Christ
is the Mystery no. 21
The
Image of the Invisible God
Attributes
of Christ
August 19,
2012
Brian
Kocourek
This morning we will
continue with brother Branham’s sermon “Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed”
and we are going to do a lot of reading, so hang onto your thinking caps,
because I want you to see one central theme brother Branham is getting to in
this Message and he begins to bring it forth in the next dozen paragraphs. So
without further ado, let’s begin reading.
58
Therefore, the entire Bible is the
revelation of God's mystery in Christ. Huh? The entire Bible is an expression of one goal that God had,
one purpose He wanted to achieve in the entire Bible, and all the acts of the believers in the Bible has been in type and
expressing what God's great goal is. And now in this last day He has revealed it and shows it. And God's help,
we'll see it right here this morning: what the Lord has had in His mind all
along and has expressed it. Therefore, you can see the great meaning of what
it's been to know this and then try to bring it to the people. See? And then
you don't... I haven't went into details and tried to explain it as God has revealed it to me.
59
Now, if you want to mark this down... I've got so many places I want to read
from. And now, in the Book of St.
Luke, the 24th chapter of St. Luke, we find out it's the two of the apostles
on the road to Emmaus. And Jesus stepped out after His resurrection, and they were
on their road over to Emmaus, going along the road thinking and talking and
weeping on account of His death, and how they seen Him suffer for what they
thought was no value at all. They took their Lord and crucified Him. And they
were going along there weeping, and He stepped out from the roadside and begin to talk to them about Christ. He
said, "Oh, fools and slow to understand. Don't you
know that all the prophets and the Psalms...?" See? What was He
doing?--identifying Himself to these apostles that all of the prophets, and all of the Psalms, and everything was Him
expressed. See?
Now, look, what brother
Branham is telling is here is that all the prophets reflected or echoed Christ.
All the psalms reflected or echoed Christ.
Now, that is exactly what the Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the
Hebrews. So
let’s open our Bibles this morning to Hebrews chapter 11 to see what Paul has
to tell us about Christ who is the theme of every believer throughout the
Bible.
Hebrews 11:1 Now
faith (Revelation, remember brother
Branham taught us in the Rapture sermon that Faith is a revelation, something
that has been revealed. So let’s read this) Now, Revelation is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
So Revelation is a substance, right? Is that not what he said here? Revelation is a
substance. Well, what substance? I mean what does this word substance mean? Well, this word substance was
translated from the Greek word “hupostasis” and did you know that this word “Hupostasis”
has two main definitions? One of them means confidence. So faith is the
confidence. Hmmm! That’s nice but confidence in what? Or shall we say in whom?
And that takes us to the other definition which is “person”.
Faith is the “person”.
Revelation is the “person”, because the word confidence tells us that
our confidence is not in things, it is in a person.
We
are not to have confidence in creation, but in the creator. So Faith, Revelation is
the substance, it is the person of things hoped for. It is also the evidence of
things not seen.
What
things not seen? The person, God which no man can see and live. Now, listen…
I’m not up here doing scriptural gymnastics. That word “hupostasis” means person. And our
Faith is in One person, and that is God.
This
same Apostle who wrote this book of Hebrews also wrote the Book of Ephesians,
where he said in Ephesians 4:4 There
is one body, and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in one
hope of your calling; Notice, One Body, One Spirit and One
Faith, and one hope of our calling. We should be one. One in thought, one in
heart, and one in Doctrine. That’s why I just can’t understand all this
divisiveness in the churches today.
Brother
Branham said in his sermon, Satan’s Eden 65-0829
56 “There you are. Man mustn't establish their-self. We find it amongst... Let God do
something for a person, send him out, you find every man trying to impersonate
it. See, they're trying to establish
themselves. Every man, "I did
this, me, I, mine, my denomination, me this," establish themselves. What are we preaching about, ourselves,
or the
You know we hear more about peoples
churches than we hear about Jesus Christ anymore. Notice brother Branham’s
words, he said men are always trying to
establish themselves or their churches. "I did this, me,
I, mine, my denomination, me this," establish themselves. What are we preaching about, ourselves,
or the
And from his sermon, QA Image of the
beast 54-0515 P:70 he said, “Them was little,
organized powers, "My church. My church. My church. My church."But the true believer says nothing of that;
it's, "My Christ. My Christ. My
Christ." That's the difference. How do you know? The Holy Ghost bears
witness with signs and wonders.
Oh
Oh, better not get into that preacher, well, did he say it or not? Jesus
himself said, “You
have not because you ask not. Ask abundantly that your joy might be filled.”
But
he said, people talk more about their church than they talk about Jesus Christ,
but notice he also said the Bride don’t talk about her church, she talks about
Christ. You know people think more of their churches today than
they think about Christ. And yet they think they have the Holy Spirit because
they all think alike. But that ain’t the Holy Spirit they have, it’s just a
church spirit that get’s on them and then they think they have the Holy Spirit
because they have the same spirit as everyone else in that church.
Did you know that brother
Branham said in his sermon, Seed not heir with shuck 65-0218 P:42 He
said, Notice, see how close it
looks. Matthew 24:24, said that the two spirits in the last
days, the church spirit of the church
people and the Bride Spirit of the Bride people, would be so close
together till it would deceive the very elected if it was possible. That's how
close.
Did you know brother Branham
said the evidence you have a church spirit and not the Holy Spirit is? He said
it is when all you think about is your church. From his sermon, If
God be with us 61-1231E P:49 He
said, “Many person has been
deceived in receiving the Holy Ghost; as I said, they've got doctrines today like Elijah's garments,
and all these other things, manifested Sons of God, and all these different
isms, and so forth, in the world today. People fall blindly on there, and go
through some kind of a sensation, raise
back up with a arrogant spirit, indifferent, fussy, high-tempered. That's not
the Spirit of God. Still continue
right on out of order, don't know what church order is, don't know how to
behave themself in the house of God, no manners, no, just no audacity at all,
no--no feelings towards God, all they
think about is "my church." It shows they received a church spirit, and not the Spirit of God,
'cause It knocks all that out of you,
burns it up. Sure. See, they say, "Where is He?" That's...
"We got a right to..."
God identifying Himself 64-0320 P:9 The Spirit of God can be identified by Its
characteristic. See the Spirit of God,
and the spirit of the church... There's a church spirit. And the Spirit of God that's absolutely not
like the church spirit at all.
You must be born again 61-1231M P:83 People of today take all kinds of spirits.
They go up and take a church spirit;
they even take spirits that call
themselves God's spirits, born again, and deny the Word of God being true.
Could you imagine the Spirit of God denying His Own Word? To you Catholic
people, Roman Catholic, I mean, could you actually say that you are born of the
Spirit of God, and take those dogmas which is contrary to the Bible, and deny
the Word of God, and say that the Spirit of God's in you, the Spirit that wrote
this Bible would deny It? That would be me telling something and standing up
and lying against it: God saying something, then turn around and lie about it,
when the Bible said, "It's impossible for God to lie, 'cause He's the very
Fountain of all Truth."
And yet they do it all over
this Message and still claim to be the bride of Christ. One man has a website
that is called “believe the sign” yet he says he doesn’t believe William
Branham is even a prophet much less the prophet of Malachi 4. He says he had a
healing ministry, but denies vindication. Shame on him for claiming to follow
this Message for 35 years. Brother, sisters, there is a great falling away from
The Faith that is taking place all over this world, and in every camp who
claims the shingle of Malachi 4. Brother Branham warned us that in every
congregation there are three kind of believers. I would say most people
following the Message today are not born again, and have only a mental faith in
what God has did in this hour, but no real dynamics to go with their mechanics.
From his sermon, Blasphemous names 62-1104M P:53 Brother Branham
said, Patience, and so forth, there's a mockery
of it, a pretending to be, a nature given faith, a nature given virtue. There's
a nature given temperance. And all these things are nature given. And the biggest part of our faith is mental
faith. By hearing the Word it brings us to a mental recognition of God. But if this coming from above, oh, brother, if
it ever strikes this, there is a godly, spiritual faith. Then what does that faith do? That faith recognizes only the Word. No
matter what anything else says, it
only recognizes the Word, because "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. (And the Word's still God.) And the Word was made flesh and dwelled
among us.” And when the word Itself is pouring into our faith, our mental faith
becomes a spiritual revelation. "And upon this foundation I'll build My Church,” (See?), not upon a mental conception of church
joining, a mental conception of that, but upon the revelation. When them streams of grace has poured into
that mental faith that you've got, then upon this, a spiritual revelation,
"I'll build My Church and the
gates of hell can't prevail against it.” See? That shows they would be against it,
but it'll never prevail. Oh, what a glorious thing.
And the Apostle Paul said in, Ephesians 4:5 There’s
One Lord, He never said two Lords, He said One Lord, and even
after brother Vayle said it he came back and corrected it and said in his
sermon, 1/10267Godhead: pp:58 You know,
people don't understand about two lords. Well I'm going to
tell you about two lords. Two Lords is actually a fallacy. It
shouldn't be in the Bible; but it's there, so we use it. You see, the
English people took the translation according to the English with the lords
and the ladies and the high mucky-mucks and the brass and the so on. The actual
translation of Ps 110:1 is "Elohim" (or Jehovah) "said
to my lord," (or the one in authority
over me) "sit on my right hand." And it should be translated as Jehovah. It should not
be called lord. It could be called God. "God said to the beloved
servant," "God said to our Jesus, the elder brother." That's why It
says in Ephesians, "one lord." But people, they can't think for themselves. They just don't know,
when the word... "Oh, Vayle's preaching two Gods." You
know, Paul said, "Stupidity only requires one answer-stay stupid."
That's Lee Vayle. Paul said "ignorant."
Ok,
so he said people can’t think for themselves, so when he said it that first
time, I was sitting there and I said to myself, “ Oh, brother, now the battle
is going to rage.” And it did. He gave them exactly what they wanted to hear so
off they went and said Lee Vayle said there is two Gods, but he didn’t say two
God’s he said of course there are two lords, there are millions of them if
every man is the lord of his wife. But even among those who followed brother
Vayle, they still teach two lords when he said it’s a fallacy. But then he said
they couldn’t think for themselves, and they are proving it still.
But
Paul said, Ephesians
4:5 There’s
One Lord, and he also
said, in Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If
any man preach any other gospel unto you than
that ye have received, let him be accursed.
So
you either say it like Paul said it or stand under the curse.
And
if he said Ephesians
4:5 There’s
One Lord, one faith, one
baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.
And
if he said, there is one Faith and One Lord it is because that Faith is the
Faith of that One Lord.
And so in getting back to what Paul said
in Hebrews 11, let’s
pick up at verse 2 For by it (By what? By Faith, By Revelation) the elders obtained
a good report. And so if they obtained a good report by the revelation
that they held, then won’t that same revelation of that same Lord bring a good
report concerning you?
Now, let’s look closer at
this Faith or revelation that Paul is speaking of here, which revelation we
understand is in the person of Christ. 3 Through faith (he says, through revelation) we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do
appear. So here we find the source of our revelation which source is
in God. Revelation comes from God. Jesus said to Peter, You are blessed peter
for flesh and blood never revealed that to you, but My Father revealed it to
you that I am the Christ the Son of God”.
And so we read on, 4 By
faith(by Revelation of the slain lamb
before the foundations of the world) Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by which he obtained witness that he was righteous (or rightly wise), God testifying of
his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
And
I want you to understand one thing. God reveals His Word by bringing it to
pass. Now, God had in his mind before the world was even framed that His First
born son would become the bleeding dying lamb. Is that not what the Scripture
teaches?
Revelation 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are
not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world.
So
that lamb was slain in the mind of God before the foundations of the world. And
at that same time God predestined you and I to the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
Now,
notice that while he was predestinating us to the adoption of children he was
at that very same time before the foundations of the world predestinating his
first born son to die for us. Did you ever stop to ask yourself why? Because
according to the law of adoption when the first born son reaches that age where
he is always about his fathers business and has the mind of his father, then
the father takes him up to a high place and before witnesses adopts that first
born son who then becomes co equal with his father in owner ship, authority and
responsibility. Then after the father dies the rest of the children receive the
other 50% to be split between them. But we have a father who is the only
immortal King and can not die, so when he was predestinating you to the
adoption of sons, he was also planning a way that we could become joint heirs. And when Jesus Christ the firstborn son died,
his 50% became open for the rest of his brethren to inherit, and when he came
back from the dead, we become “joint heir with Christ.”
Oh,
isn’t God’s plan lovely. Always thinking of his children. And so we see that when
Jesus told the Apostle about his death, and Jesus said for this purpose have I
come into this world. So he knew God’s revelation, and he took it for his own,
and he became the bleeding dying lamb of God.
And
when Paul said, 4 By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he
obtained witness that he was righteous, then we are told, God testifying of
his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. So what does that
mean? It means that God acknowledged that his Faith, His revelation was God’s
revelation, and what happened to Abel? He became his revelation. He offered the
bleeding dying lamb, and he became the bleeding dying lamb. And how did Able
receive this revelation? When his parents told him about how God through the skins
of a bleeding dying lamb to cover them.
Can’t
you see how that God interprets his word by bringing it to pass? And Abel
became his revelation, and thus God testified of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet
speaketh.
Now, verse 5 By faith (by Revelation) Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was
not found, because God had translated
him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Now, how do you get a testimony that
pleases God.
2 Peter 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour
and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my
beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he
shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily
shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art
my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
So we see Enoch had the
testimony of son-ship, that God was pleased with him and the way he lived his
life reflecting, echoing back the words of God, and God being pleased with him
took him up in a rapture. And it says by faith or by revelation God translated
Enoch, because his life, his walk with God
pleased God.
And we are told in Colossians 3:20 That this is the first commandment
with a promise. And this is the commandment for all children is they so wish to
please their father. Children, obey your parents in all things:
for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
And God promised us in 1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
And again in Colossians 1:10 That ye
might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, or unto a life that is
pleasing in all things you do, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God;
Hebrews 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget
not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
But Paul also adds, you
can’t please both God and man. Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I
seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ.
Again Paul exhorts us in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren,
and exhort you by the Lord Jesus,
that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
So we see our pleasing God
doesn’t come via how much we can talk the talk, but rather it comes via our
walk.
And it is not our walking
with each other but with him where he is pleased.
Galatians 1:10 For
do I now persuade men, or God? or do I
seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant
of Christ. and so if we are willing to compromise our integrity
and honesty before God to have favor with man, then we are not fit to be his
disciple and walk with him.
In fact if we
are not willing to die to self we can not please Him. For Paul said in KJV
Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind
the things of the flesh. Now as I
mentioned a few weeks ago, when you see this word flesh, do not think of it as
this body, but rather as the attitude of self; So I want you to cross out that
word flesh in your bible and insert the word self, and then we can read this
properly. 8:5 For they
that are after the self do mind the things of the self. but they that are after
the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be self minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the self centered
mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither
indeed can be. 8 So then they that are into self cannot please God. 9 But ye
are not into self, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if
Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness. 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 self, ye shall live. 14 For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit (God’s Spirit) itself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Now, there is a fairly new translation of the Bible called The MESSAGE and
I would like to read from it for a moment here. Romans
8:5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own
end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to
exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that
God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these
matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a
spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God.
Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about
self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God
isn't pleased at being ignored. 9-11But if God himself has taken up residence
in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone,
of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the
Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome
him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of
sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't
it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into
your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you
alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as
he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living
in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's! 12-14So don't you see that we
don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for
us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on
with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to
go! 15-17This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid,
grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a child
like "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and
confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father
and children.
And so Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:6 But without faith (without Revelation, and not just any revelation will
do but without the revelation of the son of God, the same revelation he had) it is impossible to
please God: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Masterpiece
the 64-0705 P:40 The foundation of faith was Abraham. The
foundation of love was Isaac. The foundation of grace was Jacob (God's grace to
Jacob. Anyone knows that). But in Joseph was perfection.
In brother Branham’s sermon he said, Blushing
prophet 56-1125E P:5 Now,
And I would like to add, In Abraham and Isaac he was Jehovah jireh “The
Lord will provide a sacrifice” In Samson, God showed Himself to be
as the Lord our Strength, and in Jepthah, and Gideon, He was. Jehovah nissi “The
Lord our Banner of protection” In Elijah, and Elisha he was Jehovah rapha “The
Lord our Healer”, And in Solomon, He was Jehovah shalom “The Lord our Peace”,
In David, he was Jehovah
raah “The Lord our Shepherd” And with Moses, he was Jehovah shammah
“The Lord is Present”
In Genesis, He’s The self existent one He’s the breath of life,
the Great Father, the Great Justifier who clothes our shame, the God Who
provides, the God of Love, the Great protector,
The all powerful God, the all knowing God, The Giver of promises, The
King of Peace and the Great High Priest, Prophet and Judge.
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb, the Great
Protector, Our Guide: Tthe Pillar of Fire by night and the Cloud by day to
direct our way. He’s the Great I AM, and the Jealous God, He’s the God of
Holiness, and the great Sanctifier,
In Leviticus, He’s our high priest
In Numbers, He’s our Judge
Deuteronomy, He’s
In Joshua, He’s our salvation’s, He’s the God of the universe
In Judges, He’s Israel’s Guard, strength and protector
In Ruth, He’s our kinsmen’s redeemer, our Lover and friend
1st and 2nd Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles He is our Sovereign
In Ezra, He’s the true and faithful scribe
In Nehemiah, He’s the re-builder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He’s the God of courage and
the faithful God
In Job, He’s our timeless redeemer, our comforter, The
confident god, our God of peace and rest
In Psalms He’s our Shepherd, our morning song, and our all in all
In Proverbs, He’s our wisdom
Ecclesiastes, He is the time and season
In Song of Solomon, He is the lover’s dream
In Isaiah He is Prince of Peace
In Jeremiah, He’s the weeping prophet
Lamentations, He’s the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He’s the call from sin
Daniel, He’s the stranger in the fire
Hosea, He’s forever faithful
Joel, He’s the spirit’s power
Amos, He’s the strong-arms that carry
Obadiah, He’s the Lord our Savior
Jonah, He’s the great missionary
Micah, He’s the promise of peace
Nahum, He’s our strength and shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He’s our revival
In Haggai He restores that which was lost
In Zachariah, He’s our fountain
And in Malachi, He’s the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings
And
that’s just the Old Testament
In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God incarnate
in His Son and Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is the reigning fire from Heaven
In Romans, He is the grace of God
Corinthians, He’s the power of love
Galatians, He’s freedom from the curse of sin
Ephesians, He’s the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He’s our God and
Father , He’s the God of wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Himself,
he’s The great planner, and He’s the God
of Purpose and family.
Philippians, He’s the servant’s heart
Colossians, He’s God the eternal Spirit
In Thessalonians, He’s our calling King, our Lord, and the One who comes down
with a Message, a resurrection and a catching away.
In Timothy, Titus and Philemon, He’s our mediator and our faithful pastor, He’s
the only Immortal King, and He’s the Great author and finisher.
In Hebrews, He’s the everlasting courage, and the God of True Faith
In James, He’s the one who heals the sick, and the Impartial Judge
In 1st and 2nd Peter, He’s our faithful shepherd and the morning star
In John and Jude, He’s the lover of our soul.
And in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus
Christ, He is and will always be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Prince
of Peace, and son of Man, Lamb of God, The Great I am, Alpha and Omega, God and
Savior He is our all in all.