Masterpiece 60
Joseph and our
perfection in Christ
April 23rd, 2006
Pastor, Brian Kocourek
1. Good morning. I hope and trust everyone is prayed up
and ready to hear from the Lord this morning. Before we go to the Masterpiece,
let us first read from the Book of
Hebrews 6: 1 for our
text. Therefore leaving the principles of the
doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2. Perfection, he said laying aside the principles of
the doctrine of Christ let us go onto Perfection. Now, noticed he did not say
laying aside the doctrine of Christ for without the doctrine of Christ you
can’t even have God.
3. 2 John 1: 9 Whosoever
transgresseth, 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.
4. Now, we also know that the word “hath” used here
was translated form the Greek word “echo” which means to reflect or repeat over
again and again. So therefore we can read it as
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, echoes not
God. He can’t reflect God, and he can’t even say what he said in the
way He said it. He can not say what God
said, again and again. And what does God say? He
that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath (he echoes) both the Father and the Son.
5. Now, we read
from our text that in order for us to go on to perfection we must get beyond
the principles of the doctrine of Christ. Now, that is not saying we must leave
those principles as though they no longer are necessary, but that we must not
stop there, but we must continue into the doctrine of Christ in order to go on
to perfection, because those principles are only the first part. That is what
the word principle means, the first part. And too many people just stop short
once they begin to see “the doctrine of Christ”, that there is one God and He
had a son, and they just stop right there. But what we have seen in our studies
is that getting to the principles is not what it is all about. Just knowing
there is one God and He had a Son is not what God intended for us at all. He
never intended for us to stop there. The devil knows there is one God and He has
a Son and the devil trembles.
6. But what the doctrine of Christ is to do is to
bring forth perfection in sons of God. That is what the doctrine of Christ is
to do, and Paul says in order for it to produce perfection in the believer we
must not stop at the principles of the doctrine but we must continue into the
doctrine of Christ until we come to perfection. Brother Branham told us that we have the
perfect revealed truth. And he read from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians which
said, Questions
and answers COD 64-0823E P:27 I
Corinthians 13 says this: "When that which is perfect is come, that which
is in part shall be done away with." So all these little things of jumping
up-and-down like a kid, trying to talk in tongues, and all these other things,
when that which is perfect... And we do have today, by God's help, the perfect
interpretation of the Word with Divine vindication. Then that which is in part
is done away with. "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child; but when I become a man, I put away childish things." Amen. I
go to preaching and then don't get to these things.
7. Questions and
answers COD 64-0823E P:82 302. Please explain I Corinthians 13:8-12. Now
that the perfect Word is restored to the church are these verses fulfilled? Now,
I think I just went through that, didn't I? "And when that which is
perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away with." Paul
said, "Though I speak with tongue of men and angels, and I do all these
things here... But when that which is perfect is come..." Now, is there
anything perfect but God? No, sir. Is God the perfect? In the beginning was the
[Congregation replies, "Word."--Ed.] and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The Word's still God. See? All right. When that which is
perfect is come, that which is in part is done away with.
8. Now, look, we have by God’s Grace a perfect word by
the presence of a Perfect God, which is to bring perfection into the Elect at
this hour. That is why we are not to stop at the principles of the doctrine of
Christ, but we are to come fully into an understanding of the relationship
between the Father and His Son that we might understand our own relationship
with the Father even as Jesus understood His own relationship with the Father.
That is where our perfection comes, in knowing even as we are known. And that
is 1 John 3:2, knowing who we are because we can see Him as He really is.
9. In the patriarchs. Abraham represented Faith. He is
called the father of our faith. Romans 4:16 Therefore it is of
faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all
the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of
the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
10. Brother Branham said from this sermon The
Masterpiece 64-0705 Paragraph 41 Abraham
portrayed Christ, of course; so did Isaac in love: Abraham did in faith. Isaac
did in love. Jacob did by his grace, because "Jacob" means
"deceiver"; and that's what he was. But God's grace was with him. But
when it come to Joseph, there's nothing against him, just one little scratch
(for the foundation must also be a masterpiece), when he told his father, the
prophet, "Say to Pharaoh that your people are cattle raisers and not
shepherds, because a shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptian." But when
the old prophet got before Pharaoh, he said, "Your servants are
herdsmen." So it scratched it. See? That's why it still makes it the
masterpiece.
11. And from his sermon Identified
masterpiece of God 64-1205 P:38 William Branham said, “Then
when we find out He based on Abraham, and give him the covenant unconditional
with the promise, then He came to the patriarchs. We come next in the Old
Testament, as we go down. Here he displayed the foundation of his work. Now we
have Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph: the four patriarchs. Now Abraham
represented faith work, faith, 'cause Abraham was of faith. He had the great
faith, because he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. When
we'd say, the chips was down and everything against him, he still held on to
God. Then we have Isaac, which was the beloved son, which represented love,
because... Abraham being a type of God. As Isaac was offered, in Genesis 22, we
find out that he'd carried the wood up the hill, and everything portrayed Christ,
foreshadowed Him.
And then the ram came and was offered in
his stead. Now that was faith, love. And "Jacob," which means
"supplanter," and that's a deceiver... And we realize that Jacob's
life really represented grace, because it was grace of God all the time with
Jacob.”
12. Now, that takes us to our study of THE MASTERPIECE 64-0705
and the next paragraph in our study, paragraph number 91 where brother Branham said,” And we find out
then in Joseph, that Joseph was a peculiar-born boy, the last, the top part of
the foundation, where the masterpiece was to be built upon. It come from faith,
and to love, and to grace; it come to perfection. And so did it from the feet
of the beginning, come forth unto perfection in Christ.
12. Now, we know that Abraham represented Faith, and
Isaac represented Love, and Jacob represented Grace, and now we see Joseph who
represents perfection, because Joseph’s life was perfect except for one small
blemish. And so we see how that Joseph in his perfection represented Christ. 92 Notice, how that he was portrayed in
Joseph, the top of the foundation, the most perfect of all of them. We find
that Joseph was born to his family; and he was by the legal woman actually,
which was Jacob's wife. And notice also, that when he was born, his father
loved him; and his brothers hated him without a cause. Why did they hate him?
Because he was the Word. See the very foundation? See how the head of the
foundation come. Now look at the head of the body comes. Now, watch the Head of
the Bride come. He was the Word. And they hated him because he was a seer. He
foresaw things and told them; they happened. No matter how long it lingered, it
happened just the same. And by being spiritual he was excommunicated from his
brethren. They ought to have loved him. But they hated him because he was a
prophet and he was spiritual. And they hated him.
14. Now, I want you to notice how he goes back and
forth between Christ and Joseph here because both were the Word, but Jesus was
the fullness of the Word. But let me also say that every prophet of God was the
Word of God made flesh to his generation. And it was not the man that the people hated
but the Word of God that was manifesting from that prophet that the people
hated. Just like we showed you last week about Samuel the prophet. God told him
when the people said they no longer wanted him to rule by the Word, but they
wanted a King.
God told Samuel, it is not you they are rejecting but
Me they are rejecting. And God was The Rejected King. The people did not want
God to rule them, they wanted some man they elected to rule them, and so is it
today.
15. And we saw how that the life of William Branham
was a perfect reflection of the Life of Samuel, for it was the same Spirit of
Christ that operated in Samuel in the same way that it operated in William
Branham. And the church world rejected him because they wanted their
denominations to rule over them.
16. In the next paragraph Brother Branham shows some
of the similarities between Joseph and Jesus Christ. THE MASTERPIECE 93 Notice, he was
sold for almost thirty pieces of silver, (so was Jesus) thrown into a
ditch,(actually it was a well, and Jesus was thrown into the garden
tomb) and
supposedly to be dead, but was took up from the ditch. (And Jesus
was raised up from the tomb)
And
in his time of temptation in the prison, the butler and the baker... We know
that the butler was saved and the baker was lost. And in Christ's prison house
on the cross, one was saved and the other one was lost, two thieves, two wrong doers.
17. 94 And we notice he was taken from his
prison to the right hand of Pharaoh, that no man could speak to Pharaoh, only
through Joseph. And when Joseph left that throne of Pharaoh, the trumpet
sounded throughout
18. 95
So will it be with Jesus. How He was loved of the Father and hated of them
denominational brethren without a cause. He was sold for thirty pieces of
silver (as it was), and put into the ditch supposedly to be dead. On the cross,
one lost and the other one saved, and was lifted up from the cross, and sets at
the right hand of God in the Majesty, the great Spirit, which had been
reflected in Him. And no man can speak to God, only through Jesus Christ. Think
of it. And when He leaves that throne, starts forth, the trumpet will sound and
every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. Remember, he was the son
of prosperity. Everything that he did prospered, whether it was prison or
wherever it was, it come out right. And hasn't He promised for His children
that He'd make everything work together
for the good, whether it was sickness, prison house, death, sorrows,
whatever it was, that it would work for the good to them that loved Him. He
promised it, and it must be so. It's got to be there. It's figurative spoke to
us in Him. He was that perfect Image of God.
19. 97
Now, we see here also that when He comes again... Remember, Joseph by
revelation saved the world by his great prophecy. The world would've died if it
hadn't have been for Joseph. And the world would’ve been dead if it hadn't have
been for Jesus: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish." God is reserving
Life.
20.
98 On and on we could go. Because He was simply the match of David. He was a
match of Moses. He was the match of Elijah. He was the match of Joseph. Everything
that was portrayed or foretold by in the Old Testament, matched right into
that. What is it? Showing a perfect Redeemer that we could put our old, dirty
clothes into the laundry and go claim it again. It’s been washed in the Blood
of the Lamb. We can claim what’s our own. And everything that He died for, we
can claim it.
21. That is why
we can go on unto perfection! Because Jesus Christ made a way, and Paul said to
go there we must come up through the principles of the doctrine of Christ, but
then not stay there, but keep moving into the doctrine of Christ until
perfection comes.
22. Brother Branham told us that perfection comes by Christ in his sermon
called Hebrews Chapter 6 57-0908E P:32 Now
He's beginning to talk about... What is it? "Let's go on to
perfection..." Now, he said, "Not carnal, laying the foundation here
of doctrines and baptism and reformations and so forth. Let's not do that.
Let's go on to perfection." The subject is perfection, and perfection comes by Christ. And how did
we get in Christ? By joining the church? By
one Spirit we're all baptized into one Body, not by one tongue talked in,
one hand shook in, one water baptized in, but by one Spirit we are baptized into one Body. You get it? That's the perfection. And when you
come into that, you are in Christ, and the world is dead to you. And you walk
with the Lamb each day, and your steps are ordained of God, what to do. Oh, the
trials and testings that we go through. You say, "Do you have
testings?" Yes, sir.
23. There is no doubt
that we all have testings, for every son that cometh to God must first be tried
and tested, and so was Joseph tried and tested. But he went into perfection
because that was Christ in Joseph. And Christ in you is the hope of Glory, and
the glory is the doxa which is the very mind of God in the believer. And that
is your perfection, by one spirit being baptized into one body, and then having
the mind that was in Christ in you. What more could you ask for?
24. The trial of our
Faith is supposed to produce in us Praise Honor and Glory, that is what the
Apostle Peter said it would do. In 1
Peter 1: 7 he said, That
the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at
the appearing of Jesus Christ:
25. So we see that it
will produce in us a praise which according to the Apostle Paul in Hebrews 13:
15 By him therefore let
us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of
our lips giving thanks to his name.
26. So we see that there is a sacrifice of praise
that we can offer up to God and that is to say what He said. To testify what God has testified. To say the
same thing. Jesus told us that “if we say the same thing about Jesus that God
said about Him, then He will say the same thing to God about us that God said
about Him.”
27. Matthew 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I
confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
28. And the word “confess” that was used here comes from the Greek word, “homo”-“logeo”
which is actually two words. The Greek word “homo” meaning the “same” and the
Greek word “logeo” whose root is “logos” which we know is the “Word”.
29. And so we see that Jesus wants us to say the same thing God said
about Him to men, and then he will say the same thing to the Father about us. Now,
what is it that the Father said about Him?
“He said this is my beloved son. God called Jesus His beloved Son.
“S.O.N.” “Son, God’s beloved Son”. And that is the record tat God had
concerning Jesus. That He was the Son of God.
30. 1 John 5: 10 He
that believeth on the Son of God hath
the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar;
because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his Son.
31, So
when did God give us this record of His Son? When God identified Jesus Christ as His Son,
and that He (God) was pleased to dwell in this son.
32. 2 Peter 1: 17 For
he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
33. Luke 9: 35 And
there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
34. Mark 9: 7 And
there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud,
saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
35. Matthew 17: 5 While
he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out
of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;
hear ye him.
36. Matthew 3: 17 And
lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.
37. And that is the
record and if you don’t believe that record you are calling God a liar. And
those are not my words, those are god’s own Words from His Holy Word. Bu if you believe the record, and say what
God said about His Son, then Jesus said He would say the same thing to His
Father about You. That you too are God’s beloved son.
38. 1 John 5: 11 And
this is the record, that God hath given
to us eternal life, and this life is
in his Son. And so we se the
evidence that we believe God is that we also say the same thing that God said.
Therefore, we must have the mind of God to do so.
39. For if we only
hear what he said but do not understand what he said, then we can not echo it,
because to echo it is to say it with the same emphasis he said it with. And you
can’t do that unless you understand it like He understood it. And that is the
record God gave of His Son, and for you to echo that means that you have the
witness in you also, and that means you have eternal Life living and abiding in
you.
40. And we know to have that same record means that you have the same
spirit. We all know and understand that
john the Baptizer received the Holy Spirit even while in the womb of Elizabeth
his mother. And this same John who bore witness to Jesus Christ as the Son
of God said in John 1: 32 And
John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove,
and it abode upon him. 33
And I knew him not: but he that sent
me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the
Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with
the Holy Ghost. 34 And I saw, and bare
record that this is the Son of God.
41. So we see that John also filled with the Holy Ghost bore record that
this one that the Spirit of God came down and remained upon Him was the Son of
God. So John perfectly understood that
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. John perfectly understood
that the Son of God was the Son of God, not the man himself was God, but that
God indwelt this Son. And that is the record that God gave of His Son, when He
said, “This is my
beloved Son IN whom I am pleased to dwell”.
42. Now, in getting back to this Praise honor and Glory which is the
result of our being tested in our Faith, or the trial of our Faith we see that
the Apostle Paul tells us three times that this Praise is to the Glory of God
in Ephesians chapter 1.
43. Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
44. Ephesians 1:12 That
we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ.
45. Ephesians 1:14 Which
is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.
46. And so you see
that this praise is to the Glory of God. So we must understand that it is not
just praising God, but the praise is to the Glory of God, and this glory is the
doxa of God. Therefore knowing that the doxa means opinion, assessment or
judgment, there fore we can see that this praise is saying what God said.
Having the same mind as God had. “Let this mind that was in Christ be in you.”
47. Let us pray. Dear Gracious and Loving Father, we see that
you have called us to go beyond the principles of the Doctrine of Christ, those
first understandings concerning your relationship to your son, and you have
called us to go deeper into our own relationship we have with you. You have
called us unto perfection.
48. Father, we
understand that you placed our perfection in Christ Jesus your Son. And that you
gave us your record of your Son when you told the world that you were pleased
to indwell him. And that is the record you gave of your Son, and that you
placed your Word in Him, and You said, “I am pleased to dwell in him, therefore, hear ye Him”.
49. Father we are
thankful for that record you gave to us of your Son Jesus , and therefore
Father we say the same thing you said about him, and as we do, we cry to
You, “Abba Father”, for so you are our
Father, even as you are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, we
know Your son is at your right hand saying the same thing to you about us as we
are saying to others about Him.
50. And so we say, Thank
you Father for of a certainty you are our Father. And in the name you taught us
to pray, the name of Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.