God’s Only Provided Place of Worship # 80             

 Brian Kocourek,  September 24, 1995

 You’re a Creation By the Word

 

Wednesday evening we examined pp. 250 again, where  brother Branham said,  "your life is hid in God through Christ, and sealed by the Holy Ghost.

 

We examined this thought of your Life being hid in God through Christ in contrast Colossians 3: 4 that tells us "when Christ is our Life shall Appear, we shall Appear with Him in Glory." We looked at the apparent paradox that lays here because we see on the one hand that the Scripture tells us that our Life is hid in God through Christ, the anointed Word, and yet we are also told by scripture, and remember, the Scripture is God breathed. It is the Word of God and the same Word of God that tells us we are hid in God through Christ also tells us that when he Appears, When He comes and manifests Himself in His true Character, we shall also Appear or manifest ourselves in our true character with Him in Glory which is the same mindset.

 

So then to reconcile these scriptures, we must ask ourselves, "How can we be hidden and yet manifested at the same time. And we found our answer in the place of hiding. It is in God through the anointed Word which is Christ. So, although we are hidden in God, yet we are not hidden from God. And remember, the last attribute that God appeared to Abraham before the fire fell and before the promised Son arrived, He appeared as Judge. Abraham said, "Shall not the Judge of All the earth do right?"

 

So we see that to the Judge we are manifested in our true character, but to the world we are hidden in God who is the Judge. Now remember, in 1 John 3: 1 He says therefore the world knoweth you not because it know Him not." And if we are in Him, who is the Word, then how can they know us. We even see in John 3: 19 - 21 that they will flee from the Light and if you are the Light of the world they will flee from you.  I know this from first hand experience. When I came into this Message all my friends forsook me. Even my friends who were Christians at the University of Minnesota would not have anything to do with me as though I were diseased with some strange plague or something. It is a funny feeling to enter a room and have people leave because you enter. But they did it.  I had established a Fellowship of Christian athletes branch at the University of Minnesota and when I went back the next year to help the new group get started, I was prayed against, and turned over to the Devil.

 

The next thing, I went to a supposed believers church in Mpls. And when I began to see how wrong they were and that the pastor was off the word, I was turned over to the Devil their with My wife and a few friends. I walked into he church library one night because I felt since I bought and made over half the tapes in their church Library that I was entitled to be able to still go and use them. When I would walk in the door, every one else would walk out. You don't know what a feeling that is.  Twice turned over to the Devil.  But I guess, as much as the devil wanted me, God would not let him have me, because, though the Devils ministering  angels of  tried to turn me over to him on two occasions,  it never worked. But this just goes to show, that their will be a continual thinning out of the ranks before we reach the end of the road. 

 

When I came into the Light of His Glorious Presence, I finally thought, at least I have met some people that believe and will be together for years to come. But as you know, even amongst those who believe that He is here, the numbers have been thinning down more and more each year with destructive heresies creeping in such as the Female Holy Ghost and the Fullness of the Godhead  coming into the Bride. So we might as well get used to it. Attrition has set in and it is because what we know and believe is also hid in God through the same anointing of Christ. After all, if Christ is the Word and the Word is hid, and we are hid in Him, then only those who are in Him will manifest with Him in the same Doxa, which is His mindset. All others will continue to go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 

 

Now, this morning I would like to continue with Paragraph 251 of God's Only Provided Place of Worship. This is number 80 in our series.

 

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.

 

This morning I would like to take our emphasis on this paragraph 251 where brother Branham said, . "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."    Now,  we see here 3 things that brother Branham is telling us.

 

#1)  He says, You are a New Creation, a Creation of The Word.

#2) Because the Foundation stone was laid in you before the foundation of the world.

#3)  Through the intermediary  agency of predestination, you are also Sons and Daughters of God.

 

Now, let's look at Point #1)  " You are a New Creation, a Creation of the Word.

 

I believe we shall have to look at this as two separate issues. 1st  of all, he said, you are a new creation. And then he said, you are a Creation of the Word. Now in order to understand what he is telling us here we must first ask ourselves, what is a Creation. The word Creation comes from the root word, to create. Webster's Dictionary says, a creation is "a being created". So we then must ask ourselves what does the word create mean? And we again find this according to Webster, the word create means 1> to cause to come into existence; to bring into being.... and another definition is this 4 > to be the first to play a particular role in a play.  Now, I think this latter definition is a good one because we are indeed coming into a role which is a first. We are a chosen people who are ordained to go in a Rapture. And that is a first, with the exception of Enoch. But as a people, no other time in history has there been a people who are called Bride and elect and who have collectively become changed in the inner man and then in the outer man as well. The Bible does not say that Enoch received a transformation in His body. He was just taken up and we know that he must come back to the Jews along with Moses who also was taken up into Glory by the angels.

 

Brother Branham told us that Moses and Elijah would be the two witnesses to the Jews after the Rapture of the Bride. He said that they had to come back to die in the flesh. From   Q & .A  in the  COD book preached in January 3, 1954 brother Branham said,  "Look at them two witnesses in Revelations 11, "I'll give power unto My witnesses, and they'll close the heavens in the days of their prophecy. They'll send plagues upon the earth as they will." There they are, the two witnesses in the last days. I know modern teaching is that that's the Old and New Testament. That's wrong. That's wrong.  Here's the two witnesses; that's absolutely a return of Moses and Elijah. You notice back there, neither one of them... Moses, he died, but where did he go? He had to raise again. And Elijah was translated even without death. He will have to die, 'cause every mortal has to, so he will have to return back again. And there's the two witnesses."

 

So we see in a sense we are the first to play a certain role in God's great drama of redemption. We will be the first to be changed and then raptured. And remember, [Romans 12: 1 - 2] tells us that we receive a change first in the inner man ( renewed in the mind) and then we receive a transformation  in our flesh.  But the  definition I think brother Branham was truly focusing on is the first one we read from Webster's Dictionary. " to cause to come into existence; to bring into being..."

 

Now, notice what brother Branham is telling us here. He first says, we are a New creation, and then he defines it much tighter by saying a Creation of the Word. So if  we look at creation to mean,  "a causing to come into existence", or better yet, " a being brought into being" we can then see that He is telling us something about the Word which is causing something to happen in us that we could not see before. Something new and wonderful. A New Creation. A New beginning. Something coming into existence that has it's source in the Word of God.

 

Now, we know that brother Branham is a Word Prophet. So with this in mind let's take this thought he has given us here, to the word of God.

 

Ephesians 2: 1 " And you hath He quickened (made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins;"  here you'll notice that Paul is telling us the same thing. We are made alive. We who were actually dead as far as God is concerned, have been made alive by God. Now, something that comes to life is said to have a new beginning. A new existence. And we see here that it is God Who brings about this New Creation by His Word. 

 

Notice how Paul uses the Word "Quickened", which means to be made alive. We are dealing with Life. This is what the entire Message of God is dealing with, Life. He is the Author of Life and He quickens us to Life, Eternal Life, His Life. Do you remember what Jesus said to  Martha, at the grave of Lazarus? He said, "I am the Resurrection and the Life" [ John 11: 24 - 26 ] and then He said, "Whosoever believes in Me shall never die."   So we see here that when we are speaking of  Him, we are speaking of Life itself. And He said that,  "He is Life". And if we believe in Him, we shall also become alive which means to have Life, for this Life that He is speaking of shall never die, for death is the end of Life, but here He is speaking about a beginning.. A New Beginning.  A New Life, A New Creation.

 

[John 1: 1 - 4] <read>  Notice the scripture says, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God," and then it says, " In Him was Life and the Life was the Light of Man. " So we are looking at a God here who is spoken of by His own Scripture as being the very Word of God.  Now, didn't Jesus also tell us, "As a man thinketh, so is he. And out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." So in this sense a man is His Word. He is no  better than His Word and no less than His word. And the same law holds true for God, because He said it. So we find that His Word is just an expression of Who He is. That is why He has descended with a Shout in this hour [ 1 Thes 4: 15 - 18] which according to brother Branham is the Message. And we know a Message is Words from One to another. So God has come down to speak to us and we know according to [Amos 3: 7] He does it through a Prophet, Always!

 

But, notice what I am trying to make clear to you. God is the Author of Life. And His Word is only His way of expressing that Life. And When His Word became flesh, that flesh spoke to Martha and said, " I am The resurrection and the Life!" Now Resurrection is a bringing back to Life and so we see the One Who is Life can also bring back to Life.  And in [Ephesians 2: 1] When Paul said, "And you hath He quickened," this word "Quickened" is a Greek word which means " To give Life to, to cause to become"

 

This sounds just like the word create which also means to cause to become. Now, Webster says the word "Quicken means to revive or to animate. And if something is revived, it had life at one time, lost it and now has come back to Life again. So when brother Branham says, " we are a new creation , a creation of the Word," And we know a creation is something that is becoming, or coming into existence, then we know that we are dealing with a result of the Light or the Word. Life begets Life. And if we follow this thought here with the other two points he made we see the entire picture opening up before our very eyes.

 

#1)  "He says, You are a New Creation, a Creation of The Word."  We see by Scripture that this new beginning is actually a revival, or a reviving in us something that lay dormant. And therefore the Light of God which is His Word is causing something in us to come forth bearing Life. In [1 Peter 3: 8 ] "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."  Notice how Peter uses the same word quicken in a sense not only to make alive, but notice how he first let's you know that what Life Jesus had in His was taken from Him in death, but by the Spirit of God He was made alive again, or quickened. So we see the real sense of this word quicken means to make alive again. Not just for the first time, but to <re-vive> which the prefix RE means to do all over again.  And if this is the case with Jesus then it has to be repeated in God's other Seed.  In fact this same Greek word for quicken is used in nature to suggest that each spring the plants receive new life which is a type of resurrection.

 

So in point number one, we see the effect of the word upon us. It actually takes a vessel which had Life at one time and brings back Life into that Vessel.  Now then the question is, "When did we have Life at one time?" And our answer is in point #2. He said, You are a New Creation, a Creation of The Word  #2) Because the Foundation stone was laid in you before the foundation of the world.  So we see here then that there had to be something in us before the foundations of the world that was in us but lay dormant for ages until this hour.

 

[Ephesians 1: 3 - 4] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be Holy and without blame before Him, .."  Now, you will notice we were actually chosen, or selected out for placement, in Him before the world was even framed. 

 

We also find in [Job 38: 4 & 7]  Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding....verse 7 When the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy?"   We see here that we were actually partaking in the worship of God before the world was even framed but something happened. Brother Branham said, we bypassed our theophany when we came into these bodies. But he said, Jesus never bypassed His theophany, and that is why Jesus knew Who He was all along and we find Him speaking tot he Father in [John 17: 5] " And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with thine own Self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." So we see here that Jesus knew Who He was and from whence He came. He said, " I came from God and I go back to God."   And we find brother Branham telling us the same thing about the Bride in this hour.  He said in our point #2) that this New creation which comes from the Word  actually had it's beginning in us before the foundations of the world. Because He had laid the foundation stone in us even before He laid the foundations of the World.

 

Now we must ask ourselves what is this foundation stone?  In [Ephesians 2: 20] Paul tells us that we are built upon the foundations of the apostles in which Jesus Christ Himself is the chief Corner stone.  Now notice how brother Branham worded this point #2) He said, Because the Foundation stone was laid in you before the foundation of the world.  And We found here in scripture that Jesus is the Chief Foundation stone. In fact in [1 Corinthians 3: 11] Paul said, " For other foundation can no man lay than is laid, which is Jesus Christ." So we see that He is not only the Chief foundation stone, but He is the very foundation Itself.  And notice how brother Branham said this foundation stone was laid in us before the foundations of the world. Christ is the chief stone and the very foundation and then if this be so, he said, this Stone was placed in us before the world was even framed.  You talk about being sealed in. 

 

[Romans  8: 28 - 30] <read> Notice, it is speaking of those that are "THE" called. Not just called, but "THE" called. A special called out people. And notice it tells us we have already been glorified. This is past tense, it is already  a finished work.  That's why brother Branham could point to [1 Corinthians 15] and tell us we already have a Glorified body waiting for us and that this body is only a reflection of the one we are going to.  We were in Him before the foundations of the world full of Life and Joy and peace resting in Him. And then notice brother Branham said, we are a Creation of the Word,  we have been RE-vived or made to live again  because He was in us before the world ever began. That is what the term born AGAIN is all about. Made alive again. Alive at one point, (before the foundations of the world) then something happened, (we bypassed out theophany and came into this world for testing) and now made alive again. But remember, the test was for the purpose of approval. He only tests us because He knows we are ordained to pass the test. But that's another sermon altogether.

 

[1 Peter 1: 3]  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant Mercy hath begotten us AGAIN  unto a Living Hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ out from among those who are dead."

 

Now remember, Jesus said, "My Words are Spirit and they are Life". So when we think in terms of the Word of God we must think in terms of His very Spirit and Life.  So then in reviewing  Points # 1 & #2  #1)  "He says, You are a New Creation, a Creation of The Word." #2) Because the Foundation stone was laid in you before the foundation of the world.  In other words, we are  being brought forth anew because the very Life of Jesus Christ who is the Word,  was placed  in us before the foundations of the world. And because this God Life was already in us, when the Light  struck the Seed, it had to come forth a new creation which Webster says is a being brought into being. And this leads us to the catalyst behind all this.

 

Point #3)  Through the intermediary  agency of predestination, you are also Sons and Daughters of God. In other words, as we saw in Ephesians 1: 3- 5 we were in Him chosen before the He even began to frame the world. And this choosing is actually a placing. So then what were we to be placed as? Sons and daughters.  God's kids. His own Children.

 

[Romans 8: 29] For Whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of His Son, THAT ( The purpose for this ) He might be the Firstborn among many brethren.  Notice God's purpose of conforming us to the Image of His Son is to have many brothers and sisters for His firstborn.

 

[Romans 8: 29] Wuest Translation  "Those whom He foreordained He also marked out beforehand as those who were to be conformed to the derived image of His Son, with the result that He is firstborn among many brethren."

 

[Romans 8: 29] Weymouth Translation " For those whom He has known before hand He has also predestined to bear the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Eldest in a vast family of brothers;"

 

So we see that God was determined to have many children that bear resemblance to His Eldest Son, His Only begotten Son.  What a family! And what a blessed hope. Even Jesus talked about this himself.

 

[John 20: 19] " Jesus said unto her, 'touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father and your Father; and to My God, and your God."

 

#3)  Through the intermediary  agency of predestination, you are also Sons and Daughters of God. Notice how God through Predestination brings us into the same likeness as His Only begotten Son. And what is this predestination? It comes from the word pre-destiny. Our destiny was marked out before hand. That is the only way God could be sure that  we would arrive in the image He purposed in His Will for us. So as the law of reproduction was set forth in Genesis 1: 11 " every Seed after it's kind". God then placed in us the Original seed or Foundation stone which was Christ the Word. Are not Some fruit tree seeds called stones? And are we not the fruit of the Tree of Life. If  every Seed must bring forth of It's kind, Then the Tree of Life had to have Seed also or it was a dead tree. And you know what Jesus did to the fig tree that did not bear fruit. He cursed it and it withered. So then the Tree of Life had to have Seed, and the Spoken Word is the Original Seed. And the Seed of the Tree of Life, the Foundation stone or seed was actually placed in us before the world was even brought forth into existence. And in this hour when God has come down in a ministry to unveil and reveal Himself, we are told that when He appears we shall also appear with Him because as He is in this world so are we.

 

[ Colossians 3: 4] 'When Christ who is our Life shall Appear, then shall we Appear with Him in Glory." 

 Notice it tells us that He is our very Life, and when this Life in Him manifests in it's true character, so shall the same Life that is in us manifest in it's true character as well. Why? Because we are predestinated to be in the same likeness as His  Son. Why? Because we are His Sons!

 

[1 John 3: 2]  Beloved, now are we The Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall Appear, ( When? At His Appearing) we shall be like Him; (Why? ) For we shall see Him as He is.  But just because we see Him, how does this guarantee that we will be like Him?

 

[ 1 John 4: 17 b] "Because, as He is, so are we in this world."   Weymouth Translation "Because just what He is, we also are in the world."  In other words, His Kids in His Image. Because remember, His First born according to Hebrews 1: 1 - 3 tells us the first born is His very Image and if we come forth in the same likeness as the Son, then we will also be in the likeness of our Father.

 

[ Acts 17: 27] " For in Him we Live, and Move, and have our being; as certain also of your poets have said, for we are also His Offspring."

 

And Jesus said, " I have come that you might have Life, and that you might have it more abundantly."  Then if  He is the same, yesterday, today and forever, if He is here today, won't he have the same purpose in Mind?  Now, we shall review what this more abundant life is all about the next time we meet.  Let's now just bow our head and our hearts in prayer.

 

Our Gracious Father, we are such a privileged  people to hear your voice in this day. Lord, we have covered just one of your Prophets messages and we have already spent 80 sermons feasting on the hidden manna. And Lord, we again thank you this morning for what you have shown us from this message of your servant brother Branham. May we take this word into our hearts and may it bring forth into manifestation that new creation which you promised your Word would bring forth, for we ask it in the name of your first born, Our Lord Jesus Christ.