Christ is the
Mystery no 177
Understanding
Infallibility
Brian Kocourek, pastor
This evening we will
examine the last three paragraphs of this wonderful Message called Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed and we will
begin with pp. 304 "Not
knowing (of course, being spiritual, you watch spiritual things)--not knowing
this, God knows it. But if you'll turn and look at the clock, it's on the dot
Noticed
Brother Branham is speaking of the Second pull, which we know was the Sign of
Messiah. And he said it has been thoroughly made manifest to us, and then he
says the third pull is at hand. Now, before we speak concerning this Third
pull, I would like to continue reading and make some other comments before we
examine the Third pull.
305
Did you notice the Spirit take the same song and picked it up an octave higher
like that? The next Pull is at hand. Amen. Take the name of Jesus with
you, (It's later than you think.)... sorrow and
of woe; It will joy and comfort give you, Oh, take it everywhere you go. Precious
name, (precious Name) O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven; Precious
name, O how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heaven. Now,
if temptations come, what do you do? Take the name of Jesus with you, As a shield from every snare; When temptations (Something
make you disbelieve now) gather, (Just remember.) 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.
306 Let
us bow our heads now, everybody, reverently...?...At
the name of Jesus bowing... Now, if you understand, the Spirit of the Lord
dropped in the meeting upon unknown languages (speaking it to a man not
knowing, to interpret it by another man not knowing) the Word of the Lord. You
remember when the enemy was coming up and they didn't know what they would do?
The Spirit of the Lord fell upon a man and revealed what was to be done. Oh,
my. Just bow our heads now, humbly. God bless you. Till we meet, till we meet, Until we meet at Jesus' feet; Till we meet, till we meet, God
be with you till we meet again.
Notice that brother Branham
looked at even the smallest of things as being from the Lord.
I think I could guarantee
you that if I had said what he did concerning the time on the clock I would
never have hear the end of it. It seems people have a different standard depending
on who is doing the talking. And that is what is called being a respecter of
persons.
It reminds me of a
situation that took place about 25 years ago when this particular sister who
liked to go from church to church, came to our church one time and commented
after the service that I use too many Bibles when I preach, and I should use
only the King James Version Bible.
Well, I knew where she was
getting this influence from, so I said "Sister, show me that in Brother
Branham's Message! You can't." I said, "He used many versions besides
the King James version to make a point. Let me list them for you:
1) King
James
version
2) Lamsa translation,
3) The Emphatic
Diaglott
which the Jehovah Witnesses use,
4) The Revised Version,
5) Moffatt's Translation,
6) The Greek
and Hebrew Lexicon,
7) Bible
Commentaries,
8) The
9) Scofield's notes,
10) Thompson
Chain Reference Bible,
11) Standard
12)
13) And he even quotes from
the Zwingli Bible although he disagreed with one of their
translations.
So let's get one thing
straight, God is the only one that is infallible and I have yet to meet one
five fold minister, or one translator who is.
And even when brother
Branham would speak in terms of "Thus saith the Lord", he never claimed
those words were from him. He would say I have to listen to the sermon
afterwards "to know what He said".
But this doctrine of
infallibility assigned to the King James Version was propagated by certain
preachers during the 1970's and 1980's. I used to hear them on the Dayton
Christian radio station mostly from the Salem Bible Book Store and whatever
church they were associated with at the time.
These preachers believed
the King James Version is the only Bible authorized by God. In essence they
believed in the infallibility of the translators hired
by King James in 1611.
That would place them on
par with God's prophet's who wrote the Word as God Himself dictated to them
word by word. And yet there is not one prophet who was infallible, God is the
only one that is infallible, no man is infallible. And I can say that because a
vindicated prophet said that.
I know there are certain people who want to believe
that brother Vayle was infallible, but I don't know where the come up with that
being brother Vayle said just the opposite.
I'll read you
several quotes from brother Vayle himself just to show you what he himself said
about himself.
In his sermon, Fulfillment Of God #1 God's Consummate Plan: Ultimate Communication
P:32 I'm not infallible, but I study an infallible prophet.
And he also said in
the same paragraph "I don't believe it
as I ought to believe it; I
don't believe it as I'm going to believe it; but I believe it."
Brother Vayle also
said in his sermon Godhead #11 P:77
Don't ask me. I'm not
infallible.
So much for those
who claim brother Vayle was infallible. They don't even believe what he himself
said concerning his own ministry.
I think this
misunderstanding these brethren have is because they never took the time to
look up the definition of what infallible is. 1)not
capable of being wrong or making mistakes : not fallible, 2) incapable of
error, 3) incapable of error in defining doctrines touching
faith or morals
Then, one that is
infallible has to be omniscient, and there is no one including the son of God who was omniscient. God Alone is omniscient.
Brother Vayle also
said in his sermon, The Unchanging Principles Of
Faith P:22 Is
this tape on? Well, you can turn it off right here. I am going to tell you
something. You've got the tape turned off? I don't want it on, because I
can make mistakes when I say things. This is for your ears,...
And again from his
sermon, Godhead Questions and Answers #3 P:91 brother Vayle
said, "I'm
not William Branham. I'm just
talking, and I can make mistakes."
Now, how many quotes do I need from Brother Vayle
to let people know that he never tried to make himself on the same level with a
vindicated prophet, because he was not vindicated, he was a man who had a gift
to teach.
Now, does that mean that I believe br. Vayle made a
bunch of mistakes? No, not at all.
But he just was a man, with a gift to teach. And he
could just as easily make a mistake as any other man. And that is why he had to
stay with the vindicated teaching of br. Branham, because Br. Branham was
vindicated and what he taught was backed up with "Thus Saith the
Lord".
And for you that don't know what that means, it
means he didn't come with his own thoughts concerning the Scriptures, He came
with God's thoughts and God's words concerning the doctrine.
Brother Vayle preached perhaps 85% of the time pointing
to the Vindicated Doctrine that William Branham taught. He pointed us to that
man and His Message. Brother Vayle did not have his own Message. Brother Vayle
stayed with what William Branham taught. And as long as he stayed with what a
vindicated prophet said, then you don't have to worry.
But for these men to claim such things as "only
those who listen to Lee Vayle's tapes will make the rapture," or any other people who
claim you have to listen to their preacher to make it, all I can say is grow up
and become a man.
Br. Vayle said he fought that spirit his entire ministry, and brother Branham had to fight that as well as
the Apostle Paul.
Listen to what the
Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians.
1
Corinthians 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of
you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas;
and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was
Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the
name of Paul?
1 Corinthians 3: 1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as
unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto
babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for
hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet
now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions,
are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as
the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted,
Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth
any thing, neither he that watereth; but
God that giveth the increase. 8 Now
he that planteth and he that watereth
are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9 For we are labourers
together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are
God's building.
Then the Apostle sums it all up at the end of chapter
3 by saying in verse21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For
all things are yours; 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos,
or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things
present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And
ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Brother Branham who is the
only one in this generation that came forth with "Thus Saith the
Lord" and he did so literally thousands of times, and never did it fall
tot he ground said in his sermon, E-16
Expectations 50-0405 But the only person that
has a right to say, THUS SAITH THE LORD, is an a vindicated prophet.
You never seen anybody judging Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or
those people. They were prophets, foreordained and borned in the world to be
prophets. And they foresaw the thing by a vision, and then said, "THUS SAITH THE LORD," for the
Lord had already said it. So what the Church needs today,
is a good old fashion teaching of the Gospel. That's right. To know where
they... I don't mean just educated teaching; I mean spiritual teaching. Some
people speaks about God, and knows nothing of Him.
In his sermon, Standing in the gap 63-0623M P:97 Brother
Branham himself said "But, you see, even the great
So show me one
prophet outside of Jesus Christ that was perfect, or never made any mistakes in
their life, in their actions, or things they did, and I will show you a man who
did not need the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, I am not talking about the
"thus Saith the Lord" they brought, I am talking about the men
themselves. They all needed the blood of Jesus Christ to wash away their sin
and sin is unbelief.
And let's face it,
when they came with thus saith the Lord it wasn't them anyway, they were only
echoing what they heard God say..
Many people today, more
than 2 million to be more accurate, claim to be believers in the Message of the
Hour, and they call themselves Message Believers, but I wonder just how many of
them even know what it means to be a Christian.
I am sure you all
remember when brother Branham went to a hospital to pray for a woman, and there
was a person in the other bed in that hospital room. When brother Branham told
that person he was going to pray for this lady, the other woman said "shut
that curtain". Then he said, are you a
Christian, and she said, "I am a Methodist". And I
wonder today how many people refer to themselves as Message believers, instead
of as Christians?
So let me ask you
the same question Br. Branham asked that women in the hospital?
"Are you
a Message believer or are you a Christian?" And I'm afraid many
young people in this Message really have no understanding what it means to be a
Christian.
They are so filled
with quotes, and they can tell you everything about the man William Branham,
but do they even know Jesus Christ in the power of Hi resurrection?
Do they even have a
personal relationship with Him? Have they ever had a genuine back side of the
desert experience where they have met Christ face to face, and they got to know
Him even as they are known? I am afraid without that my brothers and sisters
you are just Message people, and you are not yet a Christian.
Even brother Branham
said in his sermon, a Guide 62-1014E P:65 "He
can't change from it; He's God. I can change; I'm a man. You can
change; you're a man or woman. But God cannot change. I'm finite; I
can make mistakes and say
things wrong; all of us can. But God can't and be God.
His first decision is perfect. The way God acts on the scene, that's the way
He's got to act every time. If He's called on the scene to save a sinner,
He saves him on the basis of one thing. The next time a sinner comes, He's got
to act the same way, or He acted wrong when He acted the first time.
Notice he said
"all of us can make mistakes and say things
wrong," but we have some who follow certain ministries in this
Message and they would never be honest enough to accept this statement from
God's prophet because they are too insecure in their own relationship with God
so they have to have some man to hold onto to make them feel like since they
knew this person, that means they will make it too.
And what Gospel did
you get that from? Show me chapter and verse? But instead of developing their
own relationship with God, they try to go in on the coat tails of someone who
did have a relationship with God. But
God doesn't have grandchildren, just children.
And you can't go in on William Branham's faith nor
Lee Vayle's faith. You've got to have the same faith they had.
Brother Branham said
in his sermon, Spoken Word Original Seed 62-0318E P:195 "And
remember, Christian friends, I'm a man; I can make mistakes,
but God, being God, cannot make a mistake. All the Words that's been written must be fulfilled; Jesus said so.
And from his sermon,
The Second seal the 63-0319 P:57
"Well, if God acted like that the
first time, He's got to act like that the second time. He's got to act like
that every time, or He acted wrong the first time. See, we as mortals, we
can make mistakes. God can't. God's first decision is perfect.
And the way He chose to do things, there can't be no
other better way. He can't improve on it, because it's perfect to begin with.
If it isn't, then He isn't infinite. And if He's infinite, then He is
omniscient. And if He is omniscient, then He's omnipotent. Amen. He's
got to be that to be God. See? So He... You can't say, "He learned
more." He didn't learn more; He's the very fountain of all wisdom. See?
Now, I hope that you can
understand the difference between the man, and the "Thus Saith the
Lord" that come through the man. When a prophet comes with "Thus
Saith the Lord," that is not the man who is speaking, that is God who is
speaking.
Because "Thus saith the Lord," means "the
Lord has said thus." And therefore what follows is not a man's opinion, but God's
opinion.
As
brother Branham said in his sermon, Anointed
ones at end time 65-0725M P:193 Now, I want you to know this is sure. And you that listen to this tape, you
might have thought today that I was trying to say that about myself, being
that I was packing this Message. I have no more to do with it than nothing,
no more than just a voice. And my voice, even against my
better judgment... I wanted to be a trapper. But it's the will of my
Father that I declare to do, and determined to do. I wasn't the One that
appeared down on the river; I was only standing there when He appeared. I'm
not the One that performs these things and foretells these things that
happens as perfect as they are; I'm only one that's near when He does it.
I was only a voice that He used to say it. It wasn't what I knew;
it's what I just surrendered myself to, that He spoke through. It isn't me.
It wasn't the seventh angel, oh, no; it was a manifestation of the Son of man.
It wasn't the angel, his Message; it was the mystery that God unfolded. It's
not a man; it's God. The angel was not the Son of man; he was a
messenger from the Son of man. The Son of man is Christ. He's the One that
you're feeding on. You're not feeding on a man. A man, his words will
fail, but you're feeding on the unfailing Body-Word of the Son of man. If you
haven't fed fully on every Word to give yourself strength to fly above all
these denominations and things of the world, will you at this time do it,
while we pray?
Even Jesus Himself said, "Father, my will is that
you take this cup from me, but nevertheless, not my will but thy will be
done." His own will was not infallible. If he would have done his won will
you and I would still be lost in our sin. But he died to self, and so did
William Branham, and so must every child of God if he wants to be used by God.
I remember years ago, I believe it was at the
Now the critics will criticize brother Branham on his
doctrine, but none of them have any vindication themselves. Therefore their
truth is not Truth, but simply truth to them as they see it. But that doesn't
make it so. But when God Himself comes along and backs up a man’s words, then
you know one thing, you're not dealing with a man, but you are now dealing with
God Himself. Therefore what good does it do to even listen to what they have to
say. It’s simply their own opinion based on their own
limited knowledge. But when a man comes with Thus Saith the Lord it is not his
own opinion, but God’s Opinion.
In 1 Thessalonians
And so we see that God even gets to the place where
people won’t even take Him at His Own Word. Therefore, He is willing to go the extra step,
and He does things to vindicate His Word by bringing it to pass. That’s how God
actually interprets His Own word, is by bringing it to pass. Look, even Jesus
had trouble getting the people to believe that God had sent Him, and was with
Him, doing those great and mighty miracles.
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. The
vindication.
Numbers
14:2 And all the children of
Now, we don't have time tonight to go into the entire
chapter to show what happened to those people, but we know Jesus said they are
everyone dead, and brother Branham said they are eternally separated from God.
And if you notice the thing they feared the most came upon them, they everyone
perished in the wilderness.
Jesus said in John
177 HARVEST TIME 64-1212 Watch now as we hurry up
through. "When the Spirit of Truth is come, He will teach you all things,
whatever I taught you," oh, my, "bearing all remembrance to you, what
I've said to you, bringing to you, all remembrance. And He will show you things
to come. He will vindicate every Word, confirming the Word with signs
following." Everything that He promised, that God promised in the
Bible, if you'll turn loose from every creed and everything else, and hold onto
the Word, God is obligated to take care of His Word. And so when they
did this, the Word vindicates Itself.
Hebrews
6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew
unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an
oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold
upon the hope set before us: 19 Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and stedfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil;
31-5 This Day This Scripture 65-0219 if
you preach anything and it's the Gospel Truth, then God's
obligated to vindicate that.
101 Event Made Clear by prophecy 65-0801E when a man stands for what is Truth, then God's obligated to vindicate
that man the truth.
Brother Branham used the term Vindication to explain: "God has a One man Message and He deals with One man only". But men do not like this, for they seem to
want to have their own say as to how God is going to do things.
Who do you say
This is?
64-1227 128
That one-man message,
they didn't want it. No, they didn't want It. And God
never did deal but with one person at a time. It's always a one-man message.
When did ever He deal with the people, outside of just one person? It's an
individual. It ain't a group.
Now, we have already read how God exacted punishment
from those who doubted His Word through Moses. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we
find God spelling out the same rules.
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 from among
their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he
shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 19 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever will not hearken unto
my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require [it] of him. 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.
21And 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, God set forth an order
that has very strict consequences for those who will not adhere to it. He said, I will require it from you.
You will pay for your unbelief. Notice
the question came forth from God's own mouth. He said, how will you know what is right and what is not
right? And then He tells us, the one
that is not right will not be vindicated. I will not bring his words to pass,
because they are not my words.
And we know God is very
protective of His own Words.
189
Lord Just Once More 63-0628A The
denominations will not take the
a-vindication of the Word.
E-8 Separation from Unbelief 55-0228 And it's not my picture, brother, sister, His picture, isn't mine. And He's with the church, not just with me; He's with every Christian, everywhere. He knows It's Christ, same Pillar of Fire led the children of
187 You Must be Born again 61-1231M When you're borned again, God vindicates you. That's how God vindicates all of His nature.
What? By their fruits.
That's the way He vindicates His ministry. That's right. All of His servants are vindicated the same
way He vindicates nature. How do you know it's a peach tree? 'Cause it bring peaches. How do you know it's an apple tree?
Bearing apples. How do you know it's a Christian?
Christian signs bear from it; Christian life comes out of it. How do you know
he's a teacher? The Word comes from him. How do you know he's a prophet? The
Word comes through him,
bears record, vindication. It proves itself. How does it become that? When it
dies and becomes one. That's right. When we die and become a new creature in
Christ Jesus, it gets us with our calling; we stay with our calling. The fruits
of the Spirit follow us when we are His servants. When we are borned again, the fruits of Christ's
Life follows us. That's right. How do you know it's a peach tree?
It's got peaches. How do you know he's a
Christian? He acts like Christ; he walks like Christ; he talks like Christ; he
lives like Christ, above sin, victorious. What does he do, say, "See
what I done"? Christ didn't do that. He gave all praise to the
Father. That's right. That's how you know it. By their fruits you shall
know them. What must... "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a man be born again he cannot even understand the
108 If God Be With Us 61-1231E How can He be the same
yesterday, today, and forever, and still Divine healing gone? How can the power, how can... The Bible set in order, "First
apostles, prophets teachers, evangelists, pastors,
for a vindication that the Gospel
still lives." And God sends
them right among us, and we turn our back on it. God doesn't fail, it's the people's failed.
"Where is the miracles then among us? Where are
they at?" God was talking to this man, getting him ready to go out.
Notice he said God
vindicates his word and he uses the five offices to do it. Not the man is vindicated, it is God who vindicates His Word.
E-71
Presuming 62-0117
Yes,
that's it. You're not presuming then. You know where you stand. That's right.
Oh, don't presume about it. There's so many different ways. Just don't presume.
But God has give
an a-vindication of His promise. See? We don't have to presume about it. God's
vindicated it.