MASTERPIECE No. 1
The Great Fountain of Life
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Rev. Brian Kocourek
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know him
that is true, and we are in him that
is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This
is the true God, and eternal life.
Now, many do not understand
this verse of scripture and try to attribute this to speaking of the Son of God
as though He is not the Son of God, but in actuality they speak this verse as
though he is indeed God the Son. They read it as thus…
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know the son who is true, and we are in that son who is true, even in his Son
Jesus Christ. And This Jesus Christ is the true God, and eternal life.
But that reading is in
error, and It does not say anything even close to that. The Scripture should be
read as follows,
I JOHN 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we
may know the true God, and we are in the true God, in the same way as we are in his Son Jesus Christ. This God of Jesus Christ is the true God,
and eternal life.
Now, if you read it any other
way you are reading it in error. For God is the One and only true God, and
there are not two Gods nor are there three Gods. And to make the “Son of God”, “God the Son” you must have at least two Gods because The Father of
Jesus is also said to be the God of Jesus by none other than Jesus Himself.
When God raised up Jesus
from the dead, He said in John chapter 20…“go tell my brethren that I must ascend unto My
Father and Your Father, to my God and your God,” So we see here that Jesus Himself says he has
a God, who also is His Father. We also
find Jesus while on the cross in both the accounts given by Matthew and by Mark
that Jesus last few words proclaimed He had a God when he cried out, “My God, My God, why
hast thou forsaken me.” And to be forsaken means that His God totally
abandoned Him there to die on that cross.
Now, in the mouth of two
witnesses we have heard the Words of Jesus from His own Mouth identifying God
as His God and Father. Therefore, Jesus had a God. Therefore if you make Jesus
Himself God then you are making two Gods. For there is only One God, for God
Himself said in the Book of DEUTERONOMY 5:6 ¶ I am the LORD thy
God, and in verse 7 he saith, “Thou shalt have none other gods before me”.
So we see that in 1 John 5: 20 there is only One True God and that is
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact this same John that wrote
this Epistle also wrote the Gospel of John in which he says in chapter 3 and
verse 31 the following: JOHN 3:31 He that cometh from
above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the
earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 2 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man
receiveth his testimony.
If your ministry is
rejected by men, you should not think it strange that no man wants your
ministry because no one wanted the Son of God’s ministry either. While He was
preaching they didn’t want William Branham’s ministry but after he went off the
scene, then they flock to it. Have you ever wonder why? And they didn’t want
brother Vayle’s ministry while he was preaching, but now that he doesn’t preach
anymore, they are flocking to it through the internet. You ever wonder why they
didn’t want it when he was preaching it? I’ll tell you why. Because as long as
the man is around they look at his flesh, but after the flesh is no longer
around they flock to the ministry. And do you know why they wait until he is
off the scene to do so? Because then they can make him say what they want his
words to say. But while he is alive, they wouldn’t dare, because he might just
speak up and call their bluff. But after
the servant of God goes off the scene, they flock to their ministry because
they can feel free to twist their words to say whatever they want to, and the
man is no longer around to defend whether these people are quoting Him
correctly or not.
That is why they will not
come to the light when the servant is alive. John said walk ye while ye have the light, and
he also said, they will not come to the light lest their
deeds will become manifested, so they wait until the light from
that man is gone and then they come to it, but God moves on and He changes His
mask again and again, and further elucidates His presence from one vessel to
another vessel, and each time he changes His mask, the new vessel He uses is rejected in the
same manner as the previous vessel before.
John said in I JOHN 5:10 ¶ He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness
in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he
believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
And he also said, I JOHN 4:5 They are of the
world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us.
Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Now, I have already read
from 1 John 5:
20 where John said that God is the true God. He said, in
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know the
God who is true, and we are in The
God that is true, even or with the same way as we are in his Son Jesus
Christ. This God of Jesus Christ is the
true God, and eternal life.
Now, this same John tells
us in the Gospel of JOHN 3:33 He that
hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
And in JOHN 17:3
Jesus in his prayer to the Father tells us that God is the
only True God. “And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
And the Apostle Paul tells
us in ROMANS 3:4 Let God be true, but every man a liar…
So we see the Scriptural
evidence that God is the True God
that John speaks of in 1 John 5:20.
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, (and we know that the Son of God came to declare the Father,
that was His job. He said the Son can do nothing but what the Father shows Him
to do, and He said the Son can speak nothing but whatsoever the father
commanded Him to Speak, and he said it is written in the volume of the Book, I
have come to do Thy Will o God. Therefore, His declaration to mankind was what
the Father declared through Him, and this reflecting the Father in every detail
is what gave us the correct understanding.) that we may know God
who is true, and we are in God that
is true, even as we are in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Now, what does He mean by
this? We are in God even as we are in His Son. Because by One Spirit all are
baptized into One body. The same God-Life that dwelt in the Son dwells also in
us, unless we be reprobates.
And in JOHN 17:21 Jesus continues in His Prayer, “That they all may be
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given
them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Now, this morning I would
like to begin a new study of Brother Branham’s Message concerning the
Masterpiece. I believe this study deals with the Son of God and how that God
created a Masterpiece when he brought forth His Son.
Webster tells us that the
word masterpiece means: The Greatest Work as an Artist. And in common English
it is the greatest piece of the Master.
Now this message was given
to us that we might focus upon how God Brought forth His Masterpiece in His Son
through, that He The Son of God might be the pattern by which all sons will
come forth into the same Image.
Brother Branham tells us
early on in this Message that we are yet in a negative form, but there must be
a positive from which that negative was taken from. The Positive was
Christ, the Son of God, and we are only
the reflection.
Therefore as we study this
Message on The Masterpiece, I
want you to continually be willing and ready in your mind to be able to move
back and forth between the positive Masterpiece which was Christ, the First
born Son of God, and then be able to see how he is tying the pattern of the Son
of God to the Elect in this hour who come forth in the image of that first born
Son.
This is the essence of this
sermon, and I have no clue at this time as to what we shall discover as we
begin to probe the depths of this wonderful Message, but as certain as I am of
my calling to serve Gods End-Time Elect, I am certain that it was ordained for
us to study this Sermon of William Branham’s concerning the “Masterpiece.”
Now, as we study this sermon, we will
find ourselves coming to a fuller understanding of what our role is as sons,
and the means whereby God purges us as sons from our own wills even as He
purged His Son of His own will, until we come as Jesus came and as Paul wrote
in HEBREWS 10:7 ¶ Then
said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy
will, O God.
For this also I am most
certain, that, as God sent forth His Son
into the World to give us an understanding, He has given us an end-time Message
through the lips of His Vindicated Prophet that has given us an even greater
understanding in order to prepare us to receive our roles of Sonship. And with
these thoughts and with prayer, I would like to begin our study of this
marvelous Sermon, “The Masterpiece.”
Therefore let’s begin now
by reading from the sermon, THE MASTERPIECE 64-0705 and let’s begin with
paragraph 1
Brother Branham begins by
saying, 1
Let's bow our heads now for prayer. While our heads and hearts are bowed
before God, I wonder how many in here has a request that they'd like God to
remember by just lifting up your hands? That's...?... Now, hold your request in
your heart now as we pray.
2 Lord Jesus, Thou the Fountain, inexhaustible Fountain of Life, (1) flow
through us today, Lord, and (2) cleanse us from all unbelief and
all sin, (3) that we might stand
in Thy Presence now, (4)knowing that there is need among us, that... We know
that we are sinners and not worthy of any blessing. But then when we think of
Him Who came and took our sins, then when His Blood's there, it's not us in the
Presence of God, it's Him, just our voice through His Blood; His Blood's
speaking. Oh, God, then cleanse our hearts from sin and unbelief.
3. Give to us the desires of our heart, for we truly
have these desires to serve You. And in
these weakening conditions and afflictions and things of the world that's put
upon us sometime to perfect us... We've been told that, that He said, "Think it
not strange that these trials come." They're only working out for our good and
to perfect us and bring us into that place. These great deserts of
experience, where righteous men are
molded into saints, we thank Thee
for these experiences, Lord. We would by no mean, no wise want to do
anything contrary to Your will; but we pray, Father, that in this we'll be brought closer to You.
4. And when the burdens are so heavy we can't go no
farther, then we raise our hands and scream for our Father. Then hear from
heaven, Lord. Heal us. Make us well for the
5 Bless Thy Word this morning, Lord. Thy Word
is the Truth And we assemble here now in the church. We pray for Brother
Neville, and for Brother Capps, and Brother Collins, and all the rest of the
ministers, and the trustees, deacons, and all the laity, and the strangers in
our gates. May this be a day that we'll long remember because of Your Presence.
We're here under great expectation this morning, Lord. Just momentarily notice,
called together... We feel that it's for a purpose. May Your purpose be
achieved, Lord. For we ask it in Jesus' Name, as we submit ourselves. Amen.
Now, I would like to begin
our study of this Sermon of Brother Branham’s this morning by focusing on just
the first thought that comes forth in this opening prayer. Now, there is enough
thought here in this prayer that we could be studying this prayer for weeks to
come. But let’s begin by looking once more at this opening thought here, as we
read again paragraph number one.
1 Let's bow our heads now for prayer. While
our heads and hearts are bowed before God, I wonder how many in here has a
request that they'd like God to remember by just lifting up your hands?
That's...?... Now, hold your request in your heart now as we pray.
2
Lord Jesus, Thou the Fountain,
inexhaustible Fountain of Life, (1) flow through us
today, Lord, and (2) cleanse us from all unbelief and
all sin, (3) that we might stand
in Thy Presence now, (4)knowing that there is need among us,…
Now, lets focus our thought
to begin with on what he says as he enters into prayer with God. He says, Lord Jesus, Thou the Fountain, inexhaustible Fountain
of Life, (1) flow
through us today, Lord, and (2) cleanse us from all unbelief and
all sin, (3) that we might stand
in Thy Presence now, (4)knowing that there is need among us,…
Now, As I see it there are
4 thoughts here.: He is acknowledging that God is the great fountain of Life, we
must ask ourselves why would his mind go to a description of God as the Great
fountain of Life as he is beginning this message on the Masterpiece unless he
wants us to become focused on why this Great masterpiece was brought forth and
from Whom it was brought forth. Now, as he begins his prayer he mentions four
things to God, and number one: he asks for God to send this great fountain that was in
Him in the beginning to us that it might flow through us. That is the first
thing he asks of God who is this Great Fountain of Life. Then he asks God
acknowledging Him as the Great Fountain of Life, that which flows through us,
that this God-Life might also cleanse us from all unbelief and sin. Then the
third thing he asks God before beginning this sermon is he requests from God
that we might stand in His Presence , and finally he acknowledges in this
prayer that God, this Great Fountain of Life knows the things we have need of.
And so with this
understanding of the first part of this prayer, I would like to begin with
speaking about this Great Fountain of Life that William Branham is praying to,
the Great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, while we are looking
at this prayer, I do not want you to forget that the subject of this sermon is
concerning the “Masterpiece”. And I
want you to understand that while he opens in prayer calling God by this
wonderful title of “the Great fountain of Life”, there is a purpose for this
description as you will see later in this sermon of Br. Branham’s. Because he
will liken this Great Fountain of Life to the Great Sculptor artist Creator who
had within Him a design for the Masterpiece.
But for now, Let us look at this thought that has been addressed to us
concerning the Great Fountain of Life, and let us study that for a while
because after all the Masterpiece was taken from the mind of this Great
Fountain of Life.
In Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the Beginning God”…And
we know that the word for God here was taken from the Hebrew word “Elohim”
which means “the self existent one”.
So we see then that there was a time that God dwelt all alone. In fact
for an eternity in the past God dwelt alone in a solitary existence. But in God
was a great fountain of Life. For God is Life.
And in St. John 1: 1 we also read, “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was God”…Therefore we understand that God
is the Word, and out of God came also the logos which was the Word also and
this word is a carrier of Life, and this life was also the first light. ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life;
and the life was the light of men.
God
was alone and in Him was Life. And as He began to bring forth this Life, it
first went into His Son, which is His Offspring, and the word offspring means
to spring off from. So we see, God, the great Fountain of Life, began to bring
forth His great plan to fulfill Himself, and He began this fulfillment by
bringing forth first a Son. We find in JOHN 5:26 "For as the
Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in
himself;"
Therefore
we can see what David meant when He described God as the Great Fountain of
Life. PSALMS 36:9 "For with
thee [is] the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.'
Now, Both David and John saw
two main characteristics in God. They both saw this great fountain of
Life, and William Branham believed the
same thing as we see in the following quotation from ….
21-129
Hebrews Chapter 57-0821 "This Great Fountain of Spirit which had no beginning
or no end. This Great Spirit began to form in the creation, and the Logos
that went out from It was the Son of God. It was the only visible form that
the Spirit had. And It was a theophany, which means a body, and the body
was like a man.
Now,
William Branham believed this Life was represented as a great Light. And when
we see the first expression of this fountain come forth, it is when God begins
to speak. What do we see first? Light is spoken, and what does that Light bring
forth? It brings forth the Life that was in it. The Father giving birth to His
Son.
Now,
we must not confuse God with His Son. John tells us that God is the Word. Some
men would tell you that Jesus, the Son of God is the Word, but that is not
entirely accurate. God is the Word. God is the Logos, and out of this great
fountain of Logos or Word came forth a Little Logos, or Word expressed, and
that was the Son. Brother Branham called Him Little Jehovah.
Smyrnaean
Church Age 60-1206 147 "Now,
if there's only one form of Eternal Life, and you get it and we're seeking for
it through Jesus Christ; that's God's Life, then when that blood cell
was broke on the Son of God, and that little Jehovah that was bottled up on the
inside of this man called Jesus…
This
is why brother Branham taught us that there are differences between God the
Father and His Son because all sons have beginnings.
From
the Message ATTITUDE
AND WHO IS GOD? 50-0815 015 brother Branham said, "And we're taught in the beginning, that the Logos, or the
Son of God went out of God. Now, I do not believe in eternal Sonship. That's
even radical to even mention such a thing, eternal Sonship. How could He had an
eternal Sonship...?... He had to have a beginning. See? 016 So He first was
God, Jehovah. And out of Him... Let's just picture now as a little drama so you
can get it. Let's see coming out of space where there's nothing, let's make it a little white Light, like a mystic Light, like a Halo. And that was the Logos that went out of God in the
beginning. That was the Son of God that came out of the bosom of the Father.
That was what was in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us. In the
beginning was God. And then out of God came the Logos, a part of God that went out
of God.
Notice,
brother Branham told us it was only a part of
God that went out of God. And we know as with any child
born, it is a part of the father in him. Brother Branham said from the Message,
GO TELL MY
DISCIPLES 53-0405S 170, he is a part
of God, (if) he's an offspring of
God.
Hebrews 1: 1-5 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2) Hath in these last days spoken unto
us in Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the
worlds; Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of
his person, (The
expressed image... or the out-raying or etching of God.) and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he
had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high; 4) ¶ Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they. 5) For unto which of the angels said
he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I
will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
AMPLIFIED = Hebrews
1:1-5, In Many
separate revelations, - each of which set forth a portion of the truth, - and
in different ways God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets.
But in the last of these days, He has spoken to us in the person of His Son,
Whom he appointed heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by, and through
Whom, He created the worlds, and the reaches of space, and the ages of time, -
that is, He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order. He
is the sole expression of the Glory of God, - the Light-being, the
out-raying of the Divine, - and He is the perfect imprint and very image
of God's nature, upholding,
maintaining, guiding, and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.
When He had, by offering Himself, accomplished our cleansing of sins and
riddance of guilt, he sat down at the right hand of the Divine Majesty on High.
Taking a place and rank by which He, Himself, became as much superior to angels
as the glorious Name which He has inherited is different from and more excellent
than theirs. For which of the angels did God ever say, "You are My Son,
today I have begotten you, And Again, I will be to Him a Father, and he will be
to Me a Son."
HEBREWS
1:6
And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith,
And let all the angels of God worship him.
Now, lets just stop for a
moment and think about this Scripture. It speaks of when the Son of God came
forth and then tells us he saith, let all the angels of God worship Him. Now, I
would like to ask who is saying what here. This is where I think because the
men who translated the Scriptures had a hard time in their translations because
their minds were already made up concerning their doctrine of Trinity, that
they believe that there are three persons in the Godhead and these three
persons are three individuals and therefore would have to be three Gods.
But in the beginning
God. And we are told that there are no
other Gods besides this Ione God, so we must take God at His Word. God did not
create the angels to worship and make another being God. He created the angels
to worship Himself. So we must not read this Scripture in a way that makes
another God or else we will end up with two Gods.
Now, I believe what this
Scripture tells us here is that God brought forth His Son, and then His son
saith, Let all
the angels of God worship God. For we have a vindicated Prophet of
God who told us that in the beginning Christ was Michael and in that form he
led the angels in the Worship of God.
Beginning ending gentile
dispensation 55-0109E P:36 "And at that time Michael shall stand, the great prince."
Michael was Christ, of course, Who fought the angelic wars in heaven with the
devil. Satan and Michael fought together, or fought against each other, rather.
FIVE
IDENTIFICATIONS 60-0911E 177 So the first thing He created... Now, some
of you want to know about my Genesis story; God said, "Let us make
man." The first thing He created was angels to worship Him, then He
become God.
IDENTIFIED
CHRIST OF ALL AGES 64-0409 E-25 "In the beginning was the Word."
Before It was even expressed, It was a thought, attribute. In this thinking He
was to be God. Probably created angels first, then He was worshipped, He was
God.
Now, I believe
the first thing created was Lucifer, because he was called son of the morning,
and we know the morning or morning star is the Son of God.
INFLUENCE
64-0315 E-37 Note the heavenly Seraphims with coverings over their faces.
Now, the Seraphims is the burners of the sacrifice, which is one of the highest
orders of angels. They're next to the cherubims. There is angels, and then
Seraphims, and then cherubims. And Seraphims is actually the burner of the
sacrifice, making the way for the sinners' approach, a real high order of
holiness in the
REV
CHAP 4.PT.3 THRONE MERCY 61-0108 291
You notice, these--these Cherubims that John saw here must've been
interested in keeping the Tree of Life, so they must be interested in human
beings. Or read Genesis, getting back to Genesis again; They kept the Tree of
Life, guarded it, the Way of Life, the Way of Life.
REV
CHAP 4.PT.3THRONE MERCY 61-0108
298 Guarding this gate...
Cain and Abel come up here to worship. So it must've been an altar that they
guard (Is that right?), these Cherubims.
REV
CHAP.4.PT.3 THRONE MERCY 61-0108
301 Moses was taken up into heaven: Moses, taken
from the earth up into heaven and saw the altar of God. Is that right? I'm
trying to prove my point here. You know what I'm trying to do, don't you? All
right. He went up in the Presence of God. And when he descended from the
Presence of God, he said... God told Moses, "Make everything on earth as
patterned after heaven." Is that right? All right. Now, then when he did,
when he made the ark of the covenant, he put two Cherubims to guard the ark.
See what it is? It was the temple... It was the altar, the throne guards.
The two Cherubims, He said, "Mold them out of brass and put their wings a
touching like this," because that's exactly what he saw in heaven. That's
exactly what John saw in heaven, these four Cherubims on the four sides of the
ark of the throne in heaven. They were the guards of the ark. Cherubims, guards
at the mercy seat. If you want to read that Scripture (We ain't got time to go
to it.), put down Exodus 25:10 to 22. Now, they guard the mercy seat when God
is in His Shekinah Glory. Where was the Shekinah Glory? At the mercy seat. Is
that right? They guard that Shekinah Glory. Um. Whew.
Now, to this point I
believe we can establish that Lucifer was a co-partner leading in the worship
of God. He taught, He was a teacher. He
knows the Word of God, but where he went off was when he added his own thoughts
to what God said. He was perfect in all
his ways until iniquity was found in him. He perverted the Word, He twisted it
for his own self interest. He was not satifisifed with being a good steward of
the Word of God and he wanted a bigger kingdom than Michael (Christ) had.