The Masterpiece 123
Making Ready by Being Cleansed
April 21st, 2007
Brian Kocourek
This morning we will return
again to the Masterpiece Message Brother Branham preached in July 5th
1965 in
THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705 214 Heal all the sick people here, Lord. We did
esteem Him, smitten and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. God's Masterpiece was smitten. And He was
wounded for our transgressions; with His stripes we were healed. Heal the sick,
Lord, in Your Divine Presence now, while
we know that You're here. Cleanse
our souls, our hearts from all evil,
all bad thoughts, all evil communications; all things that's wrong, cleanse us.
And we pray, Father, that You'll heal our sickness, and let us leave here
feeling that we are Your sanctified children. And with the Blood over us, we
speak through the Blood, the Word. Grant it, Lord. We ask in Jesus Christ's Name.
Amen.
Now, this morning I would like to look at this closing
prayer and especially those words Brother Branham is asking God to cleanse our
souls, and our hearts from all` evil and from any communications that would be wrong
he is asking God to cleanse us.
Now, of course my
first thought whenever I here words spoken about cleansing of our hearts or
soul is what David said in Psalm 119: Psalms 119: 9 Wherewithal shall a
young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
And also the apostle
Paul’s words in Ephesians 5: 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word,
And of course what
Jesus spoke himself in John 15: 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you.
Now, I hope and trust
that you are paying close enough attention to notice that not one time here did
we see anything that even came close to our cleansing ourselves by some action
we have taken or some work that we have done. David said we are cleansed by the
word, and Paul said we are cleansed by being washed by the Word, and Jesus told
us that His own Word is what cleans us.
So we see that in
Brother Branham’s prayer he is asking God to do something by His Word for these
people that they can not do for themselves.
And that is a beautiful thought because no matter how disciplined a
person you are, your righteousness is as filthy rags to God. In fact the exact
words from the prophet Isaiah are as follows.
Isaiah 64:
6 But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
So you see unless God
does something by His Word we are all considered unclean and even our attempts
at living a righteous life are seen by God as just filthy rags.
And those are not just
dirty rags as thought they became soiled somehow with some dirt from all our
efforts. Those are menstrual rags. That word “filthy” which describes the rags,
comes from a Hebrew word which speaks of the “menstrual period”. And the only
thing proper to do with those is to discard them or burn them and destroy them.
So what God is saying here is that all our efforts no matter how righteous we
might appear to others, it means nothing to God, and He considers it worthy of
destruction by burning, and that is exactly what awaits all those who are not
cleansed by the Word of God and justified by the Faith of Christ.
The apostle Paul said, Galatians 2: 16 Knowing that a man
is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith
of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified.
And again in Galatians 3: 11 he said, But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by
faith.
And then he said in Romans 3: 28 Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
And again in Romans 5: 1 Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
And of course since God not being a respecter of persons, it did not
matter whether you were Jew or gentile, God justifies you by faith in His Word and
that alone as we see in..
Romans 3:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by
faith,(that’s the Jew) and uncircumcision
through faith. (that’s the Gentile).
And once more we see in Galatians 3: 8 And
the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Now, this word justify
was translated from a Greek word “dikaioo” and it means “just or innocent”: in other words to “be righteous”.
So according to God, the only way that he will accept us as righteous is
through His Word. And that is a beautiful thing, because
The
Apostle Paul said in Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There
is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone
out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used
deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is
full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction
and misery are in their ways: 17 And
the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is
no fear of God before their eyes.
Now, let’s take a
closer look at these words the Apostle Paul is quoting from Psalm 14 here.
Notice he says, As
it is written, the question is where is it written, and the answer
is of course in the Word of God, and more precisely in the book of Psalms
chapter 14.
Psalm 14:1 The
fool hath said in his heart, (in his understanding), “There is no God”.
You know, that is the atheist, and he is a fool. Any person with any
modicum of intelligence by just opening their eyes would know that some One had
to create this earth. It just didn’t come by coincidence or by some big bang.
But they deny God exists so God denies they exist. And when they come before
the white throne they will be cast into the lake of fire that they don’t
believe in either. And then he says, “They are corrupt”, that means they are decaying
and spoiled. Now when does something decay and spoil? When life leaves it. “they have done
abominable works, there is none that doeth good. Now, of course
this latter statement could put one into a panic that they might try to do
good, but that is not what he is saying here. We are not saved by our good
works, we are saved by the Washing of water by the Word.
Isaiah 14:2 The
LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, (not the children of God but the children of men) The LORD looked
down from heaven upon the children of men
to see if there were any that did understand,
and seek God. (and what did God find when he looked down from
heaven at the children of men? Did he find any that understand God? Did He find
any that seek God? No, he says…) 3 They are all
gone aside,(that means they have all turned their Back on God
and His Word, and they have all forsaken Him, and they are all on the outside) they are all together become filthy (they
have all become morally corrupt) there
is none that doeth good, no,
not one. (there are none that are loving, kind and gracious,
no not one? Why? Because, if they do something that might look to be loving,
kind and gracious, it is because they have an ulterior motive in mind. Notice
how David explains this. ) 4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
(so they use and abuse God’s
people.) 5 Therefore were they
in great fear: for God is in the generation of
the righteous.
So we see here that
the sons of men are not God’s seed. And thus they will be in fear. But this is not
so with God’s Seed. for God is in the generation (or
the lineage) of
the righteous.
And that same word for generation is also found in Genesis 6: 9 These are the generations of
Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations,(lineage) and Noah walked with God. (So Noah was the last
man that was genetically Son of God. The word perfect means complete or whole,
so we see here that Noah was the last man that was genetically whole as a son
or seed of God). Then all others on earth had the mix in them.
Now, we
see that David actually repeats this Psalm 14 in Psalm 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have
done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth
good. 2 God
looked down from heaven upon the children
of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become
filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who
eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not
called upon God. 5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was:
Now, in all these
renditions of this Psalm, it is interesting to note that one of the great
attributes in common to the children of men is that they do not have any
understanding, and they do not seek God.
Even Jesus told them to
search the scriptures for in them is eternal Life, but would they do it? Never!
And why won’t they do it? Because they have no place for the Word in their
souls.
John
8:37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. 38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is
our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's
children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 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.
41 Ye do the deeds of your
father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; (they said, we are not serpent seed) we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If
God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from
God; neither came I of myself, but he
sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand
my speech?
Now,
that is a good question because David said the same thing in Psalm 14 and again
in Psalm 53. he said there are none of the children of men that understand God
and that seek Him. And Jesus says, Why do ye not
understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my
word. (Now, remember, Faith cometh by
hearing and hearing the word of God. But Isaiah said they would hear and not
hear, so to hear means to understand.)
From his sermon called Hear recognize act on word 60-0221 P:18 brother
Branham said, First, faith cometh by hearing, hearing of
the Word of God. Then the believer hears It, recognizes It, and acts on It. The
carnal man will hear It, the sound of It, but never... "Hear" means to "understand"
It. “Look at,” is looking at something; but to see it, is to
"understand" it. "Except a man be borned again, he cannot see or
understand the
And Jesus said, “Why do ye not
understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my
word.” In other words they couldn’t
understand what he was saying.
44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there
is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?(Why? Because he
goes on to tell them, the reason they can’t believe Him is because they are not
seed of God.) 47 He that is of God heareth
God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of
God.
Now, that is the
evidence of the new birth, that you are God birthed, is that you believe God’s
word, and as brother Branham said, You hear it, your recognize it, and then you
act upon it. Anything outside of that shows you are just a carnal believer. Not
born again. So those who hear the Doctrine of Christ and do not believe it have
not God.
2 John 1:
9 Whosoever transgresseth,(or
goes beyond the limits of) and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He
that abideth in (he that stays within the limits of ) the doctrine of
Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
But if they do not
abide in the doctrine of Christ they have not God. Then they have not the Holy
Spirit, and thus they are not even born again, because, if you are not born
again, then the Spirit of God is not in you. And if the Spirit of God is not in
you, then how could you even understand the things of God?
The Apostle Paul said
this very thing in 1 Corinthians 2: 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, (that’s the
understanding)
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for The Spirit
(God’s Spirit) searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
(So if you have God’s Spirit in
you, you will not only search out the deep things of God, but you will
understand them) 11 For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but
the Spirit of God (knoweth).
12 Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;(So
the Apostle Paul tells us that wee have received the Spirit of God for a purpose
and that purpose is) that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God.13 Which things also we speak, not in the words
which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the
Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual.(Notice Paul said the
things the Holy Ghost teaches compares spiritual things with spiritual.) 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. 15 But
he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who
hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind
of Christ
So we see that only by having His spirit can we
receive the same mind that was in Him. Let this mind that was in Christ be in you.
Notice that the natural man or the unregenerate man,
the man that has not the new birth, can not receive the things of God, and
neither can they know or understand them when he hears them. Now, that is just
the opposite of the child of God. For in John 1: 12 we read, But as many as received him, (to them that were of such a nature as to
get a hold of Him, to seize Him as their own, to take a hold unto themselves,
these are the ones) to them gave He(God’s own power) power (exousia,
the ability to make a right decision) to become (Now, this word become was translated
from the Greek word “Ginom ai” where we get the word genome from that speaks of
the attributes expressed in the genes. And this takes us to the place of
manifesting what we really are, or it causes us to be, or brings us into
manifestation as) the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name:
Then John says of
those who were of such a nature as to be able to receive Him and thus become
like Him. He says we were born from the spirit of God. 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
So you see what we are dealing with in this hour is
that those who are receiving the Doctrine of Christ, by their receiving it,
they are manifesting that they are those who receive Him, and as John says, if
they don’t they don’t even Have God, but if they receive Him they also have
eternal Life.
1
John 5: 12 He
that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
So to those who receive Him as he truly is,
are they who are sons of God.
1 John 3: 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: (we have not yet appeared of phaneroo’d
which is to manifest in our true character what we really are) but we know that, when he shall appear,(when
he shall phaneroo, when he shall manifest in His True Character) we shall be like
him; for we shall see
him as he is. We will see Him as
He truly is, we will understand Him as He truly is, for seeing is to
understand) 3 And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, (makes Himself clean) even as he is pure. Even
as He is clean.
In fact Jesus makes
mention in John 13 that the Apostles were all clean except one, and that was
the one that would betray Him. Which takes us back to David’s Psalm) The LORD looked
down from heaven upon the children of men
to see if there were any that did understand,
and seek
God. 3 They are all
gone aside, (that means they have all turned their Back on God
and His Word, and they have all forsaken Him, and they are all on the outside)
So we are thankful in
this hour that God Himself came down with a Message, and that there was a man
by the name of William Branham that was ordained to receive that Message and
take it to the world, so that we might freely partake of those things which
before hand been hid from the world but are now made manifest by the Spirit of
God which came down to us in this hour for the purpose of cleaning us up to
take us home.
Let’s bow our heads
and our hearts in a word of prayer. Dear Gracious father, we know Thee that
thou are a God of mercy and full of grace and you didn’t have to come down in
this hour with a shout, but you had kids
that were in trouble and they needed you. And So Father we want to thank you
for what you have done, because we know that He which means you, that began the
good work in us shall also perform it, For in You we live, and move, and have our being; For we are
Your offspring. Amen.