MASTERPIECE No. 1
The Fountain of Life
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Rev. Brian Kocourek
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know him
that is true, and we are in him that
is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This
is the true God,
and eternal life.
Now, many do not understand
this verse of scripture and try to attribute this to speaking of the Son of God
as though He is not the Son of God, but in actuality they speak this verse as
though he is indeed God the Son. They read it as thus…
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know the son who is true, and we are in that son who is true, even in his Son
Jesus Christ. And This Jesus Christ is the true God, and eternal life.
But that reading is in
error, and It does not say anything even close to
that. The Scripture should be read as follows,
I JOHN 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we
may know the true God, and we are in the true God, in the same way as we are in his Son Jesus Christ. This God of Jesus Christ is the true God, and eternal
life.
Now, if you read it any
other way you are reading it in error. For God is the One and only true God,
and there are not two Gods nor are there three Gods. And to make the “Son of God”, “God the Son” you must have at least two Gods because The Father of
Jesus is also said to be the God of Jesus by none other than Jesus Himself.
When God raised up Jesus
from the dead, He said in John chapter 20…“go tell my brethren that I must ascend unto My
Father and Your Father, to my God and your God,” So we see here that Jesus Himself says he has
a God, who also is His Father. We also
find Jesus while on the cross in both the accounts given by Matthew and by Mark
that Jesus last few words proclaimed He had a God when he cried out, “My God, My God, why
hast thou forsaken me.” And to be forsaken means that His God totally
abandoned Him there to die on that cross.
Now, in the mouth of two
witnesses we have heard the Words of Jesus from His own Mouth identifying God
as His God and Father. Therefore, Jesus had a God. Therefore if you make Jesus
Himself God then you are making two Gods. For there is only One God, for God
Himself said in the Book of DEUTERONOMY 5:6 ¶ I am the LORD thy
God, and in verse 7 he saith, “Thou shalt have none other gods before me”.
So we see that in 1 John 5: 20 there is only One True God and that is
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact this same John that wrote
this Epistle also wrote the Gospel of John in which he says in chapter 3 and
verse 31 the following: JOHN 3:31 He that cometh from
above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh
of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 2 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth
his testimony.
If your ministry is
rejected by men, you should not think it strange that no man wants your
ministry because no one wanted the Son of God’s ministry either. While He was
preaching they didn’t want William Branham’s ministry but after he went off the
scene, then they flock to it. Have you ever wonder why? And they didn’t want
brother Vayle’s ministry while he was preaching, but
now that he doesn’t preach anymore, they are flocking to it through the
internet. You ever wonder why they didn’t want it when he was preaching it? I’ll tell you why. Because as long as the man is around
they look at his flesh, but after the flesh is no longer around they flock to
the ministry. And do you know why they wait until he is off the scene to do so?
Because then they can make him say what they want his words to say. But while
he is alive, they wouldn’t dare, because he might just speak up and call their
bluff. But after the servant of God goes
off the scene, they flock to their ministry because they can feel free to twist
their words to say whatever they want to, and the man is no longer around to
defend whether these people are quoting Him correctly or not.
That is why they will not
come to the light when the servant is alive. John said walk ye while ye have the light, and
he also said, they will not come to the light lest their
deeds will become manifested, so they wait until the light from
that man is gone and then they come to it, but God moves on and He changes His
mask again and again, and further elucidates His presence from one vessel to
another vessel, and each time he changes His mask, the new vessel He uses is
rejected in the same manner as the previous vessel before.
John said in I JOHN 5:10 ¶ He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because
he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
And he also said, I JOHN 4:5 They
are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6 We
are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and
the spirit of error.
Now, I have already read
from 1 John 5:
20 where John said that God is the true God. He said, in
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know the
God who is true, and we are in The
God that is true, even or with the same way as we are in his Son Jesus
Christ. This God of Jesus Christ is the
true God,
and eternal life.
Now, this same John tells
us in the Gospel of JOHN 3:33 He that hath received his testimony hath set
to his seal that God is true.
And in JOHN 17:3 Jesus in his prayer to the Father tells us
that God is the only True God. “And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
And the Apostle Paul tells
us in ROMANS 3:4 Let
God be true, but every man a liar…
So we see the Scriptural
evidence that God is the True God
that John speaks of in 1 John 5:20.
I
JOHN 5:20 And we know that
the Son of God is come, and hath given
us an understanding,(and we know that the Son of God came to
declare the Father, that was His job. He said the Son can do nothing but what
the Father shows Him to do, and He said the Son can speak nothing but
whatsoever the father commanded Him to Speak, and he
said it is written in the volume of the Book, I have come to do Thy Will o God.
Therefore, His declaration to mankind was what the Father declared through Him,
and this reflecting the Father in every detail is what gave us the correct
understanding.) that we may know God
who is true, and we are in God that
is true, even as we are in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God,
and eternal life.
Now, what does He mean by
this? We are in God even as we are in His Son. Because by One Spirit all are
baptized into One body. The same God-Life that dwelt
in the Son dwells also in us, unless we be reprobates.
And in JOHN 17:21 Jesus continues in His Prayer, “That they all may be
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest
me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Now, this morning I would
like to begin a new study of Brother Branham’s Message concerning the
Masterpiece. I believe this study deals with the Son of God and how that God
created a Masterpiece when he brought forth His Son.
Webster tells us that the
word masterpiece means: The Greatest Work as an Artist. And in common English
it is the greatest piece of the Master.
Now this message was given
to us that we might focus upon how God Brought forth His Masterpiece in His Son
through, that He The Son of God might be the pattern
by which all sons will come forth into the same Image.
Brother Branham tells us
early on in this Message that we are yet in a negative form, but there must be
a positive from which that negative was taken from. The Positive was Christ, the Son of God, and
we are only the reflection.
Therefore as we study this Message
on The Masterpiece, I want
you to continually be willing and ready in your mind to be able to move back
and forth between the positive Masterpiece which was Christ, the First born Son
of God, and then be able to see how he is tying the pattern of the Son of God
to the Elect in this hour who come forth in the image of that first born Son.
This is the essence of this
sermon, and I have no clue at this time as to what we shall discover as we
begin to probe the depths of this wonderful Message, but as certain as I am of
my calling to serve Gods End-Time Elect, I am certain that it was ordained for
us to study this Sermon of William Branham’s concerning the “Masterpiece.” Now, as we study this
sermon, we will find ourselves coming to a fuller understanding of what our
role is as sons, and the means whereby God purges us as sons from our own wills
even as He purged His Son of His own will, until we come as Jesus came and as
Paul wrote in HEBREWS
10:7 ¶ Then
said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy
will, O God.
For this also I am most
certain, that, as God sent forth His Son
into the World to give us an understanding, He has given us an end-time Message
through the lips of His Vindicated Prophet that has given us an even greater
understanding in order to prepare us to receive our roles of son-ship. And with
these thoughts and with prayer, I would like to begin our study of this
marvelous Sermon, “The Masterpiece.”
Therefore let’s begin now
by reading from the sermon, THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705 and
let’s begin with paragraph 1
Brother Branham begins by
saying, 1 Let's bow our heads now for prayer. While our heads and
hearts are bowed before God, I wonder how many in here has a request that
they'd like God to remember by just lifting up your hands?
That's...?... Now, hold your request in your heart now as we pray.
2 Lord Jesus, Thou the Fountain, inexhaustible Fountain of Life, (1) flow through
us today, Lord, and (2) cleanse us from all unbelief and
all sin, (3) that we might stand
in Thy Presence now, (4)knowing that there is need among us, that... We know
that we are sinners and not worthy of any blessing. But then when we think of
Him Who came and took our sins, then when His Blood's there, it's not us in the
Presence of God, it's Him, just our voice through His Blood; His Blood's
speaking. Oh, God, then cleanse our hearts from sin and unbelief.
3. Give to us the desires of our heart, for we truly
have these desires to serve You. And in these weakening conditions and
afflictions and things of the world that's put upon us sometime to perfect us...
We've been told that, that He said, "Think it not strange that these
trials come." They're only working out for our good and
to perfect us and bring us into that place. These great deserts of
experience, where righteous men are
molded into saints, we thank Thee
for these experiences, Lord. We would by no mean, no wise want to do
anything contrary to Your will; but we pray, Father,
that in this we'll be brought closer to
You.
4. And when the burdens are so heavy we can't go no
farther, then we raise our hands and scream for our Father. Then hear from
heaven, Lord. Heal us. Make us well for the
5 Bless Thy Word this morning, Lord. Thy Word
is the Truth. And we assemble here now in the church. We pray for Brother
Neville, and for Brother Capps, and Brother Collins, and all the rest of the
ministers, and the trustees, deacons, and all the laity, and the strangers in
our gates. May this be a day that we'll long remember because of Your Presence.
We're here under great expectation this morning, Lord. Just momentarily notice,
called together... We feel that it's for a purpose. May Your purpose be
achieved, Lord. For we ask it in Jesus' Name, as we submit ourselves. Amen.
Now, I would like to begin
our study of this Sermon of Brother Branham’s this morning by focusing on just
the first thought that comes forth in this opening prayer. Now, there is enough
thought here in this prayer that we could be studying this prayer for weeks to
come. But let’s begin by looking once more at this opening thought here, as we
read again paragraph number one.
1 Let's bow our heads now for prayer. While
our heads and hearts are bowed before God, I wonder how many in here has a
request that they'd like God to remember by just lifting up your hands?
That's...?... Now, hold your request in your heart now as we pray.
2
Lord Jesus, Thou the Fountain,
inexhaustible Fountain of Life, (1) flow through us
today, Lord, and (2) cleanse us from all unbelief and
all sin, (3) that we might stand
in Thy Presence now, (4)knowing that there is need among us,…
Now, lets focus our thought
to begin with on what he says as he enters into prayer with God. He says, Lord Jesus, Thou the Fountain, inexhaustible Fountain
of Life, (1) flow
through us today, Lord, and (2) cleanse us from all unbelief and
all sin, (3) that we might stand
in Thy Presence now, (4)knowing that there is need among us,…
Now, As I see it there are
4 thoughts here.: He is acknowledging that God is the great fountain of Life,
we must ask ourselves why would his mind go to a description of God as the
Great fountain of Life as he is beginning this message on the Masterpiece
unless he wants us to become focused on why this Great masterpiece was brought
forth and from Whom it was brought forth. Now, as he begins his prayer he
mentions four things to God, and number one: he asks for God to send
this great fountain that was in Him in the beginning to us that it might flow
through us. That is the first thing he asks of God who is this Great Fountain
of Life. Then he asks God acknowledging Him as the Great Fountain of Life, that
which flows through us, that this God-Life might also cleanse us from all
unbelief and sin. Then the third thing he asks God before beginning this sermon
ishe requests from God that we might stand in His Presence , and finally he acknowledges in this prayer that
God, this Great Fountain of Life knows the things we have need of.
And so with this
understanding of the first part of this prayer, I would like to begin with
speaking about this Great Fountain of Life that William Branham is praying to, the
Great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, while we are looking
at this prayer, I do not want you to forget that the subject of this sermon is
concerning the “Masterpiece”. And I want
you to understand that while he opens in prayer calling God by this wonderful
title of “the Great fountain of Life”, there is a purpose for this description
as you will see later in this sermon of Br. Branham’s. Because he will liken
this Great Fountain of Life to the Great Sculptor artist Creator who had within
Him a design for the Masterpiece. But
for now, Let us look at this thought that has been addressed to us concerning
the Great Fountain of Life, and let us study that for a while because after all
the Masterpiece was taken from the mind of this Great Fountain of Life.
In Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the Beginning God”…And
we know that the word for God here was taken from the Hebrew word “elohim” which means “the self existent one”. So we see then that there was a time that God
dwelt all alone. In fact for an eternity in the past God dwelt alone in a
solitary existence. But in God was a great fountain of Life. For God is Life.
And in St. John 1: 1 we also read, “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was God”…Therefore we understand that God
is the Word, and out of God came also the logos which was the Word also and
this word is a carrier of Life, and this life was also the first light. ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life;
and the life was the light of men.
God
was alone and in Him was Life. And as He began to bring forth this Life, it
first went into His Son, which is His Offspring, and the word offspring means
to spring off from. So we see, God, the great Fountain of Life, began to bring
forth His great plan to fulfill Himself, and He began this fulfillment by
bringing forth first a Son. We find in JOHN 5:26 "For as the
Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in
himself;"
Therefore
we can see what David meant when He described God as the Great Fountain of
Life. PSALMS 36:9 "For with
thee [is] the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.'
Now, Both David and John saw
two main characteristics in God. They both saw this great fountain of
Life, and William Branham believed the
same thing as we see in the following quotation from ….
21-129 Hebrews Chapter 57-0821 "This
Great Fountain of Spirit which had no beginning or no end. This Great Spirit began to form in the creation, and the Logos that
went out from It was the Son of God. It was the only visible form that the
Spirit had. And It was a theophany, which
means a body, and the body was like a man.
Now,
William Branham believed this Life was represented as a great Light. And when
we see the first expression of this fountain come forth, it is when God begins
to speak. What do we see first? Light is spoken, and what does that Light bring
forth? It brings forth the Life that was in it. The Father giving birth to His
Son.
Now,
we must not confuse God with His Son. John tells us that God is the Word. Some
men would tell you that Jesus, the Son of God is the Word, but that is not
entirely accurate. God is the Word. God is the Logos, and out of this great
fountain of Logos or Word came forth a Little Logos, or Word expressed, and
that was the Son. Brother Branham called Him Little Jehovah.
Smyrnaean Church Age
60-1206 147 "Now, if there's only one form of
Eternal Life, and you get it and we're seeking for it through Jesus Christ; that's
God's Life, then when that blood cell was broke on the Son of God, and that
little Jehovah that was bottled up on the inside of this man called Jesus…
This
is why brother Branham taught us that ther are
differences between God the Father and His Son because all sons ahev beginnings.
From
the Message ATTITUDE
AND WHO IS GOD? 50-0815 015 brother Branham said, "And we're taught in the beginning, that the Logos, or the
Son of God went out of God. Now, I do not believe in eternal son-ship. That's
even radical to even mention such a thing, eternal son-ship. How could He had an eternal son=ship...?... He had to have a beginning.
See? 016 So He first was God, Jehovah. And out of Him... Let's just picture now
as a little drama so you can get it. Let's see coming out of space where
there's nothing, let's make it a little white
Light, like a mystic Light, like a Halo.
And that was the Logos that went out of God in the beginning. That was the
Son of God that came out of the bosom of the Father. That was what was in
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us. In the beginning was God.
And then out of God came the Logos, a
part of God that went out of God.
Notice,
brother Branham told us it was only a part of
God that went out of God. And we know as with any child
born, it is a part of the father in him. Brother Branham said from the Message,
GO TELL MY
DISCIPLES 53-0405S 170, he is a part
of God, (if)
he's an offspring of
God.
Hebrews 1: 1-5 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2)
Hath in these last days spoken unto us in Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of
[his] glory, and the express image of his person, (The expressed image... or the out-raying or
etching of God.) and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high; 4) ¶ Being made so much better than the
angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 5)
For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to
me a Son?
AMPLIFIED = Hebrews
1:1-5, In Many
separate revelations, - each of which set forth a portion of the truth, - and
in different ways God spoke of old to our forefathers in and by the prophets. But
in the last of these days, He has spoken to us in the person of His Son, Whom
he appointed heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by, and through Whom, He
created the worlds, and the reaches of space, and the ages of time, - that is,
He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order. He is the
sole expression of the Glory of God, - the Light-being, the out-raying
of the Divine, - and He is the perfect imprint and very image of God's
nature, upholding, maintaining, guiding, and propelling
the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had, by offering Himself,
accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, he sat down at the
right hand of the Divine Majesty on High. Taking a place and rank by which He,
Himself, became as much superior to angels as the glorious Name which He has
inherited is different from and more excellent than theirs. For which of the
angels did God ever say, "You are My Son, today I have begotten you, And
Again, I will be to Him a Father, and he will be to Me a Son."
HEBREWS
1:6 And again, when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let
all the angels of God worship him.
Now, This does not make Jesus, who is “the Son of
God", "God the Son". Nor does it not make a second
God. Simply it means that God allows worship through His Son because
no man can come unto the Father except through this Son. Jesus as we have
already seen in the previous verses came into this world as the
perfect manifestation or reflection of the person of God in human flesh.
He was the vessel God chose to manifest Himself to
mankind, and yet the vessel itself was not Deity but Deity dwelt in that
vessel, and thus we worship God who is Spirit through that Vessel, because it
is not the vessel we worship but the God of the vessel. We worship
God in Spirit and in truth. Not vessel worship but the Spirit.
Beginning ending gentile
dispensation 55-0109E P:36 "And at
that time Michael shall stand, the great prince." Michael was Christ, of
course, Who fought the angelic wars in heaven with the devil. Satan and Michael
fought together, or fought against each other, rather.
FIVE
IDENTIFICATIONS 60-0911E 177 So the first thing He created... Now, some
of you want to know about my Genesis story; God said, "Let us make
man." The first thing He created was angels to worship Him, then He
become God.
IDENTIFIED
CHRIST OF ALL AGES 64-0409 E-25 "In the beginning was the Word."
Before It was even expressed, It was a thought, attribute. In this thinking He
was to be God. Probably created angels first, then He was worshipped, He was
God.
Now, I believe the first
thing created was Lucifer, because he was called son of the morning, and we
know the morning or morning star is the Son of God.
INFLUENCE
64-0315 E-37 Note the heavenly Seraphims with coverings over their faces. Now, the Seraphims is the burners of the sacrifice, which is one of
the highest orders of angels. They're next to the cherubims.
There is angels, and then Seraphims, and then cherubims. And Seraphims is
actually the burner of the sacrifice, making the way for the sinners' approach,
a real high order of holiness in the
REV
CHAP 4.PT.3 THRONE MERCY 61-0108 291
You notice, these--these Cherubims that John
saw here must've been interested in keeping the Tree of Life, so they must be
interested in human beings. Or read Genesis, getting back to Genesis again;
They kept the Tree of Life, guarded it, the Way of Life, the Way of Life.
REV
CHAP 4.PT.3THRONE MERCY 61-0108 298 Guarding this gate... Cain and Abel come up
here to worship. So it must've been an altar that they guard (Is that
right?), these Cherubims.
REV
CHAP.4.PT.3 THRONE MERCY 61-0108 301 Moses was taken up into heaven: Moses, taken
from the earth up into heaven and saw the altar of God. Is that right? I'm
trying to prove my point here. You know what I'm trying to do, don't you? All
right. He went up in the Presence of God. And when he descended from the
Presence of God, he said... God told Moses, "Make everything on earth as
patterned after heaven." Is that right? All right. Now, then when he did,
when he made the ark of the covenant, he put two Cherubims
to guard the ark. See what it is? It was the temple... It was the altar, the
throne guards. The two Cherubims, He said,
"Mold them out of brass and put their wings a touching like this,"
because that's exactly what he saw in heaven. That's exactly what John saw in
heaven, these four Cherubims on the four sides of the
ark of the throne in heaven. They were the guards of the ark. Cherubims, guards at the mercy seat. If you want to read
that Scripture (We ain't got time to go to it.), put
down Exodus 25:10 to 22. Now, they guard the mercy seat when God is in His Shekinah Glory. Where was the Shekinah
Glory? At the mercy seat. Is that right? They guard that Shekinah
Glory. Um. Whew.
Now, to this point I
believe we can establish that Lucifer was a co-partner leading in the worship
of God. He taught, He was a teacher. He
knows the Word of God, but where he went off was when he added his own thoughts
to what God said. He was perfect in all
his ways until iniquity was found in him. He perverted the Word, He twisted it
for his own self interest. He was not satisfied with being a good steward of
the Word of God and he wanted a bigger kingdom than Michael (Christ) had.