WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC #6
The Safety Zone
July 2, 2000
Brian Kocourek
This morning we will
continue again from Brother Branham's Message, WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC. So far we have focused our thoughts on his opening
prayer, as we will again take our subject from that prayer.
We thank Thee for
Thy great power, Thy great revelation of thyself to us in this last days. It
makes our heart most happy and joyful to know that we have come in contact with
the living God, Who vindicates it right back in physical, material evidences as
He did in the days gone by and as He has promised for this day. We're so
grateful to Thee our God. This dark day where no one seems to know which a-way
to go, we're so glad that we found the safety zone, the retreat.
This morning I would like to
focus our thoughts on this last statement that brother Branham makes, We're so grateful to Thee our God. This dark day where no
one seems to know which a-way to go, we're so glad that we found the safety
zone, the retreat.
Notice, he speaks of a
safety zone in difficult times. Times of trials and uncertainty. Yet it is been
given us to know that during these times we will have a zone of safety.
Now to begin with we must
ask ourselves what is this zone he speaks of.
The word Zone comes from a Greek word Z.o.n.e. pronounced zo-nay, and it refers to a belt used to gird about.
MATTHEW 3:4 And the same John
had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins;
and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
This girding of the loins is
not something children need to do. But it is done by the male only, and for the
purpose of protecting his future family, his heirs to be.
JOB 38:1 ¶ Then the LORD answered Job out of the
whirlwind, and said, 2 Who [is] this that darkeneth counsel by words without
knowledge? 3 Gird up now thy
loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
JOB 40:6 ¶ Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the
whirlwind, and said, 7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will
demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
In Ezekiel we find when God
calls Him to go forward, Ezekiel still thinks he is a child, but God tells Him
not to even think it, for he is now a man, and He must go forth, gird his loins
and speak.
JEREMIAH 1:4 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying, 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou
camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations. 6 Then said I, Ah,
Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I [am] a child. 7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I [am]
a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I
command thee thou shalt speak. 8 Be
not afraid of their faces: for I [am] with thee to deliver thee, saith the
LORD. 9 Then the LORD put forth his
hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my
words in thy mouth. 10 See, I have
this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to
pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. 11 ¶
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest
thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. 12 Then said the LORD
unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. 13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the
second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the
face thereof [is] toward the north. 14
Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth
upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15
For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,
saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at
the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round
about, and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and
worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 Thou therefore gird up thy
loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed
at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. 18 For, behold, I have
made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls
against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes
thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
19 And they shall fight against thee;
but they shall not prevail against thee; for I [am] with thee, saith the LORD,
to deliver thee.
Now, we find Peter speaking
of a girding up and getting ready to move out in at the end time when the great
Revelation of Jesus Christ is to take place.
1 Peter 1: 13: I
PETER 1:3 ¶ Blessed [be] the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, 4 To an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you, 5 Who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 ¶
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are
in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see [him]
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, [even]
the salvation of [your] souls. 10
¶ Of which salvation the
prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
[that should come] unto you: 11
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom
it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the
things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel
unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels
desire to look into. 13 ¶ Wherefore gird up
the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to
be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
And notice what loins he is
speaking of? The LOINS or your mind. That is where the seed has been placed.
And when you are ready to move out you must protect that seed.
The next time we see this
girding take place in the scriptures is in the book of the Revelation of Jesus
Christ, when Jesus Christ, the God of heaven and earth is gird about with a golden
girdle.
REVELATION 1:13 And in the midst
of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a
garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Now, it does not say this
was the Son of Man, but One Like unto the Son of Man. It is God.
Now, notice that
the Son of Man comes forth wearing a golden girdle, that is the word Zone.
REVELATION 15:6 And the seven
angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and
white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of
the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath
of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke
from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into
the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.
52-4 PATMOS
VISION - CHURCH AGE BOOK CPT 2 NO LONGER THE PRIEST Revelation
1:13, "And in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like unto the Son of
Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
golden girdle." There He stands, One like unto the Son of Man. As
the jewel is beautified by the mounting of the ring, so He is glorified in the
midst of the churches. It is the Lord's Day; for John sees Him standing, not as
a priest, but as the coming Judge. The golden girdle is no longer girt around
the waist where the priest must wear it as he ministers to God in the Holiest
Place, but it is now around His shoulders, for He is not now the priest but the
JUDGE. Now has John 5:22 come to pass, "For the Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son." His service has been rendered.
The priesthood is over. The days of the prophecy are finished. He stands girded
as the JUDGE.
HEBREWS CHAPTER 7
PT 1 57-0915E 292-23
Now, now if you'll notice, as we read the next verse. See? First, being
by interpretation, King of righteousness... (That's not where I want to do.
The--the 3rd verse.) ... nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;...
(Now, He was not the Son of God. For if He was the Son, He had a beginning, and
this Man had no beginning. If He was a Son, He had to have both father and mother.
And this Man had neither father nor mother, but He was made like unto the Son
of God.)... abideth a priest continually.
Now, Dr. Scofield
tries to say that it was a priesthood, called the Melchisedec priesthood. But I
just want to take you on that just for a few minutes. If it was a priesthood,
then it had to have a beginning, and it had to have an end. But This had no
beginning or had any end. And he did not say he met a priesthood; he met a Man,
and called His Name Melchisedec. He was a Person, not a denomination, not
a--a--a priesthood or fatherhood; He was absolutely a Man by the Name of
Melchisedec, Who was the King of Jerusalem. Not a priesthood, but a King
without a father, priesthoods don't have father. And this Man was without
father, without mother, without beginning of days or ending of life. Now, the
Son of God... Who this was, this was Jehovah. This was Almighty God Himself. It
could be no other. 292-25 Now,
notice.... He abideth for ever... (He has a testimony here that He liveth, He
never dies. He never did... He never was nothing else but alive.)... He abideth
for ever...Now, Jesus was made liken unto Him. Now, the reason that there's a
difference between God and Jesus, Jesus had a beginning; God had no beginning;
Melchisedec had no beginning; and Jesus had a beginning. But Jesus was made
likened unto Him.... a priest abideth forever.
MELCHISEDEC THE
GREAT PRINCE 55-0109M E-58
If He had no father, He had no mother, He had no beginning of days or
ending of life, Melchisedec still exists. Is that right? Made on the order...
Having no father, no mother, but was made like unto the son of God, abides a
priest continually... He can't... He had no beginning. He has no end. He had no
father; He had no mother, yet He was a man. And He came from Salem: peace. He
was the King of peace. He was the King of righteousness. He was not only a
King, but He was a Prince: and He is the Prince of peace. He's the Rose of
Sharon. He's the Lily of the valley, the Morning Star, the Alpha, Omega; He
that was, which is, and shall come, both Root and Offspring of David. He was
before David, in David, and after David. Who was this Priest? None other than
the incarnated Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, we find that this
girdle or Zo-nay or ZONE is used for protection, and in our opening text we
find brother Branham speaking of this Great Revelation of God in this hour is
our safety Zone.
Notice that brother Branham
uses this word safety zone in context with the world groping in darkness and
being uncertain as to which way to go. But we have a safety Zone given by a vindicated Revelation. Now,
remember, this word means to encircle, as like a belt.
Brother Branham spoke of
this same thing when he preached the Rapture message and in fact took for his
text 2 scriptures which speak of a time when we will need this protection.
PSALMS 27:1 ¶ [A Psalm] of David. The LORD [is] my light
and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of
whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and
my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3
Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though
war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident. 4
One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I
may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of
trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall
he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
PSALMS 31:20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy
presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion
from the strife of tongues.
PSALMS 23:1 ¶ A Psalm of David. The LORD [is] my shepherd;
I shall not want.2 He maketh me to
lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me. 5 Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth
over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the
LORD for ever.
PROVERBS 18:10 ¶ The name of the LORD [is] a strong tower:
the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
JOHN 17:11 ¶
And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I
come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we [are]. 12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name:
those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of
perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world,
that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world
hath hated them, 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. 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; 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:
Now, this Glory which He has
given us is our protect, for it is the wisdom and the very mind of God. It is the Doxa, the opinion, assessment and
judgment of God.
PROVERBS 4:7 Wisdom [is] the
principal thing; [therefore] get wisdom: and with all thy getting get
understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she
shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an
ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Notice then this crown of
Glory is also what shall protect thee.
James 1:12
Revelations 2:10-11,3:11
We've been
talking about the hedge that GOD has put around us;
Ps 1:6, 27:5,
31:20,
Job 1:10
We came to realize that the
hedge is GOD Himself. compare PS 103:4 to PS 1:6
and PS 31:20, we see He
encircles us and we are caught up into Him as a cyclotron of His presence or
to be more scriptural, like a whirlwind all around us.
2nd COR 3:18 NIV
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the LORD'S Glory, are
being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory,which comes from
the LORD, Who is The Spirit.
This crowning is one which
fadeth not away as we see in 1 PET 5:4 but we see in ISA 40:5-9 that man fades
and everything that is created will fade,so this crown which fades not must be
the Word as ISAIAH says,"only the Word of GOD will not fade but endures
forever."
Now ISA 28:5 says He is
our Crown.
Wm Branham from a message
entitled TESTIMONY OF A TRUE WITNESS says,"I got Isaiah 28:11, let's just read for a moment
and find out here what He said about the coming of the HOLY SPIRIT. Isaiah the 28th chapter, let's begin at the
5th verse
"' In that
day shall the Lord of Hosts be for a crown of Glory."' "He's speaking
of this great day when the Witness would come. What is our crown? ( pounds on
pulpit ) The Holy Spirit crowns us. A crown of Glory, "and for a diadem of
beauty unto the residue of His people." 'The residue, the people that's
left over. He'll be a Diadem, a Crown of Glory, a Diadem of beauty. Think, this
is seven hundred years before it happened'. "For a spirit of judgment to
him that is setting in judgment," 'That's what He does to us at the altar.
'"For strength to them that turn the battle to the gate." 'Let me
see, "that turn the battle to the gate," 'them who are standing for
Him and with Him, this Great Spirit, Holy Spirit that is prophesied , will be the strength of him that stands at the
gate in the battle. He is our strength, we rely upon Him, not upon culture, not
upon education, not upon things of the world. "Not by power, not by might
but by My Spirit, Saith the Lord."
The church rest's solemnly in that. He will
be the strength of him that stands in the gate, not his theological background,
not his denomination, but the Holy Ghost will be his strength. He'll be the One
that'll stand at the gate. He'll rely upon the strength of the Holy Spirit to
turn the alien away.'
Now Jesus received this same
crown HEB 2:9, PS 8:5
When then does this crown come to the Elect? 2 TIM 4:8, 1 PET 5:4, At the time of THE
appearing. This word for crown is the Greek word (stephanos )'A BADGE OF
ROYALTY.
Brother Branham said to Lee
Vayle in his private audio letter, "For as He
come then to the natural seed,Abraham, He comes now to the Royal seed Abraham,
who is ALSO waiting for the promised Son, not the natural son Isaac, but the
Royal promised Son." 1 Pet 5:4
Now as she receives this
crown which is Himself, she gives back to Him this revelation which she
received by Him and this then becomes her offering unto Him. She then becomes
His crown as we see in ISA 62:3 and PROV 12:4.The difference between Him as her crown
and her as His crown is that the word for Him as CROWN is TSePHIYRAH meaning a
crown ( as encircling the head). The word for her as a crown is TSANIYPHAH a
head dress (ie. a piece of cloth wrapped around ) a hood, diadem, mitre.
MITRE= the official headdress of the
ancient Jewish High-Priest.
So we see that she is not for His protection as He is for her,
but rather she is for his beauty personified, in which she, by her beauty, is
to attract attention to the head, giving the head the full preeminence. Thus we
have a true picture of a bride and her groom and how each compliments the
other.
MAL3:16-18 gives us a better
understanding then of this protection he gives her and her giving back this
revelation to Him which He has given to her. 16 "Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and
the LORD listened and heard. A scroll
of remembrance was
written in His presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored His
name. 17 "They will be
mine," says the LORD ALMIGHTY, "in the day when I make up My
treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his
son who serves him.18 And you will again see the distinction between the
righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do
not."
Now once again we have a perfect picture of Eden again where
husband was to feed wife from the tree of life ,she then would feed him of the
same tree ( a beautiful type of giving back to GOD the revelation He has given
to HIS bride)but instead, before Adam gave to her, the serpent got to her with
the wrong tree and thus perverted the original course GOD had intended for man.
But at this time He has come back "to restore the kingdom to its rightly
position that fell by sin by the first Adam, back to where He walked in the
cool of the evening with His people, talked with them, fellowshipped with
them."
CHRIST THE MYSTERY OF GOD
REVEALED p.24-25
Now we see here a beautiful picture of
Bride and Groom. As she dresses to meet her mate, she first puts on her
shoes(which is the preparation of the Gospel). She is then dressed in the Word
and the last piece of apparel she puts on before she is presented to her Groom
is the crown or headpiece which consists of a headband, veil and train,
representing God before her, GOD behind her, GOD over her and all around
her."
She is then ready to proceed
down the isle to meet her Groom. As she
walks toward her Husband she is veiled to all who happen to look on. She then
takes her place before Him and as she stands in His presence, He reaches
forward, removes her veil once and for all. He then kisses her and for the
first time she is purely face to face and mouth to mouth. ( and the Bride will have "Thus
Saith the LORD," or she will keep still.)
ZEPH 3:9-17 " Then will
I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the
Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder.