God’s Only
Provided Place of Worship # 86
Brian Kocourek, October 15, 1995
The Fulness
Dedication of Samuel Aaron Keller:
This morning I would like to review what we have been
focusing on for the last couple weeks. pp. 250 - 252 where brother
Branham said, "Once you're sealed in there beneath the blood, you
don't go out no more. "Because you
become a new creation,
to the Word. and You're a creation of the Word.
"Because the foundation stone was laid in you before the foundation of the
world, and upon this come stone upon
stone, in each age, to vindicate that Word that's coming up, just exactly as
Jesus did in His age." Now,
I believe what we are dealing with here is the process of our transformation,
and in so doing, God always has a proper order to everything.
In [ 1 Corinthians
14: 40] the word of God tells us, "Let all things be done
decently and in order." And how could God who tells us to
be in order, do any different Himself. We also find in [Ecclesiastes 3: 1]
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under
heaven." So we find here
that God has an order for everything He does, and if an order then there has
got to be a timing, and a season. God is not careless
and flippant in His decisions. He has a Purpose and a plan for everything He
does. In Fact we read here that He has a
time and season for every purpose. And the Word purpose means "intentions,
or that which is intended." And the word purpose speaks of
something that has "a specific end in view, not accidentally, but by
design
" So we see that it involves a plan. And every plan
has certain fazes to it. So therefore, we see that every plan has a time
element involved as well. And God's plan is no different. "He has a
time and a season for every thing, every purpose under the heavens. "
Even the Rapture itself, or what the Scripture calls
the "resurrection" and the "catching away" has an order to it. We
read in [1 Peter 1: 5] concerning the Revelation of Jesus Christ, that
it has a timing or season appointed to it. "And you who are kept by
the power of God through Faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the
end-time." Now, the Wuest
Translation says, "and you who are constantly being kept
guarded by the power of God through Faith for a salvation ready to be revealed
in a last season which is epochal and strategic in it's significance." The word epochal means that there is a timing involved and this timing is part of the overall
strategy. Therefore it is epochal and strategic in it's
significance. Just like a military
command, and that is what the Shout of [1 Thessalonians 4] is.
[ 1 Thessalonians 4: 15 - 17]
"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain unto the Parousia of the Lord shall not prevent them which are
asleep. 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: 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."
And in [ Isaiah 14:
24] we read, "The Lord of Hosts hath sworn, saying, 'surely as I
have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it
stand:" [ Isaiah 46: 11b] " I have spoken it, I will
bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." [ Jeremiah 4: 28b] "Because I have spoken it, I have
purposed it, and will not repent (and repentance is a changing of the
mind) neither will I turn my back from it." So we see here
that what God has purposed in His heart to do, ( His
plan) He also is obligated to make it come to pass. This is why we see Him come
down in this hour with a shout. So we see first, the Lord must come
down, and as He descends he will let forth a Shout. That is the first faze of
the Rapture or catching away. Next we see that there will be the voice of the
archangel, which will raise the dead. Brother Branham told us this is the same
voice in [John 11: 40 & 43] when Jesus says, "you will
see the Glory of God," and then in verse 43 "he cried
with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth." We also see, in [Matthew
27: 50] when Jesus Himself lay dying on the cross, "
Jesus, when He had cried with a loud voice, he yielded up
the ghost. And behold, the veil in the temple was rent in twain from the top to
the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the
graves after His resurrection..."
So we see there is an order, for even those bodies of
the sleeping saints which were awakened at His loud voice, could not come forth
until He arose first. That's why we read in [1 Corinthians 15:
23] " But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at His Parousia." So we see that
there is an order involved to the Resurrection as well. Notice, 1st God must
descend with a shout which is a Message, and what is this Message? It is the
Revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "As a man thinketh so is he,
and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." So then, if God descends with a shout, it must be The
Revelation of Who He is, which is the revelation of Jesus Christ that is often
spoken of in Scripture pertaining to the
end-time.
So, then with this in mind, you can see why it is so
important that we have focused on this thought that brother Branham said, of "being
a new creation of the Word". Because, after all,
it is part of the final and total salvation of our being.
In [ 1 Peter 1: 5,
7b - 9] 5 "You who are
kept by the Power of God ( His Word) though Faith unto salvation ready to be
revealed at the last time. " So we see the Scripture speaking of
an end-time Faith or Revelation which brings salvation at the end-time. As it says in verse 7 "At the Appearing of Jesus
Christ." And in verse 9 "Receiving
the end of your Faith, even the salvation of your souls."
Now, let's go back to our study of the last couple weeks
and look again at this process of our change as brother Branham and Paul clue
us in on how it shall come forth. Brother Branham said, "Once you're
sealed in there beneath the blood, you don't go out no
more. "Because you become a new
creation, to the
Word. and You're
a creation of the Word. "Because the foundation stone was laid in you
before the foundation of the world, and
upon this come stone upon stone, in each age, to vindicate that Word that's
coming up, just exactly as Jesus did in His age." And so we see
that we are actually a Creation of the Word, and by the Word. And we found Paul
telling us the same thing in [Ephesians 4: 23 & 24] "Be
renewed in the Spirit of your mind: and put on the new man, which
after God is created in Righteousness and True Holiness."
Now,
as I have said this morning, this change of the body involves an
order which we see as follows: POINT # I. You must be renewed in
the Spirit of your mind first, ... ( this
begins by the Lord coming forth with a Shout, which is a Message, or the
Revelation of Jesus Christ. When we receive this Revelation, we become like Him
according to [1 John 3: 2] + [2 Corinthians 3: 18] + [ 1
Corinthians 13: 12] and as we are renewed in our minds, our bodies begin to
become subject to the Word of God and as we read in [ Romans 12: 1-2] "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." we begin to receive a transformation in our bodies
which begins by the renewing of our minds.
POINT # II. you put on the new man, Now these thoughts Paul speaks of here could be summed
up by brother Branhams words, when he said in His
Message, THE
RAPTURE pp. 91, " When a germ comes into the womb of the
female, you didn't become a human germ from your father, and then the next
thing you become a germ from a dog, and the next thing from a cat, and the next
thing from a chicken; it was all human germ. And the Body of Jesus Christ, the
Bride, will be part of His Body which He was the Word, and the Bride will
have to be the Word, Word added to Word added to Word. Luther's
Justification, Wesley's Sanctification, Pentecostal's Baptism with the Holy
Spirit, restoration of the gifts, and all the rest of it goes with it. It's got
to be Word on top of Word, germ on top of germ, life on top of life, to bring
out the full statue of the Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ.
POINT # III. Which after God is created ( or in the image of God is Created, ) So we see here
that Paul says the process toward bringing forth our Glorified body begins with
a renewal in the mind, the inner man must be changed first, [Romans 8: 29] " For whom he did foreknow, He did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
POINT # IV. In
Righteousness And we see this also in the Scriptures we have read, plus we see it in [Colossians
3: 10] "And have put on
the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after ( or according to) the Image of Him that created him:" So we see that this new man that we
are to put on is the Word which then takes hold on every fiber of our bodies
and we thus are transformed by the
renewing of our minds. [ 2 Peter 1: 3-4] According as His Divine Power (which
is the Word according to [Romans 1: 16]) hath
given unto us all things that pertain unto Life and Godliness (or God
likeness, which comes ) through the knowledge of
Him that hath called us to Glory and Virtue. That by these, ye
might be partakers of the Divine Nature, ...
POINT #
V. True Holiness which we know if it says, true holiness then we can
see that by use of the adverb True, we know then that there is a false holiness
as well. But we found in our study that this True Holiness is one which God
said, "Blessed is the man in whom God will not impute sin." So
although you may have done the deed, you don't get credit fro it, because as
Long as you are walking in the light as He is in the Light, the Blood if Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses you from ALL sin."
Now, this is what the Message is to do for you and I. As we see here this morning, God has an order for
everything He does. And it is His Purpose to save you and I
even from ourselves. We know then, that what so ever God has purposed, and Then
Spoken, He shall surely do it. And then if He said that He will have a elect
who are Holy and without blame standing before Him at His Parousia, then it is
not up to you and I to do God's job for Him, but whatsoever He has intended, so
shall he perform. There is our holiness. He is our righteousness, He is our
holiness, He is our All in all.
Now this morning I want to press ahead as we read from
...pp...
253
GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.WORSHIP - And
when He come, He was the fullness of the kings, prophets (hallelujah), the
godhead bodily rested in Him. He come to redeem out of
there a Bride, a Masterpiece. A Masterpiece that says to Satan that... Notice the distinction, here. In Jesus was all the
fullness of the Godhead placed in Him bodily. But out of that fullness come
forth parts. He said, "He come to redeem out of there a
Bride"... So the bride is not the fullness, but only a part of
what makes up the fullness. Oh, I love that, because that answers those who
would try to place the fullness in the Bride. You can't do it! The fullness is
placed in The Only begotten Son. And it was the mission of that Son to Redeem a
Bride. And the word redeem means "to buy
back". So we see that Jesus Himself was the price that God paid to
restore back to our rightful position as Sons, those who were actually in Him before the
foundations of the world. Then we see here a perfect positioning of the Son as
He relates to the Father and to His brethren.
But I want you to notice he is speaking of the Bride, yet he actually
quotes Jesus when he says, ... He was the fullness of the kings, prophets
(hallelujah), the Godhead bodily rested in Him. He come
to redeem out of there a Bride, a Masterpiece. A Masterpiece that says to Satan
that...254 When he says,
"Days of miracles is past. There's no such a thing as these things you're
talking about." 255 "Get
thee behind me, Satan." See? See, a Masterpiece standing and
a-guarding. Now, how is it that he
quotes Jesus but attributes what He said, to the Elect bride. We've
already found in [1 Peter 1: 5] That the Elect
is to be kept guarded by the power of God which is the Word of God,
through Revelation. So, the Revealed word Keeps guard over the Elect.
But if you notice the illustration Br. Branham uses here, He is saying that we
actually guard the Word. How is that?
Well, first of all he is quoting Christ, and we have
already established that we are to come in to the image of Christ, according to
[Romans 8: 29]. We also read in [ 2
Corinthians 3: 18] and various other scriptures. In [Collosians
3: 4] we read, "When Christ Who is our
Life, Appears, We shall Appear with Him in Glory." And also in [1
John 4: 17b] we see that "as He is, so are we to become..."
in this last hour. We also find that according to [ 2
Thessalonians 1: 10] we are to have the same mindset as Christ. So we see
then that we are what He is, because we are only reflecting His Nature and
Character. So then, what does brother
this mean when He is speaking of The Elect Bride as His Masterpiece, but then he says, ...
"a Masterpiece standing and a-guarding."
Now, we know that "God is our refuge and
strength, a very help in times of trouble." And we also know that we are kept guarded by
Revelation. Now when we think of the word guard we automatically think of
protection. The word guard suggests a
shielding or protecting of something. We know that He watches over us, this is
true. But how is it that in speaking of the Bride of Christ as a Masterpiece,
we also see her as a guard of the Word. In order to find out let's first
examine this thought of protection.
[ Psalm 1: 6 ] "For the
Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,: but the way of
the ungodly shall perish." We see two things here. The word knoweth
here is a Caldean word Yada
which means that the Lord has an active participation in the way of the
righteous, but we also see that the way of the ungodly shall perish,
and this word perish is a word aw-bad which means
they are left to themselves and so they perish. For there is a way which
seems right to man, but the end thereof is the ways of death. And a man
left to himself will always take the way which he
thinks is right, yet it ends only in death.
Now we also find further evidence of God as our protector in [Psalm
27:5] which brother Branham used for his text in presenting the
Rapture Message. "For
in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion in the secret of His
tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a Rock (which we
know is revelation). Now to find out what this secret of His tabernacle is,
let's turn to [Psalm 31: 20] " Thou
shalt hide them in the secret of Thy Presence..." So we see how
this scripture ties to the end-time revelation of His Appearing. Then at this
time we shall be under His protection, by His very Presence standing guard.
Now we also found in the book of [Job 1: 10]
that God had placed a hedge around Job, to protect him from harms way. In fact
we come to find that God is the Hedge Himself. He is our circle of defense.
[Psalm 103: 2-4] Bless the Lord O my
soul, and forget not all his benefits: ( So we
must ask ourselves, what are some of these benefits?) Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth
all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from
destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercies;" Now we see here that we are to be crowned by
Him. It says, He crowneth thee.
Now this word for crown is a Hebrew word that means to surround. So He
surrounds us with tender mercies and loving kindness. Now notice how this
compares with [Psalm 1: 6] where we find God Himself watching over us
with an active participation and [Psalm 31: 20] Where
we are secured in the cleft of His Rock which is His Presence. We know that to
be secured in the cleft of a rock is a military tactic which is used for
impenetrable defense. As long as you are tucked into the cleft of the rock your
enemy has no way of hitting you with his fiery arrows. So we see in this hour
He is here to encircle
us, and as He does so, we are caught up
into Him as a cyclotron of His presence or to be more scriptural, like a
whirlwind all around us [2 Corinthians 3:18] NIV "And we, who
with unveiled faces all reflect the LORD'S Glory, are being
transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes
from the LORD, Who is The Spirit.
Now we are told that this crowning is one which fadeth not away... [1 Peter 5:4] "And
when the chief Shepherd shall Appear, ye shall receive
a crown of Glory that fadeth not away." But we see in [Isaiah 40:5-9] that man
fades and everything that is created will fade, so this crown which fades not
must be the Word of the Lord, as Isaiah says, "only the Word of GOD
will not fade but endures forever."
Now [Isaiah 28:5] says He is our Crown, "In
that day shall the Lord of Hosts be for a crown of Glory."
Br. Branham said in a message entitled TESTIMONY OF A TRUE WITNESS, "I got [Isaiah 28:11], let's just read for a
moment and find out here what He said about the coming of the HOLY
SPIRIT. Isaiah the 28th chapter, let's
begin at the 5th verse " In that day shall the
Lord of Hosts be for a crown of Glory." He's speaking of this great day
when the Witness would come. What is our crown? ( pounds
on pulpit ) The Holy Spirit crowns us. A crown of Glory,
"and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of His people." 'The residue, the people that's left over. He'll be a
Diadem, a Crown of Glory, a Diadem of beauty. Think,
this is seven hundred years before it happened'. "For a spirit of judgment
to him that is setting in judgment," 'That's what He does to us at the
altar.' "For strength to them that turn the battle to
the gate." 'Let me see, "that turn the battle to the
gate," 'them who are standing for Him and with Him, this Great Spirit,
Holy Spirit that is prophesied , will be
the strength of him that stands at the gate in the battle. He is our strength, we rely upon Him, not upon culture, not upon education,
not upon things of the world. "Not by power, not by might but by My
Spirit, Saith the Lord." The church rest's solemnly in that. He will be
the strength of him that stands in the gate, not his theological background,
not his denomination, but the Holy Ghost will be his strength. He'll be the One
that'll stand at the gate. He'll rely upon the strength of the Holy Spirit to
turn the alien away."
Now Jesus received this same crown [Hebrews 2:9]
where we are told He was crowned with Glory and Honor...and also in [Psalm
8:5] where we read the same thing.
When then does this crown come to the Elect? [2
Timothy 4:8] Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown or
righteousness right-wise-ness which the Lord shall give me at that day,: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His
Appearing." And as we already read in [1 Peter 5:4]at the time when he Chief Shepherd shall Appear! So we see,
it shall be given to the Elect at the time of the Appearing.
Now, this word for crown is the Greek word ( stephanos ) which means "a
badge of Royalty." In his private audio letter to brother Vayle, Brother Branham said, "For as He come
then to the natural seed, Abraham, He comes now to the Royal seed of Abraham,
who is ALSO waiting for the promised Son, not the natural
son Isaac, but the Royal promised Son. We see this crown is also spoken
of in [James
1:12] Blessed is the man that endureth
temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life that,
which the Lord had promised to them that Love Him." And where did we read of this promise? In [2 Timothy 4] for "those who love His
Appearing!" We also find this crown spoken of in [Revelations 2:10-11] where those who
overcome are promised that they shall receive this crown of Life. Also in [Revelations
3:11] "Behold, I come quickly, ( in
other words, "Be ever watching for my Presence will be there soon")
: "Hold fast to that which thou hast, and let no man take thy
crown." Now we are talking about the hedge that GOD has
put around us. This crown of Glory or Life which is the very
mindset of God, for "His Words are Spirit and they are Life!"
Now we have been studying here so far how it is that
He is her crown, but remember, brother Branham also said, she as the
Masterpiece is His Guard as well. So she is His Crown as well. Now let's look
at how this is so. Now as she receives this crown which is God's very Presence,
His Very Life Himself, she gives back to Him this revelation which she received
by Him and this then becomes her offering unto Him. She then becomes His crown
as we see in [Isaiah 62:3] "Thou shalt also be a crown of
Glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God!"
and [Proverbs 12:4] " a virtuous woman is a crown to
her husband:" So we see the difference between Him
as her crown and her as His crown is that the word for Him as CROWN is TSePHIYRAH meaning a crown ( as
encircling the head). The word for her as a crown is TSANIYPHAH a head dress
(i.e. a piece of cloth wrapped around ) a hood,
diadem, mitre. MITRE= the official headdress of the ancient Jewish
High priest.
So we see that she is not for His protection in the
same way as He is for her, but rather she is for his beauty personified, in
which she, by her beauty, is to attract attention to the head, giving the head
the full preeminence. In this way she is guarding His Headship over her with
reverence and obedience to it, and her focus upon it. Thus we have a true
picture of a bride and her groom and how each compliments the other.
[Malachi 3:16-18] gives us a better
understanding then of this protection he gives her, and her giving back this
revelation to Him, which He has given to her. 16 "Then those who
feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A
scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared
the LORD and honored His name. 17 "They will be mine,
"says the LORD ALMIGHTY, "in the day when I make up My treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in
compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the
distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God
and those who do not."
Now once
again we have a perfect picture of Eden again, where the husband was to feed
his wife from the tree of life, and she then would feed him from the same tree ( a beautiful type of giving back to GOD the revelation He
has given to HIS bride). But instead of this happening, before Adam could give
to his wife Eve, the serpent got to her with the wrong tree, and thus perverted
the original course GOD had intended for man. But now at this time, Br. Branham said, in CHRIST THE MYSTERY OF
GOD REVEALED p.24-25...He has come back "to restore the kingdom to
its rightly position that fell by sin by the first Adam, back to where He
walked in the cool of the evening with His people, talked with them,
fellowshipped with them."
Now we see here a beautiful picture of Bride and
Groom. As she dresses to meet her mate, she first puts on her shoes (which is the
preparation of the Gospel). She is then dressed in the Word and the last piece
of apparel she puts on before she is presented to her Groom is the crown or
headpiece which consists of a headband, a veil and train, representing God
before her, GOD behind her, GOD over her and all around her. She is then ready
to proceed down the isle to meet her Groom. And as she walks toward her Husband
she is veiled to all who happen to look on. She then takes her place before Him
and as she stands in His presence, He reaches forward, removes her veil once
and for all. He then kisses her and for the first time she is purely face to face and mouth to mouth. (and
the Bride will have "Thus Saith the LORD," or she will keep still.)
[Zephaniah 3: 9-17] "Then will I
purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the
Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.
Let's just bow our hearts in a word of thanksgiving
and prayer.
"Dear Father, we are so thankful and grateful to You
for your Presence among us this morning. And to realize that
you have come down and are crowning us with Glory even as we sit here.
Grant to us the great crowning O Lord, and fill us with your very thoughts.
Help us to flee our own thinking and to rely only upon "Thus saith The
Lord" for we ask this in the name of thy only begotten Son, who we know to
be our brother, The Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.....
Let's sing that love song to Him ...
I Love you Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you,
Oh, my soul, rejoice
Take joy My king, In what you
hear, may it be sweet, sweet sounds, in your ears.