Faith
no 22
Faith
for the Bride Age Promises
August 6th,
2017
Brian Kocourek
This morning as we continue
in our series on Faith, I would like to speak on the Faith that will be needed
by the bride to step into the promises that God has for her in this hour. The
Faith that is necessary to believe the promises of God and then to act upon
it.
In fact there are 3 major
promises to the end time Bride that are promised by God before the elect leaves
in the earth in the rapture.
Now, we know the rapture itself
is a process of three things which God Himself does as he descends from heaven.
Those three things are the 1. The Shout, 2. The Voice, and 3. The Trump which God does all three in His
descent as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
These are three things God has
promised that He will do at His Appearing which is before the second coming of His
Son Jesus of which we go to meet Him in the air.
From his sermon End time evangelism 62-0603 P:30 brother Branham
said, "Now,
we have already seen
and are witnessing the appearing of the Lord. Now remember, appearing and coming is two
different words: to appear and then to come. Now
is the appearing; He's already appeared in these last days,
right here with us in the last few years. Now, it's a sign of His coming. He's
appearing in His Church in the form of the Holy Spirit, showing that
it's Him, 'cause people cannot do these things that you see the Holy Spirit
doing; so that's the appearing of the Lord. Now, you remember, it spoke both
places, "appearing" and 'coming.'"
And from his sermon Jesus Christ the same 62-0718 P:82 brother Branham makes it very clear that the appearing must come before
the Coming. "Heavenly Father, we are grateful to know that
we are living in this last day, just before the coming of that just
One, that wonderful, glorious, loving Son of Yours, our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who we love. And we know the Bible speaks of an appearing before the coming, and there's a great difference in the word "appearing," and then "coming." Now, Father, we realize that the church has come
through the stage of justification, come through the stage of
sanctification, come through the stage of receiving the Holy Spirit.
Now, the
stones are being honed down for the fitting of the ministry of Jesus Christ, to
blend right in to take the church.
Now, what I want for
you to understand is this, if you do not understand this doctrinal teaching of
the appearing preceding the coming, you will no doubt go off into error and
misunderstand what the entire Message is even about. And don't forget the Message is the
Shout which God has come down in His Appearing, and the Message
is all about getting the bride ready for the coming.
Notice as we read
again what Brother Branham said. "Now the stones are being honed down for the fitting of the
ministry of Jesus Christ, to blend right in to take the church."
So we see that this
Appearing which is what the Parousia
of Christ is all about, begins with a great Epiphanea
or shining forth, The Healing in His Wings and the great supernatural displays
of God's Presence to get the people's attention. Accompanying this great Epiphanea will be a great apokolupsis
which is the unveiling of the mighty God before us, or otherwise known as the Revealing of Christ, Bringing the Bride to
the revelation of Jesus Christ. This great
revelation is brought forth to help the bride to understand the relationship
between the Father and His first born son, and thus yourself as sons. It is
this revelation of Jesus Christ that will enable to the end-time Bride to
receive the promises that God has specifically made to her, and has come down
to bring to pass what He has promised.
Presence of God unrecognized 64-0618 P:1 ...working for
this one purpose, for you to recognize the Presence of Jesus Christ. See? If He
is present, then, why, everything is settled. He made the Word. He is here to confirm It.
He proves that He'll confirm It. "He is just the same yesterday, today,
and forever."
Therefore we see brother Branham's statement we read
earlier is of grave importance to us. He said, "just before the coming of that just One, that wonderful, glorious, loving Son of Yours, our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who we love. And we know the Bible speaks of an appearing before the coming, and there's a great difference
in the word "appearing," and then "coming. Now, Father,
we realize that the church has come through the stage of justification,
come through the stage of sanctification, come through the
stage of receiving the Holy Spirit. Now, the stones are being honed down
for the fitting of the ministry of Jesus Christ, to blend right in to take the
church.
So we see the church has
already gone through three stages during the church ages, Justification under
Martin Luther, Sanctification under John Wesley, and the baptism of the Holy
Ghost under the Pentecostal church age.
But this morning I would
like to study three promises of God to the end time bride. Now, remember the
church itself is still in the church age, the Laodicean age, but the bride has
entered into the bride age. and this morning we are going to look at the three
promises to God for the Bride during the Bride age.
From his sermon, Paradox 64-0206B P:25 brother Branham said,
"The Bible
said in this Laodicea age that Christ was on the outside of the church,
knocking, trying to get back in. There never was an age like that: on the
outside.' Cause there's going to be no more church ages. This is the end of it.
The Laodicea was the last age, and Pentecost is that Laodicea age,
and we know that. There'll never be no more above Pentecost. That's it.
The Laodicean age is the
last church age for the church, but for the bride we have entered what he
called the "Bride Age", because at this time God
ceases to deal with the church and now deals only with the bride. Brother
Branham calls this age where God deals specifically with the bride, the bride
Age and it that began with the Appearing.
From his sermon, Modern events made clear by prophecy 65-1206 P:23 brother
Branham said, "We're not living in a Pentecostal age; we're living in
another age. See? We're not living in a Methodist age; we're living in
another age. We're living on up here to the Bride age, the calling out
of the church and getting it together for the rapture. That's the age
that we're now living. To my honest opinion that's exactly the truth.
Notice he told us the Laodicean age
is the last Church age and it was the Pentecostal church age.
But in this quote he says the bride has moved up beyond that last church age
into what he now calls the Bride Age.
In this next quote we'll see
there were certain promises associated with each church age.
From Modern events made clear by prophecy 65-1206 P:27 brother
Branham said, "...for the prophecies that's promised, every one of them must be
fulfilled in its age. For It foretells us, the Author has before
done this, and we wait to see Him do it again. What a time it is that we're
living in, something like a calendar; you look at the calendar to find
out what day of the year you're living in, and you look at God's Bible to
see what age we're living in. We're not living in the Methodist age,
the Baptist age. We're
living in the Bride age, the calling, bringing
back to God through a channel that He promised to bring it back in. He
promised to do it. But as it's been in every age, people let men put
their own interpretation to It by theology, and will not believe God's Divine
vindication of It. That's God's interpretation; not what I say, what somebody
else says. But what God has promised and what God does, proves that it's
God doing His own interpreting of His Word.
Now, this calling is what
the Apostle Paul spoke of in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 "When
he shall come to be glorified
in his saints, (now this
glorification in the saints is the endoxazo which is the very doxa of God
magnified in the saints, the very opinions, values and judgments magnified in
the saints) and
to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony (Paul's Gospel) among you was
believed) in that day. (And
did not brother Branham when he was caught up to the other side, say to the
people there, "I only preached what Paul preached",
and the people responded, "we're counting on that brother
Branham.")
Paul continues, 11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that
our God would count you worthy of this calling, (what calling? Where
God's doxa is magnified in the saints) and fulfil all the good pleasure of his
goodness, and the work of faith with
power: 12 That the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace
of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see this calling is all
about the Glory that was in Christ being in us making us and Christ one as he
and God were one. And that was Jesus Prayer in John
17.
John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory
(the doxa, the opinions, values and judgments) which thou gavest me
I have given them; that they may be
one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect (mature) in one; ...
Now, this is important for
us to know, because since we are no longer living under the Pentecostal Church
age, but are now living in the Bride Age, then there has to be promises of God for
the Bride that are associated with this Bride Age.
So this morning we want to know
what are these promises that are specific to the bride and not for the church..
Now, brother Branham said in
his sermon, Invisible union of the bride 65-1125
P:130 "We're in the last days. We all know that. And we're ready
for the coming of the Lord. The thing to do is separate
yourself from all sin. Separate yourself from anything that pertains to the
world. Don't love the world or the things of the world. Let no man, by his
creed, deceive you. You stay right straight in the promise of God, the Word
of God; and that Word, if It's the Word, for this day, God vindicates It
so. If He doesn't, it's not the Word for this day. The Word that fell on the day of
Pentecost will not work this day. No, sir, that was for
Pentecost. This is for the Bride: going home of the Bride. We got something different.
The Pentecostals represented that again. We're in the Bride age.
No more than the Word of Noah would worked in the days of Moses. No more than
Moses' law would've worked in the time of Paul, here.
So again we see that there
is something for the bride in the bride Age that is different that what they
had in other Ages.
Again from his sermon, Rising of the sun 65-0418M P:41 As Christ was the
first One to raise from all the prophets and so forth (although typed in many
places, He was the First-fruits of those that
slept), in the Bride-Ccoming of Christ, coming
out of the church, there'll have to be a Sheaf waved again in the last days.
Oh, my. Waving of the sheaf, what was the sheaf? The first one that come to mature, the first one that proved it was
a wheat that proved it was a sheaf. Hallelujah. I'm sure you see
what I'm talking about. It was waved over the people, and the first time there will come
forth for the Bride age, for a resurrection out of dark
denominationalism, will
be a Message that the full maturity of the Word has turned back again in Its
full power and being waved over the people by the same signs and wonders that
He did back there.
So we see he is
focusing our attention on the fact there has got to come a maturing of the
Bride, and notice brother Branham points back to the Alpha ministry of Jesus Christ
showing he was the wave sheaf offering in the first Age. He was the first fruit
of the resurrection. Therefore, he tells us that there will have to be a wave
sheaf offering in the Omega or Bride Age. And he was talking about the ministry
that God had given to Him would be the fore runner of the next wave, the Bride
Age.
Now keep that in mind
as we go to 1
Thessalonians 4:13 to read what God promised He would do
Himself in this last Church Age ending the Church Ages and ushering in the
Bride Age. Then after we see what the Lord Himself does we will later in this
sermon see what the Lord has promised for the Bride in this Bride Age as well.
For every age is identified with certain promises of God for that age.
1
Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. 14 For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another
with these words.
Now concerning this shout that we see the Lord descend
with (The Greek word used is Kalusma, and it speaks of a military command, a "Message going forth".)
In fact brother Branham
taught this in his sermon The Rapture, where he said "the Shout is the
Message".
From his sermon The Rapture 65-1204 P:75 brother
Branham said, Three things happen, a voice--a shout, a voice, a trumpet, has to happen before Jesus appears. Now, a shout. Jesus does all three of them when He's descending. A
"shout," what is "a shout"?
It's the Message going forth first, the living
Bread of Life bringing forth the Bride. Now, God has a way of
doing things, and He never changes His policy. He never changes His... He's
the unchanging God. In Amos 3:7 He said He would do
nothing on the earth until first He revealed it to His servants the prophets. And just as certain as He promised it, He'll do it.
Again from The Rapture 65-1204 P:88 brother
Branham said, The first thing is the shout, and then a voice, and then a
trumpet. Shout, a messenger getting the people ready... The
second is a voice of
the resurrection. The same voice that, a loud voice in St. John 11:38 and 44 that called Lazarus
from the grave. Getting the Bride together, and then the
resurrection of the dead (See?), to be caught up with it. Now, watch the
three things take place.
And one more quote from The Rapture 65-1204
P:89 brother Branham said, "The next is what? was a trumpet. A shout, a
voice, a trumpet. Now, the third thing is a trumpet, which always at the
Feast of Trumpets is calling the people to the feast; and that'll be
the Bride's supper, the Lamb's supper with the Bride in the sky. See,
the first things comes forth is His Message calling the Bride together.
The next thing is a resurrection of the sleeping Bride, the one
that's died back in the other ages. They're caught together, and the
trumpet, the feast in the heavens, in the sky. Why, that's the thing that
takes place, friends. We're right there ready now. The only thing, the
church coming out has got to lay before the sun to ripen.
So we see the three things
God has to do during this end time for the bride, and that is the passive Faith
in which we simply just watch what God is doing. But then there has to come an
active Faith on our Part because God who gave the promise is here to bring it
to pass.
And we know that according to Hebrews 12:2 that
"he is not
only the author and finisher of our faith. But Paul also said in Philippians
1:6 that "he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ:" And again in Paul said in Philippians
2:13 "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure."
Therefore this ripening or
maturing of the Bride which gets us ready for the harvest or catching away is
all about the One Who has descended with a Shout working in us the will to do.
In other words, taking us from a passive Faith of just watching what He is
doing, and bringing us to the place of echoing or reflecting the very doxa of
God in our vessels.
Now, this morning we've
already looked at the three promises for the church ages, of Justification,
Sanctification
and the Baptism
of the Holy Ghost, and we've also looked at the three things God
Himself does in this hour, Coming down with a Shout, Which is the
Message, and with the Voice which is the resurrection of the
sleeping saints to come join with the living saints, and then the Trump
which will be the calling to the wedding supper, and that is when the End time
Bride will be caught up out of here.
Now, as promised, for the
rest of this service I would like to look into the three promises for the Bride
which are promised to her alone to be fulfilled in her alone during this Bride Age,
which is the age we are now living in up until the time we go home.
We all know that we must first have the earnest of our
redemption which is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and new birth before we can
receive a body change, for without a renewing of our mind which is the
receiving of the Doxa of God, His opinions, values, and judgments, we will not
receive any transformation as the apostle Paul says in Romans 12.
Romans
12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
That means you will be able to test and approve what
God's will is, His good, His pleasing and His perfect will. And that is what
Jesus meant when he said, “My Meat is to do the
will of My Father that sent me."
Then Paul says in verse, 3 "For I say, through the grace given unto
me, to every man that is among you, not
to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think
soberly, according as God hath dealt to
every man the measure of faith."
Notice that he says, every man has been given a
measure of faith and we know brother Branham taught us that "Faith is
revelation, something that has been revealed
to you."
Now, that brings
us to the three promises we have from God in this hour. Therefore, let's turn
in our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 1 to see the first of these three promises.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Now, this word adoption
was uses here in Ephesians 1 is used by only the apostle Paul 5 times and 5
is the number of Grace.
The Greek word used is huiothesia and it is defined as the placing of
a son.
Besides being used in Ephesians 1, it
is used twice in Romans 8, Once in Romans 9 and once in Galatians
4.
In Ephesians 1 The Apostle Paul
associates this adoption with our coming to maturity and capability of understanding
the inheritance we are to receive.
Ephesians 1:5 Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of
his will, 6 To
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 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:
In verse 10 he
tells us at what juncture of time this spirit of adoption will come into full
manifestation.
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:
Then in verse 11 he
tells us what this Aprit of adoption will entail concerning our inheritance.
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, who first trusted in Christ.
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,
Notice that the Apostle Paul tells us that this Spirit
of Adoption which has to do with our inheritance actually begins when we
receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. he calls that the seal of the promise,
the promise being the Adoption and inheritance itself.
Ephesians 1:13 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, So here’s your baptism of the Holy Ghost,
right?
Then in
verse 14 Paul
tells us that the Spirit of Adoption is the down payment that we will receive
our inheritance 14
Which is the earnest of our inheritance (so it has to do with
the inheritance. And if it has to do with our inheritance, then we must know
how it has to do with our inheritance. And Paul will tell us in a few more
verses, so let’s continue to read.) until the redemption of the purchased possession, (Now,
that is the body he’s talking about there.) unto the praise of his glory. (Now
this praise of His glory is His doxa which is his opinion, assessment and
judgment. So Paul is talking about the very mind of God that this Baptism of
the spirit will take you up to, and is an earnest or down payment for.)
Now, let’s continue with Ephesians 1:15 ¶ Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith
in the Lord Jesus, (Now, remember faith is a revelation, something
that has been revealed to you. That is what Brother Branham taught us. So Paul
is saying these people had come up to Faith or revelation, and then he adds) and love unto
all the saints, (Now we know that love is an outward expression
of your revelation. This same Apostle Paul told us in the book of Corinthians,
“there
remaineth Faith, Hope and Love, and the greatest of these is love.”
Why? Because faith is where it all starts out. And Faith is a revelation, and
if it is truly revealed them you expect something from that which is revealed.
And hope is an earnest expectation. And love is always characterized with giving.
Now, Let’s go on with verse Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to
give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; Notice
here that Paul ceased not to give thanks for the people because he knew that
they were born again, they had faith and it was being expressed in love towards
one another, and so he knew that there was just one thing left to happen.
We then see that in the next verse, Ephesians
1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,(so Jesus has a God,
and this God is )
the Father of glory, (and Paul was praying that this God, Who
is the Father of Glory, and remember the word glory is the Greek word Doxa which is the opinion, assessment and judgment
of God, in other words His very mind, and here Paul is praying that the Father
of this Doxa
) may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Notice Paul saw something in the church at that time, they had begun in Faith and had come to the place of Love which is the
expression of that Faith, and he said there is just one more thing and that is
for the Great God to come down with the Spirit of Wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Himself. because Paul knew as
a well taught Jew that the adoption was all about the son coming to full
maturity and understanding of His Fathers ways, and coming to the place where
is always about His father business.
Now, remember
this all starts with our receiving the Spirit of Adoption, which is the baptism
of the Holy Ghost, because unless you have God's Spirit in you, you will never
be able to understand the things of God. So I hope you can see the importance
of this promise of the Spirit of Adoption.
From the sermon Key to the door 62-1007 P: 68 Brother Branham said, No man can understand the Word outside the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
And when a man says he's got the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and disputes the
Word being right, there's something wrong.
God said in Isaiah 55:7 ¶ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the
LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
And the Apostle
Paul tells us the only way you will understand the thoughts of God is to have
the Spirit of God in you. And that is the new birth. And that is the Spirit you
need for Adoption.
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 (therefore
if you do not have His Spirit in you how are you going to have those things
revealed to you) for The Spirit (not
a spirit, but THE Spirit, God’s 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 knoweth. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is of God; (and if it is of God then it had its
source in God, then it is a part of God’s own spirit or life that he is talking
about. And we have that in order) 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.
(In other words it takes the Spirit of God in you to discern or
understand them.) 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.
Now, let’s look
again at this thought on the new birth quickening into you the Word of God and
releasing the very nature of God by His Spirit into your mortal vessel.
Ephesians 2:1 ¶ And you
hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;.
Here Paul tells
us we were spiritually dead, and had to be quickened which means to be made
alive. And we see in 1 Peter 3:18 that this quickening is performed by the Spirit
of God, and in fact God had to quicken His own Son back from death unto life. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in
the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"
Now, this word quicken
was translated from the Greek word zoopoieo which literally means to give life
to or to cause
to make alive. So you see it is the Spirit of God coming into
you that makes you alive to His Word.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The
first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. Therefore it is the Spirit of
God that He placed within His Son that was released back on the church that
makes Him a quickening spirit, for Paul also tells us in Romans 8: 11 But if the Spirit of him (that’s
God the Father) that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the
dead (again that’s God the Father) shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you. And we know there are 18 Scriptures
that tell us that God raised Jesus from the dead.
Now, the new
birth gets you ready for the body change. Notice here that Paul tells us
that it is the Spirit of God the Father that will also quicken your mortal
body. And we know that God does it by the renewing of the mind, Then if this is
the hour for the change of the body from mortal to immortal, then God the
Father must be here to change our body. And we know in order for that to
happen, that we must receive a renewing of our mind first which is Romans 12.
In John 1: 12 we read, "But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become (to actualize or manifest what we are already are,) the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Now, the Baptist
would tell you this means you were a hog, and God gave you power to become a
son of God, so you changed specie. But
that is now what it says. That is contrary to the law of life in Genesis 1:11 that says, "every seed must
bring forth after it’s kind".
But what John is telling us is, “But to those who were born with such a nature
as to receive Him, these are the ones that God has given an ability to
make a right decision, and to accept the role that God has given them
in sonship.”
This same
apostle spoke of this also said in 1 John 3: Beloved you are
already sons, although you don’t really know it, but when He shall appear
and manifest Himself in his true character,
you shall be like him for you shall see Him as he truly is, and in
seeing Him as He truly is, you will begin to see who you truly are and
then you will begin to align yourself with who you truly are.
Now, in the Book
of Ephesians
Paul was letting us know that the very mind of God, the Spirit of wisdom and Revelation in the
Knowledge of God the Father, was to come into the church and in 2 Thessalonians 1:10 he tells us that when his Gospel would be
believed in that day is when God will come to Endoxa
or be glorified
in His Church. That means in that day when the mind that was in
Christ actually comes into the church, then the opinion, assessment and
judgment of God will be in the people. They will have the mind of Christ, and they will know
what to do with his word.
In fact that is what Br. Branham told us in his sermon Spoken word original seed 62-0318E P:175 Notice, what harmony. Jesus
never did anything until seen of the Father or the Father showed Him first: (Harmony between God and Christ. See? John 5:19) So
will the Bride, and He shows Her His Word of Life (He shows
Her), and she receives It. She never doubts it. Nothing can harm
Her, not even death; for if the Seed be planted, the water will raise it up
again. Amen. (Now, I got a great big "Hallelujah.") Here is the secret:
the Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what He wants
done with the Word, and She does it in His Name. She has THUS SAITH THE
LORD. (She
has what rthe Lord has already said thus.) Then
it is germitized; so the Holy Spirit waters it until it is grown and serves
its purpose. They do only His will. (Amen. I'll believe that.) No
one can persuade them different. They have THUS SAITH THE LORD, or they
keep still. Then they will do the works
of God. For it is Himself in them, continuing His Word to
fulfill as He did complete in His day. All things when He was here, He did not
complete all when He was here, for it was not time yet.
And we know it
was not time then because this is the hour it is appointed unto her for this is
the bride Age.
Now, notice the
next verse. Ephesians 1:18 That the eyes
of your understanding may be enlightened; and that you may know what is the
hope (or the earnest expectation) of his
calling (there's that Doxa calling again,) what the riches of
the glory (of the doxa, the opinions, values and
judgments) of his
inheritance is in the saints,...
So you see, until
we know God's purpose and plan for our inheritance, we are not ready to receive
it. Therefore, Paul told us The Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the
Father is the spirit of adoption.
Its to get you ready for the adoption. Brother Branham taught us that the child,
though a son was placed under tutors and governors until the time for adoption,
and when he had the mind of His father,
then he was worthy of being adopted. And then everything that belonged to the
Father was shared co-equally with the son. I hope you are getting what I am
trying to tell you. God has come in this hour with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Himself to give us a change of the mind and to get
us ready for a change of the body which Paul called the adoption, to whit the
redemption of the body.
Seventy
weeks of Daniel 61-0806 P:36 I truly believe
that that thing was done, and at this last days is when God is going to reveal
these secrets to the church. He hasn't done it before, and the reason He hasn't
done it is to keep the church a-watching and praying all the time, not knowing
when it was coming. But you remember in Daniel 12 He said, "The wise shall understand in
the last days"? It's been
given to him. The Spirit of wisdom comes into the church to make known to
the church by the revelation of the Holy Ghost--bringing the church in
and revealing what day that we're living in. Just the same as
Gabriel come to--to Daniel, the Holy Spirit comes to the church in the last
days to reveal these great, deep, secret things. Do you understand now?
In Romans 8:23 we read, "And not only they, but
ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Notice Paul said
we have the first fruits of the spirit,
and that is what begins our process towards the adoption which is the
redemption of the body. In fact that is
what he also says in… Romans 8:15 For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father.
From his message
Position in
Christ 60-0522M P:83 For ye haven't received the spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption.
Now, after you're adopted, all right, after
you're adopted, you're placed; then you understand, after the
ceremony's said and you've been put
into the Body correctly. You're
a son, sure, a daughter; when you're
born again you're... that's your
birth. But now you're positionally
placed. We've not received the spirit of fear...; but we have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry,
Abba, Father. (Which means, "my
God." All right.) The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we're children of God:
How does it do it? You say, "Glory to God. Hallelujah. It don't bother me;
I'm a child of God," and go out and do the things you do? The Spirit of God will do the works of
God. Jesus said, "He that believeth on
Me, the works that I do shall he do also." (John 14:12) See, see? Now, let's read,
then we'll have to stop, 'cause our time's getting away. All right, in the 9th
verse. Having
made known to us the mystery of his will...
(to adopt us),... according to his
good pleasure which he has purposed in himself: He purposed this Himself before the foundation of the
world. How many understands it? See? That in the dispensation... (Oh, my, here we come again. See? Oh, let's just pass
it. See?)... dispensation of the fullness of time... 89 You believe in
dispensations? Bible said so, "In the dispensation of the fullness of time..." What is the fullness of time? There's been a
dispensation of the Mosaic law. There was a dispensation of John the Baptist.
There was a dispensation of Christ. There's a dispensation of church
organization. There's dispensation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now's the dispensation of adoption, what the world's waiting,
groaning. "And when the fullness of time comes, when the
dispensation of the fullness of time..."
What is that fullness of time? When the
dead rises, when sickness ceases, when all the earth ceases to groan.
"The
fullness of the dispensation of time..."
Watch this. When in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might
gather together in one all things in Christ,...
Aren't you glad? How is He going to do it? Gather together all things in Who? [Congregation says,
"Christ"--Ed.] How do you get in Christ? By one Spirit we're
all baptized into one Body. And that Body
is Who's Body? ["Christ's"--Ed.]
Already judged, He took our judgment. Then what are we? "When I see the
Blood, I'll pass over you." Every time
He looks at the Body, there It is setting there, bloody. I'm in there by how?
The Holy Ghost. He passes over. Oh, my. And when the fullness of the dispensation of
time, that he might gather together... all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven...
And we know the spirit of
adoption is God’s own Spirit in us to bring us from mortal to
immortal. And that is why in Ephesians 1:19
speaks of the
spirit of adoption and inheritance and then says, And what
is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set
[him] at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
So we can see by
Ephesians 1 that Paul was looking for the
Spirit of adoption which is the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the
father to come into the church to make known to the church the manifold wisdom
of God, in that the very mind of God would then come into the
church getting it ready for the change of the body which is the redemption of
the body which is the adoption. And notice when it all began was when you were
in God as an attribute before the worlds were even framed .
Ephesians 1: 3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1: 4 According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by
Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Now, that gets
us back to where I want to take us today and that is back to the beginning
where we were in the mind of God to begin with as attributes of God.
From his sermon Hear ye Him 56-0611 P:27-28 brother Branham said, "Now,
this child was obedient, then there come a certain day when this child become
matured. That's the day the Pentecostal
church ought to be now. You Presbyterians ought to been that way a long
time ago, Baptist and Methodists, but what's the matter? Then there's a certain
day come, that when that father draw all the people around the regions that had
come into the city, or some great place. And he took and set this son on a high place, and he put him on a beautiful
robe. And they had a ceremony, and that father adopted that same son that had
been born, he adopted it into his family. Or in other words, he placed him, positionally what he was in
the family, and then he become an
heir of everything the father had. In other words, his name on a checkbook was just as good as his daddy's. And that's where the church should be today;
it should be to a place... And I say this to myself and to you:
oh, what a pity it is when I walk around and see the sin, and the afflictions,
and the sickness of the people and so forth. We ought to be to a place in faith
in God, so separated that what we ask the Father in the Name of His Son, He'd
grant it to us. That's right. 28 He took him into a place, and there he
adopted him into his family, or as a special time when he set him apart. The
church ought to be that way tonight, an Angel come to you, set you
apart and tell you your position,
where you're at. Not a bunch of
men to lay hands on you, that's earthly. I
mean God; God sets you apart in a place where you belong. God does it;
your Tutor does it. He's present when it takes place. Now, notice, God was
doing here just exactly like He asked man to do. His Son had been obedient, he had minded the father. He hadn't
be gadding about in places and say, "You see who I am? My campaign's the
biggest there is in the country. Yes, sir."He'd been obedient. He'd
been obedient to the father. He hadn't been gadding around the things
of the world, associating with them; he'd
been obedient. And God took witnesses of the earth, Peter, James, and John,
brought down Elijah and a Moses from heaven, and stood them there, and adopted His own Son. He was glorified in the presence of
these witnesses. And God came down and overshadowed Him. And the Bible
said "His garments glistened like the sun."
You see the robe, the glorification of
Him? He put Him on a robe before the witness of heaven, 'fore the witnesses of
earth.
Notice that glorification, that doxa, the opinions,
values and judgments of God were magnified in his entire being.
And from his sermon, Total deliverance 59-0712 pp. 55-56 Brother
Branham takes it from Christ and shows how it is supposed to be in you and I as
sons as well. "Jesus was completely, totally man. He could cry like
a man, He could eat like a man; He could become like a man. He was completely, totally man in His
physical being. And in His Spirit, He was completely, totally God, so He made His flesh submissive to the Spirit that was IN
Him. You see, He was tempted in all manners like we are. He was man, not an Angel. He was a man. He had desires and
temptations just like we do. The Bible said He
did. He was a man, not an Angel above
temptation. Hebrews 1 said that He was... Hebrews 1:4
said He
was made lower than the Angels. He was man, completely man, that
God took a complete man to
bring total deliverance; and He filled Him with His Spirit;
the Holy Ghost was in Him without measure. And He was tempted
like we were. And He was completely God.
He proved it when He raised the dead, when He stopped nature, the roaring seas
and the mighty winds. When He spoke to the trees, and so forth, they obeyed
Him. He was God inside. And
He could've been man, for He was Man, but He totally and completely delivered Himself as a Man into
the hands of God for the service of God. And He is our example. 56 We are men and women. We're also Christians. If He's our example, let us completely deliver
ourselves into the hands of the Holy Ghost, that we might be
subjects of the Kingdom of God. He was totally man; He
was totally God, but He
surrendered His natural parts and His physical parts, and His Own
thinking, and His Own doing, and His Own cares, and "I do only that
which pleases the Father." There you are. Totally
delivered from human beings... The priests come to Him, the great men, and
said, "Rabbi So-and-so," and tried to bribe Him into their
affiliations and denominations, but He
was totally delivered because He trusted in God. Did not the Psalmist say,
"Thou
will deliver Him, for He has completely trusted in Me"? See?
And from his sermon, Hear ye Him 56-1215 P:39
brother Branham said, "Notice.
Now, when this child become at a certain age, if it'd a been a correct child, had been zealous of the father's works, had
been stable, always abounding in the
works of the Lord, not tossed about with every wind and care, not one day a
Presbyterian, the next day a Methodist, and the next day a Nazarene, the next
day a Pilgrim Holiness, tossed about like a leaf on a troubled sea. If it was stable, its mind,
no matter where it was at, set on
Christ, his affections, working with one single heart, zealous of getting
souls saved and not the church's fusses...Then in the Old Testament there come a day that this father brought his son
out into the public as a witness, put
a robe on him, and set him up upon a great place where all the city could see
him. And they had the law of adoption. This father to his own son, who had
been born in his own family, and now was of age, and was a child worthy to take
his place, he adopted, or placed his own
son into position. Any Bible reader knows that: the placing of a son. Then
after that ceremony, that son had a right, his name was just as good on the
check as his father's was. There's where the church should
be today. "The
things that I do shall you also; more than this shall you do, for I go to My
Father."
Notice that brother Branham indicates that John
14:12 is the evidence the name is on the checkbook, and that son is
positionally placed. John is a part of the Spirit of Adoption evidence that you
are placed as a son. That is where John 14:12
falls into this end time bride Age promise.
Again in another sermon brother Branham preached called Hear ye Him 58-0301E P:48
he preached this 18 times, anyway he said, "Now,
the son that was his son... In other words, he adopted him, ... he placed his son positionally. How did he do
it? Then that son's name on the check
was just as good as the father's, because he was in
position. The father had vindicated, had placed that
son in position. And I
hope you're getting this. And then
that son was an heir of what the father had. And we are, what God has, we're joint heirs with Christ, if we are
sons of God, positionally placed in the Kingdom, holding our
places. Now, God has many places He could place you. Some are apostles, some prophets, teachers,
evangelists, pastors, so forth. God positionally places this
son.
And from his
sermon, Where I think Pentecost failed 55-1111 P:56
Yeah, born again is a wonderful thing, but that's not
all of it, brother. Remember,
there was an adoption of that child. All of the Old
Testament has to be carried out in the New; we know its types
and shadows. You couldn't see some man, a figure with a hand hanging up like
this, and then it wouldn't appear when the negative was made positive. It's got
to be everything. Notice, as they went on then, this son... If the tutor kept bringing word that this son was a
royal boy... He was mindful of his
father's business. He was a gallant man. He knew how to handle business of his father. Oh, his father's
heart swelled out 'cause he loved him. 57 And then when he
become of age, at a certain age, he set a great day. And he
called witnesses out into the street, and he took this boy and put a special
robe on him, a beautiful robe, and set him out in the street, and had a
ceremony of adoption. And the father, the
very father of this boy, adopted the boy into his own family (Now, you
know that by the Scripture, the placing of the son.),
and adopted him into his own family.
And therefore, from that day on that boy
had a legal right to write his daddy's checks, or whatever the father had, he
was heir to it. He was adopted. He
was just equal, had the authority over
all of his father's goods. He was no longer cared by a tutor, he was
absolutely in possession. And that's where the church has gone
now. When you got back there and was born again, you think
that settles it. You went off at ease. Now, you're finding yourself with
cramps, not enough manna, backsliding from one meeting to another. What it is,
is God has watched the conduct of His Church. 58
Look. God did the same thing to His own Son. He taken three for
a witness. The Bible said, "Three is a witness." And He took Peter, James, and John (love, hope, and charity) and taken them up on a high exceeding
mountain, great high mountain. And there Jesus was transfigured before
them, and His garments shined like the sun. And a voice spoke and said,
"This is My beloved Son; hear
ye Him." God adopting His Own Son,
shined Him out in a glorified,
transfigured condition, and proved before witnesses, "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him."
No wonder Jesus could say "All
the power in heavens and earth is given unto My hands."
59 Now, the reason the church is not progressing, brother, you skipped
about from place to place, here and there, and daddling in the world, and
around this way, and fussing
about your organizations and your denominations, whether you're this, that, or
the others. Whether you're oneness, twoness, threeness, or fiveness; or whether
you been baptized face forward, backwards; oh, and all kinds of things, and fussing, and drawing
barriers, and things, and that's the reason the church is
not going on. It's true. If you'd ever break down your walls,
let this one be this, and that one be that. Whatever you are that doesn't
matter. But when you can put your hands
in your brother's hands and call him your brother... And we're working for
one cause, that's the
Paul said in, Galatians
4: 6 And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
This leads us to the other two
promises of God for this End-Time Bride to be fulfilled during this End-Time Bride
Age. And both promises are found in Romans 8, and you can see how they tie into the
Spirit of Adoption. So let's open our Bibles to Romans
8 before we close.
Romans
8:11 But
if the Spirit of him (Who? God!!!) that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He (God) that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by His (God's) Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors, not to self, to live after self. 13 For
if ye live after self, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify
the deeds of self, ye shall live. 14 For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage
again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit (God's Own Spirit)
Itself bears witness
with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (How? John 14:12) 17 And if children,
then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (en-doxa-zo
which means the doxa of God in our Zoe our life.)18 For I reckon that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory (the Doxa) which shall be revealed in us. 19 For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Now, this is promise
number two for the end time bride of Christ to become manifested in this End
time Bride Age. Sons are God are to manifest as sons. How? By manifesting his
Doxa in our zoe, in our lives.
God's provided place of worship 65-0425
P:100 What
is the church? How do you get into It? When you're in there, everything that Jesus Christ
was, you are, even to be a son and daughter of God. He become you that you might
become Him. The thing of it is, you're scared to use it,
or either you're not cooperating with His Word. Now, that won't do a bit of
good and I don't care what you do. If you don't come fully into that Word,
it'll never work.
Abraham 56-1208 P:20 If you can ever
get the scare out of the church and let them realize who they are and
what they are positionally, healing will be the simplest message to be
preached, or anything else. But you're scared. You're afraid. You
don't realize that you're sons and daughters of God; and now, not we
will be. We are now sons and daughters of God, not way
off in the future. And we won't some-time in the future set in heavenly places;
now we're seated in heavenly places, right now. And now we are the sons and daughters of God. It does not yet
appear what we shall be in the end, but we know we'll see Him, for we'll
have a body like His. We'll
see Him as He is. But now we are the sons and daughters of God, and the
covenant is made to Abraham and to his seed after him. Now, notice. Now, God
didn't tell Abraham, "If you'll do this, or if you'll do that." He
said, "I have." So
the whole covenant is grace altogether and no works about it at all.
Jehovah Jireh 57-0309E P:14 God chose
Abraham, not because he was an educated man, not because he was a smart man,
but because that God saw something in Abraham before the foundation of the
world. And that's the reason you are a Christian tonight, is because
that God saw something in you before the foundation of the world and put
your name on the Lamb's Book of Life, before the world ever was formed. How
you going to lose? How can you do it? The Bible said...The biggest fault
that I can find with any of the churches, and especially the real church that's
borned again, they don't know who they are. You don't realize
what the privilege that God has given you; you're looking for something way off
in some kind of a millennium. But that's one the devil has pulled over
you. "Now
we are the sons of God." Not we will be, we are now.
And every Redemptive
blessing that the Lord Jesus died for, is our personal property right now,
everything that He died for, not we will be; we
are now.
Let's skip to verse 29 to save some time, 29 For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also
justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against
us?
And that is promise number three to the end time bride
in the bride Age. We are ordained to be conformed to the very image of the
first born son who was the very image of God.
From His sermon, We would see Jesus 57-0226 P:21 William
Branham tells us the reason why John 14:12
is for all, and what purpose it is for. "But
now, while He's here working with His
Church in the form of the Spirit... Then if His Spirit is with us, He will
act just exactly like He act when He was here on earth. It'll make you act the same way, because it's not your spirit anymore; it's His Spirit in you,
Christ's Spirit in you. "The
things that I do... He that believeth on Me (Saint John 14:12.), the works that
I do, shall ye do also." See? We'll do the same works, think the same thoughts, live
the same type of life. If the Spirit of God is in you,
it makes you live like Christ, Christ-like.
Then you become a
written epistle, read of all men, Christ in you, reflecting
His Light out of you, as God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, and reflecting God from His own body. No man has seen God at any time,
but the only begotten of the Father has declared Him. God was in Christ. And
what Christ's attitude was, was God's attitude, 'cause the two work together,
the Spirit and flesh united together.
Messiah
the 61-0117 P:62 They
look like him. They act like him. They
are his flesh, his blood, his spirit. Amen. That's the way God's church is, His Eaglets, His Messiahettes. They look like Him; they act like Him; they preach like Him; they do the works that He did. "The
things that I do shall he also. More than this shall he do, 'cause I go to the
Father." Amen. "These signs shall follow My eaglets."
Amen "They'll do just as I do.
If My Spirit's in them, then they'll do
the works that I do. If they
don't do the works I do, it's because that My Spirit's not in them."
Let us pray...