Spoken Word no. 251
“Rapture Ready Bride
Attributes”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
May 18th, 2011
JAMES
5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming ( parousia ) of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he
receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be
ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming (parousia) of the Lord draweth
nigh. 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned:
behold, the judge standeth before the door. 10
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the
Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11
Behold, we count them happy which
endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the
Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and
of tender mercy.
First we
must understand the timing of this Scripture.
Notice that twice it speaks of the time of the parousia of Christ. During this time we find also another
scripture which speaks of Christ, being at the door knocking, and that is when
He comes at the time of
REVELATION
3:20 Behold, I stand at
the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with
me. 21
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father
in his throne. 22
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches.
Now, what I wish to do tonight is to look at this
scenario in which the Judge is standing at the door. In order to do this we
must look once again at James the 5th chapter and read again.
JAMES
5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming ( parousia ) of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he
receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts:
for the coming (parousia) of the Lord draweth nigh. 9 Grudge not one against another, brethren,
lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth
before the door. 10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have
spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of
patience. 11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of
Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
God is calling for a certain condition to be in the
Bride at the Time of the Judge. HE says,
Be patient therefore,
brethren, unto the coming ( parousia
) of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath
long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient;
I want you to notice that God is calling for the Elect
to be patient, even as the Husbandman is patient. In fact, there are certain
attributes that the Lord the
is calling for the Elect to be expressing at the time of this
Judge standing at the door.
Now, we know
that at end time, the elect will come into the image of the Father. As He
manifests, we will manifest. As He phaneroo’s we
shall phaneroo.
I CORINTHIANS 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part
shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put
away childish things. 12 For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known.
II
CORINTHIANS 3:16 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the
Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord
is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in
a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to
glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord.
I
JOHN 3:1 ¶ Behold, what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we
shall see him as he is. 3 And every
man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself,
even as he is pure.
Now, then what are these attributes of God Himself
that we are to reflect at the end-time.
Be patient
therefore, brethren, unto the coming ( parousia ) of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious
fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early
and latter rain. 8 Be
ye also patient;
First He told us to be patient:
JAMES
1: 2 ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when ye
fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your
faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have [her]
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Secondly, Are told to Grudge
not:
Grudge not
one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
10 Take, my brethren, the
prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering
affliction, and of patience.
Grudge not : 4727 stenazo {sten-ad'-zo} AV -- groan (3) -- sigh (1) -- with grief (1) -- grudge (1) [6] 1) a sigh, to groan resentment, bitterness,
ill will or animosity
HEBREWS
13:17 Obey them that have
the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as
they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for
you.
And then in verse . 11 Behold, we count
them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen
the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
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, there is a process that we must go through
in order for us to be ready for the rapture. Because he tells us here that we
will be in a certain condition when we take our rapture, or our flight out of
here. Now, the question is this. What condition is he talking about. This is the key. And how do we get there?
Preparation.
015 And now, mother, you here in the
stretcher, and this dear loving person, mother here, and here, and all around
over in the building now, I want to do tonight, by God's help if He will let
me, is to speak His Word to you, that'll prepare your heart for the healing
service. Now, I want you to listen close. Now, "Preparation..." God, before He does anything, He always
prepares for it. How could we...
As it's spoke in the Bible, if we... Before we go over to fight a war, first we
have to prepare for that war. If you're
going to get married, why, you prepare for that time. And you have
preparations. And before you come to
church you made preparations, the ambulance to bring you, or your loved one
to bring you, or you had to get a certain amount of money ready before you
could come; it's preparations. And God always prepares the people for the events
that's just about to happen.
016 And may I stop right here just a minute and
say: I believe that the people are in the preparation of the last great
destruction this world will ever know. I believe we're at the end. You can
speak to people; you could put a Billy Graham in every city in the
So brother Branham lays taught us the principle of
preparation, and that before anything of significance is to be done, we must
prepare for it if we are to accomplish what we set out to accomplish.
Then what about the Rapture. What does the Scripture
speak concerning our preparing for the Rapture? Brother Branham
said we must lay in the presence of the SON to ripen.
He said, I
believe the church is begin to hear the message, and beginning to understand.
Remember, to hear means to understand. But he says
that’s not all we must do, there is something else…
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.
Now what does it mean to be ripe? When you use the word ripe what comes to your
mind? Fruit, right? And why does the fruit need to be ripe? Because it is not
ready to be ate until it is ripe. Then the word ripe suggests to us a being
ready, or a making ready.
For what? He says, for the rapture. A making ready for
the rapture.
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; In
other words, he is telling us that we are grasping the message in our minds,
and we see the signs and can take them back to the Bible and see that they were
placed among us for a vindication by God of His Presence among us to vindicate
the Message,
“but,
oh, how the church NEEDS to lay in His
Presence till it tenders up, you know, and gets sweet in the Spirit”…
Oh, how there is such a need for the church to become
tender and sweet in their Spirit. Why?
“
so that it can bathe down”. Now what does the word bathe down suggest to your
mind? According to Webster, it means: to immerse oneself
into, to soak oneself in some substance or influence. And I believe
that is what Brother Branham was speaking of here. To immerse ourselves into a certain influence
which alone comes from laying in the presence of the Lord. And in
laying in that atmosphere, there is but one result that will take place, and
that is a tenderness, and a sweetness that we alone can not
produce that in ourselves. It must come from the
Presence of the SON and that alone will produce this
result.
He said, “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”. Here he let’s us know that it won’t be an
easy thing, this laying in the presence of the SON, or Word, because sometimes
you have to hit it hard to knock off all the wrong influences, and stuff.
He continues, “But when the church
once gets it”, What about this thought here. When the church
once they get it, what will begin to happen?
the Elected is called out and separated.
So we see that this separation we have seen over the
years was not only predicted, but it is a vital part of the rapture process
that is going on. When the Elected is
called out and separated, then and only then we are freed up to lay
in the presence to ripen, to become ready, to become mature,… then in the Presence of God, I know it'll be something like the
people was there when it takes its rapture.
What people where? He had just told how he had been translated
to the 6th dimension and how lovely and sweet the people were there.
And remember, the angel of God told him,
BEYOND
THE CURTAIN OF TIME 61-0305 025 As I begin to move from that beautiful, joyful place, as far as my eyes
could see, people were coming towards me to embrace me crying, "My
precious brother." Suddenly I was back on the bed again. I said, "O
God, help me. Never let me compromise with the Word. Let me stay straight on
the Word. I don't care what anyone else does, Lord. Let me press on to that
beautiful, joyful place." I am more convinced than ever in my life, that
it will take perfect love to enter that place. There was no jealousy, no
tiredness, no sickness, no old age, no death, only supreme beauty and joy.]
(Hallelujah!) [Whatever you do, lay
aside everything else until you get perfect love. Get to where you can love
everybody, even every enemy. No matter if the plane is rocking, the lightning
is flashing, or the guns of the enemy are upon you, these things do not matter;
get perfect love. If you're not saved, accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, now. If you have not been baptized in water, be
baptized now. If you have not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, receive
It now. Press on in that perfect love, which will take you to that beautiful
and joyful place beyond the curtain of time.] Hallelujah. Glory to God. Amen.
Now, how do we get this perfect love? By laying in the
atmosphere that will produce it.
ISAIAH
61:10 ¶ I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul
shall be joyful in my God; for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
JEREMIAH
2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet
my people have forgotten me days without
number.
REVELATION
21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
From the Future home 64-0802
P:149 Brother Branham said, “John
said, "I saw the holy City, the New Jerusalem
descending out of heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband."
And where did it settle on? Just exactly like it did on there, upon the earth. Jesus was part of that
earth that the Holy Ghost descended upon (Is that right?) and remained upon Him
forever. It never can leave Him, It's always there (He and God are one.),
always has to remain. And so John saw
the holy City, the New Jerusalem descending like a comet or a dove, coming down out of heaven and settling upon
a redeemed entire earth. To do what? To claim every attribute that He made
the earth for; every man that was represented in the eternity and every woman
is redeemed then. She's been scoured and
burned by fire;
Future home 64-0802 P:86 Notice
here, Peter said, "And will melt with fervent heat and the works therein
burn up," not the planet, the works therein: the works of man. All their
politicians, and their schemes, and all their denominations and manmade schemes
will all go with it when it burns. "And--and heavens will pass away with a
great noise." Did you notice here? "Heavens will pass away with a
great noise." Listen, the whole earth
will be on fire and will ignite the gases that's in the earth and explode it.
It's exactly.
A few weeks ago I showed you
the headlines that said that in the gulf the Methane gas reading in the air
over the gulf is usually about 5% but now it is 40%. That’s getting close to
being explosive, and the scientists are finding all over the world that the
Methane gases are coming up in lakes and in the ocean and I believe like
brother Branham said, that is just getting it all ready for the burning.
Future home 64-0802 P:88 You know, when a man receives
the baptism of Fire there's a lot of noise around there. They think that's a
shame to hear people scream and shout like that. Just wait till this earth gets
her baptism. Yeah, it'll explain--explode it, the H2O, the water; for the Bible
said here in Revelations 21, "and there was no more sea." Explode it.
This will change the whole surface of
the entire earth. She'll burst and
blow to pieces. All the outside, the crust and for hundreds of feet below
it, it'll just simply be completely demolished. The atmospheres, the gases that's in the earth now, where they're
finding these missiles that can't get through it. a great sphere up in there
(way up in some kind of a sphere) that, there's all kinds of gases, they say, and that'll burst. The holy wrath of God will come upon it, and will
cleanse it, will change the entire
surface.
And
I mentioned that there is something to this planet or comet they all keep
talking about, but Since I do not have any Specific Quotes or Scriptures, I can
not be certain, although they had a scare like this back when brother Branham
was here in 1962 and brother Branham talked about it in his sermon Communion 62-0204 P:46 We
see that the astronomers are predicting, sometime in this early part or the
first part of the month, beginning on the second or the fifth, or somewhere
along this month, the Indian astronomers predict the world to blow to pieces.
And the American newspapers make fun of it. I do not believe the world's going
to blow to pieces, but I do say it's wrong to make fun of it. Because something's fixing to happen one of these days,
something similar to that, when the five planets, Mars, Jupiter, and
Venus, and--and so forth comes into their--their... They never have did it. Oh,
they claim maybe twenty-five thousand years ago, but who was back there to know
it?
So
we know that when the planet line up they have an effect on the earth. Well,
what if the Bride of Christ lines up like she is supposed to. Then what kin of
an effect could that have on earth?
From
his sermon Paradox a 63-0801 P:19 Brother
Branham said, How about the moon? Yet
millions of miles away from the earth, and yet it--it controls the tides on the
earth. Millions of miles away,
its influence, of standing in its space, standing in its orbit, it influences
the earth. Each planet influences the other by staying in its place. Oh,
what a sermon I could take from here, a lesson, how that each one of God's
creatures would stay in its place, it would influence the other. But we get off
on some wild tantrum somewhere, and form an organization, and separate
ourselves, seemingly not having the faith, and then we got the whole system of
Christianity mixed up. If every man would stay in his place, it would be a
paradox of God to see how God could bring Presbyterians, Lutherans, Baptists,
Methodists, Catholics, and all together. If we'd come back to the Word of God,
it would be a real paradox. And then the whole church could agree, not upon
your creeds and so forth, but upon the Word, the way It's written. Because It's
of no private interpretation, says the Scripture.
Now, in getting back to our thought on our preparation
for the Rapture.
In the book of Revelations 19:7 we
read, Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife
hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. 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.