The
Doctrine of Christ no 65
He the Believeth no 19
The Life of Christ Part 5
“Life Injected Life Projected”
Brian
Kocourek
1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from
the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead,
then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not
risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith
is also vain. 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. 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ
raised: 17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith
is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in
Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20 But
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the
firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by
man came death, by man came
also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his parousia.
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Let
us pray, Dear Father we come here this
Easter Morning to honor the resurrection of your son Jesus in whom you raised
from the dead. As Paul told us that if we are also risen with Christ then it
will change our lives. Help us to understand better this great resurrection
which your Word speaks of and is set before us at this hour. For we ask it
humbly in Jesus Christ’s name, your eldest son in whom you raised from the dead
to live forever more, and whose spirit has come back upon us to quicken us and
make us newe creations in Christ Jesus.
Now, this morning being
Easter we are here to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now, the whole world around Christians of every
persuasion will be celebrating the Resurrection, and since there are now some
36,000 different denominations on record who claim to be Christian, and that
means at least 36,000 different view points on this Bible and the Scriptural
interpretation of it, then in order to do justice to this most notable day we
ought to at least understand what the Resurrection means to us.
And I would venture to say that to the 36,000
different varieties of Christian denominations out there and the thousands more
who have not denominated officially but who most likely and by the definition
of denomination are most certainly denominated. Then tat number of differences
are almost as different as there are people within those groups.
Therefore fist of all what does the word
resurrection mean? And why is it so important to Christians in general ? And
why is it so important to you as an individual Christian?
Well,
to answer our first question, the word resurrection means The act of rising from the dead or returning to life. Now, the
reason this is so important to the Christian religion is because Jesus Christ is
the only person in the history of the world who God raised from the dead and is
alive forever more.
Now,
that makes Christianity different from every other religion in the world. The
Mohammedans believe Mohammed will one day raise from the dead, but most
Christians also believe that every Christian will one day rise from the dead as
well, and their reason for believing this is far greater than Mohammedans
reason’s. Because God not only promised us resurrection, but he also showed us
one who has raised from the dead and is alive for ever more, namely His Son
Jesus. Who sits at the right hand of the majesty on high.
And Jesus Promised the believer, that is those who
believe in Him, he promised in John 11:25 Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: “he that believeth” in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live:
So
not only did he rise from the dead, but we are also promised though “though we were dead,
yet shall we live.”
Now, we take it that most Christians look for resurrection
after they physically die. They do not know when, but they live their life in
hope.
I am here this morning to tell you that it is not a
hope that we be beholden to, but a reality. Because there is a way that we most
certainly will know whether we will rise from the dead and that is because we
have already risen from the dead.
Now, the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but
hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Notice here that Paul says if you have seen it, it
is no longer hope, so hope is what is not yet seen. And Faith is the
And brother Branham actually said that hope is the
enemy of faith. He said in his sermon
Faith cometh by hearing 54-0320 P:26 My,
how I like to think of faith, hope, and charity, those three things. And hope, what a beautiful thing hope is. Little, timid hope, lovely and sweet as
she is, yet, she's the greatest enemy
faith has. That's right. The
greatest enemy faith's got is hope. 'Cause a person becomes so hopeful till
they leave away from faith.
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these
three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So although hope does not see it, yet Faith has both substance and
evidence.
Now, notice the law of nature, or natural law as we
see in Genesis 1:11, which teaches “every seed after its
kind” Although the life in a
seed that life itself is an invisible entity, and yet when that life begins to
manifest its nature, it’s attributes and its characteristics, it must hold to
this natural law, this law of life which is an
observable law relating to natural phenomena. In other words, there are
certain attributes and characteristics of every form of life. As brother
Branham pointed out in this message “God
Identifies Himself by His Characteristics” he said “there are two birds
that look very much alike, about the same size and shape, but if you can’t see
the color, just look at the flight pattern and you can tell which is which.”
Let me just read it for you what he said…God identifies Himself by His Characteristics 64-0320 P:6 “Then did you ever notice, I
don't know whether you have them here or not: yellow hammers, with the (Flicker
is the right name for them.) and a jaybird. A jaybird is about the same size of a yellow hammer. And you see the two flying, they're both about
the same kind of bird. If you can't see the color, but just watch them, you can tell which is the yellow hammer. The
jaybird flies more or less in a beeline, but the yellow hammer flopping his
wings... As he flaps his wings, he goes down and then up, down and then up.
See? Makes himself in a bound like that. And you can tell that's the characteristic of the yellow hammer, the way he flies.
If you notice the quail, when he comes out, the way he comes up... And then,
watch if you're in a swamp where quail might be, and a snipe. You hunters know
that. The
Now, why am I bringing this law of life or this
natural law into this topic on the resurrection of Christ? Because he says although you may not be able to
tell them apart by looking at them, you can tell them apart by what they do.
And so too we have 36,000 different brands of Christianity today, so how do you
tell the real Christian from the counterfeit Christian? Well, if every seed
will come forth after its kind or nature, then watch them, and by their fruits you
shall know them. There are many women who wear skirts and long hair,
not just Christians. And having long hair and long dresses doesn’t make you a
Christian. But watch their life, see how they act, watch the way they live, the
actions they do, the works they perform, the things they talk about and the
music they listen too, and you will soon know what life is alive and living in
them.
From his sermon, Door
inside door 58-0209E P:73Brother
Branham said, Take the life of a sinner out and put the life of Christ in there, it'll bear the fruits of Christ.
And again from his sermon, Christ is the mystery
63-0728 P:147 brother Branham said, “God is not known by education; He's not known by how to explain it. God is known by simplicity and of
revelation of Jesus Christ in the most illiterate person. See? Not your theology; it's a revelation of Jesus Christ.
"Upon this rock, I'll build My Church.”
No other rock's accepted; no other
thing's accepted; no other Roman rock; no other Protestant rock; no other
school; no other nothing; but on exactly the
revelation of Jesus Christ in a new birth. He’s born in there and injects His own Life, and your
life is gone, and the Life of Christ
is projecting Itself through you with the pre-eminences to the people
that they see 1) the very Life,
and 2) works, and 3) signs and wonders that He did, is 5)
doing the same thing through you. Outside of that, the rest of it's not
even called to at all.
Outside of that the rest is not called for alt all?
The rest of what? Scholarship, education, how well you can break down the
doctrine and talk it, outside of that life reflecting his thoughts, his
actions, his speech, his works, outside of that forget it. You see, there are
too many who are placing their trust in their own man made ability to know and
understand the Word of God, the doctrine. Yet the Apostle Paul said, “And
though I have the gift of preaching, to the point
where I not only understand all the
mysteries, and possess all knowledge and can make it so plain in my preaching;
and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and yet have not
the Love of God in my heart for his children, I am as good as nothing in God’s
eyes.
Brother Branham said in his sermon, Sirs, we would see Jesus
63-1112 P:18 “We
as Christian believers should reflect
His Life, so much, till it would be His
entire representative. We should be that. Every Christian should represent and reflect the Life of Jesus Christ.
Do you believe that? And I believe that
every Christian should be reflecting the Life of Christ. He said in
And from his sermon, The
Rapture 65-1204 P:54 he said, Then
how do we get into this Body? I Corinthians 12,
"By one Spirit we're all baptized into this Body,"
by one Holy Spirit baptism. And that... If you want to put that down, it's I Corinthians 12:13:
"And by one Spirit we are all baptized..."
And the Spirit is the Life of Christ (is
that right?), the Life of Christ. And the
life of any seed, which He was the Word Seed, brings the seed to life. You get it? If that life is laying
in the seed and this baptism of the Holy Spirit comes upon it, it's bound to
bring that seed life. Notice he says,
“the life of any
seed brings that seed to life.”
From the Palmerworm
locust caterpillar 59-0823 P:57 brother Branham said, “And
if Christ is in that Vine, and the Life
of Christ is in that person, it'll be like Jesus, it'll bear the fruits of Him.
It's His Spirit. It can't do nothing else but do it. It's got to produce that Life, 'cause it's the same Life. You just
can't produce anything else. It'll act
like Him; It'll talk like Him; It'll walk like Him; It'll heal like Him; It'll
see visions like Him; It'll produce exactly His Life, perfectly, every time,
because It's His Life. You're just a shell.”
Now, in getting back to what brother Branham said
concerning Hope and fait, what do you think he meant when he said, “hope is the
greatest enemy of faith”? Well hope is always looking out there
somewhere while Faith looks at what is inside. The evidence.
From The Third Exodus 63-0630M P:93 Brother
Branham says, of faith, “Its
resting place is in the sanctuary of God's Word, when faith, genuine faith sets itself there. Not make-belief now: faith; not hope: but faith. Hope's out here hoping it was in. Faith is already in, looking out and saying, "It's done." That's
faith. There's where faith takes it's resting place, for it knows that God
will never, never let the enemy ride over the top of Him. He never has. Faith
knows that, so regardless of what the thing looks like...
And from Sir would we
see Jesus 54-1205 P:37 he said, Now,
look. My own faith in God will take it away
from you; but it won't stay unless you have the same… faith... See, don't just come with a real reverence, just
don't... Just be normal and say, "God, You promised it, and I'm Your
child." Now, watch. So you can see what I mean the... Ninety percent of
the people, sister, ninety-nine and nine tenths that come saying, "Oh, I got faith,"
they have hope instead of faith. Faith
is positive.
Look, Hope is an earnest expectation, the dictionary says hope is To wish for something
with expectation of its fulfillment. To look forward to with confidence or
expectation: But notice it is always
out there somewhere in the future, but Faith is an evidence, it is a substance.
In other words it is a reality, not a future hope so, not a wish, it’s now, it
is evident, the evidence is there already.
Now, remember we just read the quote where brother
Branham said, it’s not your ability or your education, it’s not what you can
reason, but its “the
revelation of Jesus Christ in a new birth. (notice, the
revelation IN a birth) He’s born in there (whose born IN there? Christ
is Born in You.) and(when
he is born in you He) injects His own
Life, (notice he said He injects His own Life, injects like
inoculation where you use a needle to implant a germ of life into your body
expecting that germ to make you immune from certain thigs. Well, brother
Branham is telling us here that Revelation inoculates you and injects the very
Life of Christ into the individual and when that happens, the he says) and your life is gone, and the Life of Christ is projecting Itself
through you with the pre-eminences to the people (o Halelujah, Your life is hid in Christ with God
and His life begins to grow and as it grows it begins to project itself forth
for all to see the new attributes and characteristics that now are alive in you
by this new birth. Then he says, when the world sees this new life, this life
that is projected) that they see No.
1) the very Life, and 2) the works,
and
3) signs and wonders
that He did, is (is
what?) is doing the same thing through you. Outside of that,
the rest of it's not even called to at all.
Notice, the same life just in another vessel but
living the same life, expressing the same actions, same speech, same works, o I
hope you can see why the resurrection is so important to us and why the promise
of John 14:12
is so very important, because it shows those who are born again with the very
life of Christ living in them and John 14:12 is the projection of his Life in
the believer showing it is the same life by the same works, same actions, same
words, same character.
From the Stature of a
perfect man 62-1014M P:134 brother
Branham said, “And then when we can get so transfused by His power, that we die to our own thinking, and our
faith becomes a genuine faith (Hallelujah.), then (when? When we die
to our own thinking then he says and only then will) the
Life of Christ is transfused into us; we become living creatures of God, a dwelling place where the Holy Spirit can
send His radiant blessings down through there, and we're in the statue of Christ.
And if in the statue of Christ, the conformed to the
image of the first born son. Now, listen if you don’t think William Branham was
not conformed to the image of the first born son, you have missed the whole
Appearing of Christ. Appear means to make known visible, so if Christ has
appeared, then how did he appear if you can not see him? He appeared in His
Prophet, lived in his prophet, spoke through his prophet, acted out his life
through his prophet, and did the works of Christ through his prophet. And if
you die, he will do the same through you. That’s what John 14:12 is all about,
not just greater works, but works, actions, a life lived. Not just for one man,
but for whosoever believeth.
From Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed 63-0728 P:120 brother Branham said, “Look, Christ in you makes Him the center of Life of the revelation. See? Christ's Life in you makes Him the center
of the revelation. Christ in the Bible, makes the Bible a complete
revelation of Christ. Christ in you
makes you the complete revelation of the whole thing. See, what God's trying to do?
You see why it was so important to die to your own
thoughts so you could see the doctrine of Christ? You see why it was not only
being able to believe and talk the doctrine but to lay in the presence of the
Son of God Light, so that you could see that relationship that he had with the
father and the Father with him, and not only to see that relationship but to
see Him as the pattern, the example seed, the very life expressed, and to know
that you as a son have entered into that same relationship, the very same life
of God passed down into the son in its fullness and set free from that vessel
that it might enter into all the vessels of God’s children so that we might
become sons in the very image and stature of Christ as Paul said in Ephesians 4
where Paul said, “Till
we all come in the unity of the faith, And what does it mean UNITY of the faith or revelation?
The
word Unity
means: The state or quality of
being one… And didn’t Jesus pray in John 17 that we would be “one with God”
in the same way “He
was One with God”? And how is this possible? Through His very Life
released into our vessel through the same
revelation he had we now have. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, (oneness,
how?) through the knowledge (ginosko, which
is an experiential knowledge) of the Son of God,(that word ginosko is not just
knowledge as tough something we can obtain in our head, but it is an
experiential knowledge, which we receive through a relationship with Christ.
You see, Mary said, “How can I be with child having known-ginosko no man. She
had no experience in the flesh with man, she had not received a life giving
seed from man, and this is to bring us to the place Paul calls) unto a perfect man,
(a mature man) unto the measure (metron or limited portion) of the stature (the character) in the fulfilling of
Christ:”
From
his sermon Abraham and his seed after him 61-0423 P:39 brother Branham said, “raised Him up on the third day, and raised up His body, and
brought it up into glory, and there sent
the Spirit back down, and kept the body on His right hand side. Sent the Spirit back down, to live in the church,
to make a church just so much with the Life of Christ that in the
resurrection, the two will come together, Bride
and Bridegroom, the church and Christ will be exactly alike with the
same kind of ministry, same kind of power, same kind of Spirit.
He raised up the body of Jesus Christ and set on His right side, His right
hand, and poured down the Spirit upon
the church on the day of Pentecost. That's how God proved His covenant with
His church.
Same ministry, same power, same kind of spirit he
said. That’s Genesis 1:11 the law of life,
every seed after its kind.
And brother Branham said in Planting the vine and where to plant it 59-0920 P:40 It is the Spirit of the
living God that changes your nature.
What
else could live in you to produce Christ’s own life in you? It is God-Life, the
very same God-Life that raised up Jesus from the dead is what also quickens
your mortal body, this body that you are now living in. That’s your substance,
that’s your evidence? And you can’t see, taste, feel, smell or hear it, yet it
is the very Life of Christ, God’s own Life, living in you and you know it
because you know what life you once had, and you know what life you now have. O
what an evidence. Not hope, not a hope so, but a reality, a substance, a real
evidence is the very life itself is the only evidence. Not what you can quote,
not what you can pretend to know, not who you know, or how high you get
promoted in the church. It’s the very life of Christ living in you by the new
birth, and you either know you have that or you don’t. And no pretending will
ever make it real.
O,
you might pretend to be what you are not, and others might be fooled by it for
a while, but like Abraham Lincoln said, “You
can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the
time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”
The Apostle Paul said in Galatians
6:3 For
if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives only
himself.
And the Apostle John said in 1 John 1:8 If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive only ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
So it all comes down to what Life is being projected
from our vessel.
Identified masterpiece of God 64-1205 P:50 What
we need today is the life of Christ inside of us. That's what purifies, not the
outward, a turned-around collar, or a degree of psychology, or something. It takes the power of the resurrected
Christ to make us what we should be. God has no other plan than let the
Holy Spirit rule and reign in the church.
Identified Christ of all ages 64-0401 P:19 it takes death to yourself to develop the
picture of the image of Christ, the life of Christ in you.
You have to dump your own out so that Christ can come in. You have to die to
yourself.
The Apostle Paul didn’t have a great ministry because
he was so much more intellectual than anyone else. He said in 1 Corinthians 2:1 You'll remember,
friends, that when I came to you to let you in on God's master Piece, I didn't
try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. 2 I
deliberately kept it plain and simple: wanting you to know nothing but Jesus
Christ and him crucified. (in other words, Paul wanted to show them
the character of the Life of Christ and the need for death to self to have this
life. He goes on) 3 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate, I was
scared to death, if you want the truth of it, and so nothing I said could have
impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit
and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a
response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me
or anyone else.
Brother Branham said in Christ
is the mystery 63-0728 P:150 And Paul, this great
intellectual man, never tried to express
his great theological terms upon the people. He humbly accepted the Word of
the Lord, and he lived the Word so that
it expressed It. He lived so, so
godly until they seen Jesus Christ in him so much, till they wanted his
handkerchief to take it and lay it upon the sick. There's the Life of Christ.
In Investments 63-1116B
P:35 Brother Branham said, “That's no way to get the
outsider. (The person who’s not a believer,
he’s an outsider, and he says if you want to catch that person in the net for
Christ the way to do it is to…) Live the Life, and let
Christ live in you, that makes him hunger and thirst to be like you.
You become salty; he'll get thirsty. The
only way you can be salty is let the Life of Christ be in you, for He is
that. Salt only saves as it contacts. And
that’s what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2.
Again brother Branham said, Hear ye Him 58-0209A P:37 if the new life that you think you've
received doesn't pattern with God's Word, you've got the wrong life in you. The life of Christ will produce the works
of Christ, will produce the faith of Christ, will make you act as
Christ, will make you love Him. He will be first in your life. Your objectives, your motives, and everything will be all-together
different. It'll be for the glory of God.
Now, if we really want to know
what it is that makes us a true believer, brother Branham tells us in the
spoken word is the original seed. Spoken word original seed 62-0318M P:97 All right. Manifested,
the works manifested the same by us, for It is the same Word. Now, if you
want to do the works of Christ, do the same thing He done. "He that believeth on Me shall have My
works." What is that? Believeth what? That He is the Original Seed germ
that come.
Notice we have gone full
circle this morning, seeing the resurrection and life has got to come from the
first born son into sons, the same seed life in the original seed will be in
the other seeds with the same life in them.
Influence 63-0112 P:65 And if the Life of Christ has
been transferred into you by the
Holy Spirit, you bear the fruit, you
live the life.
It wasn't so from the beginning 61-0411 P:29 You
say, "Well, we'll just live loose." That shows your name isn't on the
Book. That's exactly right. That proves that you wasn't when you try to live
any kind of life and that you want to live. That's shows you haven't got it. If you're a real Christian, you'll live the
real life, because the Life in Christ is in you and you can do nothing else but
live the Life of Christ.
Notice he said if you are a real Christian you will
live the real life of Christ. You won’t have to work at it, it will be as
natural as though he is living it for you because he is. That’s what Paul said,
it’s not me
living but Christ is living in me.
And so in winding down let me read a few quotes from
brother Branham before we close.
From
True vine and the false vine 55-0607 P:14 The
Life that was in Christ has to be in every branch. And if Christ's Life in Him was a preaching the Kingdom of God and healing
the sick, every branch will have the same substance in it, as it comes up. It
can't be nothing else. The Life of Christ in you...
Is your life worthy 63-0630E P:65 A Christian is to be Christ-like. And a Christian cannot be a Christian until Christ comes into the man, the
Life of Christ in him. Then it
produces the Life that Christ lived, and you do the things that Christ did. What am I talking about? Personal relationship to Christ. What
is it? Is your life worthy of the
Gospel?
Conferences 61-0410 P:80 If you're not born again,
then you're not a Christian. You can
only be a Christian when you take the life of Christ in you. If the life of
Christ is in you, it'll produce the life
of Christ.
Conferences 60-0228 P:37 We could scream, and shout,
and do whatever we want to; it'll never influence man until they see the life of Christ being projected in you, someone
who's tender, and merciful, and forgiving, and ready to turn the other side of
the cheek, or give the second coat, or go the second mile: Christianity in action, not just taught from the pulpit, but acted
among the members, among the pastors. That's
when you see Christ living in the church, decisions made.
Christ is the mystery 63-0728 P:50 Make us so full of love and
the fruit of the Spirit until other men and women, boys and girls can see the results of the Life of Christ
still living in us after two thousand years from the great event. Grant it,
Father. To honor Thee, we ask in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
Countdown the 62-1125E P:54 Now, He said, "He
that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he also." He cannot change that decision. He
said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." If the Life of Christ be in you, if the
mind of Christ, then we're concerned and do the things of Christ. He said these signs that He done will follow every
believer that believes in Him. Let us pray……