Masterpiece 68
The Life
of the Word
Pastor, Brian Kocourek
1. Let us stand to our feet and open our Bibles to
Mark Chapter 4 and we shall read from verses 1 though 20 for our text this
morning.
2. MARK 4:1¶ And he began again
to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so
that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by
the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables, and said
unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
4 And it came to pass, as he sowed,
some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.5
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it
sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun was up, it was
scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among
thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And
other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased;
and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. 9 And he
said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And when he was
alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in
parables:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may
hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and
[their] sins should be forgiven them. 13 And he said unto them, Know ye not
this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? 14 The sower soweth the
word. 15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when
they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was
sown in their hearts. 16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony
ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with
gladness; 17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time:
afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake,
immediately they are offended. 18 And these are they which are sown among
thorns; such as hear the word, 19 And the cares of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the
word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20 And these are they which are sown on good
ground; such as hear the word, and receive [it], and bring forth fruit, some
thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
3. Let us bow our heads in Prayer: Dear Gracious and
Loving Father, we come to You in thanksgiving this morning knowing You are here
in our Midst, for we believe that You have come down with a Message, and that
Message is Life to us. We thank Thee Father, for giving us the Promise of
Eternal Life through Your Son Jesus, and for making this promise possible
through the instrument of Your Word. For we believe that Your Word is a Seed,
ad as a Seed it contains Life, Your Seed, Your Life. And we know that every
seed must bring forth after it’s kind, for that is the Law of reproduction. And
we know “when
Christ who is our Life shall Appear, we shall also appear with Him in Glory.”
And we know this Glory that we are to appear or openly manifest in, is your
“Doxa” which is your opinion, judgment and assessment, which is Your very mind
coming into Your Children. So we are a thankful people for all you are doing
here in this small congregation and for all that You are doing through this
ministry throughout the world. And, therefore Father, we commit ourselves to
your great purpose and plan that You have made known to us in Jesus Name we
pray, amen. You may be seated.
4. Last week we spoke from several paragraphs of
brother Branham’s sermon on the Masterpiece, and our subject was “The Life in
the Seed must move on”.
5. We showed that in nature the life that is in a
seed, once it is planted and the light strikes it, the life in a seed begins
its journey towards manifestation of itself. In other words, Towards an
expression of what Life and Nature is intrinsically in that seed.
6. Now, we know that until the light strikes the seed,
the seed will not manifest the innate nature of the life that lays within it.
So it takes the Light to manifest the Life.
7. In fact the apostle Paul said, in Ephesians chapter
5, “what makes manifest is Light”, and we know
that Christ is the Light of the world, and JOHN 1:3 tells us, 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. 5 ¶ And the light shineth
in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
8. Now, in concerning life, especially the life in a
seed, we must understand that the first
stage of life we see is the stalk. When the Light strikes the seed and it
begins to grow into a plant of any sort, that first manifestation of life shows
itself in the central portion of the plant which is in the trunk or stem in
which the Life of the seed begins to move up into and while the Life is in it,
the plant is green showing it is full of life.
Now, before it is manifested the Life breaks forth from the seed into
the roots. And if it has not roots, it will not survive. I am hoping that you
can see the spiritual application of what I am saying here.
9. Then as the Life in that seed begins to further manifest
itself, up through the stem, as it moves further into maturity it begins to
grow some shoots off of that central stem. It does not matter whether these
offshoots are leaves or flowers, or perhaps as we see in corn or wheat, the ear begins to grow. At first all we see
in that ear is the tassle or the part
that looks almost like leaves that surround the out part of the ear.
10. Next as the Life moves on in the plant, we see the
life go into the husk which is the inside of the tassle, and this husk has a
shape to it, but it is just a protector of the seed life that is growing forth
within it. It is there only to protect the seed life. Then finally the Life
moves further into manifestation in those little seeds that are being produced
in the ear that look just like the original seed that went into the ground.
That is what we call the corn itself.
1. 1Now, as the Life moves from the seed into the
roots and stem, before it can do so the outer shell of the seed must rot and
die or the life can not be released from within.
12. And Jesus told us the same thing had to take place
for the Life of God to move into the church of the Living God.
13. JOHN 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the
Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
14. Jesus told us in JOHN 6:63 That the word of God is
Life. And that the Spirit of God
quickens that Life in us. It is the spirit
that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you,
[they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
15. In 1 John 1:1 we
read, That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of
life 2 (For the life was manifested, and
we have seen [it], and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which
was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
16. Now, the Life is in the Father before it can
come into the son. And while it is in the Father it is in seed form.
17.
JOHN 5:26 For as the Father
hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
18. And we know that the Life form in which God
brings forth His own Life is in His Word. The
Apostle Paul called it the word of Life in Philippians
2: 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I
have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
19. And again in Acts
20. And it was Peter who taught us that our New
Birth comes by the Word of God being sparked off in our being. I PETER
21. Now, notice he told us there are corruptible
seeds and incorruptible. And he tells us the incorruptible seed is God’s Word,
for all other seed have a beginning and an ending of Life but there is only one
source of Eternal Life for there is only One eternal, and that is God’s own
Life. Therefore when you receive eternal Life is when the very life of God
comes into you and sparks you to the Life that He ordained for you even before
He framed the world into existence. Because you had to be a part of God in
order to have eternal Life.
22. In fact we see the entire plan of God in EPHESIANS chapter one. So let’s open out Bible to
Ephesians chapter one and begin reading at verse 3 ¶
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
23. Now here we are told that not only is God the
Father of Jesus Christ but He is also the God of Jesus Christ. He said, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
Now, in the next verse we see that we were actually
in Him before the foundations of the world. 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him or
in His presence..
24. Then because of His great Love he has for His
own He sets in order His great Plan for His Children.
25.
5 in love having predestinated us (now, notice that having predestinated us is speaking in the past tense.
This is what He did while we were yet in His mind before He even framed the
worlds. Then when God framed the worlds with us in His mind, He framed them for
us to enjoy. God existed for an eternity before He even framed the worlds, so
He didn’t do it for Himself, he didn’t need it, but He did it for you and I so
that we might enjoy the mountains and the sea, and the valleys and the rivers
etc. Therefore we read, ) 5 in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his
will, so it was His good pleasure to predestinate us unto the
adoption of Children by Jesus Christ.
26. Now, in the old testament when a son was born he
was raised under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father.
And when the child, the first born showed Himself to be able and mind full of
what His Father wanted, in other words, an obedient son, the Father would take
him out and before the public he would adopt his first born son. Then that son would be given 50% of all that
the father owned. The rest of the children did not receive a portion until the
Father died.
27. But as long as the father lived the others
received no inheritance. And we have a father who is the only immortal King and
who can not die, so it was expedient in the plan of the Father to allow His Son
Jesus to die that we might receive His inheritance. And that is what the
Apostle Paul is saying here. 5 in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.6
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in
the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8
herein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
28. Now, in getting back to the seed Life, we see
also in John 6: 68 Then
Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
29. And so we see that the Word is a Seed and the
Life in that seed is God’s Life, eternal Life. John
5: 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation;
but is passed from death unto life.
30. And therefore the attributes fo one ordained or
predestinated to Life (To God Life) is that they will believe. Acts 13: 48 And when the Gentiles heard
this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed.
31. John 6: 63 It
is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
32. THE MASTERPIECE 64-0705 118 But you can't hide a germitized seed. It's
got to come forth. Because why? The Great Sculptor is on the job. Going to
build again, so the Seed went down, the Word. 119 When we see
33. The seed is a carrier of Life.
34. 1 Cor 13: 11 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...
35. Now, we noticed that the seed which Jesus was
talking about that was to fall into the ground was the very Life that was in
Him, and that begin to come forth on the day of Pentecost. This Seed that was
sown in the first age has come up to a complete body in this last age. When
planted, the seed will bring forth a crop that is in the same likeness as the
seed that went into the ground.
36. And if Christ the Word was which is a seed was
buried in death and came forth when God raised up His Son from the grave and
then on the day of Pentecost that same Life begin to grow up and manifest
itself in the Church, the if it was the
Word Seed that was buried, then that very Life that was in that Word must also
produce the same Life germ back in the church again, at the Harvest Time.
37. And since we know that the Word was made flesh,
and we beheld His Glory, and that Glory that we beheld was the Doxa of God
which was His Very opinion, assessment, and Judgment in the earth, then as the
Apostle Paul said, He is to come again and this time to be glorified in His
Church. That is 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 10.
38. And that Glorification will be the Word again in
human beings, sons of God in which the Apostle Paul told us, “Let this Mind
that was in Christ be in you.” So we see that there are an ordained people who
will learn to get out of the way and let God and let God.
39. Several years ago I preached a mini series called
the We called “The Garden of your Mind”, and in this mini series we
focused on the mind as it pertains to a garden, because our minds are full of
many seeds which are thoughts, of which some are good or righteous, and others
are bad, or evil. And we found that as a seed is a carrier of life, our
thoughts too are carriers of actions which create an atmosphere, and from this
atmosphere reactions occur.
40. We showed how that as with any garden, we must
have a plan if we are to harvest or reap the desired outcome of our garden. For
you can not just let anything else grow in your garden than what you desire for
harvest, or the other seeds will sprout forth as well, and they will compete
with your planted seeds for life. As you know in any garden, if the weeds crop
up, they compete with the good crops, not only for room, but for nutrients from
the soil as well. The weeds, if not kept in check and under control will many
times crowd out and suffocate the good crops, or the crops in which we desire a
harvest, because “many more are the children of the desolate than she which has a
husband.” And you should know by experience, that weeds are more
plentiful and grow faster than a harvest
crop.
41. Now, Jesus told the parable of the sower several
times.
42. MATTHEW 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some [seeds] fell by the
way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony
places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because
they had no deepness of earth: 6 And
when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away. 7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and
choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some
an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
43. MATTHEW 13:18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19 When any one
heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth [it] not, then cometh the
wicked [one], and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he
which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received the seed into
stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth
it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when
tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is
offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the
word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23 But he that received seed into the good ground
is he that heareth the word, and understandeth [it]; which also beareth fruit,
and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
44. So then in order to eliminate the bad seeds, or at
least the effects of the bad seeds, we must learn to cultivate the “gardens
of our mind”, in order to prepare for a better harvest of the desired
planting. Now we all know that the Lord calls us, His planting, and the
type of plant that He likens us to are, “trees of righteousness” as we see
in [Psalm 61:3] and as we also sing
the song, “that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the
Lord, that He might be Glorified.”
45. And just like any other garden, our garden is planted according to the purposes of the
one who plants it, and for the glory or betterment of the planter. If a person
wants to harvest certain types of foods, they must plant the seeds of what they
want to harvest. You do not plant a fully developed plant. No, that is called
transplanting. But what we plant in the ground is seeds, that when they mature,
they will reproduce the plant in every detail seeing that the seed contains the
life of the plant, then it also carries the genetic code to reproduce that
plant in every detail. So you see, the garden is planted with a desired harvest
in mind, and it is up to the one who plants it to watch over it until harvest
time. And so besides cultivating out the bad seeds, we are also to make sure
that we water and fertilize the garden. And since we are the planting of the
Lord, He will do His part in the watering and fertilizing of His garden as
well. And this garden, the
garden of our minds, the planting of the Lord, the trees of
righteousness, or whatever metaphor we can use to type the Bride of
Christ.
46. Now in getting back to the Scripture that we read
for our text, let’s open our Bibles again to 1 Cor 13: 11 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...
47. Now, here we see Paul speaking of a certain time
in life when we are at a certain level in our maturity. He begins by saying, “When
I was a child,” and in using the word “When” we can see that
Paul was looking back at a specific period or time frame that was part of his
growth cycle or growth process. “When I was a child,” see? And then
we are not only looking at this period of time, but now that we are focused on
this period he wants to further elucidate to us certain attributes that were
associated with that period of time in his life. And therefore he continues by
say, “during this time when I was a child, there were certain attributes that
predominated my life, “I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.”
48. Now, what we may conclude from Paul’s statement
here is that the reason we speak as a child is because our understanding is
only that of a child, and this is because the way in which we think is only at
the stage of that which is only a
child. And therefore, our speaking is only a reflection of our thinking,
which is an outward manifestation of the condition of our mind. Notice how
brother Branham made reference to this when he said that a baby gets what it
wants by crying. You can’t expect a baby to ring a bell, or something of that
nature. It hasn’t got the functional attributes to do that yet. It is not that
the baby doesn’t possess the mental genetics, but those attributes and
characteristics have not as yet been exercised to the place of strength and
maturity. And so we find Brother Branham pointing to us the simplicity of
growth which he types also with our spiritual maturity.
49. And Jesus told us the same thing in Luke
50. Notice that he is telling us that out of the
abundance or overflow of the heart, which is the understanding, the mouth does
speak. So what things you say is dependent upon what you know. I could not in
any way expect any of the children in here to stand up here and speak to us
concerning Einstein’s theory of relativity. No more than I could expect them to
get up here and teach us about the Godhead. They may be able to tell us that
there is only one God, and this One God had a Son, and that’s all I would expect from them at this stage or
process in their spiritual growth. But if Brother Branham were to stand up and that was all he could
tell us, then we would not have any higher aspiration to attain unto. Now this
is not saying that it would be OK to just stop where we are at. Because the
minute you stop, that is the minute you begin to die. God does not expect us to
exceed his Prophet either, but as brother Branham has said, I’ll paraphrase, “You are now here and I am up here. One day
you too will be up here as far as your understanding is concerned.” Jesus told us the same thing in Luke
51. And so we are looking at the fact that our words
are only a reflector or reflection of
what stage of growth we are at.
Now the way for any child to grow up, is that they begin to speak the
words which they hear their parents speaking. Sometimes, it may come as a shock
to some parents when they hear bad or vulgar words come from the babies mouth
as their first words. But the baby can only say words which it has heard. A
baby, like any person is limited to words which it hears from others. That is
why we need to listen to the Voice
of God on a regular basis.
And just as a baby begins to formulate their little minds to the place
where they begin to speak intelligible words, based upon what they hear, so too
our minds, spiritually speaking, in order to grow up into the full stature or
reflections of our Heavenly Father, must begin to formulate our thoughts into
the same Words which He spoke to us.
52. In John 5:19, 30 Jesus said the son can do
nothing in himself but what gthe Father shows him to do. Now, I want
you to notice that Jesus, just like any
child, did not have words of his own. We all began our talking by emulating the
words which we heard our fathers of mothers speak, and Jesus was no different. John 7:16-18
Jesus
answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God,
or [whether] I speak of myself. 18 He
that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
And to tell what kind of words parents speak around the house one has
only to listen to their little children.
53. If the children talk about Jesus and the things of
God then you will know what goes on in that home. But if the child cusses and
uses vulgar words, then you will also
know what kind of atmosphere is in that home. “By their fruits you shall know
them.” And we know that the fruits is what they have been taught. It is the
teaching for the season they live. And so we see that Jesus as our example,
said, “I can of mine own self do nothing, What I say, What I do, I have been
taught this by my Father. Even the Doctrine I speak is not mine, but His that
sent me”.
54. Jesus told the Pharisees in John
55. 1 Cor
Now this knowing comes as a result of
seeing and experiencing the power and Presence of God. And what Paul is
speaking of here is in reference to what he said in verse 9. So let’s read
verses 9-12.
(read) For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be
done away. 11 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.
56. Now, I think we would all agree, that Jesus was
our elder brother, and he set the example for what we should follow after in
our growing into the stature of Sons and
Daughters of God. He was our role model
and our absolute for the Life that we desire. Romans 8:29-30 Now the Weymouth
translates it like this: “For those whom He has known beforehand He has also
predestined to bear the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Eldest in a
vast family of brothers,”
57. Therefore, we can see that Jesus was the role
model that God, our Father, set before us. And Paul tells us himself that we
are not to be like children in our thinking forever. He went on to say, [1 Cor
58. Now, I would like to ask some of you younger folks
in here this question. Why would a
person put away childish things when they become a man? Because the condition
of their mind no longer regards those things as important to them. And we have already seen the answer that Paul
gave us. Because when we are a child we think and understand as a child and
therefore we hold to childish things as well. But when we grow up in our thinking
and understanding, then those things that we held to as children don’t have the
same impact on us any longer. Therefore we have passed from that stage of life
into another as we see in... Malachi 3: 16-18Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another:
and the LORD hearkened, and heard [it], and a book of remembrance was written
before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17 And
they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my
jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
59. Peter was a pretty practical man and he tells us
that when a person has suffered in their body, they no longer have a desire to
sin, because their desires are changing with the growth of the spirit. 1 Peter 4:1
¶ Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us
in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath
suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; And this is true. The
suffering in the body is but a process that helps us to turn our real
affections in the right direction. And we are looking at the process of
maturing here tonight.
60. John 6:44-45 No man
can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise
him up at the last day. 45 It is
written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man
therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
61. John 14:26 But the Comforter, [which is]
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you.
62. 2 Tim 2:2 And the things that thou hast
heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who
shall be able to teach others also.
63. Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought
to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first
principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and
not of strong meat.
64. 1 John 2:7 ¶ Brethren,
I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from
the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the
beginning.