Masterpiece 70
The Church and the
Squeeze no. 1
June 24th, 2006
Pastor, Brian Kocourek
This evening we will again look at 119 of brother
Branham’s sermon, the Masterpiece. There seems to be so many things that
brother Branham said in this paragraph that we have preached several sermons
already from it, that it would merit our investigation of them again, so let’s
turn in our booklets and read from paragraph 119.
THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705 119 When we see St. Paul, Peter, James, John,
all those who wrote the Word, and the Word they wrote become alive and lived.
And It lived. And when we find after it begin to get ripe, John begin to write
in epistles. He was thrown on the Isle of
Now, this last
statement he said here is worthy of examination based on other things brother
Branham has spoken of about the Squeeze that is to come on the Bride.
But notice here that
he is speaking of the Word of God, and as we saw a couple weeks ago the Word
must live itself out, for the Word of God is Spirit and it is life. That’s what
Jesus said in
And we know by this
same Apostle that the Word is Life and this Word of Life became manifested to
us in the body of the Son of God.
I 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;)
We also saw in Jesus parable of “The Sower”
as we see in MARK
4:1¶ 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;(now, the word hearken means To listen attentively; give heed to, so
what Jesus is saying here is, “listen carefully to what I am about to tell you”,
so Jesus was trying to get their attention to tell them something of an utmost
importance to them. And then he says, ) Behold, (now, the word behold means to look
intently at in order to understand or comprehend, and then once he has
established that he wants their full undivided attention, and focus, then he
begins to tell the parable. ) 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.
Now, we know that when Jesus speaks of having ears to
hear, he is using a metaphor, because everyone knows that we hear with our
ears. But when he says he that has ears to hear, he is letting you know that
there are those who do not have ears to hear. Now, to hear means to understand.
That is what he said in Mathew 13.
Matthew 13: 13 Therefore
speak I to them in parables: because they
seeing see not; and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. So we see that there are people who hear but are not really paying any
attention to what they are hearing and because they do not pay attention to
what they are hearing they actually miss what was being said. The world is full
of people that way.
Back in September of
2001, I remember holding a ministers meeting in Manila
347-3 LAODICEAN CHURCH.AGE -
CHURCH AGE BOOK CPT 9 "You are blind and naked." Now
this is really desperate. How can anyone be blind and naked and not know it?
Yet it says that they are blind and naked and can't perceive it. The answer is,
they are spiritually blind, and spiritually naked. Do you remember when Elisha
and Gehazi were surrounded by the army of the Syrians? You recall that Elisha
smote them blind by the power of God. Yet their eyes were wide open and they
could see where they were going. The blindness was peculiar in that they could
see certain things, but other certain things such as Elisha and the servant and
the camp of
John 9:40-41. "And some of the Pharisees which were
with Him heard these words, and said unto Him, Are we blind also? Jesus said
unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see;
therefore your sin remaineth."
The
attitude of this age is exactly what it was then. People have it all. They know it all. They cannot be taught.
If a point of truth from the Word comes up and a man tries to explain his view
to one with an opposing view, the
listener is not at all listening that he might learn, but is listening only to
refute what is being said. Now I want to ask a fair question. Can Scripture
fight Scripture? Does the Bible contradict the Bible? Can there be two doctrines of truth in the Word that say the opposite
or oppose the other? NO. IT CANNOT BE SO. Yet how many of God's people have their eyes open to that truth? Not even one percent, as far as I know,
have learned that ALL Scripture is given by God and ALL is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, etc. If all
Scripture is thusly given, then every verse will dovetail if given a chance.
But how many believe in predestination unto election and reprobation unto
destruction? Those who don't, will they
listen? No, they will not. Yet both are in the Word, and nothing will
change it. But to learn about it and
reconcile the truth of those doctrines with other truths that seem to oppose,
they will not take the time. But they stop their ears, and gnash with their
teeth, and they lose out. At the end
of this age a prophet will come, but they will be blind to all that he is doing
and saying. They are so sure they are right, and in their blindness they will
lose it all.
And then I stopped the
meeting and told them I was dusting my feet from them and their city, and left
to go to my room. Many brothers who wanted to hear the words of Life came after
me to my room, and we continued in the room with more than a dozen or two
ministers until the late hours of the
night. But as for those others? They will be judged as brother Branham made so
plain in this quotation from the Church Age Book.
60-1
Again from Mathew chapter
13: and
in verse 14 we
read, “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:
15 For this people's heart is
waxed gross, and their ears are dull
of hearing, and their eyes they
have closed; 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, and I should heal them.”
Now, in getting back to Mark chapter 4 we continue at
verse 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
John said we know and understand because we have been
given an anointing of god’s Spirit that we might know and understand. Notice
what he says in I JOHN 2:20¶ But ye
have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I have not
written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. So
John is telling us here that the Holy Ghost anointing upon the believer will
cause them to understand. Because no man can know the things of God except the
Spirit of God be in Him, that is what Paul said in the book of
Corinthians.
I
CORINTHIANS 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, (notice he
tells us the wisdom of God has been hidden. And to hide something means there
is a purpose to the hiding of it.) which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
So what he is saying here is that even though it has been hidden by God through
the ages, yet God purposed for it to be revealed to us and to bring us into the
same mindset, the same Glory as His.
8
Which none of the princes of this
world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit (So we see here that God alone reveals them to us,
and He does so by His Own Spirit.) for The Spirit
(not a spirit, but The Spirit, God’s Own Spirit) searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God. 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. 12 Now we have
received, not the spirit of the
world, but The Spirit which is of God;
that (for the very
purpose 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.
So the Apostle Paul is saying here, that unless you
have received the Holy Ghost, you will not know nor will you understand the
things of God which are hidden from man and revealed to us by God’s Spirit.
We read where John told us the same thing in 1 John chapter 2,
when he told us that the reason we know all things is because God has anointed
us by His Own Spirit in order for us to know all things.
But in saying this he is telling us that not everyone
has received this anointing. others have not been given that anointing and so
they can not possibly know nor understand what God wants for us to understand.
And so they go out from our midst because they do not know what is actually
going on.
I
JOHN 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of
us; for if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might
be made manifest that they were not all of us. And then he let’s us know why they went out when he said
in verse 20 and 21, But ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all things.(You know
what’s going on but those that left don’t or they would have stayed. And since
they are those who do not know, it is apparent that they are also those who
have not the anointing of the Holy One) 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the
truth, but because ye know it, and
that no lie is of the truth.
So they are together because they have been anointed
by the Holy Ghost to know and to understand. The others just did not understand
so they left because the Sword that was being spoken was just too hard for them
to take.
But notice what he says next.)
And so in getting back to our Parable in Mark chapter
4, Jesus is now speaking about those who are not with us, but are on the
outside looking in, and he says, but unto them that are
without, (without means those on the outside) all these things are
done in parables (Now, notice there is a purpose for the parables,
they are for the purpose of keeping the truth hidden from those it is not meant
for to receive it.)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, (therefore unless you see and perceive and hear and
understand you will never be converted. And if you are not converted then your
sins remain.) 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?
Now, he is going to tell us the meaning of the
parable. 14 “The
sower soweth the word.” Now, we know the Sower of Seed is the Son of
Man, or in other words, God in the form
of prophet, teaching or casting forth His Word. 15 “And these are they by the way side, where the Word is sown;” Now,
never forget what is being sown is the Word of God. “but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately,
and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Now, we have all seen these kind of
people. They stop long enough to listen, but immediately they reject what they
heard. God allows something to happen
that they get their focus on instead of the Word, and bingo, they are gone just
like that. (Br. Brian snap’s his finger)
Then Jesus tells us about another group of believers
in verse 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.
Now, these are those who can not stand the trials God brings along. They come
for the Word but when things get a little tough in their life, they want to run
away from it all. That is because they have no roots in the Word.
But Paul told us that those that can not stand the
trials and testings are bastard born and not children of God.
Look, when things are going easy and seem to be too
good, just know for certain they won’t last long that way if you are a child of
God. Because God wants nothing more than to mold you and make you into the
Image of His first Born Son, and to do that you must learn obedience by the
things you suffer.
Too many times God allows us to suffer because of
something in our life that needs fixing. But the problem is that we try o fix
it ourselves and when we do that God is left to sit back and just watch. When
what we should be doing is asking Him to help us solve our problems for us.
And that leads us to the next group which is the
Laodicean believer. 18 And these are they
which are sown among thorns; (Notice
he said among thorns. These are not thorns but the Word was sewn to a people
who are among thorns. And these are they) such as hear the Word,
(Now, these have heard the Word, they understand it, but they allow
their focus to drift from the word, and get strangled by the cares of this life
and they loose their focus of why we are here and refocus themselves on what
the thorns present to them. Now notice what Jesus describes as the thorns. Number one)
19 The cares
of this world, and number two) the deceitfulness of riches, and number
three) the lusts
of other things entering in, (Now,
notice what these three things do to the believer. Jesus says, they) choke the word, and
It
becometh unfruitful.
Notice he said “IT” becomes unfruitful. He’s speaking
of the Word of God that was sown into this person who allows these things to
take away the focus of the Word and refocuses the mind on the three other
things. The word of God was meant to be received into a tilled heart, a heart
that is ready to bear fruit and to bring forth into manifestation the divine
nature that was birthed into it by the Holy Ghost Baptism.
The Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1: 3 According as His (God’s) divine power(That’s
His Word, which Paul said in Romans 1:16 the Word of God is the Power of God,
and we know God framed the world by His Word which is His Power. Any way, Peter
is saying,)
According as (God’s) divine power (His Own Word) 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:
So you see the Word of God is to unleash in us the
Divine nature of God if we will just let go and let God. But we allow things to
come into the way and thus by altering our focus on things instead of on God’s
Word and will for us in this life, we allow that Word which we have received to
get choked out. So the Life of the Word gets choked out.
Years ago I was preaching at another church and I was
trying to get across the understanding that although there is to be a squeeze
that brother Branham tied with the council of churches coming against the
Bride, yet I was trying to warn the people that there is something else just as
bad and in fact worse for the bride and that was the Cares of this Life choking
off the Word and the Word not coming alive in them because they had lost their
focus on things. I said the word choke signifies another type of squeeze and
this squeeze is far worse than the one coming because the Word can not produce
fruit under this squeeze.
Now, the word choke means To become blocked up or obstructed, Something that constricts, To
interfere with the respiration of by
compression or obstruction of the larynx or trachea. And also To check or slow down the movement, growth,
or action of: like a garden that was
choked by weeds.
So you see the Word becomes choked from producing
fruit is a far worse squeeze spiritually than the shutting down or persecution
of the church.
Now, that does not mean there won’t be the Squeeze
that brother Branham talked about, but to have the Life of the word choked so
much to the point that it produces nothing is far worse than persecution for
your faith. In fact I believe the Bride in America and Canada need the squeeze
brother Branham talked about just to get them to wake up, if it isn’t too late
by then. They need something to shake them up.
You see when the devil wants to fight, we are not commanded to get into the
ring and duke it out. The Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee. Now
how do you resist him? You just let go and let God. That’s all. God will fight
your fight if you get yourself out of the way and let him do it. But if you don’t think God will do it for you
then you get yourself so entangled in the fight yourself that you forget that
God is Sovereign and nothing escapes His Seeing or Hearing.
So you see the Word was meant to produce fruit which
shows that it is alive. If cells are not
multiplying themselves, then they are dead. And if a plant is not able to
produce fruit it might as well be plucked up and cast into the fire. That is
what Jesus did. He cursed the fig tree that was not producing fruit and it
withered and died.
So we now get to what God has ordained for us in Mark 4:20 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.
That is what God
intends for his people, his children. He wishes that we bear fruit.
JOHN 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more
can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me
ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch,
and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they
are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what
ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that
ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. Let’s bow our heads in Prayer.