The Doctrine of Christ no 1
“One God and Father of Our
Lord Jesus Christ ”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
July 23rd, 2011
Ephesians
4:11 And he gave some, apostles;
and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12 For
the perfecting (maturing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying (building up) of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of
the Son of God, unto a perfect (mature
and finished off) man, unto the measure
(notice we have it in measure while he had it without measure) of the stature (character) of the
fullness of Christ: (and the
sole purpose for this is) 14 That we henceforth be no more children, always tossed about, and carried away with every wind
of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in
wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love,
may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body (not bodies,
plural, but body because he had just said before this that there is one body,
and that one body is) fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying
(which is the building up) of itself in love.17 This I say
therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having
the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto
lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.20 But
ye have not so learned Christ; so
there is a big difference he is saying between how you have learned Christ and
how other shave or have not learned Christ.
Let us pray, Dear Gracious and Loving Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we come to thee this morning in that most blessed name that you
gave your Son, the Name of Jesus, and in that name we come to Thee or God, our
Father and seek to know Thee even as Thy Son Jesus knew thee in Spirit and in
Truth. We have read from thy Word this Morning, O God that you have appointed
certain men and have placed them in five certain offices to help your Children
to come into unity of THE FAITH and knowledge of Your Son, so that we might
come to maturity as Sons and embarrass you no longer.
Oh, dear God, help us to be conformed to the image of
your dear son, and help us to die to self that your son might live again in
these bodies which we surrender, for we ask it in Thy name, o Blessed father,
the name which you gave your son, and sons, the name of Jesus Christ we pray,
Amen.
Now, I have been searching for one of brother Branham’s sermons that we
can again begin to study, but until the Lord opens up that door, we must wait
on Him, and so this morning I would like to speak on my favorite subject and
that is the Doctrine of Christ.
The reason we are again examining this subject is that we can never get
enough Revelation of Christ and Knowledge of the Son of God. That is what the
Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 4 that we read this morning for our text.
The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 4: 13
Till we all come in the unity of The Faith, and of The Knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ:
So you see, we will
never come to the place of perfection or full maturity unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, until we know Christ and his relationship with
His Father.
Now, to better
understand this Knowledge of the Son of God and this unity of The Revelation of
Christ, Let’s go back to Ephesians 4 and begin reading with verse one.
Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
beseech you that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called, In other words, the Apostle Paul is calling upon us to not just talk
the Word but to live worthy of this most beautiful calling wherewith we have
been called to.
And in order to walk
worthy of this great calling, he tells us in verse 2 With all lowliness (the Greek word here means humbleness of mind) and meekness, (notice then that
he asks us first to humble down in our mind, then he says meekness, which is “Showing patience and humility; being outwardly gentle
because you are inwardly humble. In other words, in other words, Easily imposed
on; submissive.) And listen this doesn’t make you a pushover for
others to run all over you, it just makes you like Christ, like William
Branham, Like Moses, like Paul, who knowing who they were and knowing that they
were called by God, they surrendered to that call, and humbled down in their
own inner man, and thus expressed the same outwardly to all men. And they did
it with, he says, “with longsuffering,(that means with a great deal of patience
they were willing to wait on others to catch up with the Revelation God had
given to them). forbearing one another in love; the Greek word here to forbear
means “to hold oneself up against, i.e.
(figuratively) put up with:--bear with, endure, forbear, suffer. And notice he is speaking of putting up with
and enduring others out of love. So Love is our motive for this forbearance.
Because Love is the great motivator.
3. Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That means that we are conscientious about our attempt towards this bond of peace, and we thus make a concerted effort toward this end; an earnest attempt, which is what the word endeavor means. The Greek word for endeavor means to use speed, i.e. to make an effort, be prompt or earnest:--to do, to give diligence, to be diligent to labor, to study. So it seems to me that it is a very important thing with God this bond of peace. Then why don’t we work harder toward this end. Why is there so much fussing and stewing going on around this Message and in each of our homes? I will tell you why, you don’t realize just how important this bond of peace is, but know one thing for sure, Enock had this testimony, that he knew the he pleased God. And God took him home to be with Him.
Paul says next in verse
4 There is one body, (And I know people don’t believe what he said here,
because if they believed there is only one body, then why do they all have
different camps? I’ll tell you why. Because they really don’t know God nor His
Son, they just have religion, and religion kills, The Love of God saves. and so
religion kills and the religious have no peace with God. Religion sets up the
camps, The peace of God draws the circle bigger. And then Paul says,) and one Spirit, (not two not
three, not ten thousand. One spirit so if we are born into one body then we are
joined by the Spirit into one Body. So all these camps are anti-Christ because
they are anti-One Body.)
And then he says, even as ye are called in one
hope of your calling; So we have one body, one spirit and one hope of our calling. That means we
are all going through the same thing. One calling, one hope of that calling,
one spirit drawing and one body we are baptized or born into.
Then he says, 5 One
Lord, and this is very important, and I want you to listen
here, not two or three Lords as the Trinitarians believe, Paul said, there is
One Lord. Now, where do you suppose the Apostle Paul got this from? He got it
from Moses, who wrote that down in the ten commandments that God gave to him.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O
We read in the book of acts the words of Peter saying,
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all
the house of Israel know assuredly, that God
(Elohim, the self existent one) hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord
(Adonai) and Christ (the Anointed One).
We see also in Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the
earth: in that day shall there be one
LORD, and his name one. So if the son came in
the name of the Father and was given his same name, that doesn’t make two
Lord’s, it remains One Lord. And that is what Zechariah says here.
And we even find Jesus
telling us this in Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the
commandments is, Hear, O
Now, Brother Vayle told me that to say two Lords is
not accurate with the Scripture because the Scripture says, Elohim said unto
Adonai, not one Lord speaking to another Lord. That was that lousy King James
English translation based on the mindset of a bunch of men who still to this
day call certain people “Lord this” and “Lord that”.
What brother Vayle was trying to get across was that
there are a million Lords, but only one God. Lord doesn’t mean God it means
“master”, “ruler”. But people are so messed up in their language skills today
that they began saying brother Vayle was teaching two God’s. That is just a
pure ignorance from a people who know not their own language. Lord and God are
two different words and they mean two different things.
But the Bible does not teach Two Lords, and there is
no place in Scripture that teaches “Two Lords”. So say what’s on the tapes and
what’s in the Scriptures. It is not a Bible teaching. Brother Vayle told me
himself, the Scripture says, “the Lord,
that is Elohim, said unto Adonai, that means master”,
so “Elohim”, The self existing
God said unto Adonai, The Son of God, sit down
at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
Now, Paul goes on to say, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above
all, and through all, and in you all.
So we are dealing with
the One True God who is also Father of all. And it is this Principle of Godhood
and Fatherhood that I would like to address this morning.
I have not brought up these
Scriptures here this morning, nor the quotes that we will read just to be different, or quarrelsome. That
would never be a good reason to use Scripture. The reason we are looking at
these things is because if we are to gain in relationship to our Father and our
eldest brother in this vast family of brothers, then it is imperative that we
understand the relationship that God had with His first born son, so that we
might enter into that same kind of relationship with our Father who is God.
Brother Branham taught us
that said Jesus Christ is our pattern, but if we look only at the God part that
dwelt in him, we will never understand how we can pattern after that. When we
see the Son of God as an obedient son, we can see the pattern for all sons to
be conformed to. This is our reason for
understanding the Godhead. Not for theology sake, but for understanding our
relationship with our Father as Jesus showed how to be obedient sons. As we progress
through this study, please be ever vigilant to see the pattern for all sons in
Jesus Christ for that is what I am preaching so that you might manifest Christ.
In 2 John 8-9: we read, “Look to
yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we
receive a full reward. 9 Whosoever transgresses, and abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he
hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any
unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him God speed: 11 For he that bids him God speed is partaker of his evil
deeds.”
These are very strong
words coming from the Apostle John, but very important for one to open their
ears to hear. Because he said if you do not have the Doctrine of Christ, then you do not have God. And then he
said the Doctrine of Christ is one God who had a son. He said in
order for you to have the Doctrine
of Christ, you must have both the Father and the Son.
Therefore, the very first principle I wish for us to understand is No.
1) There is only One God and He is the Father of Jesus Christ, Only One person
is God, there’s only One God and this One God is a Father.
Exodus 20:
2-3 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought
thee out of the
Deuteronomy
6:4 Hear, O
And of this One God Jesus tells us in John
17:3 He is The Only
True God
And not only is this One True God the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but Jesus said in John 8: 54 he is your God: So he is also our God.
And Isaiah called him in Isaiah 54:5 The Holy One of Israel, Not two, not three but the Holy One.
And also the Apostle Paul tells us that this One God is also the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ in Romans 15:5-8 Now the God of patience and consolation
grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6 That ye may with one mind
and one mouth glorify God, even the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also
received us to the glory of God.8 Now I say that
Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to
confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
John 20:17 Jesus
saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to
my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father;
and to my God, and your God. So Jesus claims on God is as His Father and
Also His God. We find also on the cross where he cried out, “My God MY God, why
hast thou forsaken me, which means to totally abandon him. That is why brother
Branham could say God left him in
Br. Branham said:“ God was not in Jesus until He was baptized in the Jordan river”, and “God left Him
in
282 Paradox:
64-0206.1M, “And this little Boy,
twelve-year-old Child, no wisdom at all, why, but just a twelve-year-old Boy. The Father didn't dwell in Him at
that time; because He come on the day when He baptized Him, "He saw the
Spirit of God coming down, see, and went in Him." But, look, this little twelve-year-old
Boy, being the Word; He was born the anointed One, see, to be the anointed. And
here He was. "Know ye not that I must be about My Father's business?”
Notice Brother Branham tells us that the Father did not yet indwell Jesus
at this time. He says that God entered the Son at the river
Elisha the Prophet: 56-1002.2E E-21, "And Jesus, the
baptism He had was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which was in Him, that come
on Him at the river Jordan after He was baptized in water.
John bare record; he seen the Spirit of God like a dove coming upon Him. And
notice. Then when he went up, he sent back the same robe that he was wrapped
in: the Holy Ghost upon the Church.”
Manifested Sons of
God: 60-0518 88 "In
The
Rising of the Sun 65-0418 " When God looked down upon
the body... (The Spirit left Him in the Garden of
Possessing
the Enemies Gate 59-1108 P:47... “when
the Holy Spirit come upon Him at the baptism of John, and He become the
Anointed Messiah... Now, remember, He
was the Son of God when He was born. He was God's virgin-born Son. But when He
become Messiah, that's when the Holy Spirit come on Him, 'cause the
"Messiah" means the "anointed one." See? And He was the Anointed One when
the Holy Spirit came on Him”.
E-40 Testimony of
William Branham 60-0210 the same God that
met Moses in the wilderness, was in
Jesus Christ on earth, because the life of It proves It's the same Spirit. It's
doing the same thing.
Questions and answers COD 59-0628E P:113 Now, somebody Brother Branham is a
"oneness." No, sir, I am not a oneness. I do not believe that Jesus
could be His own father. I believe that
Jesus had a Father, and that was God. But God dwelled and tabernacled in this body called Jesus, and He was
Emmanuel: God with us. And there's no other God besides this God.
Palmerworm locust caterpillar 59-0823 P:113
"And if the Oneness, you
disagree with the Oneness because of their one standing like that." Yes,
sir. Jesus had a Father; He was God.
They baptize in the Name of Jesus. I baptize in the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's many Jesus’s, but there's only one Lord Jesus Christ. See? Not
in "Jesus name"; but in the Name of "The Lord Jesus
Christ"; that's Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Lord, "Lord said unto My Lord,
Set on the right hand"; Son, Jesus; Christ, Logos that went out of God in
the beginning. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. There you are.
1
Corinthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we by him.
1
Corinthians 15:23 But
every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are
Christ's at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he
shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For
he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet.
But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is
excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And
when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be
subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
2
Corinthians 1:3 3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Ephesians
1:17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give
unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Questions and answers COD 59-0628E P:87 Now, Who is the Father of Jesus Christ? God
is. Do you all admit that? God's the Father of Jesus Christ. That's God the
Father.
Godhead explained 61-0425B P:70 God is the Father of Jesus Christ. We all
believe that?
Godhead Explained 61-0119A P:39 Now, now I want to ask you sisters
something as you look at me, you brethren. Who
was the Father of Jesus Christ? God was. Is that right? Was God His Father?
All right, sir. God is His Father,
we all agree upon that. I believe with all my heart that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1
Thessalonians 3:13 To
the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
2
Thessalonians 2:16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved
us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
Lamb
and dove 60-0805 P:71 Now,
is God a Father? How many believes that
God is our Father? It's the Father of Jesus Christ; He's our Father.
Trial the 64-0419 P:38 The promised Word of that hour being made
manifest: same God, God of Ezekiel's time, God
of Jesus' time,…
James 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and
therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
2 John 3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from
God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth
and love.
QA Hebrews part 1 COD 57-0925 P:55 Well then, His father is God. Is that right? How many believes that His
Father's God, raise up your hand. How many believe that God is the Father of
Jesus Christ?
Palmerworm locust caterpillar 59-0823 P:89 Now, Who
is the Father of Jesus Christ? God, the Father. Is that right? You all
believe that? I sure do. God, the Father, is the Father of the Lord Jesus.
Revelations 3:12 11 Behold, I
come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in
the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him
the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new
name.
Uncertain sound 62-0714 P:88 Where is the God of Jesus
Christ? Where is the God that made this promise in the Bible?