Christ Revealed in
His Own Word #98
“The Age and the
Message”
Wednesday, April 30,
1998
Brian Kocourek,
Pastor Grace Fellowship
This evening we will begin
looking at paragraphs 114 and 115 from Christ Revealed in His Own Word, and this will be number 98 in our series.
[114] There's many tried to impersonate
them prophets, like priests or so forth. And what do they do? Just messed up;
that's all. They couldn't do it, 'cause God
had selected the man for the age,
and selected the message, and even the nature of the man and what would go over in that age--what He could put over, how He could... With the
nature of that certain man, He could blind the eyes of others. The words that that man would say, the way he acted, would blind others
and open other's eyes. See? He dressed
the man in the type of dress that he was, the nature, the ambition,
and everything, just the way he had
to be, just perfectly selected for that
certain people that He'd call for
that certain age. While others would stand, and look at him, and say,
"Well I can't... There's... I can't..." See, they were blinded.
[115] Jesus
came the same way, dressed. Immortal God dressed in human flesh, and
because He was born in a manger in a
stable full of manure, not a place to lay His head, born, thinkingly with a illegitimate name tacked to Him... See?
All these things that He was, and how He come up a carpenter's Son, how He had no
schooling, more or less in the world, the wisdom of this world, He didn't
have nothing to do with it. None of this
world's civilization, education,
or anything, He had not one thing to do with it, why, He's God. It would clash. If He tried to go to a seminary somewhere and learn
something that these world's churches was doing, what in the... Why, it
wouldn't even--why, it wouldn't even--wouldn't
correspond at all with His understanding, for He was God. So education, schooling, seminaries,
and things is absolutely contrary to the
will of God. The whole educational system is contrary to God. Everything teaches away from God all the
time. When I hear a man say that he's Doctor, Ph.D., L.L.Q, that just makes him that much farther from God
to me. See? He's just educated hisself that much farther from what he really
was called to do. That's right.
There is quite a lot of
things to look at in these two paragraphs that we just read. Let’s first begin
by examining paragraph [114] and the
first part of [115] where the focus
is on the fashioning of the prophet by the very hand of God. Brother Branham, by saying, that God selects the man and the age, He selects
the Message and even the way that the Messenger will say it, and how he will
say it, and He selects the Messengers nature, and the way that he acts, and
even the way he dresses, and it is God that gives him his ambition, and
everything about him. And we find brother Branham telling us that God does all
of this for a dual purpose, and that is to catch the attention of a certain
ordained group of people and to blind the eyes of every one else.
Then what we are looking at
here is predestination in it’s highest form, because the age is set, the message
for that age is set, the messenger for that age is set and even the people to receive that message are set, which means they are put in place,
in order for the time and season to brake forth. Therefore, anything outside of
this plan will not, and can not, accept the plan of God, for they are not
ordained to receive it. Therefore what happens outside of this setting, or this
plan of God, is not important to us, and is only significant as it may pertain
to the over all plan of God for the age. Now think about that. Nothing that is
going on in this world, with all the politics that is happening, and all the
setting up of a new world order, and all the power struggles that are going on,
and all the immoral living which is swallowing up the world, these things don’t
have one thing to do with you and I.
We were sent in this day,
and in this age, for one purpose, and one purpose only, and that is to be
united to the message that God has brought in this hour. Therefore, only the
Bride of Christ will have the proper focus, and therefore the correct eyes to
be able to filter out every thing else that is going on in this world. Should I
then care about the new world order? Should I then care about who is President
of the Untied States? Should I then get involved with all the moral issues that
have grabbed hold of the evangelical churches? Should I then be concerned about
the many issues that have engulfed the Conservative and fundamental Christians?
The answer to all of these questions is definitely NO! At least not in the way
that they view these problems. [Hebrews 11: 13-16] & [1 Peter 2: 11-17] Should it then bother me how that this
nation kills a few million helpless children each year? Should it then bother me that television is
pumping into the homes of millions,
political insanity and immoral decay that will send millions to hell?
My answer is again NO! At
least not in the way you might think. For although I am against those things,
yet those things are not affecting the bride of Jesus Christ of whom I am made
a minister. Will the bride of Christ
sacrifice their babies to the heathen female goddess of women’s rights? The answer is absolutely
not! Does the bride of Christ allow those devils of the fourth dimension into their home? The answer is absolutely
not! For the Bride of Christ has received a Prophet from God and believe him
when he told us to get rid of their televisions from their home, and they are obedient to the voice of God.
So then, as a minister of God, do I worry about the bride of Christ? Absolutely
not, because I believe she has been obedient to the heavenly vision and has
received the Message, and the Messenger, in the age that God sent it. And
besides this, I believe He has come down Himself to make ready a prepared
people. And what God plans to do will be done. Therefore, my concern is not for
the bride of Christ, but for those whoa re not in the Election, because they
are the ones that will be here for the new world order and all the atrocities
that will follow.
Remember, not too long ago
we studied the thought that there must be three things in order for God to
Reveal Himself. #1) The One who reveals, #2) The one in Whom He reveals and #3)
the Ones to whom He is revealed.
And this Prophet said that, “God
selects the man and the age, He selects the Message and even the words and the
way that the Messenger will say the Message. God even selects the Messengers
nature, and the way that the Messenger will act, and even the way that the
Messenger dresses, and even his ambition is so ordained from God, that everything about him is ordained and given
by God, in order to be received by a people who are ordained to receive it.”
Therefore if the prophet is
ordained in his nature, dress, ambition, and what He says and how he says it,
and the manner he says it, and the manner of his actions and everything else is
ordained of God, then the same can be said of those who are ordained to receive
it. Because he also said, just perfectly selected for that certain people that
He'd call for that certain age. Then
if there is a certain group for a certain age, then there must be certain
attributes that will make up the nature of that group, for the word certain
implies uniqueness and peculiarity. [Titus 2:13-14] & [1 Peter 2:6-10].
Now, Webster tells us that
the word certain means: determined, fixed and settled; to sift or separate, It also means to be
reliable and without any doubt. Therefore
we can see that this certain group is a separated group, one which is
determined, and therefore fixed, settled, and has no doubts. The opposite words
would be doubt and skepticism. Therefore if you have a group of people who
would be the opposite of this certain group, they would be skeptics which are
doubters.
I therefore, conclude that
this certain group, or this group that is certain, would therefore have to be a group who exudes faith, for faith is
the evidence of things not seen, and where there is faith, doubt is absent. But we also see in the definition of the word
certain, a peculiarity of the group itself. Because when we say that certain
group, we are implying a specific group, of which just any group will not do.
Not just any, but that certain group, that specific, that fixed group, that
group that has already been determined.
[Romans 1:17 & 5:1-2].
And [1 Cor 2:7] even tells us that
the hidden wisdom of God was ordained for our own glory!
So, you can see that God has a certain Message for a certain age,
and He also has a certain group who are ordained to receive that message. Now,
if God has a certain message that you are ordained to receive, then He must
also ensure that when that message goes forth, that you are their to receive
it. Other wise, what good would it do if God ordained a certain group to hear a
certain message and respond in a positive way toward it if that message was
brought in an age when that group was not living? What good would it do if I gave you tickets for a play that ended
last week? What good would it do if I gave you
confederate money? It was good at one time, but it would do you no good
any more. The ticket might have been good last week, but it will not do
anything for you this week. And therefore, what good would it have been for God
to send forth a certain message if His timing was wrong and the people it was
intended for were not living in that time frame?
So you can see the
importance of God’s planning everything, from the place and time, to the
messenger and the certain group who are ordained to receive it. Now, if the Prophet Messenger is ordained to
speak the ordained message in a certain way, then it is apparent that everyone
else are ordained to hear it in a certain way. Some are ordained to hear and
understand, while others are ordained to hear and not understand. [Acts 13:48] & [Matt 13:10-16]
& [Jude 1:4] notice here that
even the unbelievers were ordained to their destiny. Therefore, if God ordained
and designed that prophet, and the way
he would reflect the message, then he had to ordain and design a certain people
who reflect it in the same manner, for brother Branham even used Jesus Christ,
God’s own Son as an example of this. [Romans
3:22-23]. There is not any of us, prophet or not which did not have to come
the same way, and receive the message of God by Faith. Therefore, the whole program of God is
predestined right from the top to the bottom, from the prophet down to the last
little believer who enters in by the same revelation.
Now, then we notice the statement
of brother Branham’s which he said the man and message were designed in such a
way as to be received by some and rejected by others. Now, if it was designed
to be given in such a way as to be received by some, then for what reason was
this done? [Romans 8:29-30] Therefore, we can see that the message is brought
forth to help us to conform to the image of His dear Son. But if we are not
conformable, then we would have to reject it. Therefore, only those who are
conformable, will identify with it, because there is something in us to begin
with that identifies with it. Therefore, we are already from the start on our
way toward redemption the very minute we begin to hear the voice of God in the
form of His shout. [1 John 3:1-3] beloved, NOW are we...
Yet we are not yet conformed. But when He shall appear we shall be like Him. [Col 3:4] When He begins to manifest in
His True Character, then we shall begin to do the same. He leads by example and
we follow. That is God’s ordained way.
Therefore, no matter who
your father was in the flesh, or who your mother is in the flesh, it makes no
difference to God. If you are ordained to receive the Message and the
Messenger, then that shows that your true father is God, and that you have what
it takes to believe, namely faith. And
let’s face it, our flesh comes from the earth and is earthy, but our soul comes
from God. [Eccl 12:7]