WHO IS THIS
MELCHISEDEC #44
FEBRUARY 25, 2001
Brian Kocourek
This morning we will
continue with studying the person of Melchisedec as we pick up at paragraph 34
of brother Branham's sermon "Who
is this Melchisedec:.
35 I said,
"It's by revelation." And he said, "I can't accept
revelation." I said, "Then there's no way for God to ever get to
you, because it's hid from the eyes of the wise and prudent and revealed to
babes (revealed, revelation) revealed to babes such as will accept it, learn."
And I said, "There'd be no way for God to get to you; you close yourself
off from Him. The whole Bible is the revelation of God. The whole
church is built upon the revelation of God. There's no other way to know God
only by revelation: 'To whom the Son will reveal Him,' revelation. Everything
is revelation. So to--not to accept the revelation, then you're just a cold
theologian, and there's no hope for you."
Notice this last statement,
brother Branham said, " not to accept the revelation, then you're just
a cold theologian, and there's no hope for you. "
Now, I am sure most of you
have heard the theologians on the radio, you know, "The Bible Answer Man,
So called any way. These are men who do not Know God, but they know ther Bible
from cover to cover literally. It was said of the Pharisees that they were such
a strict sect that they could place a pin into the Bible and could tell you
what letters that pin would hit as it went from page to page. Whether this was
true or not, I do not know, I was not there, but I do know that brother Branham
is a vindicated prophet and if he says you only know God by Revelation then
that is the only way to know God.
The literalist believes that
you are to take everything in the Bible literally. I disagree with that
statement. I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of the Living God and
although it has been written for thousands of
years, yet it contained hidden wisdom and revelation of the One True God
that was not to be revealed until the last age.
I CORINTHIANS 2:6 ¶ Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom
of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
[even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
The Apostle Paul called it
the hidden wisdom. That means it has always been there but was written in such
a way that it would go completely over the head of those who read it until the
appointed time for it to be revealed.
ROM 16:25 ¶ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my
gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the
mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made
manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment
of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
27To God only wise, [be] glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.
And we know that at the end
time all the mysteries will no longer be hidden.
REVELATION 10:1 ¶ And I saw another mighty
angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [was] upon his
head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of
fire: 2 And he had in his hand a little
book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and [his] left [foot] on the
earth, 3 And cried with a loud voice, as [when] a lion roareth: and when he had
cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 And when the seven
thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders
uttered, and write them not. 5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and
upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 And sware by him that liveth for
ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the
earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are
therein, that there should be time no longer: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall
begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to
his servants the prophets.
You see there is to be a
certain sweep of Grace that will come upon the last day elect that will prepare
their minds for the revelation which is the uncovering or bringing into full
view those things which had been hidden.
I PETER 1:13 ¶ 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;
I CORINTHIANS 1:3 Grace [be] unto you, and
peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God
always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
5 That in every thing ye are enriched
by him, in all utterance, and [in] all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of
Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end,
[that ye may be] blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God [is]
faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ
our Lord. 10 ¶ Now I beseech you,
brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same
thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Paul goes on to say in verse
8, I CORINTHIANS 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew:
for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Notice, Paul tells us that
had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Therefore there
are things in this Bible that merely just reading it will not bring
understanding to you. In fact there are things in this Bible, the way it is
written that will not only not bring understanding, but will bring complete
befuddlement.
MATTHEW 13:10 And the disciples came, and
said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said
unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be
given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall
be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables:
because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they
understand. 14 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. 16 But
blessed [are] your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17 For
verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous [men] have desired to
see [those things] which ye see, and have not seen [them]; and to hear [those
things] which ye hear, and have not heard [them].
Therefore, we know that just
to read it will not teach you what is in there. It takes revelation. Jesus
said, MATTHEW 11:25 ¶ At that
time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes. 26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27 All
things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the
Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and [he] to
whomsoever the Son will reveal [him].
1 Corinthians 2:9 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: for the 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 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. 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.
Paul tells us in simple
words to understand. Unless you have the spirit of a man you can not understand
the thoughts of a man. And then he tells us that unless you have the spirit
of God, there is no way for you to
understand the thoughts of God. For God
said,
ISAIAH 55:8 For my thoughts [are] not
your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
The word revelation and it's
various root words is used 522 times in the Bible, and means 1) to uncover, lay
open what has been veiled or covered up; disclose, make bare 2) to make known, make manifest, disclose
what before was unknown
Paul tells us that when God
opened up the revelation of His Himself and His Son to him, he did not go
running back to the seminary. GALATIANS 1:15 But when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace, 16 To
reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I
conferred not with flesh and blood: Your seminary can't help you. Only the
Truth through a vindicated prophet of God, and revelation of that truth which
comes by the Spirit of the Living God.
PHILIPPIANS 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing
[I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 ¶
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any
thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule,
let us mind the same thing.
JOHN 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: 13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God.
And remember, JOHN 1:1 ¶
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.
Now, if you are given power to become sons, then you had to always be
sons. You can not be what you were not in seed form. Genesis 1:11 tells us
every seed will bring forth after it's kind or nature. And since God is the
Word, his sons will be Word also. Now, many people can not believe that this
being a son of God is a literal thing, and yet these same people tell us they believe
the Bible literally. They claim to believe the Bible is the inspired Word of
God and thus they take it literally, and yet when you show them that the
serpent had a seed and his seed would be at enmity with the promised seed, they
want to say that is not literal. When you show them that Jesus spoke of the
Seed of the Kingdom, or the seed being the children of God and satan has a seed
or children of satan, they do not believe that it was a literal seed, but a
spiritual seed.
When Jesus told them that their father was the devil, these same people
will say that is figuratively spoken, and yet they claim to believe the Bible
literally. I think they only believe the Bible is literature, therefore they
believe it literarily not literally.
Now we are told by Moses in the Book of DEUTERONOMY 29:29 The
secret [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are]
revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all
the words of this law.
When King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him so, and there
wass noone to tell him what it meant, Daniel the Prophet came to him and said, DANIEL 2:28 But there is a God in
heaven that revealeth secrets,
And the Prophet Amos said, AMOS 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will
do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 8The
lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but
prophesy?
Now, this brings us back to
what Brother Branham was telling us. Who is this Melchisedec pp. 35 he said, ["I said,
"It's by revelation." And he said, "I can't accept
revelation." I said, "Then there's no way for God to ever get to
you, because it's hid from the eyes of the wise and prudent and revealed to
babes (revealed, revelation) revealed to babes such as will accept it, learn."
And I said, "There'd be no way for God to get to you; you close yourself
off from Him. The whole Bible is the revelation of God. The whole
church is built upon the revelation of God. There's no other way to know God
only by revelation: 'To whom the Son will reveal Him,' revelation. Everything
is revelation. So to--not to accept the revelation, then you're just a cold
theologian, and there's no hope for you."]
Now, there is an aspect that we so often overlook here when we hear
Jesus tell us this. That aspect is Grace. He said to one group it is hidden and
to another Group referred to as babes which implies children, it is revealed.
MATTHEW 11:25 ¶ At that time Jesus answered
and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes.26 Even so, Father: for so it
seemed good in thy sight.
EPHESIANS 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9
And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from
the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by
Jesus Christ: 10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in
heavenly [places] might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
COLOSSIANS 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 [Even] the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27
To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
REVELATION 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the
hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].
Why was this called hidden manna? The word used here is the Greek word,
apokruphos {ap-ok'-roo-fos} -- kept secret 1) hidden, secreted,
stored up.
So the manna was kept hidden for all these ages for a purpose, and that
is it was kept for you and I.
I CORINTHIANS 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory: