God’s Only Provided Place of Worship # 79                 

Brian Kocourek, September 20, 1995

Unveiled

 

Sunday morning we examined pp. 250 where  brother Branham said,  "your life is hid in God through Christ, and sealed by the Holy Ghost. How's he going to get you? How you going to get out? You're there! Glory!

 

We found there were three things that brother Branham was telling us here:   Point number 1)  Your Life is Hid in God through Christ.   Point number 2)  You are sealed in so the Devil can't get you. Point number 3) You are sealed in so  how do you think  you could ever get out or be lost?

 

Now,  Point number 1) "your life is hid in God through Christ"  we found when something is hidden, it doesn't mean that it is not there. It just means that it can't be seen. The word hide according to Webster, means "to keep out of sight, to conceal from the knowledge of others, to put in a place where it can not be easily seen or found."  And notice where that place is! It is in God through Christ which is the anointing. So we are concealed or covered up in God by the Anointing of His Spirit. Like Ruth was concealed away until the morning by Boaz blanket that He spread over her. It kept the others from seeing her in His Presence.  So we see that in order to hide there must be a means of concealing or covering.

 

[Mark 4: 22] read Notice, every thing that is hidden must become phaneroo. Must be revealed in it's true identity and characteristics.

 

And, remember,     [1 John 1: 7] tells us, "if you walk in the Light as He is also in the Light, then the blood of Jesus Christ His Son Cleanses you from all sin (disbelief). And so then, as long as you are walking in the Vindicated Word, you are under the protection of the blood.  We are in a sense veiled  from view to the world, but are made manifest in our true character while we are in Him.  Now, this is a real paradox, because on the one hand we are Hid in God through Christ, and yet it is also through Christ that we become manifested. But is this manifestation to every one? Or is to God and His Seed only!

 

Now, in order to understanding this thought on being Hid in Christ and yet at the same time we are to become manifested,  we must understand  how the Greek word apokalupsis ties together in Scripture.  The word is mainly used in reference to revelation or to reveal. We have a tendency however, when using the word revelation, to think only in terms of having a [mental concept or idea].  This  word  apokalupsis goes beyond simply having an understanding. In addi­tion to the concept of understanding, it also places an emphasis on the source of that understanding and the reason that one is able to understand. The revelation is therefore ( induced ) by an unveiling or an uncovering that gives the  revelation Life.

 

In the Church Age book: [Revelation of Jesus Christ]  (CAB)  pg. 13  pp. 3  chapter 1, brother Branham said, "Now the Greek word for revelation is apocalypse which means 'unveiling.' This unveiling is perfectly described in the example of a sculptor unveiling his work of statuary, exposing it to the onlooker. It is an uncovering, revealing what was previously hidden."  We therefore see that the unveiling itself is the stimulus for the revelation, because the unveiling is the action that reveals. Once hidden, but now brought into plain view. This is the essence of apokalupsis.

 

[ Luke 2: 25 - 32 ] read...  The King James version uses " A light to apokalupsis the Gentiles " which is actually to enlighten or reveal to them, but if you will notice the wording here let's you know that this enlightening [from this light], comes as a result of the light being prepared before, and manifested openly to the people of Israel.  A light is always thought of as that which manifests. In  [Ephesians 5:13] it says, "for whatsoever doth make manifest is Light." In fact Brother Branham said in the [Indictment] pg. 9, " And today, by the light of the Gospel reflecting from a Light, a Pillar of Fire visibly among us... This shows that the light or message has it's source in the unveiled Presence of Christ among us.

 

Simeon had already received revelation by the Holy Ghost that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ, but He was still unsure of Who It would be or in what fashion. He did not know this until He came into the presence of Jesus Christ Himself. 

 

I hope today by examination of the scripture and Brother Branham's quotes concerning this being hidden and then revealed, or this Unveiling, that this will hopefully allow us to see how that although we are in the process of receiving a change, yet we and this change will be hid to the world. Remember, we are hid in God through Christ. So if we are Hid in God then we are not hid from God. But it is God who does the hiding for us by His anointing which is His Christ. And so we are covered up to the world but we are exposed in His Presence as to Who we really are.

 

Now, in dealing with the apokalupsis of Christ, we find that there is a difference between [revelation as an entity of it's own],  and [revelation as it comes forth from this great unveiling]. This unveiling brings into view not only that which was hidden from view, but it also brings into light and puts an emphasis on those hidden attributes and characteristics that are so essential in fully disclosing the true nature of the Person of Christ.

 

[Colossians 3: 4]  'When Christ who is our Life shall Appear, then shall we Appear with Him in Glory."   You find here that when He manifests, we do the same. Because as He unveils, we see Him for what He really is and we then identify with what we see and we become through the renewing of the mind, into the image of what we see. That is exactly how photography works. This Life is just a negative to the real positive that is our Glorified person. But just as when a negative is being exposed to the light, their is a time involved in the development of the film. The first step is exposure to the light. In order for this to be done Light has to pass through the shutters and onto the negative. In the days before automatic shutters, they would hold a lens up in front of the eye of the camera. Then at just the right moment, the camera man would flash a bright light using powder of some sort in a minor explosion of light. At the instant the light flashed, he would uncover the camera's eye exposing it to the full force of the light. The Light then would fully hit the negative. The brighter the object being photographed, the brighter the picture. The lighter the color, the more reflection of light into the camera's eye. Then once the light has struck the lens, the next thing that must take place before the picture is ready is you must begin the washing process, [sanctification] where we are totally immersed into a solution [ we are washed by the washing of water by the word]. Here we are prepared for the dark room which is not really dark, it is just a place that is hid away and only a certain kind of light is allowed in there. Once we are laying in the presence of [this light], we begin to develop. Finally we are taken from this presence as a fully developed picture of what struck the lens.

 

[ Identified Christ of all Ages] pg. 42  6-17-64  "And until you come in behind that badger skin, until you get out of your old skin, your old thoughts, your old creeds, and come into the Presence of God; then the Word becomes a living reality to you, then you're awakened to the Shekinah Glory, then the Bible becomes a new book, then Jesus Christ is the same yester­day, today and forever. You're living in His Presence, eating the shewbread that's only provided that day for believers, priests only. "And we are priests, royal priesthood, a holy nation, peculiar people, giving spiritual sacrifices to God." But you must come into, behind the veil, to see the unveiled God. And God is veiled. That's His Word made manifest."

 

Now again we see step number 1) in 1 john 3...

[1 John 3: 2]  That at His Appearing, we become like Him because we see Him as He really is. This is the first step. The snap shot is made. We see through the lens of the word what He really is. Next we se the development stage.

 

[2 Corinthians 3: 18]read    we see how our change takes place.  We are changed from Glory to Glory by His Spirit, when we see Him in His Vindicated Word.  And notice this is done by His Spirit, The anointing of God which is His Christ upon us.  The only thing we see is light reflecting from a light . But this is where too many people have missed the picture. How many people have taken pictures while the camera lens is still covered. It doesn't work. You get nothing. So there must be an unveiling.

 

[The Mighty God Unveiled] pg. 14  pp. 2  6-29-64   " I'm  afraid  that  the  traditions of the fathers, the church fathers, has hid this from too many people. Since the Holy Ghost is come in this last days as prophesied, and the veil has been rent, too many people try to hang to their traditions of their fathers; and that's why they can't see this extreme joy, and peace, and things that the church has today. Yet it's in plain view of those who believe. He hid the Word, the promised Word of this day."

 

 [Romans 12: 1-2] that this change or transformation comes by a renewing of the mind.  So it is not something that can be seen by the world, but only by those who have become hid in God through Christ.

 

And it does not come by you renewing your mind. It is not a mental thing, it is something that God must do to you.

 

[Galatians 1: 12]  "For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the Apokalupsis of Jesus Christ." Again we see that Paul is not just speaking of revelation as if it were his ability within his mental faculties  to receive and sort out knowledge and understanding. He let's you know that he received this revelation or understanding as a direct result of the Appearing and unveiling of the Mighty God before him.  It was Christ that revealed Himself. It was not Paul using his mental prowess and figuring it out. Brother Branham has always stated that no man has a right to interpret God's Word. God interprets His own Word by bringing it to pass, and then when we see this Word coming to pass, those who are ordained to receive the revelation or understanding of His Word for their season, will also be able to see the manifestation that vindicates the revelation when it comes. One other thing. You will notice that Paul says he did not receive it, nor was he taught it by man. Then this let's you know he was taught it, and the source of the teaching was the actual apokalupsis or the act of unveiling itself.

 

[1 John 3: 1] we are told that this is something that the  world knows nothing about. He says, "Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." This is how we are hid yet manifested.

 

So then, if it does not know us, then we are hid from them because this word knoweth is a Greek word Ginosko which means to understand or perceive based upon experiential knowledge. Mary used the same word when she said, "How can I be with child having known no man."  So we see that to the world we are hid. They have no understanding or perception what is going on with us.  We see how this concealing takes place in [2 Corinthians 4: 3 - 4] (read). It tells us that satan blinds their minds that the Light can not shine upon them. Now, remember, we are walking in the what? The Light. And the Light blinds. Try staring into the sun. Within a small fraction of a second, you can't see anything but spots. (I don't recommend that you do this, but if you must do it very quickly and then try to look at someone very fast and you will not see them. Your eyes will still be trying to focus. And so is it when we are hid in God through Christ the Anointed and Vindicated Word for the hour.

 

 [ Matthew 13: 10 -17] Read               "Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear."

 

[Ephesians 3: 3]" How that by apokalupsis He made known unto me the mystery,..."  In this scripture the apokalupsis was Christ's appearing in the form of the Pillar of Fire unveiling  and revealing Himself to Paul. He then took this appearing of Christ to the scripture and God anointed the eyes of his heart to see that the Pillar of Fire who called Himself "Jesus",  was actually Jehovah, the Almighty God of Israel, in another form, alive forever more. Paul let you know without a doubt by this Scripture that God had unveiled Himself to him, and not to the others and because of this unveiling, he was able to declare the mystery of Christ.  In [ 1 Timothy 3: 16] he declares, "And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifested in the flesh..."  Now, although Jesus Himself had come back to the Apostles in a body form on several occasions, it was through the identifiable characteristics of the Pillar of Fire that Paul was able to take the scripture and show Jesus Christ from Genesis to Malachi. Notice once again how Paul let's you know that it was by and through the apokalupsis that the mystery of God was made known. So the unveiling is what actually does the revealing. The unveiling then, is what actually gives the understanding.

 

[Unveiling of God]  pp. 367   6-14-64  " Father, we pray today that these, Lord, who are not yet through that veil. They're standing out there like Israel, they're watch­ing. They believe, but they've never broke into this yet, to see that great Shekinah Light, both Spiritual and physical, insomuch that a mechanical eye of the camera keeps taking the pictures. Just two weeks ago caught it again. You're revealing Yourself, Lord. The Mighty God unveiled to the believer; still veiled to the unbeliever, but unveiled to the believer. May they break through today, Lord, see His great splendor and Glory. May their hearts be changed before we even get back to this church tonight. May they all be filled with your Spirit, Your Presence. May the Master take up the faith that they've got, streak it across the Word; may the tune come back, "Thou has been ordained before the foundation of the world to believe this. Believe my child and be saved."

 

[Romans chapter 4],  that Faith is counted for righteousness. And so "Blessed is the man in whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, and blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. " Now, he never said that you didn't do it, He never said that your sin or unbelief would not be there, but he just tells you here that God just won't give you credit for it. 

 

Now, notice he said, "your life is hid in God through Christ,

 

[Man running from the Presence of God] pp. 40 2-17-65  " May all the great mysteries that we're supposed to know at this age, Lord, be unveiled to us and we'll see the plainness of God, so that we'll know how to behave ourselves and act, correcting ourselves and bringing the members  of our body into discipline to the Word, that we might know how to live in this present day at the approaching of the Lord Jesus."

 

251  Then a new creation, not to a denomination but to the Word. You're a creation of the Word. Because the foundation stone was laid in you before the foundation of the world, predestinated to be sons and daughters of God.   It is all a work of Grace and Election. He seals us in, and we are sealed. So we mustn't ever desire to go out, but if you have His mind, how could you have such a desire? Remember, The greatest battle takes place in the mind and you have no thoughts coming. Your mind is only a filter and either God's thoughts  or satan's thoughts will filter through your mind down to your inner man. That is why the Token is so important. And the Life in that token must be displayed. Finally in closing let me read to you from the Token.