Christ is the Mystery no 195
Christian Life no 2 - review no 18
Brian Kocourek, pastor
Christ is the Mystery no 120 Christian Life No 1
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that
are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and
godliness,
In his
sermon, Token the 63-1128E P:59 Brother Branham said, "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. It's the Holy Ghost, is a Token upon you, that your life says "amen" to every
Scripture.
So notice he is telling us the Holy
Ghost on display in you, is not a system, it is not a church member, but it is
a power, a resurrected power. So if it is resurrected then it is the same power
that was in the one who lived and died, and was resurrected. And he said the
Holy Ghost is a token, it is an evidence that your
life says "amen" to every scripture.
So he is not talking about a theology
here. He is not talking about a mental recognition here. He is talking way
beyond just your brain power. He is talking a resurrection power in your life,
showing in your Life that you say "amen" to every Scripture.
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin; (does not
initiate sin) for his
seed (Gods
seed) remains in him:
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Now, listen, it says you not only will
not initiate sin, but if that Life living out of you, then God Life in you can
not sin.
Future home 64-0802 P:58 See, the heart has to be cleansed like that. Before God can come
down in the Person of the Holy Ghost, which is Christ coming down and dwell in
the human heart, it first must be repented. It must be baptized in water in His
Name to show Who it belongs to. Then it must be cleansed
by the Blood of Jesus. And then the holy fire and Holy Ghost from God comes
down and burns out all the desire of sin, all the nature of the world. And
therefore, he that sins willfully after receiving the knowledge of the
Truth...Then again the Bible said it's impossible, for a man that's born of God
cannot sin; he does not sin. There's no way for him to sin. How can he be a
sinner and a redeemed at the same time? How can I be in the pawn shop and out
of the pawn shop at the same time? See? Oh, He redeemed us by His Blood; by His
Spirit He cleansed us, and then comes to dwell in us, the Church, not the
denomination now, the Church.
So how can a man be "the righteousness of God" and be "a
tool of the devil" at the same time. Just because you say you are the righteousness of God doesn't mean that you
are. Brothers, hiding behind the banner of the Message, stealing from brothers,
or committing adultery after the prophet said don't do it again. telling lies against
brothers, pulling deals on brothers, and yet calling themselves "the very righteousness of God".
Brother Branham said, just
because you say it doesn't make it so. I don't think you can do
those things, and believe the Supreme Judge is here, and that we are standing
before the white throne now. And yet a vindicated prophet told us He is.
In
fact let's get down to brass tacks for a moment. We are supposed to be conformed to the image of the first born son if we
think we are going in a rapture, and yet you and I both have seen right in this
Message, men and women who not only have broken "every one of the
ten commandments" but who habitually break them, and then claim brother
Branham was referring to them when he spoke of "the Bride is the righteousness of God" They
claim he's speaking of them because they claim to be bride. But just
because they say it, doesn't make it so. Well I have new for
you, The Jesus said, Matthew
Even the Catholic church
claims to be the Bride of Christ, and look at all the schemes she's pulled
throughout her history. Every vice known to man has been committed in her. Adultery
and fornication, The murder of 68 million people
during the inquisition, and even pedophilia is rampant in the
Brother
Branham said in his sermon, God of this Evil Age
65-0801M P:89 said "The real true Christian" ... "Doesn't
belong to any denomination, any party, any sect, It belongs to Christ. It's His
Wife, not a church wife; she's a prostitute. The Bible said she was
a whore and the mother of harlots, and they all come together to make the same
whore. And that kind of a woman is a woman that's untrue to her husband, and
claiming Christ as her husband and belonging to a denomination. Such nonsense. You belong to Christ.
Now, when he says "you
belong to Christ" he's not talking about you, if you are an
almost Christian. The almost Christian has not died to self yet, and has not
made a total commitment to Christ. No, those people are not bride. They are
just church people, make-believers, and he
wasn't talking about them! He was talking about those believers who do what is right
are those who are righteous.
And that is exactly what the apostle
John said in 1 John 3:7
"Little
children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he (God) is righteous."
Therefore, for those who need a
principles or formula to understand this let me put it to you this way. The principle of righteousness is this. Doing
what is righteous = being righteous.
Therefore if you do not what is
righteous, how can you say you are righteous. And
righteous means rightly wise. Therefore if you do not what is right how can you say you are rightly wise. You are an intellectual imposter,
period.
The Scripture also tells us. "Fools will walk with hobnailed shoes where
angels fear to trod."
From his sermon, Thy house 61-0808 P:47 Brother Branham said, "Now, I don't believe just because you
say in your mind you believe. I believe your life tells whether you're
really a Christian or not. "
And from his sermon, QA on Genesis COD 53-0729 P:76 He said, "Brother Branham, what do you think about
Pentecostals?" And I said, "That's the reason I'm dealing with them.
That's the reason I'm fooling with them; they got something that you haven't
got." I said, "With their fanaticism and everything, they got a truth
that you know nothing about." I was talking to one of the greatest men in
And from his sermon called, Birth pains 65-0124 P:27 he
said, "We know
the old seed must, before the new seed can come out of the old seed, it must
rot, absolutely, not die only, but rot after it's dead. We know
that to be true. That's the same thing in new birth. We never go
back, but we go forward when you're born again. And that's why I think today
we have not so many genuine new births, is because the seed maybe will
sympathize with the Word or the person, but they don't want to rot away from
the old system that they were in. They don't want to come out of it. They want
to stay in the old system and claim the new birth or the message of the age. We
found that under the Luther, Wesley, Pentecostals, and all other ages. They
still try to hold on to the old system and claim this, but the old system age
must die, rot, in order to bring forth the new one. They still want to cling. Notice,
they know the old system is dead, but they just don't want to rot out of it.
Now, rot is when it's really done away with.
And
that led us to Christ is the
Mystery no 121 Christian Life No 2
Manifested Life
We took our text from Mark
People think, "praise God, I'm in the Message",
that makes me a believer. Or I went fishing and hunting with brother Branham or
I hung out with br. Lee Vayle and therefore I will make it based upon my
association with someone who will make it.
That kind of thinking is so scripturally unsound and
even juvenile. It is so far from the truth. What is truth is that the light
that this Message will most certainly expose you if you are a rat, and if you
are an adulterer it will cause that life in you to blossom into adultery for
certain. For under the light, every seed will manifest the nature that is in
their seed. And the more light the faster the manifestation of the seed life
will take place.
Brother
Branham said in his sermon, Explaining healing and
Jairus 54-0216 P:37 What you are here is a reflection of what you are
somewhere else. "Those who He called,
He justifies." Is that right? "Those who He justified, He has glorified." Already in the Presence of the Father, we have a
glorified body. Whew! Wasn't that deep? All right.
We'll find out whether it's right or not. "If
this earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we have one already waiting." Is that right? That's right. So right now, and what
we are here, is a reflection of what we are somewhere else. So if
your deeds are evil, you know where it comes from. You know where your other
body's a waiting.
So
those who say, we do not need to do the works of Christ because brother Branham
did them and we are counting on that, so they eat drink and be merry and say
there will be no judgment for the deeds done in my flesh, when God says
contrary to that.
Jesus
said in Matthew
And
the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:8b and every man shall receive his own reward according to his
own labor.
Revelation
So
no work will produce no reward, and evil works will
bring evil rewards, and righteous works will bring forth a righteous reward
which is righteousness.
And
remember, there will be no thieves, nor any adulterers nor any sodomites that will
enter into heaven.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the
In 1 John 1:1 we read, "That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked
upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; Notice here that the Word is called "the Word of Life." So John here is talking about the Word and notice
how he describes the Word. He calls it the Word of Life, for so it is.
Jesus in the
parables told us the Word was a seed and if it is a seed, then it contains
Life, for that is the sole purpose of a seed is to contain life. And therefore
if it is the Word of God, then the Life it contains is God-Life that lays in that seed.
Now, notice
what John says next, verse 2 For the life was manifested, Notice those words, The Life was manifested, and we have seen it and" He says "and we know".
Why do we know? Because of what we see coming forth via the manifestation. In
other words the manifestation is what makes visible that which is invisible. NO
man knows what is in your heart, but when you open your mouth or act out in
your works and deeds, then they can see what is in your heart already.
For the Bible teaches us "as a man thinketh
in his heart so is he"
and "out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". In fact brother Branham goes so far as to say the mark of the beast in the forehead and
in the hand is your thoughts and then your actions.
Mark of the beast 54-0513 P:74 Now,
you see what the mark of the beast is? It's the mark of apostasy. It's a
person who is just thinks that, "Well, I belong to church, and I'm just
as good as the next fellow. Am not I belonging to this church?" And
you realize where your church organization that you're depending on, where it
come from? Do you realize the Bible said, "He that worships the beast, receives his
mark, or the letter of his name (Now, watch.) in forehead or hand." That's knowledge or deed.
That don't mean you got a big tattoo on your face. It don't
have to be that. It's not talking of the outward. It's talking of spiritual.
You watch him and see what he knows about the Scripture. Listen to
him and see where he goes to. "If any man don't
have this doctrine, there's no Light in him," the Bible said. See? See? Watch where it goes to. Watch what he does. You say,
"Well, I belong. I'm Protestant. Yes, sir. I belong to this certain
church. Yes, sir." And on Sunday you just have
about enough respect for it to come in out of the rain. He goes down, instead
of going to prayer meeting, you'll close up the church and set and watch
television. He goes out here and he drinks and carries on and acts like the
rest of the world, yet he belongs to the church. Remember, that's the
mark of sin.
And
for your information, sin is apostasy. Sin means to miss the mark. And just
because you might sit in a Message church doesn't mean you can't take on the
mark of the beast.
Look, Life itself is not visible. Life
is Spirit. Yet the very essence and nature of what Life is, the many qualities
and characteristics that make up that Life, the attributes, these are by their
very nature supposed to become expressed or manifested. A rose without it's beauty and fragrance would not be a rose.
Therefore every Life has attributes that
are visibly and materially displayed to our senses in order that we might
better understand the nature of that Life. That is why brother Branham spoke a
message called "God is
identified by His characteristics." In it, he began by showing the difference between two
birds that are both yellow but each has a different flying pattern. And the
pattern distinguishes the difference between the two birds to the careful
observer.
And John tells us in verse 2, For
the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father,
So we understand by what John is telling
us here that this Life that was manifested to us was first of all with the
Father, for He is that Great Fountain of life) and then it was manifested unto
us;
Now, the Life is in the Father before it
could come into the Son. That's John
And while it is in the Father it's still
in seed form. Therefore God could not have been fully revealed until He was
manifested through the flesh of His son. Did not Jesus say, "He that hath seen Me
hath seen the Father."
Then that which was invisible became visible,
it became manifested. What was manifested? The Life was manifested - How? John
Notice what we read in verse 18 "No man
hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared him." It is the son which declares the Father. And this word
"declare" means: "to openly show and set forth into view."
Then as it began by a seed it must also
end in seed form. The Alpha has become Omega. The Life that was manifested in
the original seed form in the beginning in the Son of God,
Must also come up through seed in the end time and come into full manifestation
as it did in the beginning.
God said in Genesis
Look throughout the history of man,
God's children were not adulterers. well you say what
about David, he killed and committed adultery. Yes, but he also repented. And
repent doesn't mean to say you are sorry. repent means
to go the other way, clean up your life,
undo your wrong as best you can. what you don't
do is say, "if he
forgave me once he will forgive me again and again." No, that just shows you arte
a heathen, and it simply shows you have taken the mark of apostasy and which is
the mark of the beast, because your actions are beast in nature, they are not
the nature of God-Life.
So we see the Original Seed, when it
came into full manifestation, it brought many sons to Life. Then if there is to
be an Omega seed Life that comes to manifestation, it will also bring forth
many sons to life.
Let me try to make this as plain as
possible. Seed by its definition is a carrier of life right? Then when seed is
planted it will mature and manifest the life that is in the seed, right?
When Jesus said, "when
you see me you see the father", he was actually saying what
Life you see manifested in this Vessel is my Father's life expressing itself in and through me.
Therefore that led us to Christ is the Mystery no 122
Christian Life No 3 His Character Not Ours.
So in 1 John 1, what was manifested? He said "the Life was manifested." What Life? The
Life of the Father that was given to the Son. Then how was the God-Life
manifested? In the body of God's Only begotten son,
that's how. And yet this same apostle John wrote in John
And so back
to 1 John 1:3 "That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus
Christ."
So we see the Word is Life, It is God-Life, and every seed must bring forth after its kind, or nature. When that Word of God, or God-Life manifests itself, it
manifests the God-Life attributes and characteristics that are in it.
And remember, the Scripture tells us "that which makes manifest is light".
So we are born with the Seed Gene of God
in us, when we come into this world. But that seed needs "light upon
it to manifest" what lays within that
seed Gene. And when the light strikes the seed the life that is in that seed by
predestination, must respond to the Light of the Word, and when
it does it quickens the Life in the Gene Seed, and it starts its journey to
becoming what it was ordained to become.
In other words, the Life in the Seed
Gene can not possibly manifest it's characteristics until it has been quickened
and once quickened it begins journey through Life and each step of the way it
manifests the nature that is in the seed to begin with.
Brother Branham said, "Nothing outside the Revealed Word can come
to life." So
in this hour how can you expect any God Life to come to manifestation outside
this Message?
Notice he told us that truly our fellowship is with the Father and it comes via the declaration that
we hear. Then without the Spoken Word we would never manifest in our true
character and without that we would never know who we are either.
When their eyes were opened 64-0416 P:20 Now, let me get this before you straight,
so that you'll understand that every son that comes to God's got to be child-trained. He's got to be tested, every son. If
you're never tested, you're not a son. And if you can't stand the chastisement
of God, then you're illegitimate, and not a child of God. You claim God's
your father; you say, "Oh, I can't get..." Well, that just shows that
God's not your father. See? You would get it. Now, notice this testing.
God tests every one of His children. All that come to Him must first be tested,
tried, proved.
Jehovah Jireh part 3 62-0707 P:50 Now Abraham, after all these wonderful
things, he was tested. After he received the blessing Abraham was tested. Now,
there's where people fail. Now, listen real close now; don't miss it.
The Bible said, that
every son that cometh to God must be chastened, chastised, whipped. And if we cannot stand the chastisement,
we become bastard children, and not the children of God. It proves that our
faith wasn't what we said it was; we haven't got what we professed to have.
Now, we're getting down in some real good Calvinism now, so we have to watch
that. Now, notice,
every son that cometh to God must be chastened, chastised, the Word whip him and cut him to pieces, knock
every creed out from under him (See?), tried, and see if he is the son of
God. Now Abraham, after he received the blessing, was then afterwards tested.
And what does God test you for? To
see if the Attributes of His character and His God -Life will manifest in you.
That is what the test is supposed to produce in you. It is supposed to produce
Him. His Life.
So what is this promise that we receive by patient
waiting? It is the proof that we have received the promise. And
what is that proof? It is His character, because that is what we
receive when we patiently wait. We wait
because we believe, and we patiently wait because we truly believe.
And our faith produces in us the
very same character it produced in all believers, from the original believer
in the promise of God which was Abraham, to Jesus Christ The royal Seed of
Abraham down through the ages to all royal seed of Abraham.
NIV Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified
through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now
stand. And we boast in the hope of the
glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we
know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put
us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
From his sermon, Identifications 63-0123, 40 Brother Branham said, "Now, Jesus gave us the Example of what we
ought to be looking at, when He reflected His Life to us through the Word,
what we should see. When we look into God's mirror, we should see
ourself identified with Him. That is a perfect Example. 41 Now, but we find
out that, as we go along through life, that our
character molds the image that we are. Each one knows that. You, as you
live, so is your character, molds you to what you are. Now, you have seen
people that you just love to be around, yet they might not exactly be in your
bracket of society. And, again, they might be of a different race, the colored,
or the brown, or the yellow. But there just something
about that character, that you just love to be in their presence. Because each person is a little dynamo of their own, and you put
out an atmosphere. 42 And then you see people that were noble people,
but yet you were always glad to get away from them. It's just they create such
an atmosphere around where you are. Nothing against them, they're nice people,
but you just don't like that atmosphere, they, they're… they're in. And their
character creates whatever they are, makes them what they are."
58 You cannot, no way, ever produce a
Character like that; only, accepting that Character in you. A church
cannot do that. A creed cannot do that. A denomination cannot do that. An
education cannot do that. It must be a Birth. It's got to be a dying out, and
let God in, by the grace of Christ, mold this type of character in you,
that you become Him, and your life and His is the same, then you are
sons and daughters of God.
In the very next paragraph brother
Branham tells us of an identifiable characteristic of that Character in you. In
other words as the Greek word is translated as the word "proof", he is going to tell us of a "proof" that His character is reflected in your life. He
says in
pp. "70 Now, with our Message, can we stand by the
looking glass of God's Word and see Christ reflect in our own lives then?"
Notice he is asking us a question, can we look into the mirror of God's Word, and see
the same character of Christ reflected in our life?
"Can we bear such, and the reproach of the Message that we're
standing for here?"
Notice he is asking the question, what character is reflecting from us when we are under
trial, or testing? Then he gives us the absolute example. he says..."Someone can say something about It, (say something about what? He's talking
about you bearing up under slander and libel, saying things against the Message
and against you. And he says, can they say something about what you
believe) and yet you just don't open your mouth and say nothing about it. He
was example, because God was reflecting His character in Him. And then if we're
sons and daughters of God, God reflects His character in us, then we become
like Him. That's my heart's desire. I think that's every believer's desire, is
to become more like Him.
So we are given an insight into the very
character of Jesus Christ when he was put to the test. You know he stood on
trial, and they ripped the beard right off his face,
and they took the whip and tore out his flesh, and yet he answered them not a
Word. He didn't give them anger for anger, or wrath for wrath. He answered them
not a word.
John 23:1 And the whole
multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse
him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the
nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is
Christ a King. 3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews?
And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. 4 Then
said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this
man. 5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry,
beginning from
Now, listen to brother Branham describe
this character that could be beaten, this character that could be and mocked,
this character that could even be sentenced to death for no other reason than
for His relationship with God His Father.
"106 Oh, no other nature could do
this. No. Cause, He was the molded perfect character of God. 107
For, it was a fallen character that all nature had. All men had a fallen
character. Even everything that was under man fell. Everything
has got a dying character. 108 And He had a living character, so He
expressed it in Christ, and He paid the price. And then because of His
obedience, He raised Him up on the third day. See? 109 And then He gives to us.
That gives to us the proof. It gives to us the assurance,
that, as long as we're in Him, we're already risen
with Him.
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing
that tribulation works patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience,
hope: 5 And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Notice now that the Apostle Paul speaks
to us how the trials we go through teach us patience, and in patience we
develop what he calls experience, and this experience gives us hope which is an
earnest expectation. Therefore if we earnestly expect, then we are not ashamed,
because it is the Love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost. The Greek word "Dokime" that was translated into the
English word "experience" is only translated once as "evidence" but three times it is translated
as the word "proof" as we see in the following
Scriptures.
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.
2 Corinthians 2:9 For to this end also did I write, that I
might know the proof of you, whether ye be
obedient in all things.
Philippians 2:22 But ye know the
proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the
gospel.
Look at the use of that word "proof" and "assurance". And look how it's tied to the
character of Christ. And that
character is our proof that we have already raised with Him. It's not being able to recite a creed
or dogma or doctrine as good as it is to know the doctrine right. But what does your nature do when you go
through the same trials he went through? Does your nature, project the same results His nature
did?
Brother Branham continues, "We won't raise
with Christ; we're already raised with Christ. That's right. We are
in Christ now. And if Christ be risen from the
dead, aren't we raised from the dead with Him? Amen. "Now we're setting together in Heavenly
places in Him."
Oh, my! That ought to make you Presbyterians shout. Uh-huh. Yeah. Certainly. Expressed images of God, molded after the
fashion of Christ, that the world can see Him in you. That's the looking
glass to look at. 110 No other nature could do it; it was fallen. And
God identified. Look. God identified Himself as a Man, and took upon Him the
form of sin. Now, well, not sin, but the form of sin, that in order that He
might take the sin of the sinner, see, and pay the penalty for it, and give
the sinner back the Life that he had before the fall. Oh, my! What love God
has expressed to us! See? .
That's what Paul said in 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.
Colossians 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye
are risen with him through the faith of the
operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are
buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness
of life.
In
closing I would like to read from 1 Peter 1: 6-8
from the Wuest Translation,
Wuest: 1 Peter 1:6-8 "In which last season you are to be
constantly rejoicing with a joy that expresses itself in a triumphant
exuberance, although for a little while at the present time if perchance there
is a need for it, you have been made sorrowful in the midst of many
different kinds of testings in order that the
approval of your faith, which faith was examined by testing for
the purpose of being approved, that the approval being much more
precious than the approval of Gold which perishes, even though that gold be
approved by fire testing, may be discovered after scrutiny to result in praise
and Glory and Honor at the time of the Revelation of Jesus
Christ."
let us pray...