MASTERPIECE No. 26

The Perfecting of the Son of God

Sunday Morning, October 2, 2005

Rev. Brian Kocourek

 

1. This morning I would like to Speak on the perfecting of the Son of God. Therefore for our text we shall read from Hebrews 5: 8 through verse 14. Let’s begin reading at verse 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; Hebrews 5: 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. 11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 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. 14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

 

2. Now, before we go any further with our thoughts on this, let’s take the thoughts of God’s vindicated Prophet for this generation. Brother Branham said concerning these words, in his series he preached on the Book of Hebrews the following words.

 

3. Hebrews Chapter 5 and 6 57-0908M P:22 Now, we want to start over here in the 5th chapter now, just for a little background before we hit the--the 6th, for it's really a outstanding something. Watch close. We're going to start about the 7th verse of this chapter, Well, let's start at the 6th verse. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in His days of his flesh, when he... offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying... tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he was a Son, yet learned... obedience by the things which he suffered; Now, here's where I want to get to, this 9th verse. Listen. I guess Brother Neville hit it Wednesday; I wasn't here. But listen. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God a high priest after the order of Melchisedec, of whom we have many things to say,...We leave it there on that, 'cause we're going to pick up Melchisedec in a few nights.

 

4.  23 Now, we're going to start on this our regular study. I wish I could just read the rest of this for a moment, the 11th verse. Of whom we have many things to say,... hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when... the time ye ought to be teachers, you 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,... instead of strong meat. For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe... (Oh, I hope that Holy Spirit's taken that right down in the bottom of you now.)... For he that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he's a baby. You give a baby strong meat, you kill it. That's the reason so many people say, "Oh, I don't believe that," and walk away. Still babies, they just can't understand. They can't grasp that truth. It kills them. Great, mighty things the church should know today, but you couldn't teach it. They stumble over it. They don't know what to do with it.

 

5. 24 Paul, speaking to this Hebrew group, yet scholars he's speaking to now, scholars, well learned. We find that in a few moments, very scholarly. But the deep spiritual mystery, the church is still blinded to it. He said, "When you ought to be teaching others, you're still a babe." Oh, I know there's many rise up, and go out, and say, "Oh, I don't need to go to church anymore. Praise God, the Holy Ghost has come; He's the teacher." When you get that idea, you're just wrong. For why did the Holy Ghost set teachers in the church if He was going to be the teacher? See? There are first apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors. The Holy Spirit set teachers in the church, so He could teach through that teacher. And if it isn't according to the Word, God doesn't confirm it, then it isn't the right kind of teaching. It must compare with the entire Bible, and be just as alive today as It was then. There's the real thing made manifest.

 

6. 25 Now notice. But strong meat belongeth to them that are... full age, even those who by reasons of use have used their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Know what's right and what's wrong by the discernment.) Now, notice, starting now on our lesson. This great background now, let's go for the 1st verse: THEREFORE leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,...What's he saying? All these first five chapters has been laid on Christ to show Who He is. Now, we're leaving those principles of the doctrines of Christ.

 

7. 26 What did we find Him to be? We found Him to be the great Jehovah God made manifest in flesh. We found Him to be not a prophet, but the Fullness of the Godhead bodily. He was Jehovah made flesh. And the body, Jesus, only tabernacled Him, God dwelling in man, God being reconciled to man, through man, by the virgin birth of His own Son. And Jehovah, the Spirit, dwelt in Him. Now, how many remembers the teaching about the Godhead? How we went back and found God like the great rainbow with all the different spirits, how it was... And then the Logos went out of God, which become the Theophany, and that was in the form of a man. And Moses seen It pass by in the cleft of the rock. And then that Theophany was made absolutely human flesh, Christ. And how we find out, that we through His grace have Eternal Life. Now, the word "forever" is "for a distance, for a space of time." It said in the Bible, "Forever and forever," a conjunction. But "forever" only means "a time." But "eternal" means "forever." And only everything that had a beginning has an end. But things which had no beginning has no end. So God had no beginning and He has no end.

 

8. Now, I want you to notice that brother Branham categorized the study of the Son of God and the relationship between the Father and the Son as strong  meat, as did the Apostle Paul. And today in our study of this great topic of how the Son of God became perfect, it will choke you if you are just a baby in Christ. But if you can handle the meat of the Word then stick around because this study lays out some very important things for us to consider.

 

9. Now, this morning we will continue in our Study of Br. Branham’s sermon called THE MASTERPIECE  64-0705. This will be number 26 in our series, and we will subtitle this The Perfecting of the Son of God.

 

10. THE MASTERPIECE 64-0705 26 The subject that I feel to speak to the congregation today is "The Masterpiece." It may seem rather strange to take a Scripture reading like this of one of the most bruised and murderous pictures of the Bible, that when the Bible says that this perfect Servant that was afflicted, and bruised, and torn, and yet take a text from that as Masterpiece: very strange.

 

11. Now, in the reading of this preview to His sermon, we see that brother Branham is making comment on the text that he took, coming from Isaiah 53. He calls it a very strange text to use about this perfect servant and to even more strange to use that text for a sermon on the Masterpiece.

 

12. Now, I want to take this text that brother Branham used in light of the text we took from Hebrews 5: 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; Notice that we are told by the Apostle Paul that Although Jesus was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things that he suffered and in this process of learning he goes on to tell us that he became perfect. Notice verse 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Notice here that the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus became perfect, so it is apparent by this that He was not prefect to begin with. And notice further that the Apostle links his learning obedience by suffering to this state of becoming perfect. And then he adds that this one who has been made perfect has become the author of eternal salvation unto all then that in turn obey Him. So we see there is something about obedience in this that if we are not careful we would read right over it and think nothing of it. And yet, the Apostle Paul is very explicit in how he ties the learning of obedience the being made perfect.  

 

13. Now, this morning I would like to examine this text that we read in light of the text that brother Branham used to make his statement concerning this “Perfect Servant”. Therefore let’s read once again from Isaiah chapter 53.

 

14.  Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our report?  Notice he says, who has believed our report, which is a message or doctrine. So who has believed our doctrine is the real question being asked here. and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?  So we see that those that have believed the doctrine is those whom the arm of the Lord has been revealed. Therefore this believing has to do with that which has been revealed. Then it is not a matter of our ability to believe but the fact that it has been revealed to us, which means we are talking about revelation. It takes revelation to believe the doctrine of Christ.

 

15.   2. For he (The Son of God) shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him.  Now, notice that this one that is being spoken of here is said to have no form nor comeliness. That means that he has no outline, no shape. In other words he was beaten so badly that his shape and form were torn in such a way that you could hardly make him out to be a man.

 

16. he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him.  When the Son of God  walked those steps up to Golgotha, he did it with such a tortured body that he could hardly be recognized as a man, much less the Son of God, and the beatings that he took to His body were so great that the outline of his body was hard to tell. His shape was no more, and he was so badly torn that the people could not look upon him. The scene was so grotesque that the eye could only watch if it was willing to suffer with Him.

 

17. And that is why we see in the next verse that… 3. He is despised (Now, too many people read this too quickly. It says he was despised. That means he was scorned, he was considered contemptible, and because he was so contemptible he was ) rejected of men; (and therefore being considered contemptible and thus rejected of men, he was) a man of sorrow, (and being a man of sorrow, he was also) acquainted with grief (Now the word acquainted means to know by experience. You can not say you are acquainted with someone you have never met. So he knew first hand what grief was all about because he experienced it first hand) and we hid as it were our faces from him; (now the word used for faces is also used for presence or person, so you see those who did not truly know him hid themselves from his presence, they turned away from him as though he was some contemptible vile creature, and so ) he was despised,(and because he was openly despised, it says) and we esteemed him not.

 

18. 4. Surely he hath borne our grief, (Notice that he went through all this for us, it was our grief that he carried upon his shoulders.) and has carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken. Notice that they could not bear to look upon him even though it was our sins that he went through all this suffering for. And then we read that He was  smitten of God, which means punished by God and afflicted .

 

19. Notice that God ordained this to be. He was smitten of God. Well, you say, God didn’t do that, those bad people did. The Bible says here he was smitten of God and afflicted. God ordained that he would be the sacrificial lamb, and he was slain of God in God’s own foreknowledge before God even formed the worlds and gave them a  foundation. And all of this was done for you and me.

 

20. 5. he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; (now, this word chastisement means correction, instruction, discipline or doctrine. So you see all this was done to correct our understanding concerning our peace. the correction of our peace was upon him. (The instruction of our peace was upon him.) (The discipline of our peace was upon him). (the doctrine of our peace was upon him).

 

21. Too many people, in fact all peoples do not understand what Peace is all about. They think giving in to the demands of terrorism is peace. They think not fighting for what is right is peace. But there is only One Peace that is worth having and that is the Prince of Peace who will one day be incarnated by the King of Peace, for He is peace.) and with his stripes we were healed.

 

22. The apostle Paul said in, Ephesians 2: 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;   and that is exactly what we see in Hebrews chapter 5 concerning Jesus Christ. We see that God was in Christ, and that the Body was a man, Jesus, but the Spirit that dwelt in Him was God.  And that God used that Body to take on Himself the punishment that was justly due to you and I because of our sinful nature.  And so it pleased God to bruise Him.  You say, God was pleased to bruise His Son like that? That is what the word of God tells us.

 

23. Isaiah 53: 10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  Now, look. This bruising was not as though he got a spanking and it pleased God to spank Him. But the word bruised here means to beat to pieces. To crush, to humble. Like the olive that is sent through the grinding wheel in order to press out of it the oil that is so vital for our living. Therefore God sent His Son to the grinding mill that the Holy Spirit might be squeezed out of Him that you and I might have a measure of that oil. Oh, how I like that. I don’t like the fact that my Older brother had to be squeezed like that, but I like the fact that God did it that we might have eternal Life. That’s the part I like.

 

24. So we see the importance of the learning to be obedient, because had Jesus not come the way of an obedient Son, there would not have been a Calvary and there would not have been any hope for you and me.

 

25. That is why we read in Isaiah 53 and verse  6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we've turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all.  Now, look, iniquity means to know to do something and you don’t do it, or to know not to do something and you do it anyway. And we are told here that this one came to instruct us in our peace took our place when we should be the ones to have been smitten and bruised for our own iniquity.

 

26. But this one knew better and He was obedient, and He did not have iniquity of His own, because He learned obedience by the things he suffered and so being made perfect through suffering, He became the captain of our salvation.

 

27.  Hebrews 2: 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

 

28.  Notice he speaks of the Son of God bringing many sons to Glory which is the opinion, assessment, and judgment of God. Therefore, if it were not for the son of God suffering as he did and learning obedience, even to the death of the cross, where would we be at. We would not even understand for one minute our relationship to the Father and our role that was ordained as obedient sons. We would still be oneness in our thinking just as the Jews are Oneness and so are the Mohammedans. Or we would still be polytheist as the Trinitarians and the Hindus and the rest of the pagan world are. But the captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering. That is How the Son of God was made perfect. Through suffering. Suffering for you and for me.  

 

29. Let’s just bow our heads in prayer.  Dear gracious Father, we are forever grateful for what you did for your Son to perfect Him in such a way, and we are forever grateful that He was obedient, even to His death on the cross. And all this was done that He might be the captain of our salvation, and bring many sons to your mindset. Thank you Father for giving birth to such a wonderful Son, and that through His example we might come to know our own role and our own place at you feet as obedient sons and daughters of You oh, God, for we ask it in Jesus name, that precious name that was made to bleed and die on our behalf. Father we  ask that we might come to know thee more through during our stay here on earth and that we too might come to learn obedience by the things that we must suffer, in Jesus name, Amen.