Christ is the
Mystery no 173
The
Bride sees God only
Brian Kocourek, pastor
292
She is now risen and by the power of the
vindicated Word promised to Her. Amen. How a bride holds that promise. "He
told me He'd return after me. I believe it." See? Yes, sir. To meet Her
Headship, Her Redeemer, Her Husband, Her King, Her Lord, Her Lover, Her Saviour
in the provided meeting place... He's got a place to meet 'em. You know the
Bridegroom don't leave out nothing. He's got the ring, the identification. He's
got the robe that She wears, Her clothing. See? And
He's got the provided place to meet Her; that's in the
air. Everything has been all provided. He's got the wedding supper
already set, guests already invited, already chosen. All the Angels are
standing around His servants at attention. Oh. Oh, there's going to be a meeting
in the air, In that sweet, sweet by and by; I'm going to meet you, go to meet
you over there, In that home beyond the sky. Such singing ever heard, ever
heard by mortal ears, It'll be glorious I do declare. And
God's own Son, He will be the leading One, (Full manifestation of God.) At the meeting in the air. (Oh, my, watch His
a-vindications now.) You've heard the story told of Moses in the bulrush, You have heard of fearless David and his sling; You have
heard the story told of dreaming Joseph, Of Daniel and the lions we often sing.
Oh, there's many, many others (vindicated) in the Bible, How I long to
meet them all, I do declare. By and by the Lord will let us meet them, At that meeting in the air. For there's going to be a
meeting in the air, In that sweet, sweet by and by; And I'm going to meet you,
greet you over there, In the home beyond the sky. Such singing every heard, has
been heard by mortal ears, It'll be glorious I do declare, And
God's Son will be that leading One, At that meeting in the air.
293 Oh,
my. Don't you love that? Now, the threefold purpose of His great
mystery of revelations has been revealed. He is the main One. That's
the One. Oh, my. Let's sing it. I just can't preach no more. I feel so good.
See? Oh, there's going to be a meeting in the air, In the sweet, sweet by and
by; And I'm going to meet you, greet you over there,
In that home beyond the sky. Such singing every heard, has been heard by mortal
ear,
It'll be glorious, I do declare. And God's own Son, He'll be the leading
One, At that meeting in the air. (Are you
going? By the grace of God, by the grace of God. See? Oh, my.) You have heard of little Moses in the bulrush? You
have heard of fearless David and his... (Them's
all types.) You have heard the story told of dreaming Joseph, And of Daniel
and the lions we often sing. Oh, there's many, many
others in the Bible, (Which is Him.) And I long to meet them all, I do declare.
By and by the Lord will let us meet them, At that
meeting in... (But there is one main One.) Oh, there's going to be a
meeting in the air, In the sweet, sweet by and by; I'm going to meet you, greet
you over there, In that home beyond the sky. Such singing ever heard, has been
heard by mortal ear, It'll be glorious I do declare. And God's own Son,
He'll be that leading One, At that meeting in
the air.
294 Now, we're
going to meet one another over there. Let's all the Methodists, and Baptists,
and whatever you are, that's borned again of the Spirit of God shake one
another's hand as we sing it. Oh, there's going to be a meeting in the air,
In the sweet, sweet by and by; I'm going to meet you, and greet you over there,
In that home beyond the sky. Such singing every heard, has been heard by mortal
ear, It'll be glorious I do declare. For God's Own Son will be the leading One.
At that meeting in the air. Oh. Oh, that's wonderful.
See? See what it will be? Now, look. We just got to close, friends. It's nearly
295
Look. But the threefold purpose of God's great mystery is revealed: God
manifested in Christ, Christ manifested in the Church in order to
redeem the lost Eve back to the original condition again. Oh, my. Oh, there's going
to be some great times on that day. It's right away. We believe it. Don't you
believe it?
296
I just think of that song every time I think about... He
a-vindicated Himself in Daniel, and in Moses, and in Jeremiah. What
were they? The prophets which the Word came to (See?), them
great men. See? "You've heard the story told of dreaming Joseph,"
(You see?) Daniel in the lions den, and all these
other ones. You know? There's that... What were they? prophets.
See? But the main One... God was just
temporarily typing in them. He typed Himself in Adam knowing what was right,
but walked out to redeem his wife because she was wrong. Christ didn't have to
be sin, but He walked out, took sin to redeem His lost child. See, see? He
typed Hisself.... and Moses in the bulrush,
And you've heard of fearless David and his sling; You've heard the story told
of dreaming Joseph, (the prophet)And of Daniel and the lions we often sing. Oh,
there's many, many others in the Bible, And I...(They're--they
are the Bible.) And I... (They was
all manifested in Him though. See? Without Him they're all gone. See? And I
have to become part of that to be Him. Amen. See?)And I long to meet them
all I do declare. (That's right.) But God's own Son, He'll be that leading
One, At that
meeting in the air.
297 Hebrews 11 said, "They
could not be perfect without us." Hands and feet cannot be perfect
without the brains, the knowledge, the head, and so forth. See? And we're
all perfected in Him. So by one Spirit we're all baptized into one
Body, free from judgment, passed from sin... (unto
death)... Amen! God's own Son will be the leading One, at that meeting in the
air. Do you love Him? I love Him, I love Him, Because...Lord Jesus, the
anointing of the Holy Spirit come upon these handkerchiefs, Lord, and heal the
sick, right now in... [Prayer incomplete on tape--Ed.]How
did He--how was He revealed? Because He first loved me.
What did He do? And purchased my salvation On... (Glory.)
298 That great
Angel of the Covenant, that One Who was with Moses in the wilderness,
that One Who come to Paul on the road to Damascus, that same One
permitted His picture to be taken with us; the same One that was in the
picture in the "Life" magazine the other day, the same
Word by the same God, through the same channels, by the same way,
by the same promise: "Wherever two or three are gathered in My
Name, I am there in their midst." Then He's here. The Angels of
God are encamped about those who fear Him, that hangs only
to His Word. No man can respect that Word without fearing God. See?
So what is brother Branham saying in these few paragraphs? Just one thought, and we can find that one thought in Hebrews chapter 1.
Hebrews
1:1 Notice it starts out "God", who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us IN Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
So it is all about God, it is not about the vessel God
used to speak through whether that vessel was the prophets or His own Son.
Notice it says "God", who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake. And then it tells us how God spoke in times
past and through what vessels he spoke.
So it is all about Him.
Ashamed of Him 65-0711 27 There He is with them Angels, the message, which was the
seven--breaking of them seven seals that revealed serpent's seed and all these
things here. And it shows that it is His very covering; it's His supreme
authority. He is Supreme, and He's wigged or covered. The Bible said that He
changed His countenance, or He changed Himself, en morphe.
The word comes from the Greek word, "en morphe," which means "a Greek actor
that plays many parts"; today he is one thing, in the next act he's
something else. He was God the Father in one act; God the Son in another
act; and He's God the Holy Ghost in this act. See? There He is; His Word is
still Supreme. We're living in the last days.
So you see it is the same God all the
time, so do not focus on the vessel because God changes vessels to manifest
Himself to man. But in the vessel of His Son, God manifested Himself as he has
never manifested Himself. And Jesus was the pattern and example for all sons to
follow. He learned obedience by the things that he suffered, and all sons must
first be tried and tested. So we are living in that day when the God has set
forth the time appointed for the adoption and remember the son can not be
adopted though he be a son until he first has the mind of his Father.
And it was no different with John the Baptist. He said those very same words in describing what took place in his ministry. Didn't John say, "I'm just a voice of one crying in the wilderness". So we have the same yesterday, today, and forever. God changes not. You don't look at the vessel, you look at God using that vessel. You don't worship that vessel. That vessel isn't God, it's just a mask that God chose to work through and express Himself through. You don't worship the burning bush, you don't worship the pillar of fir or the cloud, or the rock that followed them in the wilderness and yet those things were Christ? Not the man, but they were anointed. Christ means anointing. And God anointed those things with His presence but that doesn't make those things God, no more than the earth is God, and yet God came down with His presence and He anointed the earth with His Presence. And the trees of the field shall clap their hands, etc.
Therefore we must always remember to focus not on the
vessel God uses, but on the God of the vessel. That is why in the wilderness
the rock was called Christ. Now the rock was not Jesus but was Christ, it was
anointed. Who anointed it? God anointed it. That is what the word Christ means.
Anointed. And the Word Christ means anointed, anointer
and anointing. So we must know what the context is that we are looking at.
Therefore when God was in the Pillar of Fire He was God the Father to us. But
when God entered into His Son he played out the role of an obedient Son and so
Jesus, the Son of God followed the leading of God as a Son. and thus God played
out the role of God the Son to the Son of God, and that same Spirit, the Holy
Spirit that was in Jesus Christ came back on the church after it left Him, for
the purpose of producing in the church the same results that it did in the Son
of God. And that means obedient sons.
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; 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 (a
conduit, a vessel) from among their brethren, like
unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth;
So notice then it is not the words of a man that
count, but the Words of God that matter. And God said it will be my words that
I place in His mouth. Then it is not about the man, it is all about God who is
speaking through the man.
and he shall speak unto them all that
I shall command him. So it is not what the
man says of his own that matters a hill of beans, but it is what God places in
the prophets mouth because those are not the words of
the man, but they are the words of God. The man is just a vessel only. Then
it's not about that man, it's all about God.
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.
Therefore in getting our eyes off the vessel God uses, and our eyes onto the God who is using the vessel, it
is all about Him. Not the vessel, but God. Therefore, I do not buy for one
minute all this talk of God having a hierarchy like they do in the Catholic church. That same spirit is right in this Message. They say first
the prophet, then minister so and so, then me. To borrow a phrase Br. Vayle's
so endeared himself to...That's a bunch of HOGWASH.
There is no hierarchy with God, it is God period.
And to show you what
God thinks of the vessel, he said, 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.
God is not a respecter of persons. If a man who is a
genuine prophet of God speak words which God did not tell him to speak, and
says God said it, that man is calling God a liar, and he shall surely die.
Matters not how many times God used that vessel, if he ventures out and speaks
presumptuously, that's it, he's gone. So how do you know
the words spoekn through the vessel are God's Words?
If God said them, then it is up to God to honor what he said.
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: thou shalt not be
afraid of him.
Now, throughout his ministry, Brother Branham taught the
people how to have faith in God and he showed us how we are to place our faith
in God through the channel or conduit that God is using for his conduit.
In other Words he instructed the people that they must
go to God and say, OK, God, I know you know me, so to show me that you hear my
prayer, use this man here and reflect yourself through this man so I can get my
answers that I need. Because
Revelation comes from God through a prophet.
And that is exactly Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord God will do nothing except He
reveal it to His Servants the Prophets.”
Third
Exodus 63-0630M 45-3 But
this time (Glory to God.) the Pillar that we see among us, the Pillar of Fire will lead us to the millennium, where He will
return to His people in that great millennium reign after this exodus, where
we'll live eternally with Him. He always has the Word of the Father, always
proves that It's right. We are in an
exodus, and in leaving and turning the tapes off in a moment, oh, my friends,
my brothers, both present and that will hear the tapes, let me as your brother
and citizen of the Kingdom of God, come out in this exodus. For all that's left
behind will bear the mark of the beast. Come out of
God used a certain channel to let us know He's here.
Notice the words that brother Branham uses here to bring this forth.
Somebody
just look up to God and say, "God, that man (Who? The channel) don't know me. He (Who
is he? The Channel, William Branham) He knows nothing about me. I'm a perfect stranger to him. (Who?
The Channel, or conduit) But let my faith touch You, Lord. And You know what's the matter with me, Lord. You know all about
me; You know who I am, the same as You knowed who
Peter was, same as You knowed Nathanael, as You knowed what was wrong with the
woman with the blood issue. And this man
(Who is this man? He’s the channel or conduit) tells me that You're the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Then, Lord, let my faith touch You." And if He'll do that (Now, brother
Branham is referring to God) If God will do that, and infallibly prove Himself here, how
many of you will believe Him (God) with all your heart, if He'll do it at least
one, or two, or three people for a witness. God bless you.
Now, I will never forget years ago I was talking to
brother Vayle on the Godhead, and I said to him, “Brother Vayle, when the Scripture
says, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
could we say, that God was in Christ and Christ was in the man Jesus?
And He said to me, “Brian, Brian, Brian, Do you want
to go crazy? Get your eyes off the
vessel. I don’t care if it was the pillar of fire or the burning bush, or the
Cloud that followed the children in the wilderness or the Rock that the Bible
said was Christ. It is not the vessel that we should be focusing on, but God
that used that vessel. It wasn’t the vessel that did those things, that brought
forth the water and all,
it was God Who did those things.
And so I learned an important principle. And I know
that this principle is True and right with the
Scripture because Jesus Himself said the same thing. He said, “If you don’t believe
me, the vessel God is using, then believe me for the
very works sake. Because there is a greater witness than I, the vessel, and
that is My Father that dwelleth in me, He it is that doeth the works.”
John
10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works:
that ye may know, and believe, that the Father [is] in me, and I in him.
John
14:10 Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the
words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe
me that I [am] in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the
very works' sake.
Therefore, I hope we can see that we must get our eyes
off the vessel that God uses, if we are to recognize who it is that is doing
the greater works. That is why I thought
those quotes we read were so striking a couple weeks ago. Let me read them
again, so we can look at them in light of this thought on the conduit of God.
You se the conduit is not God and yet it becomes God to the people. Yet if we
are to truly understand the conduit, we must recognize one principle thing. The
Conduit is nothing without the One in that Conduit doing the works. Even Jesus said those very
words.
John
5:19Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do:
for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the
Son likewise.
John
John
8:26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that
sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of
him. 27 They understood not that he spake to them of
the Father. 28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of
man, then shall ye know that I am [he], and [that] I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak
these things. 29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me
alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Unveiling
of God 64-0614M 257
268 (continued) But then the real believers, they couldn't
explain it, but they believed it anyhow. They went on through. 269 The veil, tradition of unbelievers, taken
away, you see God. When the veil of traditions has been removed, you can see
that God is still God of His Word. He
still keeps His Word. He's the God, Author of His Word that is hid behind
skin veils to others. Yes, that is right. To those who cannot go behind the
veil, He's still behind skin veils. 270
Notice, then we become part of Him, as
you are the veil that veils Him. You
are part of Him, as long as Christ is in you, as Christ was of God. Because
God was in Him, made Him God. (Oh, how I love that. Notice what he just said, He
said, because God was IN him
is what made Him God.) And as Christ is in
you, the hope of glory, you become part of Christ. "He that believeth
on Me, the works that I do shall he also." See? You become part of Christ as long as Christ
is hid in you. Then it's veiled to
the unbeliever, but you know He is in you. You're templing
Christ that's behind the veil, the skin. Then we become... behind... Because of this veil... The
veil again, in human flesh, hides God the Word from the unbeliever. (No
wonder they can’t take the vessel, the conduit. It hides God from them. It’s
hiding the Word from them, because they were not meant to see it.)
271 As it is written (See?), written, "You are written epistles," the
Bible said. Now, what is "epistle"? Is "a written word." And you are the written... Other words, you
read it like this; you... he'd say, "You are written epistles," or,
"You are the Word that has been
written, made manifest." Nothing can be added to it. You can't say,
"I'm a written epistle," and living some other kind of a something
but what This has already wrote, because nothing can be added or taken away.
Now, isn’t that exactly what Jesus is saying in this
prayer to the Father aboiut you and me being One with
Him even as he is one with God. We are One by manifestuing the same Word.
12 While I
was with them in the world, I kept them
in thy name: (and Why did Jesus Keep them? Because He was keeping God’s Word.) those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in
themselves. (Now, here it is, catch this. This is what it all
comes down to.)14
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because
they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (did the world hate you before you received the Word? Absolutely not. They hate you because of the Word.). 15 I pray not that
thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that
thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 ¶ Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (Now
this word sanctify means to set aside for service, so
He is speaking of God, separating the believer from everything that is not
Truth. Separate them Father by Thy Truith, for Thy
Word is Truth and then thy Word is what separates.) 18 As thou hast sent
me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for
their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the
truth. 20 ¶ Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast
sent me.(And this is made possible only by our having the same Word
in us that was in the Son of God, for the Father is the Word as we heard
brother Branham say in the message Unveiling of God)
22 And the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them; that they may be
one, even as we are one (Let me
read that quote to you again in case your oneness mindset creeps back into your
little mind.)
Unveiling
of God 64-0614M 257 When
this veil is took off of the Word, the traditions is taken off the Word, as
Jesus once said, "When you see Me,
you see the Father." See? God and His Word is One. Now you understand? And then he went on to say,
… If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe Me. But if I do do
the works, I and My Father are One. When you see Me, you have seen
the Father." And when you see the Word made manifest, you see the
Father God, because the Word is the Father; the Word is God. And the Word
made manifest is God Himself taking His Own Word and manifesting It among believers.
Show
us the Father and It'll Satisfy 56-0422 E-36
Now, it's many times it's been said that no man can see God
at anytime, the Bible said so. But the only begotten of the Father has declared
Him. Philip, here was very inquisitive; he wanted to see the Father. Says here
He said, "I've been so long with you, Philip, and you don't know Me?" Said, "When you see Me
you see My Father."
And then he says, "In other words," (so we see here that brother Branham is going to
explain what Jesus meant when he said this to Philip.) you see
the Father express Hisself through the Son. Him and
the Father were one in the sense that His Father was dwelling in Him, not Him doing the
works; He was a Son, Himself, the immortal, virgin born, Son of God. And then in Him was dwelling the God the
Father, expressing Himself to the world, His attitude towards the people.
See? Well, that's how Christ and God were one. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself. Now, He said, "When you see
Me, you see the Father, and why do you say, 'Show us
the Father?'"
He
Swore by Himself 54-1212 156 And God Himself living in this, making a
tabernacle, and He dwelt in Christ. There's God walking around. He said, "I
and My Father are One. My Father is in Me." Said, "Show
us now the Father." Philip said, "Showeth me the Father and
it'll satisfy me." Said, "Philip, I been so
long with you, and you don't know Me?" He said,
"When you see Me, you see the Father. And why
say, 'Show me the Father.' I and the Father are One. My Father's living in Me
now. It's not Me that doeth the works; it's Him that dwells in me, that
does the works." Oh, my.
Diving
Healing 54-1219M
114 Thomas looked at Him, or Philip, rather,
and said, "Lord, show us the Father. Who is this Father You're
going to?" He said, "Why, I've been so long with you. You don't know Me?" He said, "When you see Me,
you seen the Father. The Father is in
QA
On the Seals 63-0324M 520-2 {377} Now, I want to ask you. Do... That Holy
Ghost dwells within you, is that right? Do you talk to Him? Speak to Him? Pray
to Him? All right, that's all I want... Thank you very much. See? Now, do you
get it? I'll ask you one: How did it
come that when Jesus in
QA
On the Seals 63-0324M
520-5 {380} It's not me could take a little boy here
laying--the doctors laying him on his back, with heart trouble tonight, and
say, "Thus saith William Branham..." No. "THUS SAITH THE LORD,
it's finished." And bring him down to the doctor the next day and it's all
gone. A kid with leukemia, till its eyes were
bulged out, and yellow all over, and its stomach... until they taken it to the
hospital to give it blood and things to even get it here; and in five minutes
time, cry for a hamburger, and take it back to the doctor the next day and
can't even find a trace of it. That's Thus Saith William Branham? That's THUS
SAITH THE LORD. Yet He is an individual
different from me, but the only way He's expressed is through me. See? That's how Jesus and the Father was. Jesus said, "It's not Me that doeth the works, it's My
Father that dwelleth in Me." Now, the Son of man shall ascend from
heaven, which now is in heaven. See? What was it? He was omnipresent because He
was God.
Acts 13:41
Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and
perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall
in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
There
you have it, God does the work, and a man stands there and declares what God is
doing. Then who should we be focused on, the man or the God
who is doing.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.