Christ
is the Mystery no. 32
Image
of the Invisible God no. 12
God
is the Mystery
October 17,
2012
Brian
Kocourek
This evening we will continue with Br. Branham’s
message “Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed”
and this will be number 32 in our series. Tonight I would like to pick up at
paragraph 66 and 67 so let me just read from these two paragraphs for our text
tonight.
66 He is the principal Theme of the entire
Bible. If you read the Bible and
don't see Christ in every verse of It, go back and read It again. See?
If you can't see Christ in every verse of the Bible, then you read It again,
because you've missed something. The
Bible is Christ. He is the Word.
Now, before we go any further I want to just hone in a
little bit on what he is saying here. He says that Christ is the central theme
of the Bible, so we need to ask ourselves who is this Christ that He is
speaking about, because we know the Word Christ can actually speak of the
anointer, the anointed or the anointing.
In this case he is speaking of God. As one of my most
memorable things Brother Vayle taught me was to get my eyes off the vessel and get
them on the one using the vessel. Now, if we listen to what brother Branham is
saying, he tells us here that Christ is the
principal Theme of the entire Bible. Then he says, If
you read the Bible and don't see Christ in every : of It, go back and read It
again. And then he adds
The Bible is Christ. And
finally he gives us a clue to who he is talking about when he says, He is the Word.
Now, we know according to John 1:1 that God is the
Word. So the Christ He is referring to here is God. God the anointer. God the
one who anoints. Then brother Branham continues giving us a more declarative
understanding when he says, …
“When
you read, "In
the beginning God created..." there's Christ. See?”
So we see here that this Sermon “Christ
is the Mystery of God” Revealed” is going to speak of how God
reveals Himself, and how this Revealing is a Mystery. How actually the Mystery
is God and the revealing of God is through the Christ, the anointer anointing
the anointed.
Now, for understanding sake, let’s read this sermon
title a bit slower so we can understand the theme of this Message.
It is, “Christ”,
that’s the object of this sentence, “Christ”.
And he is telling us that This “Christ”,
is the revealing of the mystery of God. Or maybe I can say it this way, He is
telling us that God is a mystery, and that mystery is revealed in “Christ”. So Christ is the Revealing of God who
is a mystery otherwise.
Now, remember, we are supposed to get our eyes off the
vessel, because it is not the vessel that is the mystery, but it is God that is
the mystery. God is the mystery but it is His Christ, His anointing the vessel
that reveals who He is and what He is all about.
Now, let’s just look at some Scriptures that show us that it is God who
is the mystery.
Revelation 10:7 But
in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished,
as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Now, this Scripture
tells us that this mystery of God will be opened up to us, and revealed during
the days of the Voice of the Seventh angel. I believe that is what this sermon
of Brother Branham’s was all about, to fulfill that promise from God.
Now, this mystery of God is comprised of several things as the Apostle
Paul speaks to us in 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness (Notice God-likeness, that means the visible image of
the invisible God.) God was manifest in
the flesh,(Notice that God Himself was manifested in and through the vessel) justified
(or proven) in the Spirit, (the invisible image of
the invisible God was) seen of angels, (and the visible image of the
invisible God was) preached unto the Gentiles, (and through the
invisible image of the invisible God was) believed on in the world, (and this one who
manifested in his Body the very image of the invisible God was) received up into
glory.
Colossians 2:2 That
their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of
Christ; Notice the
acknowledgement of the mystery is 1) God 2) Father 3) Christ.
Ephesians 3:9 And
to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by
Jesus Christ:
Notice this mystery has been hid in God. Notice in Deuteronomy 29:29 we read, The
secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but
those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
So as long as it remained in God it remained secret and was hidden from
knowledge or view, that secret remained mystery. But once it has been revealed,
it is not longer a mystery, but the knowledge is known and the thing is no
longer hidden.
In 1 Corinthians 4:1 Paul speaks of
us as being stewards of the mysteries of God. “Let
a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.”
And again in 1 Corinthians 2:7 Paul
tell us But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory: And notice he also tells us that God ordained for us
to understand this mystery of God which was withheld from the world, but was
ordained to be revealed to us for our glory. For us to receive the very mind of
God, his Doxa, his values and His opinions.
That is why we hear Jesus say in Luke 8:10 “And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries
of the
And again he also said in Mark 4:11 “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of
the
So we see that it is given to us, but not to
others, and the reason for that is to bring us to glory, which is God’s values,
His opinions, in fact the very mind of Christ to be in us.
In fact Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2 that the very reason
we are able to hear and to know the hidden and deep things of God is because we
receive His Spirit in order for us to understand the things of God.
1
Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom,
which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 8 Which
none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of
man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit
of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of
the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also
we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself
is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
And so by anointing our vessel with his Holy Spirit,
He (God) reveals Himself. That is why brother Branham said earlier on in
paragraph “Christ is the principal Theme of the entire
Bible. If you read the
Bible and don't see Christ in every : of It, go back and read It again.
The Bible is Christ. He is
the Word.
In 1 John 2:27 we read, But
the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not
that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things,
and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in
him.
2
Corinthians 1:21 Now he which establishes us with you in
Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; So
Paul here is letting us know that it is God who is the anointer who anoints.
In fact we see that even Jesus Himself had to be anointed by God for his
service to his brethren. Acts 10:38 How
God anointed Jesus of
And we find Jesus reading a prophecy about him in Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised,
“Every...
From that to the "Amen" in Revelations is
every Word testifying of Jesus Christ. That's why these added books that's
called II Book of Daniel and the Book of the Maccabees, Agges Purgatory, and
stuff like that... See, it's not spoke of in the Scripture. See? It doesn't theme up with the rest of It.
There's no place to place purgatory in there. There's no place to place
intercession of saints, and things; there's no place in there for that. There's
no place for denomination. There's no place for creeds outside of the Bible.
See? So when you see those things, they just don't come into the picture.
Now, let’s read from paragraph 67 And that's why people has added those and got
their jigsaw puzzle all mixed up. See? They can't make it right "same yesterday, today, and forever." But if the
thing's put together right, there's the entire picture of the fall and
regeneration, the whole picture of creation, and God's whole plan revealed
right in Jesus Christ. Amen. That's the whole picture set together,
every little crook and corner. It's just like... Now, I don't mean to be
sacrilegious by this, but it's just like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
That's why we've got pictures today that looks horrible: say, "We are believers," and a cow
picking grass up in top of a tree. It don't work. That's when they say, "Yeah, He's every
way, but just of a certain... He's the same yesterday, today, and forever all
but a certain thing." See? Then you
ruin your picture. The Bible said He is the same.
So if God who is the anointer is the same yesterday,
before he anointed, and today when he anointed His Son, then he must always be the
same in every vessel that He anoints forever. Then the mystery of God is no
longer a mystery when we see God in the prophets, and we see God in His Son and
we see God in his children.
Then the mystery is revealed in the vessels because
the same nature, the same words, the same thoughts the same actions and the
same works are manifested in the different vessels and although each vessel is
unique on it’s own, yet within each vessel is the same nature, the same
character, the same attributes that declare God-Life, Eternal Zoe.
And that brings us to the
next paragraph in brother Branham’s sermon, paragraph no. 68 where brother Branham says,
Then what is the theme? It is God in you
as he was in Christ, “God-Christ, the anointer in you anointing you to Glory”.
Oh, brother, there it is, right there. The principle
theme of this entire Bible is God in you as He was in Christ. Then what if you
make the he in John 14:12 for just one man?
Then that tells me the promise is not for you. You
have educated yourself right out of God’s plan by your own theology. Notice as
brother Branham has been saying all along in this sermon, God was in the
prophets, God was in His Son and now God is in his church, his people, his
children. That’s the principle or main theme all the way through the Bible.
Notice what he says in the very next paragraph.
69
Now, you realize that any of these places here you could take a text, and it's
just hard for a preacher to hold his peace. He look like he want to keep going
with it, but you got to get back to what we're teaching on. He is the principle theme of the Bible.
He was in the prophets; He was in the Psalms; He was in
the history of the Bible. The Bible is a prophetic Book; It's a historical
Book; It's a Book of love. It's a Book of songs; It's a Book of Life, and in there you find Christ. He was in the prophets; He was in the Psalms; He was in the history; and He also in the Bible is the things that
is to come. So He was before and for after. What does that make Him
then? The same yesterday, today, and forever.
70
And, you inject something in there that
doesn't make Him the same yesterday, today, and forever, Brother Lee, where do you go to? You got an awful
picture there. For He was the history (See?), and He is the Prophet; He is
the Psalms; He is everything. And if you can't make Him everything and the
same, what's your picture look like? Do you see it? All right.
71
He is the same. He was the prophets;
He was in them; He was in the
Psalms; He was in the history; and He is the things to come, the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrew
13:8, if you're writing it down). He should be then... He should be the principal... If that's
what He is, and we believe it, don't we? Then if He is that, then He should be the principal Theme of our
talking, of our thinking, of our singing, of our walks; He should be the
principal Theme of our life. If He's
the principal Theme of the Bible, and the Bible is in us, then He should
be the principal Theme of everything that we do, say, or think,
should be Christ. Is that right? All right.
72
Since we think this, since He's been made the Head of all things to us... The Colossians
said so here. He's
the Head of all things to us for He was made for us, which we are considered all things.
You say, "What about the sinner?" He was made to be the Judge of the
sinner, if he don't accept it. He was
made the Glory for the believer who does accept it. So All things was made
by Him and for Him. And it takes the night to express the glory of the day. It
takes the vessel of dishonor to express the love and care for the vessel of the
honored. It takes an evil woman that would wear immoral clothes and sell her
morals to express the virtue of a decent genuine lady. See? It takes the crook
and a thief in a man to express the genuineness of a real believer, a real
Christian. It takes the hypocrite to show up the believer, what he is.
73
So all things was made by Him. And since He was made--all things--made for all
of us; all things was made for--by Him, then since that is true, we should make--our
identification should be with Him. We
should be identified, ourselves, with Him, because He has identified Himself
with us. We should be identified with Him. How? By living for Him, not just a confession. So many people take a
confession and say... I say... It's got to this place now: "Are you a
Christian?" "I'm Methodist." Well, that's a long way from making
yourself known as a Christian. Now, look what the Methodist does. "I'm
Baptist." Look what the Baptist does. "I'm Catholic." Look what
they do. See?
Oh, My, and have we come to the place when we are asked if we are a
Christian, we say, I am of Paul, I am of Cephas, and did not Paul say, aren’t
you carnal? Has the message come down to the place where we have to identify
with certain personality over other personalities in order to consider
ourselves in the bride of Jesus Christ?
I hope we haven’t sunk that far. May God have mercy on us if we have.
Let us pray…