Christ is the Mystery no 137
Christian Life no 18
All things in Subjection to Him
Brian Kocourek
Good morning, If you will remain standing and open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15 and we will begin reading from
verse 19 and we will read through verse 28 for our text.
1 Corinthians
Let
us pray, Dear Father we have read the Words here of your apostle Paul that
there is coming a time during the period called the Parousia when you will be
bringing all things under the feet of your dear son with the exception of
yourself. And we know that your Prophet has come and gone, but this Work of
Your Holy Spirit is still moving forward because the end has not yet come, and
these things must be accomplished according to your word before the end comes.
Therefore, father, help us to die to ourselves, and come under the feet of your
son Jesus willingly, that your plan might be finished, for we ask it in Jesus
Christ's name your beloved son, who certainly died to himself, that we might
live. Now, help us to die to ourselves that he might live again in us. For we ask this in Jesus Christ's name amen.
You
may be seated.
So
you see all things including death must be put under him, and then comes the
end. So the Work of the Holy Spirit in this hour must go on until the end, and
we see here that God is putting all things under the feet of His Son, until
finally we receive a glorified body, and then the Son turns all things that
were placed under His feet back to the Father, that God may be all and in all. But I want you to notice that it is God who
is doing this work.
It
is God, His Holy Spirit who is placing all things under the feet of
His Son Jesus. This is the work of the Holy Ghost in this hour. Therefore the
work of the Holy Ghost was not finished when William Branham went off the
scene. Just like the Works of God were not finished when John
went off the scene because God worked through His Son Jesus. And When
Jesus went off the scene the Holy Spirit worked through Paul, Peter, John and
the other Apostles. And when Moses went off the scene, the Spirit of God
continued working through Joshua until they entered fully into the promised land. And then the Spirit of God continued to work
as God raised up Prophets and judges to do the works
of God that all may know that God is alive, and stands with his Children. And many
of you in here were either not even born yet or you were too young to know what
God was doing in this hour when he was doing the works of Christ through his
vessel William Branham. But God is not through yet as we read this morning. And
if God is still here then the works of God will still be done as long as the
Holy Spirit is still here with us.
Notice
what the Holy Spirit promised to do in this hour. He says, "even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. So there must be this "all
that are in Christ that are yet to be made alive".
Were
all made alive in Christ when God's prophet was here? No, they weren't. In fact
I would venture to say most were not. Most had no clue what was going on then.
Oh,
I wish people would learn to read there Bibles like God says it. And that is
the problem with people who Believe God sent a prophet. But they are afraid
that he didn't mean what he said. Listen, I disagree with anyone who thinks
that you can take this Message and make it say anything you want. You can not.
You can leave this Message and do that, but you can not say what the prophet
says and have it come out two different ways. Either That
is God's Voice to this generation, or it is not God's Voice. And if that is God's
Voice, then He said what he meant and He meant what he said. The trouble is
that people add to what he said or they take away from what he said in order to
change it. But you can not take what he said and get two different things from
it if you read what he said and don't put your own interpretation to it. That
is the only way they get different opinions, because they don't believe all
that the prophets have
said.
But
God is not the author of confusion, Satan is the
author of confusion. And Satan didn't quote Eve all of God's Word, he just
quoted the part he wanted her to hear and he left off the part what he didn't
want her to hear. And God's Word through his prophet doesn't need anyone to
interpret what he said. God is His own interpreter and He interprets His own
Word by bringing it to pass.
But
people seem to be comfortable with living in the past and they don't want to
accept that God has a plan for them personally. They are afraid of the Message,
and the Word of God through all His Prophets, because they do not have God seed
in them. If they have God seed in them, then they ought to be hungering and
thirsting for righteousness, and we know what the prophet taught is
righteousness. And if we truly hunger and thirst for it, then we just don't listen
to that voice of God to this generation once a week, and place it all in
someone else's lap to figure out and then feed us on Sunday and Wednesday. We
will feed and drink of this Word of Life daily, if we indeed are hungering and
thirsting for righteousness, because he promised, "he that hungers and
thirst for righteousness shall be filled." Not might be, not there's a
good chance. But Shall be filled. That's God's promise
and if you are not being filled you are not hungering and thirsting to be filled.
And a hungry man eats till he is satisfied, and a thirsty man keeps drinking
and drinking until he can't drink any more. So my question to you is "are
you?" Do you? Do you feed continuously? Do you drink without ceasing?
Listen,
we were taught by the prophet that the same camel Rebeccah
watered is the same camel, the same power that packed her home to Isaac. So are
you watering your camel?
Are
you watering the Holy Spirit in your soul? Are you to where you can't get
enough of those tapes? I've been feasting on this manna for 39 years, almost as
Long as the Children of Israel feasted on it in the wilderness. I've got one
more year to go, hallelujah. Then it home to our promised land, if the type
holds for me.
I
can't get enough, and I want more and more, and every time I put on one of
those tapes, I don't care if I've heard the sermon 100 times before, there's
always something new that feeds my soul spiritual food in due season.
And in this very same
sermon Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed
that we've been studying back and forth now for 18 months brother Branham said
in P:233 Notice, All right. But all this mystery is revealed only
as He promised to His Bride. (in other
words, not every one is going to get it, because it's only for His (Christ's) bride.
Then he says,) Hell is against this truth of the
revelation of this mystery. But the Bride is standing on it. That's Her stand. (then he
says,) Why do you hunger, Church? Why do you
thirst? It's the Father trying to
reveal this hidden secret to you, but you let so many things get it out
of you. You let your job, you let your wife, you let your
husband, you let your children, you let the cares of the world,
you let some pastor, you let somebody else get that out of you, when
you know that way down in your heart you're a-thirsting, hungry. It's God
trying to reveal it to you (See?), the revelation.
And
so in getting back to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 let's
pick up at verse 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But
when he saith all things are put under him, it is
manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things
under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him,
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under
him, that God may be all in all.
In
other words, the one who is putting all things under the feet of Jesus Who is
the Head of the Church is the Father, God Himself who's doing it, and He is the
one who is excepted, because He is the one who is placing all things under the
feet of His son.
Now, with all the He's and Him's being said here it is hard to understand who is doing
what unless you know and understand the Doctrine of Christ properly. So let me
read this scripture to you again and I will explain which he is who and what
him is who that you can understand who is putting all things under whom.
I Corinthians
Now,
in the next paragraph in Christ is the Mystery of
God Br. Branham says, 214 Notice.
Then one like the first Adam and Eve, before sin separated them in death, now Christ,
the second Adam, in Life redeems His Bride from death, and now on
His way back to the original Eden, restoring back His Bride in
fellowship back with God, as Husband and Wife to the garden of Eden: Christ
and His Bride.
Notice he says, Christ, the second Adam, in Life redeems
His Bride from death, and now on His way back to the
original
So
he's not talking about when He was here 2,000 years ago, he's talking about
now. Now, you are sons, now we are setting in heavenly places in Christ. When
Christ Who is our Life appears. Not some time in the future, he has already
appeared. He's appearing now. He's here now. He says, "and
now on His way back to the original Eden, restoring
back His Bride in fellowship back with God, Now, He's doing it, Now....
You've
got to quit all this looking down the road stuff. What is he doing now. Right now as you are setting together in heavenly
places. I am not interested in the God Who was or the
God who will be. I am interested in God Who IS. He said I am that I am. That's
a present tense God. He's the God who is our buckler and shield. What Good is
it to have a God who did yesterday, and will do tomorrow, but is not doing
today. we are here today.
Now,
in this next paragraph brother Branham speaks of 1
Corinthians
Look,
that is not yesterday, nor is that tomorrow, he said while you are yet thinking
I will know what it is you are thinking. Before you can even get the words out
of your mouth, I will already have the answer on it's
way.
What
good is it to have a God that saves, if he is not here to save? What good is it
to have a God that saved yesterday but can not save today.
What Good is it to know the stories of the old testament where the Pillar of
Fire was guiding the children of Israel to the promised land even after the
prophet Moses went off the scene if he is not here doing the same thing today
when our prophet has gone off the scene.
Look,
we were not privileged to attend those meetings. But that same God promised in
the Third Exodus to lead us to the millennium. Either he is still here leading or I'm not
interested in going. If God can not keep his promise to us, what kind of a God
would he be? Moses himself said to God, "if
you do not go up with us, I don't even want to go." And I'm not Moses,
but Icertainly can bear the same sentiment, and I
hope you do as well.
Now,
notice brother Branham quotes the Scripture here which says, "The
wolf and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like a bullock.
They shall feed together and lay down. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain."
And
then he says, Right back exactly to
Then
in the next paragraph, brother Branham begins to tell us how this back to
Notice what he said here. This is not legalism. This is Life. This is
not mechanics? This is dynamics. He's talking about God-Life in your living
your life for you. Now, we know in the Church Age book all the Doctrine of the
Message was expounded upon. So we read in the Church Age Book Chapter 2 - The
Now,
listen, this is what I have been trying to get across to you. If the Same
Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in
you it will also quicken or make alive your mortal body, the one that you are
living in now, it will quicken it, it will make it alive to God and His
Word. Not praising God for what he did
or what he is going to do, that's how they miss him in every age. But praising
God for what he is doing right now.
Listen
to what brother Branham told brother Vayle in the audio letter.
Audio Letter to
Br. Lee Vayle 64-0500 2 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.
You see? And then, after it's over, then history is
and then listen to what he said in his sermon, Anointed Ones at the end Time 65-0725M 158 Said, "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?
Anointed Ones at the End
Time 65-0725M 168 "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.
Now, listen brothers and
sisters, we've got to get our heads out of the sand. We've got to get our heads
out of the 1950's and 60's. That's fifty to sixty years ago. What is God doing right now,
look, I know some have fussed with what I teach concerning
the works of the Holy Spirit in the church, but they are focuses on the word
works, not the Life and nature of the same spirit that was in Jesus being in
the church, or the bride. And the reason people fuss is because they are not
willing to die to self and ask themselves what did the
prophet teach concerning the works of the Holy Spirit in the church.
And you know what? Brother Branham
actually preached an entire message called What is the Works of God. did you know that? he answered our
question before we even asked the question.
So what did he say about the works of the Holy Spirit?
Well in his sermon, What is the works of God - 59-0404 8. I want to read two places, I believe, in the Scriptures.
One of them is found in
What is the works
of God - 59-0404 13. But now, in the Scriptures we read also,
that it is written that "Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, today, and forever."
That's Hebrews 13:8, I believe. That Christ is the same. Then if He's the same
Jesus that was in Galilee, and then He's here in the form of the Holy Ghost in
California, He's got to be the same in principle, the same in power, the
same in attitude, just the same Jesus; only He's in Spiritual form
working through a Church or a group of believers, manifesting Himself in the same
way that He did through a one body, God, manifested in flesh in the Son
called Jesus, if He's the same. Them days, God was in
His Son, Jesus, manifesting Himself to the world, what He was. And today, He's
in... By His death, burial, and resurrection, and our justification on
believing it, He's manifesting Hisself to us in
human flesh, our flesh, through the Holy Spirit, as we can yield ourself to that Holy Spirit. 14. Now there
is the thing, knowing how to yield yourself. And some people is set in the Church; some can yield themselves to
preaching. Some can yield themselves easily to teaching. Some can yield
themselves to prophesying. Some can yield themselves to other gifts. So all the gifts won't be alike. They wasn't alike then; Paul said they wasn't. But each man is
called and placed into the Church for a purpose. And if you'll find out
what God can use him best at, and yield himself to
that place, he will be a success. My finger could never take the place
of my ear, no matter how much it tried. Neither could my mouth take the
place of my eye. But each member knows what it can do, and all of
them coordinating together makes the body move. If this church can only see that. If you can only see that
it takes coordination. It takes cooperation with all the body of
Christ.
What is the works
of God - 59-0404 15. Now, if we can find out what Jesus was
when He was in Galilee, then if He's in Los Angeles tonight, He will do, and
act, and be as He was then, or it would be a different Jesus than it was then.
He's got to be the same every way, but working through your flesh and
my flesh as He, God worked through Christ, or Jesus' flesh in
that day. And the Bible promised it shall be light in the evening time. Brother
duPlessis, with his message
a few moments ago, said later on in the week, he would lay the Scriptures to
that. Every move we make should be Scripturally.
I believe that it's got to be THUS SAITH THE LORD. Then I can hang my soul on
that phase and know that it's true. 16. Now, if we can find out what the
works of God was to manifest Jesus Christ in yesterday, then we ought to see
what His manifestation is. Today should be as it was then. Now, the
first thing to conserve and save my time, Jesus never claimed to be a Divine
healer. We're all aware of that. Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing in Himself but what He sees the Father
doing,"
What is the works
of God - 59-0404 p20. This is My beloved Son in Whom I'm
pleased to dwell in.'" And He dwelt in
Christ. God, Jehovah, the Father dwelt in His Son Jesus Christ, tabernacled there, manifesting Himself, showing the
world what He was. That's the reason His disciples couldn't understand Him.
They say, "You speak in riddles." It was sometime Jesus speaking,
sometime the Father speaking. 21. That's the way it is with you, if
you're filled with the Holy Spirit. Any man that's filled with the Holy
Spirit says thing that he hardly knows sometimes what it is he is saying, if
he's truly carried away in the Spirit. How about you people with the
gifts of tongues? What is any other inspiration. If
it's in English, and not in an unknown tongue, it's still inspiration and you
speak it. Have times where I'd be so inspired by the Spirit, I'd say things
and write things down that I didn't even know I did. You have too, no doubt.
That's the works of the Spirit.
And
so it all boils down to one thong. How much of yourself can you die out to so
that you can yield yourself to the Holy Spirit.
Brother Branham said his gift was to just get himself out of the way. So I ask,
how many in here have that same gift to get yourself
out of the way.
From his sermon, Proving His Word 64-0816 133 brother Branham said, "What
is a gift, Brother Branham, " It's something
you know how to get yourself out of the way. See? As long as you're
there, it'll never work. William Branham is the greatest enemy I got. See?
But when I get him out of the way (See?), then Jesus Christ can use the body.
See? So we see the beginnings of the man of God, not just Gideon, but all
men of God, how they begin in obscurity until God calls them forth from
their hidden life. Then after God calls them, He equips them for the
ministry. And that gift that God equips them with is the ability to get
their own thinking set aside, and let God's thoughts take over.
So
in getting back to Christ is the mystery of God brother Branham says in
paragraph 217 And
remember, we are now as His Bride, pregnated
with His Spirit. Oh, my. The Church bearing children (See?), pregnated by His Spirit with His Name,
bearing His Name, bearing His Life, bringing forth the signs of His
Life evident with the preeminences, evidence of
His resurrection showing that He is not dead, but alive forevermore. This is
Eternal Life. And a-vindicated, vindicates to the world that we are
alive in Him. Whew.
218 How
do you know? 'Cause you're a church member? Because
Christ is living through you; so pregnated
with His Spirit that you're a prisoner to anything else. You're confined
(oh, my.) to the Gospel, confined to the Word. And all the children
that you can bring forth is that, 'cause you're a
prisoner. You can't commit adultery; you're already pregnated.
Glory. He can't take a hold. The womb of life is
closed to anything else. You're already His by predestination. That
Seed has come to Life. No world can get in. Oh. Oh, how we'd
like to stay on this for about a hour. I'm sure you
understand. See? Christ and His alone... already finished; the Seed
was there. The Seed was already... When was it put there? Before the
foundation of the world,
has predestinated us unto Eternal Life. And as soon as the Life-giving flow,
that Seed laying there... Other seed's that
just would come in wouldn't take hold, just couldn't do it (like). But when that
Seed come in, quickly it stopped up the womb; all the rest of the seed was
drove out (see, like that), and you become a prisoner surrounded in
Christ, Christ in you, His Life bringing forth His evidence, His signs.
Oh, my, my, my. Look, bringing His signs of Life as an evident of His
resurrection, proving to the world that Eternal Life,
vindicates to the world that we're alive in Him. And think of it. Alive with God our Redeemer, Who created us for the very same
purpose (the Church) and His creative Life in us. That is...
Moses could said by the Word of God, "Let
there come..." and there come flies. A God can
make flies can make squirrels. See? He can do whatever He wants to...?... God.
219 The
very same God (that creative Life--you see?) that's in you can...
You're a prisoner; you can't speak it till He says, "Speak it;"
but when it gets spoke, it's God's Word. He's a-vindicated to be so;
everything else is right, and he knows when that's spoke it's got to be so.
See? Moses took his rod and said, "Let there come frogs"
'cause God said, "Let there come frogs."
He just transmit it on out. That's right. And frogs
was in everything; everywhere was frogs. Where'd they come from? Nobody
knows; they wasn't there before. But the
Creator, God working through a man created things--a living species.
The very God that made the first frog can make the second frog. He makes all
frogs. Oh, my. You see what I mean? Made the first squirrel, makes the second
squirrel, make any squirrel, can make squirrels where
there is no squirrel. He can do anything He wants to. He's God. He's God. His
Life... Oh, my.
220 When I
think of it makes me shiver. Oh, to live with Him: going home with Him
to live with Him, going home with Him to live with Him forever, having Eternal
Life...This is God's great mystery of love expressed, that God and
man became one. See? The whole thing is God and man one. God and man
was one there, and God and man is one here.
See? What is it? Being filled with His Spirit, Him having the preeminences. (in other words,
there's so much God Life in your that God is in all your thoughts, God is in all
your desires, God has the preeminence in your entire being. Then he says,) That was God's achievement. That's God purpose
to do that, that He might be in Christ and Christ in us,
and all of us together one. The Holy Spirit, same thing that revealed
it to Christ reveals it here, the supernatural, creative power. Oh, my.
221 The same God hat
could say to Moses, "Let there come frogs,"
the same One could said there, "Let water be turned to wine."
See? Amen. Is that right? He's the same God, the same One; He just don't change. It's God in man. That's His
manifestation. That's what He's revealing. That's what He's trying to
do. And God's own Word revealed and shows that man cannot create (God's the
Creator); and it ain't man no more; it's God
the Creator in man, which is His Church now (Amen!), going home to
heaven, live with Him ever, God expressing eternal love to the Church.
222 Listen.
Listen close now. I want you not to fail to get this. No other church, no
other sign, no other fellowship, no other government, no other testimony, no
other creed, no denomination is accepted outside of this. God accepts
nothing else but that. Christ in you, the hope of glory the only thing
that God recognizes. No fellowship, no church, no creed, no
denomination, no nothing; everything else is dead. Its fragments that has
to be cut off, pruned off away from the thing that Christ might live with preeminences in you. Not referring back... I got one
laying here that says, "It's my organization..." That's got to be cut
off too. "I got my so-and-so here; this says this." "My mother
will tell me I'm a holy-roller." That's got to be cut off too. See?
"Well, I know my husband wants me to wear these shorts." That's got
to be cut off too. See? It's got to be cut off and pruned till there's
just you and Christ alone. See? Um. Think.
223 By the
living Presence of the living Christ by the living Word... Oh, living
Christ, living Presence, living Word... Watch. By His Own personal, personal
a-vindication proves His Church, not members. He never done it in the days of Moses. He never
done it in the days of anybody else at the end of the world when it come
to the place where it was the destruction. In the days of
224 Remember.
Think of it, that people born of His Spirit in a day like this, in this great denominational
age that we live, and the living God takes His living Word and vindicates It
personally. This Life that's in the Word, the germ that's in the Seed
(and the Word that a sower went forth to sow), and the
Life is Christ in the Word personally in you,, vindicating something
that you cannot do, proving Hisself that it's not
you, but it's Him. And you become one--a love slave to Him to be a Bride.
And that brothers and
sisters is what John
And Paul said also in Philippians
So you the believer have nothing to do with it except
for a yielded vessel tot he Holy Ghost for Him to do
whatever He wants to do with your vessel. and all you have to do with it is to
get yourself out of the way so he can do whatever he wishes to do using you.
Not for your good pleasure, but to do His good pleasure. It's all about him,
and until we can come to that understanding, God can not use us, for God will
not and will not share His glory with no man.
Hebrews 13:20 Now
the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do
his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
You see, it's all about what God wants to do with and
through you. If you would just get off your doctrinal high horses and let him.
Take on the whole armor of God 62-0701 P:82 John
14:12, Jesus said,
"He that believeth
in Me, the works that I do shall he do also." What is it? It's God in the
church in these five predestinated offices, backing up every Word that He
said with the Holy Spirit Himself in there, which is the Word made manifest,
proving His resurrection, proving that He lives. All other religions are
dead. Their forms are dead. There's only one that's right, and that's
Christianity, because Christ is a living in the
Let us pray...