard the
order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By
transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out
of another, they succeed in deluding
many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their
opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image
of a king has been constructed by some skillful artist out of precious jewels,
should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the
gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a
fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that
this was the beautiful image of the king which the skillful artist constructed,
pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first
artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred
by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no
conception what a king's form was like, and persuade them that that
miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In
like manner do these persons patch together old wives' fables, and then
endeavor, by violently drawing away from
their proper connection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found, to
adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We have already stated
how far they proceed in this way with respect to the interior of the Fullness.
[Acts 20:28-30]
As you can see,
these three musts that brother Branham is bringing to us, have been an
important discipline since the very founding of the Church 2,000 years ago. You must not misinterpret God’s Word. And
how do you know the interpretation of His Word? God interprets His Word by bringing it to pass. So we must wait for
God to do the interpreting, then we will know that our understanding is
correct. Therefore, I hope we can see that by misinterpretation, or misplacing
or dislocating the scripture, we not only get a false understanding, but a
false hope and a false Revelation as well. Therefore what we really receive is
death instead of Life. For if the Just
shall live by Faith and our Faith is a False one, then we shall not receive
Life but death.
[2 John 1:8-9] Wuest: He who goes beyond the limits of true doctrine has not the Father nor the Son.