Christ is the Mystery no 194
Christian Life - Review
The Almost Christian
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
For
our text this morning let's turn in our Bibles to Acts
1 Corinthians 2:2 "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus
Christ, and him crucified."
Let's
pray...
In
our review we will learn much about what it really mean to be a Christian. And
one thing for certain, just because people may call themselves Christians,
doesn't have any direct relationship with whether they are a Christian or not.
QA Image of the beast 54-0515 P:32 Belonging to ... church don't make you a
Christian. There's only one way to be a Christian. The word
"Christian" means "Christ-like." And you can't do it; you
can't work it in yourself; there's no way at all you can do it. You have to
forget yourself, die out to yourself, and let Christ come in and live
the Life of Christ in you.
Jesus Christ the same 56-0426 P:34 Let's go back and see what He was. And I
want to ask you now, what He was then, He's got to be the same today.
What His ministry was then, if the Holy Spirit brings His ministry today, as it
did then, then it's got to be the same type of ministry. And if a man
professes to be a Christian has got to live that same Christ-like life... If
the Spirit of Christ is in you it'll certainly do the same works that Christ
did.
True sign that's overlooked 61-1112 P:64 I say, "Are you a Christian?"
To be a Christian you must be Christ-like, tabernacling
deity in you, with the Holy Ghost like fell on the day of Pentecost.
This
morning we will take our Review from a series of sermons we preached out of
Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed, from no 120 through 149. I've listed
them below. I do not say we can by any means get through all of them this
morning, but we can at least see them to know the subject matter of what it
means to be a Christ in their titles.
Christ is the Mystery no 120 Christian Life No 1
Christ is the Mystery no 121 Christian Life No 2 Manifested Life
Christ is the Mystery no 122 Christian Life No 3 His Character Not Ours
Christ is the Mystery no 123 Christian Life No 4 Doctrine The Voice Of
The Sign
Christ is the Mystery no 124 Christian Life No 5 Attributes Of The
Early Church
Christ is the Mystery no 125 Christian Life No 6 Revelation Your Ultimate Reality
Christ is the Mystery no 126 Christian Life No 7 The Attitude Of
Christ
Christ is the Mystery no 127 Christian Life No 8 Written Epistles
Christ is the Mystery no 128 Christian Life No 9 The Christ That Sends
Us Goes In Us
Christ is the Mystery no 129 Christian Life No 10 A Prisoner Of
Christ
Christ is the Mystery no 130 Christian Life No 11 Same Spirit Same Actions
Christ is the Mystery no 131 Christian Life No 12 Life Of The
Word
Christ is the Mystery no 132 Christian Life No 13 Life Of The
Word Expressed
Christ is the Mystery no 133 Christian Life No 14 Understanding Vindication
Christ is the Mystery no 134 Christian Life No 15 Christian Discernment
Christ is the Mystery no 135 Christian Life No 16 The Role Of A
Shepherd No 1
Christ is the Mystery no 137 Christian Life No 18 All Things In
Subjection To Him
Christ is the Mystery no 138 Christian Life No 19 Understanding Shepherds No 3
Christ is the Mystery no 139 Christian Life No 20 No Sin Among
Us
Christ is the Mystery no 141 Christian Life No 21 Repentance And
Conversion
Christ is the Mystery no 142 Christian Life No 22 A Pregnated Child Of
God
Christ is the Mystery no 143 Christian Life No 23 Prisoners To The
Word Not Wilfully Disobedient
Christ is the Mystery no 144 Christian Life No 24 Believing Every Word
Christ is the Mystery no 145 Christian Life No 25 Confirming The
Commission
Christ is the Mystery no 146 Christian Life No 26 Satan's Plan Is To
Divide And Conquer
Christ is the Mystery no 147 Christian Life No 27 The Word
Alone Has Life
Christ is the Mystery no 148 Christian Life No 28 Harmony Between
Christ And His Bride
Christ is the Mystery no 149 Christian Life No 29 No Substitute
Now, before we get onto our review this morning, I want
to read another Scripture for a preview of what it means to really be a
Christian.
We find a conversation in the Book of Acts that the
Apostle Paul is having with King Agrippa, and
you will find in this conversation something that the king says that is very
eye opening.
Acts 26: 27-29 Paul says to the King... "King
Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that
Thou believest." Then Agrippa said unto Paul,
"almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."
And Paul said, "I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that
hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these
bonds."
"almost thou persuadest me, almost persuaded."
And I wonder if that is not the testimony of the
majority of so called Christians in this world today, "almost persuaded."
And we all know that if you are "almost persuaded", then you are "not
yet persuaded", and therefore not a Christian.
Paul said, "I would
that all who hear my voice would be as I am except without these bonds.
What a declaration. What a desire fills the souls of those who love God.
Brother Branham taught us that you need more than just water Baptism to
enter God's Only Provided Place of Worship.
You must be baptized by the Spirit of God! He
said, "Where did God put His Name? He placed
His name In Jesus. And How do you get in His Name? How
do you get in there? By being baptized in there! How? By
water? By Spirit! "One
Lord, one faith, one baptism." That's Holy Ghost
baptism. "The water baptism just put you in fellowship with the
people, that you recognized that you have accepted Christ.
"That's the Truth. But it's Spirit baptism." I can call
the Name of Jesus over you and baptize you, that doesn't
make it so. But when once that Holy
Spirit really... genuine Word comes into you (the Word, Jesus),
then, brother, the Message is no secret to you then; you know It, brother, It's
all lit up before you."
So we see by his statement here that
Brother Branham is telling us that the difference between being baptized in
water verses being baptized with the Spirit of God is that when you are
baptized in water that just opens up a fellowship among the believers, but when
you are Baptized by the Spirit of God which is the Genuine Word of God, coming
into you and taking over your life. The Spirit of God by His Word quickens you
to the age which you live and the Message s no longer a secret, but it becomes
all lit up before your very eyes.
We know according to 1
Peter 1: 23 that we are born again by the
Word of God which is an incorruptible Seed. The new birth then is
not just some religious experience, but it is the Word of God coming into your
life and quickening you to The Message for the day
which you live. Not just to a message, but the Message of this hour
happens to be God Himself has come down and is in the midst of His People and
He's here, getting His People ready for a Rapture. And if you are not quickened
to that, you are still living in your sins.
Now there are
many who've heard the
Matthew 25: 1-13 Then shall the kingdom of
heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their
lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Now to this point the Scripture does not point out a
distinction between any of these 10 virgins. They are all virgins which means
they have not been with men, and have not been impregnated by man's ideas and
creeds.
We know also according to Mark
So then, these
ten virgins which are virgins in deed, have not been
corrupted by man's seed or man's doctrine. And also I want you to notice that
all ten have lamps. Now in Psalm 119:105
we read, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a
light unto my path," So we see that the ten virgins are Bible believing
Virgins. Now remember, a woman in the Bible always types a church. So we see
that these ten virgins represent the
Notice in verse 2 we see
a distinction made between these ten virgins. Some are called wise by Jesus and
the others are called foolish. But they are all virgins. Clean living, not
touched by men.
Now this word "wise" that Jesus uses here comes from a Greek
word "Phronimos"
which means "to be prudent or sensible in a
practical sense."
We see Him use the same word in Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them,( in other words, puts them into practice) I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon
a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded ( it's
foundation ) was upon a rock.( and we
know that this rock is Revelation, and Paul told us that no other foundation can be laid than what is already laid and
that is Christ.)
And so we read
on, "And every one that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,( does not
put them into practice) shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ( You'll notice
here that he has no foundation) And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:
and great was the fall of it.
In this parable we see that the
Wise are those who not only hear but put into action what they hear.
This is considered the prudent or sensible thing to do. And of course we see
the foolish are those who also hear, but they do not do, and because
they do not put into action what they hear, they are not considered wise or
prudent, but foolish, because they could have taken action and
saved their home, but they did not, and therefore their homes were
destroyed.
How many believers today are watching their own
children going down the wrong road and are headed for destruction only because
they did not apply the Token. Brother Branham said it won't do you any good unless you apply it, it must be
applied!, and that means it has
got to be put into use or it won't do you any good.
Now the only difference between the Wise and Foolish
is that One had their foundation built on The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, while the other didn't. The same winds of doctrine
blew down upon them both, they were both subjected to the same rain and
wind and flooding which Isaiah 59: 19
warns us that "when the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord
shall lift up a standard against him".
But the thing I want you to notice is that the same
trials will come upon both the wise and foolish alike, but the wise won't
falter during this testing time because they have a foundation built upon
Revelation. The Catholic church and the government can
take your material possessions, they can take your home and your cars and your
books and your belongings, but no one can ever take this Revelation of Jesus
Christ from you. It's sealed into you by the Holy Ghost Himself.
Luke 22: 34 Be careful, or your hearts
will be weighed down with spending too much time and energy on indulging
yourself with pleasure, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life which is (worry
and apprehension about what may happen), and that
day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap or snare. For
it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be
always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about
to happen, and that you may be able to stand in the Presence of the Son of
And then in Luke
Now, the rich young ruler did all the
commandments of God yet when it came time to surrender all that he had in a
final gesture of total commitment to Christ, he could not depart from his
material possessions. He almost made it. Almost,
but one word off is Satan's kingdom.
The Bible even tells us that Jesus loved him much, but later Jesus tells us the
story of how this rich young ruler had died and was
burning up in hell, and asked Abraham to send the beggar Lazarus with a drop of
water to quench his thirst. And looking up from hell he pleaded with Abraham to
send some one to warn his brothers, But Abraham said, "Though one be
raised from the dead they won't believe Him!" And I tell you this morning,
that One has Raised from the dead and is standing in your very midst today and
yet you believe him not!
And so it was
King Agrippa who said to Paul, "You almost
persuaded me to be a Christian." How many almost
Christians will there be in that day. How many almost Christians do we
have hanging around the Message. How many almost Christians will go
through the Tribulation because they were almost Christians. They were
almost there, but they didn't quite make the roster. How many here this morning
and those who are not here this morning who fit into this category of Almost
Christians. Almost won't count when the Rapture takes place and the Fully committed and fully Revelated
Christian are taken out of this pest house. "Thou almost persuaded me", they'll say.
"Thou almost persuaded me."
And what good will Agrippa's words be when he lifts up his eyes from hell and
his words echo over and over in his ears , "Paul,
Thou almost persuadest me to be a Christian."
And yet we must ask ourselves, "What
is an Almost Christian?" And if I were to tell you the answer many
of you would fall to your knees in shear horror because even we who claim to
believe this Message with all of our minds would seem to come up so short if we
were to know what an almost Christian is. Jesus defined an almost Christians
when he asked the Rich young ruler if he obeyed the Ten Commandments and he
replied that he believed and practiced them all. An Almost Christian Believes in One God and has nothing in his life, no
idols, or toys that he worships, nothing but that One True God. Secondly the Almost Christian Honors
God by honoring His Sabbath. He doesn't work on the
Sabbath. He honors God's day. The Almost Christian will not
worship any graven image nor does he speak God's name
in a vain and useless fashion, He honors
his father and mother, and he does
not lie, nor does he steal,
nor does he kill, nor does
he commit adultery, nor does he bear false witness against his neighbor, nor
does he covet what his neighbor has. And
the rich young ruler obeyed all these things, and yet missed it. Why? Because he was an almost Christian. So what about the
adulterer? What about the thief? What about the Gossip who bears false witness?
According to the Gospel, they would not even be classified as an almost Christian. Then what further judgment awaits such as that?
And yet do we hang around
with people like that? Did you know Irenaeus tells us the story of how John the
Apostle would not even go into the bath house where a man named Marcus was
because he said, Lest the Lord destroy the building that he is in while we are
in there." Did not the Scripture tells us 2 Corinthians
Psalm 1:1 NIV Blessed is the
one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the
Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams
of water, which yields its fruit in season.
Amplified Bible
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not and lives not in the
counsel of the ungodly following their advice, their plans and purposes, nor
stands submissive and inactive in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down to
relax and rest where the scornful and the mockers gather. 2 But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and
on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually
meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. 3 And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended]
by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf
also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come
to maturity].
Paul tells us
more about this Almost Christian, he says 2 Timothy 3:5 They Have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof:
from such turn away."
John Wesley said, "The
Almost Christian does nothing which the Gospel forbids. He takes not the
name of God in vain; he blesses and curses not; he swares
not at all, but his communication is, yea, yea; nay, nay. He profanes not the
day of the Lord, nor suffers it to be profaned, even by the stranger that is
within his gates. He not only avoids all adultery and fornication and
uncleanness, but every word, or look, that either directly or indirectly tends
toward it, Even all idle words are watched and he abstains from backbiting,
tale-bearing, evil speaking, and from all foolish talking and jesting and from
all conversation that is not "good to the edifying" and that
consequently grieves the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed until the day
of redemption."
"The
almost Christian abstains from strong drink, from revellings
and gluttony. He avoids as much as in him lies, all strife and contention,
continually endeavoring to live peaceably with all men. If he suffers wrong, he
avengeth not himself, neither returns evil for evil.
He is no railer, no brawler, no
scoffer, either at the faults or infirmities of his neighbor. He will not
willingly wrong, hurt, or grieve any man: but in all things acts and speaks by
the Golden rule, " Whatsoever thou wouldest not
he should do unto thee, that thou doest to another." And in doing good, he
does not confine himself to cheap and easy offers of kindness, but actually labours and suffers for the profit of many, that by all
means he may help some. In Spite of toil and pain, "whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he doeth it with all his might."
Whether it be for his friends or his enemies, for the
evil or for the good. He is not slothful in this or any business, as he
"hath opportunity" he doeth all manner of good, to all men." He
reproves the ignorant, comforts the afflicted, labours
to awaken those who sleep, and he constantly frequents the house of God, as
well as stirs up those who are saved through faith. And when he approaches the
table of the Lord it is not with lightheartedness, nor is it with a careless behaviour, but with an air, gesture and deportment which
speaks nothing else but "God be merciful to me a sinner."
"And to this add family devotions, and prayer and a setting
apart time to worship God as a family. Now with all these things we have spoken
which are the attributes of an Almost Christian we have but one more and that
is sincerity. By Sincerity I mean a real, inward principle of religion from
whence these outward actions flow. And indeed, if we have not this we have not
even a heathen honesty. For even the most wretched
heathen will abstain from doing evil in order to avoid punishment. If then a
man does all these things to avoid punishment or to avoid loss of friends, or
his reputation or even his gain, and if you do ever so much good and show ever
so much Grace to others, and yet we could not say this man is never so much as
an almost Christian if his motive if his motives are thus. Sincerity therefore,
is necessarily implied in being almost a Christian; a real design to serve God,
a hearty desire to do His Will. A desire to please God in all things; in all
his conversation; in al his actions; in all he does; or leaves undone. This
design if any man be almost a Christian, runs through
the tenor of his life. This is the moving principle, both in his doing, his
abstaining from evil, and his using the ordinances of God."
"Yet you
might ask, How could it be possible that any man living could go this far and
nevertheless be considered by Jesus Christ, as Only Almost a Christian? What
more than this can be implied in being a Christian altogether? And I answer,
yes, it is possible to go this far and remain almost a Christian."
You ask the
question, "What more than all this is implied in being altogether a
Christian?
"And the answer is, First, The Love of God. For thus
Saith His Word, "Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all thy strength." Such a love as
this engrosses the whole heart, and takes up all the affection, and fills the
entire capacity of the soul, and employs the utmost extent of all it's faculties. He that thus Loves
the Lord His God, his spirit continually rejoices in the God of His Salvation.
His heart is ever crying out, " Whom have
I in heaven but Thee?" and "There is none upon the earth that I desire beside Thee!"
And indeed what can the altogether Christian desire beside God?
Nothing of this world or the things of this world, for we are crucified to the
world, and the world is crucified to me.
The Second thing implied in being altogether
a Christian, is the love of God that is
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy ghost.
True Christian Love which knows no boundaries. For
Jesus told us, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor
even as thyself." And if any ask who is your neighbor? We
reply, Every man in the world; every child of His Who
is the Father of the spirits of all flesh. And this even implies our enemies,
for Jesus Said, we must Love those who despitefully use us.
And thirdly we
can not leave out Faith which is Revelation.
For without it no man can know the Lord, and thus without Revelation we would
be only an almost Christian, no better than the kind old priest
or the liberal bleeding hearts. For Revelation is what separates the sheep from
the goats and the wise Virgins from the foolish. Revelation is the key that was
given Peter, and that which can only come from God
through His Prophets. And Once it has been revealed to
us we become sole possessors of it. The transfer of title takes place and we
possess what has been revealed and it belongs to us and our children forever.
That day on Calvary 60-0925 P:54 Now, notice, the greater works was to have
the power in the church, not only to heal the sick by prayer, cast out devils
by prayer, but to impart Eternal Life to believers. The Holy Ghost was coming
and given into the hands of the church to impart life. Oh, that's what
Now in getting back to our study of the Wise and
foolish, we find in Matthew 10: 16 Jesus warning us that
of the importance He places on being wise in a prudent and sensible form of the
word. He says, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in
the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
He wants us to be wise. Not wise in our own way, or as Paul says, " Be not wise in your own conceit." In other
words, we are not talking about wisdom for wisdom's sake, but being wise in a
practical sense. In a way that will do you some good.
Again in Matthew 24:41-51
we see Jesus use this word "wise"
in another parable in which He is trying to get us to see the importance of
applying what we know to our benefit in a spiritual sense of the word.
42 Watch therefore: for ye
know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43
But know this, that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house
to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in
such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 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; 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 its very apparent in this parable that Jesus is
letting us know through illustration that He expects us to be busy applying
what we know rather than being lax, uncaring, unsuspecting and like fools, not
ready when He does come. He says, those that are not
ready when I come will be placed outside with the hypocrites where there is
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth which we know is
tribulation. We find that right after Jesus tells us this parable, He then
tells the parable of the five wise Virgins and the Five who are foolish.
And so we pick
up this parable of the wise and foolish virgins at verse 3... They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with
them:
Now what good does a lamp do without any oil to light
up the darkness with. A lamp without Oil in it is
useless.
In Exodus 29:7
we see that Oil is a type of The Spirit or anointing of God. Then shalt thou
take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head, and anoint him Again we see
the oil is used for anointing in Leviticus 8:10,12
And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the
Tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled
thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels,
both laver and his foot, to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing oil
upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.
Since we know that Oil represents the Anointing of
God's Spirit in Scripture, we can then see that the Lamp representing the Word
of God, is without any anointing of God's Spirit upon it in the lamps of the
foolish virgin.
So let's get back to the condition of the
church here in Matthew 25 and let's pick
up again at verse 4 But the wise took
oil in their vessels with their lamps.
In other words, the Word
was anointed to them which makes all the difference in the
world, because to those whom the Word is anointed, it is a living Word, whereas
to the others it is not a living Word, but a set of rules and regulations in
which they must follow.
In Isaiah 28: 9-13
NIV we see what happens to them who hear
this Message but understand it not. Who is He trying
to teach? To whom is He explaining His Message? To children weaned from their
milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do and do, do and do,
rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there. Very well then, with
foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom He
said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"
; and "This is the place of repose"- but they would not
listen. So then, the Word of the Lord to them will become: Do and do, do and
do, rule on rule, rule on rule; as little here, and a little there- so then
they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured."
And so we see the foolish virgin whom did not have the
anointed Word of God when they realized how late it was they went to those who
did understand the
Matthew 25:5 While the bridegroom
tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at
Now I know your King James version
says, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go out to meet
Him, but this is a mistranslation. The original says, "Behold the Bridegroom, come out to
meet Him). You see, the Message is always come out, not go out, for
the one declaring the message is not inside with you, but is on the outside
saying come out from among them as we see in Rev 3:
20 James 5: 9, 2 Cor 6: 17 Rev 18:4 etc.
Now lets continue Jesus parable of the virgins with verse 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Now I want you to notice, they all heard the
And brother Branham said, "my ministry is to declare Him that he is here."
That's the Message to the virgins, both wise and foolish.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. Notice, Give us of your
understanding, because we do not understand what this Shout is all about?
9 But
the wise answered, saying, [Not so]; lest there be not enough for us and you:
but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom
came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door
was shut.
Now, I want you to notice something here. While the
others who were considered foolish went out looking to try and find some
anointing in order to understand this
11 Afterward came also
the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Afterwards, the other realized who
it was that was knocking and who it was that was Present, but it was too late
then, they missed Him because they had not been ready. The Word had not been
anointed to them and they missed the Revelation of Jesus Christ. They were left
behind for the tribulation period.
12 But
he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. This word know
here is a Greek word "eido"
which means to fully know by means of experience, therefore what Jesus
is using it, is, "I never really had a experiential
relationship with you" and therefore, as Doctor Hoyer
from Wheaton College in Illinois who was once considered the
greatest U.S. student of the Greek said, this should be translated as "I used to know you as my wife, but I do not know you
as my wife any longer. "
In other words, we never
consummated our relationship together and therefore I really never knew you in
a conjugal sense of the word. The Life was never passed from me
to you, and hence I have not known you.
Finally we here Jesus speak forth words of warning
concerning this parable and what it means in verse 13
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of
man cometh. And of course this word watch means to ever be keeping a vigilant eye,
or spiritual alertness for the Parousia of the Son of
And if this
Notice, Brother Branham said, "when you have been truly baptized by the Holy Spirit, then
the Message is no longer a mystery to you, it is no longer a secret to you, you know it!" "It's all lit up before you" I don't
think you'll need to have someone take you aside and tell you the need to be in
church, you'll just automatically be there when those doors open, because it's
real to you, and because you Love Him so much that you can't get
enough of Him.
And because it's real, you'll hunger and thirst for as
much of Him as you can. You won't need someone to hold your hand and baby you
through, because you're ready to Live, or Die, Sink or
swim, or whatever to receive it. You see, that's what the New Birth is
all about. It's not just coming to a fellowship. It's about being born
again as a new individual, a new Creation in Christ Jesus. Old things have passed away and all things have become new.
You don't live for your job, you don't live for your vacation, you don't live for your new car like the rest of the world
does. You live for Christ to express Himself
through you. You have no taste buds for the things of the world and
there's only one thing that can satisfy, and that is to know Him in an intimate
way.
"to know Him in the power of His resurrection,
that He's alive today, and how do I know He's alive? Because
he's alive in me. And He is the same as He
was yesterday, so is He today and forever. Jesus Christ, the Lover
of our soul. Just fellowship will never do. We must become Him. Empty
yourself of you and become Him. Growing up into Christ.
The what is a Christian Life all about, It's about Him. Christ is the
mystery 63-0728 P:120 Look, Christ in you makes Him the center of Life of the
revelation. See? 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..
Let's pray