Christ is the Mystery no. 43
In Christ
November 25, 2012
Brian Kocourek
This morning we will continue on with paragraph 92 of
Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed.
92
Now, notice, again. Now, what's the
threefold purpose? (1) Manifest Himself in Jesus Christ; (2) to come into the Body by Jesus Christ to have the preeminence to what? (3)
Restore back
93
God became from God and become me, to
take my sin upon Him, that He might make me Him (Amen.), back to His great purpose of sons and
daughters of God, for He is a eternal Father. That
attribute was in Him (See?), so that had to be displayed. Now, see the whole threefold purpose? See? To express Himself.
He wants to become... Now, the world is lost. Now, He has to express Himself in a Man to become a Saviour through the
reconciliation of the Blood from His cross. Now, He had to become that to die, in order to save and to bring Himself back
into the Church to have the preeminences in His Church.
94
Now, remember, it cannot and will not, and never will
be, and never has been a denomination. He
has to have the preeminences and He is the Word.
Amen. How can any creed be injected in there? It turns the church into a prostitute to take any man's words, or any
creed, or any denomination; it quickly is marked in Revelations 17
as a whore and harlots: the Roman Catholic Church being the whore and the
Protestants being the harlots. It's exactly as clear as any person could read
it. We've come through the Church Ages, and you can see that in those tapes if
you desire it. Exactly. And anything that joins itself with a creed outside of the Bible is a whore
in the sight of God. Done the same thing Eve did: got away from the Word, which is Christ. Oh, my. All
right.
Now, before we red on let me
ask you what is a creed, because to take a creed over the Word of God makes you
a prostitute in the eyes of God. So what is a creed anyhow?
1. A formal statement of religious belief; a confession
of faith. 2. A system of belief,
principles, or opinions: And that
is what I have been harping about for the past few years. I see where brothers
will take their creed above taking all the Word. And they will take one mans
opinion above the Word of God, and when you shove a square into a round hole to
make it fit your creed, you are guilty of prostituting the Word of God.
Branham said from his sermon, We Would See Jesus 62-0727 E-18 If God doesn't speak back
through His Word when we see something, then just leave it alone.
But as long as It's the Word, then I know that heavens
and earth will pass away but His Word will never fail. Therefore, I
believe the Bible to be the absolute truth of God, and it isn't to be added to
or taken away from, but just lived preached in Its simplicity, lived the way
It's wrote, and God is... If He ever was God, He's still God. And if This is His Word, and He made a promise that He cannot back
up, then He isn't God.
CHURCH
ORDER 63-1226 … you get two men, you got
two opinions. It's got to come to one final absolute, and my absolute is
the Word, the Bible.
From his sermon, Explaining The Ministry 62-0129 E-9 And let's just search
back. If that isn't Scriptural, then leave it alone. If I ever say
anything in your presence, as a doctrine or a teaching, that's not in the
Bible, forget it, because it's not right. And any angel (I don't care
how real he looks, and how inspired he is), if he speaks contrary to the Word of God,
leave him alone. He's not of God. Galatians 1:8
said, "An angel from heaven preach any other
doctrine than this is, what already taught, let him be accursed."
We don't take nothing but just what God...
Now, in getting back to Christ is the Mystery brother
Branham says in pp. 95 Now,
we see His mystery He had hid in His
mind before the foundation of the world. Now, would you just like to read a
little of this? Let's just read it. Have you got plenty of time? We'll read it.
Now, let's just all turn just for one reading anyhow to the Book of Ephesians, and let's begin at the 1st chapter of the Ephesians, to read. And now, as the Sunday school lesson goes on now,
in this threefold manifestation of
Christ, let's read. Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ by the will of God... (Now, watch,
it's not addressed to the world, but)... to the
saints which are at
96 How do you
get into Christ Jesus? by joining church? By birth. By one Spirit (I
Corinthians 12) we are all baptized into one Body. See? All
right. That's the ones he is
talking to there; that ain't
addressed to the outside world. We can't talk to the sinner on this, 'cause
he knows nothing about it. Paul didn't address it to no
sinners. He said, "This is to that group there that's in Christ Jesus. "Grace
be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings... (where about?)... in heavenly places in Christ: Heavenly places.
97 Oh, how I wish I had time. Here
I've got it marked right here in my Bible about heavenly places. What is heavenly places? Heavenly
places (just for a moment) is the
believers' position in Christ (See?), where
the believer stands in Christ, in heavenly places. According as he hath
chosen us... (Listen close)... chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,...When did He choose us? Before
the foundation of the world, when His great hidden mystery, His great
secret... He chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world.... that we should be holy and
without blame before him in... (What?)... love: Having... (a what?)... predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
98 Predestinated...
There's the mystery. He'... Before
Christ or anything else was ever on earth (You see His great mystery?) that He chose the Bride, knowing Eve would
fall from disbelieving the Word, knowing that she would fall, but He would choose a Bride that would not fall,
that would hold to that Word regardless
of what all the rest of the world had to say about It; they would hold to
that Word. They are predestinated to
stand there. The adoption of
children by Jesus Christ predestinated the Church to that great glorious stand.
Now, this word predestination
is almost a curse word to some so called Christians today. In fact Jimmy Swaggart said the doctrine of Predestination is a lie from
the pits of hells. Well, if you take that word out of the Bible, you might as well
close your Bible and get yourself a book of creeds. The problem is that people
just don’t read there Bibles. There are three words that many get mixed up
concerning this thought on predestination. They are Foreknowledge, Election and
Predestination.
Therefore in examining the
difference between Foreknowledge, Election and Predestination. Many people today, especially the Fundamentalist and
Evangelical differ greatly on exactly what Election and predestination are all about.
The main issue however, has not been whether God predestinates or not, as much
as the issue of choice, or rather whose choice. Men want so bad to be in
control of their own lives that they have placed free moral agency as the
ultimate in a man's experience with God. Men, it seems, would rather have the
ability to choose God, than allow God to do the choosing Himself. Thus, they
try to explain away election by using foreknowledge of God, as their excuse to
place man's ability to choose above God's Own choice.
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his
ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and
through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.
I CORINTHIANS 2:9 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.
Thus they say,
God being omniscient, and knowing the end from the beginning, knew who would
and who would not and based upon this foreknowledge, God then elects those to
Glory who choose right, and He elects to condemnation those who do not choose
right. In believing this men place man's ability to choose above God's
sovereign will, and thus fall into error.
I have attended
their seminars of Apologetics and One of their most brilliant scholars Dr.
Norman Geisler placed Predestination this way; by
using a story he said, If you were up on top of a building looking down and saw
two cars heading toward the same intersection, and based upon their speed and
distance from the intersection you knew they were going to crash, would you be
responsible for the crash? Well, he says, that is how predestination works. God
knowing all things, knows who will and who will not
choose Him and so He doesn't shove you through a tube and then hold you
responsible. He just knows your end from the beginning.
Now, that might
give you a warm fuzzy about God, but it doesn't hold up in the court of God's
Word. In order to believe this you must be willing to throw out entire passages
of Scripture and you must be willing to believe that man is capable on his own
of making a correct choice.
God knows
your end from your beginning because He pre-destined your end. That is what the
word predestinate means. It means to pre - destine. To mark
out before hand, your destiny. Therefore, predestination is the path you
are destined to take.
Let's turn to the Word now and examine the very scriptures that must be
relegated to the trash heap in order to prove free will has anything to do with
election.
In John 15:16, Jesus said, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your
fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he
may give it you.
Now, we ought to stop right here and rest our case.
Either this is meant for all believers or it is not. If it is not, then all
believers are not expected to bring forth fruit, and all believers are not
entitled to ask the Father in the name of Jesus and expect to receive what they
ask for. But I say, Jesus is telling us here that we did not choose Him first,
He chose us, and our love toward him, and acceptance of Him, is only in
response to His choice.
In I John 4:19,
we hear John tell us, "We love him, because he first
loved us." Now, either this is true or it is not. Then
if this is not true, we must rip it out of our Bible. And if this passage is in
error, then what else is in error. If we believe God wrote the Word, that His
Bible is the Un-adulterated Word of God, then we must accept what it tells us.
Scripture does not fight scripture.
In DEUTERONOMY 7:6, we read, "For thou [art] an holy people unto
the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto
himself, above all people that [are] upon the face of the earth. 7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you,
because ye were more in number than any people; for ye [were] the fewest of all
people: 8 But because the LORD loved you, and
because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the
LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of
bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the
faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep
his commandments to a thousand generations; 10 And
repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy
them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he
will repay him to his face.
Again we see that it was not
our choosing but God's choosing that is involved here.
O brothers
and sisters, this is beautiful what brother Branham is telling us here. Notice
he is going into Ephesians 1, so let’s open our Bibles this morning to Ephesians
1 and read together and we will comment on it as we read along.
Ephesians
1:1 Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ.
Paul
an Apostle, What is an Apostle? It
means one who is sent. And the role of an apostle according to brother Branham is “one who sets in order”
Warning
then judgment 63-0724 P:51 But,
you see, in the church there is the pastor, and that pastor is a special
person. He's built to where he can put up with the fusses of the people. He's a
burden-bearer; he's the ox of the team. He's a man that can set down when
somebody's got something against somebody else, and set down with them two families, and take neither side, and reason it
out, and bring it right back into
sweetness. See? He's a pastor; he
knows how to take care of things. The evangelist is a special man. He's a
man that's burning like a fireball.
He runs into a city and preaches his message, and gets out of there somewhere
else. See, he's a special man. The teacher is a special man. He sets back under the anointing of the
Spirit and is able to take the Words and put them together by the Holy Spirit,
that the pastor or evangelist either one could not compare with him. And then
we find out the apostle is a special man.
He's a setter-in-order. He's a man that's sent from God to set the
things in order.
And from his sermon, Baptism Of The Holy Spirit 58-0928M 109 And He set some in the Church what? In the Church, in the Body, set some there here what? A,
first apostles; that's missionaries. … That's
the first highest call, a missionary. You say, "An apostle is a missionary?" Absolutely.
Go look in the dictionary and find out what "apostle" means; means "one sent." Go look what a "missionary" means: "One sent." Same
thing. The highest order is a
missionary who travels the seas for the Lord Jesus.
So we see the word disciple means to assist in
spreading the teaching of doctrine of another. And an Apostle is one who is
sent to do so. That means the man that is an apostle must first be a disciple,
and then when he is sent he fulfills his role as an apostle. Other wise, if he
travels from church to church teaching the doctrine of Christ he would be an
evangelist, and if He merely teaches it to his own church he is called a
pastor, and if His teaching is very deep and thorough then he is called a
Teacher. So You see all five fold ministry roles must
first be a disciple of Christ to do so.
Now to be a disciple, means you are first
willing to learn yourself, because how can you teach
others if you do not understand it yourself. And unless you understand what the
other taught, you can not assist in the spreading of that teaching. Now, there
are many ministers who claim to believe what brother Branham taught but because
they do not understand what he taught, they are not assisting the spreading of
what was taught but rather are more of a hindrance to what was taught. Because
if they are not teaching what He taught but claim to be then any that hear them are not hearing at all what was really and truly
taught, but when the man says he is teaching the message and is not teaching
the doctrine, then he is not teaching, but he is perverting what was truly
taught.
by the will of God, Notice Paul is not saying by his will. It was not what
Paul wanted to do, but Paul was called by God, and it was God’s will that he
was placed as an Apostle.
1
Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called
to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through
the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
Romans 1:1
Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God,
An interesting thing Paul is saying here in both
Corinthians and Romans is that his being called to be an apostle is actually
speaks of not just a general call for help and Paul decided he would answer
that call. But the word “called”
in both Corinthians and Romans was translated from the Greek word kletos and it suggests
more than a mere invitation. It also speaks of a divine selection or being
appointed to that position by God Himself.
If you remember, it was not Paul seeking Christ, but
Christ who sought Paul. Paul was out trying to destroy the very workings of the
early church that Jesus Christ had established. And when Paul was on the road
to
Therefore, we can safely say that this
calling has to do with a pre-selection. It was not just a call that went forth
and whosoever comes would show up to do the role of Apostle. But it was a direct
call to one individual Paul, and therefore we can say that this call was part
of a divine selection and appointment that came forth from God Himself. Not by
the will of Paul, but by the will of God. It was God’s will, and if his will,
then his purpose and plan.
2 Timothy
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in
Christ Jesus,
1 Timothy
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which
is our hope;
Colossians
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our
brother,
Ephesians
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at
Galatians
1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from
the dead;)
2
Corinthians 1:1 Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will
of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth,
with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
So we are reading in Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, by the will of God,
to the saints
which are at
Notice here who he’s addressing. He’s not addressing
just anyone who reads this bible. He’s addressing the saints and the faithful
in Christ Jesus. And that is exactly what brother Branham is pointing out here.
He says, “All
right. That's the ones he is talking to
there; that ain't addressed to the
outside world. We can't talk to the sinner on this, 'cause he knows nothing
about it. Paul didn't address it to no sinners. He
said, "This is to that group there that's in Christ Jesus.”
Then we find Paul say, 2 “ Grace be
to you, (that means unmerited favor to you, and not only that but he
adds,) and peace
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
So Paul as the one called and sent from God is
bringing this Message of Grace to the believer, to the faithful in Christ Jesus
and that Message is Grace and Peace.
O, what a Message we have. When the world seems to be
running as fast as it can over the cliff, which they call a fiscal cliff, there
is Grace and Peace for the elect and faithful in Christ Jesus. When the world
is heading at shipwreck speed into insanity, there is Grace and Peace to the
elect and faithful in Christ Jesus. When the world is dying of all sorts of
filthy diseases, there is Grace and Peace to the Sainted Ones, who are faithful
in Christ Jesus. What a Message we have.
Before one bomb strikes this nation we will have Grace and peace in the arms of
Christ.
And notice he tells us where that Grace and peace come
from: “from God
our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now, let’s continue to read here. Verse 3 he says, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
97 Oh, how I wish I had time. Here
I've got it marked right here in my Bible about heavenly places. What is heavenly places? Heavenly
places (just for a moment) is the believers' position in Christ
(See?), where the believer stands in
Christ, in heavenly places.
“According
as he hath chosen us...
(Listen close)... chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world,...When
did He choose us? Before the foundation of the world,
when His great hidden mystery, His great
secret... He chose us in Christ before the foundation
of the world.... that we should be holy and without blame before him in...
(What?)... love: Having...
(a what?)... predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
Now, I want you to think about this here what Paul is
telling us. He is saying that even before God ever made an molecule, or an atom
to make a molecule, before he brought anything into materiality, he pre-destined
you and I to be holy and without blame.
Now, I tell you brothers and sisters, every time I
think that I might have something to do with that holiness, he shoots me down
right then, and I realize that I have nothing to do with it at all except a
willing recipient of His Love, His grace and His peace. And as long as you
think that you can get to the place where your holiness might merit something
with God, he will let you fall flat on your face just as certain as you are
living in the body of this death.
Now notice Paul says, He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.... that we should be holy and without blame before him…
Now, the word before is used twice here but each was
translated from a different Greek word. The first before used in He chose us in
Christ before the foundation
of the world was translated from the Greek word “pro” which means in
front of, prior to and so the sentence could be rendered, He chose us in
Christ “in front of or prior to” the foundation of the world…
But the next time we see the word before
used as in “should be holy and without blame before him”… that
word was translated from the Greek word katenopion and
does not mean in front of prior to, but means in the presence of. So
that verse could be read, He chose us in Christ prior
to the foundation of the world.... that we should be
holy and without blame in His
presence…
So it was already ordained and predestined in us to be
holy and without blame at this hour of His Presence. His
Great Appearing.
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; And we know He is Holy, so we shall
be holy even as he is Holy. Because that is what he said, “be ye holy even as I
am Holy saith the Lord.” for
we shall see him as he is. And so he had to make a way for that to
happen, and he predestined for it to happen.
And so John says, that
when we see Him we shall be like Him, and then he adds, “3 And every
man that hath this hope in Him (God) purifieth himself, even as He
(God) is
pure. 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth (or habitually goes beyond the limits) of the law: for sin
is the transgression (or going beyond the limits) of the law.
Now, when it says “whosoever committeth”
sin, this word “committeth”
was translated from a Greek word whose root means to do so repeatedly or habitually.
It does not mean that you will not make mistakes, or be trapped, but it is a
habitual thing because the one who sins is lawless. The Wuest translation says,
Everyone who habitually commits sin, also habitually commits
lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
Now, verse 5 And
ye know that He (Jesus Christ) was manifested to
take away our sins; and in him is no sin. So if in
Him is no sin, then if you are in Him you are at rest
and peace in His Grace, which is His unmerited favor. And listen sin, is
unbelief right? Then how can you be in Him if you are in unbelief? That’s why
it doesn’t come by your own mental merit, but by Revelation.
6 Whosoever abideth in him (or
whosoever has made their home in Him) sinneth not (disbelieves not) whosoever sinneth (or disbelieves) hath not seen him,
neither known him. Now, listen, how can you outright deny what a vindicated prophet tells you.
How can a vindicated prophet say one thing and you say the opposite.
How can God say “he that believeth in me the works that I do shall the believer
do also, and you say it isn’t so. Whose vindicated
anyway? If God’s prophet says so who are you to deny it?
Now, in getting back to the Apostle Paul as he continues
in Ephesians 1 and verse 6 notice he says, “To the praise of the glory (the doxa, the values,
the opinion and the judgment) of his grace,
wherein he hath (past
tense, it’s already been done. He has done) made us accepted in the beloved.” Who did it, God
did it. And here’s how he did it.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having
made known unto us the mystery of his
will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth;
even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That
we should be to the praise of his glory,
(The praise of His doxa, the praise of His values, his opinion) who first trusted in Christ.
In other words the very doxa
Jesus gave us as He said in His prayer in John 17, is the very doxa that we sing praises of.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Now, I am sorry brothers, but he said after, he didn’t
say when you heard you received the baptism of the spirit, but after you heard,
after you believed. Now, this same
Paul after having travelled through Corinth and upon arriving at Ephesus, he
met some disciples and in Acts 19:2 He said unto them,
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye
believed? And they said unto him, We have not so
much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.
Now, in this sermon we are preaching from, Christ
is the mystery 63-0728 P:136 brother
Branham said, “They
said, "We received the Holy Ghost when we believed." The Bible said,
"Have you received the Holy
Ghost since you believed?" There's the difference. See? That's right. See? And they say,
"We're the Catholic church. We started early; we did this." The
Methodist say, "We are based upon the
Bible." Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe."
Now, where's it at? Uh-huh, see,
right. "The works that I do shall you do also," every creature, every person
that believes in Him. Now,
where's it at? That's His Words. "Heavens and earths will pass
away, but My Word shall never fail." Now, where's it at? See?
So we had better seek to get the Holy Ghost if we
haven’t got it, and he told us and told us and told us so we are without
excuse. Notice he keeps saying, so where’s it at?
You say you are a believer but if you are a genuine believer then the works of
Christ should follow you, so where’s it at?
Now, you can say you believe the doctrine all day
long, but that only means you believe the doctrine. But that don’t mean one bit
because I can show you a denominational church that believes the doctrine of
One God who had a son, and the son was not God but he was the son of God. And
I’ve talked to their ministers and we have conversed with them and several
years back I gave them quite a bit of Scripture to help them in their stand.
They have a book on Systematic Theology
written by Alva Huffer which was published by the
Believing one God might make you a Jew or a Muslim,
but that don’t mean you are born again. And
to believe in a trinity really takes stupidity in the first place. Who in their
right mind would believe that One God is made up of a committee of three individuals. That’s so pagan.
So what we see this morning is that brother Branham is
letting us know that the three-fold purpose of God can be found in Ephesians 1
and if you will notice, the first one is God manifested in Christ, the second
is God manifested in His Bride, and the third fold purpose is for God and man
to have fellowship again like they did in the garden to begin with.
98 Predestinated...
There's the mystery. Before Christ
or anything else was ever on earth (You see His great mystery?) that He chose the Bride, knowing Eve would
fall from disbelieving the Word, knowing that she would fall, but He would choose a Bride that would not
fall, that would hold to that
Word regardless of what all the rest of the world had to say about It;
they would hold to that Word. They
are predestinated to stand there. The
adoption of children by Jesus Christ predestinated the Church to that great
glorious stand.
Let us pray.