The Masterpiece 93
The Alpha has become Omega
Rev. Brian Kocourek
This morning we will examine
paragraph 170 and 171 from The Masterpiece
where Brother Branham makes the famous statement that “the Alpha has become Omega.”
The Masterpiece 64-0705 170 The Word has become
flesh, exactly like He promised in Luke
17, and Malachi 4, and all. See?
That's right. Revelation...
Then he says, “All true Life that was in the stalk, tassel, and husk is now gathering in the Seed, ready for the
resurrection, ready for the harvest. The
Alpha has become Omega. The first become last; and the last is the first.
The Seed that went in has come through a process and become the Seed again. The
seed that fell in the garden of Eden and died there,
come back from that imperfect seed that died there, come back to the perfect
Seed--the Second Adam.”
Now, there are two subjects
that I see in this paragraph and we will take each one in a separate message. Number
one he says, All true Life,
… is
now gathering in the Seed, ready for the resurrection, ready for the harvest
So we want to look at this
Life that is true that is gathering in the Seed and ready for the Resurrection
and Harvest which is the catching away. The Alpha has become Omega. The first become last; and the last is
the first.
Now, since this has to do
with the resurrection and since the order of the Resurrection is that “the first shall be
last and the last shall be first,” therefore we will look at
this second thought first and then next week we shall look at this first
thought.
Therefore this morning we
shall look at this thought of
The Alpha has become Omega. The first become
last; and the last is the first.
Now, this phrase that speaks
of an alpha and omega comes from the Book of Revelations chapter 1.
REVELATION 1:8 I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 9 ¶ I
John, who also am your brother, and companion in
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle
that is called
Therefore this one who is the
first is also the one who is the last. And that is Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. And, Hebrews
13:8
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
The next time we see the alpha
and omega spoken of is in the book of Revelation
21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the
water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will
be his God, and he shall be my son.
And the last time we see
this phrase is in Revelation
The Bible Doctrine that
deals with the "Alpha and Omega" principle
is purely the most important revelation we can receive from God. In fact in the Message Patmos Vision we hear
brother Branham make several points which we shall consider.
First of all he says "It is the Greatest of all revelations"
because it teaches us the Supreme Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is important to understand because
brother Branham said the Body was not deity but deity dwelt in the body. So it
is the understanding of this One who dwelt in that Body, that He is God, He is
deity and there are no other Gods beside him.
Brother Branham also said, "it is the first thing you have to know," because
it concerns the Supreme Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, "I'm Alpha and Omega, the first of all
revelations." You must know Who He is so that you might
recognize His voice when you hear it.
And finally he quotes The
Lord Jesus Christ saying to John, , "I am the Beginning and the End. I am Alpha and Omega,
the First and the Last." Therefore, what He did at the first he
must do at the last, for He can not change.
Now, let’s read this quote
from the PATMOS
VISION 69-130 60-1204E 143
076 "In the Spirit on
the Lord's day..." Now, we hear it. Now, what? And what was he done? He
was transferred from the isle now, in the Spirit, over into the Lord's day. And as soon as he got over into the Lord's day, he heard a trumpet. What is it? It's Somebody
approaching. A great One's approaching. Trumpet sounds, Somebody's
coming. He looked. Hallelujah. ... trumpet, Saying, I
am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:... (Hm. Not announcement of the second party, or the
third party, but the only party. "I'm both Alpha and Omega; before I
show you anything, I want to let you know Who I
am." Amen.) The greatest of all the revelations is the Deity, the Supreme
Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can't get to first base until you believe
that, walk out... That's what Peter said, "Repent, and then see the Deity.
Be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and
then you're ready to go in the Spirit." The first thing you have to
know is the Deity of Christ. "I am Alpha and Omega. I'm from A to Z;
there's no more but Me. I was at the beginning; I'll
be at the end. I'm He that was, which is, and shall come, the
Almighty." Think of it. That's what the trumpet said.
077 Be
careful John. You've entered into the Spirit. Something's going to be revealed
to you. What is it? A trumpet sound, the first thing, "I'm Alpha
and Omega." The first of all revelations. (Oh, sinner, bow, repent now before the time's too late.) "I'm
Alpha and Omega." That's the first thing that He let him know Who He was. (Who's this approaching? Is this King Jesus?
King God? King Holy Ghost?) He said, "I'm all
of It. I'm from A to Z. I'm the Beginning and
the Ending. I'm the immortal, eternal One." Just a little later we
watch Him in His sevenfold Personage, watch what He is then. See? "I am
the Beginning and the End. I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. I was
before there was a first; and after there's no more last, I'll still be there,"
in other words, "The First and the Last." ... and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send... to the seven churches
which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos,
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
078 All right, the first of all revelations is
the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ. You must know Who
He is when you hear the voice (All right.), the same voice that
sounded on
Now, why would brother
Branham tell us that the Alpha and Omega principle is the most important
principle for us to Know. We have already seen that this principle
deals with the very essence of the Lord Jesus Christ and Who He really is. And knowing that He
is the same yesterday, today and forever, and as we read in Malachi 3:6 "I am the
Lord, and I change not." And as brother Branham said, we won't know what to do with His Voice if we do not
recognize who He really is. Therefore, #1)
in order to understand the day and hour in which we live, and #2) in order to be able to recognize what is being
done in the hour which we live, #3) we must know
Him. And He described Himself to John on the Isle of Patmos with the words, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end." Notice he never
said he was the in-between, He said he was the first and the last.
MASTERPIECE
THE 64-0705 170 The
Alpha has become Omega. The first become last; and the last is
the first. The Seed that went in has come through a process and become the
Seed again. The seed that fell in the garden of Eden
and died there, come back from that imperfect seed that died there, come back
to the perfect Seed--the Second Adam. 172 The first Eve that fell, and was used
in the second reformation--second coming, as bringing forth a child, now has
become true Bride again, the Seed, right back with the original Word again. The
Alpha and Omega is the same. He said, "I am Alpha and Omega. "He never said anything in between, "I'm Alpha and Omega, the First and
the Last." That's it. The first ministry and the last ministry is the same. The first
Message and the last Message is the same thing. "I was in Alpha; I'm in Omega." "There'll be a day that won't be
called day nor night, but in the evening time it shall
be Light." See? Alpha and Omega; it's become the first and the last. Oh,
my, brethren, we could stay hours on that.
Again notice how brother
Branham points out that He was the first and the last, but not the in
between. He said,
the Alpha has become Omega. Then he said the first Message and the last Message
must be the same. This is because Jesus Christ
is the same, yesterday, today and forever. And if the Message is the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, then it is the revelation of Who He is, and if He
has changed, then the first and last Message would have to be different. Also,
this let's us know that since the first and last Message are the same, and that
Message was a revealing of Who was in our midst, then we must surely know that
the last Message must also be a declaration of the One Who is here. And if He
is here, then He must perform the same way and do the same things that He did
back there. Again in the next quote we
will hear brother Branham reaffirm this same thought that the ministry must
repeat in this hour.
Queen
Of Sheba 61-0119E
E-58 Now,
what kind of a light would it give? If that was the first sunlight that shined
on the eastern people, which is S-o-n of God, and He did the things He did
there on that day on Alpha, He does the same thing at Omega.
Here, we see brother Branham tell us that
what God did in the first age He must repeat in the last. Now, why would God do
the same at the first and the last? Because if He is the unchanging God. He can
not change. Then, if God can not change, what He did back then at the first, He
must do again at the last.
Another Ephesians…God
Who is Rich in Mercy 65-0119 29 Now, if many of
you like to just mark down Scriptures that a minister reads... And I would like
for you to tonight, if you would, to turn to Ephesians. And I was speaking last Sunday on the
Ephesians, how that the Book of Joshua was the Ephesians of the Old Testament,
and how it was a Book of redemption. And redemption has two different parts:
"come out of" and "entering into." First, you have to come
out. Some people wants to bring the world in with
them; but you got to come out of the world to enter into Christ. You have to
come out of unbelief to enter into faith. There cannot be one thing in your
way. To really have genuine faith, you must absolutely leave everything that's
contrary to the Word of God behind to enter into faith, And
that was the Book of the Ephesians of the Old Testament: Joshua. Where, Moses
represented the law, could not save no one, but grace could, and here
"Joshua" is the same word like Jesus, "Jehovah-Saviour." And now then, we find out that we have
come to another Ephesians, another
Paradox
65-0117 89 But we're promised, according to Revelations 10, and
according to Malachi 4, and Saint Luke 22:17, and so forth, that there is got
to come a--an Ephesians to this. There is promised it, friends. There must come an Ephesians, that
these sevenfold mysteries of the Word of God must be unfolded. And it's in the
Laodicean age that this takes place. I believe that we're--we're there.
I believe we're right in the shadows of the coming of the Son of God. And as
Joshua, just before the Ephesians raised up, so did John the Baptist raise up
just before the next Ephesians. And we're promised another, another
Ephesians. It's predicted here in the Scripture; therefore, I think that we are
living in the Ephesians again. Back again to... We are promised that what
was left off during those seven ages...
We
would See Jesus 57-0516 E-11 And that's been my theme through the
years. I read that same Scripture when I was here before. And I hope to read it
until death shall take me from the earth. Because, I do solemnly believe that
with all my heart, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He's called in the Bible, "The Alpha and Omega; He that Was, Which is,
and Shall Come." That makes Him the same yesterday, today, and
forever. "He that Was, He that Is, and Shall
come," just the same. He never changes. We change; time change; but God
never changes.
Questions
and Answers 64-0823E 1021-119 And Jesus cannot come until a church, a body of believers
and the ministry that He once (were in...?)... will have to
be the same as it was then to... And then, that brings... "Them without us is not made perfect," Paul said,
Hebrews 11. "Without us they cannot be perfected." They must have
this ministry to raise up the Lutheran, Wesley's, and
all them down through their ages.
The importance then, of
understanding this Alpha-Omega principle, is that if God performed in a certain
way or did a certain thing at the first, then He must repeat that certain way
or do that same thing in the last. And
this is the key to understanding Brother Branham's ministry and the identification
of the pillar of Fire which vindicated that ministry just as He vindicated the
Apostle Paul's.
Angel of the Lord 51-0502 E-17
And we're living in the Laodicean age, the last. And He was standing
with His hands out to look upon. And there, one hand like this was Alpha,
the other one as Omega. As the lights went out, on up to the dark ages and come
down; just as they come in, so will they go out, the same kind of Church, same
kind of signs, same kind of people, Alpha and Omega.
This quote shows the
importance of the Omega ministry in this hour. Not only did God come down again
as He did at the first, but He again hid Himself in a
veil of flesh to minister as He did in the body of His Only Begotten Son. And
if Jesus ministry had a certain effect upon the saints in that day, then His
presence should once again have the same effect upon the church in this
day.
Christ
Outside The Door 58-0330E E-13 And in this text tonight, it is
addressing the Laodicean church age, which is the last church age. And did you
notice according to Scripture... This might not agree with many people's
theology, and that's all right; I could be wrong. Many times I'm wrong, no
doubt. But just as what I believe--that the last church age, we're now living
in it. If you'll watch how--how the church ages come. One was a bright one, the
other a little farther, a little darker, then the fifteen hundred years of dark
ages, then Luther, then Wesley, then Pentecost. And He was standing in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks, which represented the seven church
ages, with His hands out, and to look upon as Alpha and Omega, first and last.
The highest candlestick was the darkest, of course. And in this last church
age, is supposed to receive the same light that they had in the first--alpha to
omega. But the pitiful part, in the Scriptures we are learned here that he
said, "Because you say, I am rich and am increased in goods..." You
see the condition of the church today?
Philadelphia
Church Age 60-1210 135 Now, that's what He revealed at the very
first church age. Now, watch. As John saw him standing, the seven golden
candlesticks, He was standing with His hands out. Here's the first candlestick,
second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, with His hands out in the form of
the cross. He said, "I am Alpha and Omega." In other words, "I'll
be supreme in the first; I'll be supreme in the last." The Lights
rises in the east and sets in the west. It's been a dismal, dark time, but
"It shall be Light in the evening time." The same Gospel power
that raised up here on the one hand at the east, has shined over and now in the
other hand at the west, "Alpha and Omega, I'm A and I am Z." In His hand... You get it?
Therefore we can see the
significance of the Omega ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ to this last church
age. He said the ministry that He once
had must repeat again to raise up the dead and perfect
the Bride.
And remember, brother
Branham said the importance of understanding the principle of Alpha and Omega
is that we might understand Who He is. And the purpose of that is that we might
know His Voice and recognize Him. And how could we recognize Him when he comes
if he was a changing God. Therefore, it is the very unchanging nature of God
that allows us to recognize him when he comes. As brother Branham preached, "God is identified by His
Characteristics."
The
Token 64-0208 235
Just think, the
great Holy Spirit coming, identifying Jesus Christ alive after two thousand
years. See, the very nature of Him doing the same thing as He
promised it would be done. That's right.
Great
Warrior Joshua 55-0119
E-44. And
He's here tonight, the great supernatural Lord Jesus Christ, the great I AM, the
great Alpha, Omega, the Beginning and the End. Why? The land belongs to us.
"All that comes to me I'll give him Everlasting Life and will raise him up
at the last day." Amen. We got the evidence of it here.
Rising of the Sun 65-0418M 45-3 He is the One Who opened those Seals; He is
those Seals. For the whole Word of God is Christ, and Christ
is the Seals that was open. What is the opening of those Seals then? Revealing Christ. And the very seven Angels which
represented the Seven churches was all completed, and
we couldn't even see It. They did--they took the picture, not us. And there
He is standing there, Supreme Judge, showing that He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. What identification. Quickening Power did
that to us. Quickening Power lets us see His coming.
What Is The Attraction? 65-0725E 142
And the other day, standing there, turned the picture to the right, and
there's Jesus as He was in the Seven church Ages, the white wig on, showing
Supreme Deity. He's Alpha and Omega; He's the First and the Last; He is the Supreme Judge of all eternity, standing there, confirmed the Message of
this hour. And
there shall be Light about the evening time! What's it all about? What was it?
Unveiling
of God 64-0614M 370 How many sees Him standing the Mighty
Conqueror, the Word made flesh, unveiled before us, the Alpha, the Omega,
He that Was, Which Is, and Shall Come, the Root and the Offspring of David; was
the Son of man, the Son of God, Son of man, and will be Son of David? You
believe It with all your hearts? Unveiling Himself in
each age, brought it to the believer, veiling Himself in human flesh from the
unbeliever. He's hid behind a veil. May God break every veil and we see Him as
He is.
We
Would See Jesus 62-0627 E-106 O God of heaven, forgive our unbelief. We know
that's the only sin there is, the sin of unbelief. And may the Holy Spirit come
so upon each person just now that they'll no more disbelieve because of the
Presence of Christ tonight, showing Himself alive after two thousand years, the
Word Himself standing here among us, in us, making His Word manifest.
Voice
of the Sign 64-0313
E-68 Now
He's here. Now each one, in the way you pray at your own church--if it's to
yourself, loud, whatever it is. You pray for the person you got your hands on,
'cause they're praying for you. And now, look up. And in the Presence of the Messiah, the Christ, the resurrected One still alive after two thousand years, how can we be so numb in the spirit? That ought to set this nation on fire.
That ought to make
Queen
of the South 60-1127E E-46 The Bible said they would get a sign. What
kind of a sign would it be? The sign of the resurrection.
Hallelujah. We have it. Amen. It's here now. Jesus Christ has raised from the dead, and is alive after two thousand
years, showing Himself among us.
Letting off the Pressure 62-0609E
E-60 We know that Thou keepest
Thy promise, Lord. And I pray that You will
vindicate Your Presence tonight. And we ask You, Father, to grant the same
things to happen here tonight before the people, just like it did before Your crucifixion. That they might know after two thousand
years that Jesus is not one day older; He's the same Christ that He always was.
He can never fail or never change.
Redemption
by Power 54-0329 3
There was never One like Him on earth, never will be. He was Emmanuel.
He was Alpha, Omega, the Beginning and the End, He that was, which is, and shall come, the Root
and Offspring of David; the Morning Star. In Him dwelt Deity.
In Him was God. "God was in His Son, in Christ, reconciling the world
to Himself." Jesus said, "It's not me that doeth the works, but it's
My Father that dwelleth in Me. My Father and I are
One," God made manifest in flesh. What a marvelous revelation of God's
love to us, He would unfold Himself and come down and dwell in human flesh in
order to take away sin and sickness from the human race and redeem us back to
the Father. That's wonderful, isn't it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] We sure appreciate that.
QA
Image of the Beast 54-0515 195-291 He's
Alpha, Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the Root and Offspring of
David, the Bright and Morning Star, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. "In Him
dwelled the Fullness of the Godhead bodily," said the Bible. The Fullness
of God was in Him.
Hebrews
Chapter 5 and 6 57-0908M
170-32
But before Paul would accept this experience, knowing that the Angel of
the Lord was the Pillar of Fire, which was Christ, the... Well, He was the
Angel of the Covenant, which was Christ. Moses thought better that--chose
rather to suffer the afflictions with the people of Christ, and to be led by
Christ, than all the treasures of
What
Hearest thou Elijah 59-0412E E-81 How--how many
could just almost see the Presence of the Lord Jesus standing there looking
over His audience? The great Jehovah God, the Alpha and the Omega, the
Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the same yesterday, today, and
forever, He's God.
Palmerworm
Locust Caterpillar 59-0823 138 There's one God. There's only One. He's
Jehovah God, the Great I AM; the Alpha, Omega, the Beginning and the End.
Revelation Chapter One 60-1204M 183 Now, God at the beginning was the great
Jehovah that lived in a Pillar of Fire, hung above
We
Would See Jesus 62-0627 E-106 O God of heaven, forgive our unbelief. We
know that's the only sin there is, the sin of unbelief. And may the Holy Spirit
come so upon each person just now that they'll no more disbelieve because of
the Presence of Christ tonight, showing Himself alive after two thousand years,
the Word Himself standing here among us, in us, making His Word manifest.
Perseverant 62-0719E E-99 Let us see You, Lord. One day after the
resurrection, Cleopas and his friend was on the road down to Emmaus. And they
talked with Him all day long, and they didn't know Him. But late that evening,
He went in the room with them, and they closed the doors. And then He did
something just the way He did it before His crucifixion, and they knew that no
one else did it that way, and they knew it was Him. So they hurried back and
told the people, after He vanished out of their sight, that truly the Lord is risen. Father God, we're laid aside our task of the day.
We're here tonight. The room is closed in. Come, Lord. Do something among us
tonight just like You did before Your crucifixion, that we might
lightheartedly, like they were, go back along the road saying, "Did not
our hearts burn within us as He talked to us along the way." Grant it,
Lord. One Word from You will confirm everything that I've said. And if I've said the truth... And I know, Lord, You'll only
confirm truth. You will have nothing to do with lies and errors. You only
confirm the truth. Now, Father, I pray that You will
confirm what's been said to be truth. I commit myself to You
with Your Word, with Your congregation of people, and their faith that they
have accumulated. In the Name of Jesus Christ, we pray that You'll
move on the scene now, and prove to be with us after two thousand years.
They... There's no death to Him. He's alive, forevermore. Grant it, Father, in
Jesus' Name. Amen.
Presence
Of God Unrecognized 64-0618
138 "A wicked and an adulterous generation
will seek after a sign, notice, and they will receive a sign." What? This generation. "For as Jonah was in the belly of the
whale three days and nights, the Son of man must be in the heart of the earth
three days and nights." What sign will that wicked and adulterous
generation receive? The sign of the resurrection. And
today, after two thousand years, we still see Jesus Christ in the power of
His resurrection, standing among us, doing the things that He did then and
promised to do. "A wicked and an adulterous generation will seek after
a sign, always wanting to 'show me this, and if you can do this and do this.'
They'll get it, the sign of the resurrection." He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever, the Word made manifest dwelling among us. How we should thank
God for His great sign.
Patriarch
Abraham 64-0207 66 After two thousand years have passed, two
thousand years, and still here He is in our midst, the mighty Conqueror
that rent the veil in two, that took every sickness, every disease, everything
upon Himself and bore our infirmities to the cross, and our sickness and our
diseases and triumphed over them, and raised up for our justification, and
stands alive after two thousand years to manifest Himself as the living Jesus
Christ amongst the royal seed of Abraham who are heirs of all things. Oh, my. Those who after, goes through the test, promise of the Word.
If you can believe the Word, then you are also the seed of Abraham. That's how
you come to it.
Greater
Than Solomon 63-0628E
151 And then after two thousand years of Gospel
preaching, and the Holy Spirit pouring out in this last days, upon the people,
the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and promised that this great discernment would
come back into the church again, what will she do to this generation when she
stands there, after her time plus two thousand years of Gospel preaching in
this last days to see gifts, not gift, but gifts of the Holy Spirit? She
surrendered her life to Christ. Why?
152 I have to close, 'cause I
don't... I want--I want to pray for you. Friends... She... They said,
"Show us a sign. We want..." That's what's the
matter with the Pentecostals. You're looking for something, and one of
these days it's going to be too far; it passed right by you, and you didn't
know it. Remember, in the days of Elijah, they didn't know him. In the days of
John the Baptist, they didn't know him. And he was spoke
of in the Scripture that he'd be, "I send My messenger before My face to
prepare the way." And even the disciples come to Him, said, "Why must
Elias come?" He said, "He's already come and you didn't know
it."
Greater
Than solomon is Here
62-0628 E-35 The
evening lights are shining, and they--this generation is receiving the sign of
Jonas, the Christ that they thought they got rid of. The church
crucified Christ two thousand years ago, and they could not kill Him no more.
He said, "I'm alive forevermore." And here He is after two thousand
years among His people, showing Himself, with the same things He did back there
He's doing right here again. Two thousand years has passed. He's alive
forevermore, and has the keys of death and hell. Amen.
Sirs
we Would see Jesus 64-0304 160 You believe now? Just have faith. All right. That, you know, I didn't know...?... Come,
sister. I don't know you. We're strangers to one another, I suppose. If that's
right, so the audience can see that we're strangers. See? If
the... This is just like where our Lord met a woman one day. And here we
meet again; we meet after two thousand years on His promise,
and here's a man and woman meets in the same way. I never
seen you in my life. I guess we're total strangers, but God knows both
of us. Now, if the Holy Spirit, Christ in here and in you, will reveal what
you're standing here for, or something about you, would you feel enthused like
that woman did that day?
The warning we receive with
this principle is that as the Alpha ministry was to the church, so would Christ
repeat that ministry to the Omega or end-time church. However, with that
ministry comes also judgment. And as the church began in the Alpha, so she
would end up in the Omega.
77-1 EPHESIAN CHURCH AGE - CHURCH AGE BOOK CPT 3 The very name,
8-2 EPHESIAN CHURCH AGE -
CHURCH AGE BOOK CPT 3 The fervent desire to please God, the passion to know His
Word, the cry for reaching out in the Spirit, all begins to fade and instead of
that church being on fire with the fire of God it has cooled off and become a
bit formal. That is what was happening back there to the Ephesians. They
were getting a bit formal. The abandonment to God was dying out and the people
weren't too careful about what God thought of them as they began to be careful
about what the world thought of them. That second generation coming on was just
like