The Masterpiece 106
The Word, the Life
January 14th, 2006
Brian Kocourek
Again this morning we will read from paragraph 200 of
The Masterpiece and there is but one small statement that Br. Branham said that
I would like to use for my text..
THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705 200 You stay in the Word, the Life…
You know, thee Words, “the Life” are much
misunderstood by the whole of Christianity. Many people look at the Life as the
way you live, and others look at the Life as being manifestations of God with
Power, or the gifts, or something done in the flesh. But Jesus said, “My Words are spirit
and they are Life. JOHN 6:63” And we know that the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, so that means the Word became a Living being.
1 John 1:1 That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal
life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
And we find Peter telling us the same thing in 2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through
the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue: 4 Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to
your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And
to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these
things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged
from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather,
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do
these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an
entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And finally we see the Apostle Paul tell us that
Christ is our Life in Colossians 3: 4 When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall
ye also appear with him in glory.
Now, last week we looked at this same paragraph and we
focused our thoughts on the Life in the Grain. Notice here that brother Branham
is telling us that the Word is where the Life is. Now, this is not an uncommon
thought that he is telling us here in this paragraph, because he said the same
thing in various other sermons he preached.
Broken
cisterns 64-0726E P:78 Oh, my. The inexhaustible Fountain of Life
is Jesus Christ. Why? And Who is He? The Word, the same; the Word, the Life,
the Fountain, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And again from A Man that can turn on light
63-1229M P:85 Brother Branham said, And then here the children,
immediately after them founders, what do they do? They didn't stay on the
stalk. (Now, he’s talking about as
each messenger and how they would come with Light which is life. That’s the
message of their hour. Those who followed that light, were ok, but then the
next generation come along and they would get side tracked and in order to try
to hold onto that message, they would begin to organize it. And when they did
that the Life of he Word goes out. So
they forsake the Life which because they forsake the Word in favor of unity and
fellowship.
Brother Branham went
on to say,) They
pulled away from it and made themselves a little husk thing out here which you get away from the real source of life
you have no life. You take a husk off the thing and plant it out here in
the ground, it'll lay there and rot. And
so will you, trying to eat rotten manna from back in them days. The harvest
is ripe. Jesus has a table spread where
the saints of God are fed on the ripened food of the day, by the Gospel Light
that a-vindicates it...?... that He's here today. The saints eat the bread.
Just think. The old husk of yesterday (See?), don't plant it back there; it's
rotten. It cannot stay with it. No, sir. It will not do no good; it won't grow.
It's off of the life. And the Word is
the Life. That's right. The husk drops off; the little old beard falls
away, things like that; it just denominates itself and drops off. It refuses to go on with the Life. But
the Light vindicates it. Oh my!
And from his sermon called the Invasion of the
Didn’t Jesus say those very words to the Pharisees? In John 5: 39 Jesus
said, Search the scriptures; for in
them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
From the Church Age Book we
read from the chapter pertaining to this end-time, 355-4, 4
Paul said, For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Notice, these do not
submit themselves to the right-wise-ness of God and so they try to establish
their own thinking as the best avenue, the best way to go and do not realize in
doing so they cut themselves off from the Life of God.
That's Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,(phaneroo)
then shall ye also appear (phaneroo) with him in glory.
ACTS 3:14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to
be granted unto you; 15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised
from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
That
is why Jesus admonished the people to “search the Word” as He did. [John 5:39] Now in
This scripture statement by Jesus Himself we find two powerful thoughts. 1St of
all we are commanded to search the scriptures for out of them we have Eternal
Life. we also find this in [Proverbs
4:20-22]. Now the second thing that Jesus says here in St. Jon 5:39 is
that the scriptures is what testifies of Him. So then we see that these two
very strong statements closely tie together. #1) To search the scriptures because in them is contained Eternal
Life and #2) that when we search the
scriptures, we will get to know the Son, because the scriptures contain within
them the knowledge of the Son. So then we can see plainly to search the
scriptures will not only open unto us the knowledge of the Son but also will in
the process give us Eternal Life. For did not Jesus say Himself in
Now the next step we
must take in understanding this relationship of Jesus the Son of God, to Jesus,
The Word made flesh, is to know that He said “the Words that I
speak they are not mine, but another’s”. And so we must ask whose Words are
they if they are not Jesus own words?
John 14:24 24 He that loveth me not
keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the
Father's which sent me.
And
also remember that Jesus said that these Words which He speaks are not only the
Fathers Words, but they also contain Eternal Life.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life .25 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to
the Son to have life in himself;
John
6:63 - 7:26, 30-32 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they
are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe
not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who
should betray him. 65 And he said, Therefore said I
unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my
Father. 66 From that time many of his disciples
went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then
said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then
Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure
that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus
answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for
he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
Chapter
7: 1 After
these things Jesus walked in
Now isn’t that a shame.
The Prince of Life comes and they want to kill him. Now, these people were the
crème of the crop in their religion. And yet they wanted to kill the Prince of
Life. Now, why did they want to kill? Because they were of their Father the devil
and remember, He was a murderer from the beginning. So if all seeds must
manifest the nature of their source, then that explains why every where that
Jesus went they hated him, and tried to stop him, and tried to pressure
everyone to boycott him. And things haven’t changed any today. Serpent seed are
still the same because they have the life of their father, and we have the Life
of our Father, the Author of eternal Life, and the thing of it is, is that we
must feed the Word of Life in our flesh, in order for it to grow and manifest
the nature of our Father in our bodies. But the seed of the serpent do not wish
for us to live. They would rather see you dead, and yet they do not know why
they so hate you.
John
5: 18 Therefore
the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the
sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
John
7: 1 After these things Jesus
walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to
kill him. verse 16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine
is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do
his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of myself. 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh
his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true,
and no unrighteousness is in him. 19 Did not Moses
give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill
me? 20 The people answered and said, Thou hast a
devil: who goeth about to kill thee? 21 Jesus
answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. 22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not
because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise
a man. 23 If a man on the sabbath day receive
circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me,
because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? 24 Judge not according to the
appearance, but judge righteous judgment. 25 Then
said some of them of
So you see it was not for
what he did but what He believed and taught. And let’s face it what he taught
was what God told him to say. So they hated God and wanted to blot out the
fountain of Life Himself. And the Doctrine of Christ is where God has hidden
Eternal Life. And without the doctrine of Christ you do not have God, and
neither do you have Life Eternal, which is God-Life.
John
8: 22 Then
said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he saith, Whither I go, ye cannot
come. Verse 37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek
to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. Verse 40 But now ye seek to
kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this
did not Abraham. Verse 59 Then took they up
stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going
through the midst of them, and so passed by.
John
10: 10 The
thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that
they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. verse 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus
answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered
him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34 Jesus
answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye
are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the
scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into
the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If
I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do,
though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe,
that the Father is in
me, and I in him. 39 Therefore they sought
again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
John 11: 8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews
of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?
Now, notice they asked
a question and John is going to give us the answer.)
John 8:50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and
judgeth.
51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he
shall never see death.
Brother Branham said from Christ
Revealed in His Own Word PP 52 It's the
revelation of Jesus Christ: God Himself revealed from Word to flesh. That's what It is. The Bible is the Word, and God is the flesh. God is the Word, rather, and Jesus
being the flesh, It's a revelation how God, the Word, was manifested in human
flesh and revealed to us. And that's why He becomes a Son of God. He is a part of God. You
understand? 53 And all
those Words, like He said, "They speak of Me." All that true Divine revelation of Word was
wound up into one human body, and God put flesh around It. That's the
reason He was called "Son,"
reason He refers, "Father."
Why, it's just as simple, if you just let God pour it down into your mind. See?
God revealed in a body of flesh (Notice.) revealed from flesh. or from Word
unto flesh. That's
Now
this brings us to the fact that Jesus and the Father are two different persons,
with two different personalities. The Son is not God, He is the Son of God. The Father is not the Son,
but in the Son the Father dwelt. Now was it the Father that Dwelt in the Son?
Or was it the Godhead that dwelt in the Son? And remember, Webster tells us the
Word Godhead is actually a Word which means Godhood. And we know that the word hood means the
state or condition of being. So Godhood is the state or condition of being God
just as boyhood is the state or condition of being a boy.
Now
we read in St.
John 5:30 that Jesus said, I can of mine own
self do nothing, what the Son seeth the father do, the son doeth likewise.
And so when Jesus spoke to us, the Words were not His own just as when a
Prophet spoke to us the Words were not the Prophets, but God’s. That’s what
Thus Saith the Lord means. The Lord has said thus. And then if the Word is God’s Words, then in
that Word is God’s own Life. Eternal Life for “In Him was Life and
the Life was the LIGHT, ( the
understanding and guiding power) of God to man. “The
Words which I speak, they are Spirit and they are Life.” Whose spirit and Whose Life? God’s Spirit and God’s
Life. For Jesus had no word of His own. He spoke the Words of His Father.
Now,
if we look at the Word as the Light of God, then as we Look at the sun in the
natural it is a type of the SON in the Spiritual. The Light of the sun gives
warmth and nourishment to plants and animals alike. If the sun did not shine
the trees would not produce leaves and without leaves there would be no
creation of oxygen and we would all perish. Thus the Light brings, Life and
this life brings with it many benefits to all. So too when the SON shines upon
the Sons of God, it is likened to the same effect it has upon the Trees of the
Field as we see in Psalm 1: 1-6
Psalm
1:1 Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is
in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like
the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of
the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the
righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Here
we see that we are likened to trees planted by water, that bring forth their
fruit in due season; and our leaves do not wither and all that we do shall
prosper.
And
just as man and all living creatures on earth depend upon the trees of nature to provide oxygen in
order to breathe and keep living, so too all of creation is focused upon the
Sons of God and await Life as it was meant to be. All of Creation is presently
groaning and travailing in it's present condition, but when we as Sons come forth into manifestation of
Who we are and what we were meant to be, it shall open wide the Ark doors for
the rest of Creation to follow in to their Predestined natures. The Lion will lie
down with the Lamb, and the Ox will feed with the Wolf.
Romans 8: 14 – 23 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not
willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the
same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of
the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body.
Notice
that all the creation is waiting on our change of the body which can only come
after our change of the mind according to Romans 12: 1-2 1 I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service. 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.
Isaiah 11:2 And the spirit of the
LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick
understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he
shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing
of his ears: 4 But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of
the earth:
Isaiah 66: 1-2
Thus Saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where
is the house that ye build unto me? and where
is the place of my rest? 2 For all
those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, Saith the
LORD: but to this man will I look, even
to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Notice
he asks the question, where is the place where I may rest, even in Him who is
of a contrite spirit and that trembleth at My Word. That's where I want to be, and that is where
I want Him to find rest for His Life, In Me.
God’s Only Provided Place of
worship [288] Dear God, we thank You that we have had our spiritual diet. We thank You, Lord, that the vitamin of the Word grows sons of
God. It does not affect on any
other type of character, only on sons and daughters of God. So we thank
You for It. And we pray, God, that we will profit therewith, that we will not
only thank Thee. We thank You for It, but
may we use the strength to try to (by Love) persuade people to believe in our
God; the wayward, the sinners, the women, the man, the boys, the girls, in
this age.
Now,
I want you to notice that the Word of God is only meant to have a certain
effect upon certain types of people. Brother Branham is just paraphrasing Jesus
when he says, "the vitamin of the Word grows sons of
God. It does not
affect on any other type of character, only on sons and daughters of
God." So then we must be
a thankful people that the Word of God is having an affect upon us and is
changing us, for if we can sit under this Word and have no change take place
then it is obvious that this Word is not for us and it is doing us no good. In
fact, as brother Branham so many times says, if you are not going forward then
you are going backward, because you can not stay in the same condition under
this Word. Now let's examine this
thought of the Word of God and it's affect on only certain kinds of people.
Matthew 13: 10 And
the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is
given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Now, who is this them that He is speaking of
here?
Mark 4: 11 And
He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the Mystery if the
Revelations 3: 20
Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man ( singular) hear my voice and open the door, I will
come into Him and will Sup with Him, and he with me. This word “come into”
means exactly what He says. It is this one that opens the Door, (which is the
Word, So it has got to be a Prophet whom the Word of the Lord comes to) It is
this One that I will enter into and begin feeding).
Matthew 13: 11-17 For
whosoever hath, (This word hath in the Greek is the word, Echo. So
whosoever is made of such a nature as to be able to echo or reflect back the
Word of God as it is given to them to him shall be given more Word, and he shall
have more abundance: but whosoever hath not (or can not echo back or reflect back the Word of God as it is
given to them), from him shall be taken away even that he {
thinks he hath]. Therefore speak I to them in
parables: because they seeing see not;
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them
is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which Saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall
see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their
eyes they have closed; ( if they closed them, then this is a willful
ignorance) lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear
with [their] ears, and should understand
with [their] heart, and should be converted,
So to understand with the heart brings
conversion and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and
your ears, for they hear. So we can
see that we are made in a very special way as to be able to see and hear and
understand with our hearts. We find another display of willful ignorance spoken of
at the time of the Rapture in 2 Peter 3: 3-5 which Brother Branham used as his
text for the rapture sermon. 3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in
the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And
saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly
are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth
standing out of the water and in the water:
Mark 4: 1 - 20, 1 And he began again to teach by the sea side:
and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a
ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables, and
said unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And
it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the
air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and
immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun
was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And
some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded
no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang
up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an
hundred. 9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And
when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God:
but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 12 That seeing they
may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest
at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. 13 And
he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then
will ye know all parables? 14 The sower soweth the word. 15 And these are they
by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh
immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 And
these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have
heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 And have no root
in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or
persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. 18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the
word, 19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh
unfruitful. 20 And these are they
which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some
thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
And
then we continue in verses 24-25 24 And he said unto
them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. 25 For
he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be
taken even that which he hath.
And he began again to teach by the sea side:
and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a
ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
God’s Only Provided Place of
worship 289 Seeing, Lord, that the mental conditions, the nervous age that
the people's living in, is driving them
out of their minds; to exactly fulfill what the Scripture said and
promised, the great hideous things would come upon the earth; like locusts, to
haunt the women that cut their hair, they'll have long hair like a woman. And
different hideous sights that they'll be able to see, Lord, in that mental, deluded condition they're in, and then screaming for the rocks and the mountains. Women who would
mother dogs and cats, and not raise children to honor You. Those that You did
give children to and they did conceive them,
turn them loose on the streets to do as they want. No wonder You said, Lord,
when You were going to the cross, "The8n they'll begin to cry for the
rocks and the mountains to fall on them."