Spoken Word #08
“The
Second Great Departure
Brian Kocourek
February 23rd, 2008
Let us
remain standing and open our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 4:13 to read from God’s Holy
Scripture. “But I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others
which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these
words.”
Let us pray. Dear Father, we come to you tonight not
only as our loving Father, but as the Great God and comforter of Your Children,
“the God of all
comfort”. And we have read from Your Holy and Eternal Word this
evening concerning a promise you have for your elect, and that is that You,
Yourself, have come down with a Shout which is a Message and there are many
things that You are doing in the midst of Your elect, but we know that of all
of the things you are doing, you have come to gather Your elect unto Yourself
with a Message. Grant to us a special awareness of what that really means, to
be gathered together by Your message, Lord, for we ask this in Jesus Christ’s
precious name, the name which You not only gave Your Son Jesus by inheritance,
but also Your whole Family in Heaven, and in that name we pray, amen. .
Now, last Sunday we spoke on the Three Great
Departures and I listed them as following:
Number 1. The departure of the church from the Word, or from The Faith.
In other words, we are talking about the great departure
from “The Faith”. I call it “the
great departure” not because it is a great thing, but the number that
depart are great in number. In other Words, most who come Into the Faith will
also depart from The Faith, as we see by various parables that Jesus taught,
and also by the example that the first Two Exoduses have shown us, knowing that
the Third Exodus is no different than the first two in nature.
Now, over the years we have shown there is only One
Lord, as the apostle Paul declares in Ephesians
4, and that when Jesus quoted David saying, the Lord said unto my Lord,
he is not saying there are two Lords, but the actual Hebrew he was quoting from
shows that one of them was Elohim and
the other was Adonai. This is the same Scripture that Peter quoted on the day
of Pentecost when he addressed the crowd and quoted David saying, “The Lord said unto
my Lord,” and he showed that it was fulfilled in God making Jesus both Lord and Christ. So God is the all
in all, and he made His Son Jesus to be head of the church.
Secondly, the next “Great Departure” will be the
Departure of the Bride from this Earth. This is what we call Rapture. This is
what Paul was speaking of in 1 Thessalonians 4 that we read for our text this
morning and also from 2 Thessalonians 2 which we read from last week.
The Third Great Departure is God Himself from the
Church and from this World as He takes up His Bride into Glory.
Now, this evening I would like to speak on this second
“Great Departure” and that is The Bride from the earth in a Rapture.
Now, in The Spoken Word is the original Seed, brother
Branham made reference to this great departure in paragraph number 7.
This evening we will
briefly look at this teaching on the Rapture of the Church for outside this
message the entire Christian world lies in error concerning the understanding
of what is referred to as the Rapture or what Scripture refers to as the
catching away.
Now, from His sermon,
the Rapture William Branham taught us that there are three events that
constitute the Rapture. He took his thoughts from what the Apostle Paul taught
in 1 Thessalonians 4:38 to 18 which we took for our text for this message.
Now, you will notice
that the Apostle Paul tells us that there will be much ignorance concerning
these events, but that we are not to be among those that are ignorant
concerning the Shout, Voice and Trump which he speaks of in verse 16. Now,
let’s read it again.
2 Thessalonians 4:13-18“But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are
asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as
others which have no hope. (So we
see that those which have no hope are ignorant concerning these events he is
about to mention, and he does not want us to be like them, ignorant.)
Now, in verse 14 I want you to notice that Paul is very specific
here that it is God that will bring the dead forth, even as he brought forth
His first born son Jesus. Notice now, 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Well, how did Jesus
raise from the dead? There are 18 Scripture that tell us that God raised him
from the dead. So here he tells us that just as Jesus rose from the dead, So
will God bring those that slept in Jesus will He, God bring with himself. Now,
where mainstream Christianity has been off is that because they have not
understood the Godhead, they believe that when it says that God will bring with
him, they believe the (him) is Jesus the Son himself. But that is not what it
says. It says God will bring these ones up from among the dead. God Himself is
the resurrection and the Life.
Now, let’s examine
this thought for a moment before we go any further.
David prophesied of
this in Psalms 16: 10 For thou wilt not
leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption.
The Apostle Peter
referred to this on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw
the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not
be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my
tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou
hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy
countenance. 29 Men and
brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both
dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his
loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh
did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised
up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Also we see the
apostle Paul speak of this as well in Acts 13: 26 Men and brethren,
children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you
is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they
that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet
the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have
fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 And though they
found no cause of death in him, yet desired they
Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they
had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him
down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came
up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how
that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 33 God
hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus
again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he
raised him up from the dead, now no more to
return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. 35 Wherefore
he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For
David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on
sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 But he, whom God raised
again, saw no corruption.
1 Peter 1:21
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and
gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Colossians
2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with
him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the
dead.
Galatians
1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus
Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
1
Corinthians 15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of
God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised
not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
1
Corinthians 6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and
will also raise up us by his own power.
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved.
Acts 13:37
But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.
Acts 13:33
God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath
raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my
Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Acts 13:30
But God raised him from the dead:
Acts 10:40
Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Acts 5:30
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a
tree.
Acts 4:10
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from
the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Acts 3:26
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to
bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Acts 3:15
And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead;
whereof we are witnesses.
Acts 2:32
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Acts 2:24
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because
it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Now, I’ve just read 18
Scriptures or more that speak of God as the one who raised up Jesus from the
dead. Therefore, God himself who Resurrected his first born Son, He is the One
that is the Resurrection and the Life. And it was He that was dwelling in His
Son Jesus when he spoke for Lazarus to come forth. Remember, but we also know
that when he wept, your prophet taught us that, that was the man Jesus, the Son
of God who wept. But when he said, “Lazarus come forth”, He said that was more than a
man, that was God in His Son. So when he told the woman, “I am the resurrection and the Life” we
know that had to be God in His Son that was speaking. That was that duality we
speak about. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. And it is
this same God that Paul tells us will come down with a Shout, and with a loud
voice that will raise the dead.
Now, in getting back
to 2 Thessalonians we see Paul say, 15 For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the parousia of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself (he
did not say the Lords, nor did he say the Lord themselves, but THE Lord, there
is One Lord, The Lord shall come down, and who is this Lord that shall come
down? God Himself.) and God shall descend from
heaven with a shout, (remember that is a Message) with the voice of
the archangel, (remember, Brother Branham said the same Voice that
raised Lazarus from the grave will be this Voice that raises also the dead in
Christ) and with
the trump of God (and also remember the trump of God is always said
to be the Voice of God) and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Now, this coming forth
from the grave is important here because Paul said the dead come forth first
and then we mingle together with them before we are caught up into that other
dimension.
Questions
& Answers 64-0823 1M Now, the Bible said ... And if you call me a prophet, I don't say I am;
but if you call me that, remember, I'm saying to you in the name of a prophet
(see?) - in the name of a prophet, the resurrection and rapture will be general
all over the entire world! No matter where you're at, when that hour comes,
you'll be caught up to meet Him! That's all! There's nothing going to stop you,
no matter where you are. And I only hope that I'm there, one of them. I just
only trust and hope in God that I'll be one of them and each one of you will be
in the - in the same.
24
Questions & Answers 64-0823 1M Across the world, they won't be gathered in
one place to have things in common. But little groups of them will be scattered
all over the earth. I believe, maybe if the Lord permits, this is a little
group of It. Maybe another little group in Asia, one down in
25
Letting Off the Pressure 62-0518 Can't you see we're at
the end time? It's all over. The next
thing will be a sweep of getting that little group together, and in a month or
so she'll be gone - as soon as she's gathered together. We're at the end;
there's no hopes left anywhere. Run to Christ, people!
26
Seven Church Ages 54-0512 "Behold He cometh with clouds." Now, let me stop here just a
moment. Clouds doesn't mean that He's coming on a big thunderhead as mama,
bless her heart - she's sitting here somewhere. I remember her voice, she used
to set and tell me, said, He's coming on a great big cloud, gonna raise someday
and God's gonna come on. Now the Cloud that He's coming is, if we just had the
time to get this back, and get the real background and the whole thing. Now the Cloud He's coming in is not a cloud, like a
thunderhead, but it's a Cloud of Glory He's coming in. See? Now, when Jesus was
overshadowed by God on
Clouds, there'll be wave
after wave of His Glory will come across the earth - and the resurrection of
the saints shall come. That blessed Holy Spirit that's lived in their hearts
and they're dried with their corpse laying there and the pierced veins over
their cheeks and things like that and they're placed back in the graveyard. A
great wave of that same Spirit and a sshhewww, wave after wave - He that was
last will be the first. He that was first will be last. I'm kinda see that way...that's
the order of the resurrection. I won't know nobody in the generation before
me or the generation after me. I'll know those in the generation with me. Every
generation will come successfully right as it went down.
They which were last will be first. Sure, that's me.
See? I'll know my people, the next time my dad and his people, my grandfather
and his people, on down like that, wave after wave after wave after wave. And
the saints will rise from everywhere.
Won't that be wonderful,
Amen. That makes the old people feel young again, yes. Now notice closely, for
I come to you in a Cloud, and every eye shall see Him, no matter how far back
they died, they'll see Him.
Mother's Day 59-0510M 86 As that great light begins to
spread all - as we begin to look around, and the great circle will be getting greater
and greater; it's all just reflecting the approach of Jesus. And after while,
as the song said, And I
shall we see Jesus at last. He will be waiting for me, Jesus so kind and true, On His beautiful Throne, He'll welcome me
Home After this day is through. Then as
we see Him...and we'll not be as we are now. We'll know how to love
Him more. We'll not stand back with a little fear, because we'll be like Him. He'll
be more of a relative to us than He is now. We'll understand Him better,
because we're so far away in the mortal bodies. Then we'll have a body like His
glorious body. We'll know how to worship Him.
And when we see what the Presence
of His Being has done to us, changed us, the old back young, all the deformed
straightened out, oh, we'll understand then why His power healed us. The
questions that's been in our mind, "How can He do it? What would
this?" somehow, mysteriously, they'll all fade away. The knots that's been
tied in the back of our minds, "Will it be this? How could it be?"
somehow, or another, majestic fingers will just untangle, unravel those knots,
and it'll all fade into the one big crown of love.
Jehovah Jireh #1 - 62-0705 And then,
remember, if we go before He comes, we will be up and in His Presence, or,
raised before the others are changed. "The trumpet of the Lord shall
sound, the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which alive and remain
shall be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and be caught up
together with them, to meet the Lord in the air." Look at the order of the
resurrection. See, God knows that we long to see our loved ones. And if we got
there to meet Him first, we'd be looking around to see if mother or dad and the
rest of them was there. But see how, the Holy Spirit in His wisdom? We meet
one another first, and then when we get there and sing "Amazing
Grace," that's when there's going to be a time of worship.
Now, in closing we
will read from verse 17 Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these
words.”
Questions & Answers - 59-1223 Just now, Brother
Mercier said he got the best out of the meeting where we explained that when
that Holy Spirit came into the meeting and broke Itself up, and God dividing
Himself amongst His people... Well, that's just what It does. And then, when
God's people begins to gather back together, there's unity, there's power. See?
And whenever God's people gets together completely, I believe the resurrection
will take place then. There'll be a rapturing time when the Holy Spirit begins
to gather it up. It'll be in the minority, of course, but there will be a great
gathering.
At Thy Word, Lord - 51-0928 "One of
these glorious daybreaks Jesus shall come and all sorrow will be banished and
tears wiped away. Those immortal souls that's resting yonder in paradise shall
come forth, like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We shall appear here on earth and
then be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air."
Invisible Union - 65-1125 There will come
forth a resurrection day which the first will be last, and they which are last
will be first. The old prophets will come breaking forth first, and they see
that procession going marching up in the air, and we which are alive and remain
shall not hinder them which are asleep, for the Trumpet of God shall sound, the
dead in Christ shall rise first, and we will fall right in line with them going
in! Hallelujah! All down through the age of Luther, Wesley, Methodist,
Presbyterian, on down to the last age who receive the Word in their age.
Uniting Time & Sign - 63-0818 We find that now the time comes when the
Trumpet sounds, and those sleeping saints back there that could not be made
perfect without us (there's many of those Hebrew brethren), and when they come
together, they unite with the living ones. The Church uniting with the Word,
then the Church and the Word uniting together, being come one. The dead saints
with the living saints uniting together to be one; and all going together to
unite with Christ yonder, for the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. And to think
of us standing, (in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, when the world won't
know what's going on), but all of a sudden, you'll see appear before you, your
loved ones that's gone on has come to unite with you again. And we'll be
changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye; and be caught up, together, to
meet our Lord in the air. Let's get ready
Let's get ready for this midnight cry. It's coming in a hour when you think
not. There'll be a cry, not amongst the unbelieving world; it'll be a secret.
Let us pray…