Christ is the Mystery no 147

Christian Life no 27

The Word only has Life

Brian Kocourek, pastor

Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed pp. 238 Now, notice. Notice now. He is the Head of the Body, that's borned from the sin of unbelief in God's Word (That excuses every denomination, every creed... See?), unbelief in the Word, which is Himself, the Word of Life. See? The Word only has Life. Any other word is a hybrid. No matter how much it looks like it, it isn't the Word. The Word produces Its own Life that Eve swapped for personal knowledge (see how the church has today?) through some man's understanding. Moses had a great understanding of God till he met the burning bush, then he saw his failure. The burning bush had what Moses lacked. The Word's got what the denomination lacks.

So what we are looking at is this, Brother Branham says the Word only has Life. And that is what Jesus said in John 6:63 My Words are Spirit and they are Life.

Let's read the entire scene that took place here. John 6:24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. 25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? 26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

And that is exactly what Peter said to Jesus when Jesus asked the 12 if they were going to do as the seventy disciples did and leave also as the did because His words were too strong for them.

John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

And that is what John also said, 1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

And we see also Paul teaching the same thing. Philippians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Therefore we can see that this doctrine on where Life comes from is taught not only by Jesus but also the apostles as well. Therefore it is Apostolic doctrine.

Now, let's look at this Word of Life because we know that John 1:1 tells us that the Word was with God and the Word is God.

Therefore if God is The Word and the Word is Life, then the Great Fountain of life that comes forth from the Presence of God is what contains the very Life of God. Let me read you three Scriptures concerning the fountain of Life, and I want you to see the progression in them.

First we read, Psalms 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. 8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. 9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

Now, notice it says with thee is the fountain of Life. But then in order to receive the life from this Fountain we need to have the right attitude towards it, because the right mental attitude towards any divine gift will bring it to pass.

So we read in Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. And a snare is a trap. Something that can catch you if you are not aware of it.

Revelation 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

And so what is this fountain of water of Life? it is the word, for we are washed with the washing of water by the Word.

But what we need to know if we are to receive this fountain, is by what means does it come forth. When we think of a fountain we think in terms of water perpetually coming forth without no ending.

Now the water coming forth itself is not the source, but is coming forth from the Source. And the fountain itself is not the source but is the means by which we may obtain the Life that comes forth from the Source.

Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Notice the water of Life proceeds from the Throne of God, so we see the Source of Life is God Himself. And yet we see that there is a fountain that will bring froth from Him the very thing we desire, and that is Life. Eternal life.

Deuteronomy 30:20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, [and] that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days:

In this scripture we see that God is our very Life and yet it is His Voice that we must heed in order to obtain the Life of Him. So now we are thinking of this God-Life in terms of fountains and rivers of water. Because the analogy or type that God uses is that of something that is ever moving and flowing forth from it's source. So then there must be a source and a vehicle to move the Life from the source to where ever it goes to be received.

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Now in this verse we see God bringing forth His own Life and placing it in man through His breath. Yet in this illustration we actually picture God having made or molded a form and then literally coming down to earth and placing His mouth up to Adams and breathing into Adam His own Life. But is that necessarily the way it went?

Job tells us in Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life .

Now if Job had the same testimony as Adam, then might there be another scene that took place with Adam as well as with Job? And what might that be? What is the breath of God anyway?

we find out what the breath of God is in 1 Timothy 3: 16 where we read, "all Scripture is God breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right wise ness, that the man of God might be thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

So we see that the breath of God is His own Word coming forth. Now isn't it strange that we see in John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

And we see next in John 1:4 that "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. So then if the Life is in the Word, then we see that we must receive what is in the Word in order to receive the Life that is in Him.

And we are told in 1 Peter 1: 23 "being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which Liveth and abideth forever."

There's your Life in the Word that Brother Branham spoke to us about. And notice it is also identified as a Seed that is sown to bring forth Life.

And in Mark 4: 14 we read that the Seed that the sower went forth sewing is the Word of God.

And again in the Book of Acts 11:18 we read, "When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

And again from Acts Chapter 13 Verse 48 we read, And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

Now notice then if the Word of God is Life, or a carrier of God-Life and is represented as a seed because the word seed means a carrier of Life. Then it will take a change of our own thinking in order to receive God's thinking which is what a Word is, because the Word is a thought expressed. And so then if we are not able to change our thinking, then what chance have we at receiving God-Life.

So right before we hear what Paul said in Acts 13;48 we hear in verse 46 what caused him to say it.

Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath (echoes) everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

I John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and Eternal Life.

So then what are the attributes of eternal Life?

We are told by Jesus himself in John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

So eternal life does not come by your keeping the law, it comes by the Word of Life taking over your heart and The spirit of God living our your life for you.

Galatians 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

Galatians 2:19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Now, let's read what Paul has to say on this in Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after self, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of unbelief and death. 3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through self, God sending his own Son in the likeness of your sinful self, and for unbelief, condemned unbelief in self: 4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after self, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are tuned into self do mind the things of self; but they that are tuned into the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded which is self centered is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind, the mind that is self centered is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are into self cannot please God. 9 But ye are not into self, but in tune with The Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ abiding in Him, he is none of his. 10 And if the Spirit of Christ is in you, your self, that is your body is dead because of unbelief; but your Spirit is quickened to life because of right-wise-ness. 11 But if the Spirit of him (God's Spirit) that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to self, to live after self. 13 For if ye live after self, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, That is youself, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16  The Spirit (God's Spirit) itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

That is why we read in I John 5:12 He that hath (or he that echoes) the Son hath life; (or echoes Life) and he that hath not (or echoes not) the Son of God hath not (or echoes not) life.13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Revelations 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath (echoes) everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

And we find out that it is in this hour that we are to come to the place that we are to manifest openly this eternal Life as we see in Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. That word appear is from the Greek word phaneroo which means to manifest in ones true character.

Why? because this is the hour of the appearing, and since He appeared we also appear with him in Glory, or doxa, which is the very values, opinions and judgments of God.

II Timothy 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: And that word appearing means manifestation. And let's face it the Appearing or manifestation we saw was in one man William Branham. So when he appeared, or we saw Christ appear in Him, manifest in him, it set the scene for that same Life to appear or manifest in us.

Notice it is the Appearing that manifests the Life. And so it is through the appearing that we manifest what life we have in us. And therefore with no expression manifesting or appearing, there is no apparent life to be manifested as we read in...

Ephesians 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: