Masterpiece 48
Perfected and
Humbled
February 12th, 2006
Pastor, Brian Kocourek
2. Now, catch the wording of Brother Branham in
paragraph 71 THE MASTERPIECE 64-0705 Where He
says, “So perfected a Redeemer of man, so
perfect, so godly (Yet there was no beauty we should desire Him.), when this
virgin-born Son of the living God become so perfect,…
3. Now, I would
like to add that if Jesus was born perfect, then how is it that He became
perfect. And there is only one perfect and that is God. So we should be able to
say from our understanding of the doctrine of the Godhood of God that Jesus did
not become perfect until the perfect One entered into Him at the river
4. Now. Let’s continue with our study… “When this virgin-born Son of the living God become so
perfect, and humble,…
5. Now, again we must look at what is being said here.
In order to be humble, you have to have the right kind of attitude, or the
right understanding.
6. The Apostle Paul said in the Book of ROMANS 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me,
to every man that is among you, not to
think of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man The
Measure of Faith. Now, to think soberly means you have got to
have a right mind to do so.
7. What Paul is telling us here is that we should not allow
ourselves to get puffed up by the revelation or the Measure of Faith that has
been revealed to us, for after all, it is not of our own efforts or study that
gives us this Measure of Faith or revelation. We didn’t think of it first. God
sent it to us via a prophet of God. It is God’s doing, it is by God’s Grace,
that He has revealed Himself to us in this hour.
8. In examining Scriptural Humility we find that true
Scriptural humility is not so much a mannerism, nor is it an action, but
rather, True Scriptural humility is
a condition of the mind. For it is simply knowing your place in the Gospel, or
knowing your position in Christ.
9. In COLOSSIANS 3:12 we
read, ¶ Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy
and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
and longsuffering;
10. Notice the apostle Paul used the phrase “Humbleness of the
mind”. Then humility is a condition of the mind. Therefore,
Humility is not bowels of mercies, humility is not kindness, humility is not
meekness, nor is it longsuffering. It is listed here as one amongst many
different attributes, but it is not those attributes. And yet if you are a True
Christian you will possess all of these attributes, plus humility.
11. From the sermon Sir we would see Jesus 62-0724 P:44 brother Branham said concerning Jesus the Son
of God, , He
come to show what God was. Anything that's high and haughty isn't God. God is low and humble. That's what made Him God. See,
something that comes low, not them that goes high... So God doesn't dwell in
hierarchies, and things. He dwells in
humility. The way up is down. Humble
yourself and you'll be exalted; exalt yourself and you'll be humble. That's
right. See? God knows how to do it. So you have to remember; humble yourself before God. Don't try to think
your own thoughts; think His thoughts. See?
12. Notice he said, humble
yourself before God. (well, how do we humble ourselves before
God? He says,) Don't try to think your own thoughts; think
His thoughts. Therefore, true humility is a condition of the
mind. It’s letting go of any thought that would exalt itself against God. 2 Corinthians 10: 5 Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
13. But why is it that when God reveals a portion of
Himself to man they get exalted and puffed up. Why is it that men are always
vying for position? In MATTHEW 18:1 we read ¶ At
the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?
14. Now, what kind of a question is that to ask?
If these men really understood sovereignty and the Solitary God they would not
have even asked that question. But that is man, and I believe that is why it
was recorded in the Scriptures. So we could see how carnal man can get. Just
like those people who could stand there and watch miracle after miracle take
place in Moses ministry. They saw one man with a stick speaking to the Sea and
it parted, and destroyed the most powerful military force on earth at that
time. And then a few days later they were ready to stone that same man. I just
don’t understand that kind of thinking.
15. EXODUS 17:1 ¶ And all the congregation of the
children of
16. So we see
here the apostles themselves were carnal and vied with one another to see who
should be the greatest in the
17. 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and
set him in the midst of them, (now, notice how Jesus calls this little child. Probably no special
little child to the apostles, but that child was special to its mother and
father. But to make an illustration, he calls for this little child and then
says to them, “You all think you are something, but let me tell you something,
if you do not become like this little child, you will not even have a place
with m in the
18. Now, those
are pretty strong words coming from Jesus to these men who had given up house
and lands and peoples and family to follow him. And yet He did not ay these
things just to make a point. He said them because He meant them. And He is the
same yesterday, today and forever. And Heaven and earth will pass away but not
one jot or tittle of His word will fail.
19. Notice He
said, Except ye
be converted and that word converted means: to turn one's self from
one's course of conduct, or to change one's mind. So in other words, He was not
happy with what was going on in their ranks. And He let them know that unless
they stop thinking like they were and humble down and become like this child,
they would in no way enter into the
20. Now, I ask
you, isn’t it time that the people in this message begin to come to this place
where they can be kind to one another, and treat one another with respect. Is
it really necessary for the people in the churches to place a fence around
their ministers to protect them from others getting too close? Is that the
Christian way? Or is that the way of man, to put up fences to keep others out.
21. What ever
happened to what brother Branham taught us to make the circle bigger? What ever
happened to Christian Love and charity? What ever happened to giving your
second coat to the stranger in need? What ever happened to feeding the poor,
and helping the fatherless.
22. I don’t say that we need to start a works
program, but we need to humble down and begin to show respect and appreciation
for all the things God has given to us.
23. In verse 4, Jesus says, 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as
this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
24. So, the
way up is down, my brother and my sister! From a PRAYER
LINE
53-1121 E-23 brother Branham
said, And then those people looked to that old
fisherman, and you know what they did? If he'd have had some great degree to go
by, he'd have had something to glory in, but God took nothing and made
something out of it. That's the way God does: just takes the nothing to make
something. And when you can become nothing in your own sight, you're
becoming something in God's sight then. And always remember this,
friends, the way up is down. "He that exalts himself shall be abased,
but he that humbled himself shall be exalted." So just love Him with all
your heart and forget all you ever knowed about all other things but Jesus
Christ. Just go ahead and love Him and work for Him; serve Him. If He wants you
to be the doormat, well, you just be the doormat and that... It's whatever He
wants you to do, you do it. God bless you now.
25. Now, what
do you suppose went through the minds of those apostles when Jesus called for
that little child to come forth? And what about those educated and religious
separatists? But when He began to speak He let them know that they had a wrong
attitude and this child had the right attitude.
26. Angel of the Covenant
54-0301 E-18 Don't expect to know God by
education or theology; you know God by being born again, new birth. The Holy
Spirit wrote the Word of God. And He so entangled it in there; He said, "I've hid it from the eyes of the
wise and prudent and will reveal it to babes such as will learn." So if you want to know
anything, get to be a baby. Don't be too smart. The way up is down. "He that
humbles himself shall be exalted. He that exalts himself shall be brought
abase." And I think of writing the Scripture, how the Holy Spirit hid
those mysteries in there. And all the Bible schools and seminaries will never
be able to pull it out. God knows it alone and will reveal it to who He will.
Is that right?
27. And whoso shall receive one such little child
in my name receiveth me. Do
you realize what he is saying here? We should be of such a nature that it means
just as much to us to speak to the children as it means to speak to the adult.
We should try just as hard to teach the child as we try to teach the adult. God
hides in simplicity, and he does not manifest himself in great swelling words,
but God has chosen the simple things whereby to express himself to us.
28. I CORINTHIANS 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of
God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised,
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that
are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
29. Therefore, Humility is to know your place in the
Word, to know your place in God’s plan. And if you know that something is outside
of God’s thinking, then it is not worth even thinking about.
30. Brother Branham said from the message, Be Not Afraid It
is I 61-0414 P 65 Some people thinks humility is something
that ought to wear a skirt. No, no. You misunderstand that. Jesus, the humblest Man that ever lived, He could plait ropes together,
and look on them with anger, and run them out of the temple. Yes, sir.
Certainly.
31. And in the same sermon paragraph 67 brother
Branham was talking about the man that was healed on the Sabbath Day when Jesus
walked past the multitude and healed the one laying on a cot. E-67 And the
Pharisees and the Sanhedrin court (the church), questioned Him. "What about
all the rest of these?" He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you:
" The Son does nothing in Himself;
but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son likewise." That's compassion. Compassion is to follow
the will of God, not human sympathy, but compassion. Oh, it's two different
words altogether: sympathy, and compassion. See? If it wasn't, Jesus sure made
a rude mistake when He did that. See?
32. Too many people have the wrong understanding of
what humility is all about. They think the guy who walks around like a dishrag
is the one who is humble. They think if they can just say, “Lord bless you my precious brother”, just the right way, then that is being
humble. But that’s not humble. Brother Branham sets the record straight when he
said Jesus Christ was the most humble
man that ever lived, and he took a rope and made a whip from it. Then he speaks
of compassion and says, compassion is not human sympathy, but doing the will of
God. And that is exactly what humility is, to know your place and to walk in
the order for which you were called. Humility is not some feminine or sissified
mannerism, but true humility is knowing your place in the Gospel, and standing
firm, for when you have done all you can do to stand, then just stand.
33. In the Book of Deuteronomy chapter 8, we are told
that the reason the children of
34. And if you do humble yourself you have a blessing
and promise of God according to II CHRONICLES 7:14 14 If my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
35. God said he will not share His Glory with any man.
Therefore, He will only use those men who are humble enough to give Him all the
praise, Honor and Glory. Every ministry under the Pillar of Fire that had great
success with man and God walked in true humility. Moses, Paul, Jesus and William Branham. Each of these
men knew their place and did exactly what God showed them to do. They did nothing
more, nor did they do anything less than what God told them to do. That is true
humility. Knowing your place in the Word.
36. And from Letting off the pressure 62-0622B P:14 he said, Humility
is a way to success. That's right.
37. From his sermon, It is I be not afraid 62-0726 P:45 Brother Branham said, “That's what makes Him God to me, because He humbled Himself. God is humility.
Don't never forget that. Humility is God.
Never boastful, it's always
humility."
38. In PHILIPPIANS 2:3 The
Apostle Paul said, Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness
of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. And the
word lowliness
is the same Greek word used for humble yourselves.
39. Roman nobleman 55-0621 P:3 I want you to notice his
attitude. He didn't approach feeling that he had it coming to him; he approached, said he was unworthy. I want you to take that attitude also, that
you cannot come with a predominating attitude and get anything from God. You must come reverent, humble, and then
God will deal with you. And then you will get what you ask for.
40. Angel of God 48-0304 P:20 The Spanish people: you're humble, you're willing to receive. They're just take the
crumbs, whatever you... You come in that attitude, and that's the reason you
get healed. That's the reason you're healed, because you come humble. Anyone who comes stiff-necked will never
receive nothing from God.
41. Questions and answers COD 59-0628E P:42 And isn't that just
the way that people get today? Let God just bless a fellow and put a little
confidence in him, and he gets to be a know it all. He gets to be... He's got
to start an organization, or he's got to do something that's different.
"Why art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer." God has a hard time trying to get somebody that He can deal with,
that'll stay humble, and meek, and stay in the place until God calls him to do
something (you believe that? See?), a man that God can bless and he'll still keep hisself a man, not be
an angel or a god. As soon as man gets blessed and has a little something given
to him, he wants to become a god; he wants to become a angel. He wants to
become some great person. "What I do, what... Me and me and mine..."
all that. That's the wrong attitude.
God's hunting for somebody who He could
bless and pour out the blessings, and more He blessed, the littler the man will
become. And you'll never get more of
God until you become nothing. You've
got to belittle yourself. (Now, that means you’ve got to make
yourself little.) He that will exalt himself, God will bring abase. He that will humble himself, God will exalt. You've got to get
little before you can get big. And you'll
never be big in your own self; you'll only be as big as God will be big in you.
See?
42. Matthew 23: 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Then you might ask, to what degree
would we humble ourselves? Jesus said in Matthew 18:
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little
child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
43. From his sermon Angel of God 48-0304 P:36 Brother Branham said, Now, notice here now, in the 48th verse. Then said Jesus
unto him, Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. In other
words, give him a rebuke to see if He was able to stand it. Now, you know what
would happen in
44. 1 Peter 5: 5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea,
all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
45. In James 4: 6 we
read, But he giveth more
grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
humble. And in James 4: 10 we read, Humble yourselves in
the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
46. Testimony on the sea 64-0307 P:50 You know, the
trouble of it is, you're trying to get
44. Why 62-0622E P:54 The Holy Ghost don't shine; the Holy Ghost
glows. There's a difference between glowing and shining. The church shines with
its big programs; but the Holy Ghost glows in humility, humbleness, reconciling to the Word, believing the Word.
45. Hidden life 55-1006A P:13 God doesn't dwell so much in theology. He
dwells in love and humbleness, where you can really, everybody can get
acquainted with Him and know Him.
46. Hebrews Chapter 4 57-0901E P:73 God don't dwell in glamour;
God dwells in humility.
47. Do you now believe 53-1106 P:40 God lives in
humility and simplicity.
52. Queen of the south 58-0620 P:22 Say, "Lord,
make me humble so I will understand." Come with that kind of an attitude;
don't just go away with the crowd and pass your own opinion. Search it through
the Scriptures; watch the working of it, the nature of it, and see if it is of
God or not. If it is of God, stay with it. If it isn't of God, get away from
it. If it isn't Scriptural, then it isn't of God.
53. Be certain of God 59-0125 P:10 What we need today
is not a lot of material things; we have that. We don't need greater churches;
we don't need greater congregations. We don't need more on radio and on
television. We don't need so many more of these things. But what we need today
to be spiritual, is a person that will humble
themselves before God if they haven't got a penny, and will pray till that spirit within them is satisfied with the goodness
of God, and a revival take place on the inside of their heart that changes
their attitudes and atmosphere that they live in.
54. And to be humble you
are not born that way. Paul said in Philippians 2: 8
And
being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross.
55. So we see that true humility is a condition of
your mind, and true humility is something you do as a result of understanding
your position in Christ. You see your place in the Scriptures, and then you do
what God says to do, and you say only what God says to say. You have no will of
your own, but you have surrendered what will you did have to receive His will.
As Jesus said, “My
meat is to do the will of the Father that sent me.”
56. Now, in getting back to our text from paragraph 71
of The Masterpiece, brother Branham said, So perfected, a
Redeemer of man, so perfect, so godly (Yet there was no beauty we should desire
Him.), when this virgin-born, Son of the
living God, become so perfect,… 72 You say, "Is that so?" St. Mark 9:7, we find upon
the Mount Transfiguration, when there stood Moses, the law, there stood Elijah,
the prophets. All the way back from the patriarchs, the fathers, the law, the
prophets, and all of them standing there, we hear a Voice coming down from the
cloud and said, "This is My beloved
Son, hear ye Him." And if they're going to hear, He's got to speak. It
was just a few days before He was smitten. "This
is My Son, Who I'm pleased to dwell in. I have molded Him.
57. God took
Him up on that Mountain and before the witnesses said, Hear Ye
Him…, this is the One Who has humbled Himself to the place where he has placed
my Words above His own, and this is the One who has placed My Will above His
own will, Therefore, this is the One I am pleased to Dwell in,. and this is the
One I have chosen to place My Words in, So Hear Ye Him. Why because what He has to say is “Thus Saith
the Lord. For they are My Own Words. Therefore, Hear Ye Him”… Let us pray