Christ is the Mystery no. 54
Resurrection Life
January 13, 2013
Brian Kocourek
Philippians 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I
counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
Now,
before you think here that Paul is saying that he counts all things for
receiving the excellency of
attaining the knowledge of Christ Jesus that he is saying this because he was
an intellectual. Listen, Paul had been an intellectual and all that got him was
to find himself at war with God. But he is saying I had to loose all my
intellectualism in order to Know Christ in the power of His resurrection.
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ,
Notice he says that he was willing to
loose all that he had to win Christ. Now, that doesn't sound like an
intellectual to me. That sounds like a man who experienced a face to face
encounter with His God and found God to be sovereign. Now, the problem I see
with intellectuals is there is a certain pride that they can never admit when
they are totally wrong. But Paul said, I was totally wrong and I consider
everything I ever knew to be nothing more than dung in comparison to the relationship
I now have with the God I thought I had known and come to find out I had no
clue to Who he is.
9 And be found in him, not having mine own
right-wise-ness, which is of the law, but that which is through the revelation
of Christ, the right-wise-ness which is of God by revelation: 10 That
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Now, Paul was willing to throw away
everything he ever thought he knew in favor of entering into this relationship
based on experiencing God firsthand. And I know that my intellectual buddies
out there are not going to understand what I am going to say here next, and I
am sure they will use what I am going to say here against me, But let me just
say it anyhow. "I know where I stand in the doctrine of this Message,
which is the Doctrine of Christ, and I know of no man living that has done what
I have done to get the doctrine out there to the brethren around the world, yet
I would throw away all my knowledge and understanding of this Message, and the
Scriptures for an intimate relationship with my God to where I knew
nothing but His Love, and that I could see nothing but Christ and Him crucified
among you. To see only what he sees, and to hear only what he hears, and to breathe only when he breathes and to love
everyone He loves."
One of the last admonitions from
brother Vayle to me was we need to focus on the Life,
not so much the doctrine, but the life. And yet that is where brother Kash was at years ago right before he left this world and
he took so much mockery for this but he was so right. I believe we will see him
one day soon along with Br. Vayle, because you see,
it's not about what you know, it's all about who you know that counts.
And the Apostle Paul says in verse 11 what it
is all about, "If by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead".
In other words, I am willing to lay
everything down, and call everything I ever held dear as though it is no more
than dung, to attain to the out resurrection of the dead and to know Him in the
power of His resurrection.
And then he tells us in verse 12 Not as though I had already attained, either
were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may
apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but
this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:
and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Notice it is all about apprehending
Christ Jesus. It's not what we can gain in this life for ourselves, it's all
about Him. And he says for those who are perfect, for those whoa re mature, you
will understand what I am talking about. I press for the high calling of God IN
Christ Jesus. In other words, that life I saw in Christ Jesus, that High
calling to where he died to self, and was a love prisoner to God, that is the
life I want as well. Forget everything I ever attained to in this world, forget
all the knowledge I ever processed through this mind of mine, I count
everything that I ever attained outside of Christ as worthless and no more use
that the dung our bodies pass through into the drought.
16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let
us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them
which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For
many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross
of Christ:
Notice he did not say they were the
enemies of Christ but enemies of the cross of Christ. In other words, they are
against the true suffering and will not come to Christ by means of the cross. And
when we look at the cross and our own crucifixion of self, we must always
realize that to crucify your own self and the lust's thereof is a very painful
thing for any person.
19 Whose end is
destruction, whose God is their belly, and
whose glory (whose doxa,
whose values, and opinions) is in their shame, (why? because) they mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious
body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself.
Notice he says for those of
us who are actually looking for our Savior the Lord jesus
Christ, our citizenship and thus our behavior is molded to be like His own
Glorious body. Now this word glorious is translated from the Greek word Doxa again showing that it is not the physical body but the
body expressing the values and opinions and judgments of God just as Jesus own
body expressed the same values and opinions of God.
Now, this morning I would
like to speak again from paragraph 150 or paragraph 312 in your books here, because this
paragraph has several thoughts in it that are so vital for where we have come
today by God's grace, and if we are not careful we will just let it slip by and
all the good that brother Branham is telling us in this paragraph will be lost
if we just rush through this.
So let me read this to you
very slowly. It's found in paragraph 150 in
our search engine, and (pp. 312 Spoken
Word book) "Paul, this great intellectual man, (1) never
tried to express his great theological terms upon the people. (2) He
humbly accepted the Word of the Lord, and (3) he
lived the Word so that it expressed It. (4) He
lived so godly until they seen Jesus Christ in him so much, till they wanted
his handkerchief to take it and lay it upon the sick. (5) There's
the Life of Christ. Not what some... "Oh,
you see, Elijah done that a long time ago, laid his stick, but oh, that was the
days of Elijah." Now, the world thought that. The intellectual priest and
things, and churches of that day thought that, but to them believers, they
knew different. They seen the revelation of Christ that was in Elijah:
same thing was in Paul, expressed the same kind of Life,
'cause he was a prophet. See? He foretold things that happened exactly the way
it was, and they knew that was God's identification of a prophet. And they knew
that he was God's prophet. You couldn't shake them from it at all.
Now, this
morning I would like to begin our study of these five thoughts that brother Branham
lays out for us to think about here, and I am glad that the footsteps of the
righteous are ordered of the Lord. Because God knows your thought even before
you think them, and he said your thoughts are not my thoughts, and your ways
are not my ways, but he has given us His very own Spirit so we can think with
His Spirit, and think His thoughts and know His thinking on it.
Therefore
if you don't mind, I don't wish to rush through this so let me again read these
four thoughts, and if we only get through one of them, well, then
we know what the next thought is that we are going to take in this series,
don't we.
Therefore, Number
1) Paul, this great intellectual man never tried to express
his great theological terms upon the people.
Number (2) He
humbly accepted the Word of the Lord,
Number (3) he
lived the Word so that it expressed It.
Number (4) He
lived so godly until they seen Jesus Christ in him so much, till they wanted
his handkerchief to take it and lay it upon the sick.
Number (5) There's
the Life of Christ.
Now, this
morning I do not expect to get through all five of these thoughts that brother
Branham has laid out here for us, and to be quite honest, I have my doubts
whether we will be able to cover the first thought completely this morning.
Therefore, Number
1) He said, "Paul, this great intellectual man never
tried to express his great theological terms upon the people."
Now, I know
that brother Branham also told us that Paul was the pattern for every true five
fold minister. So if this is the case then why do so many try to preach over
the head of their congregations? Brother Branham said here that Paul never
tried to express his great theological terms upon the people.
He said I never came to you with excellency
of speech. I never came to put on a show. I never came to preach over your heads. I came to you in
humility, and in weakness and in fear and a desire to see only one thing among you, and that is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Now,
brother Branham said in his sermon, Preparation paragraph 018 "Don't
depend on your knowledge, and don't never try
to figure anything out that God says. If you could figure it out, or I could
figure it out, or any other preacher could figure it out, we would be
equal with God. We are not supposed, and never will be able to figure it out,
because when we can figure it out, it's not faith any more.
Now, I
like this kind of talk, because I am a simple guy. I never have gotten excited
about trying to figure out Daniel's Seventy weeks, and all that mumbo jumbo
that came forth in the days of man. Now, I don't wish to be irreverent because
I have studied a whole lot of what those brethren of that age of man had to
say, and I've read, Spurgeon, and Hislop, and Scofield, and Larkin, and Pink, and Bullinger,
and Clarke, and Barnes, and on and on, and it is good reading if you want to
keep your mind sharp, but in light of a vindicated prophet, who needs them.
Frankly I
love the simplistic way in which brother Branham taught everything I have need
to know, and what he didn't teach I haven't any need to know it.
He said,
"We've got to accept it by faith. Is that right? God said so. I
don't know how. I can't tell you how He's going to do it, but He's going to do it 'cause He said
so. That's the basis. God is going to do it because He promised to do
it. He's God, and He can't break His promise, how it is.
Just like John 14:12 and 13 he said ask
what you will and I will do it. It's not about you, it's about what he is willing to do.
And
brother Branham said, "And some of God's preparations has been so ridiculous to the people who depend on the
tree of knowledge. God's preparation has been absolutely ridiculous to
the natural mind, 'cause the natural can't conceive the things
that are of God. Because they are foolishness
to him, and he just thinks it's horrible to think. "Why, God
would do..."
So be
thankful for one thing my brother and sister, that God has given you the Holy
Ghost because without it, you wouldn't even have a clue as to the things of
God.
The same Apostle Paul who said in 1
Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know
any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was
with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
This is the same Apostle Paul who
later in this same letter only a few lines later he said, I didn't come to you excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you
the testimony of God 10 because it is God who reveals them
unto us by his Spirit: for The Spirit (God's own Spirit) searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what
man could know the things of a man, except he has the spirit of man which is in
him? (the knot on the tree could never understand what a human
thinks and does) even so the
things of God no man could know, but the Spirit of God knows. 12 So we
have received, not the spirit of the world, but we have received the spirit
which is of God; in order that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God.
So it
takes the Holy Spirit in our vessel in order for us to even understand the
things of God. So that is what we should seek after. Don't seek after wisdom,
seek the Holy Spirit because if you seek wisdom, you might get it thrown your
way, but you will never understand it without the spirit of He who is the
fountain of all Wisdom.
And
notice verse 14 But the natural man cannot receive the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: and he cannot even know
them if he did hear them, because they
are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual, he that is filled with the Spirit, he
is the one who judges all things, yet he himself is not judged by any man.
Oh, they might think they are casting
judgment on the one with the Holy Ghost but since they have no authority with
God their judgment is not judgment at all. That is why I am so glad to see when
people pull away from those churches where the preachers are so condescending
to the people, and they have their church structure set up that the people are
so in fear to make any move on their own towards God, and when they finally
leave all that nonsense behind, I love to see them liberated to walk after God
with their own integrity and personal convictions, to work out their own
salvation and to fall in love with their Loving Lord Jesus.
And Paul
finishes by saying, 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that
he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Now, I believe sometimes we
try to hard and we press too hard and we find ourselves pressing for an
answer from God, and when we do that we do more harm, not only to ourselves,
but those around us as well. We must never do that.
We must learn to trust God and
relax in that trusting relationship with Him. Did not He promise us, that if we
really Love Him then all things would work together for our good? Then what are we worried
about. We should be the most relaxed people in the world.
Q & A COD
54-0103M 057
Now, I'll admit that people study
too much, and try to go too far
ahead, and try to think too hard,
and sometimes have mental breakdowns and things on account of studying about
the Lord. You must quit that. You
don't have to do that. The only thing
you have to do is fall in love with
Him, and just go right on loving Him. Amen. It's not trying to push into something or make yourself something
you're not; just go ahead and let
God use you the way He wants to use you. Just yield yourself; commit yourself and walk on, happy, singing, rejoicing.
That's the way. 058 The Bible said,
"All
things work together for good to them that love Him." So just be
sure that you love Him; that's the only
thing you have to know. Amen. Just love Him and walk on. Say, "Lord, I
love You; You know I love You." And then the Lord might try you and say, "You
love this?" "No,
Sir, I love You, Lord." See? And then he
might say, Say, "Well, don't you want to
be... Wouldn't you like to be a great preacher? Wouldn't you like to be
this?" "No. Now, Lord, what... If You
want me to be, I will. If You don't... Amen. I'll
be right here, just a doormat at this church." "Well, now, I
believe if you do something like this, the people would think a lot more of
your church." "I don't care
what the people think; I want to know what You think, Lord. I'll just stay
right with You, what You tell me to do. I love all
them, sure." "Well, now, you know Sister So-and-so; you don't love
her." "Yes, I do, Lord. Yes, I sure do. I love her." "Why?"
"'Cause You love her, and You're in me.
And I have to love her, 'cause it's You in me loving her out of me." Whew. That
will get it.
And listen to what Brother
Branham said in his sermon, Way to have fellowship
55-1009 P:18 He said, "I'd rather have a church...
Listen, just a moment. I would rather have a church that knows nothing about
any spiritual gift, and just be so in love with each other and with Christ, I'd rather have that than every spiritual gift
operating in the church.
Now, listen brothers and
sisters, do you believe teaching is a spiritual gift, do you?
1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, (If I speak with human eloquence, great trained homiletics, even angelic ecstasy and don't have love expressing itself from my heart, I am nothing more than the sounding a brass gong, or a rusty gate
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, the ability to speak with such authority, and to understand all mysteries, so that I could reveal them as plain as day, and if I could possess all knowledge so that no matter what the question, I could answer it, And though I had such faith that I could speak to the mountains and remove them from where they stand, yet if I could do all this and not have the Love of God inmy heart for my brethren, what use would I be to God or His family? I'd be worthless in God's economy.
So what we are hearing the
Apostle Paul say is the very same thing we just heard brother Branham say, when
he said, "I would rather have a church so
in love with Christ and with each other and be completely ignorant concerning
teaching, and preaching. Because if you have teaching or preaching without Love you don't have
anything that God can use. It's
completely useless.
Brother Branham continues
saying, "Where there is gifts, they'll
fail. Where there is gifts, they'll bring confusion.
Where there is gifts, they can be questioned. But
where there is love, it is perfect. That's right. And if you had
perfect love you'd have perfect gifts. That's
right. So work first with love. That brings fellowship, and fellowship brings gifts.
Works
that I do bear witness of Me
51-0413 022
I'd rather have the love of God sealed in my heart than all the gifts there is
in the Bible. That's right.
WORKS
THAT I DO BEAR WITNESS OF ME 51-0413
029 "Brother, I know the Author better
than I know His Book." Amen. I'd rather have the Author anyhow anytime.
His Book's fine. That's right. But I'd rather know the Author. Wouldn't you?
And you know Him by the love...
Now in closing let me share
this quote from brother Branham's sermon God Perfecting his Church that Br.
Peter from Australia sent me the other day. It fits so beautifully with our
subject this morning that I would like to share it with you in closing.
God perfecting His church 54-1204
P:16 Through the Blood cell of the Lord Jesus that in-veiled the Life of
Jehovah, and we, coming through the Blood cell, becomes a part of that Life. So,
Deity itself lays in the man that's received the Holy
Spirit. You are a son. I'm a Branham by birth. And a part of Mr. and Mrs.
Branham is in me. And if you become a son or a daughter of God, part of
Deity lays in you. 17 See how the devil robs you. Say,
"Oh, you can't do this." "All things are possible to them
that believe". No matter what it is. You are a part of Deity, not a servant, a son
and a daughter. Why, brother, it surpasses all Angels, Archangels and
everything else. It comes right into the Presence of the Potter Himself. And
how are we brought? Through the Blood. Amen. Then
you come into Deity. You become a part. You're welded in. Let's think of
God folding around Him now. We're going to enlarge it billions of times from
this Blood cell. And there God, in this Blood cell, folded Himself up, and
wrapped Himself in this Blood cell, and come to redeem man to Life. Hallelujah.
There, when that Blood cell spread out, spread out, and brought the body Christ
Jesus, Jehovah Himself was tabernacled in Him. That
through the bursting of that Blood cell at Calvary might bring sons and
daughters to Himself, in the Blood cell to the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
into Himself. And we become a part of God. Amen. That's what
makes Satan mad. That's what shakes him. When the Church of Jesus Christ
only knew who they were, brother... Oh, you say, "I know there is
nothing impossible with God." He said there is nothing impossible to you. Amen. That changes the subject, doesn't it? Oh, they says, "There's nothing impossible to God." He said
there is nothing impossible with you. "Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray,
believe you receive it, and you shall have it."
Amen.
Mark 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not
doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever
he saith.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall
be opened unto you: