Christ is the
Mystery no 167
Only
through a prophet
Brian Kocourek, pastor
This evening we are going to examine paragraph 286 of Branham Branham's sermon Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed, and I want
you to notice he is focused on how God reveals himself to us, and that it must
come through a prophet. Now, you may ask yourself why is that so important that
God speaks to us only through a prophet He vindicates?
Well, let's read and find out.
286 Oh,
how I wish I had time to go back into Ezekiel
and pull out them dry bones and show you! He said, "Can
these bones live again?" He said, "Prophesy."
How can prophecy come? Only through the
prophet. It's the Word of the Lord. "Hear
ye, ye dry bones, the Word of the Lord."
And sinew skin come upon them, and they stood up a
mighty army, and they begin to march toward
Now, notice, brother Branham said, "How can prophecy
come? You know that is a really good question,
because among the Pentecostal, we have a lot of men claiming to be prophets
today because they've had a dream or a vision. There is even a club they have
called the prophecy club, and it is rampant with men who claim to be prophets
of God because of some dream or vision they have had. But we have got to
understand that dreams and visions are not for prophets alone. Dreams and visions
according to Joel 2 come via the Spirit
of God falling upon all flesh.
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh;
Notice God is not
telling Joel His prophet, that He will pour out His Spirit only
upon His own Seed, but He says, I will pour
out My Spirit upon all flesh. Now, that is important
to know in this hour because many people are seeing visions of the end time,
and events that we expect to transpire concerning the end-time, but these people
are not prophets of God. They might be prophets but whether they are prophets
of men or of God is to be determined.
Therefore, what is
happening is simply the Spirit of the Lord is being poured out upon all flesh,
and these people are seeing things that are to come to pass in this hour,
because God wants them to see what is coming.
That is why Brother
Branham said in his sermon, Modern events made clear by prophecy 65-1206 P:42 Notice, we find
today that people... There's many people just can't believe it, even
Spirit-filled people.
Now, that in itself is
a paradox, because we know that unless you have the Spirit of God you can not
understand the things of God. That is what Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 2. 10 But God hath revealed them
unto us by his Spirit: for the 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. 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.
And that is the same
thing that the Apostle John taught as well when he said, 1 John
Then to see those
who have an anointing from God upon their spirit and yet they either do not
understand the things of God because God has not revealed them to them, or perhaps because they are just willfully
ignorant, and have refused the channel that God chose and that is His prophets.
But notice both Paul and John taught us that it takes a special anointing from
God of His Spirit for us to know the things of God. And we see that this
anointing is a baptism of the genuine Spirit of God upon our own spirit.
But notice what
brother Branham said in his sermon, Modern events
made clear by prophecy 65-1206 P:42 There's many
people just can't believe it, even
Spirit-filled people. Yes, Spirit filled and yet do not
believe because they do not understand, yet spirit filled. Even spirit filled
people just can't come to the place where they believe this Message.
But notice what he
says as we read the entire statement from Modern
events made clear by prophecy 65-1206 P:42 Notice, we find today that people... There's many people
just can't believe it, even Spirit-filled people. I'm
going to give you one that'll choke you. The baptism of the Holy
Ghost don't mean you're going in, not at all, not on that, don't have anything to do with your soul.
That's the baptism. See? Here's the inside soul in here, that has to come
from God. But then on the outside you have five senses,
and five inlets to your contact your earthly home. The inside, you have a
spirit, and in there you have five outlets: your conscience, and love, and so
forth, five outlets to that spirit. Remember, in that spirit you can be
baptized with the genuine Spirit of God and still be lost. It's the soul
that lives; that was ordained of God. Didn't Jesus say, "Many will come to Me in that day,
and say, 'Lord, haven't I cast out devils, done great and mighty works,
prophesied, the great gifts of God?'" He said, "Depart
from me, you that work iniquity, I never even knew you. Many will come in that
day."
So what does that
Scripture tells us in Matthew
Then
brother Branham says, 43 "Didn't
Caiaphas prophesy? He was a devil. We find out there... And them
priests, them great men, was supposed to be great leaders in them days, with
humility and everything else, but failed to see the Word of God Itself made
manifest before them. We could just take a bunch of them I got wrote down
here.
And
then he goes on to mention men like
Balaam, a genuine prophet of God with a gift, and a genuine anointing upon that
gift, yet he used that gift to make himself money, and thus rebelled against
the Word of the Lord.
48 Balaam, he couldn't see the difference. Many can't.
Pharaoh couldn't see it, though vindicated right before him. Dathan couldn't
see It. Dathan come out there, and he seen Moses and
knowed. He went out there, said, "You try to think you're the only
one in the bunch. The whole congregation's holy." God never did deal
with--like that. He ought to have knowed better than that. And he said,
"Well, the whole congregation's holy. You try to make yourself (If we'd
say it today, the street expression) the only pebble on the beach."And
Moses knew that God had sent him down there for that. He just said,
"Lord..." fell in the--the doorway of the tabernacle. And God said,
"Separate yourself with him." And He
swallowed them up.
49 And
remember, the sin that
So when a vindicated
prophet of God tells us that just having received the baptism of the Holy Ghost
doesn't mean you are going in, then it matters not what experience you have had
with God, if you are not Gene Seed of God you aren't going to be
there. If you have not received that baptism upon a gene seed of God,
then no matter who you are you won't be there. For only those ordained to
eternal Life will believe.
So we are living in
a very deceitful age when people think they are right with God and thus
righteous because they have receive an anointing upon their spirit, but an
anointing upon your spirit does not make you right with God.
I have known several
people over the years among this Message who at one time or another felt an
anointing on their spirit, a baptism of their spirit, at one time or another,
but when it came to doing what is right they just couldn't do it.
One sister I
remember in a little church in Bloomington Indiana when we lived there for a
couple years we visited around to the churches, and this sister everyone knew
she was living in fornication, and besides that she cut her hair, said it gave
her headaches, and one Sunday morning, she testified in church that she had
been to a concert the night before and oh did she feel the Holy Ghost, she
said, and so she wept in telling her testimony. Now, that sister lied before
God and the church. We all knew she had been to the rolling stones concert,
where there are so many demons it would make you head swim. But oh, brother
could she weep before God in the church assembly, and go right out and live in
sin. But brother, could she rejoice in the spirit for everyone to see. But to
do what was right and to live a righteous life, there was nothing in her to do
it.
Look, I've been
around this message for 40 years and I've known plenty who have claimed to have
received a genuine experience of God in their spirit, and who could even talk
the doctrine fairly well, but who also willingly entered into adulterous
relationships when the Bible says plainly in, James 4:17
Therefore to him that knoweth to do
good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. And
we know John 16:9 tells us "sin is unbelief."
Oh, what a deceptive hour we are living in, when
men will be granted spiritual experiences, yet not surrendering their souls to God.
Hebrews
So willful sinners,
yet they received some sort of experience in the spirit, and based on that
experience they now seem to think they can live any kind of live they wish and
God will have to accept them because they had an experience in the spirit, and
they believe the doctrine.
And among the
Pentecostal peoples we see all kinds of fornication and adultery marrying two
and three times, and shady business deals and yet they have dreams and some
even have visions, so they think they are right with God.
Jesus
keeps all of his appointments 64-0418E P:103 What is a sinner? Not them who smoke. Smoking's not a sin; drinking's
not a sin. Cursing is not a sin. Committing adultery's not a sin. No, no. That's
attributes of unbelief. You do that because you're not a believer.
There's only two: one, you are a believer, or you're not a believer.
If you're not a believer, no matter how religious you are, you're still a
sinner. You're still a sinner, if you don't accept every Word of that
Bible, every Word of it. For both heavens and earth will
pass away, but not one jot or one tittle will pass
from that. And we'll give an account for it. You say, "Well, I
belong to church. My people don't..." That don't
matter. "I do this." I don't care what you've done. You're either
a believer or a sinner. That's pretty strong. But I'm just saying this
because the same One that knows the hearts of you, is
telling me to say it.
And look, we're not
just talking about the physical forms here, there are
also Spritual forms of adultery. Brother Branham said
right in this sermon, Christ is the mystery 63-0728
P:91 And when the church goes away from
the Word to a denomination, she rejects and commits fornications with
the world of man's wisdom, rejecting the authority of God's Word. That sound clear? The Bible said committing spiritual
fornications... Any word in the Bible that's rejected or if any
self-interpretation put to It, it's absolutely rejecting and committing
adultery against the God that is your Husband. An adulteress never
enters the Kingdom of heaven; we know that. See? Now, see, that's what Eve
done at the first place.
Now, listen, these
are serious issues here, and we had better wake up and take notice. he's not coming for a bride who is adulterates herself to
her own ideas above the Word of God, and he's not coming for a bride who is not
dressed in the Word. She must be washed in the washing of water of the Word and
she must be dressed in the Word. One word missing, and
you might as well have an open hole in your dress exposing your nakedness.
Notice in Joel he
also says, and your sons (not my
sons, your sons) and your daughters shall
prophesy, (notice prophesy means to preach, and he did not say his
daughters would but he said your daughters will. And they do, but there doing
shows they are not his daughters.)
and your
old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions: Now these are not people that God is claiming as
his own because his language says "your sons", "your daughters",
"your old men", "your young men", my Spirit shall anoint
them in their spirit and as a result they shall prophecy, and see visions, and have
dreams.
29 And also upon the servants and upon the
handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. Notice he doesn't claim these servants and handmaids
either. he said, the servants and handmaids, with no
claim to them.
30 And I will shew
wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32 And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall
call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in
Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom
the LORD shall call.
So these signs are for the
remnant and for the Jews, because the bride has seen her last sign. And that is
what we are counting on. God gave us a sign in a vindicating a prophet, and that is the last sign, the sign of messiah,
that we have need of. But these other signs in the heavens are not for the
children of God, they are for the Remnant he says, and for the Jews in
So we are looking at a
phenomenon that the world can not explain, and neither can the church. But we
had a prophet in this hour teach us that their will be false anointed ones who
will have a genuine anointing, but they will be false to the Word, with a false
Word, and having that false Word makes them the false anointed ones. Not the
anointing is false, but the Word they hold to, is false.
And so we come back to what
God's vindicated Prophet is teaching us here in this sermon, when he says, "Only
through the prophet. It's the Word of the Lord."
Notice, only through a
prophet vindicated by God does it become "The Word of the Lord." But there are too many people who say the
Lord says this and the Lord says that. Art thou a prophet to tell us what the
Lord says thus?
Balaam came with
visions and dreams, and yet he was a false anointed one. How much more
supernatural could you have than a vision or dream that comes to pass, or a
donkey speaking in a language that you can understand. That's very
supernatural, don't you think?
But we hear the prophet
Amos tells u in Amos 3:3 "Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 4 Will
a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of
his den, if he have taken nothing? 5 Can a bird fall in a snare
upon the earth, where no gin is for him? Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken
nothing at all? 6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the
people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done
it?
7 Surely
the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his
secret unto his servants the prophets. 8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the
Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?"
And we also find God speak to us about
how to tell if a man is a genuine prophet of God or not in Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet,
or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign
or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come
to pass, but he spake unto thee, saying, Let us
go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve
them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto
the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD
your God proveth you,
to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall
walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey
his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And
that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath
spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God,
which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house
of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee
to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from
the midst of thee. 6 If thy brother, the
son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the
wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice
thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not
known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, of the gods (elohiym) of the
people which are round about you, nigh unto thee,
or far off from thee, from the one end of the
earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8 Thou shalt not
consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine
eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
Now, isn't the plan of God a strange thing
that God would anoint men in their spirit when those men live an un-righteous
life? But he does it. He said "His Spirit", "the rain" would fall upon both the wheat and the tares.
God pours out His spirit unto all flesh. And
that is why we live in such a deceptive age in this hour, because "the two spirits would be so close that it would deceive
the very elected if it were possible." But we know it is not possible.
And we read in Psalm 68:18 that "He
gives gifts unto men and to the rebellious also."
So God tells us in Deuteronomy 13 that He will allow these people who
hold to false teachings and false understandings, or false objects of worship,
and ye He allows them to
have genuine gifts, in fact he gives them genuine gifts, and He tells us He
will give them to these people for a test, and it is up to you and I to tell "who is
who," not based upon any gift they may have, but based on whether they have
a righteous and vindicated Word.
Then he tells 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; (now this word
hearken means to pay close attention to what he has to say.)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. 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 I 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.
Now, what does that
mean? It means you will pay the price of ignoring what God has to say. And what
is that price? All you have to do is read Deuteronomy chapter 28 where it tells
you if you do not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, you will be cursed
coming and you will be cursed going, you will be cursed in the field, and you
will be cursed in the city, you will be cursed in your house, and you will be
cursed in your family, and you will be cursed in all that you set your hand to
do for you did not pay attention to the VOICE of the Lord God to your
generation.
Then we read on and
he tells us, 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. 21 And if thou say in thine heart,
How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22 When
a prophet speaketh 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:and thou shalt not be
afraid of him.
That is why everything about our life and our walk all boils down to
one thing, are we walking in the vindicated Light of God and are we taking heed
to the words that God has given us in this hour. If so you will be blessed, if
not you will be curse.
Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of
the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all
his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set
thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And
all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
3 Blessed
shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in
the field. 4 Blessed
shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of
thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when
thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when
thou goest out. 7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten
before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee
seven ways. 8 The LORD shall command the blessing
upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest
thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land
which the LORD thy God giveth
thee. 9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself,
as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the
commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all
people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and
they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the LORD shall make
thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy
cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The LORD shall open unto
thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his
season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and
thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the
LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt
be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that
thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee
this day, to observe and to do them:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from
any of the words which I command thee this day, to
the right hand, or to the left, to go after other
gods to serve them.
Now, the word hearken
to means to pay close attention to, to listen to carefully and intelligently,
to be obedient to, to perceive, discern and take heed to.
So we have read the
blessings of what God promised to do for them that pay close attention to what
His Voice is telling us, but what if we do not pay close attention to the Voice of the Lord our God? And I would like to
add, "and how can you pay close
attention to it, if you do not even listen to it, read it and study it"?
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken
unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and
his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come
upon thee, and overtake thee: 16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in
the field. 17 Cursed shall be
thy basket and thy store. 18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy
land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy
sheep. 19 Cursed
shalt thou be when thou comest in, and
cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation,
and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and
until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby
thou hast forsaken me. 21 The LORD
shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from
off the land, whither thou goest to possess
it. 22 The
LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an
inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with
blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. 23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is
under thee shall be iron. 24 The LORD
shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down
upon thee, until thou be destroyed. 25 The LORD shall cause thee
to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways
before them: and shalt be removed into all the
kingdoms of the earth.
Let us pray