Christ is the Mystery no 148
Christian Life no 28
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
Let us stand to our feet and open our Bibles to Isaiah 55:11 and read it for our text.
"So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth:
it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Let us pray...
Now,
keep this Scripture in mind as we are going to continue with our study from
brother Branham's sermon, Christ is the Mystery
of God revealed, and we are
going to read from pp. 239 "He,
the Head, is the First-fruits of the resurrection. (We'll go off this
revelation. Just a little while longer, if you say so.
All right, all right; just a little bit now.) He is the Firstfruits
of the resurrection. Is that right? What? Then what is He? He's the Head
of the Body, which is His Church, Bride. Uh-huh. Then the Bride-body
must follow the Head, for it is part of His resurrection and part of the
mystery. It's impossible for it not to go. Oh, my. It's part of God's
mystery. How God revealed Himself here and raised it up by the Word, so He
reveals the Church and raises it up by the same Word. It's a part of His
threefold mystery.
240 As the Head was took from the grave, so must the Body follow
Him back to
There is
only one theme that brother Branham is bringing out here this morning and that
is this. There's one Headship; that's
Christ. The Body only recognizes one thing: the Word. Now, the Word he is talking
about isn't man's word, but God's Word.
Jesus
himself said, "man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that departs out of the Mouth
of God." Therefore, it all boils down to one thing.
Does the Word of God have preeminence in your life or does it not. Are you
still dependant on what someone else's opinion is, or are you only interested
in what God's Word tells you.
God Himself said in Romans 3:4 let God be true, but every man a liar; saith
the Lord. So if God Himself said let every man's Word be a lie, then you have a
right to not believe
any one except God's very own Word.
But notice Jesus also said in Luke 4:4, And Jesus
answered him, saying, It is written, " That man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every Word of God."
Notice that he let's us know that God's Word
comes to us via God's mouth. And we see Jesus even more definitive in Matthew 4:4 But he answered
and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Notice in Luke he says by every Word of God, but in Matthew 4
he says, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God.
So where does the Word of
God come from? He says, "that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
So the Word of God come forth
from the mouth of God. You can't get around that. Then even the written Word
came forth by the conduit of God's Mouth.
And Luke tells us that the mouth of God is His
prophets. It is not the five fold ministry. It is not the Teacher. It is not
the Pastor. It is not the Evangelist. It is not the five fold Prophet. It is
not the Apostle. It tells us the mouth of God is His prophets. period.
Luke 1:70 As He
(God has) spoken by the mouth of his holy
prophets, which have been since the world began:
So he tells us if you want to trace how God has spoken
to man you can trace it all the way back to the beginning and you will find it
has been through prophets.
Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times
of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.
Now, the instructions God left us with concerning how
He will use his prophets, comes to us in Deuteronomy
18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a
Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto
him ye shall hearken; (In other words, you
had better listen to this guy.)
16 According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb
in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD
my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die
not.
So when God had
spoken to
17 And the LORD said unto me, "They have well
spoken that which they have spoken".
18 "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their
brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall
speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19 And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in
my name, I will require it of him.
In other words you
are going to have to answer to God for not listening to the One He places His
Word in their mouth.
20 But the prophet, which shall presume
to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak,
or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
Now, that's a pretty
tough thing to hear. Because he is telling the people they will have to kill
the false prophets who speak what God has not told them to speak.
21 And if thou say in thine
heart, How shall we know the word which the
LORD hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet
speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass,
that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken,
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou
shalt not be afraid of him.
So it all boils down to whether the things
spoken comes to pass. In other words, not mere words,
but a living Word that must manifest after it has been spoken. If there
is no manifestation after that word has gone forth then God never told the man
to say it. So that throws out theology altogether.
That throws out about 99.9% of all that is taught in the pulpits across
We hear the prophet Jeremiah tell us this very thing
in the name of the Lord according to Jeremiah
Notice Jeremiah tells the people that these false prophets
will make you vain, and the dictionary definition of the word vain
means they will make you to where you are not producing a
desired result.
Are you getting it? in other
words, "marked by futility or ineffectualness".
In other words, the words of that prophet will not produce
anything in you because there is no Life in those words, because they
are not the Words of God.
So then what does come out of their mouths if God did
not send these men?
2 Chronicles
Now we find the same story told in the Book of Kings,
so let's pick up on it in
1 Kings 22:13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying,
Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one
mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak
that which is good.
1 Kings
I would like to read again from Jeremiah 23:15-40 from the NIV Therefore, this is
what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets: "I will make them eat
bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of
And how is that? Because God will
interpret His Own Word by bringing it to pass.
21 I did not send these prophets,
yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they
have prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my council, they would have
proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil
ways and from their evil deeds.
In other words, if they had heard God's word and
echoed God's Word it would have had a result on the people. But there is no
manifestation as a result of what they preach because they are only preaching
their own deluded theology and they are not echoing God's Living Word which will
not return to Him void.
23 "Am I only a God nearby,"
declares the LORD , "and not a God far away? 24 Can anyone hide in secret places so
that I cannot see him?" declares the LORD .
"Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD
.
Look, those people who want to fornicate? Do you think
you are doing it so that no one will be watching you? Do you not know that it
is being recorded and will be played back one day for all to see? The man who
has been married two or three times, does he not stop to consider that God
watches every move and knows every motive and objective in his heart as well.
Are people so stupid that they can say the judge is
here and yet think the judge will not judge them when they disobey God's Word?
I will tell you the difference between a righteous preacher and an unrighteous
preacher.
When you listen to a righteous preacher who correctly echoes
God's Words, you can feel the heat of the fire of God, but when you hear the
words of an unrighteous preacher you feel nothing, and therefore you change
nothing. You just continue on as though all things continue.
Then God says, 25 "I
have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had
a dream! I had a dream!' 26 How long
will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the
delusions of their own minds? 27 They
think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name,
just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell his
dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has
straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD . 29 "Is not my word like fire,"
declares the LORD , "and like a hammer that
breaks a rock in pieces?
You see, what I said earlier? God's Word is like a
fire, and it cuts and it cleans down to the very thoughts and intentions of the
heart. And if you are listening to someone who calls himself a preacher and
brings no Fiery Word that cuts and cleans, I'll tell you one thing, that man is
not called by God, he's called by the people to tell them what their itching
ears want to hear.
30 "Therefore," declares the LORD,
"I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly
from me.
Now, look at what he is saying here. If it is not in
the written Word of God it didn't come from God. You hear men all the time
quoting some five fold minister saying, brother so and so the great apostle said
this, or br. so and so the great evangelist said this
or br. so and so said the great teacher said this. But
God said, "I am against those prophets
(those preachers) who steal words from one
another, words which supposedly came from me."
And this Word supposedly
implies that these men are trying to get you to think when they quote some other
minister that those words are from God, when they are nothing more than that
man's opinion unless they are either Scripture or the Words of a vindicated
prophet. Therefore what does it matter who the man is if He hasn't come with
Thus Saith the Lord.
That is why you don't find me saying this brother said
this and this brother said that. Because it matters not with God what any
brother says, if it didn't come via the channel of God's own mouth, which is his
prophet.
31 Yes," declares the LORD , "I am against the prophets (the preachers) who wag
their own tongues and yet declare, 'The LORD declares.' 32
Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams," declares the
LORD . "They tell them and lead my people
astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do
not benefit these people in the least," declares the LORD . False Oracles and False Prophets 33
"When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, 'What is the oracle
of the LORD ?' say to them, 'What oracle?I will forsake
you, declares the LORD.'
In other Words, if you do not understand the conduit
that God uses, God says I will forsake you. I will leave you in your dust.
34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone
else claims, 'This is the Message of the LORD ,' I will punish that man and
his household. 35 This is what each
of you keeps on saying to his friend or relative: 'What is the LORD's answer?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But you must not mention 'the Message of
the LORD ' again, because every man's own word becomes his own Message and
so you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God. 37 This is
what you keep saying to a prophet: 'What is the LORD's
answer to you?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' 38 Although you claim, 'This is the Message
of the LORD ,' this is what the LORD says: You
used the words, 'This is the Message of the LORD ,' even though I told you that
you must not claim, 'This is the Message of the LORD .' 39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and
cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers.
40 I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace-everlasting shame that will not
be forgotten."
Let me read this from the translation called The Message.
THE MESSAGE 34 “And if anyone,
including prophets and priests, goes around saying glibly ‘God’s Message! God’s Message!’ I’ll punish
him and his family. 35-36 “Instead
of claiming to know what God
says, ask questions of one another, such as ‘How do we understand God in this?’ But
don’t go around pretending to know it all, saying ‘God told me this . . . God told me
that. . . .’ I don’t want to hear it anymore. Only the
person I authorize speaks for me. Otherwise, my Message gets twisted, the
Message of the living God. 37-38 “You
can ask the prophets, ‘How did God answer you? What did he tell you?’ But
don’t pretend that you know all the answers yourselves and talk like you
know it all. I’m telling you: Quit the ‘God told me this . . .
God told me that . . .’ kind of talk. 39-40 “Are
you paying attention? You’d better, because I’m about to take you in hand and
throw you to the ground, you and this entire city that I gave to your ancestors. I’ve had it with the lot of you.
You’re never going to live this down. You’re going down in history as a
disgrace.”
Now, that's pretty tough love if you ask me. But that
is what God wants. God don't care if you know this brother or that brother. God
don't care how many hours you talked to this brother or that brother. Do you
know Him. That is what it all comes down to. Do you
know Him in the power of His resurrection?
There's too many superstitious unbelievers posing as
believers in this Message. Men with their rabbits
feet, rubbing it for luck. Men claiming to be believers and
running out to witches, spiritists and palm readers. Men claiming to be believers, and yet run to
this brother and this brother hoping to get an answer they like. what's the difference if you use a wiji
board or use a preacher to get an answer you are looking for. Brother Branham
said, "The
Body, the Bride, only
recognizes one thing: and that's the Word."
Isn't
that what brother Branham told us the condition that the bride will be in at
the very end?
From his sermon, The
Spoken word is the Original Seed 62-0318E P:175 brother
Branham said, "Notice, what harmony. Jesus
never did anything until seen of the Father or the Father showed Him first:
(Harmony between God and Christ. See? John
5:19) So will the Bride, and He
shows Her His Word of Life (He shows Her), and she
receives It. She never doubts it. Nothing can harm Her,
not even death; for if the Seed be planted, the water will raise it up again.
Amen. (Now, I got a great big "Hallelujah.") Here is the secret:
the Word is in the Bride and the mind of
Christ to know what He wants done with the Word, and She
does it in His Name. She has THUS SAITH THE LORD. Then it is germitized; so the Holy Spirit waters it until it is
grown and serves its purpose. They do only His will. (Amen. I'll
believe that.) No one can persuade them different. They
have THUS SAITH THE LORD, or they keep still. Then they
will do the works of God. For it is Himself in them,
continuing His Word to fulfill as He did complete in His day. All things
when He was here, He did not complete all when He was here, for it was not time
yet."
Now, whose words are those that we just read? If you
say William Branham, then I will have to ask you another question, "who
was William Branham". If you say "God's vindicated
prophet" you are correct. Then I must ask, "what is a Vindicated
prophet?" and the answer is "The Mouth of God".
Then let me ask the first question again. Whose Words are these that I just
read to you? And the correct answer is they are God's Words. Then if they are
God's Words, they will have to produce just exactly what he said they would
produce, is that not right? Then expect it, and it's yours.
Now, let me read again the Words spoken by God to the
bride in this hour.
From his sermon, The
Spoken word is the Original Seed 62-0318E P:175 brother Branham the mouthpiece of God said,
The Voice of God to this generation said, "Notice,
what harmony. Jesus never did anything until seen of the
Father or the Father showed Him first: (Harmony between God and Christ.
See? John 5:19) So will the Bride, and He shows Her His Word of Life (He shows Her), and she receives
It. She never doubts it. Nothing can harm Her, not
even death; for if the Seed be planted, the water will raise it up again. Amen.
(Now, I got a great big "Hallelujah.") Here is the secret: the
Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know
what He wants done with the Word, and She does it in
His Name. She has THUS SAITH THE LORD. Then it is germitized; so the Holy Spirit waters it until it is
grown and serves its purpose. They do only His will. (Amen. I'll
believe that.) No one can persuade them different. They
have THUS SAITH THE LORD, or they keep still. Then they
will do the works of God. For it is Himself in them,
continuing His Word to fulfill as He did complete in His day. All things
when He was here, He did not complete all when He was here, for it was not time
yet."
Remember we read for our text this morning from Isaiah 55:11 where God said, "So shall My
Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer.