Christ is the mystery no 180
Review No 3 Image of the invisible
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
This morning we shall continue
in our review of the series on Christ is the Mystery of God revealed, and this
morning most of our review will center on a mini series we took concerning the
Image of the Invisible God wherein we had twelve sermons dealing with different
attributes of the invisible God.
But first we will examine
sermon, no 16. entitled the The Hope of Glory wherein we spoke from the
aspect that if Christ in you then there ought to be within us an earnest
expectation of coming into the Glory of God which is the opinions, values, and
judgments of God becoming magnified in us just as it was magnified in Christ
Jesus the first born son in a vast family of brothers.
Now, we took our thoughts for these
sermons from paragraph
52 of brother Branham's sermon, Christ
is the Mystery of God revealed in which he said, "Now, I want you to
turn to the Book of Colossians, the 1st chapter of
Colossians. And then, while we read this,
beginning with... I want you, when you go home, to read the entire chapter of
these Colossians. But I want you to read this morning with me from the 15th verse, 29th
inclusive. And now, just be as patient as you can, for I feel that in this here,
if God will help me, will reveal and bring into your mind all these other
things that I have talked on all through the days of the Tabernacle: why I have
said what I've said, and why I have done what I have done. This is why." Now, from
the 15th verse... Who is the image of the invisible God, the
first born of every creature: (now, mark that down in your Bible, and we will get
back to this in just a minute. But He is the first born which means there are
other born ones.)
"For by him were all things created,
that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, visible... invisible, whether
they be thrones,... dominions,... principalities,... powers: all things were
created by him, and for him:And
he is before all things, and by him all things consist.And
he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead; that in al lthings he might have
preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should be all fulness dwell;--should all fulness
dwell;... (Let me put a little emphasis on that again--this 19th verse.) For it pleased the Father that in him should
all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by
him to reconcile all things unto himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things
in earth, or things in heaven... (now
notice brother Branham's comment here. He says...)
(Watch where that reconciliation went.) And you, that were sometime alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, you now has he reconciled. In the body of
his flesh through death, to present you holy... unblameable...
unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the
faith grounded and settled, and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel,
which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for
you, and fill up that which is bound--behind of the afflictions of Christ in...
flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister,
according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill
the Word of God; Even the mystery which has been hidden from age and from
generation, but now is made manifest to his saints:... (And I want to read that verse
again.)... Even the mystery which hath been hid from
ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God
would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among
the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach,
warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we might present
every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour,
striving according to the working, which worketh in me mightily.
Now, for the next hour I would like to
summarize what we found when we examined this thought from brother Branham and
the Apostle Paul here.
For starters, Brother Branham read from Colossians
This same Apostle, Paul, wrote in 1 Corinthians 2: that the only way we can have the mind of Christ in
us, is if we have the Spirit of God in us. He said this in verse 11,
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
knows.
Therefore unless you
have the same Spirit that was in Christ leading Him which was the Spirit of
God, His Father, then there is no way you could ever expect to have the doxa of God in you, which is his opinions,
values, and judgments. And that is why so many do not understand what the
Message is all about. They are not born again.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God; that (for the sole purpose 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 teaches, but which
the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receives 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 judges (Discerns)
all things, (that is Malachi
Now, notice in Colossians 1:15 when Paul says the first born of every
creature, he is not calling him the first born of the horses and the first born
of the giraffes etc. But the creatures Paul speaks of are the “new creation”,
the born again sons and daughters of God.
Paul said the same thing in Romans
Now, in getting back to Colossians 1:15 where Paul says that Jesus is the
firstborn of every creature, The Greek word for creature here was “ktisis”, and the first time it is found in
Scripture was used by Jesus in Mark 10:6
where Jesus says, But from
the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female.
And
so God is not so concerned with the horses and giraffes, and other creatures of
His creation. But His concern is for His children which are fashioned in His
own image and likeness, “male
and female created he them.”
Genesis 1:26.
Now these two thoughts “Christ in you, the hope of glory” and “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature”.
If
you notice they speak of the eldest son in a vast family of brethren, but also
of the image of the Invisible God. So we must look at the image because if the
first born son came in the Image of an invisible one, then he tells us that
this first born is just that, the first born with many other born ones who also
must come into the image of the invisible one.
So
what we looked at
here was just what is the image of the invisible God, because after all the
word image and the word invisible are not comprehended well together. How do you come up with an image of an
invisible anything? if it is invisible, then where is
the image? And that is exactly what Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed is
all about. The three fold purpose of God,
1) God in
Christ
2) Christ
in You
3) Restoration
to perfect fellowship as it was in the garden before the fall.
Now, in order to better under how we can have an image of an
invisible, we must first know what an image is defined as: "A reproduction of the form of a
person or an object, especially a sculptured likeness.
2. Physics An
optically formed duplicate, counterpart, or other representative
reproduction of an object, especially an optical reproduction of an
object formed by a lens or mirror.
3. One that closely or exactly resembles
another; a double: He is the image of his uncle.
3b. The
character projected to the public, as by a person or an institution,
especially as interpreted by the mass media. 5. A personification of something
specified: That child is the image of good health.
Now, let’s look at this definition we
just read concerning the word image, with the word invisible. The word Invisible
means:
1. Impossible to see; not visible:
2. Not accessible to view; hidden:
3. Not easily noticed or detected; inconspicuous: “
So what we have here is something that
is an image or a perfect copy of something that can not be seen, or easily
detected. Now, if something is
invisible, then how can something that is visible be the image of that which is
not visible. And now you have the mystery that Paul is
talking about here.
Then
if it is an image of something that can not be seen then it can
not be speaking about the flesh or the vessel which can be seen, but it must be
speaking of the innate characteristics and attributes of the invisible one that
can be projected forth or through that flesh or that vessel.
Therefore,
this first born son is said to be “the image of the invisible God:” Not the flesh now, but the projection of attributes
and characteristics through that flesh.
Now, we know that “life” is invisible, and yet “life” is
not “life” unless it comes into manifestation,
and the manifestation is the evidence that the life is.
Therefore, a seed is an un-manifested
carrier of a life that
is truly hidden in the husk or shell. And many seeds look alike
until they are planted. Thus when they are planted the life that is hidden
inside, is suddenly manifested.
And when that happens
the characteristics and attributes of the life that was in that seed suddenly
comes into view and we can now understand the nature of the life that had been
hidden.
But let's look at the words, “Christ in you the hope of Glory”. Because this tells us that all that
there very Life that is in God was placed into His Son Jesus the Christ, and
that very same God life that was in Jesus the Christ, has been poured out into
the church, in to you, which is the only way you can have a truly earnest
expectation that you will receive the very Glory (the doxa)
of God, until all your thoughts will be of God.
And so
there are two things we examined in this mini series.
The
first is Christ in You, and what does that mean? What is Paul
saying here, Christ in
you? What does he
mean by Christ in you? because without Christ in you there is no expectation of
having the Doxa of God reflecting
through you.
And the second thing we will examine
tonight is the other half of that equation. That if Christ is
in you, then you have a right to earnestly expect that you will come to this
position of Glory, and so we need to understand what this glory is that Paul is
peaking of here.
Now, this thought “Christ in you”. What is Paul saying here when he says
“Christ in you”? The Greek word was Christos, and we know from years of teaching that when the word “Christ” is used it can speak of three different things.
1) Christ meaning the anointer
2) Christ meaning the anointed
3) Christ meaning the anointing
Since Paul
did not say Christ Jesus
in you, we know he
is not speaking of the anointed one, the anointed man Jesus. And Since he already told us in verse 9 that the fullness of the Godhead was in one man Jesus, then we
can assume here that he is not speaking of the anointer (God Himself) will be in
you. So that leaves only one possible answer, and that is that he is speaking
of the anointing or the very life of God will be in you.
Now, we must get one thing straight here
if we are to understand what this anointing is. And that is this anointing we
are speaking of is the very God-life that was in God Himself and then in His
Son. And that brings us to No 17. The image of the
invisible God no 2 the life.
John 5:26 For
as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in
himself;
Now, Jesus is not the anointer, He was
the anointed. Jesus the son of God was not the Life, but the Life, God Himself, came down and
indwelt the son of God. It is God who is the anointer, so this anointing which comes
in us comes from God just as it came from God and was given to His Son Jesus. For God is the fountain of Life.
Notice
the wording in Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all
that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
And notice again what the Apostle
John tells us in 1 John 2:20 But ye have an "unction" (that word means "anointing"
and it is the same Greek Word we see later in verse 27) But ye have an unction (an anointing) from (where?) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
Now, we don’t need to run all over the
Scriptures to know who this Holy One is. It is God. So we see the same one who
anointed Jesus on the river
Then John tells us 21 I have not written unto you because ye
know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22
Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath (echos) not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath (echos) the Father also. 24 Let that
therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which
ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in
the Son, and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he hath promised
us, even eternal life. 26 These things have I written unto you concerning them
that seduce you. 27 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. 28
And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have
confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If ye know that he
is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth right-wise-ness
is born of him.
Now, look brothers and sisters, you just
can’t get away from the Scripture, and when it says the Bride hath made herself ready, it is speaking of the bride becoming
engaged to the Word. And the word engaged means to put into
use, to become active. When you engage the clutch it
means you push in the clutch. You do something with it.
And when Paul says, every one that doeth right-wise-ness is born of him. He is talking about you actually doing what you know to
be rightly wise to do. In other words, putting it into action what you know to
be right.
Two
different times when Brother Branham preached on the Token, he said the
following about not just talking it, but we must apply it.
The first time in 63-0901-M The Token P:113 Notice, they were not just yet come
together to talk about the message. They come together to apply
the blood, to apply the token. That's what you must do. Pastor Neville,
and to this congregation, trustees, deacons, to you brethren, it's time that we
laid aside all the foolishness of the world, time we laid aside everything
else. We've seen enough now, that we're positive, sure, and the Token must
be applied. Without it, you're going to perish; you must perish. That is
the only thing. Oh, don't come together, say, "I
believe it." Get beneath it. Get into it. How to do it? By one Spirit we're baptized into the Body
of Jesus Christ.
Everybody believe with all your heart. See? He was not
responsible for any out from beneath it.
And again from The Token preached in 64-0208 P:31 We should love one another during this
time. The church and the believers should be inseparable. Believers should
separate themselves from all the things of the world. Everything that's
ungodly, the believer should separate himself from it. Notice.
They were not just to come together to talk about it, and say "We
believe it." They were come together to apply the blood, not
come say, "Oh, sure I believe that," walk home. They had to come
and apply the blood, that the Token might be seen. Get beneath it.
That's... Today, we set and hear the message preached. We read it out of the
Bible. We say "Oh, yes, I believe that." That ain't what God
requires. No matter how much you believe it, you've got to have it. Church, wake up.
So that takes us to where we
began to speak of what these invisible attributes and characteristics are that
were in God, then projected through his son, and now must be projected through
us the other children.
In No 18. The image of the invisible God no 2 we spoke on how whatever life is in the seed, it
takes the light to bring out or manifest or magnify what attributes and
characteristics are in that seed life. For you can not see the life until the
light strikes the seed. Then the life manifests, because Paul said in Ephesians
So it takes light to manifest every seed life
no matter what seed life is hidden within the vessel. Notice all things are
phanerood by the light, that word Phaneroo
means to manifest in its true character. So God-light will manifest the true
character of all life.
And that is why the Apostle
John said in John 3:18-21 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God.19 And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every
one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh
to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he
that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that
they are wrought in God.
In our next
sermon, No 19. The image of the invisible God no 3 we began to look at the manifestation and what it
attributes we are to reflect, echo, manifest, or project from our vessels that
he projected from his vessel before us.
God promised of in 1 Corinthians
And
this coming into the image of the first born son comes via receiving the glory
or doxa of God which is his opinions, his values and
his judgments. Colossians 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed
in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
And
we see how this comes about in 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all,
with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into
the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
So
we are going to look at this manifestation of this life in the believer, and
that is the image of the invisible. And in order to manifest or project through
our vessels, we can not project ourselves and then project God.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of
dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God
deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth we commend ourselves to
every man's conscience in the sight of God.
In other
words, projecting Truth, God for he is the way the truth and the Life.
Now, there are two words I think are worth noting here. He said
“by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's
conscience in the sight or presence of God.
Now, this word commend here was translated from the Greek word sunistano soon-is-tan'-o and it means: to exhibit ourselves
or place ourselves on display for the purpose of approval. And notice in order
to place ourselves on exhibit, he says, by manifestation of the truth we are in
essence commending ourselves or placing ourselves on exhibit to every man's
conscience in the sight or presence of God.
In
other words he is telling us that the Truth will manifest itself in and through
us, and in doing so we placing ourselves as an open book on exhibit to be
publicly examined in our very lives, not only to every believer but in the
presence of God as well.
Now,
is that not what William Branham did? Was not his life a complete open book
before the people? And does not Paul say before this, that We
have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor
handling the word of God deceitfully.
Now,
what does Paul mean by saying “we have renounced the hidden things of
dishonesty”, what does that mean?
Well,
the word renounce means to 2. To reject; disown, and he’s
speaking of the hidden things of dishonesty. Being honest no
matter what the cost.
2 Corinthians
And then
Paul goes on to say in Galatians 6:3 For if a man thinks himself to be something, when
he is nothing, he only deceives himself. In other words, don’t get
too lofty and lifted up just because you have been placed in a position of
importance in the church. If Jesus came to serve then that is what we are
supposed to do. And in serving just remember what it’s all about, because it’s
not all about you, and what you can do or be seen doing, but rather it’s all
about Him, and what He did and the pattern he set for us to fulfill.
Paul goes on
to say, 4 But let every man prove his own work, and
then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every
man shall bear his own burden. 6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teaches in all good things. 7 Be
not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows,
that shall he also reap.
Now, to read
this scripture from The Message Translation, Galatians
6:1 reads like this. “If someone falls
into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself.
You might be needing forgiveness yourself before the
day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. (Those who have
been kept down by severe and unjust use of force or authority): Share their
burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that,
you are badly deceived. 4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the
work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed
with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take
responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
So we begin to see one of the
attributes of that invisible life coming into manifestation or being
projected through our own vessels. And that is the attribute of forgiveness. If God so forgave us how
ought we to be with one another? and you can't
have forgiveness until you have the love of God shed abroad in your hearts by
the holy Ghost.
Where I think Pentecost failed 55-1111 P:60 If it ever
gets to a place that I couldn't put my arm around any brother that's working
for the Kingdom of God, and recognize him as my brother, I feel I'm backslid.
Amen. Sure. I'd be a scared to stand on the platform and face evil spirits, to
know that I had envy in my heart against any brother, no matter who he is,
that's trying to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ or live a Christian life. If
we disagree a million miles upon theology, if he loves the Lord Jesus, he's my
brother, and it's my sister. And we've drawn those lines. "And if you
can't love your brother who you have seen, how can you love God Who you can't--have never seen?" And brother, when love
goes out, God goes with it, for God is love. And you can never get anywhere
without Divine love. And as you love one another, you love God.
Expectations and what love is 54-0228A P:48 And when
we love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds, and we love one another
as ourselves, our neighbors as ourselves, the people can actually feel that.
You can't put it on. You can't make believe, 'cause they'll know it. I believe
we took our thoughts in No
20. The Image of the invisible God no 4 the
spiritual man from paragraph 58 where
brother Branham said, "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.
Here
we spoke on man as a spirit man, a being who is two thirds spirit, and only 1/3
flesh. Yet it is this 1/3 that we must die to every single day if we are to
project in our 2/3 the Image of the Invisible God. Therefore the image that is
to be projected is not the flesh man, but the spirit man. The
Spirit of God in the inner man being projected through the lens of the flesh
man.
notice what brother Branham taught
us in his sermon, Works that I do bear witness of me 51-0413 P:16 "And now, I want to speak just a moment, or
just bring your attention to a few words here that Jesus said, "The works that I do bear witness of Me." The things that I do, what I
say, is what bears record of me. And that's what bears record of
every person. Do you know, I'd rather you'd live me
a sermon than preach me one? It'll be a better
evidence that you're a Christian. Isn't that right? A
live a sermon. And what we are is what
we live, what we do. Our actions shows what we
are. And if we say we have faith, and then afraid to step out and claim our
faith and put it to work, then our faith doesn't do us much good, does it? The
Bible said that faith without works is dead, just as the body without the
spirit is dead..
Faith once delivered to the saints 57-0610
P:27 The spirit that was in you, controls you.
And if the Spirit of Christ is in us, the body of Christ will be Christ-like
in it's feelings in it's actions. Whatever it
is, it'll be Christ-like. It'll do the works of Christ. God wants to
work in the body of Christ as He did in the physical corporal body of the Lord
Jesus. He wants to work in this body of Christ, if He can only get them
to a place where they'll stand still long enough, that He can place them on the
foundation of His Word so He can work. God cannot work contrary to His Word.
In No 21. The Image of the invisible God no 5 attributes we spoke on the importance of getting self out of the
way, in fact dying to self in order to project a pure image of the invisible
one through our vessel. Here we spoke from Romans 8 and to emphasize that when
the Scripture speaks of the flesh it speaks of dying to self. We read from the
KJV and also the version called the Message.
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. 9-11 But 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! 12-14 So 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! 15-17 This 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.
I think we will have to close
on this today as we still have more than half of the study on the image of the
invisible to review yet. But to save time the rest of that study are as
follows.
No 22. The Image of the
invisible God no 6 The heart
Deals with our heart being one with God's heart.
No 23. The Image of the
invisible God no 7 God of Mercy
showing that if the invisible God is Mercy then the image should project
that same mercy.
No 25. The Image of the
invisible God no 8 God of all comfort If He is the God of all comfort then what are we
projecting?
No 26. The Image of the
invisible God no 9 The condition of your
heart
No 27. What is your absolute
showing the difference between a
vindicated prophet and a five fold minister
No 28.The Image of the
invisible God no 10 Let the Mind of Christ be in you If the image is a projection of the invisible, then
the minds should be the same.
No 29. What controls you
fear or faith A pastoral message
showing that God never rules by fear but by love
No 30. A life transformed by
God's word a pastoral message
concerning the transforming power of God's Word.
No 31. Image of the
invisible God no 11 God seed will manifest God life The Life that is projected is the same life as the
Invisible source of that life, God.
No 32. Image of the
invisible God no 12 The Mystery of God The three fold mystery is God projected in Christ, God
projected in His Bride, True fellowship based on true oneness with God and His
Word.
Let's just bow our heads in
prayer.