Masterpiece 115
Gathering unto Him for Adoption
February 24, 2007
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705 208 Dear God,
help each person now to take inventory,
see if we're in Him. You loved us.
You were smitten for us. And we did esteem You smitten and afflicted of God. I
pray, God, that You'll call each one. Lord, speak to my children, my loved
ones, and my friends. Grant it, Lord, just now, through Jesus Christ's Name.
Don't let anybody wait too long, Lord. Looks awful close. The harvest is truly
ripe. The great combine of God will sweep through the land one of these days;
straws will fly every way; but the Wheat
shall be gathered to the garner, taken up, for in It is Life. Grant, Lord,
each request to be answered, each prayer to be made manifest before You. I pray
for them, Lord. I pray that You won't let any that's here be lost, Lord. They
set under difficult... They drive for hundreds of miles. And whatever that we
have need of, give it to us, Lord, whatever's
good for us, Lord, not what's good in our sight, but what's good in Your sight.
We want to stand as a chaste virgin
that's been chastened, rebuked of God, that we might be purged from our
sins.
Matthew 3: 11 - 12, 10 And
now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that
cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor,
and gather his wheat into the garner;
but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
So
we see at this time that there is to be a gathering of the wheat into the
Garner. And the gathering of both wheat into His Garner, and the tares for the
burning, depends on if they bear fruit or not. And re4member, the fruit is the
teaching o the season.
MATTHEW 13:24 ¶ Another parable put he forth unto them,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in
his field: 25 But while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up,
and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants
of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in
thy field? From whence then, hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath
done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather
them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up
also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in
the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the
tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my
barn.
Notice Jesus points out the
fact that two very different types of life (seed) will be planted alongside of
each other in the same field. The field represents the world, and the sowing is
done first by the owner of the field, and then his enemy comes into his field
and imitates his sowing, but with a different life (seed).
The facts of this parable
are as follows:
1)
There is one field that the seed is placed; ie, a woman, we are husbandry,
2)
There are two sewers, or sources of seed the owner of the field, and his enemy.
3)
There are two seeds sown, Wheat and tares, and these identify two different
life
forms and natures.
4)
The tare seed is an intrusion but is allowed to grow up alongside of the wheat
until
the harvest, for the sake of the
wheat, until the wheat is mature enough to withstand
a separation.
5)
Separation warfare always
6)
There is to be a binding and bundling of these tares.
7)
The tares are destined for burning.
8)
The Wheat is to be gathered but not bundled and is to be placed in the
storehouse of
the owner.
Notice the two seeds are
allowed to grow up side by side until the time of the harvest. Then a separation
is to take place. First there will be a gathering together of the seed, which
the enemy sowed. The Tares will begin to gather together first.
Jesus uses the word "deo"
in describing this binding together. The word actually means to bind by placing
under obligation. Now, this binding is
needed in order to control the assembly of tares. And by placing the people under obligations,
which take them from the word, we see that organization has bound the people,
keeping them from searching further for more light than what is available in
their church. This is done through programs… Look at every big church and you
will see that the people are not content to come and here the minister preach,
but you will find many programs going on in those churches. The larger the
congregation, the more programs to keep the people content.
After the tares are bound,
Jesus tells us they are then placed into bundles. Now in using the word bundle,
Jesus is telling us that there is a certain characteristic concerning the
binding together. Although the word for bundle, is a word which can mean "binding,"
Jesus used two different words in describing the process which is to take
place.
He says the reapers will
bind them into bundles. He never said into one bundle, but into bundles. Thus
we see the word "bundles" further defines the process that
these tares must go through, before they are ready for the burning. They are
bound first and then bundled. The use of the plural tells us that there will be
many different bundles, just as we see there are many different denominations.
They are gathered first. This gathering could suggest a very loose coming
together, but by adding the word bundle to further define the binding process,
Jesus shows us "form and symmetry" and "purpose" will be
involved in how they will be presented for the burning.
A bundle is not just a
rag-tag collection of sticks thrown together in any old direction. But a bundle
suggests to us that all the tares in each bundle will be lined up together, all
going in the same direction. Their
And so we see how
organization, is the means by which the tares are gathered and assembled
together. The church is bound first by a false word, and then by organizing
around that false word, they assemble the people into a more efficient, and
profitable means by which the whole group can be readied for the burning.
Thus we should see clearly
that the False-Vine is the organized church. For organization is what binds
them together. Then, if this be so, one of the main attributes of the false
vine will be its ability to organize in numbers and thus utilize efficiencies
to preach their false Gospel.
Now a bundle does not
represent a loose knit organization, but one, which has structure and
symmetry. Every stick is heading in the
same direction, and they are there for the same purpose, and they must conform
to some standard in order to fit within the bundle. Now, let's see if this is
not exactly the picture Jesus Himself speaks of concerning the two seeds.
Notice
that he lays claim to the wheat. He said gather the wheat into MY barn. But not
so with the tares. He says, gather the tares and bind them and then bundle them.
Matthew 13: 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend,
and them which do iniquity;
Now,
we know that iniquity is to know to do something and you don’t do it, or to
know not to do something and you do it anyway. But this offend comes from the
Greek word Scandalon which means a snare or a stumbling block.
Matthew 16: 23
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: (now what was it that Peter did that was offensive to
Christ?) for thou
savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Peter
was more concerned about pleasing man than doing what God wanted. And so any
man that would put man and man’s esteem above God’s Word is guilty of being an
offense towards God. That ought to tell you what God thinks about politics and
the organizational spirit in the churches.
Now, the Apostle Paul nails it down further and let’s
us know that anything contrary to the doctrine is an offense to God. Romans 16: 17 Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid
them. And notice that he like John tells us to avoid such people
that would consider what man thinks above taking a stand for the doctrine. That
kind of person is offensive to God, and Paul as John tells us to avoid such
people. In Fact John tells us in 2 John 9 that we should not even welcome such
people into our home.
Revelation 2: 14
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught
Balac to cast a stumblingblock
before the children of
Mathew 24: 31 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very
elect. So we see the predominant sign in this hour is that o
deception. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the
desert; go not forth: behold, he
is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even
unto the west; so shall also the parousia of the Son of man be. 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of
man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other. 32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet
tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that
it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till
all these things be fulfilled. 35 Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Notice
the hour when the Son of Man comes will be marked by deception on one hand and a gathering
around the fresh kill or the Word on the other hand.
Mark 13: 27 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds
with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, (so we see that there will be a
ministry to gather the elect from the four corners of the earth.) from the uttermost
part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. 28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet
tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: 29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these
things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
Notice that at the same time
there is a gathering of the elect from all over the earth, the Jews will be
gathering to their homeland as well.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation
shall not pass, till all these things be done. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words
shall not pass away. 32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven,
neither the Son, but the Father. 33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Luke 3: 17 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one
mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose:
he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
17 Whose fan is in his hand, and
he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner;
but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Now,
we know that there is to be a gathering of the elect from the four corners of
the earth, but that is not to a place but to the person of Christ, the Word.
There will be a ministry of the Holy Spirit to gather the elect to the doctrine
of Christ and it will bring them in from the entire earth. And this ministry
will be to ready sons for adoption. But don’t think this is the work of any
man, for it is not a man nor the work of a man. It is God that is gathering
together His Elect from the four corners of the earth, but he does use men to
work out His will.
Ephesians 1:
10 3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ
to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6 To
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us
the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed
in himself: 10 That
in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which
are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
From his message
Position in
Christ 60-0522M P:88 83
For ye haven't received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of a... [Congregation says "adoption"--Ed.]Now,
after you're adopted, all right, after you're adopted, you're placed; then you
understand, after the ceremony's said and you've been put into the Body
correctly. You're a son, sure, a daughter; when you're born again you're...
That--that's your birth. But now you're positionally placed. We've not received
the spirit of fear...; but we have received the Spirit--we have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Which means, "my
God." All right.) The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that
we're--we're children of God: How does it do it? You say, "Glory to God.
Hallelujah. It don't bother me; I'm a child of God," and go out and do the
things you do? The Spirit of God will do the works of God. Jesus said, "He
that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." See, see?
84
If this vine comes forth and it produced
a bunch of grapes, and the next one comes forth and produced a bunch of
pumpkins, there's something wrong. See? It's a drafted church, it's a drafted
vine, it's a grafted person. And if a person by some denomination, belongs to a
denomination and call themselves a Christian, and don't have the Holy Ghost and
have the power of God, and--and all these things...
85
Now, if you go out here and act like a bunch of these that...?... just 'cause
you spoke in tongues. I seen devils speak with tongues. Yes, sir. I've seen
them dance in the Spirit and shout and froth at the mouth, and everything else,
and all that. I've seen that. I'm a...?... I ain't talking about that. I'm
talking about the Spirit of God. The Spirit itself bears witness with our
spirit, that we are... children of God: And if then children, heirs; heirs of
God,... joint-heirs with Christ; if so... that we suffer with him, that we may...
also glorified together. For I reckon that the suffering... (Just listen to
this. Oh, if this isn't beautiful.) For I reckon that the suffering of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in
us. (In us.) For the earnest expectations of the creature... (You got here, got
a little--got a little word there, a little marginal reading,
"creation" is right, in Greek.)... expectations of the creation, the creation
is waiting for the manifestations of the sons of God.
86
What's everything waiting on? What's the whole creation waiting for? The
manifestations of the sons of God. It's waiting for the church to become into
its position. Who was the son of God, when Adam, where was His domain? The
earth. He--he had domain on earth. Is that right? He wasn't Elah, Elah, Elohim
then; He was Jehovah. See? That is, "I am God, and I've made some lesser
ones under Me. And I've give them a dominion. And in their domain, the dominion
under them is the earth." Man had dominion over the earth. And all the
whole creation is waiting for the sons of God to be manifested. Oh. We're
watching for the coming of that glad millennium day,
When our blessed Lord shall come and catch His waiting Bride away; Oh, the
earth is groaning, crying for that day of sweet release When our Savior shall
come back to earth again.
87
Is that right? Waiting, God trying to place His church in position to manifest
Hisself, getting one that He can work through like this, say, "There's My
Spirit flowing freely. There It is. That, that, I--I--I can work here."
Get another one over here and place him, "I can place him." Adoption,
placing, manifesting, take him out here and put a ceremony on him, visit him
with an Angel, tell him something. Now, if he's told the truth... Now, if he's
just making up something, it won't work. No, no, that--that won't work, we've
had a lot of that. But I mean--but I mean manifestations of sons of God, when
God manifests Himself and He sends him out. And then he goes forth, and what he
says is truth. What he does is the truth. What he does, he manifests Christ.
How you judge him? By the way he stays with the Word, right with the Word. See,
that's how you know all men, is by the way he stays with the Word. "If
they speak not according to the Word, there's no Life in them," says the
Bible. See? Leave them away. Brother
Branham said, Now, let's read, then well
have to stop, 'cause our time's getting away. All right, in the 10th verse, or
9th verse, rather. Having made known to us the mystery of his will... (to adopt
us),... according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself: He
purposed this Himself before the foundation of the world. How many understands
it? See? That in the dispensation... (Oh, my, here we come again. See? Oh,
let--let's just pass it. See?)... dispensation of the fullness of time... 89 You believe in dispensations? Bible said
so, "In the dispensation of the fullness of time..." What is the fullness
of time? There's been a dispensation of, well, there was a dispensation of the
Mosaic law. There was a dispensation of John the Baptist. There was a
dispensation of Christ. There's a dispensation of church organization. There's
dispensation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Now's the dispensation of adoption, what the world's waiting,
groaning. "And when the fullness of time comes, when the dispensation of
the fullness of time..." What is that fullness of time? When the dead rises,
when sickness ceases, when all the earth ceases to groan. "The fulness of
the dispensation of time..." Watch this. When in the dispensation of
the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,...
Aren't you glad? How is He going to do it? Gather together all things in Who?
[Congregation says, "Christ"--Ed.] How do you get in Christ? By one
Spirit we're all baptized into ["One Body'--Ed.] one Body. And that Body
is Who's Body? ["Christ's"--Ed.] Already judged, He took our
judgment. Then what are we? "When I see the Blood, I'll pass over
you." Every time He looks at the Body, there It is setting there, bloody.
I'm in there by how? The Holy Ghost. He passes over. Oh, my. And when the fullness
of the dispensation of time, that he might gather together... all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven...
So we see that our gathering is to Him, and He is the
Word. So many preacher’s tell you that you must come to their church or you
might miss it. And we even find among some churches that the people make
statements like that. “If you don’t go to our church you are not in the
election. Find me chapter and verse for that. Our gathering is in Him. And I
see brothers all over the world coming to the doctrine of Christ and we are
being gathered together in Christ.
Now, what is all this talking about? What is this
gathering together for? It’s to receive our inheritance. 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who
first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Then when you receive
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that is your down payment that you will receive
inheritance from God your Father.
15 Wherefore
I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease
not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Now why does God want
to give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him? Because
in order to receive your adoption and then inheritance, you must first have the
mind of the Father.
18 The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope
of his calling, and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
It’s all about
inheritance in this hour. Brother Branham said this is the dispensation of the adoption.
And adoption means inheritance.
Now, notice the next verse. EPHESIANS 1:18 That the eyes
of your understanding may be enlightened; and that you may know what is the
hope (or the earnest expectation) of his calling is all about. In other words, then
you will know what and why God has called you, and that is ) what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance is in the saints, You see, The Spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the Father is the spirit of
adoption. Its to get you ready for the adoption. Brother Branham taught us that
the child, though a son was placed under tutors and governors until the time
for adoption, and when he had the mind of His father, then he was worthy of
being adopted. And then everything that belonged to the Father was shared
co-equally with the son. I hope you are getting what I am trying to tell you.
God has come in this hour with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Himself to give us a change of the mind and to get us ready for a
change of the body which Paul called the adoption, to whit the redemption of
the body.
Romans 8: 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.
And notice Paul said we have the first fruits of the spirit, and that is
what begins our process towards the adoption which is the redemption of the
body. In fact that is what he also says
in …
Notice what Paul says in Romans 8:15 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.
And we know the spirit of adoption is God’s own spirit in us to bring us
from mortal to immortal. And that is why in EPHESIANS
1:19 Her speaks of the spirit of adoption and inheritance and then
says, And what
is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set
[him] at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
So we can see by Ephesians 1 that Paul was looking for the Spirit of
adoption to come into the church to make known to the church the manifold
wisdom of God, in that the very mind of God would then come into the church
getting it ready for the change of the body which is the redemption of the body
which is the adoption. And notice when it all began when you were in God as an
attribute before the worlds were even framed into manifestation.
Ephesians 1: 3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Ephesians 1: 4 According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to
the good pleasure of his will,
His
will, not my will, not your will but to the good pleasure of His Will. That is
what adoption is all about. When the son receives the will of the father above
his own will. During brother Branham’s day many people asked him, is the bride
going to be gathered into one place? Should we move to
Questions and answers COD
64-0830E P:68 407. Will there be, or is there now a place
for the Bride to gather together to live, like when Moses led the children of
2 Thessalonians
2: 1 Now
we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled,
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that
the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any
means: for that day shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition;
So we see that there must come a falling away from THE
FAITH, and when that happens then we will know we are in that day. Let’s bow our hearts in prayer.