MASTERPIECE No. 6
Knowing there is need among us
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Rev. Brian Kocourek
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and
let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as
wool.
Let us pray, Dear Loving
and Merciful Father, we have come here today not to be seen, but to approach
Thy Great Throne of Mercy knowing that the doors to your mercy are still open
for we have a promise of an advocate with the Father and we acknowledge that
role that your Son is now on your great throne performing as our mediator. For
there is one mediator between you God and we as men, and that is the man Jesus,
Your only Begotten, full of Grace and truth, and we know we have an advocate
with you Father because your Word has told us so. And we know that you are not
a man that you could lie, therefore we have a most blessed assurance of our
Hope has been secured to bring us an entrance into you Great Presence which you
have shown to us in this hour. Be with us dear Father as we open your word this
morning, and may it not be our own doing, but may we say only what you have
given us to say, for we ask it in Jesus Christ’s precious name, that name which
you bestowed on your Son, amen.
Now, this morning we will
take our sixth message from brother Branham’s sermon THE MASTERPIECE 64-0705 and we are still going to
focus our thoughts on his opening prayer again because there is so much in this
prayer. Now, in his opening prayer he said, 2 Lord Jesus, Thou the Fountain, inexhaustible Fountain of
Life, flow through us today, Lord, and cleanse us from all unbelief and all
sin, that we might stand in Thy Presence now, knowing that there is need among us, that... We know that we are
sinners and not worthy of any blessing.
Now, this morning I would
like to focus our thoughts on just a few words that Brother Branham said. “knowing that there is need among us.”
Now, this might not seem to
be something that is worth examining, but I believe it tells a whole lot of the
condition of the elect at that time. He is praying that the Great God who is
the Fountain of Life may flow that Life through us and cleanse us from all sin
and unbelief that we might be able to stand in the Presence This Holy God who
is here, and then he adds, “knowing that there is need among us.”
Now, these words, knowing there is need among us, I believe
are worth our time to take a few minutes this morning and reflect on just what
he is saying here, because he adds to that the following words. “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.
Now, brother Branham is
acknowledging the need for us to have a blood atonement that is still efficacious
to us. Now, this is contrary to what some people believe who claim to be following
this message. There are some who believe there is no more mercy, and that the
lamb has left the mercy seat. For those who believe such I feel sorry for them
because if that is what their revelation is, then they will be the first to be
doomed because they have turned down mercy. And when you turn down mercy, there
is only one thing that remains and that is judgment.
But I believe
what we were told in 1 John 1: 7 But if we walk
in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Therefore as long as you are walking in
the light there is a blood that still applies.
Now, as I said there are
those who believe that there is no more mercy. They believe when the seals were
revealed that the Lamb left the Mercy seat and is now on the judgment seat.
They believe there is no more mercy. And yet we find brother Branham right up
until his last sermon letting us know that the doors of mercy were still open.
On November 26, 1965 he said
in the sermon, Works is Faith Expressed, May those who are not saved, above all
things, be ready. Get ready now, while
the doors of mercy are still opened “
And
of course in January 19, 1965 brother Branham preached a message called, God who is rich in mercy 65-0119 P:10 Now, why would he preach such a message almost 3
years after the seals were opened if there was no more mercy. And in this
message he said, Dear Jesus, we
are approaching now the great throne of mercy, through this all-sufficient Name.
"For there's no other Name given among men whereby we must be saved, but
only this Name of the Lord Jesus." And we're coming in His Name. And we
pray, heavenly Father, that You will receive us tonight as Your believing
children. And forgive our unbelief, Lord. Help it tonight, that it may be that
we will completely believe every Word of God tonight, for all the things that
we have need of.”
Now, I do not
think I need say anything else, because that doctrine is so foolish that one
has to be void of any common sense to believe that there is no more mercy.
You see what
they do not understand is that just because the Seven Seals were opened (which
means they were revealed), that does not necessarily mean that they have been
entirely fulfilled at this time. There is a big difference between revealed and
fulfilled, because revealed simply means they have been opened to our understanding.
When the seals were opened it was very apparent that many of the Seals had
already taken place hundreds of years before 1963. And further more, the Seven
Seals are not a chronological order of events. The Sixth Seal and the Seventh
Seal actually overlap.
I think some
day we ought to begin a series called, “understanding the Seven Seals”, because
so many people have their minds twisted to think that the seals all took place
when they were opened. So too they think the Seventh Seal was complete when it
was opened but it is not complete. They also get mixed up statements where
brother Branham says the Seventh seal brings Him back to earth and think that
since the Seventh Seal has been revealed that he (The literal Body of Jesus
Christ is back on earth) when the One Who has descended is the Angel of
Revelation Chapter 10 which is The angel of the Covenant Which is God Himself,
the father of Glory. He told us The Seventh Seal is Christ, but we must ask
ourselves what He means by using the Word Christ since Christ means three
things; The Anointer, The one being anointed, and the anointing itself. But we
must also know that the Seventh Seal is
also concerned not only with the Appearing but with the Second Coming, and that
has to do with the literal Body of the Son of God coming down to meet us in the
air.
Brother Branham
told us there’s a difference between the Appearing and the Coming, and not
knowing this is where many have erred and gone into false doctrine.
From that time 62-0713 P:102 How many knows
there's a difference between the appearing of Christ and the coming of Christ?
It's two different words. Now's the appearing, the coming will soon be. He's
appearing in the midst of us, doing the works that He once did, in His church.
Now, you're a part of that church, and by grace you believe. I am a member of
that church.
It is I be not afraid 62-0611
P:81 You know, there's a difference between the appearing of Christ and
the coming of Christ. That's two different words altogether. He's appearing now
in His church. We see Him; we know it's Him. It's the Holy Spirit. See? We know
it is. Now. We believe that the Holy Spirit is God. All of us know that.
Jehovah Jireh part 2 62-0706
P:74 This is the close of the royal Seed's waiting. He's here, the
appearing of Christ. Did you ever try to divide... There's a place in the
Bible, you know, I ain't got time to go into it, says, the appearing of Christ,
and then the coming of Christ. That's two different things altogether, the
appearing and the coming. He's appearing now, working with us in the form of
the Holy Spirit, making it just perfect, the Church; It has to.
Now, the other foolish
thing being taught is that the Bride is now God. There are those who teach that
God is in His church, therefore the Church or Bride is now God. And that comes
because of a total lack of understanding the Godhead.
Brother
Branham said from his sermon, We
would see Jesus 62-0704 P:9 Now, we was told as Catholics that God is in His church, and that's
where God is, in His church... So then if God is in His church, which one of
them is His church? Each one of them says it's the church. So I knowed one
thing... Now, that's just what the priest said, "God is in His
church."But the Bible said God is
in His Word. And He said that whosoever shall add anything to This, or take
anything out of It, the same will be taken out of the Book of Life, for him. So
I believe with all my heart that this Word is God in print form.
And let’s face it, in John 1:1,
tells us, “In the
beginning was the word and the Word is God”.
And we know that God is Sovereign.
Brother Branham said we are a needy people, but God is not a needy person. He
is Sovereign and He needs no one and no thing. He is a Solitary God and nothing
good that we do can add to what He is nor can anything bad that we do can take away
from what He is. He said, “I am that I am”.
Now, that does not mean that He is what you think He is. He didn’t say “I am what you think I am”. He said, “I am that I Am,
period, and there is nothing you, nor anyone else, can do to change that. And
God is not a needy person, but brother Branham said here that we are a needy
people.
Now, the word needy means “to be in need, and it actually means impoverished,
which means to be poor.” In other words if we
are in need, then we are in need of something. And God is not in need of
anything. But we are in need because we are a needy people. Therefore there
must be something that is required that we don’t have. So we are talking about requirements when we speak of being needy.
Therefore something required is missing. we are missing a requirement.
Now, we are getting
somewhere. You see when language ceases to mean what it says then the language
is of no more use. Therefore, if a Vindicated prophet of God said “we are a needy people” then it is a
certainty that we are missing something that is required for us.
Now, then the question is
what are we in need of? What is it that we are lacking? What requirement are we
lacking, for if we have a need then it is expedient that there must be
something that is required that we are in need of because we do not have it.
And in his prayer Brother
Branham tells us what that requirement is. He says we need what it takes to
bring us into the presence of a holy
God.
He said, we are a needy
people, and in need of an advocate with the Father, and the blood to completely
cover our disbelief.
As brother Branham so often
said, we have hardly enough Faith for healing much less a Rapture and change of
the Body. So we are a needy people, and we are a sinful people saved by the
Blood of the innocent One. And to believe otherwise, we are only deceiving
ourselves.
In
fact that is what the Apostle John said in, 1 John 1: 8 If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Now, if you read this carefully, it does
not say that we are deceiving others. It says we deceive only ourselves. The Wuest
translation says, If we say that (indwelling) sin we are not having, ourselves
we are leading astray, (nobody else) and the truth is not in us.
In other words, if we say
we have no sin, we are deceiving only our selves. I haven’t met a sinner yet that I have thought was sinless. And I am
sure you all have the same experience as well. The legalist wants to pretend
that they are sinless.
So
they go around with their nose in the air but they don’t fool anyone except
themselves. Look, I know you are all a bunch of rank heathens saved by the
blood of the Lamb. How do I know that? Because that’s what I am. A rank heathen
come out of Catholicism, which is nothing but a bunch of Creeds and superstitions,
and if I thought any different about myself then I would only be deceiving
myself. But I’ve been saved by His Grace, and by Faith I am walking in the
Light of His Glorious Presence.
Therefore as
the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
And he also taught us that
through Faith which is Revelation we have access to God.
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By
whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice
in hope of the glory of God.
And this access
we have to the Father is not by our Faith that we have in Him but by receiving
the same faith Jesus Had, His Faith in the Father is what gives us access to
the Father.
Ephesians 3: 12 In whom we have
boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
That is why the Apostle Paul could
tell us Galatians
2: 20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
And again in Ephesians 2: 18 he said, For through him (the
Son of God) we
both (The Son of God and us) have access by one
Spirit (That is the Spirit which has come froth from the Father), For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Romans 3: 22 Even the
righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God;
William Branham was every
bit in need of the blood of the innocent One as any other human being. And we all
look and admire William Branham for the character he displayed in his life before
God, but if it were not for the grace of God he would have been a murderer in
his youth, and perhaps a drunkard like his father because it’s not as though he
didn’t try to take a drink, and it’s not as though he didn’t try to smoke that cigarette, but
God just wouldn’t let him do it.
And
that is because God wanted him sanctified and set aside for service. Now, you
and me we didn’t have God blow out that match, or come down in a whirlwind to
keep us from doing what we should not have done. But He did send His Son to die
on our behalf just the same, and by a once for all sacrifice He met the payment
of all our sins, past, present and future.
Therefore,
as David said, Psalms 32: 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile.
Romans 4: 6 Even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered. 8 Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Now, Paul is not saying here that you
never did it. he is saying you did it but you just are not being given credit
for what you did. And that is a good thing, because if you are not given credit
for doing it, then you don’t have to pay the price for having done it. why?
Because Jesus paid the price with a once for all sacrifice.
That
is why brother Branham could say in his opening prayer, THE MASTERPIECE
64-0705 2 Lord Jesus, Thou
the Fountain, inexhaustible Fountain of Life, flow through us today, Lord, and
cleanse us from all unbelief and all sin, that we might stand in Thy Presence
now, 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.
This new
Pope recently made a comment when being interviewed by the Zenit News
Agency. They asked him if believers of other religions are saved, and he
replied, “we are in agreement that a Jew, and this
is true for believers of other religions, does not need to know or acknowledge Christ
as the Son of God in order to be saved.”
There
is only one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus.
John, told us that in order
to have God you must have the Doctrine of Christ. And if you do not have the
doctrine of Christ you do not have God. Then how can you be saved without the
Doctrine of Christ.
Brother Branham said in his
sermon, E-37 FUNDAMENTAL
FOUNDATION FOR FAITH 55-0113
Now, when He was here on earth, He was a perfect
example of everything of the godhead. He was the fullness of the godhead
bodily. In Christ dwelt God. The body of Jesus was only the tabernacle of
God. It's where Almighty God Himself lived and dwelt in a human being. You
believe that, don't you? You have to, to be saved.
You have to believe that.
1 John Chapter 2
Verse 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he
that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.