Christ Revealed in His Own Word #70
Revelation or
Illusion
Sunday, January 19, 1997
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor Grace Fellowship
[ Col 3: 4] & [Rev 2:10b] “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give
thee a crown of Life.”
[2 Tim 4:8] & [1 Peter 5:4] Let us pray.
Wednesday night
we read from the Message Christ Revealed in His Own Word,
PP’s. [77 through 83]. Where Brother Branham took our thoughts back to the
beginning as he spoke of the Complete seed having to be sewn in order for the complete
body to come up at the end-time.
And so we see,
the same Life that was sewn in the Original Seed, Christ Jesus, is to return in
this hour, not only among the people, but It shall enter into the people as
well. The Complete Seed, meaning the complete
Life that was in the Seed has got to come back into human flesh in a Bride in
this hour. So we are speaking of the Original Seed, the original Life back in
human flesh again. And that is why we are told our New Birth is to be an
incorruptible one which shall never fade away. Now this is not true of so
called Pentecost today. Those people who claim a new birth seem to need a new
filling or refilling each and every week. Why? Because they have received a new
birth based upon a corruptible see, which is a corruptible word. [1 Peter 1:23] You see, if you have been
truly born again, you will not fall away. and how do you receive a true new
birth? By receiving the True Revelation of Jesus Christ. Once a woman conceives, she doesn’t need any
further insemination to bring forth Life. All she needs is to wait the nine
months while human cell is being added to human cell. And that is the same
thing with the Word of God. We do not need to be born again more than just one
time. But what we have need of is Word piled upon Word to grow our Glorified
Body around the Predestinated Word Germ Seed given by God to us.
Now I say this
because I am very concerned for some of the young people in this message who
have walked out from this Word, for jobs or whatever excuse they want to call
it. You can’t tell me that money isn’t the root of all evil.
Not when I see these young people and some of the older ones placing a higher
regard for a few green pieces of green paper, than they do for God and His
Word. I want you to know that I have
turned down more of that green stuff than some of you will ever make in a
life-time, and I will continue to do so for the Word sake. Last year alone, I
turned down 7 jobs promising over $90,000 per year for the Word sake, and God
continues to bless me and my family in spite of not making the big bucks.
Recently I rejected an offer to work full time for a very hansom salary because
I know that God has not called me to do that anymore. I have turned down
professional sports, and all the so called glory that it offers, because what
do you gain anyway, if you gain this so called world and lose your own soul. We
are warned that “in the last days Some shall depart from The Faith,” and I have
no intention of being counted in that number. But, look here, the way some of
your kids are behaving, this could be
speaking of them for all we know, and what are you doing about it. Brother
Branham said, if you really loved them, you’d shake the hide right off of them
until they get right. [1 Tim 4:1]
tells us that some will depart from THE FAITH. That’s this Message. And the thing of it is that they know
better. Then if they can willfully walk out from the truth, what condition is
their soul. If they were killed in an auto crash tonight, do you think they
will be saved after rejecting God’s Word
for a few dollars? Why do you think Howard tarried so long before he
went? He was waiting on a couple boys to get right with God. Look! If you know
better and you still won’t do it, that’s called sin. [James 4:17] tells us, “to him that knoweth to do right and does
not do it, to him it is sin.” And that is why the scriptures admonish
us in [Heb 3:13]” to exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you
be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” What does it mean to
exhort one another? It means to call to ones attention, to summon, entreat. Why
are we commanded to exhort one another on a daily basis? Because sin is so
deceitful, That’s why. And yet how can we exhort one another if we never see
one another in church? What about those of us who take the assembling of the
saints so lightly? Does not God tell us in [Heb 10:25-26] “do not forsake the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much
more, as ye see that day approaching. For if we disbelieve willfully after we
have received the knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins.”
The problem is this, that if we are truly born again, we will have a Divine Revelation in our heart, and we would be so miserable in our hearts if we knew that we were not pleasing to God. I don’t care who we are, we will never make it in on someone else’s coat tails.
We all, every one
of us, both young and old, must be born again or we will never see, nor can we
see, the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said
in [John 3:13] “except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God.” And
what does it mean to see the Kingdom of God? To see means to understand and perceive,
so we ask, to understand what? The Kingdom of God. And what is the Kingdom of
God? It is His rulership, His Lordship, His Sovereignty, His Power and His
Dominion. And you will never get
this by just going to church. You have got to be born again.
65-3 Christ is the
Mystery of God Revealed We're not suppose to make converts to Christianity by a
government, but by the revelation of Christ in you as God was in Christ.
E-28 Earnestly
contending for the Faith Intellectual faith is not enough. That's all right, but it
only brings you to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a personal experience of the birth, the new birth,
regeneration, making a new creature in Christ.
36-4 Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed Look, Christ in you makes
Him the center of Life of the revelation. See? Christ's Life in you makes Him the center of the revelation....What
is the new birth then... It is the revelation of Jesus Christ personally to
you. Amen. See? Not you joined a church, you shook a hand; you done something
different; you said a creed; you promised to live by a code of rules; but
Christ, the Bible... He is the Word that was revealed to you.
Now this is the
key, right here. If you are truly born again, Christ is the center of your life
and every thing else is a distant last. You job, your family, your friends,
your homes, your cars. Whatever there is in your life is a distant last when
Christ is preeminent on the throne of your heart.
I hope you all
remember our message on the almost Christian. How that King Agrippa, after
hearing Paul’s testimony said to him, ‘Paul,
thou almost persuadest me to be a
Christian”, and Paul answered him, “I
would that you were altogether like as I am except without these bonds”
why? because almost is not good enough. An almost Christian is still a lost
soul. An almost Christian is still headed for the lake of fire. And so we find
that there are those who will come forth at the great white throne one day and
they will hear those notorious words, “Depart from me for I never knew you, ye that
work iniquity, for I never knew you.” “ye that know better but had your
own thoughts about it. I never knew you, I never had an intimate relationship
in your heart with you, so depart from me.”
Now, look, I am
not talking works here. But I am talking about Eternal Life. We’re not talking
about church and theology, we are talking about life. Eternal Life.
45-1 Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed Not
your theology; it's a revelation of Jesus Christ... the revelation of Jesus Christ in a new birth. He... injects His
own Life, and your life is gone, and the Life of Christ is projecting Itself
through you with the preeminence to the people that they see the very Life,
Super Sign PP 78 Brother Branham said, “Now,
let me tell you. Anything outside of being born gain will never reach the
Rapture. Unless there is a germ of Life inside you, you’ll perish. You cannot
rise up again.” And so I hope
you will understand why I constantly bring these things to you attention.
Because after all we will all have to give account of what we have done with
this great Message that God has Given to us. Every one of us, both small and
great, will have to give an account for what we have done in our bodies.
[Romans 14:11-12] For it is written, ‘As I live Saith the Lord, every knee shall bow and
every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then every one of us shall give account
of himself to God.”
[Matt 16:27] For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of His Father with His Angels;
and He shall reward every man according to his works.”
As I just said,
one day soon we will all have to give an accounting for what we have done with
this great Message that God has Given to us.
And this is what I would like to point out this morning. we are all
going to have to give an account one day for our stewardship before God.
[Luke 16: 1-2, 11-13] We are all going
to have to give an account of our stewardship to God. Now what does it mean to
give an account. You are going to have to show what you did with what He gave
you.
YOU are going to
have to be accountable for the riches he has given to you. And if you can not
show progress in what He has given to you, then what you now have will be taken
from you. That is what He is telling us here.
[2 John 1:8] Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have
struggled for, but that we receive a full reward. And so you say, what sort
of things can I lose? Well, let’s just see for ourselves. [Rev 3:11] well, you say, what crown is this? Paul tells us in [2 Tim 4:8] which is a crown of
righteousness which is a right-wise-ness. we find the same crown spoken of by
Peter in [1 Peter 5:4] Here it is
called a crown of Glory which is the same thing as Paul said because the Glory
is the right-wise-ness which is the very Doxa or opinion, assessment and
judgment of God. And we are warned that
we shall lose this crown, ever by Jesus Himself. in [Luke 18:8] Thee ones
that really do lose it never had it in the first place, they only thought they
had it. That is what that word seems means. It is the Greek word dokeo which
means: It seems to be, or appears to be,
but there is some question as to whether or not it really is. The
same word is used in [Matt 6:7] in
reference to the Pharisees who only think that God hears their prayers.
[Matt 16:25-26] You see, it all depends
on your motives. Are you looking out for number one? Or are you looking out to
please your Heavenly Father. Now if you are His, It is impossible that you will
be lost, but it does not mean that you won’t go empty on the other side. [John 6:39] [Rev 3:11] [1 Cor 10:12] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth,
take heed lest he fall.” In fact we even see Jesus use this word many times
when he would question the unbelievers. He would say what think ye of this or
of that? [Matt 22:42-46]he really
showed them that they have no thought coming.
But the real answer can be found in [Gal 6:3] because it really doesn’t matter what you think. It only
matters what God thinks.
[Luke 12:42-48] Here we find God calling
the ministry a steward, and then he also tells us that those who knew to
prepare themselves for His Coming and don’t, they will get tribulation. Now to
have to go through the tribulation does not mean you will be lost, but you will
certainly have to pay for your neglect. And how will you pay for your neglect?
With your very life, that’s how. God
doesn’t play our little games and He certainly doesn’t fool around. he says
what He means and He means what He says.
Now what does
this all come down too? It all boils
down to recognition and understanding what we are here for. Remember the Title
of Brother Branham’s Message called, “Hearing,
Recognizing and Acting upon the Word of God.” Well, that is exactly
what it means. And it all comes down to the innate ability to be able to
recognize God and His Word, or Revelation of Himself which is His Message.
Webster tells us that the word Recognize
: To recall to the mind, re meaning again, and cognition which is a
knowing; therefore to recognize is to be aware of, to know by some detail, as
appearance; or identity, to beware of the significance, to acknowledge the
existence, validity, authority or genuineness, to accept and acknowledge as
worthy of appreciation and approval, devotion.
And so we see in [2 Thes 1
& 2] that Paul is letting us know that it all comes down to
recognition. Knowing Him in the power of His resurrection.
Ž [Eph 1: 17-18] Recognition, to know Him
and His Vindicating power.
Ž [Matt 13:10-16] &[Mark 4:11-12] But not every one is
ordained to know.
Ž [Phil 3: 7-18] To know Him in the Power
of His Resurrection, we must forsake every other thing that we ever held as
dear to our selves..
And so we see
what Paul is telling us in [2 Tim 2: 15]concerning
the need to rightly divide the truth.
How can you be a good steward of what God has given if you don’t even
know what it is that you have. A steward is nothing more than being a manager
of someone else’s property. And we are told in Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness
thereof;” and so therefore
everything belongs to the Lord and therefore what we do have in our possession
is merely given to us by Him for a time while we are here on earth. And so we
see in [2 Tim 2:15] what it means to
rightly divide the word. And you can’t rightly divide what He said if you don’t
know the Author, and what He ‘s trying to tell us.
And so we hear
brother Branham tell us in PP [81] To dislocate the Scriptures, you might put His body together
wrong, the foot where the head should be or something. Just the same as a... In
other words, you might have Jesus teaching Moses' message. You might have--or
even Wesley teaching Luther's age. You
might have now, our age teaching Pentecost, the Pentecostal message. You see
what a mess it would be in? Pentecost has already showed its colors. Luther's already showed his: went off into
denomination; it died right there. The age struck; there it went Notice, just as soon as it was organized, it
died. Now, just see if that isn't right. Look back through the pages of
history. Every time it organized it died right there; there never was no more
to it. It become a worshipper of the god of this world. It went off into
organisms, and organizations, and denominations, and illusions. A bunch of Ricky’s
got into there and put their own objections into it, or injected their own
thoughts, rather, into it. And what did it happen? It become a mess. Going
to head up in the god of this world where they'll throne Satan himself,
thinking that they're having a great world leader to bring them peace.
Now, brother
Branham said, “To dislocate the Scriptures,...
You might have now, our age teaching Pentecost, the Pentecostal message.
You see what a mess it would be in? Pentecost has already showed its colors.
And that is exactly what has happened.
He said, those little Ricky’s have come in and messed up everything. He
said, “Every time it organized it died
right there; there never was no more to it. It become a worshipper of the god
of this world. It went off into organisms, and organizations, and
denominations, and illusions
“A
bunch of Ricky’s got into there and put their own objections into it, or
injected their own thoughts, rather, into it. And what did it happen? It become
a mess.”
Now, first of all
he tells us that to preach a Pentecostal Message today just makes a mess out of
everything. Then he tells us to interject our own thoughts will only bring us
an illusion. How fitting these words describe those who come along with their
Pentecostal illusions, saying, “ You must have a vision of Jesus coming to you
personally in order to receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.” Others tell us
that God gave them a vision to lead the Bride in the Rapture, and yet married 2
and 3 times. Still others claim to be the Joshua who will lead the Bride into
the Rapture, some by playing their guitars with 6 inch picks and others by
playing the piano. And they offer the people nothing but allusions.
And what is an
illusion but a false idea or conception; belief or opinion that is not in accord
with the facts. An deception that is not real, a misleading appearance or
image. A false perception, conception, or interpretation of what one sees. A
misleading image resulting in a wrong impression. So we see again that these thoughts of a
false interpretation . And Brother Branham further called them an illusion
which means the Word is interpreted in such a way as to make it appear to be
different than it really is. Like a mirage in the desert that you think you see
but is not really there.
[Isaiah 29: 7] The Word Ariel here is a
Word which means the LION of GOD. And
we know that at the end-time He is to come with a Loud Voice as when a Lion
Roareth. [Rev 10: 1-3] Now we know
that God Himself likens the roar of the Lion to His Own Voice which is a
prophetic utterance as we see in the book of
[Amos 3: 7-8]. Now, back in [Isaiah 29:7] This passage refers not to
the Lord Himself but she which has taken His name, which would have to make
this His Bride. And here we see the scripture warning us about what will happen
to those who are found fighting against the elect Bride. [Isaiah 29: 8] (read) Notice that these men are living in a
delusion. They eat from the Bread of Life but it is only in a dream. When they
awake from their dream they will still be empty, because they are living in a
delusion. A false vision of deception. And what has caused this? Their own
opinions are held in more esteem to themselves than the Word of God. Notice
that in verses [10-12] we are told
that they will be in slumber, and the Lord will have brought on this deep
slumber and their dreams will not produce anything for them. Now, remember we
were showing how the little Ricky’s will come in with their own opinions and
turn the Message into a Mess, and bring forth an illusion tot he people. We
further see evidence of this in ...
[Jer 23:32] Notice that their dreams
will not profit the people any. Therefore, what purpose is there for these men
to keep up with their own lies? [Isaiah 66:4-5] Notice that God will send
them their own delusion. Now God Himself does not place these lies in them, but
He allows a lying spirit to enter into these men who are false, and to lead
them further away from the Truth by tempting them to turn further.
And since they
themselves already have turned down the Truth, God then only allows to happen
to them what they have already shown a desire for, and that is for a the lying
spirit to come down and lead them further into their own deceit as we see in [2 Chronicles 18:18-24]
[2 Thes 2: 10-13] Now I want you to know
the difference here between those who are Elect and those who are not. And that
is why God gave us a ministry as Paul and Martin Luther pointed out who will
not bring forth delusions or illusions, but will speak the Truth in Love as we
see in [Eph 4: 11-15]
[1 Thes 2: 3-13] And so we see how God
will put the people to the test to see what they really believe.
In fact John
tells us the same thing in [1 John 4:6].
Notice this word for error here is the same Greek word used for the delusion
that will affect the make believer. But notice how the true Believer will not
be deceived, he will identify with the True Ministry, not because of the man,
but the Word. And how do you recognize the Men who speak the Truth from those
who don’t? You check out what they teach you with the Word itself. [1 John 4:1] and
[1 Cor 2: 12-15a]
[Jer 23: 16-32] Here we find God warning
the people to not even pay any attention to these false prophets who would
speak His word falsely.
As Paul said, [1 Cor 14:37] You not only have to be
able to recognize vindication, but those who are preaching that vindicated
message as well. And so in order to test you God will allow others to rise up.
And these others are ordained to take of those who are not in the True fold. [John 10: 7-8, 14-16]
[Deut 13: 1-5] God allows these things
to test His people, to see what reaction they will have, to follow after signs
or the Word of the Lord.