Romans #4
Sunday, November 23,
1997 (Romans 1:3-4 Declared to be His Son)
Brian Kocourek
Last Sunday we spoke from
[Romans 1:3-4] where Paul said,
[Romans 1:3] Concerning his
Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh; [1:4] And declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the
spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
We brought out the
difference between verse 3 where Paul speaks of the body of God's Son, Jesus
that was made a little lower than the angels, and verse 4 where Paul does not
refer to a body that was made but a being that has been declared. Now, remember, Brother Branham said,
"My ministry is to declare Him, that He is here!" And so we see the emphasis of brother
Branham's ministry which he was to declare the Divine Presence of
Jesus Christ. Now we know that this one He was declaring to us was not the body
that walked the shores of Galilee, but rather the same Spirit that inhabited
that body that walked the shores of Galilee. The Logos Himself.
For we are taught that it
was God who was in Christ that was reconciling the world back to Himself. This we see in [2 Cor 5:19]. In fact that is
why Paul places the emphasis not on what we see in the body as physical, but
rather what we see in the inner man being spiritual as we hear him in verse 16.
Now, last Sunday we began to
touch upon a thought that I would like to further look into before we move on
in our study of the Book of Romans. Brother Branham repeatedly told us, that
His "ministry is to something, and what is that something? He said,
"My ministry is to declare Him, that He is here!" Now, that was not
some figment that he was declaring, but it is the same one Paul speaks of, none
other than the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. But you must understand that it
was not the resurrected body that he was declaring, but His Spirit.
The word declare, means to
make known. What we find Paul telling us in this first chapter of Romans is
that it would have been impossible for the Son of God to have been made know as
long as He had been in Spirit form, but once He literally came into flesh, then, we could understand the relationship
that the Son had with the Father from the beginning of the world, or as Jesus
Himself put it, "even before the beginning of the World". [John 17:5 & 24] Therefore we would
never have known this relationship between the Father and His Son, except that
Jesus, Gods Son, came into a body of flesh and manifested Himself to be
different from the Father. He said, "I have come to do thy will oh
God." Now, if Jesus and God had been the same person, then why would the
Son declare that of His own He could do nothing, but first He had to be shown
from the Father what to do before He could perform that which was first thought
forth by the Father. [John 5:19 & 30 & 8:28]
So we see that in order to
have the Son declared, He had to manifest Himself in a body of Flesh. And Paul
is speaking by experience that He had met the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and
as a result He knew first hand how this relationship between the Father and His
Son existed. Yet it was not the body of
Jesus in Its manifested form that appeared to Paul, but the very Spirit that
was in Christ which God had raised from the dead.
Now, think about that? When Jesus Died, where did His Spirit
go? [Ephesians 4:9-10] Notice that it
was the Spirit that Paul is speaking of for the body is just dust but the
Spirit giveth Life and is Life. And yet Paul gives to this Spirit the personal
pronoun He when Paul refers to this Spirit that was in Jesus.
In [1 Peter 3:18-21] We also
hear Peter tell us of the fact the Jesus went to preach to the souls that were
in Prison after His death. Now, we know that the body lay there in the grave,
so then who or what was it that went and preached tot he souls in prison? It
had to be His Spirit Body. For we must never forget what brother Branham said
about our own bodies. In the message "Explaining Healing & Jairus, he
said, What you are here is a reflection of what you are somewhere else.
"Those who He called, He justifies." Is that right? "Those who
He justified, He has glorified." Already in the Presence of the Father, we
have a glorified body. Whew! Wasn't that deep? All right. We'll find out
whether it's right or not. "If this earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we
have one already waiting." Is that right? That's right. So right now, and
what we are there, is a reflection. Here, what we are here, is a reflection of
what we are somewhere else. So if your deeds are evil, you know where it comes
from. You know where your other body's a waiting.
Romans #4
Sunday, November 23, 1997 (Romans 1:3-4
Declared to be His Son)
Now, I want you to notice
carefully how that the declaration of the Son would be impossible without the
resurrected Spirit of the Son back in a body. But does it have to be the same
body is the real question we should ask. Is God confined to declaring Himself
only through the body of His Son Jesus?
And now that God has
declared to us the relationship between the Father and His Son through the Body
of His Son Jesus, then what do you suppose He was doing when He used another
body in this hour, that of William Branham?
If it was impossible for the Son of God to be declared, and His
relationship with the Father to be declared without the manifestation of that
relationship in a body form that we might be able to see and recognize, , then
would not it be also asking us a great thing to imagine the relationship
between the Father and sons, other sons,
without being shown an example of this as well?
And that is what I believe
we have witnessed for ourselves in this hour. That is why we can see the
revelation of the Son of Man because we know that the same Lord Jesus has come
back to earth and indwelled a body, His Prophet and has once again manifest the
same characteristics before man. And through this expression He has declared
once again this relationship of Son to Father, and Father to son or sons. Thus
we can see for ourselves what our relationship with the Father should be.
Notice how brother Branham would always say, "Now, you know who I'm waiting
for, I'm waiting for Him, for without Him I am just as helpless as a little
baby."
Now isn't this the same
expression as we saw in the Flesh of Jesus Christ the Only begotten Son of God?
Then if it is so, can we expect Him to perform any differently if He manifested
Himself in this day in another body? I don't think so. In Fact if Jesus Christ
is the Same yesterday, today and forever, as He has told us in His own Word,
then He would have to perform exactly the same way as He did back in His Alpha
Ministry if His Spirit has visited us again, even if it was in another body
than the one that died on Calvary.. That is why I believe that we hear brother
Branham's voice and yet that voice says, "I'm the Lord that raised up
Christ from the grave. I'm the One that sent the Holy Ghost. I'm the One Who
give the promise. Billy Branham has nothing to do with this. He's surrendered
his life to me. I'm using his spirit, I'm talking through His lips, that's Me I
am the Lord." We hear brother Branham tell us, "He wants to borrow my
body to prove that He's the resurrected Christ. I'm so happy to loan it to Him,
give it to Him, anything He can get out of it. I can't see visions, He's the
One Who speaks. It is just my body that He is using." And again those most
famous words from the Anointed Ones at the End-Time, "Now, I want you to
know this is sure. And to you that listen to this tape, you might have thought
today that I was trying to say that about myself being that I was packing this
Message. I have no more to do with it than nothing, no more than just a voice.
And my voice, even against my better judgment...I wanted to be a trapper. But
it's the will of my Father that I DECLARE to do, and am determined to do. I
wasn't the One Who Appeared down on the river; I was only standing there when
He Appeared. I'm not the One that performs these things and foretells these
things as perfect as they are, I'm only one that's near when He does it. I was
only a voice that He used to say it. It wasn't what I knew, it's what I just surrendered
myself to, that He spoke through. It isn't me. It wasn't the seventh angel, oh
no. It was a manifestation of The Son of Man. It wasn't the angel, his message,
it was the mystery that God unfolded. It's not a man; It's God. The angel was
not the Son of Man, he was a messenger from the Son of Man. The Son of Man is
Christ. He's the One you're feeding on. You're not feeding on a man. A man, his
words will fail, but you're feeding on the unfailing Body Word of the Son of
Man.
In The Rapture tape we hear Brother Branham say, "When
you see God come from the heaven, stand before groups of men, and stand there,
declare Himself just as He ever did... And that's the Truth, and this Bible
open. See? That's right. We're here".
Therefore, this declaration
can not be possible without a means of manifestation, and yet the particular
body is and was not necessary because we were told that "although we have
known Christy after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him so no more." And how is that? Well, the word tells us
that "now henceforth know we Him
so no more." Therefore it is not
the fact that we will never know Christ after the flesh no more, but we shall
know Him so no more. Now the King James simply says, "now henceforth know we Him no more." But this would be impossible because we are told
that we must know Him, and yet if this were to be read as we se it here, then
this would be impossible to ever know Christ again. But it actually reads,
that "now henceforth know we Him
so no more." And this word so tells us that the manner in which we shall
not again know Him is what? After the flesh? Or after the flesh in the way He
came the first time? Remember, the first time He came in a body that was born
without sin. Therefore, we can not expect to know Him in this fashion in this
hour.
Romans #4
Sunday, November 23, 1997 (Romans 1:3-4
Declared to be His Son)
But if God can not declare
Christ to us without manifesting Christ, then in order to manifest this
relationship of the Father and Son again, He must use another body to do
so. Remember, Brother Branham told us
that God interprets His Own Word by doing what? By bringing it to pass. And to
bring His Word to pass is to manifest that portion of His Word in the season
that it is ordained for.
Now, Paul told us in Romans
1:4 that this declaration came by what?
And declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: And what we have seen is that this resurrection that Paul is
speaking of is not just the resurrection of the Body of Jesus, but His Spirit,
because it is His Spirit that Has returned again in power and showing Himself
to be the same, Yesterday, today and forever.
From [The Message of Grace
pg. 30 ] Brother Branham said, "There's
only one thing different between Him being here this morning than He was
amongst the people at Galilee, that would be His Own body of flesh, His
corporal body; because that was raised up and sets at the right hand of the
Majesty on High, ever living to make intercessions for our confessions".
Therefore, if His own body
could not be here and be on the throne of the Father making intercessions for
our confessions, then there had to be another body that God would use to show
to us the Relationship that is required of us in order for us to be ready for
the adoption. That is why I believe He
used His Prophet William Branham to show us this same relationship of a sons
obedience to His Father and his dependence upon the Father for everything. He
said the same Words as Christ so many times when He said, I can of mine own
self do nothing, what the son seeth the Father do, the son doeth likewise. That
is why he was taught to wait until the hat was on the chair before speaking the
conclusion. And that is why we were told that the Bride will have thus saith
the Lord or she will keep still. That means, we will either say what God, our
Father has already said or we won't say anything at all.
And that is why He said I
will give you a new heart, and a new spirit and then I will give you My own
Spirit. [Ezekiel 36:36] And Brother
Branham told us that the new heart is a new understanding, and before we can
receive the new spirit we must have first a new understanding. Then we will
receive a new spirit and he also told us this new spirit is a new desire.
Therefore, until we receive a new understanding, it does not mater what desire
we have, for no matter what you desire is, it is wrong unless it is based upon
what the Father has shown you first. That is why Ezekiel qualifies this to the
people when He quotes the Father in [Ezekiel 11:19] He says, I will give them
(plural) One heart (singular). He is not giving each of us our own new heart,
or our own new understanding, but He will bring forth one understanding, and that
one understanding will bring forth then one desire for the joint body of
Christ. Then By One Spirit we are all baptized into one body. It all makes so
much sense then.
If you try to say that you
must have the desire first, and then the understanding will come, you have got
it all backwards. You can only have a correct desire if you have a correct word
to base that desire upon. God does not give you the correct desire and then
give you the correct word. He gives you a correct Word produces the correct desire.
That would be like that fella up in Canada who said, if the people had only
fasted and prayed long enough, they would not have needed the Prophet to bring
them the Word because God would have
been obligated to give it to them. Since when is God obligated to anything
except His Own Word. And His Word said, He would not reveal anything unless it
came through the proper channel, which is His servants the Prophets.
E-42 Impersonation of
Christianity 57-. So God had to give you a new heart, not a patched up one, a
new heart. That's your intellects that you think with, a new way of thinking.
Then He gives you a new way of thinking, "Yes that's right. …… Then He
said after that, "Then I'll give you a new spirit." What's that? A
new desire….. Then notice the order of the Scripture. After you get a new heart
and a new spirit, He said, "Then I'll put My Spirit..." See? Oh,
what? That's what the Scripture says here. That's the order, the pneumatics and
numerical order of the Scripture: a new heart, a new spirit, and then My
Spirit.
Now in getting back to the
verse in Romans 1 that we are studying, we read [1:4] And declared [to be] the Son of God with power, ( so we see
the declaration comes forth with Power, which is manifestation, dunamis, which
is vindication. ) according to the spirit of holiness, ( and we know by what
Martin Luther and Brother Branham taught us that this reference tot he Spirit
of Holiness is in reference to the Holy Spirit.) And I want you to notice
further that this is all made possible
"by the resurrection from the dead":
Romans #4
Sunday, November 23, 1997 (Romans 1:3-4
Declared to be His Son)
So then we must ask the
question here, if this is all made possible by the resurrection out from among
the dead, then who made all of this possible? Christ? Jesus? Or the Father?
In [John 5:26] we read that
the life that was in the son came from the Father. Therefore, it that Life had
to be raised up from the dead, it could only have been done by the will of the
Father. Now, think about this. Jesus,
the man, and that Spirit which dwelt in Him which we call Christ, the
Anointing, had to come to such a place of trust in the will of the Father, that
He unreservedly knew that the Fathers will would be the best thing for Him even
though it called for death, and he so believed this that He came to the place
where He was willing to do whatsoever the Father bade him to do even if it
meant His own death on the Cross. He had been given a promise from His Father
that He would be raised up, and He also knew that all things would work
together for his good because He knew that he loved the Father and He was loved
by Him. He also knew that He was the Called according to His Fathers purpose.
The Bible tells us that He learned obedience by the things that He suffered.
Therefore, He had a covenant
with God and He knew that God would have to keep His portion of that covenant.
And a covenant is nothing more than an agreement. Therefore, He had learned to
agree with the father by the things that He suffered. Does this mean then that
He did not always agree with the Father? Well, even in the garden He said,
"Father, I would that you would remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not
my will, but thine be done." In other words, Father, I don't really like
to have to go through with this thing, but I am willing to do so if you insist.
Jesus came to the place of agreement with the Father and knew that what the
Father had worked out in His Life was better than what He could work out on His
Own.
Look, don't come to me and
tell me that Jesus was above having his own thoughts. He had plenty of his own
thoughts, The Bible tells us that he was tempted in every point that you and I
are tempted in, but he showed that He
was a true Son because He let go of His own temptations and he let go of his
own thinking and received the very mind of His Father. He took the will, the
desire, of His father over the will of
his own self. Just like Isaac did. You could never tell me for a moment that
Isaac was so stupid that he did not know what was in store with His Father. But
He was such a wonderful son, that He was willing to let go of His own thoughts
as to how this sacrifice should be done and He trusted His Father to do only
what God told Him to do, and He also trusted His God.
Then why didn't he flinch
when his father tied him up and made the fire for sacrifice? Because he had
heard his father's voice say, "I and the lad are going to go up and do
sacrifice and we shall return." Hallelujah.
He didn't have a Father that
told him lies. He had a father that was truthful and a Father who trusted the
Word of the Lord explicitly. And so we see his actions were a reflection of his
own fathers trust. And Jesus actions, and His walk down Galgatha were a
manifestation of His own trust in his Fathers promise.
Then what are you afraid of
today? Brother Branham told us that the
One who gave the promise is here to confirm the promise. And what is the
promise for this day? That there will be a Rapture, which is a shout,
a Voice, and a trumpet! And has He not already confirmed to you your
place in His Shout? Have you not heard the Midnight Cry? "Behold, He's
hear, He standeth at the door knocking!" Have you not been made aware of
His Presence among us? His Parousia, His Apokolupsis, His Phaneroo, His
Epiphanaea, His Ginosko, His Doxa, His Parrhesia? If you have been made a
participant of the shout then won't He also make you a participant of the
Voice, and the Trump? Then be at ease little Bride, for He said, "It is my
Fathers Good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."
Just learn to trust and obey
for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, you've got to trust and obey.
Let's just bow our hearts
for a word of prayer.
Let's sing that song, Trust and Obey.