Christ Revealed in
His Own Word #110
God Interprets His Own Word
#3
Wednesday,
June 11, 1997
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor Grace Fellowship
Sunday morning, we read from Paragraph 137 where we found Brother Branham speaking of This Bible
being the Word of God and how It needs no one to give it their own private
interpretation. He said, [137]
It needs no interpreter, for the Bible said that God does His own interpreting of the Bible.
"It's of no private interpretation," said Peter. All right.
Since brother Branham
referred to what Peter said, in [2 Peter
1:20-21] “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any
private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: But Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. we examined this scene that Peter was
referring to see how he could apply the
metaphor of a light in a dark place
verses the total light of the day star which is the SUN itself. Thus we can see how Peter called the day
star a more sure Word in reference to the light in a dark place, and how also
he could refer to the light in a dark place as being more sure than no light at
all. And since we are dealing with the Scripture; subject of Light as it refers
to enlightenment or understanding, then we can see by the scene that Peter
brought to our attention and which we read from Matthew 17 that by seeing the
Heavenly vision unfold before their very eyes, and listening to the literal
voice of almighty God, Peter thus saw the Word manifested, and this
manifestation of the Word is what made the written Word become so clear to his own understanding.
Therefore, when Peter said, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: we
know that the more sure Word is one which has been manifested because, when the
Word is manifested, we can see for ourselves God’s Own interpretation of His
Word.
So we find Peter telling us
here that the reason we have a more sure word and that it is of no private
interpretation, is because God manifested that Word and has interpreted His Own
Word by bringing it to pass. Anyone can read the Bible and make a guess as to
what it means. But when you read it and then see it manifested before your very
eyes, there remains no more doubt about it.
We then read from [1 John 1:1-7]
and we saw here that John too, let it be known that what they saw in their day
was the literal Word of God unfolded, or made manifest before their very eyes,
and by being privileged to see this, they were placed in a position of being
placed among a very select Group of People. John further goes on to say that by
receiving the Message of the Appearing of the Word in your midst, you too can
come into fellowship with the Father, His Son, and those who are like Faith.
And nothing else can bring you into this Fellowship.
In both instances, we hear
Peter and John tell us that they were only witnesses to this great Appearing,
yet the wonderful fact is that many others who saw the same things, did not
believe, or even understand what it was they saw and therefore, they missed
this great Visitation of God among men.
So Peter and John were eye-witnesses to the Glory and majesty of Christ
as He was manifested among men. The fact that they were privileged to witness
the manifestation of the Word in their day, made that portion of the Word not
only more real to them, but it also verified, or vindicated the right
interpretation of it. Therefore, what Peter is trying to get across to us here,
is that God interprets His Word by bringing it to pass, and that the
interpretation of the Word gives us a word which has been made more sure,
because it has been manifested to be so.
The Word was delivered unto
man in a form; in a written form. But how can we be sure what it means, when
there’s over two thousand different denominations who claim to have the right
interpretation, and none of them can agree on what is to take place in this
hour. Therefore, although we have a light in the dark season, yet the certainty
of what is taking place is not as sure
as when the day star arises. But once the Word manifests itself, there can no
longer be any doubts as to what that Word or Prophecy means, unless we are
blinded to that manifestation as the religious people were in Jesus day.
Let me perhaps give you a
better comparison. Let’s say the light
in a dark place is the written Word itself. And the day star arising in your
hearts is the actual manifestation of the Word coming to your understanding.
Now, the comparison that I would like to make is this. The written Word is a
tremendous thing, even when it is not fully understood, because it gives cause
for great hope and joy. Let me further say, that many Christian People today
look to the Word with a view to what’s coming upon the earth.
And they know that something
is fixing to happen and they can feel the pull of the hour, and so when they
see the great shaking that is going on amongst the nations, and they see this
nation loosing it’s freedoms, and they see the homosexual condition in the
world and even amongst the mainline churches,
then they look tot he Word of God, and they see the Scripture talking
about the second coming and the Great Appearing of Christ that is to come. Yet
because of their indoctrination to the Word through men who have learned their
thought process through man-made educational systems, they then see this great
Appearing and the Second Coming as the same thing.
Yet there are very few of us
Who have come to recognize that this Great Appearing that is spoken of in the Scriptures is not the second Coming,
but immediately precedes the Second Coming, as a ministry of Grace that is to
forewarn us to flee for our safety and come into the ark of the Word, so to
speak. Thus, to be able to sort out the difference between the Appearing and
Coming is a key in helping us to recognize our day and it’s Message. And yet
there are many in this Message that believe the Message of the hour is that God
sent a prophet. But Jesus said Himself, “If I bear witness of my self, my witness is
not true, but there is another that beareth witness of me.” Then if Jesus could not come and bear witness
of Himself, how could William Branham come on the scene and do what Jesus could
not do. Therefore, I say that the Message of this hour is not that God sent
to us a Prophet, but the Message of
this hour is what that Prophet brought to us, and that is this, That the Father
of Glory has descended with a shout, in
the form of Spirit, and made Himself known to man through both natural means,
like the Photo’s and things, and Supernatural vindication, as in “Thus saith he
Lord” and never once did it miss.
Therefore, on Sunday
morning, in the Book of [Malachi 4]
that He would not only send forth His Spirit with healing in His Wings, as we
see in [verse 2], But
unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in
His Wings; but we also found that just after this healing ministry goes
forth, there will be a teaching ministry that will follow. Manna from Heaven,
so to speak. “and ye shall go forth, and
grow up as calves of the stall.” Because there must be something that will help the people to go
forth and grow up, or mature in Christ.
Therefore, we can not
predict with certainty what the scripture really is telling us until that
portion of Scripture becomes manifested before us. Then if we are spiritual,
and if we have the Spirit of God in us we shall be able then to discern what
has taken place in the hour that we live and then we shall be able to identify
it in the scriptures. In other words,
until the Lord did come with Healing campaigns as the world has never seen
before in all of it’s history, then we could only speculate as to what Malachi
4 would mean. But once we actually saw this healing ministry of the Lord going
forth, then we could see what else was to accompany it, as we have thus far
discussed. #1) a feeding was to follow,
which would of course mean that a teaching ministry was to follow, and #2) a maturing would come about in response
to the feeding.
And although the one who was
used to bring this message is gone off the scene, the Message still lives on.
Just as the calves continue to eat long after the food has been delivered, and
the one ho delivers the food walks away, we see it was not necessary for the Messenger
to remain with us throughout our eating frenzy. After all, if this were to be the case then we would have to
alter Ephesians chapter 4.
we discussed the role of the
five-fold ministry as it pertains to this end-time hour as we saw in [Ephesians 4: 8-16] These then are gifts
to the church which are here then for the perfecting, or maturing of the Saints. And that has a reason as well. That
we hence forth be not children. Then if we hence forth be not children, then
the purpose of this ministry is to finish off, or to bring to completion the
growth process in the saints. And this is to be accomplished by speaking the
Truth in Love.
Now in the Book of
Corinthians Paul speak to us of this growing into a mature Christian stage when
He says, in [13:9-12] Now we know in
part, but then shall we know even as we are known. When will that be? When that
which is perfect is come. So we are looking at a coming of sorts, which is not
exactly a coming, but it is an appearance, or a making visible of that which beforehand
was not visible, as we heard John tell us in 1 John 1. We see then that this
making visible, or this Appearing, this manifestation of the Word will then
have an effect upon the saints because it will help us to grow up, or mature in
the Word.
[1 John 3: 1-3] & [Collosians
3:4] & [2 Cor 3:18] and [1 Cor 1: 4-10] tell us how this
maturing process will take place. So we see that there must be a fulfillment of
Malachi 4:2 in it’s entirety if there is to be a Bride which will be made
ready. For God is not one who lacks patience and therefore, He is not coming for
a child Bride, but for a fully mature one. [Romans 5:1-8] Note:
verse 8 tells us that even before we knew what was going on, God had already
prepared our way to receive what He has for us. So we see that we must learn to
wait upon God for the interpretation of His Own Word. And that is where the
prophet of God comes in. In [Hebrews 1:1]
we read, God, who in sundry times and divers manners spake in times past unto
the fathers by (through, or in) the prophets.
Now, what does this mean
that God spoke by, through or in the Prophets?
Well, the Word of God is written by men who were moved by the Holy
Ghost, right? Then that would explain God speaking by the prophets. And how would the Word of God be spoken through
the Prophets? Brother Branham explained this in paragraph 125, when he
said, “David couldn't even think now.
His mind had gone from him, as it were. And he was hanging on the cross,
like you see the statue here, hanging on the cross crying, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? All my bones, they
stare at Me. They pierced My hands and My feet. They thrust My side."
See? "Why art Thou so far from Me?
All the bulls of Bashan compass by; they wag their heads, saying, 'He trusted in
God that he would deliver him; now, let's see if He will deliver him,'"--speaking
the same words. So you see, when God was made manifest on earth here, He said
the same words David did. You get it? So you see, It's not the word of man, it's the Word of God. That was God in David. That wasn't David; he didn't know what he was saying; he
was just so in the Spirit. That's the way Moses was. He was so in the Spirit, passed out of the dimension that he was
living in, and stood there face to face and that burning bush, talking to
God Himself. Said, "Take off your shoes. The ground you're standing on is
holy ground." I'd imagine when
Moses left there, he thought, "What happened? What taken place? What was it?" Said, "Go down in Egypt; I'll go with
you." He said, "It's so real
to me, I must go." He got his wife and his children, and his child,
rather, and his stick in his hand, and took off down to Egypt to deliver the
people. See? God speaking Himself
through the prophet.”
Or yet still how is it that
God could speak to the Fathers in the Prophets? We find our
answer in [Num 12:1-10] So
we see that, in many instances with certain prophets, God actually spoke by, in
and through the Prophets, and therefore, that prophet was the Word for the age which
they lived. Let’s face it, in the Book of Genesis, we see Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, and then in Exodus we hear of Moses, and it seems that in most
of the Books we read from this Bible, the scene is one in Which God Himself
comes down to speak to man, but He uses a man to deliver His Message.
Then that story that we hear
or read is of the ordeal that the particular Prophet has in getting God’s
Message across to the people. Then what is the Bible? But the Revelation of
Jesus Christ through God’s anointed servants. Then how does God manifest that
portion of His Word in that specific age? He uses a man, a prophet and that man
then becomes that Word in a manifested form or manner.
Then what is the Message to
any age? It is the Revelation of Jesus Christ as it comes forth in a manifested
way to the people, but under the moving or guiding hand of the God’s Holy
Presence. In fact Brother Branham said in his audio letter to Brother Vayle, “Would it be, you think, advisable in here,
to say that God then, in order to--to proclaim this, has to send a prophet in
order to inject this, make this real again, show the people the hour we're
living in? Because if they only see it in the hour past, then there's no hope
for the church. The church must see it in the present tense. So God sends His prophet to manifest, present
tense of it.”
And that is the key to our
understanding the Message of God for the hour. We see God manifest His Word
through His Prophet and then it brings the Word into a present tense understanding
to us, making it real and live out again amongst the people. And notice how he
said, ? “Because if they only see it in the hour past, then there's no hope
for the church. The church must see it in the present tense. So God sends His prophet to manifest, present
tense of it.”
Also, from Anointed Ones at the End-time Brother Branham said, “"For it is impossible for those which
were once enlightened and didn't move on with the Word as it come to pass..." They're dead, gone.) So we can see, then, the importance of the Word of God being
manifested in the age that we live and our reaction to that Living Word. Notice then the next words, brother
Branham speaks here in paragraph [137],
when he says, “And all the Scripture is Divinely given, Divinely set in order; and
the whole thing is a revelation of Jesus Christ, the New and Old Testament,
where they foretold of Him coming, what He would do when He got here, and what He would do in this age to come.
And yet when He came the people
missed Him, yet He came just exactly as He said He would come, but the people
missed Him because He didn’t come the way they expected Him to come. [1 Cor 2:7-8] Now, had they known Him
they would not have done to Him the things which they did. Yet if we continue
to read on in this Book, we find that it takes the Spirit of God to anoint us
to that Word in order for us to understand it. [1 Cor 2:9-16] That is why we hear John tells us in [1 John 2: 20-21 & 27] . Now this does not mean that God
bypasses the ministry, because after all, if He has placed this Five-Fold Gift
in the Church fort the maturing of the saints, then this anointing which John
is speaking of must tie in somehow with these gifts to the church as we also
hear John say in [John 13:19-20
& 1 John 4: 6, John 6: 28-29]
Now in this Paragraph we
heard brother Branham say, “And all the
Scripture is Divinely given, Divinely set in order; so we see
that we are dealing with a gift of God to the people, and one which has been , Divinely
set in order. Now, this as well
ought to help us to see that God just doesn’t do these things haphazardly, but
He has Divine order to the way in which He sets these things forth. In fact we
read in [1 Peter 1:5] that God has a
season which is epochal and strategic in it’s significance. (read) Wuest “A salvation that is ready to be
revealed in a last season which is epochal and strategic in it’ significance.”
So we see that there is to
be a last season apokolupsis or uncovering which is strategically planned out
so that it will bring about a certain pre-planned result in God’s Elect. We see also read in verse 11 the timing and strategy was even
searched for, when it speaks of the
prophets who searched for the manner and manner of season which the Revelation of Jesus
Christ would come. Therefore, this
ought to clue us in on the workings of God. He has a way in which He does
things, and when we are aware of His way, we then are open to receive
whatsoever He has for us by way of His manifested Word of Promise, and that
Word’s fulfillment. So that makes Him the same yesterday, today,
and forever. See? Like in Hebrews there when Paul wrote it, He's God, Jesus
Christ yesterday of the Old Testament. He's Jesus Christ today, manifested in
the flesh, and He's Jesus Christ forever in the Spirit to come (See, see?),
same yesterday, today, and forever. And
He ever lives to make His Word live what It said It would do for that
age. He is alive. He was alive
in the Old Testament, manifested.
Anointed Ones "I AM sent me." I AM, not I was,
or will be, I AM, present tense, the Word now. Not the Word that was, the Word
that will come, the Word that's now. See? You get it? "I AM..." I AM
is the Word. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God."