Masterpiece 61
Cut to Reflect God’s
Word
April 30th, 2006
Pastor, Brian Kocourek
THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705
99 Though He was the perfect Word portrayed, It pleased God, the great
Sculptor, to smite Him, and to do it this way. We see Him in Isaiah here as we
read: "We all did esteem Him. We turned our face from Him. There's no
beauty that we should desire Him. (Everybody talking about Him, make fun of
Him. I'm talking about Him now in this day: everybody making fun of Him. See?)
We did esteem Him--we saw Him ('esteem' means to 'look at'). We did esteem Him
smitten and afflicted of God." Yet He... What did He do this for? "He
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity." Now,
we could go on and on with that, but I believe you have the pictures of what I
mean now, God building back His masterpiece.
101
But let us not forget that in the beginning when He smote the side of
Adam, He took something from his side. Now, the smiting of Christ was for a
cause, that He might take from Him, one to be His family, the Bride, He might
take Him a Bride. So when His Masterpiece was perfected, then He had to smite
It to take from Him, not another piece, not another creation, but of the same
creation. My brother, don't think bad in this, but think a minute. If He took from Him, the original creation,
to make the Bride for Him... He's never made another creation; He took a
part of the original creation. Then if He was the Word, what must the Bride be?
It's got to be the original Word, living
God in the Word.
103
What a beautiful picture we hear brother Branham
telling us this morning. The Diamond is not considered to be a precious stone
until it is cut, because it can not reflect light until it is cut. And knowing
that when it is cut it becomes the most perfect reflector of light known to man
and that is what gives it its great value.
Let’s look again at these statements made by brother
Branham and break them down for the next few minutes. First of all he said, the
diamond does not reflect light until it is cut. But once it is cut it becomes a
perfect reflector of light.
Now, we know he is talking about reflectors of God’s
Word here. So he is talking about the Elect of God. And although the vessel may
be ordained from the foundations of the world to be a son or daughter of God,
until that Elect vessel goes through the fashioning process where they are cut
and bruised for His Word sake, they can not be a perfect reflector of God’s
Glorious Presence on earth. Yet they are all ordained from the beginning to be
a reflector of God’s presence, yet until we are fashioned and cut for our stand
for His Light, Which is His word, we are
actually useless as a reflector of God’s Light to men.
So the whole fashioning process of Sons of God is
dependant upon the cut’s we must take to stand with Him on His Word. Then don’t
think for one minute that God can use you to reflect His light if you are not
despised and rejected of men. The whole process of becoming a reflector is dependant upon the
bruising and cutting that you get for your stand with God before men.
Jesus said in, Matthew 10: 32 Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is
in heaven.
You must be willing to confess Him before men if God
is going to make you a reflector of His Light. And Jesus didn’t tell us these
words because he liked hearing his own voice. He said them because the Father
told him to tell them these words.
John 12:
49 For I have not spoken of
myself; but the Father which sent me, he
gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50
And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I
speak.
So you see, even though we
may be born to reflect God’s Word, until we begin to do so, and then get cut in
the process, we are not yet a reflector of God’s word. You see, that diamond
begins to reflect the very first time it is cut. And with each cutting, it
becomes more and more the perfect reflector it was ordained to be.
Now, either you are
ordained to be a reflector of God’s Word or you are not.
Don’t think for one
minute that because you are only reflecting a little light that you are not
being used by God. Brother Branham illustrates that point in letting us know
that even the smallest chips that come off the diamond are used to bring out those
sounds that have laid hidden on the records that are played by the Victrola,
which is a record player. And notice he let’s us know that those sounds or
Words can not be heard until the vessel that was fashioned through the process
of cutting was used to bring out or reflect that voice. Then, it was not just
mere circumstances then that the Message was first recorded on records that
could not be heard until they came in contact with those needles that were formed
and fashioned by the diamond being cut. And
it is no less circumstances that the medium by which they are listened too now
are through the instrument of a laser light which is light focused so brilliant
and in such a condensed form that it can actually cut and burn through
material.
Just think of that.
Light so brilliant, so bright, so powerful, that it can cut through to the very
marrow of the bone. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than
any two edged sword, piercing (penetrating) even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
It is no wonder then
that the laser in this hour is used for surgery in areas that require so small
a cut that you must look at it under powerful magnification. And even the power
of the microscope is based on its ability to use light to rightly divide. For a
microscope without light is almost worthless. Those lenses as refined as they
may be if there is no light they are totally worthless and can not be used. And
those records which contain the hidden words within the grooves would be
worthless without the diamond chips which were cut off as shavings from the
diamond.
The Masterpiece 103 “Then when
they are cut, then they reflect the light." There you are. The masterpiece must be cut. And
notice. Cut for what? Is the piece cut off? No, no. The piece that's cut off is made into victrola needle. And the victrola needle is put upon a record
that's unseen music to the world; but
the needle is what brings it out, brings out the true interpretation of the
Word.”
And remember, he is talking about the Bride of Christ
here that is the piece that is cut off from the original. In paragraph 102 he
said, . If He took from Him, the original creation,
to make the Bride for Him... He's never made another creation; He took a
part of the original creation. Then if He was the Word, what must the Bride be?
It's got to be the original Word, living
God in the Word.
So you see the process of reflecting must be to
reflect the Light of God’s Glorious presence and in order to do that you can’t
use just any material to do so. Not just
any material is ordained to be a reflector, and not just any human is ordained
to be a reflector of God either.
Jesus said in, Luke 8:18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever
hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
even that which he seemeth to have.
Now, we already should know by our studies that this
word hath that Jesus used here was translated from the Greek word echo and we
know that an echo is a perfect reflection of sounds. I say perfect reflection
because it just doers not repeat words, but an echo actually has resonance and
with such it reflects the exact way the sound comes forth. And since we are
talking about the Word of God then a reflector of the Word, an echo of it would
give the exact reflection of the words spoken by giving the exact words, and
the exact inflections as well. And
notice he said, take heed therefore his you hear, for to him that is of such a
nature as to be able to echo the Word, he shall be given the Word to reflect,
but to him that is not of such a nature as to echo the word, from him shall be
taken away even that which he seemeth to echo. In other words, the word seemeth
means what you think or your own opinion, and was translated from the Greek
word dokeo which is a derivative of the Greek word doxa which we know means “the opinion,
assessment and judgment”.
So you see, Jesus Himself said, to him that is made in
such a nature as to echo or reflect the word, he shall be given more word to
echo or reflect, but to him who is not of such a nature as to be able to echo
or reflect the word from Him shall be taken away even those things which think
in their own opinion they are able to echo reflect. So the end result is that
those not made to echo or reflect will lose even those things that in their own
opinion they think they know and are reflecting. For it will prove out that
their echo or reflection is no reflection at all. But a mere sounding of words
that they have put together in their own mind to say.
Now, with that in mind, let’s look at bringing these
two thought together to show you that until you are cut for the word sake, and
you will be cut for the Word’s sake if you are truly reflecting or echoing the
Word of God. And if you are truly echoing the Word of God you will be cut by
the devices of man. But it is then that you will begin to truly reflect pure
unadulterated light.
Jesus said in, John 17: 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them,(There
is your cutting by the world because of The word. Jesus was bruised and
chastised not by God but by the world because of the Word. Now, let’s continue) because they are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. 16 They are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world. 17 ¶
Sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast
sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And how was Jesus sent
into the World? In John 12:46 he said, I am come a light into the world, that
whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
So Jesus came as a Light into this world, to bear witness to the Light of
God’s Glorious Presence among man. And is not that the Message of the Hour? Did
not brother Branham say, “My ministry is to declare Him, that He is Here?”
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself,
that they also might be sanctified through the truth. 20 ¶
Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word; So you see how that as reflectors of God’s Light, as
echoes of His word, others will hear the same Glorious Doxa of God and be
caught up into it even as you and I were caught up into it. And the reason why
we are to reflect the same Word he reflected is because it contained the very
doxa of God, the very opinion, assessment and judgment of God. The very mind of
God. And to receive God’s own mind is to receive His mindset. And thus to
receive the mind of God. And in doing so
we become One with God even as Jesus and God were One.
21 That
they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
So we see that our
oneness with God comes by receiving His Doxa or His very mind in us. And that
makes us One with the Father in the same way that Jesus was One with the
Father. That is what Jesus Himself is saying here. And that’s what Wm Branham
taught.
From his sermon HARVEST TIME Brother Branham said, 641212
87 034 Jesus
said, "That they
might be one, Father, as You and I are one." Not for some man to be over something, it never will
work; one denomination wants to take over the other, and one man over the
other. But that you might be one with God, like Christ and God was one;
that's what the prayer is. He was the Word, and Jesus prayed that we
might be the Word, reflecting Him. That's His prayer to be answered.
See how Satan scruples it up in the carnal mind? But that wasn't Jesus' prayer,
at all, that we might all congregate together and all have a certain creed and
so forth. Every time they do it, they go further and further from God. He wants us to be
one with God, and God is the Word. Each
individual in his heart must be that one with God.
Then Jesus continues, 23 I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; (made perfect in
one what? In one mind, One word.) and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 ¶
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where
I am; that they may behold my glory,
(and remember this glory is the doxa which is the mind of God in
Christ, for that is where Jesus received it from, for he adds) which thou hast given me: for thou
lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast
sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that
the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
Let us bow our heads in a word
of prayer.
Dear Father, we have seen by thy word today that
unless we are cut we will not reflect as true your Light. Therefore, Father, we
know that as we present your Word to this lost and dying world, we will be cut
off from them. Despised and rejected of men. And as we are cut it does not turn
us away from Thy truth but causes us to come more and more into thy Glorious
mindset and to reflect with more certainty your Word of Truth.
Therefore, we want to thank you father for all the
“rejection” we have gone through because of Thy Word. For as we are being “cut”
and “cut off” for the stand we have taken for Thy Word’s sake, and we are being
fashioned more and more into Thy image, the more we are cut for this stand. For
you were the Rejected King, and our being rejected for having the same Word
that you gave to us makes us more and more in Thy Likeness than could have been
possible any other way.
Thus Father, we are coming more and more into Thy
likeness as we are being fashioned as your reflectors of your glorious light,
even as Thy Son Jesus did so wonderfully reflect Your great Light. Thus as He
came, so are we becoming Light givers to this lost and dying world that lays in
gross darkness which has come upon the whole world.
And for this we are grateful and we thank Thee in the
name of your Son Jesus Christ, Who came as a light into this world to lighten
man with the knowledge of Thy Glorious Presence. The Great Light from your
Pillar of Fire in the midst of us, letting us know you are here. Amen!