Christ is the
Mystery no 162
Revelation
or Reasoning
Brian Kocourek
2 Thessalonians
from Christ is the Mystery of God
Revealed pp. 259 brother Branham said, "Now,
listen close. Fallen angels, what kind of angels? Luther, Wesley, Catholic,
Pentecostal who kept not their first estate like the angels did and has fell
into organizations like Lucifer's main hold at
Notice
brother Branham's words, here. First he says there are people who fell away
from the Messages of their hour. They were part of that Message for their hour,
then after the Messenger left the scene, these fell
away. And notice how they fell away. He say they fell
into organization. So Message people be warned, he's warning how that
organizational spirit can take a mans soul right to
hell.
"And what have they done? Organized a great
ecumenical association of ministers to make an image unto the beast, as the
Bible said,
Now,
I hate to stop here halfway through this sentence, but notice again we must not
fail to see what he is warning us about. Notice the Image that is made unto the
Beast is Hierarchy. An association of ministers he says is what makes the image
unto the Beast. Why? because the beast system or the
Babylonian system was built on the doctrine of the Nicolaitians,
which means to conquer the laity.
What
was it? Men rising up and laying claims to a hierarchy over
the people. And that doctrine comes right out of the Pitts of hell.
"and building a Christian
economy that'll close the doors of this church and others like it. Listen, that's coming when
the New laws being passed are making it a crime to be
a Christian outside of the realm of those dead organized churches. Born again,
Bible carrying people are laughed at by the Hierarchical politicians and church
leaders.
See Lucifer at his work? So that's what they are doing. But what about us?
As
for us, he says, I'm trying to bring you the
threefold revelation or mystery of God. and remember, what was that?
1) Christ in His Son 2) Christ in us 3) Back to fellowship with our Father as
it was in the garden. God and His Children back in fellowship.
Then
brother Branham says, What
did they do? They Sold out to reasonings
of wisdom and education like Eve did, fallen angels did.
So in selling out to reasoning of mans wisdom and his
educational system, they fall. They fall where? They fall into organization.
They have to because it is not Revelation they hold to. They fall away from
Revelation into reasoning for themselves, and Proverbs
Now, brother Branham said in The First Seal 63-0318 P:44 "And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness... (deceiving people by un-righteousness)... in them that perish;... (not this
Bride, in them that's looking for such a thing)... because they received not the love of the
truth... (And Christ is the Truth, and Christ is the Word, but they'd rather
have a creed.),... that they might be saved. And for this cause God has
sent them a strong Delusion, that they should believe a lie:... (It should be translated there, as I
looked in the Lexicon, "the lie," not "a lie"; "the lie," same one he told Eve.) That they... might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
From his sermon, God
of this evil age 65-0801M P:33 brother
Branham said, Making a strong delusion, as the Bible said
it would (II
Thessalonians),
how this man of sin would come into existence and set in the temple of God,
showing himself he was God and caused the people to go into strong Delusions to
believe a lie; and believe it will be damned by it. That's the same thing he did
to Eve, give her... Never told her the Word wasn't right, but give her a strong
Delusion that she believed a lie. The spirit of delusion is of the devil,
devils now working in the children of disobedient. Disobedient
to what? What's the children of this day
disobedient to? Like Eve was at the beginning: the true Word of God.
Now,
we know through our studies of the Word Glory
that the Greek word for Glory was Doxa which means "the opinion, values and judgments" of God.
In other words, it speaks of the very
mindset that was in Christ.
Paul
said, Philippians
2:5“Let
this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
But
he also said, in Philippians
So
what gives us the ability to be Thus Minded is Revelation that comes from God.
But what causes the great delusion is not revelation, but the reasoning of man
to try to figure out a way around the Word. Because let's face it, if you do
not have a revelation from God, then you will have to resort to the reasoning'
of man and you will open yourself up to the great delusion.
Any child who follows the
ministry of William Branham should be able to quote from Matthew
Now, as I said, just about
anyone who follows William Branham’s Message has heard him say this enough that
they should be able to quote it and even talk intelligently about revelation;
what it is, and how necessary revelation is to the believer. But why do the so many refuse to believe what the revelation was
that Peter said to Jesus that brought such praise from Jesus.
In verse 13 Jesus
had asked the disciples the question, "Whom do men say that I
the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art
John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias,
or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But who do you say that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God.
Then Jesus called Peter blessed and said those most notable words, "Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. and upon this rock (upon
this revelation), I will build my church; and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
So, this morning we are going
to examine the difference between Revelation and Reasoning,
because both
are very powerful influences in the world today, and not only in the World but
amongst those who claim to believe the End-time Message of Malachi Four.
Now to understand the
difference between Revelation and Reasoning, we must know what
the two words mean. Because as brother Branham said about the difference
between the Appearing and Coming,
he said "they are two different words and they
mean two different things".
And so is Revelation and Reasoning two different words and they mean two different things.
Now the word Revelation means The act of revealing or
disclosing. b. Something revealed, something
not previously known or realized but is made know or realized. In Scripture it is a manifestation of divine will or
truth. So we see that
Revelation is something that God had hidden but then He does something to
uncover or disclose it, which reveals it and makes it known to men.
Now, let’s contrast that to Reasoning,
for Reasoning is: the drawing of inferences or
conclusions through the use of reason, or the intellect. And
we know that no man can understand the things of God
exept the Spirit of God be in him, 1 Corinthians 2, and Proverbs 14 tells
us "there
is a way that seems right unto a man, but the ways thereof are the ways of
death."
Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul how he really
nails down this point.
1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but
in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect: (or those who
have come to full maturity) yet not the wisdom of
this world, nor of the princes of this world, that comes to nothing: 7 But
we speak the wisdom of God yet, it's in a mystery, it's even been hidden, and is a hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: (they
didn't even have a clue) for had they known it, (if they even had a clue) they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (the Lord of the values, the lord of the opinion,. the Lord
of the judgments. No they had no clue those opinions, values and judgments he
expressed were god's opinions, values, and judgments. They just had no clue).
9 But as
it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:
So without the Spirit of God you have no idea what
this great revelation is all about. he said God
reveals it to us by His Spirit. You've got to have His Spirit to understand what
He is revealing. Now, listen this is not a mental thing. Remember the word
"reveal" means to manifest bible truth. And we know the word manifest means "to clearly show or display".
So when God does something by way of manifestation, those with His Spirit catch
what He is revealing but those without His Spirit have no clue what they just
saw take place.
"for The
Spirit (and there is only One THE
Spirit, and that is God's Spirit.) So he says
God's Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of
a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God knows.
That is why it is so very important to receive the
true baptism of the Holy Ghost, and not just an anointing of the holy Ghost upon your flesh, or upon your spirit. Because
brother Branham said, Leadership
65-1207 P:57 The
choice of your conduct, you could... You can't mix it now. You're
either for God or against God,
and the outward expressions shows exactly what's on the inside. See? The
cocklebur, many of you think, "I got the baptism of the Holy Ghost; I'm
going to heaven." That don't mean one thing that you're going to
heaven. No, sir. You can have the baptism of the
Holy Ghost every hour in your life and still be lost and go to hell. The
Bible says so. See? It's exactly right.
Notice he says, you are either for God or you are against God and your
conduct on the outside shows what you are standing for on the inside. When God
knows the very secrets of your heart, how are you going to fool Him? You can't.
so, live your testimony, don't preach it.
Thirst 65-0919 P:97We realize, Father, that when the sperm, the genes from the male and
female come together, there's only one out of a million that's accepted. One
germ from the male finds the fertile egg of the woman, the female, and a
million others perish. There's a million, two million, come out of
Then the Apostle Paul says, 12 "Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but The Spirit which is of God; that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which
the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness
unto him: neither can he know them, (he can't know them, it is impossible for him to know
the things of God, that's why they run here and they run there, because they
are not born again.)
And Paul says they can not know the things of God because they are spiritually discerned. And if
they are spiritually discerned then they are discerned by the Spirit, and if
you have not the Spirit of God then you can not discern what is happening.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth (discerns) all things, yet he himself is judged (discerned) by no man. 16 For who hath
known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of
Christ.
So whatever way you want to slice
it, the reasoning of man is only a deception, which is a delusion. Therefore His
reasoning's are a delusion, and the word delusion comes from deception, or the
act of deceiving, and to deceive you must take a truth and do
something to it to hide it from men. So Revelation takes that which
is hidden and Reveals it, while Reasoning takes that which is
true and in trying to use a limited understand ends up confusing it and thus hiding
it from men in all the reasoning and congecture.
And the result is Deception.
So we can say revelation
reveals or manifests while deception hinders or covers
up truth. In other words, Reasoning then is anti or the opposite
of Revelation.
So if Revelation is Christ,
then Reasoning is Anti-Christ.
Brother Branham said in his
sermon, Blasphemous names 62-1104M P:56 Number one, coming to you, your mental
faith, right here, comes the Holy Spirit, coming down into your mental faith
making it a spiritual faith. Then the spiritual faith only recognizes
the Word. Now, and number two--three: Then you'll have spiritual, you'll
have the Holy Spirit, and will seal all these things into you, as that Holy
Spirit covers this. From your faith up to the Holy Spirit seals you in with
Christ; then you become one. Amen. You become one. See, you and Christ live
together. "At
that day you'll know that I'm in the Father, the Father in Me, I in you, and
you in Me." See? Then that's a sealed unit of the Lord God. Now, and
then they are vindicated and placed.
When that time takes place, they become vindicated sons and daughters of God.
So notice that brother Branham says when the Holy spirit
comes into your mental faith, The Holy Ghost anoints that mental faith and it becomes a spiritual
dynamic Revelation, and then it is sealed in
there and no one could ever take it from you, and he said it makes us one with
Christ. And notice he said when we come to that place we are ready for the
placing as sons and daughters of God. In other words, we must be in that
condition where our mental faith has been anointed with the Spirit of God and
it has dropped down into our soul sealing us in and making us One with the mind of Christ, and we must come to that
condition in order to be placed in the adoption of sons.
Again from Blasphemous names 62-1104M P:53 The biggest part of our faith is mental
faith. By hearing the Word it
brings us to a mental recognition of God. But if this coming from above, oh, brother, if
it ever strikes this, there is a godly, spiritual faith. Then what
does that faith do? That faith
recognizes only the Word. No matter
what anything else says, it only recognizes the Word, because "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (And the Word's still God.) And the Word was made flesh and
dwelled among us." And when the
word Itself is pouring into our faith, our mental
faith becomes a spiritual revelation. "And upon this foundation I'll
build My Church," (See?), not upon a mental conception of church joining,
a mental conception of that, but upon
the revelation. When them streams of
grace has poured into that mental
faith that you've got, then upon
this, a spiritual revelation, "I'll build My Church and the gates of
hell can't prevail against it." See? That shows they would be against it,
but it'll never prevail. Oh, what a glorious thing.
Now, notice how
brother Branham tells us that the Holy spirit comes
and anoints our mental Faith and then it becomes a spiritual revelation that
builds upon Word upon Word upon Word. That's what brother Branham says when these
streams of Grace pour in upon our mental faith. Then he says "When them streams of grace has
poured into that mental faith that you've got, then upon this, a spiritual revelation."
But what if the Holy
Spirit never comes into you to seal in the teaching? Then you become like a
broken cistern that can hold no water. And what breaks the cistern? The reasoning of man.
That is why we are
commanded to cast down all reasoning. 2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, (computation, i.e. (figuratively) reasoning
(conscience, conceit):--imagination, thought.) and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
In 1 Peter
Notice
he says at the end time there will be a certain Grace that will be brought to
you at the time of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
And in 1 Corinthians 1:3 we also read, "Grace be
unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always on
your behalf, for the grace of God
which is given you by Jesus Christ;
Now, notice what this Grace is to do. 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance,(that word "utterance" was translated from the Greek
word "Logos," which we
know as "The Word", but
also it means doctrine or teaching) and in all knowledge; so we see that this
Grace is to enrich us like fertilizer does to the seed planted
in the soil, and it is to enrich the doctrine and
knowledge in order to produce a fully manifested crop of sons
and daughters.
Then he tells us why. 6 Even as the testimony (the witness) of
Christ was confirmed (stabilized) in you: 7 So that
ye come behind in no gift; (charisma) and it means endowment as in mental acuity
or ability to understand.. So God sends a special anointing of Grace in order
to anoint our minds to the doctrine so that we come behind in no understanding
"waiting
for the coming (the apocalypses or unveiling) of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm (stabilize) you unto the end, that
ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice twice we
see that this grace is to give us a certain unction in
order to know for the purpose of stabilizing us until the end. And he calls
that grace, for that is what it is. God by His Spirit gives us a certain
portion of His Spirit to stabilize us that we might not only know, but that we
might not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. And that is why there
can be a great falling away, because the people have never been stabilized by
the Word, the doctrine. So when just anything comes up, they blow a fuse and
jump on the band wagon as we see the great falling away all over the message.
Then the apostle
Paul tells us, 9 "God is
faithful, by whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the
same mind and in the same judgment."
So
you see this grace that brother Branham was talking about is the same Grace
that Peter and Paul both spoke of that would come at the time of the apocalypses
or Unveiling of the Mighty God. And it was to produce in us
an anointing upon the doctrine and knowledge of Jesus Christ the Son of God
that we might understand our own role as sons and giving us the same mind that
was in Christ which readies us for the adoption as obedient
sons.
So
we see the importance of Revelation to the believer. Revelation
is what seals us in. Revelation is what takes all the teaching by the true
five fold ministry and anoints that mental faith with Grace to receive Word upon
Word upon Word, and bring it to a supernatural dynamic Revelation that seals us
into Christ the Word, and readies us for our adoption.
1 John
So we see that the Holy Spirit
is our Teacher and the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the believer is what
allows you to know and understand the deeper things of God. But
that is where the problem we see among so called Christians today, even in this
message, because men have received their learning from men and not from God. and thus they have placed their hope in men, and not in
God.
Brother
Branham taught us in his sermon Voice of the Sign 64-0321E E-33 The elected listens to the voice. But the unelected ignores and says,
"Nonsense. Go on. We'll take the same old school." That's the way
they did in the days of Luther.
And
from his sermon GOD
WHO IS RICH IN MERCY 65-0119 191 If
a man comes out with an odd peculiar ministry, that's found in the Bible to be
the Truth, and that man stays right in that same old denominational doctrine,
forget it. Nothing to it. God don't do a thing like
that. That thing, that's rotten manna that's got termites in it, or wiggle tails,
or whatever you want to call it, from forty, fifty years ago, still trying to
eat that old manna that fell way back years ago. And the children of
The Token 64-0308 77
He displayed His sign as Messiah, and so forth. And they, many of them, said,
"Yes, I could go for that." Well, now, if that was a sign, there's got to be a voice of that sign.
What was the voice behind it? When He begin to teach
His doctrine and call them a bunch of snakes in the grass, He wasn't
popular from then on (See?) when the voice came with the sign. The sign went
first.
So
we see that the doctrine is so vitally important, because it is the fertilizer
upon the seed bringing it into manifestation of the life that lays within it. And Jesus said they did not want his
doctrine, they wanted the doctrine of man instead an by teaching for doctrine
the commandments of men they made the Word of God of none effect to themselves.
Paul told us in 2 Thessalonians
Now, a delusion is A false belief strongly held in spite of
invalidating evidence. And no matter how many hundreds of Scriptures you
give them, and no matter how many hundreds of quotes from a prophet who has
been vindicated, they still refuse to believe it.
That is one strong delusion,
brother. I've talked to these men and so have you, and you can show them every
word brother Branham said on a certain point and they will say they believe
every word he said, but then deny in their next breath what he said. YOU talk
about a delusion. And they don't even see what they are doing.
So instead of Revelation that
feeds upon Word upon Word upon Word, they receive a strong delusion based on their
own reasoning or the reasoning of what some other men have said, and thus they
would rather believe a Lie than The Truth vindicated by Scripture and Prophetic
utterance of Thus Saith the Lord.
Did not the apostle John tell
us "they love darkness rather than light?"
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, (they love darkness more than
they love the light, and the reason is) because
their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that
doeth evil hates the light, neither will he come to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved (which is exposed). 21 But he that doeth truth
cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought
(or
formed) in God.
Therefore if revelation is to
anoint our mental faith and create in us a supernatural understanding that will
bring us to the state of readiness for adoption, then deceptive reasoning's of
men will do just the opposite. It will cause men to fall away from The
Revelation of Jesus Christ and thus not made ready for adoption and rapture. So
what are you going to choose this day? Revelation, which means you've got to
die to your own thinking and receive it the way God said it, or take your
chances on your own reasoning and fall away from The Faith, which is The
Revelation.
Let us pray...