Christ Revealed in His Own Word #79
Saturday, February 22, 1997
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor Grace Fellowship
[1 Cor 2:6-8] Let us pray...
This evening I would like to speak about this hidden wisdom which the
world knows nothing about. In order to do so, I would like to read from the
next few paragraphs [90-93] to be
exact, from Brother Branham’s Message, “Christ
Revealed in His Own Word”, along with various Scriptures, and together,
we will begin to examine just why the people can’t seem to understand this
Message. Why this Message and this Bible, seem to be just a mystery to them.
And we will also see why there is so much confusion amongst the people today,
even among many who claim to follow the Message.
Now as we begin, we read
from the Scripture where Paul says, “Howbeit
we speak wisdom among them that are perfect:” Now, I hope you remember from last week that
this word “perfect” does not mean to
those who are without sin, but to those who are mature, and complete, and fully
grown, and having reached adulthood.
Last week we spoke on the maturing of the Bride and we saw how that
there is a certain process that we must go through in order to come to full
maturity in Christ, and be ready for the adoption, to wit the redemption of the
body. And so Paul is speaking here of a wisdom that not everybody is capable of
receiving. This wisdom is being spoken among them that are fully mature, or of
a full age, and not to children and babies. And we know that he is speaking of
those who receive the Perfect Word in this age and no others. So we see that he
is addressing those who will be alive at the Parousia of Christ. Those who will
be alive at the time of the fullness of the age, or ages. And, remember, last
week when we read from [1 Cor 13],
where Paul said, “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”. We know he said this in reference to
verse [9] where he was speaking of the
Coming perfect Word, which is a fully revealed and vindicated Word at the
End-time. And so, we see here this
morning that this wisdom that Paul is speaking about is not for everyone. It is
only for those who are mature, and of
full age, and are made ready to receive it. Therefore, he goes on to tell us that in order for this word to
be only for them who are of full age, it then must be hidden thus making it
mysterious to them who are not ordained to receive it.
Now in getting back to our text,
we read, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect,( This word among them, can also be translated ,
by
them, through them, in them, with them, and among
them, so you can see that the them, being spoken of here plays an
instrumental part in what Paul is saying. Keep that in mind as we look further
into this hidden wisdom, and how it can be hidden to some and yet to others, it
is so very plain, and easily understood.. Because, after all, to the them
he is speaking of, the mature ones, the perfect ones, this wisdom is being
addressed. But to others it is not being addressed, but it is said in such a
way as to be kept a secret and hidden. ) “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect. Among them, and by them and in them, and through them
that are perfect... Yet not the wisdom of
this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: (In other words, not just any
wisdom, but a certain wisdom that the world knows nothing about). But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
(Now here is the clue), It is spoken in a way that keeps it mysterious to those
who are not supposed to know. And why is this? Because he goes on to say,
Because it is hidden... [even]
the hidden [wisdom], Hidden
wisdom, think of that! God purposely hid this wisdom, and why would He do that?
Because God ordained it for a purpose. And what is that purpose? “which God ordained
before the world unto our glory: Because
it was ordained for our Glory and no one else’s. That’s why. “Which none of the princes of this world
knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. For
had they known this wisdom, they would have acted a whole lot differently
toward it.
Now, before we go further
into the Scripture, let’s follow up with a few vindicated thoughts from God’s
Prophet on this hidden mystery. [90] These three musts, must be: Must not misinterpret or mishandle
It, misinterpret or dislocate It. It
must be kept just exactly the way God said It was. To the world It's a Book of mystery. The people believe It's just a mysterious Book. One time I was talking to a very famous man
here in the city, that holds a great standing of Christianity, and he said,
"I tried to read the Book of Revelations one night." Said, "John
must've had a big bait of hot pepper and had a nightmare." See, a Book of
mystery, but while to the true believer, It's the revelation of God being
revealed in the age we're living in.
Now, listen carefully to the next couple of thoughts that Brother
Branham tells us, [
91] He said, "My words are Spirit and Life."
Jesus said that... Again, "The Word
is the Seed that a sower sowed." We know what that's true. It's God in Word form, and It can only be interpreted by Himself.
The human mind is not capable to
interpret the mind of God.( Now, I want you to pay close attention
here, because this is the key!) . The human mind is not capable to interpret the
mind of God. How can the little, uh...a little finite
mind, interpret the infinite Mind, when we can't even interpret one another's mind. And you notice, He is the only One can interpret It, and He interprets It to whom He will. It didn't say
"Mortals of old as they strode across the earth in sundry times and divers
manners." God in sundry times
and divers manners revealed Himself
to His prophets. See? (Now, if you
go home and listen to this tape, you will se that Brother Branham really
emphasizes this fact that God will only reveal Himself through His Word to
those Whom He chooses to do so. )
[93] And notice. To whom He will reveal It... And He so designed that He could hide
Himself in the Scriptures to the smartest theologian there is. Oh, my. He can just hide Himself, set right
there in the Scripture, and you look all day long and never see it, look a lifetime and never see it. He can
just hide Himself setting there. Now,
please, everywhere, let that soak in, that God
in the Word can hide Himself so in the Word, that there isn't a theologian or a school in the
world could ever find Him. And yet
He's setting right there. You say, "Is that right, Brother
Branham?" How about the Pharisees and Sadducees? How about in every age? He's done it. Sure. He's
done so in every age. Now, we could check that. Let's think about the days of Noah, smart, intellectual age, how
He hid Hisself in His promised word;
in the days of Moses how He hid Hisself;
in the days of Elijah how He hid Hisself;
in the days of Jesus how He hid Hisself.
"He was in the world, and the world
was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came to His own; His own received
Him not." See? He hides Himself
from the smartest, intellectual man there is on the earth.
Now, notice what he is
telling us here. God purposely hides Himself from the intellectual, and the
wisdom of man. He says, “ God can so hide Himself in the Word, that there
isn't a theologian or a school in the world could ever find Him. And yet He's setting right there.” Now just think about that. Why, you talk about sovereignty, there you
are. Paul said, ). But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. This word
mystery is a Greek word, musterion, which means, “something
that is hidden and kept secret to all except those who He has confided in, to
let them know His purpose.”
And so we see a hidden,
secret purpose that God has, and it is laid out or planned this way for a
purpose. Because it is designed to bring forth His own Glory in those who are
ordained, predetermined beforehand to receive it. ... [even] the hidden [wisdom],
Hidden wisdom, think of that! God purposely hid this wisdom from everyone
except those whom He ordained to receive it. “which God ordained before
the world unto our glory.” And the reason He makes it manifest to us is
that He has ordained that our Glory could not be made perfect or complete
without this Wisdom. Then what Paul is telling
us is that it will take this Wisdom, which has been hidden from man, to bring
forth the Glory of God in the Elect.
Just think of that. Just
think, God loves you so much, that He has hidden from every one else, that
thing which will bring you into your Glorified condition, so that no one may
lay claim to that which belongs only to you. Then, knowing this, we can see
that it has been reserved for you. It
has been kept guarded for you. Now, in
this world, you may receive some inheritance, or even gifts from people on this
earth. And sometimes we might come into a little extra money along the way, but
the first thing you know, out of the blue, we receive an unexpected bill, and
it robs us of our earthly treasure. But this treasure that God has for us, has
been kept safely hidden, from everyone, and has only your name on it, and no
one else may touch it. It is ordained to bring you into that Glorified
condition that we all long for.
Talk about Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound. Hidden mystery! Jesus Prayed
in [Matthew 11:25] and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes.
In [Ephesians 3:9]we read, “And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which
from the beginning of the world hath been
hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: “ Here we see that this hidden mystery has been
hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. Then in...
[Colossians 1:26] we
read, [Even] the mystery which hath
been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: So we see here that this
mystery has been hidden from the ages, and from generations. Now, this word generations is a Greek word, Genea
which we get our root word,
genealogy. It means, men of the same stock, a certain race of men.
And so we see that there is a certain stock or lineage that or race of men
which this mystery has been hidden from. God did not hide it from all men, but
only a certain race of men. Because
after all, we know that it is revealed unto a certain Elect people to bring
them into Glory, and to bring forth their Glorified bodies.
[Matthew 13:10-16] And the
disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in
parables? He answered and said unto
them, Because it is given unto you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be
given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall
be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because
they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And
in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which Saith, By hearing ye shall
hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not
perceive: For this people's heart is
waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have
closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with
[their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them. But blessed [are] your eyes, for they see:
and your ears, for they hear.
[Mark 4:11] And he said unto
them, Unto you it is given to know the
mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables:
And so we see God using a way of speech to actually hide the
Mysteries from those who are without. This word without, actually means on the
out side. These are not insiders, but outsiders and strangers. Therefore, being
strangers, they are not known, literally. That is why He says to them, depart
from me, I never knew you. They are complete strangers.
[Revelations 2:17] To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden
manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].
[Matthew 16:17] And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh
and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Now that we have thoroughly
established this thought that God hides Himself, or the Revelation of Himself,
in His Word, and He only reveals Himself to those whom He has ordained to
receive this Hidden Mystery. I would like to take this one step further and
show what lineage or genealogy of people it is whom the Lord will not allow to
understand His Word.
[John 8:38-47] I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have
seen with your father. They answered
and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus Saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would
do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you
the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your
Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came
I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye
not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of [your] father the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own: for
he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell [you] the truth, ye
believe me not. Which of you convinceth
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He
that is of God heareth God's words: ye
therefore hear [them] not, because ye are not of God.
Now, as we read this
repudiation of the Pharisees by Jesus, we hear Him declare that a certain attribute
or characteristic will make very clear which family tree you are from. These attributes and characteristics will
surely mark out whether a person is a begotten one of God, or whether they had
there lineage from the devil. Jesus
says, “I speak that which I have seen
with my Father: and ye do that which
ye have seen with your father,” and again he says, You claim to be
descendants from Abraham and therefore his seed, but “If ye were Abraham's
children, ye would do the works of Abraham”. In other words, there would be
definite attributes and characteristics showing forth in your life that were
indeed a part of Abraham’s own life. And those attributes would express
themselves in you like they did in him when it comes to the Word of God. Then
Jesus nails it down when He tells them just exactly what attributes they do
have. “Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of [your] father the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will
do”, Notice that He tells them that they are expressing the attributes
that the devil has, and not Abraham.
And what are those attributes? Jesus
says, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
This word lusts simply means a desire and the desire is not to follow God’s Word, but their own
thinking. And notice Jesus some it up when he says, “He that is of God heareth God's
words: ye therefore hear [them] not, because ye are not of God.”
And so we see that there are
two families involved with the hidden mysteries. And this hidden mystery affects
both families, but in different ways.
One family, or lineage, has been ordained, and predestined by God to
receive and believe the mystery of Himself for the age that they live in, while
the other family are not ordained to receive this revelation of Christ, and
thus they must by their own nature and expression of their own attributes,
reject it.
[John 3:20-21] For every one
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth
truth cometh to the light, that his
deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought
in God. I want you to
notice further, what Jesus says in [John
8] when he says, . “Why do ye not understand my speech? [even]
because ye cannot hear, ( you
can not understand) my word.(Therefore) Ye are of [your] father the devil,” ( it is his
thinking and his desires that you will do).
Now this gets us back to
what brother Branham said, . “The human mind is not capable to interpret the
mind of God,” And so therefore,
when they try, they will always fail, just by the nature of being different
from God. And that is why Lucifer in
the beginning could not be equal with God even though in every detail he was
the same. Because Jesus was the only begotten, while Lucifer was a created
being. Jesus was the Son of God while Lucifer was the son of the morning. Now
Jesus is the bright and Morning star, is that not right? And when God brought
forth His Word, it went forth as His Son in the form of a light, as Brother
Branham said, that little light that stood before the great door of God’s
Eternity.
Collosians 1 tells us he is
the first born of God, and in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ He is
called the Bright and Morning Star. yet we see that Lucifer was called son of
the morning. Now how could he be son of the morning, if Jesus is the Morning?
Well, Lucifer was the first creation of Jesus when He first come forth from God
like a little light. And it was through the instrumentality of this little
light, Christ that God created the worlds. Lucifer was the first thing created
and he was an exact copy of Christ in every detail, except he was born, he was
created. [Isaiah 14:12-14] I will be like, this word means to resemble. We
find further evidence of this in [Ezekiel
28:12-18] Notice here we are told
that he was omniscient, because we are told that he was full of wisdom and this
word full here is actually fullness.
And he had the fullness of the wisdom of God in Him until his own
thinking got in the way. God had
brought forth two mighty Angels, one by birth and the other He created. Christ
came forth from God to bear His own likeness and to become flesh, to live and
die in the flesh that He might lead Sons back to God. He was created for an
earthly kingdom. The other was created to lead the spirit beings in worship.
But he corrupted the wisdom that was placed in him, because of the brightness
of his own presence, and instead of leading the spirit being in worship, he
tries to destroy the earthly kingdom, that God brought forth in flesh. He is
called an angel of light, because he
was created in the likeness of the Pillar of
Fire. Now tomorrow morning we will pick up here and show you how it is
that this wisdom became corrupted and what it has done,