Christ Revealed in
His Own Word #97
“God’s Ship”
Sunday, April 27, 1997
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor Grace Fellowship
Last night we spoke from
paragraph 111 where brother Branham made a comparison of the prophets and how
that they had to live a separated life from the brethren. [111] The
prophet-writer must be in constant fellowship with the Author. See? He must live constantly in the Presence
of the Author to know what the Book's going to be. See? The prophet-writer,
he had the pen and ready anytime, constant fellowship with the Author, which
was God, to strike down whatever He said put down. See? Showed what kind of a
life He must... A separated life from
all of his brethren...
We talked of this fellowship
as two fellows in one ship, two persons on the sea of Life together. They have
one thing in common, and that is the ship. The ship is what sustains them, and
keeps them and gives them hope of making it through rough waters and calm. The
ship is their place of abode. They sleep in it and walk in it, and exercise in
it and play in it. They live in it and they really are in a sense a prisoner within
it, and yet a joyous prisoner, because they would rather be in the ship than
left out in the deep somewhere drifting or perhaps sinking, and drowning. Therefore, they learn to be happy in it
because it is what keeps them alive and living with hope, earnestly expecting
that one day they will come to the promised shore, the promised land. [Acts
17:24-28]
Therefore, in this ship we
have some activities and other attributes that we find absorbing the greater
portion of our awakening hours. This ship represents the quality, condition,
and the state of our being. Whether it’s, fellow-ship,
friend-ship
Wor-ship, Steward-ship, Son-ship,
or Head-ship, these are the
conditions that we have together with our partner and that show forth our state
of being, and condition of life that we find ourselves. [1 John 1:7]
We also found that in order
to have the best conditions, the best state of being and the best quality of
life, we are dependent upon having the best partner we could possibly have in
order to help create an atmosphere in the ship that will be conducive for a
pleasant journey. And since this is
important also for our mental and spiritual well-being, then we can see how
important it is to have a partner for this life’s journey who will create such
a wonderful atmosphere that you would never want to leave this ship! And there is One Who was born with just such
a purpose in life as to bring forth such an atmosphere that you’d never want to
leave Him, and that is Christ Himself. The Son of God. In [Hebrews
3:1,12-14 ] we find that we have been made (Partakers) partners with
Christ. (read) In [Hebrews 6:4-6] we
also find that we are partners or companions of Christ, and we know that He has come down in this hour so that we
might be with Him forever.
In our study last night we
also found that as with any fellowship, it is a matter of being in the same
ship. In the same Quality, condition or state of being. [Philippians 2:1-5] And so we see that this ship is created through
a condition of the mind. “Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus.” That is what brings us into the ship, and that is what
keeps us in the ship. And that is why He has come to be glorified in His
Saints. [2 Thess 1:10] And so we see
that He has come with a shout to present to us the right mind that we might
enter into the right atmosphere which
will allow us then to receive the voice of the resurrection when it comes into
focus. That is why we talk about Him. Because if He was created to bring forth
Fellowship with the Father and then with us, then it is this atmosphere, this
ship, this quality, this condition, and this state of being that we desire not
only to enter into, but to remain. And how do we enter into this ship? [1
John 1: 3-7]
Now, this morning I would
like to proceed with this Message as we pick up at paragraph [111
and read through 112] Prophets
did not always understand what they were writing or what they were saying, or
they would in no wise have said it, if they could've understood it. See? But the Bible said they were moved by the Holy Ghost: Moved. When the Holy Ghost moves you, you move. God in sundry times and
divers manners spake to the prophets that were moved by the Holy Ghost. That's why all ages, the people who were spiritual consulted the
prophets about the times and what was to happen. The prophet-writer must be
in constant fellowship with the
Author. See? He must live constantly in the Presence of the Author to know what
the Book's going to be. See? The prophet-writer, he had the pen and ready anytime,
constant fellowship with the Author, which was God, to strike down whatever He
said put down. See? Showed what kind of a life He must... A separated life from all of his brethren...
Christ Revealed in His Own
Word #97
Sunday, April 27, 1997 “God’s Ship”
Now, that's why the prophet had his
mind set constantly on what God said,
not what man thought, what the age thought, what the church thought, what the
kingdom thought; what God thought. He
only expressed God's thoughts to Word, 'cause a "word" is "a
thought when it's expressed." You got it now? The Word is a thought
expressed, so the prophet was waiting for God's thoughts. And when God revealed
His thoughts to him, he expressed it in word: THUS SAITH THE LORD (See?), not
"Thus saith I, the prophet, THUS SAITH THE LORD." See? All
right. That's why they defied kingdoms
and church ages, which to do so in their days was a death penalty. Who'd walk
up in a king's face and tell him, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, such-and-such is
going to happen"? You'd have your head chopped off. The church would put you to death right now
for doing it. But these prophets were
bold. Why? They were moved by
the Holy Ghost (See?), and that's
why they become bold. And they wrote the infallible Word of God.
Now, as I mentioned last night,
we heard brother Branham mention in paragraph 111 that the prophets of God were
moved
by the Holy Ghost. And we found that he mentioned it five times alone in one
statement, so therefore, we can see an emphasis on this word being made.
If we turn to [2
Peter 1:21] “For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of men: but holy men
as they we moved by the Holy Ghost.” Here we see Peter using this word as well, and I thought it was interesting
to note that as we focused last night on the resultant fellowship that the
prophet had with the Author, and therefore the ship which they held in
common, ( the state of being), it is interesting to note as we look at this
word moved,
that Peter uses and that we find brother Branham emphasizing, is Greek
word phero which is a primary
verb meaning to bring forth or to carry, to be conveyed or borne with the
suggestion of force or speed, and is used in reference to persons borne in a
ship over the sea.
It is interesting to note
here that this word that Peter used, phero speaks of one being carried along or brought forth, and if we
consider this carefully we will also notice that the person being carried has
no power over the one carrying him. Now,
just so we can get the full depth and picture of what this word conveys, let’s
go to the Bible again and see for ourselves the use of this word in scripture.
The first usage is in [Mark 6:27-28] And immediately the king sent an
executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and went and beheaded
him in the prison, and brought his head in a charger (platter), and gave
it unto the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.” Now, in this instance, John the
Baptist did not have much of a say how his head would be transported, did he.
And he certainly had no power over how he was carried and how fast he would get
from one place to the next. It was completely out of His control.
We also see this same example of being brought forth with no
control over the process of being carried in the book of [Luke 5:18] “And,
behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they
sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before Him. And when they could
not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they
went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into
the midst before Jesus.”
Now, we can see here that
this man who had the palsy had absolutely no control over his being carried and
brought forth to Jesus. And so we see this word suggests to us strongly the
manner of being enclosed and like a ship, being carried forth to our
destination by power outside our own control.
In [John 12:24], we hear Jesus say, “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Here we se that the corn of wheat
can’t help but to bring forth much fruit, because that is the nature of the
seed that lays within it. And as long as the wheat does not die and rot, that
life remains dormant. But once it dies out to itself, it allows the life, the
nature that is in the seed to bring forth many times what was in it in seed
life form.
Again we see this
illustration in [John 15:2] Every branch in me that beareth not fruit
he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it
may bring forth more fruit. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye,
except ye abide in me.
Christ Revealed in His Own
Word #97
Sunday, April 27, 1997 “God’s Ship”
5 I am the vine, ye [are] the
branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be
my disciples. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain:
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
In [Acts 2:2], we see this word pecho is used in reference to the speed
at which the spirit of God descended upon the believers on the day of
Pentecost. “And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. “ Notice, it was a rushing wind. The
word rushing here is the same word which speaks of being brought forth or
carried about.
In [I Peter 1:13], it speaks of the Grace of God that is being brought
forth beyond our control, but to us at the revealing of Christ. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ; “
And finally this brings us
back to our text for today which brother Branham is quoting from. [II Peter 1:17] For he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came
such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. ( And how did the voice come? from the Cloud, right? we
see the story in [John 17:1-5] Notice
that the out from the Cloud came forth the Voice. Jesus Himself had nothing to
do with this unless you think he was a
ventriloquist throwing his voice to deceive the Apostles into thinking He was
God. And now let’s get back to [2 Peter
1:] Notice as we read on in verse 18, “And this voice which came from
heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 21 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.
So there we have it. The
prophets had nothing to say about what, how or when the Spirit of God moved
them, no more than a person who is being carried in a ship can control the
winds which carry him. So you can see that they were shut in with God, in a
secret place, there in the Spirit beholding His face, gaining new power to run
in the race, don’t you long to be shut in with God?
Notice the circumstances
which surrounded many of the ordeals which God moved the prophets to do.
Brother Branham wanted us to see this I’m sure, that is why he said, . “That's
why they defied kingdoms and church ages, which to do so in their days was a
death penalty. Who'd walk up in a king's face and tell him, "THUS SAITH
THE LORD, such-and-such is going to happen"? You'd have your head chopped
off. The church would put you to death
right now for doing it. But these
prophets were bold. Why? They were moved
by the Holy Ghost (See?), and
that's why they become bold. And they wrote the infallible Word of God.”
Just look at Moses
Elijah
Jeremiah
Daniel
And then look at those who
were spiritual enough to look to the prophet of their age. Look at