Christ is the
Mystery no 176
Its
manifestation is the evidence of the Life
Brian Kocourek, pastor
1 Corinthians
Let us bow our heads in prayer,
Father as we approach Thee this mourning through
the conduit of Thy Word, and through the lovely name of Jesus, we ask Father
that your Word and Your Life might manifest itself through these frail vessel
that we now live in, knowing the hope that lays within us that if this earthly
tabernacle be dissolved, we have one already waiting. Help us to honor your
Word and your name as we live out our lives here on earth as we prepare
ourselves for the going home of the bride.
In Jesus name we pray. amen.
Now, last night we began closing
down our study of this wonderful message
from brother Branham called Christ is the Mystery
of God Revealed, and we could see that he was closing this sermon by
bringing us back to an understand of the Love of God and how it must be
perfected or magnified through us. For Love is the true manifestation of the revelation as we see in our text this morning.
Notice the Apostle Paul
said in 1 Corinthians
And we know that Faith is a revelation, something that has been revealed. And we know
hope is an earnest expectation, something that we earnestly
expect, and so we see the progression of how if we truly have a Divine Revelation, then that revelation if it
is living in us, must produce also in us an
earnest expectation. And any earnest expectation will produce an
action.
When a young man get's a
revelation of the girl he wants to marry, if it is a true revelation, he will
earnestly expect her to marry him, and that earnest expectation begins to build
up an energy within him, which sets the revelation into motion towards
manifestation.
In other words, if he has a
true revelation that she's to be his wife, that revelation builds up an energy
within him, and he earnestly expects this union to manifest and thus he begins
to court her, buying her flowers and things that he thinks would make her
happy. If he doesn't expect anything to
develop in this relationship, then he doesn't put out himself. If they do get
together to go on a date, he expects them to go Dutch. Girls
that ought to tell you to back away. If he's not interested enough to
invest in you, he's probably the wrong guy.
That shows he's not sure, and
he's not ready to make an investment. But with any investment it takes an
earnest expectation or else why would you invest. So too we see that faith
which is a revelation, leads to an earnestly expecting, which leads to Love,
which is called in Scripture "Charity", because Love is always manifested
in giving.
John
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:4 that
Love will express or manifest itself in various ways as he said, "Love is patient, and love is kind. And
Love does not envy, and Love does not boast, and Love is not
proud. 5 Nor is Love rude, and Love is not self-seeking, and Love is
not easily angered, and Love keeps no record of wrongs. 6 And Love does not delight in evil
but Love rejoices in truth. 7 Love
is always protective, Love always trusts, Love always hopes,
and Love always perseveres. 8 and
Love never fails.
So
with that in mind, I would like to read for you the next two paragraphs from
brother Branham's sermon, Christ is the Mystery of
God Revealed and we will pick up at paragraph 302
"Now, I'm going to give you a little secret till I meet you again.
Remember this, as we stand. Remember this. At the name of Jesus bowing, Falling
prostrate at His feet, King of kings in heaven we'll crown Him, (We'll crown
Him.)When our journey is complete. Precious
name, (precious Name) O how sweet! The hope of... (What's the threefold
revelation? Hope and joy of heaven revealed in Him.)Precious name,
(precious Name) O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of...
303
What? The hope of earth and joy of heaven; everything is
manifested in Christ: God, the Church, everything else is manifested
in Christ. The Bible is Christ. The Bible is the written Word,
which He is the Word. Its manifestation is the evidence of the
Life coming into the flesh of the Word to manifest It. Oh, isn't it
wonderful? Take the name of Jesus... (Now, listen close now.) As a shield
(Don't forget that now.) every snare; When temptations round you gather, (What
must you do?) Just breathe that holy name in prayer. Precious name, O how
sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven; Precious name, (precious Name) O how
sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven.
There are two thoughts I would
like to focus on this morning.
1) everything is manifested in
Christ
2) Its
manifestation is the evidence of the Life coming into the flesh of the Word to
manifest It.
Since
this Sermon was named Christ is the Mystery of God
Revealed, then it is only fitting he would leave us with these two
thoughts as we end this sermon, before we go tot he final closing songs.
Without money
without Price 59-0802 22 After the taking away of the Holy Spirit out of the earth,
that formal church religion will go right on, not knowing the difference. ... They
don't know the Holy Spirit, so they won't know when It's
gone, and they'll just be going right on just the same. When the last
one is sealed into the Body of Christ; they'll still be going on, trying to
bring converts to it, because they don't know what It
is. ... they'll be so far away, just in religious
rituals, until they will not miss the Holy Spirit, because they don't
know what It is to begin with.
Now it is all coming down to
this. If they do not know Him, then how can they know
even as He is known. A Groom does not make love to Himself and
say that He knew His Wife. It takes two to know, for Mary herself said, "How can I be with child having known no man?"
And so I believe that this knowing, which is the Greek word Ginosko, not only speaks of a mental
and rational sort of behavior, but speaks also of a relationship which becomes
established through and intimate knowledge or sharing in something. And this
intimate knowledge which He has shared with His Bride is Himself,
for he is the Word.
And as we read Jesus prayer last night
from John 17, we see how that we become One with God and Christ by being one With God's Word. yet this becoming one with God through his word does not
come through some mental prowess as though we studied ourself into this
oneness. It does not mean that we can enter into this oneness by some mental
gymnastics, or education, as though it is something we have power to do.
No, this oneness is based on
two becoming one in a spiritual union, just as a man and wife become one in a
uniting of their flesh, their aspirations, their goals and the sharing of their
life.
In 2 Timothy 3:7
we read that there will be many who never come to the knowledge of this Oneness
although they might
The Scripture tells us that men
will be Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth.
Notice, Never able to come to this knowledge
Matthew 24:38-39 37 But as the days of Noah
were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man
be.
38 For as in the days that were before the
flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 And knew not
until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be.
So those who are not ready, waiting and watching, will
not know until the floods come. That's like those people who were down by the
beach when the earthquake came in Indonesia, and they saw the water go out and
they just stood their watching and probably saying something like, "What's that?"
And then by the time the waters began to come in as a tsunami it was too
late to get to higher ground. So they just stood there and watched as that 30
foot wave came in and washed them out to sea.
Therefore the Bible says, Because they do not know, therefore the only thing that
remains for them in destruction as we see in.
Matthew 24:45 Who then is a faithful
and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give
them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant,
whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you,
That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil
servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth
his coming; 49 And shall begin
to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; Look at the attitude
of those who think the Lord's coming is not imminent? They get not only lax,
but they get puffed up.
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day
when he looketh not for him, and in an hour
that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him
asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now, the word "Aware" that was the difference between
those who go into destruction, and those who are saved from the wrath of God,
was translated from the Greek word "Ginosko", and it means to have a knowledge based on an intimate relationship.
Therefore, they miss it because they not aware.
Just like brother Branham said, "Because they
don't know Him they won't know when He leaves the earth."
John
And he is not talking about a mental
cognition here, he is talking about an intimate
relationship with the father which brings understanding and manifestation to
the Word of God.
Remember, brother Branham said
in Christ is the Mystery pp. 303 The manifestation of
the written Word is the evidence of the Life coming into the flesh of the Word
to manifest It. And who
is the flesh of the Word? You are the flesh of His Flesh and bone of His bone,
and He is the Word, so you are the flesh of His Word.
In Romans
Notice these people experienced
the ginosko
of God, the manifestation of the Living opinion
and values of God, but because they did not value what God
values, they refused to manifest God's values and
opinions in their flesh, so God leaves them to the god of self,
and in their own imagination they end up destroying themselves.
Romans
They
heard the Word of Truth but they didn't want to retain it. That's what we just
read. So look where they end up. These people were given a chance and turned it
down. It wasn't what they valued and so they are lost. Mercy spurned becomes
judgment.
29 Being filled with all un-rightwise-ness,
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder,
debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters,
haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient
to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who
knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of
death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Look, they were lost because
they didn't want what God came down to give them. They loose themselves. God is
not responsible for there judgment, they are.
1 Corinthians 2: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had
they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians
Hebrews 10:25-26 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the
day approaching. 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins,
Therefore If
you disbelieve willfully after you have received this knowledge there is no
more ability to repent for you.
2 Peter 2: 20 For if after they have escaped the
pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the
latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
If they are again entangled in the things of evil after
they have come to this knowledge, there remains no more hope for them.
Ephesians
God desires that we enter into
this knowledge of Himself in order to come to
completion.
Mark
We are ordained and we are
fashioned to know. John 10:37-38 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.
Notice that the knowledge comes by the vindication which is the manifestation of the revelation.
Luke 21: 25-35 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in
the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing
them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the
earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see
the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your
redemption draweth nigh. 29 And he spake to
them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30 When
they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now
nigh at hand. 31 So likewise ye, when ye see
these things come to pass, know ye that the
By knowing we will overcome
the trials ordained for the whole earth and be able to stand in His
Presence.
John 14: 16-21 And I will pray the
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for
ever; 17 Even the Spirit of
truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you
comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and
the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall
know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and
will manifest myself to him.
The Spirit of Truth is to make
us to know and be known and to recognize the manifestation of Himself.
Colossians 1:9 For this cause
we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire
that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding;
Colossians 2:2 That their hearts might be
comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full
assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and
of the Father, and of Christ;
Colossians
It was Paul's desire to see the
people filled with this knowledge
In John 8: 32
Jesus said, Ye shall know the Truth and in knowing of the Truth you shall
be made free.
And the Apostle Paul told us in 2 Timothy
We become one with God by
receiving His Revelation of Himself, and when we see God's word made manifest
we can take it back to the Word and know that this manifestation is the
Interpretation of That Word. Now just because people might be able to see the
vindicated manifestations does not necessarily mean
that they actually see it for
We know that Jesus said in Matthew
Now, it is apparent that many will come in that day and say Lord, Lord, But they shall be rebuked and told that He never Knew them. And so we are looking at this
"Knowing" or intimate understanding that is based upon a
personal relationship with our Lord. This Word as we know it is the Word Ginosko, and means to know or understand, and refers to
relationship.
Now, the reason
we are looking at this is because we must understand the difference between
just seeing something and recognizing what we see. Many people can look at the
Pillar of Fire over Brother Branham's head and say that is Christ. They may
even recognize the Cloud and say that is the outline of the Face of Christ. But
even Satan, in all of His wisdom, did not know for sure if Jesus was the
Christ. For he said, "If thou be the Son of God".
Now he would not have said, "If thou be"
if he was 100% sure, and just like so many who claim to follow this message,
they just are not 100% sure of what they believe. That' why brother Branham
told us so often that when the Rapture comes and the Bride is taken out of
here, then the tribulation will set in and many people will say, "I thought this was to happen and that was to happen,"
and they will not have recognized that the very things they were looking for to
happen have already happened and they never knew it.
So we see the
importance of this KNOWING that is spoken of in the Scripture, This Ginosko. Because it suggests to us more than mere recognition.
Rather, it suggests a union with or a becoming one with through intimacy. Mary
said, "How can I be with child having known no
man." And that word is Ginosko.
Then we become one with the
interpretation by becoming one with the manifestation. Then entering
into this manifested Word brings us into oneness with it, and since the
interpretation is the manifestation of the name of God, then when we have moved
from Faith in the Word, to the reality of the Word, by becoming part of that
manifested Word, this is when we receive the name and thus become Bride and
Mrs. Jesus. We thus have become a part of the interpretation of that Word, for
without a Bride there would be no Groom.
As Brother Branham said in the
Message Super Sign 171 "The works that I do!" If His Life is in you, it'll manifest Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now you all can't be that one, but you can be a part of that, with your faith.
All of them couldn't be a Jesus, when they was on
earth, but they could believe Him and accept the message. There was one Moses,
one Elijah, one Noah, on down, always been that, but the rest of them could
accept it. And they would a had no ministry unless
there had been somebody believe it. Jesus would a had
no ministry unless somebody believed it. Paul would a had
no ministry unless somebody believed it.
Notice then, our receiving the
manifestation as the interpretation brings us into oneness with the Revelation,
and just as God had to send One with the Message,
there had to be ones it was sent to. And the ones that the Message was sent to, are just as much a part of the Manifestation of the Word
as the One in Whom the Word is being Revealed through.
Now let me
break this down into 3 points here. One Who reveals Himself, One
in Whom he reveal Himself through, (in other words, the vessel or
conduit) and the ones to whom He is revealed. Again, I want you
to catch this because this is the revelation of how God made Himself known to
us through Christ Jesus His Son. One Who reveals, One In Whom He is revealed through, and Ones to
Whom He is revealed. [One Who],
[One In Who]
and [Ones To Whom].
#1) First of all, there must be One who reveals Himself. And we
know that God Himself came down with a Shout. That's 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18, Ephesians
#2) Secondly, there must be one that God
reveals Himself through, seeing that He promised that He would do nothing lest
He reveals it through His Servants the Prophets. That's Amos 3:7 Acts
#3) And Thirdly, there has to be a people
in which His Revelation of Himself is made known to and upon receiving this
revealing or Revelation, they become one with it by receiving the manifestation
of It and that's Hebrews
12:25-29, Colossians 3:4, 1 John 3: 2-3, 2 Thessalonians 1: 7&10-12, 2 Corinthians
3:18, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Romans 12: 1-2.
Identification 108 A lady
asked me, coming down the road the other day from up here, she said... It's
Now, in Hebrews
6 we see at the time of the once and for all enlightenment in verse 4-5. that to reject this manifested Word, the person will never be able
to renew their mind again. In other words, they will never be able
to empty out their own thinking, for they have taken the mark of the beast.
They have had the awl placed to the ear and they have become deaf to the Word
of God.
And we know
that His Word contains His Spirit and Life as we see in Mark
And we find in 1 Peter 1: 23 That our new
birth comes by the Word of God which is an incorruptible Seed.
Therefore the Word of God is a
carrier of God Life as we see in John 6:63
& 5:26 The Life comes from the
Father and is passed down to the Son.
Now Life as we know it is a
very complex thing. And it contains what we call attributes and
characteristics. These attributes and characteristics are what we call the
nature of the Life. Those identifiable characteristics which give the Life it's special uniqueness.
2 Peter 1:2-4 You'll notice that everything we have need of that
pertains to Eternal Life, even the very nature of that Life itself, comes forth
from the Word of God. And it is this nature that I want to speak on. Now, we
need to be able to know this nature, and identify this nature, because being a
nature, it has identifiable characteristics, and if we know what those
characteristics are, and can identify them when they are manifest, then we are
able to identify that Life when we see it or come in contact with it.
1 John 4: 4-6 4 Ye
are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that
is in you, than he that is in the world. 5 They are of the world:
therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the
spirit of error.
Notice that the world will hear
them but not those who are of God. And the world will not hear God's seed
either. But I want you to pay close attention to verse 6. John is telling us that those who are of God
will hear those who are from God. And in discerning who is from God and who is
not from God you will know also the difference between truth and error.
In
Malachi 3:16-18 we are told
that at the time of the great gathering of Sons, God will anoint us with the
Sprit of discernment, which we know according to Heb
4 that the Word is the Discerner.
And we are told in John 3:18-21 Those who
possess the nature of God will come to the Light, while those who are not of
God will not come to the light.
In 1
John 2: 18-20 we are taught that others will have to leave because
there nature is not the same as ours and they can not feed on the same things
we feed on. But notice John tells us we have received a special anointing from God that we might
KNOW all things.
Others might be eating from the
same table, and may be feeding off the same food, but they don't really know
what they're eating, and don't really care what they eat. The buzzard eats the
same food as the Eagle, only he can't smell it until it has become rotten.
In Matthew
24:8 we read, "for wheresoever the carcass is, {Ptoma }the dead body or corpse, there the buzzards will gather,
and yet we see in Luke
pp. 214 "Where the Carcass is there the eagles will be gathered. Where the Carcass, where the killing is, there the eagles
will be gathered. Where the fresh Meat is, the Word of the season, there the
eagles will gather." But after it's rottened, then the vultures will swarm to it. See? See what
I mean? When a kill's made, here comes the eagles, but after it lays there and
rotten, then here comes the vultures. The eagle won't have nothing
to do with it. See? Jesus said, "Where the Carcass is, where the Manna
fell, the night the Manna falls fresh, there the eagles will gather for It." That's the Manna for the day. See? Notice. But after it gets rotten, maggots get in it, then here comes the vultures. They can't smell it till it
gets rotten. No wonder Jesus stood up there and said, "
Anointed Ones at
the End-Time 233 "For it is impossible for those which were once
enlightened and didn't move on with the Word as it come to pass..."
They're dead, gone."
Notice, As
it comes to pass, and God
interprets His Word by bringing it to pass. Then those who are
in tune with God look for the manifestation of the revelation.
Audio Letter to
Lee Vayle "God then, in order to proclaim this, has to
send a prophet in order to inject this, make this real again, show the
people the hour we're living in? Because if they only see
it in the hour past, then there's no hope for the church. The church
must see it in the present tense. So God sends His prophet to manifest,
present tense of it. You see? And then, after it's over, then history is.
Without money
without Price 59-0802 22 After the taking away of the Holy Spirit out of the earth, that
formal church religion will go right on, not knowing the difference. ...
They don't know the Holy Spirit, so they won't know when It's gone, and they'll just be going right on just the same.
When the last one is sealed into the Body of Christ; they'll still be going on,
trying to bring converts to it, because they don't know what It
is. ... they'll be so far away, just in religious
rituals, until they will not miss the Holy Spirit, because they don't know what
It is to begin with.
You see, they don't know the Holy
Ghost but because they see you eating, and they circle around you like
vultures do, and they wait until there appears to be an opening for them to
come in and eat the left over's.
In 2 Peter 2:12-21,
and in Jude
10-13 The Scripture tells us that there will be a mixed multitude
that will come and join in the feast after the fresh food has been sitting for
some time.
So it all comes down to this. If you do
not know Him, then how will you know even as He is known.
Do you love him? Do you know Him in
the power of His resurrection? I hope so.
Let's pray...