Christ is the Mystery no 141
Br. Brian Kocourek, Pastor
This morning we will pick
up at paragraph 214 where we left off a few weeks ago before I left for
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
brother Branham's words, here. He tells us that at this time, Christ will
redeem back His bride from death, and restore her walk as it was meant to be in
Now, I would like to
examine this by Scripture because in order for us to be back in fellowship with
God as it was back then certain things have to happen, and a certain atmosphere
must come into being.
First of all we know by
scripture that to have fellowship with God there must first be repentance
first, for the scripture teaches us "how can two walk together lest
they be agreed".
What went ye out to see 59-1001 P:22 Now, when John begin to preach
repentance to those people of the church, they said, "Looky here. We got Abraham to our father. We don't need none of these wild preachers coming out of the wilderness,
these uneducated groups, undenominationals. We don't
need any of their hollering and going on, for we have Abraham to our father."
So would that same message blind the church today. If
you asked the person quickly, "Are you a Christian?" Say,
"Yes." Quickly they'll say, "What denomination do you belong
to?" Now, that's all right, but it has nothing to do with Christianity.
One of them will say, "Well, I'm a Methodist, or a Baptist, or a
Presbyterian," or whatever church that they happen to be affiliated with,
which is perfectly all right. But that doesn't answer the question. You still
need repentance. And repentance shakes the people. They think they don't
need it. "I'm the deacon. I do certain things at the church." That
doesn't excuse anything. You still need repentance.
What went ye out to see 59-1001 P:21 Now, If his message was so stunting of
then, that it shook the regions, let's see what he preached. The first thing
he preached was repentance to all. And repentance always blinds the eyes
of the unbeliever, or the church member. The church member feels that he
has nothing to repent of. And when that person or persons get to that place
where you think you've got nothing to repent of, you're in a more serious
condition. Though being a member of the church, you're in a more serious
condition than the sinner on the street. For the Scripture said over in the
Book of Revelations, talking about the church, said, "She was naked, wretched, miserable, and
blind, and didn't know it." Now, if a man was on the street and was blind, that would be
horrible. If he was poor, would be horrible, naked--horrible. But not
knowing it, that's the miserable part. And there's people today that claim
to be Christians, that belong to church, that doesn't know that they need
repentance. And to tell someone that, it stirs them up.
So the scripture says, Repent
ye therefore in order to be converted. So repentance is the first thing
we must do, and with that we open ourselves to full conversion.
Notice, Jesus told Peter in
Luke
Matthew 18:3 And
said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
Therefore we see before
there can be a conversion from sinner to saint, from unregenerate to Born again
son of God, there first must come repentance.
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Acts 2:38 Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, first and then be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
So without repentance first there can be no remission
of sins. Therefore, the repentance is step number one, and with it when we are
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we are promised to be filled with
the Holy Spirit as we read in Acts 2:38.
Then after we have come
through repentance and then conversion, we have a promise in this hour of
complete restoration according to Brother Branham's terminology, which has the
same definition as what the Bible calls restitution. Restoration and
restitution are actually the same thing. They mean to
restore back to the original condition. When you make restitution it mean you give back what was taken. To restore means to bring
back to it's original condition. And in order for a
pure fellowship to take place with God, to where we walk with him as Enoch did,
or as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden, this
restitution has to be a complete restitution.
Let's
turn to the Book of Acts
Now, notice that without
this prophet we have no restitution of all things. And without the restitution
of all things, we have no rest. Without the restitution of all things, Jesus
will not return. Without the restitution of all things, there will be no
repentance, for we will not know what to repent from, and without that
repentance we will not have conversion, and without conversion, we will not have any blotting out
of our sin which is our unbelief. And without all that we will not have a
return of Christ.
So you see how all these
things are dependent upon God sending a prophet, because without the prophet we
have no understanding to straighten out our thinking. And that is what Malachi Four is all about.
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite
the earth with a curse.
The Hebrew word for heart is leb, which refers to the heart; is also used figuratively very widely for the
feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of
anything:-it also means for the ability to care for, courage, kindly, the mind,
regard, understanding, willingness and wisdom.
So we have a promise from God. I will send you Elijah the prophet to turn the hearts of the
children to the Fathers, because if I
don't I will certainly come and destroy the earth with a curse.
So God sends His prophet in the Spirit and power of
Elijah to change the hearts of the children. To
change our minds and our understanding first, then to change the way we act and do with that understanding.
In other words, the Hebrew word for heart means The way we care
for, the way we encourage with, the way we regard, and then our willingness to
do whatever that new wisdom asks of us to do.
To me this is exactly the
attitude that Jesus suggests to us in John 14:12.
It is not so much about any specific work God wants done, but rather it is more
about our willingness to please God and our willingness to do whatever God
would ask us to do.
Because when Jesus said, "the works that I do you will do
also" you have to remember, this is the same Son of God
who said, "The son can of himself do nothing, but
whatsoever He sees the Father doing that doeth the son likewise."
So it is not about any
particular work as much as it is about the mindset that wants to please the
Father in all things. And this is what brother Branham is talking about in this
paragraph, because he says in the next paragraph.
215
And God... At that day, the Kingdom be given over to
the Father, He might be All in All.
Notice, he is quoting from 1 Corinthians 15 here where Paul is speaking of
the time of the resurrection when God will have placed all things under the
feet of His son with the exception of Himself.
1 Corinthians
Now notice that he is talking about
an order tot he resurrection here.
Every man in his same order
Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are
Christ's at his coming. (That's at his Parousia)
24 Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God the
Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all
enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death. 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.
In other words, the
God and Father who places all things under the feet of His Son Jesus is excepted from being placed under the feet of His Son
Jesus. Because he adds,
28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him,
then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him (God) that put all
things under him, that God may be all
in all.
So we go back to paragraph
215 where brother Branham continues by speaking of this condition that the
bride will be coming into at this hour and he says, "While he's yet speaking, I'll
hear," days of Christ... David sitting on the Throne, the King over the
whole human race... "And while they're yet thinking, I'll know
what they're thinking about; before they speak, I'll
answer. 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."
Right back exactly to
216
Listen closely now again as we go on, going back to the original
Notice that brother Branham is speaking of the converted ones here,
those who have been filled with the Holy Ghost. Because the law of reproduction
according to Genesis
Then kittens are born with
the nature of a cat, and puppies are born with the nature of a dog, and folds
are born with the nature of a horse, and piglets are born with the nature of a
pig. And you can dress up a pig like a little lamb, and teach it to baah, but it will only go oink oink.
You can try and train it to be clean but the first time it smells the mud, its
nature takes over, and back to the mud it goes.
Now, listen, if we are born
of His Spirit, then we will have his nature as well. And this is what I just do
not understand why some are having so much difficulty in understanding John
And so we read on with
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.
Now, listen, to what he is saying here. When you are born again, filled
with His Spirit, you are impregnated with His Life, and any life from that point
on, that comes froth from within you is His Life, God
Life.
Then if that is true, then
what sort of Live is expressing itself out from you. Do you still get angry and
cuss like a sailor? You know that isn't Christ Life. Then if that is not Christ
life what life is it? It's an un-regenerated Life. And let me read again a
quote from brother Branham that tells it all.
Explaining healing and Jairus 54-0216 P:37 What
you are here is a reflection of what you are somewhere else. "Those who He
called, He justifies." Is that right? "Those who He justified, He has
glorified." Already in the Presence of the Father, we have a glorified
body. Whew! Wasn't that deep? All right. We'll find
out whether it's right or not. "If this earthly tabernacle be dissolved,
we have one already waiting." Is that right? That's right. So right now,
and what we are there, is a reflection. Here, what we are here, is a
reflection of what we are somewhere else. So if your deeds are evil, you
know where it comes from. You know where your other body's a waiting.
Now,
listen that is not just a warning, but that is prophetic truth.
In His presence 62-0909E P:52 A man, when he thinks God's gone, he'll cuss, he'll lust
after women, he'll do... He'll steal, cheat, lie. He'll do anything when he
thinks that God don't see him. But bring him into the Presence of God, he'll stop it right now. See? And David said, "I have put the Lord always before me." That's a good thing. No wonder God
said he was a man after His Own heart. Man will do everything when he thinks
that God isn't near. But when he realizes that God's near, did you ever
notice a sinner? Let a godly person walk up, he'll quit his cussing, if he's
got any respects at all. See? He won't tell the dirty jokes that he
would've told. See? See, he'll leave off that, because he knows that he's in
the Presence of God, 'cause God dwells in the tabernacle of His people. See?
Influence of another 62-1013 P:70 Now, these Angels, when they're in God's
Presence, they was... Believed it... David said..., "I place the Lord always before me, that I
shall not be moved. Moreover," he said, "then when I do that, my flesh shall rest in hope." Yes, sir. "Because I know what... He will not leave my
soul in hell, neither suffer His Holy One to see
corruption. For the Lord is always before me." Wherever you go, place God.
If a man get angry and cusses you, place God between you and him. If a
guy calls you a holy-roller, place God between you and him. If the
wife gets angry with you, place God. If the husband gets angry, place
God. If the children aggravate you, place God. See? Whatever you do, place
God. If papa and mama gives you a little spanking and
corrects you, place God. Remember what God said about that? "Bring up a child in the way it should go." See? Always remember, place God.
Put God before you, and you'll have reverence for God and respects for Him.
That's right.
Mark of the beast 56-0715 P:45 That's all. And they don't know God.
They're not open to their hearts. Their life proves what it is. Enough temper
to fight a buzz saw and cuss you at the drop your hat and tell you to shut up
your mouth.
Jesus
said, "By their
fruits you shall know them."
God perfecting His church 54-1204 P:34 You're either a believer or a unbeliever.
And the reason that you smoke, and drink, and cuss, and do
the things you do, is because you are an unbeliever. It bears fruits
of itself. And then, if you just say, "Well, I'm going to quit
smoking. And I'm going to quit lying, stealing." You're doing that in
yourself. That still doesn't make you saved." I'm going to go to church
and try to do better." That still doesn't mean it's
salvation. You've got to be born-again and righteousness only comes to the
attributes of a believing life. "He that sins wilfully after he has
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins." Here it is. If the truth has been presented to people, and
you see it and you wilfully (because your church
won't accept it or something) walk away from it and say, "That's a bunch
of holy-rollers, 'cause my church said so," you've crossed the line."
He that disbelieves wilfully after he has received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." You get it?
So you see, if
you lie, steal, cheat, cuss, tell dirty jokes, it's because the Holy Ghost is
not your absolute. You are still alive to yourself, your feelings, your emotions. But how do you know when you have died to
yourself? When someone speaks evil of you and you don't respond. When someone
smack you on the cheek and you give them the other cheek. Then you know that
you have passed from death into eternal life.
Paul said in Colossians 3:3 For ye
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Is your life Hid with Christ? Would you cuss with Christ? I doubt it.
Christ doesn't cuss. Would you lie with
Christ? I doubt it. Christ doesn't lie. Would you get angray
with Christ?
Then Paul says, 4 When Christ, who is
our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore (kill of therefore) your members which are
upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6 For
which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in
them. 8 But
now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not
one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man,
which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is
all, and in all. 12 Put on therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another,
and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your
hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in
word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 18 Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands,
love your wives, and be not bitter against them. 20 Children, obey your
parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. 21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. 22 Servants,
obey in all things your masters according to the
flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers;
but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23 And whatsoever ye do, do
it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the
reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he
that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is
no respect of persons.
Let us pray...