Faith no 49
The Complete Revelation of Jesus Christ
December 3, 2017
Brian Kocourek, pastor
Let’s open our Bibles this morning to The Book of the
Revelation of Jesus Christ 1:1
Notice, John begins writing, The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, (Ok, now, we
have to stop here if we are going to understand our Bibles. Notice, the words… The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him…So we must know who this him
is that God gave this revelation of Jesus Christ to. Right?
Now. notice he is speaking of "the Revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave",
we know that much that it is God who gave this Revelation, but we need to know
who God gave it to….)
Now, the Wuest Translation I think is the
best translation for answering this question.
Wuest Revelations 1:1 The Revelation possessed by Jesus Christ,
which God The Father gave to Him for the purpose of making known…
Now, let’s go back to the King James version to finish our reading of
our text…to shew
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and
signified it by his angel (that’s a
small “a” signifying it is a Messenger that was sent to John) unto his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, (So
this Messenger is the one who bore record to John of the Word of God . And not
only that but he adds) and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 Blessed
is he that readeth,
and they that hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written therein: for the time is
at hand.
So the blessing comes to those who not
only read and hear but to those who do the things they read and hear spoken of
in this Book.
Now let us pray…”Dear Father we can see that this Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ
is Your Book that you gave concerning the Great Revelation that You gave to
Your Son Jesus and that He manifested to mankind. We recognize that John is
going to relay to us here this Great revelation which was given to him by Your
Messenger and how that This Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ bears
witness to Your Word, and the testimony of Your Son Jesus. Help us then Father
to understand how that the Revelation of Jesus Christ is Yours, and how that
through the testimony of Your Son Jesus this great revelation was made known to
your children, for we ask it in Jesus Christ’s Name, that name which you gave
your firstborn son by inheritance and in which the whole family of heaven is
named. Amen.”
Now, this Wuest
translation we read was the translation by Kenneth
S. Wuest which brother Vayle just loved and put me onto and it is called “The New Testament: An Expanded
Translation”.
Kenneth Wuest
was a professor of New Testament Greek at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago
until his death in 1962. He was a
scholar who in his translation of the New Testament,
attempted to make the original Greek more accessible to the lay reader by
drawing out (in translation) the full variety of possible meanings and
translations of the underlying Greek words.
Before I go any further I would like to read
for you one more verse from the KJV of John 1:14 “And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Now, listen to this same verse from the Wuest Expanded
Translation.
John 1:14 Wuest “And the Word, entering a new mode of existence, became flesh, and
lived in a tent [His physical body] among us. And we gazed with attentive and
careful regard and spiritual perception at His glory, a glory such as that of a
uniquely-begotten Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
So you can see how that God Himself Who
is the Word, John
1:1 came down and manifested Himself to mankind in the body of His
uniquely born son. Therefore, the wording in this expanded translation helps us
to better understand the doctrine as we know it and were taught by William
Branham.
Now, then in getting back to our study
from the Book of
Revelations we see that this
Revelation was God’s Revelation, but He
made it known first of all to His Uniquely born Son, Jesus Christ, and then to us through the testimony of His
Son. Thus the testimony of Jesus Christ is the expression of the hidden
thoughts of God since before the foundations of the world.
Now, this is the same revelation of
Jesus Christ that Wiliam Branham taught us as we see in the following examples.
As I was with Moses 51-0503
P:15 When Jesus of Nazareth... I believe that the Father was in Him,
that all the great things that was the Father's was given unto His Son,
all the blessings and gifts; for He was just expressed image of the Father.
And in Him dwelled all the richness of God dwelling in Him here,
looking up. And He said, "I and My Father are One. My Father dwelleth in Me." Just as
Jehovah... Just what
Jehovah was, Jesus was. He was the expressed image of Him. He was God shaped out here, and all
the powers of God formed into, and put in a human body. He said, "It's not Me that doeth the works; it's My
Father that dwelleth in Me; He doeth the works."Now, He
had all those fine gifts at His command. But when Satan found Him, He didn't
use those gifts. When Satan said, "If Thou be the Son of God, change these
stones to bread. Turn them into bread and eat, for You're hungry."He said,
"It is written..."And he taken Him up on the pinnacle of the
temple, and he gave Him Scripture. And he...Jesus said, "And it is also
written..."And when he set Him up on top of the mountain and showed Him all
the kingdoms of the world, said, "I'll give them to You."Jesus
still never used His power. He said, "It is written... It is written..."
Now, listen,
all that he did , he did for you and I as an example of how we also should take
on satan in this greatest battle we fight in the mind every single day. As the
eldest son in a vast family of brothers, he showed us how to express the
father, and he was the example seed as brother Branham said in the Spoken Word is the original Seed.
Now. let's
look at more of what brother Branham said concerning Jesus being the expression
of the father. In his sermon Prodigal 50-0827A P:8 speaking this
parable, He was trying to express the feeling of the Father to the lost,
to those who were alienated from God, gone out.
Again we see
how brother Branham explains the role of Jesus as son of God in how his
ministry was to express the father to us by living out God's Word to him. from
his sermon, Let us see God
59-1129 P:67 And the same Spirit was in
Jesus Christ is among us today, manifesting Himself continually to the people
by the same signs, same wonders, giving them the same Holy Ghost,
speaking with the same kind of tongues, giving the same kind of interpretation,
seeing visions, moving out, healing the sick, just exactly like He did at the
beginning. God is in His people. Why do we look then, "Show us the Father and it satisfies us"? We see the Father. We see
the Father. When I look out here and see the sunset, I see the Father. When I
see the sunrise, I see the Father. When I hear the wild call of the beast, I
see the Father. When I see those flowers blooming, I see the
Father. Don't you? I see Him in His Word. Every time I
take His Word to a promise, I see the Father. I look at Jesus; I see the Father expressing
Himself through the Son. I look at His people; I see the Father,
see Him working among His people, expressing Himself, continuing
on. "Show me the Father?" Here He is right here this
afternoon, working among His people, in His people, through His people, over His people.
Hallelujah. God is in His people.
Now, you might
ask how can I see the father in nature? Well, I'm going to get to that in just
a minute and answer that for you, but first of all I want you to notice this
vindicated prophet is telling us that God is in his people. Therefore when he
says God was in His Son, we must understand how God was in his son and how God
is in you and me. And we can find in many places where brother Branham told us
that the fullness or the full measure of God was in his Son whereas you and I
have this God Life in a measure.
Now,
from his sermon, Putting on the whole armour of God 62-0607 P:42 And now when all that... He anointed
prophets, sexual-born men; but it wouldn't work. Now, one
time then God became man. And Jesus was that Man, and He
was the expressed Image of the Father. See? In other words all this great
purity of love, great purity of power, all this great thing was manifested in Him.
Living dying buried 59-0329S
P:7 There never was a life ever lived like His, because He was the God
manifested in the flesh when He was born. He was the expression of
what God the Father is. And God the Father being love, then Jesus
was the full expression of love. He was love from the very first time
that His little baby hands stroked the pretty cheeks of His mother. He was
love. And I think today that that's where many is failing to recognize that He
was love. "God is
love, and they that love are borned of God." "God so loved the
worlds, that is, the unlovables, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but would have Everlasting Life."
Again notice
brother Branham's words showing what God is and then how Jesus who was the son
of God manifested or became the expression of those attributes of God to man.
So he was the vessel that God came into in order to express all His Divine
attributes and Characteristics. But never forget that God is not a body,
brother Branham said the body was not deity, but deity dwelt in the body.
So the expression you saw was not the body itself, but the life in that body is
what was expressing itself.
You can't see
the beautiful fragrance that a rose puts out, but you can smell it. You can't
see the softness of the rose petal but you can feel it. You cannot see the
actual life of the rose itself because the life is invisible, but when you look
at the colors in the rose petals you can see the expression of that life. When
you smell that rose you can smell the expression of that life. When you feel
that soft rose petal on your cheek, you can feel the expression of that life.
But the life of that rose is invisible because life is invisible until it
becomes expressed. And if you could just understood that all the beautiful
things we see in nature are the logos of God in an expressed form. But yet they
are not God.
That is the
same way it was with the son of God. He
was the expression of the father, yet he was not the father. From his sermon, Sirs we would see
Jesus 57-1211 P:25 But now, to see Jesus. Now, we find out
that when you see Jesus, you see God. Said, "He that's seen Me, hath seen the Father; why sayest then,
'Show us the Father?'" John 14.When Thomas
said, "Show us the Father, and it'll
satisfy us," He said, "I been so long with you, and you don't know Me? When you see
Me, you see My Father." (now,
watch as brother Branham explains how this can be so, he says) The Father was in
Christ, in--in Jesus
expressing Himself to the world. Now, we watch Him at His beginning
when He was baptized with the Holy Spirit at the day when God came in to
dwell in Him, when John baptized Him water. He went straight into the
wilderness and was tempted of the devil.
Notice how
brother Branham keeps telling us how that Jesus was one with the father is
because God was living in him, and he only expressed what the fathers will was
for him to do.
Again from his
sermon, Hebrews Chapter 5 and 6 57-0908M P:43 Now, but God
then became in another type of a tabernacle. And that Tabernacle was Who?
Jesus.
And God was inside
of Jesus, and He was hid; but He was reconciling the world to
Himself by His expression. Christ revealed God. He
said, "It's not Me that doeth the works;
it's My Father that
dwelleth in Me. I do nothing in Myself but what I see the Father doing. The
Father in Me, showing Me these visions, and then I go do just what the Father told Me to do." You get it? God was inside of a human body, not behind
goat skins dyed, but was a living, moving. God had hands; God had feet;
God had tongue; God had eyes; and it was Christ. There He was. Now, He
went away, and the Spirit come in that, that through His death He might perfect
the Church and bring the Church submissive. And then the same Spirit that
was in Christ is in the Church, doing the same things Christ did,
"A little while and the world won't see Me
no more, yet ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you even
in you to the end of the world."
Now, we are taught in Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things
which are revealed belong unto us and to
our children for ever, that we
may do all the words of this law. That we may do,
that we may do, that is John 14:12 doing the things that Jesus did. So
when God revealed Himself to man it was through the testimony of His eldest son,
His first born son, Jesus. And once it became known to Him, it became the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Let me read this again from The Wuest translation
of Revelations
1:1 The Revelation possessed by Jesus Christ, which God [The
Father] gave to Him for the purpose of making known…
Now, the Apostle Paul told us the very
same thing in The Epistle he wrote to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory:
Now in order to better understand this
Book of the revelation of Jesus Christ,
we should understand what the word revelation
mean? The Webster’s dictionary tells us the word revelation is: A revealing or disclosing of something. In
pertaining the God, it is God's disclosure or manifestation to man of Himself and His will. And
the
word disclosure means: to make
known.
Therefore when Brother Branham tells us
"The Bible is the complete revelation of Jesus Christ," we know
he is telling us, The Bible is the complete making known of
Jesus Christ" .
Now I think we all know what is meant by
the word complete. In other words, it is the all of it. There
is no more to be added, and there is nothing that can be taken away from.
If you do add to it or take from it, you will be changing the understanding of
the disclosure, or the making known. In other words, to add to it or take from
it you dilute the expression. And Jesus said, he only did what the father
showed him to do. And in Philippians 2:13 we
are told that " For it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Now, I ask you, how different is
that than what jesus said of his own relationship with the father. That is exactly John 5:19
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of
himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son
likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew
him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he (the Father) will.
Again we see
this same attitude in Jesus in John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I
hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but
the will of the Father which hath sent me.
John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone;
for I do always those things that please him.
Now, this
morning we have taken our text from The Book of The
Revelation of Jesus Christ 22:18-19 which also coincides with paragraphs 50 to 51 of brother
Branham’s sermon, “The Spoken Word is the Original
Seed.” where brother Branham said, 50 Now, in the Book of Revelations the 22nd chapter and the 19th verse, I'd like to read this, Revelations the 22nd chapter and the 19th verse and see what this says. Let's begin with
the 18th verse. 18 For
I testify unto every man...
(Now, remember from Genesis where He spoke the Word. See?) For I
testify to every man...
(That's priest, pope, bishop, state presbyter or whatever.)... that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: What about your dogmas? What about your
unscriptural creeds that you're listening to, of all denominations, there's not
a one excused.... if any man shall take away from the
words...
(saying it's not the same, you know. See?)... away... words of the book of
this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of
the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book. 51Though he be a preacher (see), though he be a church member all of
his life, though he be a bishop or a pope, whosoever shall take one word
of this, just
one word... Do you realize it was one
word that Eve doubted that caused all the trouble? One spoken Word of God,
Eve doubted to be the Truth, and it caused every sickness, every disease, every
suffering baby, caused every hospital to be built, every operation was ever
performed, every death that ever died, for one person to disbelieve one word.
There you are.
And from his
sermon Oneness 62-0211 P:26 brother
Branham said, "Now, let's think seriously, because
we never be able to think anymore after this, after this mortal life is over. Your thinking is now. You cannot
choose after this; you must choose now, for this is the day of choosing, making
your choice. Now One Word, not a whole Decalogue, just one Word, she questioned
God, because it was presented to her in that light that that Word was
questionable. God's Word cannot be questioned; He meant just what He said. But she questioned it because it was presented to her, "Oh,
God surely didn't mean that." But He
did mean that. God means every Word He says. And It
doesn't need any private interpretation. It's just the way He said
It. Well, you say, "How do you know about the Bible?" I believe
that my God has guided this Bible; He watches over His Word. He knew that
atheists and infidels would rise in the last days, so He's watched over It. This is exactly the way God meant It. It's
the way It's to us now. Now, we must believe It. One Word off of It, and we lose our fellowship, go off into death, eternal separation from God,.
Now, what I am trying to do this morning
is to help you see that Jesus Christ was the revelation of God. He is the
Revelation of Jesus Christ. And the word revelation means the manifestation of
Divine truth. so Jesus Christ was the manifestation or th4 expression of what
God is and Who He is. But the expression is not original, it is the expression
of the original. And we see that the apostle Paul warned us to be very careful
what we do with the revelation of Jesus Christ and how we present it, because
to add to it or take from it the expression will be changed. So why would the
Apostle Paul warn us of a curse upon those who would take and pervert this
Word?
Let's read it. Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: (another = heteros,
which means "of a different nature".) And then {aul says, 7 Which is not
another; (this word another
is the Greek word "allos"
which means different altogether, but in the context he is saying "this is not a totally different Word",
just one that has been perverted, and therefore of a different nature.) but there be some
that trouble you, and would pervert
the gospel of Christ. 8 But
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Notice if they
preach any other gospel, and the original Greek according to Wuest is to go
beyond the limits of the original Gospel. That is the same warning that the
apostle John gave us in 2 John 9 which says, Whosoever
transgresseth, (or goes beyond the limits) and abideth not
(or remains not) in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. (The word
hath there is echo in Greek and mea ns the same in Greek as in English).
Therefore we read this as Whosoever goes beyond the limits and remains not in the doctrine of
Christ, echoes not God. (he is not saying what God has said) He that remains in the doctrine of Christ, he echoes both the
Father and the Son. (He
is saying just what the Father said and the son said, because Jesus said the
words I speak, I did not speak them of my own, but remember, Jesus said in “the Words that I speak they are not mine, but the
Father’s which sent me”.
John 14:10 Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself:
but the Father that dwelleth in me,
he doeth the works.
John
14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the
Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
John
15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John
12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he
gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
John 12:50 And I
know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore,
even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
In Revelations Chapter
22: 18-19 I want you to notice the emphasis that Jesus places on the
Words... To add
just one word will bring the plagues and cause you to go through the
tribulation, and to take away or deny just one Word of this Book will cause you
to have your name stricken from the Book of Life.
I hope you see how important it is to
believe every Word of this Book, because after all, if this Book is the complete Revelation of Jesus Christ, Who
God is and His relationship with His Son, then to add to it or take from it,
you change who God is and you alter the relationship that he had with His first
born son. And you make him God who is the son, instead of what he is "the son of God".
Now, Brother Branham said, "The Bible is the
complete revelation of Jesus Christ." period! He did not
say "and whatsoever else you think the Lord is trying to show you".
If you have that attitude, then you are in
danger of being a seed of discrepancy.
he said, "The
Bible is the complete revelation of Jesus Christ." period. And you cannot add to
that revelation, nor can you take away from that Revelation of you will change
the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Let me read to you where he said this. I
will give you three quotes so that we have three for a witness.
Christ revealed in His own
Word 65-0822M P:36 So the Bible is the complete revelation of Jesus Christ, and It was wrote by
prophets, Hebrews 1:1, "In... God, Who in sundry times spake to the
fathers by the prophets, in this last day speaks to us through His Son, Jesus
Christ," which was the
prophets, all of them put together. Jesus was Malachi; Jesus was Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Elijah. All that they were, were in Him. And all that you are, and all I am, is in Him: Words, witnesses of the
Word. So It is not a book of systems, a code of moral ethics, neither is It a
history book, or a book of theology. It is not. But It's the revelation of Jesus Christ: God Himself revealed from Word to
flesh. That's what It is. God is the
Word, and Jesus being the flesh, It's
a revelation how God, the Word, was manifested in human flesh and revealed to
us. And that's why He becomes a Son of God. He is a part of God. You
understand?
Future home 64-0802 P:28 The Bible is the complete revelation of
Jesus Christ.
Token the 64-0308 P:6 He'll judge the world by the Bible. And the Bible is God's judgment
Book, which is the complete revelation
of Jesus Christ, that nothing else can be added or anything taken from It;
the penalty of doing it, is your name out of the Book of Life. Just stay right
in the Book, and pray God to make us part of That.
Evening messenger 63-0116
P:37 Every time that a messenger comes, it's always a call back to the
Word: never fails. Remember, this is the complete revelation
of Jesus Christ; there cannot be nothing added to It or taken from It. It's
the complete revelation of Jesus Christ. And the only way that we can ever
be sure?... If anything rises among us
that's contrary to this revelation, then it's wrong. See? It's back to the
Word, and always calling back.
Ok, so we should be able to se and understand that God's
vindicated prophet taught u that "The Bible is the
complete revelation of Jesus Christ."
Now, what does the word revelation mean? Webster says the word "revelation" is:
"A revealing or disclosing of something. In pertaining to God, it is God’s
disclosure or manifestation to man, of Himself and His will. And the word "disclosure" means: "to
make known".
Therefore, if we read Brother Branham’s statement with the
correct understanding of the word revelation, we read it as
this, “The Bible is the complete making known of
Jesus Christ.”
Now I think we all know what is meant by the word "complete" as well. In other words, "this
is the all of it, and there is nothing else". "There is nothing more to be added, and there is nothing that
can be taken away from".
Therefore, if you add to it
or if you take away from it, you
will be changing the understanding and the disclosure, and the making known,
and therefore the Revelation itself will be changed.
That is why we are warned from the prophet Moses who wrote
the first five books of the Bible, not to take away from the Words of the Book,
and again by The Apostle Paul in the book of Galatians who warned us if any man
or even an angel preach any other words but what He preached, let him be
cursed. And again we are warned by Jesus Himself in the Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ which we know
simply as the book of Revelation that
to add any words
you will have the plagues added to you, which is the tribulation period, and if
you take any words away from what is written your name will be taken from the
book of life.
Now, those are extremely powerful warnings to men. Now, if that is not enough, God sent a
prophet at the end time, we all know as William Branham and he taught us that
we are not to add to or take away from what is on those tapes.
That is why we
hear brother Branham tells us to say what the tapes say. Because he is only
telling us what Paul said. And Paul told us what Moses said.
From his
sermon God in
simplicity 63-0317M P:187 brother Branham said, "Now, why can't
people believe the simple simplicity of a humble bunch of people (See?) and the
voice of the signs of God? Why can't they believe it? Just like it always been.
The true Word of God being made manifest, It's... They're too smart and too educated to believe the
simple form of the written Word. They want to put their own
interpretation to it. "It don't mean this. It don't mean that." See?
It does mean that. Listen. May I say this right quick now? Even the
visions that God gives here at the place, it's so misunderstood. That's the
reason you hear me on the tapes say, "Say what the tapes say. Say what the visions say."
Therefore to say what the tapes say and all that the tapes
say, means you don't splice them, which means you don't take a quote from over
here and then a quote from over there and come up with some new doctrine. You either say what he said or don't say
nothing at all. Other wise you end up distorting the Revelation of Jesus Christ
and you make Jesus His own Father. And you make Jesus and God the same person.
Now, we are going to get into this a little more at
communion service tonight, and I will show you exactly what Jesus taught
concerning his relationship with the Father and what Paul taught and peter and
John and James.
Too many people take a quote here and a quote there, and
come up with the second coming having taken place back in 1963, and the end of
the world supposedly being in 1977, and all kinds of heresies, yet all the
while claiming to believe the message.
But the problem is they do not say what all the prophets
say. Jesus said to the Disciples, "O fools and slow of heart to believe all the prophets."
And they do that in this message as well, and if you cannot line up what
brother Branham said with the Word of God then you had better leave it alone
because you do not understand what brother Branham said.
That is why when I quote brother Branham in my studies I
always use blue for his words, but when he quotes Scripture I use red to show
you that most of what he said comes right out of this Bible which is the
complete revelation of Jesus Christ.
Because if what you hear does not line up with what Paul
Taught and what Moses Taught and what Jesus taught, and what John and James
taught, then you had better leave it alone because you never understood what he
said to begin with, and if you run with what you think he said, you will run in
error.
And God's prophet William
Branham said we must leave the Word of God just as It is written.
Now, with that said, we read for our text this morning that Brother
Branham said, “The Bible is the complete
revelation of Jesus Christ.” period! He did
not say “and whatsoever else you think the Lord is trying to show you. If you
have that attitude, then you are the seed of discrepancy. He said, “The Bible is the complete revelation
of Jesus Christ.” And you cannot add to that
revelation, nor can you take away from that Revelation.
He did not say the Bible is the complete revelation plus
whatever else you think I might be saying about it. Forget that nonsense. he
said "The Bible is the complete revelation of Jesus
Christ". So if you take what William Branham said without
seeing what he said in the Bible then you still do not have the complete
revelation of Jesus Christ. If you believe otherwise then you are adding to the
Bible. Brother Branham did not add to the Word of God nor did he take away from
the Word of God. He just said it what he read out of the Bile and more
importantly he believed what he read from God's Word.
There are too many people who follow the message today who
do not know their Bible. Just look at the divorce rate among people in this
Message. And yet men will go to marriage and Divorce and take words of William
Branham and try to make a doctrine that says the man can but the woman can't.
And that shows they have no clue what he taught in Marriage and Divorce.
You can take just one word that he said in marriage and
Divorce and that one word will tell you the whole story right there, and that
word is "beginning". He quoted Jesus
in saying, "It
wasn't so from the beginning". And did you know that William
Branham used that phrase 14 times alone
in that sermon on Marriage and Divorce?
Marriage and divorce 65-0221M
P:63 And you people who will be listening to this tape, I hope you understand.
Just go back. It's only to show that Jesus said, "Go back from the beginning and
find out." All things go back to the beginning.
Marriage and divorce 65-0221M
P:65 Jesus said, "It wasn't so from the beginning." That's
when time begin, when God made it first in His original creation. All that understand, say, "Amen," again.
[Congregation replies "Amen"--Ed.]In the beginning God created just one male and one
female.
But people will do what they want to do, and you had better
not get in their way or you will be the one who they will crucify. They think
they know this message but they don't. But they will quote what they want and
leave out what they don't want just like all denominations do. And then tell me
they don't have a denominational spirit. And when you take statements of brother
Branham and leave out the Bible you may come up with false doctrines based on a
partial quotation, and that shows you do not know what the prophet taught.
Just like those people who are offended by the word
Parousia, and think it is a false doctrine. How can it be a false doctrine when
Jesus was the first to speak of It, and then Paul and then Peter James and
John, and it is mentioned 23 times by the apostles in the New Testament.
Paul preached the Parousia of Christ and he also said if u
do not preach what I preached you will be cursed. and brother Branham said he
only taught what Paul taught, and therefore he had to preach the Parousia of
Christ and He did. It's just that he did
not use the Greek word but he used the English equivalent 4,400 times and other
derivatives of the Word presence totaling about 8,900 times and therefore about
8 times per sermon. He used words like appearing before the coming, and that
God is now Appearing and getting us ready for the coming.
And the biggest confusion I see in this Message is among
people who have no clue what the Parousia is. They have been told it is a false
doctrine but have never looked into it to see why it is false. And so they say
what everyone else says, and yet they don't even know what they are talking about.
I remember a friend of Mine from Kentucky was at a church and after the service
8 brothers stood outside and were talking about what a false doctrine the
Parousia was and so the brother asked the question, "what is the Parousia?
And not one of those brothers even knew what it was and yet they were so
willing to call it false. And that is so rampant among Message people all over
the world. To me they are crucifying the word
afresh, as Paul said, "had they know who he
was they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." So in
their ignorance they crucified the very one they was coming to save them.
The Word Parousia simply means presence and it was the
Doctrine of the Apostles as Jesus taught it first in Matthew 24, then the
apostle Paul taught it and even tied it into his rapture season teaching on the
Shout Voice and Trumpet, then the Apostle Peter taught it showing what was to take place
during the time of the Parousia, and then the apostles James and John both
Spoke of this coming presence where God would come in a prophet ministry as Son
of Man and all that He would do during His time among men.
All the writers of the new testament spoke of the "looked
for Parousia of the Son of Man". And a few weeks ago we showed you
that there are 89 specific attributes and characteristics that pinpoint and
identify the very time of this great Parousia Presence of God, And we showed
you that 84 of the 89 have already taken place, which means that 95% of the
Parousia is now complete, and yet people don't even know it is happening.
People who claim to follow God's prophet have no clue of this great doctrine of
the apostles in which Jesus, Paul, Peter, James and John spoke of.
And Why is that? Because brother Branham never used the word
Parousia, because brother Branham was not speaking to a Greek audience. But the
Word Parousia simply means presence and William Branham used the English
equivalent "Presence more than 4,400 times, and he also used the words "appearing before the coming" saying
they were two different words and they mean two different things. And he said
now is "the appearing, he is appearing in the form
of the Holy Ghost to get us ready for the coming."
And if they have no clue what God is doing in this hour,
then surely they had no clue what the ministry of William Branham was all about
as well. And that is a very sad indictment against not only the ministry, but
those leaders who don't believe in the need for a true Five-Fold ministry. I
mean we have a promise from God that you will not become matured sons and
daughter of God unless you have a true five fold ministry. That is what
Ephesians 4 tells us.
Now, I don't blame people who have had their stomachs turned
sour by all the fakers out their but just remember, the best way to hide a
diamond is to place it in the midst of all the counterfeits. But just remember
this, "all the father has called will come", and that is our hope.
and we trust in that Word.
but the reason they do not understand the doctrine of the
Parousia of Christ is because they do not know who came down, because they do
not understand the Godhead, and the relationship between the Father and Son.
And not understanding the relationship between God Himself
who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and His
Son Jesus, they go into error and have no clue of what God expects of them as
sons.
Now what does this mean to us? It tells us then that every
detail of the revelation of Jesus Christ must be found in the Bible. There is no other source, there is
no other foundation, the Bible alone
is the Word of God and the Revelation of Who God is.
Then what is the
Voice of God? Many say, it is a man. Many will say, William Branham is
the voice of God. So then was William Branham back in the days of Elijah when
he heard the voice of God? Was William Branham back in the days of Prophets
when they were men of different walks and statures of life who heard the voice
of God?
But the bible says God is not a man, He is Spirit? You say,
well, it's His prophet. Well, yes, if that prophet says what God says.
Balaam was a genuine prophet of God but He was not the voice
of God to the people because he said other than what God had spoken. Brother
Branham taught us that in "the Anointed
Ones at the End time."
He said the anointing was genuine but what made him a false prophet is
that He did not say what God had said.
The Voice of God is God's Word. And when a man like brother
Branham who was a prophet of God comes along and says what God told him to say,
then his voice is echoing the voice of God. Now, his voice is not God's voice,
but when he speaks God's Word then his voice becomes the voice of God. That is
why he says, "Thus saith the Lord."
Now, "Thus saith the Lord is not Thus saith William
Branham". yet the voice of William Branham can say "Thus saith the
Lord" if he is saying what the Lord has already said. You can hear the voice of William Branham and
not hear the voice of God if you don't have the Holy Ghost in you to echo in
your ears the voice of God.
Go ahead and check all the quotes where brother Branham
speaks the words, "The Voice of God" and you will find
most of the quotes he is talking about the Holy Ghost in you speaking to your
heart and bringing God's Word to your remembrance.
From His
sermon Patmos vision 60-1204E P:108 Now, let's see,
we'll soon... down to the end of the page now.:... hair like wool,... and his eyes were... flames of fire; And His feet like
a--feet like a--brass,... burned in a furnace; and his voice... the sound of many waters.
"Voice
of many waters." What does waters
represent? If you want to mark it down, turn to Revelations 17:15, and you'll find that the Bible said, "The waters which thou sawest is thickness, and multitudes,
and people, and tongues." All right.
"Voice..." What a horrible thing for a drifting soul on the
sea of life, no pilot to guide him, a-loose, floating with the tides, to hear
the roar of the great cataracts, the falls, what a horrible thing it would be
to a soul drifting."Voice of many waters." What is His voice? It's the judgment; the voice
of the ministers
through the Holy Spirit, that's cried out to the people in every age, standing
there. The
voice of many waters cried out, thickness and multitudes.
The voice of those seven stars in His hand to
every church age, preaching the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the baptism
in Jesus' Name, speaking in tongues, the power of God, the resurrection of
Christ, the second coming, Divine judgment. The voice of many
waters coming forth from this One
that looked like the Son of man, many waters.
Now, I'm not
saying by any means that brother Branham was not used by God to be the voice of
this age. What I am saying is if you speak this same Word then you are echoing
that same voice, and therefore what the people are hearing is the voice of God
to them. It was not brother Branham who descended with a Shout, he was only
standing there when God came down. It wasn't what he knew, it was just what he
surrendered Himself to, and the same with you. Some people believe you've got
to hear only the tapes to hear the voice of God and I take exception to that.
Any minister who is preaching the same Word that William Branham taught is an
echo of the same voice of God that he echoed, and therefore when you hear the
echo you are hearing the same voice. An echo is not the same thing repeated
with a different voice, it is the same voice again and again and again.
Now, I do not
believe as some that the voice is in the Bride and so the bride will call forth
the resurrection. That is false doctrine. And I am not believing as some that
William Branham will have to come back to speak forth the resurrection. Br.
Branham taught us the same voice that called Lazarus from the grave is the same
Voice that will call forth the resurrection. And William Branham was not around
in that day. It was the first born son who God used His voice to speak that
resurrection.
Look, there is
only "One Lord and One Faith and One Body, and One God who is above all and
with us all. Therefore there is just One Voice of God, and it matters not what
vessel God uses to speak through, it is the same voice.
And we that
are baptized into that body are One Body and not a multitude of bodies
and voices. One body by One Spirit with one Voice. And that is the Voice of the
Holy Ghost in you the same as He was in His prophet, the same as He was in His
first born son. Because if you do not have the Holy Ghost you can listen to the
voice of William Branham 24/7 and not even hear the voice of God. But if you
have the Holy Ghost then when you hear the voice of God's prophet your heart will
cry for joy because you identify with the Word of God that God's servant is
preaching.
From his
sermon, The Seal of God 54-0514 P:18 brother
Branham said, " Now, this great subject we had last night, the first night, before last, was the Church
and the church age, how that we seen Jesus standing in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks, to look upon as Jasper and Sardius stone, the Beginning
and the Ending, Reuben and Benjamin. See the seven candlesticks, or seven
lampstands standing, and a rainbow over it as a covenant, and how He appeared. And His Voice was the Voice of many waters: both
Christ and the Church speaking together; with a
golden girdle around about the breast part of the Church, covered over,
holding, the Gospel holding the righteousness of Christ over the Church.
We read in Revelation
22:17 And
the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely.
Now, listen to
what brother Branham says about that Scripture from the Church Age Book
Chapter 5 - The Pergamean Church Age P:22 Have you noticed in
Revelation 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come,--And let him that
heareth say, Come." See, the bride speaks the same Word
as does the Spirit. She is a Word bride proving she has the Spirit.
In every church age we hear these words, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches." The Spirit gives
the Word. If you have the Spirit you will hear the Word for your age,
as those true Christians took the Word for their age.
Seven church ages 54-0512 P:79
Watch,
it's the Church speaking to Him now. "Waters..." Revelations
17:15, said, "Waters means thickness and multitudes of
people." Now, "His voice," or this Being that was standing there looking
like this, Christ in
His Church, as the Bride and Christ being one,
like husband and wife is one; the Church and Christ being molded together
with one Person, the same Holy Spirit. And the things that Christ
did, the Church does also. Do you see it? That beautiful Church there
in holiness, in power, in majesty, with seeing visions, signs, wonders, everything
just like He did, here it is on earth; giving all praise to God,
saying, "I can do nothing except the Father shows Me; but He
showed Me, and here it is." And they come see these things go to taking place.
Now, Christ molded into one.... and the voice... of many waters...Many
people, not just the one; it was the whole Church, the Seven Churches molded
together as one great ransomed Body of the Lord. The Methodists, the
Baptists, the Presbyterian, all that's born again with the Holy Ghost,
speaking with the power of God, that's the Body. That's the Body.
I see in the
message where people are just living in fear and almost afraid of their own
shadow and they look for brother Branham to come back and speak them into the
rapture. Why? because they do not trust
God's Word when He said, "he that began the work in you shall perform it."
When he said, "He is the author and finisher of our faith".
When his Word said, "it is God who is working in you both to will and to do his
good pleasure." When he said, "we are to be conformed to the image of the
first born son. When he said, "we are to receive the spirit of adoption"
when he said, "we are to be come manifested as sons of God",
When he said, "beloved now are you the sons of God."
People just do not believe in the promises of God.
From his sermon, "Hear His
Voice 58-1005m pp. 45 Brother Branham said, You've heard all kinds of voices everywhere.
But just get down and stay there until those voices are silenced like it did
this little Samuel. It'll do something
to you if you'll just do it. Now, it
makes you what you should be. It'll
make you the kind of Christian that you ought to be. 46. Now, let's us go
back of this modern day, until a day that's passed. Let's go back to the days
of the early times. And this voice of
God has come to men in all walks of life in all ages. No Matter if you're a farmer, if you're a
shoe cobbler, whatever you may be, God still speaks. If you're a sinner, if
you're a prostitute, harlot, if you are a drunkard, if you are what a local
church member, nominal, whatever you might be, The Voice of
God still waits to speak to you.
Now let's move on...and we have already established that
when he is saying that this Bible is the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, he is not talking about Jesus Christ
the Son of God, but Jesus Christ, the Father who is God. Because, Jesus Himself
said that He had no word of His own, that He depended
completely upon the Fathers word.
William Branham, the man himself,
His vocal chords was not the voice of God per se, and yet God used William
Branham's voice, his vocal chords to
echo His own still small voice that William Branham heard in his heart and was
yielded enough to hear and listen and then echo it as he taught us the Word of
God.
And that is no different than what
Jesus Christ himself said concerning his relationship with the Father. Jesus
himself said in John 14:24 “The Word which ye hear is not mine,
but the Father’s which sent Me.”
Ok, so it might be my vocal chords but it is God's Word that
you are hearing, because they are not my original thought, but simply they are
the Word of God which I have just yielded myself to.
In John 5:30-32 we read, "I can of mine own self do
nothing: as I hear, I judge:
and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me. 31 If I bear
witness of myself, my witness is not true. 32 There
is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he
witnesseth of me is true."
Notice Jesus even said that He could not testify on behalf
of His own self, in order to prove or vindicate Himself, but He
depended upon the Father to vindicate Him.
John 7:16-18 Jesus
answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any
man will do his will, (God's Will) he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of myself. 18 He that speaketh of himself
seeketh his own glory: but he that
seeketh his glory that sent him, the
same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
Notice that in these verse we find Jesus even telling us
that His doctrine is not His own but the Fathers doctrine, and that anyone who
is truly called of God will not seek his own glory, but only the glory of the
Father, and will not say what he wants to say, but he will say only what God
tells him to say.
And that is what the condition of the end time
bride is to be as well as he end time prophet of God.
Notice what
brother Branham tells us concerning this 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. 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.
John 8:28b-29 28 ... I do nothing of myself;
but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. 29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath
not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Again we hear Jesus tell us that His Words, the Words that
He speaks, He heard them first from the Father, and it was the Father Who
taught them to Jesus.
John 8:47 He that is of God heareth God's
words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are
not of God. And if you are God’s Seed, you will also hear what God has
to say.
So by now I hope we understand that this Jesus Christ that
Brother Branham is speaking about is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, I am going to have to cut it off at this point, I had
another ten pages but decided it will take just too long, and we will need to
take a break before we come back tonight for communion service and continue
with our understanding of The Bible as being the complete Revelation of Jesus
Christ and what that means.
Let's just bow our heads and hearts in prayer,