Christ
is the Mystery no. 101
Organized or
Blessed
July 21, 2013
Brian Kocourek
This morning I would like to continue
with our study of Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed and read from pp. 196 Watch, the tree puts forth a
branch, a Lutheran. What did it do? When the tree started coming up, here come
the fruit coming up with it. What happened? They denominated. So the Pruner come by (the Father, Husbandman) and cuts it off at,
"It's dead." Up come the Wesleyan; it done fine coming up. What did
it do? The fruit went right back into the tree again, so He cut the vine off;
it dead. Show me one church... I want to know. I've got thirty-three years of
church history. Show me one time, one place, where any church ever organized
that didn't die on the spot. Show me one place it ever rose
again outside of just numbers and things, not a revival. See? It's not there.
No, sir, she's all gone.
From his sermon, Influence 64-0315 P:62 When they organize,
they die. There's no way back. There
never has been, and there never will be. God is against the thing. That's the
reason He said in the last days He'd say, "Come out from among them, My people, that you
touch not their unclean things, and I'll receive you."
Now, you say well, what does that have to do
with us who have the right understanding of the Godhead which is the first of
all revelations. Well, brother Branham nails that kind of thinking in his sermon,
I have heard but now I see 65-1127E P:83 he
said, "But back in there then they begin to form the oneness
organization, the trinity organization, the twoness organization, (and
then brother Branham says,) and Church of God
organization, and all organized, and just death exactly."
Now, notice brother Branham begins by
showing how each "Godhead belief" began and then organized around
that belief or certain understanding of Godhead, and he says, they organized
around oneness and died, they organized around Trinity and died, then he says they
organized around "twoness", and died, and
before he says they died, he names the Church of God.
Now, this was no slip up, because there is
an offshoot of the Church of God that preaches Twoness,
and their version of the Godhead is about 99% identical to what brother Vayle
taught. I talked to brother Vayle many
times about this and br. Jimmie you know that's true.
Because I mentioned it not only in private but right at the
table sitting around talking.
Now, here is the kicker, the Merriam Webster
dictionary defines "Twoness" as: the quality or state of being two:
duality. And
we know that brother Branham said, "Jesus was a dual person, because
God lived in that body." So was
he preaching Twoness? NO! He was not and did not
preach Twoness. He never said understanding the
Godhead is the greatest of all revelations. That is not what he said. I know
many teah that but he did not teach that.
He
said, "the greatest of all revelations is the Deity,
the supreme deity of the "Lord Jesus Christ" and you can not get to
first base with that.
Now,
that is not saying you have to master the Godhead, not at all. It is
understanding hos God has worked down through the
ages, how that God (Deity) lived in that pillar of fire over Israel, How that
God (Deity) could move into a burning bush and use it, How that God (Deity)
could enter a rock and use it to bring water, and how that same Deity could come
down and live in his son, and live in you and I.
And I've studied their material on the
Godhead when I was writing the books on it, and I've con:d with some of their leaders, and I can say unequivocally they use the same
Scriptures we do for the Godhead all the way through, and their main conclusion
is the same, "There is one God and He had a Son, and the son was not
"God the Son", but rather he was "the Son of God".
But they organized around that doctrine and brother
Branham said right there they died. Why? Because they shut out further light. Now,
where their doctrine is wrong is they do not believe in a pre-incarnate son, as
some in this message do not as well. They believe the son of God did not come
into existence until the virgin birth. But look 99% is right on, but all it
takes is one word of to enter Satan's kingdom.
But Br. Branham said, when
the church begins to Organize on any given point of
scripture that is when they die right there."
Church Age Book 3 - The Ephesian
Church Age P:64 But
as usual people don't heed God's warning. That revival fire built upon the
sacred Word is so wonderful, and the manifestation of the Spirit so blessed,
that a little fear creeps in and a whisper in the heart says, "How
can we protect this truth we have? What can we do to see this revival goes on?"
That is when the "antichrist spirit" comes in and whispers,
"Look, you have the truth now, see that it doesn't get lost. Organize
and set up your creed of what you believe. Put it all in a church manual."
And they do it. They organize. They add to the Word. And they
die just like Eve did for taking One wrong word.
It's God's Word that brings life. And it's not what we say about the Word that
counts, but it's what God said.
And again from the Church Age Book 10 -
Resume of the Ages P:23 When Luther preached justification by faith the true vine
for the first time in many centuries began to grow in a bountiful manner. As
the nominal church had used state power to back it up, now state power began to
flow against it. And this is where Luther made his mistake, and the true
believers made their mistake. They allowed the state to subsidize them. So
this age did not launch out very far on the Word. Thank God that it did go as
far as it did, but because it leaned on political power to a great extent, this
age ended in organization, and this very group that in Luther's generation
had broken from the false vine, now turned back to become a daughter of the
harlot for she went right into Nicolaitanism and Balaamism. This era had scores of factions within it,
and to prove how far they were from true seed is to merely read history
and see how they persecuted each other, even unto death in some cases.
The word denomination according to our dictionary has
several meanings but they all speak of one central theme. While I read the
definitions, I want you to think in terms of what theme carries through out
these definitions. 1. A group of religious congregations united under a
common faith and name and organized under a single administrative and legal
hierarchy. 2.
One of a series of kinds,
values, or sizes, as in a system of currency or weights: 3. A
name or designation, especially for a class or group.
Notice that each example of denomination speaks of an assessed value,
size, or kind. So you see when we think in terms of denomination we must think
in terms of what value or assessment is associated with the denomination we
speak of. And it does not matter what
they hold to, for a vindicated prophet told us when they denominate they die
right there.
So you see to denominate means certain death to the church. And what does
that mean? It means that the Life has left it and they are now holding to a
value that they have assigned. In other words if the word they preached and
emphasized was a certain, certain thing, then if God brings further light upon
that certain thing, or even upon another thing, and the people see that other
thing does not hold the same value to them as the thing they already have, then
they turn it aside and right there they've organized around that one certain,
certain thing. And right there God can no longer help them because they have
turned down further light from His word.
That is why no matter what camp you may claim, when you shut off further
light that is the minute you die right there.
And what if God sends them a teacher and they refuse the teaching, then
they refuse the Holy Ghost because the Apostle John told us that the Holy Ghost
is the Teacher. And what if that teacher dies and the people refuse any other ministry
God has placed in the church to teach or guide the people, then the people will
never come to maturity and the Life will move on and they will dry up and miss what
God continues to do through the gifts he has placed in the church.
Paul told us that the Five Fold ministry is for the perfecting of the
church. That means the finishing off or coming into maturity and full
expression. So to turn down the five fold ministry and to make it a one or two
fold ministry means the people have placed a certain value upon one or two
ministries, and they've shut themselves off from further Light upon God’s word.
Now, I am not talking about further light as though its additional light.
I am talking about further understanding of the Light God has given to us.
So you see, if the light that God continues to shed abroad by the Holy
Ghost is turned away because it did not come from your champion, then it shows
that you have never received the Light and thus the Life of God, but rather the
vessel only that God used. And when you resist the working of God in any form
it shows you also resist God Himself.
Even Jesus Himself said, John 13:20 Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that receives whomsoever I send receives me; and he that
receives me receives him that sent me.
So to say, I accept his prophet but not his teacher is to say I really
don’t trust that God can keep His Word. And to say, I accept His teacher but
not His Apostles or Evangelists or Pastors, etc. means that you are carnal as the Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church. And
to be carnal shows the Life there's no life there, you are relying on form
only. Having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof. Having a form
of God-likeness and denying the Power thereof, and God
told us the power of God is His Word.
From His sermon called Seed not heir with
shuck 65-0218 P:65 Brother Branham was
talking about how that Sarah tried to make the promise happen by giving her concubine to
Abraham, thinking that would fulfill the promise that God had made to
Abraham. And that is how carnal believers always think. They do not trust for
God to work out His Promises, because they really do not trust His Word. So
they try to work them out for themselves and in doing so they always miss the
promise.
That is why John 14:12 is so misunderstood. As I have said all along, it
is not whether you do or whether you do not do, because even Jesus Himself
said, The son can do nothing but whatsoever the father does, that doeth the son
likewise. So as I have said all along, it's whether our motive and objective is
right. That is what John 14:12 is all about. And if our motive and objective
says, "whatsoever the Lord wishes form me to do,
I am willing to do it."
That is why Ezekiel could lie down on his side for 390 days on his left
side and 40 days on his right. Was that a work of Christ? He did what the
father showed him to do? But the problem is people want to get ahead of
God or because they have organized their understanding of God's Word they miss
what God wants for them to be open to.
That is what Brother Branham was saying in this sermon, Seed not heir with shuck 65-0218 P:65 Sarah trying to get the promises all fulfilled
(You see?), like the church today, a great revival in our time by what? By a perverted promise. How are you going to do it
when God never did bless organizations. He never did use an organization. When a message went forth, and they organized, it died right there. I challenge any historian to
show me where it ever raised again. It
died right there and stayed right there. God just moved right on out of that carrier into another one, right
on out of the Lutheran into the Methodist, right on out of the Methodist into the
Pentecostals. Now, He's moved right on out of the Pentecostals into the Seed, because it has to be the
Seed. You can't beat nature.
Again from his
message Jehovah
Jireh 61-0209 P:48 He said, What happened to Luther as
soon as Luther saw the Pillar of Fire? Why, he followed It. But what did he do? After Luther's day, they organized a church
called Lutheran. Then it died right
there on the organization, 'cause it's just like the Catholic church. Then, the first thing you know, along come Wesley. The Pillar of Fire moved right out of the
organization and went on. Wesley saw it, and away he went after it. And as soon as the first round died out, they
organized it, called it the Wesleyan Methodist, or the Methodist church. When they organized it, it died right
there. Then the Pentecostal seen it, going out, not from justification,
under Luther, and sanctification under Wesley, but they saw the baptism of the
Holy Ghost, back to the original blessing. Here they went after it (Oh, my.),
went out and begin to speak with tongues and the power of God working through
them. But what did they do? Organized it. It died
right there. But now the Pillar of Fire
is moving out. It's moving again. It'll never... 49 Never one time did
an organization ever rise up that didn't die and never come back again. I
challenge any historian.
So you see, the minute
men begin to talk of organizing the Message or the Doctrine of Christ, or the
minute they try to take over a man’s ministry whether to protect, preserve it,
or whatever motive they might have, right there they die and if that ministry
allows it, then that ministry will die alongside of them. And the Pillar of
Fire will keep moving on.
But those who
gravitate to organization are going to miss the Rapture. Because
brother Branham defined the Rapture as the Life coming up first in Luther, then
in Wesley and on up to the very end. So it is the process of Life coming
up. And those who miss the Life that the doctrine was ordained to produce will
not be ready for the Word that has been ordained for them in this hour.
Look, brethren, we
have promises of adoption, we have promised of manifesting our Sonship, we have
promises of being conformed tot he Image of the first born son, and the only
thing that will stop you from receiving is yourself. The bible says, "The
Bride hath made herself ready". And by receiving the word into fertile
soil she produced fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred fold."
That is what God wants, a Body that will do what it was ordained to do, produce
fruit.
And it will all be
over very soon, my brothers so be very careful not to organize what God is
doing. Just let go and let God have His way.
Now, let’s follow
through with what brother Branham is saying here because he really nails down
this attitude that let’s you know the attributes and characteristics of
organization.
Brother Branham continues, Jehovah Jireh 61-0209 P:49 I'm looking in the face there of one of the
best there is in the nation. That's right. A historian of the historians is
setting right with us. And I'll ask that man, or any other man, to ever show me
one time that a church ever organized, but it didn't die and stay dead. It
never did rise again in the history of the churches of the world: never did.
God don't want that. God wants us to be free in Him. He wants us to a place
where we can accept all of God. Not stay on this mountain; move out. Abraham's seed. Now, you say, "You're against
organization?" No, sir. Organizations is all right, but you draw a boundary line,
cut everybody out but the fellow that don't believe just like you do. The
thing we got to do is stretch out our arms to Lutheran, Methodist, and all, to
a place where we can have fellowship one with another, while the Blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sins. Till we get to that, we'll just die. Sit right here and shrivel up
like and old shriveled-up apple. And there you become as puckery
as a persimmon, and sit around, "Well, I belong to so and so." Oh,
my. No more life coming into it. You
see? We just can't do that. No, we've
got to come and be in Christ Jesus. We're heirs, joint heirs with Him. Now,
till we separate our self from the things of the world...
Now in much of his
Message brother Branham hits against organization, but the sad part is, that
people who should know better end up organizing around a certain ministry or
personality instead of holding only to the Word of God, and focusing on that
Word and drawing the Life from that Word.
But to organize is
death, and to organize then is no different than to denominate. To do so is to
die spiritually. Even Jesus taught us that. He said those that organize are to be
gathered for the burning. You don’t burn fresh green things. You burn old dried
out things, whether it be wood or stalks, or husks, or whatever. Green shows
life, and it does not burn easy. But that which is old and dried out burns
quickly.
Notice two seeds are allowed
to grow up side by side until the time of the harvest. Then a separation is to
take place. First there will be a gathering together of the seed, which the
enemy sowed. The Tares will begin to gather together first.
In paragraph 118 Lean not to Thy Own Understanding 65-0120,
brother Branham said, You know, the Bible
said you can believe a lie and be damned by it. See? That's exactly the truth. They
form, no matter what the Word of God says, they
lean to their own understanding. They lean on it; they believe it; they
think it's the Truth. You can keep believing a lie
over and over and over till it's the truth to you. That's right. But how do we
know whether it's Truth or not? God proved it's Truth,
'cause it's in His Word and He a-vindicates It. He does His own
interpretation of It. How do they do, get to this?
They do it by their culture, their education, of their understandings of the
degree of doctor's degree, and so forth, that they have come from some certain
seminary and learned these things.
Now, notice in the next paragraph in Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed, no 197, how brother Branham contrasts this
death by organization with Life God's provided way.
197
So what did her Husbandman do? Come by and pruned it. See? It brought forth
denominational fruit (lemons on an orange tree), so He pruned it off
(See?), brought it forth, kept up... But where is the heart of the tree?
Right in the middle. And He's pruned them all down,
till right in the top... He's got a Seed down here in the root, like
a tree that's planted by the rivers of water (he that takes God's laws
and love in his heart)--and he shall be like a tree (Psalms 1)
planted by the rivers of water; his leaves shall not wither; in his season
he'll bear his fruit. And here it is right... And where does the
fruit ripen at quickly? in top of the tree. Why? The
light's on it. Amen. That's right. And right in the top of the tree in this last days He's bringing forth a Bride Tree.
Notice, he turns our attention now,
not to the negative side where he just hammered that organizational spirit, but
now he is showing life, how at the top of the tree at the end-time there will
be a bride tree that is like what we see in Psalms 1. Blessed is the
man that will not take the advice of the ungodly, nor will he go along with the
life of the sinner,
nor will he assemble himself among the mockers. 2 But his delight is
(that's present tense continuously) in the Word of
the LORD; and in his Word doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like
a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his
season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
So you see
the difference between the two seeds. One organizes unto death, but the other
lays in the presence of the SON, the doctrine of Christ, and in the doctrine
does he meditate day and night.
Notice the
big difference is fruit. This one his fruit will not wither, but the other is
like the chaff that the wind blows away. and notice
that he is called blessed.
Uncertain sound 55-0731 P:13 And then
over in Psalms, the 1st Psalm, we read this. "Blessed is
the man who God will not impute to him unright--righteousness,
or sin." And the blessed man is a
different man. David speaking, saying that how blessed he was, that, "The blessed man, he was like a tree that's planted by the rivers of
water," in Psalms 1, "and how that he would bear his fruit in the season. The ungodly would not be so, but he would perish," and so forth.
But the blessed man was God's man.
So let's
look at some other things God says about the man that is blessed, the man that
is God's man..
Psalms 1:1 Blessed
is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful.
Psalms 32:2 Blessed
is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no
guile.
Seed of discrepancy 65-0118 P: Not even sin is
imputed to a genuine believer. Did you know that? He that's born of God,
does not commit sin; he cannot sin. See? It's not even imputed. Why, David
said, "Blessed is the man who God will
not impute sin." When you're in Christ,
you have no desire to sin. "The
worshipper, once purged, has no more conscience to sin; you don't desire it.
Romans 4:8 Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
sin.
Psalms 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that
trusteth in him.
Psalms 65:4 Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest,
and causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we
shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
Psalms 84:5 Blessed
is the man whose strength is in thee; in
whose heart are the ways of them.
Psalms 84:12
O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth
in thee.
Psalms 94:12 Blessed
is the man whom thou chastenest,
O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
Psalms 112:1 Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth
the LORD, that delighteth greatly in
his commandments.
Proverbs 8:34 Blessed
is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
Isaiah 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth
hold on it; that keeps the sabbath from polluting
it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed
is the man that trusteth
in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
James 1:12 Blessed
is the man that endureth
temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Planting the vine and where to
plant it 59-0920 P:22 It is like David also said again in the Psalms 1. He said, "Blessed is the man that will not join up with these scoffers and ungodly
people;" not connect with them, not set in the seat with them. You know scoffers that say, "The days of miracles is past";
and "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is just a make belief." Blessed
is the man that'll not do that. Blessed is the man that'll stand forth
from such a thing. They don't want to mix those together, and you cannot
mix those things together. Blessed is the man who won't assemble himself
unto one of those things that denies the power of the Lord. The Bible
said, "Come out from among such, for the
day will come when they will be heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof;
from such turn away."
Uncertain sound 55-0731 P:53 Every man or woman that's ever
tried to live for God is accused of ungodly things. "He's a witch. He
bewitched the grease." He had so much power of God in Him, so much... Not
witchery, but what was It? The hidden power of God that was
in him. He looked like a man. He eat like a
man. He slept like a man. He cried like a man. He was a man. But God was in
His man. The blessing was in the man." Blessed is the man,"
said David. No uncertainty to him. That man knows what he's talking about.
I don't care what the world says, what you say about him, try to make him mad, he
won't get mad. I don't care how much you talk about him,
he won't pay no attention to it. He will go on, 'cause he's got a
blessing in here. He will pray for you. That's right. You
might do anything in the world; he never pay no
attention to it. Won't back-bite his neighbors, and go around and stir up
trouble. He will be a peacemaker. He will do everything he can, for
he's a child of God. Blessed is that man. Yes.
Planting the vine and where to
plant it 59-0920 P:23 Blessed is the man that will not assemble himself with these scoffers, making fun, calling
the true Church a bunch of fanatics." He shall be like a tree that's
planted by the rivers of water. God has put him in a choice spot. His
fruit shall not wither. He will bring forth his leaves and fruits in the
season. Watch how David worded that. "This man is blessed. He
will be planted," not just set out. You know, I like see anything
planted. Now, Israel in Egypt was not planted, they were just set out. It
wasn't their original home ground. And a man that's a Christian, that rests his
eternal destination upon some denominational creed, he's not in his right
place. He was born to be free and a child of God, to worship God. But he's
under a creed; he can't bring forth his fruits. Yet something in him is
longing to do it. He shall be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of
water: rivers, plural; water, singular, many rivers coming into the one
channel.