Preparation
#56 The hour and Message of Preparation
Brian Kocourek
LEVITICUS 22:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, 2 Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they
separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that
they profane not my holy name [in those things] which they hallow unto me: I
[am] the LORD. 3 Say unto them, Whosoever [he be] of all
your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the
children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that
soul shall be cut off from my presence: I [am] the LORD.
Then God will not just accept our coming
into His Holy Presence with just any old attitude in any old way. There is a
certain way, which we must come prepared to enter into God's presence.
Leviticus
22 NIV 1 The
LORD said to Moses, 2
"Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect
the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so they will not profane
my holy name. I am the LORD. And what are the sacred offerings? It is those things,
which the people of God have set aside to the Lord. Such as this Tabernacle. The place of Worship. 3
"Say to them: 'For the
generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean (or
has been tainted with sexual uncleanness), and yet comes near those sacred
things that the Israelites have consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut
off from my presence. I am the LORD.
That is pretty powerful words but I believe that if we
do not honor those words, God will not honor us. If it was so important for the High Priest to
approach God in such a way as to where he would be stricken dead if he didn't,
do you think God will just take you any old way you choose? I think this scripture speaks to us of
respect. It speaks of the lack of respect that some have for the house of God
and in doing so they are to be cut off from the presence of God. And don't
worry, if you don’t do
it, God surely will.
I think we have seen the Word of God manifest itself
in a mighty way in this little church because we have respected God and this
sanctuary which has been dedicated to him and we have set it aside a sacred
place of refuge where we can come and worship him in Spirit and in Truth. That
is why we do not speak in here, and we do not pass notes and draw pictures
during service. We are here to worship God and everything else must be kept
outside those walls.
GOD IN SIMPLICITY 63-0317M 4-4 {25} So now, now in the building I think that we
ought to have in this, if it's been dedicated (or going to be dedicated in a
few minutes to the worship of God), we should keep it that way. We should never
buy or sell in the building. We should never do any business in this auditorium
here; it should never be done in here. That is, such as permitting ministers to
come in and sell books and everything. No matter what it is, there's other places to do that
for... We--we shouldn't buy and sell in the house of our Lord. It should be a
place of--of worship, holy, consecrated for that purpose. See? Now, He's give us a nice place; let's dedicate it to Him and dedicate
ourselves with it to Him.
5-1 {26} And now, this
may seem a little rude, but it's not a place to visit; it's a place of worship.
We should never even murmur a word inside of here, outside of worship, to one
another unless it's absolutely necessary. See? We should never rally around; we
should never run through the building or let our children run through the
building. And so doing this, feeling not
long ago that--of doing this, we constructed it so we could take care of all of
it. Now, we have this set here... 'Course many people are strangers. The
Tabernacle folks know this, that the building is going
to be dedicated to the service of the Almighty.
5-3 {26} Therefore,
dedicating ourselves, let's remember when we enter that sanctuary, keep still
to one another and worship God. If we want to visit each other, there's places
we may visit each other like that but never walking around where you can't hear
yourself think, and some person come in, and they just don't know what to do. See?
It's so much noise and things, it's just humanly... And I've seen it in
churches until it has made me feel real bad, because we do not come into the
sanctuary of the Lord to meet each other; we come here to worship God, then go
to our homes. This sanctuary's dedicated to worship. When...
Stand outside; talk anything you wish to as long as it's right and holy; go to
one another's homes; visit one another in places; but when you enter that door,
be quiet. You come here to talk to Him (See?) and let Him talk back to you. The
trouble of it is, we do too much talking and don't listen enough. Then when we
come in here, wait on Him.
5-6 {29} Now, in the
old Tabernacle, there might not be one person present this morning that was
there the day of the dedication, when Major Ulrich played the music, and I
stood behind three crosses here to dedicate the place. I would not permit anybody... The ushers
stood at the door to see that nobody talked. When you done your
talking outside, you come in. If you desired to, silently you come to the altar
and prayed silently. You walked back to your seat, opened up the Bible. What
your neighbor done, that was up to him. You had nothing to say. If you want to
talk to him, say, "I'll see him outside. I'm in here to worship the
Lord." You read His Word or set quietly.
6-1 {30} And then the
music--Sister Gertie, I don't know whether she's here this morning or not,
Sister Gibbs. The old piano, I believe, set back in this corner the best of my
remembrance. And she would play softly, "Down at the cross where my Savior
died," some real sweet soft music, and--and then until it come time for
the service, and the song leader got up and led a couple of congregational
songs, and then if they had some outstanding solo, they sang it, but never just
a bunch of carrying on. And then the music continually played, and then when I
heard that, I knowed it was my time to come out. When a minister walks into a
congregation of people praying in the anointing of the Spirit, you're bound to
hear from heaven. That's just all. There's no way to keep from it. But if you
walk into confusion, then you--you're--you're so confused, the Spirit's
grieved. And...
We don't want that, no. We want to come here to worship. We have lovely
homes that I'm going to speak about just in a minute and so forth at home,
where we visit our friends and take them. This is the house of the Lord.
Now, this morning I would like to tie in this
scripture from Leviticus and the things brother Branham said about the way we
should prepare for service with his closing prayer from his message
Preparation, and we will pick up at paragraph 95.
PREPARATION 53-1111 E-95 Our heavenly
Father, I thank Thee tonight because that we're living in the hour of
preparation. We're living when You're preparing the
people to believe all things. We believe that's the message of the day,
the preparation time: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And You're calling a people, have give them the Holy Ghost, and now,
You're trying to call out of that group of sons to adopt them. We
realize that the old law was that a son was born into the home, he was a son,
but the tutor raised him. And then when he was of age, if he'd been the right
kind of a son, he was taken out, put a purple robe on in a ceremony and
adopted. And that's what You're trying to do to these Full Gospel people now:
To get them out to themselves somewhere, alone with You in faith, to adopt them
into the Kingdom, and give them the right to go forth, and to do the things that
You did. I pray, God, that You'll take these few
examples and here the great
#1. We're living
in the hour of preparation.
#2. We're living
when You're preparing the people to believe all things.
#3. We believe
that's the message of the day, the preparation time.
#4. You're
calling a people.
#5. To call out of that group of sons to adopt them.
#6. That's what You're trying to do to these Full Gospel people now: To get
them out to themselves
somewhere, alone with You in faith, to adopt them into the
Kingdom, and give them the right to go forth,
and to do the things that You did.
#7. Let us lay
aside every weight
#8. We've got to
make a step. We've got to try. We've got to put forth our effort to show You that we're sincere.
Now, let's look at these closing thoughts of Brother
Branham's.
#1. We're living
in the hour of preparation. Now what does this mean, we are living in the hour of
preparation. Webster tells us that the word preparation means "to set in order and to make
ready".
Notice what He said as his follow-up thought to this.
He is praying to God and he says, #2. We're living when You're
preparing the people to believe all things. And then he tells us
what that means, #3. We believe
that's the message of the day, the preparation time.
Now before we go further with this closing prayer
let's examine these three statements. #1. We're living in the hour of preparation. This tells us that there is something
special about the day we live. It is a time when there is a setting all things
in order and in order to do this there must be a making ready this setting all
things in order.
Now, it is interesting to note that brother Branham
had to preach church order before the opening of the Seals, and in fact we read
from God in Simplicity where he laid out church order just before he preached
the Seals. And we find the last thing
God does in respect to redemption is to place all things in order and in doing
so, he places them under the feet of His Son.
I CORINTHIANS
I want you to notice that He is speaking of an order
here. If we are in Adam we can receive only one thing and that is death, but if
we are in Christ, there is but one thing and that is Life. Therefore the order
of things is very important to us because it can be the difference between Life
and death.
Paul goes on to say, in verse 23 "But every
man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are
Christ's at his coming, or Parousia. So
we see that there must be an order in order for us to live, and this order is
to be established at the Parousia of the Lord, which is when He comes in spirit
form in this hour before the actual going home where we meet Jesus at the
Second Coming. So we are talking about
order, he said, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order… so we are dealing with the fact that God has an
order and there is a time when that order must be set forth and we find that it
is at the Parousia of the Lord.
Notice what Paul says next… 24 Then [cometh] the end, Now, what's
that? He said after the order has been set in place at the Parousia of Christ,
then it is possible for the end to come.
Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up
the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and
all authority and power. 25
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy [that] shall be
destroyed [is] death. 27 For he hath
put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [him,
it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all
things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto
him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him, that God may be all in all.
Therefore, I hope we can see in brother Branham's
closing remarks, when he said,… "We're
living in the hour of preparation." That, that hour is the Parousia of
Christ Among us.
David foresaw this hour when he said, PSALMS 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? This speaks of the Presence of God in association with
the Son of Man ministry.
5
For thou hast made
him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and
honor. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the
works of thy hands; thou hast put all [things] under his feet:
The next two points brother Branham made in his
closing prayer were,
#2. We're living
when You're preparing the people to believe all things. And then
he tells us what that means, #3.
We believe that's the message of the day, the preparation time.
So we see the Message itself is to prepare the people.
To make them ready.
Revelations 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and
give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready.
And how did she make herself ready? She adorned
herself in the Message for the Hour which is the Word of God made manifest to
her.
8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints.
PRESENT STAGE OF MY MINISTRY 62-0908 120
Letter comes all the time. One come the other
day, said, "Brother Branham, I had the greatest of confidence in you, but
I heard you say that a certain denomination which I belong to was backsliding."
Said, "I have no more confidence in you at all now, from now on."
Said, "There's about twenty-five of the brethren
of my denomination setting in one of your meetings"; said, "we just
got--got right up and went off when you said that." Well, all men has
forsaken me, but there's one thing, He stood by me...?...
one thing. I'm not... I wasn't disobedient to the heavenly vision that's
happened down there on the river. I've stayed true to it. He's been true to me.
I'm trusting in Him, someday; I don't know when, for a crowning of my ministry.
I'll stay just as true as I could be. I don't know what it'll be; I don't know
when it'll be. And I... But when He's ready, I am.
Now, look here. I hope He'll crown my ministry with this, of letting me take
the clothes of the Word and dress His Bride in the clothes of the Word and for
His righteousness. I hope He'll crown me and let me stand there on that day,
say, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world."
122 There's so many
hills to climb upward, strain, sometime it gets hard; but the One that points
the pathway, knows just what's best. He knows what's best. The toils of the
road will seem nothing, when we get to the end of the way. Let's hunt for that
bloody footprint. Just remember, friends.
The sands has been washed in the footprints
Of that Stranger on
And that voice that subdued the rough billows
Will be heard in
But the path of that lone Galilean,
So gladly I'll follow today;
And the toil of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way.
Revelations 19: 9 And he saith unto me, Write,
Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And
he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of
God. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And
he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy
brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of
Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
Now, notice point number three, #3. We believe that's the message of the day,
the preparation time. And what is the Message of today, He said, "My
ministry is to declare Him, that He is Here!" And
we find that in …
EPHESIANS 1:15 ¶ Wherefore I
also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the
saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks
for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of him:
SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL 61-0806 PP 68, The Spirit of
wisdom comes into the church to make known to the church by the revelation of
the Holy Ghost--bringing the church in and revealing what day that we're living
in. Just the same as Gabriel come to--to Daniel, the Holy Spirit comes to the
church in the last days to reveal these great, deep, secret things. Do you
understand now?
And Who does the Preparing? He
said, We're
living when You God are preparing the people to believe all things.
And why does the Spirit of Wisdom come into the
church?
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19
And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who
believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised
him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places],
21 Far above all principality, and
power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come: 22
And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the
head over all [things] to the church,
23 Which is his body, the
fullness of him that filleth all in all.
So we see that God does the preparation, but we have a part in
it as hearers and doers of the Word or Message which God has brought with
Him. Because after all, we will not
really prepare ourselves unless we really believe that preparation is a
necessary thing.
WATCHING HIS STAR 59-0411 E-17 And for myself, I'm expecting something
to happen. It is written, "When the people that are called by My Name
shall assemble themselves together and pray, then I will hear from
heaven." And I've been praying today, and I know that others has been praying, and I'm expecting something to happen.
There may be things happen will go right over the head of people. Many who
are not ordained to life will never be able to see it. When Jesus came,
there were tens of thousands, yes, millions looking for Him to come, and He
just revealed Himself
to a little handful. See, it's those who are looking for
something, those who have a--a pulsation in their heart--beating, waiting,
longing for something to happen. It's those who believe it'll happen, and is
waiting for the event, that's who Jesus will come for, for those who
love His appearing. If you love anybody, and you're expecting them to
appear, you're making every preparation for it. That's the way the Church
should be tonight, making every preparation for the coming of the Lord,
watching every sign post. And when you see God do something, rejoice,
because it's pointing to His coming. And we're down to the--about the last sign
post now. He could appear before morning.
If we are seed of Abraham we will most certainly do as
Abraham did.
JOHN
40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the
truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said
they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have
one Father, [even] God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your
Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came
I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do
ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot
hear my word. 44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode
not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he
speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45
And because I tell [you] the truth, ye believe me not. 46 ¶ Which of you convinceth me of sin? And
if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth
God's words: ye therefore hear [them] not, because ye are not of God.
JOHN
GENESIS 18:1 ¶ And
the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door
in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift
up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw
[them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the
ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found
favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
I want you to notice here the character of Abraham, because
the words EH used were the same as those that Moses used a few hundred years
later and I believe all those who are the elect seed of God. He said, My
Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, ( if I have found Grace
in thy Presence) pass not away, I
pray thee, from thy servant: ( If I have found Grace in your
presence, then do not ever leave me nor forsake me.)
PSALMS 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take
not thy holy spirit from me.
HEBREWS
Genesis 18: 4 Let a little water, I pray
you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: 5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and
comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come
to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast
said. 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto
Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead [it],
and make cakes upon the hearth. 7 And
Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave [it]
unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8 And he took butter, and milk,
and the calf which he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood by
them under the tree, and they did eat.
9 ¶ And they said unto him, Where [is]
Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee
according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And
Sarah heard [it] in the tent door, which [was] behind him. 11
Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old [and] well stricken in age; [and] it
ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After
I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? 13
And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall
I of a surety bear a child, which am old? 14
Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return
unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. 15
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he
said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. 16 ¶ And the men rose up
from thence, and looked toward
Now, if we are the royal seed of Abraham, the we will do the same works that Abraham did in the
presence of the Lord. And what did He do? He took communion with the Lord. He
ate with Him and He talked with Him and He invited Him into His home and into
His Life and made the Lord to feel welcome.
I ask the question this morning, do we do the same? Have we made our
confession? Have we invited Him into our Life as not only our Savior, but as
the Lord of our Life? I hope so, for this is the hour of preparation for the
wedding Supper.