Preparation #15 (The Ripening SON)
Sunday,
MAY2nd, 1999
Brian
Kocourek
This morning we shall continue to examine a few words
brother Branham spoke
from his sermon Preparation. In PP. He said, 015 Now, I want you to listen close. Now, "Preparation..." God, before He does anything, He always
prepares for it. …. And God always prepares the people for the events that's just about to happen.
Last week we examined this thought in light of what he
also said about the Elect being prepared for the Rapture. Just Before brother Branham went off the
seen, he left us with instructions of just what will happen
befor we take the Rapture. He told us that we were to
be like the people he saw across the curtain of time, and he told us how we
would become like those people.
GOD'S ONLY
PROVIDED PLACE OF WORSHIP 65-1128M 40 020 I believe the church is begin
to hear the message, and beginning to
understand. But, friends, listen, we've
got to lay in the Presence of the Son; we've got to be
ripened. Our--our faith isn't ripe.
Intellectually we're hearing the message that God has give us, and seeing the
signs that He showed us, and proving it by the Bible as that; but, oh, how the
church needs to lay in His Presence till
it tenders up, you know, and gets
sweet in the Spirit so that it can
bathe down. Sometimes in speaking the message, you get harsh,
have to break it in like that, because you've got to clinch a nail to make it
hold. But when the church once gets it,
the Elected is called out and separated
then in the Presence of God, I know it'll be something like the people
was there when it takes its rapture.
Therefore, this morning I would like to examine this
ripening process that we must go through. Since we examined this process last
week, I would like to turn our attention, not so much on the process itself,
but on this SON which we must lay in, in order to bring on this ripening
process. Because after all, unless we lay in the presence of this SON, we will
not receive this ripening process and therefore will not become ripe, or
mature, or made ready. We will not tender up, nor will we become sweet in our
spirit. Therefore, it is necessary that we lay in the Presence of the correct
source of Light. And this Light that we are told to lay in is the Presence of
THE SON.
We are promised that God will send forth His SON in
the form of the SUN of Righteousness. And this SUN will have a two-fold
ministry. This same SUN will harden some while it will warm and soften and
bring to LIFE others. He tells us in the
book of Malachi that this SUN will bring forth a light that will heal, yet will
also burn up others.
MALACHI 4:1 ¶
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither
root nor branch. 2 But unto you that fear my name shall
the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go
forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 3
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles
of your feet in the day that I shall do [this], saith the LORD of hosts. 4 ¶ Remember ye the law
of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all
ZECHARIAH
14:6 6 And it shall come to pass in that day,
[that] the light shall not be clear, [nor] dark: 7
But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor
night: but it shall come to pass, [that] at evening time it shall be
light. 8
¶ And it
shall be in that day, [that] living waters shall go out from
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?
PROVERBS
PROVERBS
JOHN 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light
of men. 5 ¶ And the light shineth
in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
JOHN
II TIMOTHY
JOHN
RISING OF
THE SUN 65-0418M 2-2
004 Science took the picture all the way from Mexico as it moved from
northern Arizona, where the Holy Spirit said I would be standing (forty miles
northeast of Tucson). And it went into the air, and "Life" magazine
packed the pictures: a mystic something way in the spheres where there can be
no moisture, where there can be no evaporations of anything, thirty miles high
and twenty-seven miles across and coming right up from where those Angels were.
Now, they asked to know (science); the--one of them at
2-4
005 And
so there He spoke to me and said, "The Seven Seals will be opened. The
seven mysteries, sevenfold mystery of the Bible that's been closed up since the
foundation of the world will be revealed." And we, yet a humble little
group compared with all the world, we've enjoyed these
blessings and hearing those mysteries: Marriage, Divorce, Serpent's Seed. All
those different questions has been completely revealed to us, not by man but by
God Himself, that's opened those seven mysteries of what the church was, how it
was in Christ at the beginning, and how it would be revealed in the last day.
And now, as this went up... We have the picture outside on the plaque. But then... I have the picture laying
present here, if you notice it as "Life" magazine had it. But I
wonder if my audience visible here has ever really looked at the picture (See,
see?) in the way it should be?
3-1
006 You
remember, I was preaching when this vision came, upon the subject of the Book
of the Revelations where the old judges, where we seen Jesus in Revelations 1.
When we started to open the Seven Seals--or the--or the church ages, rather,
just prior to the opening of the Seven Seals, Christ was standing with hair
like wool, white; and I described that to you that the old English judges and
judges of long ago, when they went to the bench to be sworn in, their supreme
authority was given them; they wore a white wig, as it was, over their heads to
show their supreme authority.
3-2
007 Well, if you'll turn the
picture like this and look (and you can probably see it from the audience),
it's Christ. See His eyes looking here just as perfect as it could be, wearing
the white wig of supreme Deity and Judge of all heavens and earth? Can you see
His eyes, nose, His mouth? Just turn the picture from
this (the way they had it), this a-way, the way it's supposed to be. And you... Can you see it? He is supreme Judge; there's none
other but Him. And that is a perfect identification again, a vindication that
this Message is the truth. It is true. And making Him, not a third person, but
the only Person with the white... See, you see the dark, His face, His beard,
and His eyes? And notice, He's looking; from Him comes this Light shining on
the right-hand side to which He's looking to. And on the cross that's where He
looked, to the right, where He pardoned the sinner. In the light of His
resurrection we still go forth in His Name.
3-4
008 I wish, this morning, that I
had just--much time to--to spend upon these phenomenas,
that's beyond any shadow of doubt been proven for the past thirty years--or
thirty-five years right here at this church, since down on the river when that
same Light came down here in Jeffersonville in 1933 and spoke those words:
"As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Christ, your
Message will forerun the second." We're at the end time. And we see it. We
wonder sometimes why it hasn't spread over the earth; maybe sometime we'll have
a chance to explain that, if God willing.
4-1
009 Now, I want you to turn
in--in your Bibles, as we always believe that the Word must come first--of the
reading of the Word. I always read That, because It...
My words is the word of a man; it will fail, but the
Word of God can never fail. Now, we're going to--to read from the Holy
Scriptures, a text. And we want you to turn first to three places in the Bible
that I have chosen to read from. One of them is in Revelations the 1st chapter
and the 17th and 18th verse. This is where He appeared with His hair white as
wool, and His feet was like brass. And then I want you
also to get in your Bibles, Romans 8:11. And I've chosen, this morning, three
places to read from the Holy Scriptures for my message today,
that the Lord has placed upon my heart for the resurrection. And then I
want you to also, Mark 16:1 and 2, and there I will draw my--my context.
4-3
010 Now, in Revelation 1:18, we
read these words: 17 and 18: And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.
And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; for I am the
first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was
dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of death
and... hell. And in Romans the 8th chapter and the
11th verse we read this: But if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you. And now in Mark the 16th
chapter (the chapter of the resurrection)--the 16th chapter, the 1st and 2nd
verses: And when the sabbath
was past, Mary Magdalene, the mother--and Mary the mother of James, and Salome,
had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day
of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
4-6 011 Now, my text this morning, I want to take for a text:
"It Is The Rising Of The Sun," and for a subject I want to use the
Quickening Power. Now, you know, you perhaps have been hearing the radio and
the different ministers speak, and our noble Brother Neville this morning
speaking his Easter subject on the resurrection. And I thought maybe I would
take it a--a little different path, not to be different, but just to add a
little more, maybe in another angle. For you... The
Scriptures, every angle you go with the Scriptures It
always declares Jesus Christ. You cannot get away from it any way, It always declares Him.
5-2
012 Now, as the world today in
a--a memorial service (or at least in
5-4
013 Now, that it is the greatest
week in history, the greatest celebration of all times, this Easter is where He
proved what He had said. Man can say things, but yet it isn't exactly can be
believed upon thoroughly, until it's been proved to be the truth. And as God,
Who said, "Prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good," He
would not tell you to do something that He would not do Himself. So He prove Who this was that died for our sins. And now, not only
is it a memorial day of all these great Easter flowers, and Easter bonnets, and
pink rabbits, and so forth, that we've got into, and holy celebrations, which
is all right; but this is not the real thing in that way.
5-6
014 As
people today are trying to say, we should wash feet once a year on--on
Thursday, and on Friday we should take the communion, and all different
doctrines of... They argue about whether it should be this day or that day, or
whether it should be a sabbath
day or the first day of the week or... All these things are just merely
tradition. What good would any of it do you, whether you had Lent or not Lent,
if there's no Life in you. It's only a memorial, which there's nothing against
it, but they have certainly carried out their traditions but left off the main
thing. Satan doesn't care how religious you are, or how right you are in your
doctrine; if you miss that Life, you're won't come up anyhow. No matter how
religious, how good, how many churches you've belonged to or will belong to, it
doesn't matter one thing unless you have been born again. Therefore, if God
raised up Jesus from the dead, did He raise Him up for a memorial, and is this
resurrection morning only a--a one day in the year or a certain day that we
celebrate this, or are we benefactors of His resurrection? What does it mean to
me? What does it mean to you? Now, we believe by faith that He raised from the
dead, but what has that got to do with me? That was two thousand years ago.
6-3
015 Now, to find this text, as I
was tired, and my arm hurting me from shots that the nurse gave me for... Leave
overseas now, as you know, in a few days, and I must have these shots, son and
I; and with cholera, yellow fever and everything, I was pretty weary, making me
sick; which Caesar requires to have these shots before you go into the other
nations. And He said, "Give Caesar that which is Caesar's, but then, give
God that which is God's." And as I was setting there wondering what would
I speak to this waiting audience this morning (which I am very thankful for),
and men and women who would lay their life on the line for what you would say,
how should I do it? What should I take for a text?
6-4
016 And
then, while I was setting there almost asleep, my door rattled out on the front
side of the house. Nobody being there but myself, as far as I knew, I listened;
I didn't get it just right. After while, the den room door, where I have turned
into my study, it rattled; and someone kept shaking the door. And I--I went to
the door and opened the door, and to my surprise a--a pretty, little,
yellow-haired, blue-eyed girl stood there; looked like a little Easter flower
(that's setting here looking at me now). She handed me a card, and it was the
('course, I guess when I get home there'll be Easter cards and so forth,
but...) the only one, being leaving home, that I'd received. And she said,
"Brother Branham, this is from daddy and me." She wanted to be sure
that "me" was in it. And her arthritic father setting in a wheelchair
had sent this card.
7-1
017 When I took it and thanked
the little darling, as she turned and walked away from the door, I opened up
the card; and in the form of this card I drew my text, for on the card was the
St. Mark 16:1 and 2: "Sun-up--the sun was rising." And then I thought
of that and then the subject of the quickening of Jesus Christ to be raised up
from the dead, I drew my subject.
7-3
018 Now, the sun, at this rising
of the sun... Well, there was a time when the world was laying in utter darkness.
It was without form and was void, and it was all covered with water, and was
laying there in the dark, dismal, gloomy atmosphere. And the Spirit of God
moved upon that water and said, "Let there be light." God had a reason to do that, for down beneath
that water there was seeds that He had planted, and it had to have that
sunlight to make it live. And the first Light was ever given in the earth was
God's spoken Word. The first Light that ever struck the earth was God's spoken
Word; He said, "Let there be light." And there was light,
that turned darkness into light in order to bring forth a creation of
joy and life upon the earth.
7-5
019 Then the Spirit of God, as
It moved with love and compassion at that great day, the first day of the dawn
of creation upon the earth, the sun rose and swept across (its rays) and dried
up the waters from the earth and made an atmosphere above; and for its first
time it was to bring joy and life to the earth by a seed. That was a great
hour. But oh, it wasn't nothing, that sunrise, like the sunrise on that Easter
morning. This time, with the sun leaping into the skies, it brought forth a
greater sunrise then ever; because it came greater news with this sunrise, than
it did with the sunrise at the beginning. This sunrise brought a news that "He is risen. He is quickened from the dead
as He's promised. He's risen from the dead."
7-7
020 The
first time the sun rose in Genesis, it was bringing a message that there will
be life upon the earth: mortal life. But this time when the sun rose, there was
a--a dual sunrising, another sunrising.
It was a not only s-u-n rising, it was a S-o-n had risen to bring Eternal Life
to all God's promised seed, that by foreknowledge He's seen laying upon the
earth. No more could the--the botany life live back there at the beginning
without the s-u-n to bring it to life; no more than today, when sons of God is
upon the earth, it take the S-o-n Light to bring them to Eternal Life. His
chosen ones that He knew before the foundation of the world, He had chosen them
in Himself before the foundation of the world. And on Easter morning then, in
this dirt somewhere, laid our bodies at that time, for we are the dust of the
earth; and in heaven there was a book of memory, and His attributes was in Him,
knowing that because this Son of God raised, It would also raise to Life every
son that was foreordained to this great time. He knew it would be, and what a
more glorious sunrise that was than it was at the beginning, at time when it
first dawn.
8-2
021 Now, on this great breaking
of the Easter Seal... Now, today we have a tuberculosis Easter seal. People
sends a message one to the other, and to support this great fund or drive for
the doctors and medical science to work upon something to retire or to help the
tuberculosis, they are seal--what we call an Easter seal, when we send message
one to another... But when we receive the message, that seal is broken, because
the seal is what's got a message bound on the inside. And now, the true Easter
Seal on this sunrise was broken, and the secret of Life after death was
revealed. Before that time we didn't know; the world groped in darkness, groped
around man's suspicion. Theories was among man's
hearts, traditions, made up. Men worshipped idols; they worshipped the sun;
they worshipped all kinds of gods. And all kinds of people that made claims,
they all went into the grave, and they stayed in the grave. But the real Seal
had been broken, and One, Who once lived as we live, died as we will die, was risen from the dead. What a morning, never one like it in
all the history of the world. The secret was made known that He was both
Resurrection and the Life.
8-4
022 Then He said when He come
forth on that morning, "Because I live, you live also." Not only was
He the beneficiary of the resurrection, but all those Seed that was resting in
God's great providence was a benefactor of that resurrection to Life, because
He said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." That was the breaking
of the Seal. Because He was brought up, so will every one that's in Christ be
brought up with Him. At this glorious sunrise God had
proven or vindicated His Word. All the glooms and doubts that had moved in
people's minds was taken away, because here was He Who once lived, eat, drink,
and fellowship with mankind that said, "I have power to lay My life down,
and I have power to raise it up again." And now, not only had He made the
statement, but He proved it to be the truth. Oh, what a glorious thing that is.
I'm sure this morning that even we, who believe it, cannot comprehend what a
great thing that was. Because He raised from the dead,
we also have already raised from the dead, for we were in Him.
9-2
023 Notice now, as the gloom
covered the earth and the seeds could not live without the s-u-n to rise; and
gloom had covered the earth, and now, the S-o-n was risen and all gloom was
vanished by this Light, as It spread across a--the nations to the people that
"He is not here, but He has risen." What a--what a statement. He had
proved His Word; He had proved it be--to be true, for He had now conquered
death, hell, and the grave, the trinity of the devil: death, hell, and the
grave. For Satan is the author of death; he is the possessor of hell and also
the grave. And that was the trinity of Satan, being caused by one thing, that was death--death you go with the grave and being
a sinner you go to hell. All the very... One thing, the trinity of Satan, which
was death that had held man in captivity all these years, but now, the true
trinity of God being One, manifested in Christ, Who was Life, and had broke the
Seals and conquered the enemy and rose up the one, true, and living God.
"I am He that was dead, and I'm alive forevermore and have the keys of
death and hell."
9-4
024 God in One, made man and
dwelled among us, and conquered every enemy, and had proved that the trinity of
Satan was conquered, and that the trinity of God was made known, 'cause only
God alone had power to bring life back again. He was that Immanuel. God had
been manifested in the flesh. No wonder He could claim there, Matthew the 27th
chapter, "All powers in heaven and earth is given into My
hands. I send you to be My witnesses to all the
world." He had conquered both death, hell, and the grave. Not only did He
do that and come out triumph with all the power in heavens and the earth, all
that was the Father, all that was the Holy Ghost, and all that there ever was,
was in Him. "All powers in heaven and in earth is
given unto Me." Everything else is powerless; He had conquered it.
10-1
025 Now, and then not only that,
He sent word to His disciples, His believing, "Fear not, for I am He that
was dead and is alive again forevermore. And I have the keys to death and hell;
I've already conquered it." Don't fear anymore, for every foreordained,
predestinated Seed of God shall come to Life when that Light spreads across the
earth of the glorious Gospel. In every age it'll bring forth the crop that God
ordains it to do. He has raised from the dead. Oh, what a wonderful thing that is. "I
am alive"--or quickened. The word means, the word "quickened,"
the Greek word means, that's something that's made alive after death. Like
the--the seed that goes into the earth, it has to die, every bit of the seed;
it has to rot, every bit of the seed; and every bit of the life that was in the
seed has to come forth again. He was quickened, not only that... "And will
send the same Life that quickened Me, the power that
brought Me from the grave, I will send It upon you to quicken you, that where I
am there ye will be also."
10-4
026 In Luke 24th chapter, 49th
verse, He said, "Behold I send the promise of the Father upon you; but
tarry ye (or wait ye) in the city of
11-1 027
Notice now, He come to share it with us. No wonder the Gospel is
good news. The very word "Gospel" means "the good news."
The "good news" what? If a man died for our sake, that's good news.
If Christ was born, that's good news. But never a news,
never was there news like this news: that He Who made the promise has confirmed
the promise, that He's alive forevermore and has the keys of both death and
hell in His hand. All the gloom was shook away; there was no more gloom to be
seen, for the Son was up from the grave. There was no "He will come"
or "He may come"; He had already come. The Gospel, good news...
11-2
028 Notice, the very Message of
the Gospel Itself is to prove to the people that He is risen.
"Go tell My disciples that I am risen from the
dead, and I'll meet with them to confirm this to them." Oh God, how in
this last days there shall be Light again across the earth, "And I'll
prove to My disciples; go tell them that I am not
dead, and I'm not a tradition, but I am a living Christ; I'll meet them. Take
this Message to My disciples, that I'm risen from the
dead." The Gospel, good news... You say, "Is that right?"
Hebrews 13:8 said He's the same yesterday, today, and for ever.
11-3
029 We,
as beneficiaries, are to prove His Life is in us now, the beneficiaries of this
Life. The Life... There never was a life lived like it; He was the Son of God.
And He died and that shut it out; but when He raised again from the dead on
Easter morning, then we, as His servants, are commissioned by Him to go into
all the world and to bring this good news to every person: that He is a-living.
And how can we do it by word only? For it is written, "The Gospel came not
by word only, but through the power and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit to
prove that He is alive."
11-4
030 Now, if there is another
gospel, as Paul spoke to one of the groups, "I am so surprised that you turned
to another gospel (which there is no other but a make-believe gospel), to a
denominational fiction, turning from that good news: 'And because I live, ye
live also, and I live in you; and the works that I do (John 14:12), the works
that I do will identify Myself in you.'" Oh, what a Message. No wonder
we've had a dark world of theology. But in the evening time there shall come
Light again. There will be a resurrection in the evening time. It shall be
Light at the evening time.
11-5
031 Now, the very essence of the
Message that was sent that, "He is risen from the dead," we, His
beneficiaries, we, who share the resurrection with Him, draw benefits from this
by proving to the world that He is alive. We cannot do it by word only; we cannot
do it by some tradition of man; we only reflect exactly what we're pointing to.
I'm afraid today that too many of us are not getting people to Christ. We're
getting them to a church, to a theory, but we must get them to Christ. He is
the only One, and the only One that has Life. "He that has the Son, has Life." And if the life of a man that's dead be
projected in you, you will live the same life he lived. If the blood of a man
was a certain type, and you took the blood from one man and changed the blood
of the one man into another, he'd absolutely be that typed blood. And if your
spirit that's in you is reckoned dead, and you are anointed with the Life that
was in Christ is upon you... Romans
12-2
032 That
is the identification, that we are beneficiaries with Him in the resurrection.
He proves what He's talked about. What He promised to do in Christ, He proved
it on the resurrection. What He promised to do in the days of Moses, He proved
it. What He promised in the days of Enoch, He proved it. In all the days of the
apostles, He proved it. And now in this day, He proves what He said, because
they are a part of that seed that was represented on the Book of Life that He
came to redeem back to God again. Oh, what a Message.