Christ is the Mystery no 192
God life Expressed in the Believer
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
This morning we will review from our series on Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed where we
spoke from Christ
is the Mystery no 91 which we
called God Life in you, and from no 100 Completely
Totally dead, and from Christ is the
Mystery no 102 You can not think your
own thoughts and be right.
Now the Apostle Paul said in
Galatians 1:15
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my
mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me,
that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood:
Then Paul said also in verse 24 And they glorified God in me.
Let us pray...
Notice first he said, God
revealed His Son in Me, then he said and what they saw was God glorified in me. Now, when we look
at this doxazo we are looking at the
doxa which is the opinions, values, and judgments of God
magnified in a vessel. The last part of that word doxa-Zo, the Zo or Zoe part
means life. So when they saw the Life Paul was living in his flesh, they saw
God Life expressed through his flesh.
We also have this same promise that the Life of God, His Doxa, which is his opinions, His values
and His judgments are to be in the
saints at the time of the appearing of Christ.
In 1 Thessalonians
Now, this word Glorified was taken
from the word edoxazos, or endoxazos,
which the word en means in, and of course we know doxa is the opinion, values
and judgments, and zo or zoe meaning life expressed. So we are looking at the
opinion, values and judgments of God predestined to not only be manifested in
our life but to be magnified in our Zoe or Life at this time Paul speaks of
here. And we see the time that this is too take place according to verse 7. And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
Now, as we continue with what brother Branham was
saying here, he says in paragraph 195 Now, Christ... "The
works that I do shall you do also" See,
see, the same God. See? "The works that I
do shall you do also, more than this, for I go unto My Father." The
Church will be a little longer in Life (See?) vindicating His promised Word as
God did His promises in Christ's Body, so is Christ doing His same works
in Christ's Body, the Church. See? Now, making His mystery known to His
Bride Tree here in the last day, bringing forth the fruits that was in the Tree
at the beginning.
Notice he says as God did
it in Christ so Christ is doing it in this Body which is His Church.
That was Jesus Prayer in John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the
world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom
thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one.
And then let's skip forward to verse 20 to see how we are made one with God in
the very same way that Jesus was made one with God. 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. 22 And the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them; that
they may be one, even as we are one:
So you see our oneness with God comes from the very
same glory, the very same doxa, which is the very same opinions, values, and judgments that God gave
to His son, and he expressed them, so the Son gives to us, and we express them
the same as he did. And that makes us one with God in the same way Jesus was
one with God.
And that is why God himself will not be ashamed of us,
just as Jesus is not ashamed of us, because we have the same mind, the same
values and same opinions.
Token the 63-1128E P:59 And if the Life of Jesus Christ lives in the person, they
become identified with Him. It's Christ in you, not a church
member, not a system, but a resurrected power. The Holy Ghost is a Token
upon you, that your life says "amen" to
every Scripture. The promise is written in there. And you're not
yourself no more. You are Christ's. You don't think your
thoughts. You don't think your thoughts. (notice he
says that twice for emphasis)You say, "I think." You have no thought coming. The
Life that was in Christ is in you. The mind that was in Christ is in you.
The works that was in Christ is in you, and Christ Himself is in you.
You are dead; your life is hid in God through Christ, sealed in there by
the Holy Ghost. You're not your own.
Questions and answers COD
- 54-0103E You've got to repent and die daily to live in Jesus Christ. So every day,
every day, you've got to die, every day to live in Christ Jesus.
And don't ever forget that to repent
is to change the mind. You'll never make it with your own mind,
you must have the mind of Christ.
Jeremiah 4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from
wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long
shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Sirs we would see Jesus
61-1224 P:39 So if we ourselves then in our ministry,
and in our thoughts, and in our life, if we abide as we are, we can do no good.
We've got to also die at the altar, or we'll live alone; we'll live to
some denomination or some creed; we'll live to some organization. But if we
die to ourselves, then the Holy Spirit will be spread forth everywhere by our
lips. We've got to die. We must realize that we've got to
die in order to bring forth new life. So He said so much in this, "If you want to see Me,
you must die, die to yourself, and then you'll bring forth a new life."
Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy
thoughts shall be established.
And that is exactly what Paul taught in Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God.
So we must be willing to die to self in order for the Life of Christ to take over our vessels.
And nowhere during the past two thousand years since the Apostle Paul do you
hear language like being spoken until William Branham came along, and taught
the very same thing Paul did. Now, there were certain men through out the ages,
Like Martin of Tours and Columba who died to self and the Life of Jesus Christ
manifested in them, but what we see here is John
14:12 the
things that I do you will do also. And we didn't see much of it displayed through out the
Church ages, except for one here and one there until William Branham came
along, and told us there will be a complete manifestation of this Life in the
Bride in this hour before we are out of here. And it will not be to just one
person alone, but the entire Bride of Christ as a group reflecting the very
Life of the First born Son of God.
William Branham was asked the question concerning John
And again this same question was
asked in Questions
and Answers
Again from this sermon of his that we've been studying
for two years, Christ is the Mystery -
63-0728-138 William Branham vindicated
prophet of God said, "They said, "We
received the Holy Ghost when we believed." The Bible said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?" There's the difference. See? That's right. See? And they
say, "We're the Catholic church. We started early; we did this." The
Methodist say, "We are based upon the
Bible." Jesus said, "These signs shall
follow them that believe." Now, where's
it at? Uh-huh, see, right. "The
works that I do shall you do also," every creature, every person that believes in Him. Now,
where's it at? That's His Words. "Heavens and earths will pass away, but My Word shall never
fail." Now, where's it at?
See? Oh, it just shows... What is
it? It's a hybrid condition.
Notice again he uses the words "every person" and William Branham
mentions John
Again William Branham speaks of John
Now, the Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 2:11-13 11 For
both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for
which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Ephesians 3:14-21 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ
may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in
love, 18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you might be filled with all the
fullness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
He's talking about us being filled with Christ so much
until the fullness of God might come into expression through his Church again. Now,
not the person of God but the Life of God fully expressed.
Christ is the mystery
63-0728 P:208 Now, notice, God making Himself
known. Not... We're not suppose to make converts to Christianity by a
government, but by the revelation of Christ in you as God was in Christ. As
God was in Christ, Christ in you. When... What
God did in Christ, Christ does in you. What signs did God in Christ,
Christ does in you. Oh, isn't that beautiful? Oh, my. I like that. Jesus
said at that day (that's this day), at that day (when this revelation's
made known) you will know that I am in the
Father, and the Father in Me, I in you, and you in Me. (When the revelation's made manifest,) at that day, you shall know that I and the Father are One.
I'm in the Father, and the Father's in Me.
Then when the revelation comes forth, then it's
I in you and you in Me." There you are. See the manifold threefold... What
for? To bring it back. We've got to be...
And again in this same sermon, Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:120 Look, Christ in you makes
Him the center of Life of the revelation. See?(then brother Branham get's a little
more definitive and says,) Christ's Life in you makes Him the center of the revelation.
Christ in the Bible, makes the Bible a complete
revelation of Christ. Christ in you makes you the complete revelation of the
whole thing. See, what God's trying to do? What is the new birth then?
You say, "Well, Brother Branham, what is the new birth?" It is the
revelation of Jesus Christ personally to you. Amen. See? Not you joined a
church, you shook a hand; you done something different; you said a creed; you
promised to live by a code of rules; but Christ, the Bible... He is
the Word that was revealed to you. And no matter what anybody says, what
takes place, it's Christ. Pastor, priest, whatever it might be... It's
Christ in you. That is the revelation that the Church was built upon.
Now, the problem we have is throughout the seven
church ages, men have substituted theology for Revelation. They've taken Theology
instead of the very Life of Christ living in the individual. And according to Webster's dictionary the word revelation in Theology is defined as:
a manifestation of divine will or truth.
Now, notice it is not
just knowing the Divine will or truth as though it comes via a mental
awareness, but it tells us that Revelation is a manifestation of Divine will or
truth. But it is the literal manifesting of the Divine will or truth in the
individual.
The Apostle Paul tells us how he
received the Revelation of Jesus Christ and it was not through some seminary or
hearing some preacher, but he says in Ephesians 3:3 How that by revelation (manifestation of Divine Will and
truth) he made known
unto me the mystery; as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye
may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.
Now the question then must be asked, how
did Paul come to know the mystery of Christ? Because he
didn’t learn it from Jesus Christ in the flesh. And he didn’t learn it
from the Apostles themselves. It came via revelation, a manifesting of
Divine will and truth through the Pillar of Fire making known to Paul
that the Life that lived and expressed itself in Jesus is the same Life that
raised up Jesus from the dead, is the same God-Life that was in the burning
bush and Pillar of fire and talked to Him out of that Pillar of Fire.
So it is this manifestation that is so
all important to us. Not what teacher taught you, that is only mental knowledge. But the expression of God-Life made known to
you and then you see it manifesting through you.
We would see Jesus 57-0226
P:21 Then if His Spirit is with us, He will act just exactly
like He act when He was here on earth. It'll make you act the same way,
because it's not your spirit any more; it's His Spirit in you, Christ's
Spirit in you." The things that I do... He that
believeth on Me (
Questions and answers COD
64-0830M P:47 So get Christ in your heart; that's
a real... Christ and the Holy Spirit's the same thing. Holy Spirit,
"Christ" means "the anointed One." And the Holy Spirit is
that Anointing, and you are the one that's anointed. See? And it's Christ in
you anointing you. See what I mean? Then you got the right thing. Then He
can use you to anything He wants to use you in, See? ...The Holy Spirit
is a Being; It's God, God in you, the Person, God,
that's lit your whole entire being. You're changed; you're a new creature. Any
little thing that's wrong, He'll tell you that's wrong,
then quit; don't do it. "Father, I didn't mean to do that, You forgive me." See? And that's the Holy Spirit.
Notice,
John 13:31Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus
said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in
him. 32 If God be glorified in him,
God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall
straightway glorify him.
John 17:10 And all mine are
thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Christ is the mystery
63-0728 P:218 How do you know? 'Cause
you're a church member? Because Christ is living through you; so
pregnated with His Spirit that you're a prisoner to anything else. You're
confined (oh, my.) to the Gospel, confined to the Word. And all
the children that you can bring forth is that,
'cause you're a prisoner. You can't commit adultery; you're already pregnated. Glory. He can't take a hold. The womb of life is closed
to anything else. You're already His by predestination. That Seed has
come to Life. No world can get in. Oh. Oh, how we'd like to stay on this
for about a hour. I'm sure you understand. See? Christ
and His alone... already finished; the Seed was there. The Seed was
already... When was it put there? Before the foundation of the world, has
predestinated us unto Eternal Life. And as soon as the Life-giving flow, that
Seed laying there... Other seed's that just would come
in wouldn't take hold, just couldn't do it (like). But when that Seed come in,
quickly it stopped up the womb; all the rest of the seed was drove out (see,
like that), and you become a prisoner surrounded in Christ, Christ in you,
His Life bringing forth His evidence, His signs. Oh, my, my, my.
Look, bringing His signs of Life as an evidence of His resurrection,
proving to the world that Eternal Life, vindicates
to the world that we're alive in Him. And think of it. Alive with God
our Redeemer, Who created us for the very same purpose (the Church) and His
creative Life in us. That is... Moses could said
by the Word of God, "Let there come..." and there come flies. A God that can make flies can make
squirrels. See? He can do whatever He wants to, He's God.
1 Corinthians
Is your life worthy
63-0630E P:70 "if the very Life of God is in you
and the very Spirit that was in Christ in you, how can the Spirit live in Jesus
Christ and write this and then come back down in you and deny that? See? Can't do it. It'll punctuate every word to be so."
1 Peter
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye
shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son.
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.
Some
time ago in
And that is what it all boils down
to in this life that we live. Brother Branham taught us that "eternal Life is living for others". So as brother Branham would
say, "where's it at?" And that is my question to you this morning, "if you claim to have the holy
Ghost, and eternal Life is living for others, then where's it at?"
That's all, "where's it at". I'm not casting judgment on
any of you, for we all know when the finger points forward there are three
pointing back. but
"where's it at? This eternal Life that lives for
others."
Brother Branham said in his sermon, Forsaking all 62-0123 P:86 If the spirit of a gangster was in me, I'd
have guns on me. If the spirit of a painter was in me, I could paint the
picture that a painter could do. If the spirit of a mechanic was on me, I could
tell you what was wrong with your car. See? And if the Spirit of Jesus
Christ is in me, I'll do the works of Christ because it's the life of Christ in
you. See? Manifested in who? Manifested in who? He forsaken His Sonship and became sin and took our
sins, that He might take sinners and make them sons. He became me that I
might become Him. He become a sinner that I
might become a son of God. Oh, it's striking what He done. See, He taken
your place that you might take His place. You're joint heirs with Him in
the Kingdom. He become a sinner like you, your sins placed upon Him that He
might take you and make you a fellow citizen of heaven and set you with Him in
God's Kingdom. There you are: put His Spirit in you. And if His
Spirit's in you, the works that He did you'll do also.
Let your light so shine
before men 61-0903 P:51 Only way we see Christ is when He
reflects in each other. I see Christ in you. You see Him in me. That's how we
watch Christ.
Colossians 1:27 To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord.
2
Thessalonians
2 Peter 1:8 For if these things be in you, and
abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon 1:6 That the communication of thy faith may
become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in
you in Christ Jesus.
Romans
Queen of
Jehovah Jireh 2 60-0802 P:14 When you come to total obedience, then you can have
possession. But until you totally obey. You've
got to completely surrender your own thoughts, your own will, your own mind,
and let the mind of Christ operate in you. Now, do you think the mind
of Christ, in you, would say, "The days of miracles is past"? Do you
think the mind of Christ, in you, would say, "The Bible's right in some
places and not in others"? The mind of Christ would sanction every word
that Christ ever said. It's right. So if you don't use your own mind, just
use His mind. That's how visions at nighttime... If I use my own mind, hat
could I do? I couldn't do nothing. But just yield
myself to Him, and then He uses my mind, my eyes, my
mouth. He's my all. Just yield.
Philippians 2 : 5 Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus:
1 Corinthians 1 : 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth
in you.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he
which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ:
2 Corinthians 13:3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking
in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.
Hebrews 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work
to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his
sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Galatians 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in
birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Show us the Father
59-0419E P:34 Everything that you have need of in
this earth's journey is in you when you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
All the healing you ever need, all the rejoicing you'll ever need, all the
power you ever need, everything that you got need of is in you when you've
got Christ in you.
2 Corinthians
13:5 Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye
not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates?
He is telling us here that you ought
to know whether Christ is alive in you or not.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And that led us to Christ
is the Mystery no 94 Until Christ be
formed in you where we took our text from Romans 8:18-19 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory (values,
opinions and judgments)which shall be revealed (visibly
expressed or manifested) in us.
Romans
And we find our answer in Galatians
We have a promise from God that
there is coming a time when Christ will literally be formed in an elect people,
and then be manifested openly for the world to see.
From his sermon, Divine Healing 54-1219M P:59 Brother Branham said, “Now, you notice those people who set and
say, "Well, I accept the Lord." You take their word for it. I would
too. I can't judge. God does. But in ten years from now, they've never
progressed a bit, just staying right in the same old place. See? We grow
daily. Each day our heart hungers, keeps moving on. There's something
growing inside of you. Amen. You get bigger, spread out, can take more, …Paul told the Corinthians church, said, "You're
maturing growing. But when you ought to be teachers, you're still babes needing
teaching (Is that right?) when you ought to be teachers," something in
there growing out, pushing out, making bigger, the Holy Spirit, growing. The
new birth... If a birth is born from the inside out, the child, it grows
if it lives. If it doesn't, it remains. Is that right? Well, when a
birth is on the inside, shouldn't it grow? The Christ in your heart ought to be
growing daily, getting bigger, more powerful, understanding things better,
forgiving, walking on as God would, till Christ be formed in you,
the hope of glory."
Look, when you are born again you begin
growing into the image of Christ, and if there is no growth their
is n life. Paul agonized over this childish condition in the church and
he prayed that Christ would be formed in them which the word formed
means “To arrange the parts to bring into alignment”. In other
words, we, each of us, is a part of the body of
Christ, but we are not aligned with Christ as we ought to be. It's just like if
one vertebrae is not aligned right the whole body
suffers.
Philippians 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every
man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Notice, His thoughts were not for
himself but for his brethren, and he humbled himself. And the Bride of Christ is not there yet. There needs to be a
humbling. Paul saw it, William Branham saw it, and they both tried to teach us
that this is the condition we need to come to but would the people listen? No,
but there is ordained a people who will listen and who will humble herself. And
there is no way there will come a rapture until this
condition is met. Because the Scripture tells us that is we “humble ourselves,
God will lift you up in due season”. There’s your rapture.
John said the same thing in 1 John 3: 1-3“now you are sons, but it doesn’t look like
what you ought to be as sons, but there is coming a time when He shall Appear,
and the time of this Appearing you will be like him for you shall see him as he
truly is, and seeing Him as he truly is, you will begin to recognize what you
truly are”.
That is why Paul also said, “when I was a child I spoke like and child
because I thought as a child, but when I became a man I put away childish
thinking” And we know
that which is perfect is the perfect revealed Word, and we have by God’s grace
the perfect revealed word for us in this day. Because God
Himself came down with the Shout which is the Message.
So here is my conclusion on this matter.
The Bride is not yet mature. We have been commanded by God’s prophet to lay in the presence of the son to ripen. We are not ripened in our spirit, we are not yet sweet in our spirit. We are still too
touchy about our own position in the body and not concerned about the body
itself.
There is too much jesting for power, and
for importance in the body and not enough Humility, and dying to self. Too much
self, and not enough focus on the entire body itself. And
that is because we have not yet learned to die to self.
Thirsting for life 57-0613 P:70 And we're no more, we're not greater than
one another. We're all the same. We're just... If a person isn't no more than a little housewife, she's just as much in the
So let’s take a look at these last two
statements he says here. The Christ in your heart ought to be growing daily,
getting bigger, more powerful, understanding things better, forgiving, walking
on as God would, till Christ be formed in you, the hope of glory.
The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 4:19 My little
children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, Now, to understand what this means if you will read the
entire book to Galatians and especially the 4th chapter, But has been teaching them how that Christ is
to live out his life in each of us, and as we grow in Christ His own Life is
forming in us.
What this means if you will read the
entire book to Galatians and especially the 4th chapter, But has been teaching them how that
Christ is to live out his life in each of us, and as we grow in Christ His own
Life is forming in us.
In his sermon, Sardisean church age 60-1209 P:54 brother Branham said, "And the earth is groaning, waiting for the
manifestations of the sons of God" to be manifested, God's sons. Because after all, this world was not given for God to control.
Let's notice. That's right. Who is the god of the earth? Man. That's his
domain. All, everything in the earth is subject to the man. Through sin he
fell; through Christ's redeeming power he comes back again (That's right.),
because the earth belongs to man, it was given to him, and he was ruler over
everything. And all nature's groaning, waiting for that time that when the
sons of God will be manifested again. Oh, my. Manifestations of the sons
of God..."
The Apostle Paul said in the Book of Romans 12:3 For I say, through
the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according
as God hath dealt to every man The Measure of Faith. Now, to think soberly
means you have got to have a right mind to do so.
What Paul is telling us here is that we
should not allow ourselves to get puffed up by the revelation or the Measure of
Faith that has been revealed to us, for after all, it is not of our own efforts
or study that gives us this Measure of Faith or Revelation. We didn’t think of
it first. God sent it to us via a prophet of God. It is God’s doing, it is by
God’s Grace, that He has revealed Himself to us in this hour.
In examining Scriptural Humility we find
that true Scriptural humility is not so much a mannerism, nor is it an action,
but rather, True Scriptural humility is a condition of the mind.
For it is knowing your place in the Gospel,
or knowing your position in Christ.
In Colossians 3:12 we read, Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering;
From the sermon Sirs We would see Jesus 62-0724 P:44 brother Branham said concerning Jesus
the Son of God, , He come to show what God was. Anything
that's high and haughty isn't God. God is low and humble. That's what made
Him God. See, something that comes low, not them that goes high... So God
doesn't dwell in hierarchies, and things. He dwells in humility. The
way up is down. Humble
yourself and you'll be exalted; exalt yourself and you'll be humbled. That's right. See? God knows how to do
it. So you have to remember; humble yourself before God. Don't try to think
your own thoughts; think His thoughts. See?
2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of
God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
But why is it that when God reveals a
portion of Himself to men they get exalted and puffed
up. Why is it that men are always vying for position?
Angel of the Covenant
54-0301 E-18
Don't expect to know God by education or theology; you
know God by being born again, new birth. The Holy Spirit wrote the Word of
God. And He so entangled it in there; He said, "I've hid it from the eyes of the wise and
prudent and will reveal it to babes such as will learn." So if you want to know anything,
get to be a baby. Don't be too smart. The way up is down. "He that humbles himself shall be exalted. He
that exalts himself shall be brought abase." And I think of writing the
Scripture, how the Holy Spirit hid those mysteries in there. And all the Bible
schools and seminaries will never be able to pull it out. God knows it alone
and will reveal it to who He will. Is that right?
Therefore, Humility is to know
your place in the Word, to know your place in God’s plan. And if you
know that something is outside of God’s thinking, then it is not worth even
thinking about.
Brother Branham said from the message, Be Not Afraid It is I
61-0414 P 65 Some
people thinks humility is something that ought to wear a skirt. No, no. You
misunderstand that. Jesus, the humblest Man that ever lived, He could plait
ropes together, and look on them with anger, and run them out of the temple.
Yes, sir. Certainly.
E-67 And the Pharisees
and the Sanhedrin court (the church), questioned Him. "What about all the
rest of these?" He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you: " The Son does nothing
in Himself; but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son likewise." That's compassion. Compassion is
to follow the will of God, not human sympathy, but compassion. Oh, it's two
different words altogether: sympathy, and compassion. See? If it wasn't, Jesus
sure made a rude mistake when He did that. See?
From his sermon, It is I be not afraid 62-0726 P:45 Brother Branham said, “That's what makes Him God to me, because
He humbled Himself. God is humility. Don't never
forget that. Humility is God. Never boastful, it's always humility."
In Philippians 2:3 The Apostle Paul said, Let nothing be done through strife or
vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves. And the word lowliness is the same Greek word used for humble
yourselves.
Matthew 23:12 And whosoever
shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted. Then you might ask, to what degree would we
humble ourselves? Jesus said in Matthew 18: 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble
himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
In James 4:6 we read, But he giveth more
grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace unto the humble.
And in James
And to be humble you are not born that
way. Paul said in Philippians 2: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Christ is the Mystery
no 100 Completely
Totally dead.
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on
things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Water of separation -
55-0121 You've
got to absolutely accept the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only that,
but you've got to die yourself. you've
got to die to every thought of the flesh so that you can receive the mind of
Christ and walk from henceforth, not of your own, but of His mind: the
mind of Christ in you. That's the only way you can stay alive. That's the
only way I can stay alive. That's all I live by, is by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to self, to live after self. 13 For if ye live after self, ye shall die: but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Then when
we die to self does that mean forever we are dead men? No! Because he said,
"Because I live ye
shall live also."
In one
sense you are dead to self, but in another sense you have become a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Didn't the Apostle Paul say, "For ye are dead"; but notice he went on to say, "For your life is hid with Christ in God"; and how can you then be in
reality a dead man when you have a hidden life? It's not possible.
But since I have become one body by
being baptized into one spirit then I am one with Christ, am I not? Then I
am what Christ is: as the Life I am now living in this flesh, I am
living by the Life of Christ in Me.
I am crucified with Christ, that's what I have done to the old man.
I have killed it off. But Paul went on to say, that although I am crucified with Christ, yet nevertheless, I am living, I
am alive, but it's not me that living, but Christ himself that is living in me. And as brother Branham said, if he is living in me then the
works he does I will do.
And that led us to Christ
is the Mystery no 100 You can not think
your own thoughts and be right.
And if our
thoughts are established right, they will be rightly wise.
let us pray...