SAINTS: I JUST WANT TO ASK YOU A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS TO SORT OF PROVOKE YOUR THINKING, BEFORE WE ACTUALLY GO INTO THIS VERY IMPORTANT SUBJECT WE HAVE CHOSEN TO DEAL WITH. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE GODHEAD? DO YOU KNOW WHY JESUS HAD TO BE PERFECT MAN, IN ORDER TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE UPON EARTH? DO YOU BELIEVE HE WAS PERFECT IN EVERY WAY? WHAT MADE HIM A PERFECT MAN, AND WHAT MADE HIM GOD INCARNATE? WE INTEND TO ANSWER EVERY ONE OF THESE QUESTIONS, AND MANY, MANY MORE, GOING ALL THE WAY FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS, TO THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION, JUST ALLOWING THE HOLY GHOST TO MAKE THE SUBJECT INTERESTING AND BENEFICIAL TO US.
Text 1, Timothy 3:16
Many have tried in vain to explain the humanity and the deity of Jesus Christ, simply because they themselves did not have a true revelation of the Godhead. You just simply cannot explain something that you do not understand. Then there are those who do have a true revelation of the Godhead, but are unable to explain it in a way that can be easily understood. Therefore by the help of the Lord we are going into the scriptures and endeavor to examine thoroughly, both the divine, as well as the human side of Christ. The early church in the book of Acts had a complete understanding of who Jesus Christ (picture of city with man speaking to group of people that a virgin shall conceive and call him Immanuel) was, and how He came to be as He was, but it has been the devil’s chief purpose to try to destroy every genuine revelation that those first age Christians held; therefore it is no wonder that there is so much controversy and confusion about whether God is one or three, and whether Jesus Christ was completely divine or not, in the church would today. The great theologians of our day have taken the Bible apart verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and even word by word, and they still do not know. Do you know why they do not know? Simply because they are trying to learn through their great educated minds, something that can only be revealed by the Spirit of God, to those who are able to receive revelation in their Spirit. Oh yes, It comes through the mind, but it is not your intellect that actually retains a true revelation, for if it stops in your mind, you are likely to trade it for something that sounds better when Satan sends one of his ambassadors to fill your mind with perversion.
You will hear people say, was Jesus really a flesh and blood man that could be tempted by the devil? If He was, then how could He be divine? Or you might hear something like this, If Jesus Christ was truly God, then it was impossible for Him to have been tempted of Satan. Brothers and Sisters: The bible lays it all out in such a way that it is possible to understand every bit of it. But you must remember this, Gentiles have never had the opportunity to know Him after the flesh, as those first age Jews did. We only know him by the Spirit, and that is the reason why education cannot produce a genuine revelation from the word of God.
TREASURES OF WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE
We are going to use 1st Timothy 3:16 as our text for this message, but before reading it, I want to read two verses from Paul’s letter to the Colossian believers concerning his desire for all those who had never had the opportunity to sit before him personally. He desired (Col. 2:2-3) “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto ALL riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; IN WHOM are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” In other words, All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid to those who never receive a revelation of the Godhead. This is the key that unlocks God’s storehouse of spiritual treasures. This is the key to all spiritual wisdom and knowledge, so let us hear what Paul wrote to Timothy about it. (3:16) “And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” If this was the only scripture in the Bible that we could look at on this subject, we sure wouldn’t have much to go on, but on the other hand, this one verse is all we need in order to learn that the apostle Paul’s mind was completely settled on this great mystery that has baffled mankind for two thousand years. In other words, just to use plain language, here is what Paul was saying, Without any doubt whatsoever, this truly is a great mystery, how God was manifest in human flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles (Paul was the one that did that.) Believed on in the world, received up into glory. It is a great mystery to an unrevealed mind, yet God’s true children can understand it completely. Our minds can be completely settled on the subject just like Paul’s was.
ENMITY BETWEEN TWO SEED
Now we are using this one particular verse 1st Tim. 3:16, just as a foundational text, as we begin to explore this great mystery, through the pages of God’s holy word. Therefore let us go to Genesis 3:15, where we will begin our study on the humanity side of Jesus the Christ. What we want to find out, is whether there was anything about Him that could be literally looked upon as totally human. Naturally we are not speaking of sinful qualities, for He had no sinful nature at all. But did He have the ability to think, speak, feel, see and hear like any other normal man? Could he talk about everyday subjects like you and I, or was His speech confined to high and holy matters?
The truth of the matter is, when you really began to see Him as He was when He walked among men, there was nothing extraordinary about His appearance. The average Jew could never see Him to be any different in appearance than anyone else. Only those that had something to do with His introduction, saw Him to be different, but that was through the Spirit. In Genesis 3:15, we find God speaking to the serpent, after he had defiled Eve, saying, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: (Jesus the Christ)it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.” First, let us establish something else. Just exactly what was this that came walking into the garden and confronted the serpent, Eve and Adam? Was it a man? No, it was that Spirit presence of the great, eternal, self existent God, that object of worship that we hold in our hearts and minds to be the creator of the whole universe. He was not born; He always was. He cannot die; He will always be. There is absolutely no kind of life that can exist outside of God. He is the Creator of all life. When you go out and dig fishing worms, God is the life giver to those worms. He is the source of all intelligence, all life, and all activity. Evolution is a dead man’s theory. They probe the crust of the earth looking for fossils to prove their theory, and without revelation, even what they find does not help them, for only the revelated mind knows why those fossils are there. Only a revelated mind can harmonize six thousand years of the history of mankind with fossils that are proved to be millions of years old. Only a Creator could set this universe with all of its many bodies, so precise that even manmade computers can tell where Mars will be in relationship with the earth, a million years from now. Yes, the worlds were framed by the word of God. What we see round about us is His thoughts put into action. He counseled with Himself before He ever began to create; therefore in the great mind of God everything is seen as a finished product. It is the same way when a man builds a house, if he did not have a picture in his mind of, what that house was going to look like, he would be one mixed up fellow. Can you imagine a fellow cutting boards and nailing them together all day long, saying in his mind, I wonder what this thing is going to look like? What kind of builder would he be, if in his mind he could not see the building as a finished product? Let us endeavor to see God exactly like that, in relation to all of His efforts bestowed upon we humans. If we were foreknown of Him, He sees us as we will be, not as we are today. But, Saints: Please do not visualize this great God as a person, for He is Spirit, He is sovereign, and He is omnipresent.
SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE
Now let us get back to Genesis 3:15, where God cursed the serpent, and spoke of a seed of the woman that would bruise his head, and so forth. Alright, so the woman would have a seed, and the serpent would have a seed; we surely have that much established right here. What God was saying, was that, somewhere in the ages to come, there would be a seed of woman that would come upon the scene, and His heel would bruise the serpents head, and the serpents head would bruise his heel. Naturally we understand that this is symbolic language, for when Jesus came upon the scene, there was never a time when this could have been literally applied. Yet we do know also, that as man has existed in this world, many times, the only weapon he had, to use against the crawling reptiles, was his heel. This natural identity helps us to make the proper spiritual application to this symbolic language. The serpent was not a reptile at the time God spoke those words to him, but that is when God stripped him of his arms and legs, so to speak, and sent him crawling off among the other reptiles, and today, man does not know which of the reptiles are descendants of the old cursed serpent. Nevertheless, in spiritual terms it was the devil that inspired the serpent to seduce Eve, that the promised seed was to strike a bruising blow to. Jesus the Christ was that seed, and it was His authority over spiritual forces that would do something to Satan. He had God invested authority to do what no sinful natured man could do. He was completely human, identified with all other mankind in every way except inherited attributes. Every other human born of woman, had sinful attributes, but here was a man, born of woman, that had no inherited sin. Why? Simply because there was none of mans genes in Him. That life cell Mary carried for nine months to birth, was a created cell, created in her without her going through the natural process of conception by a relationship with a man. We will say more about this later on in the message, but right now, let us go to the book of Isaiah for the next important prophecies concerning this seed of woman that was to be born.
A VIRGIN HAD A BABY
In Isaiah 7:14, we find these words spoken by a prophet that was a Jew, but the Spirit from which this prophecy came forth was not his spirit; it was the Spirit of Jehovah God, Elohim, the self existing, omnipresent Spirit. “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” What was the sign given? Was it the fact that a young woman named Mary had a baby? No, that wasn’t the sign, for most babies are born of young women. The sign was that a particular young woman who was still a virgin, had a baby. That is where your scientists and all other carnal minds go astray; they will not admit that Jesus was born of a virgin girl, because according to scientific law, that would have been an impossibility. Naturally all such people in Mary’s day, looked at her very suspiciously, and whether they expressed it or not, they were thinking to themselves, there is something fishy about all this. But the sign was not for them, it was for those who believed in God; therefore they exert effort and influence to get the Bible rewritten, leaving out all the supernatural manifestations, and in the case of the birth of Jesus, they use terminology eliminating the word virgin, and just say, a young woman. But you know, and I know that the mere fact that a young woman has a son is not a sign to anyone. On the other hand, those that believed recognized the sign, and accepted the fact that Immanuel meant, God with us. We will see a little later, as we go into Matthew, that He was to be named Jesus, not Immanuel, or Emmanuel, as it is spelled in the New Testament. Actually the name Jesus has a compound meaning that speaks of the fact that God is in Him, to save His people. Of course there have been many little boy babies named Jesus, down through the ages, but they were named by the will of man, and not by a command from God. Isaiah was the first man that began to speak of the kind of woman that would bring forth this Son, who would be a full expression of perfect humanity, and at the same time, carry a name that was chosen by the Almighty God to express something else, the fact that God was in Him for the purpose of redeeming His lost people. This man Jesus, who was the Christ, the Jews Messiah, had a threefold work to do in revealing the Father’s name, His word, and His works, all of which we will call attention to as we proceed through the scriptures. “I CAME IN MY FATHER’S NAME” “O FATHER, I HAVE MANIFESTED THY NAME” “I HAVE GIVEN UNTO THEM THE WORDS WHICH THOU GAVEST ME.” NEITHER HATH THIS MAN SINNED, NOR HIS PARENTS: BUT THAT THE WORKS OF GOD SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST IN HIM.” “IF I DO NOT THE WORKS OF MY FATHER, BELIEVE ME NOT.” These are just a few of the statements we will call attention to when we get over into the New Testament, but for our next reading, let us turn to Isaiah 9:6-7, where we will find that prophet of God speaking of this particular son that is to be born of a young virgin. One thing we cannot help but notice, is how Isaiah always spoke in a positive way. There was never any suppositional thought, or meaning. There was no room left for anything to go wrong that would mar, or change the picture. He spoke as though he was already looking at the finished product. You can read chapter 7, chapter 9, 53, and 61, and it is always the same.
DEITY QUALITIES IN THE NAME JESUS
Notice now, in chapter 9, verse 6, how Isaiah brings out the compound meanings of the name Jesus, for he was never called by any of these terms that Isaiah mentioned here. No one ever met him on the street, and said to him, “Hello Wonderful,” neither “Hello Counselor,” nor “Hello Prince of Peace” these were all encompassed in the one name of Jesus, so let us read it. “For unto us a child is born, unto a son is given: (These words are coming from Isaiah’s lips, but they are not his words; he is speaking a prophecy, as the voice of God; therefore we want to pay attention to how God spoke, using the word us, which shows that He was speaking on behalf of the people. But not everyone, only those who were looking for a Savior. He identifies with them, and says, Unto US a son is given:) and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and His name shall be called, WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE.” One thing we definitely want to take note of is how this verse stresses the male side, a son, his, Father, and Prince. (I say that because of all this feminist movement in the world today. ) it was to be a man child, and the government was to be upon His shoulder, and the actual name that would be given to Him would encompass Father and Prince. This is where Emmanuel is broken down into the many characteristics that it holds. Another thing that you will notice, is that these are the characteristics of Elohim, as He would officiate in a governmental capacity. Now let me ask you this. When would Jesus be looked upon as Wonderful? I am sure it will be fully applicable when He sits upon His throne as King; invested with this great ancient authority. The whole world is going to behold the King, that there has never been one like, before. If the world had such a king today, we would not have all the bloodshed and chaos that is constantly in the news, for we read in the Bible, that the earth will be filled with the knowledge and glory of the Lord. Brother, I want you to know that when this old world is seen existing in an atmosphere of perfect peace, perfect health, and even the animal kingdom lying down in perfect peace, man will say, This is wonderful, and they will know why it is so wonderful. This Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, and King of kings is in control. A counselor is what the presidents, rulers, and political leaders of our day need, but they certainly do not want this kind of counselor, for all of His decisions will be based upon divine laws. This apostate society does not want divine law to govern fallen mankind in his mortality. They would rather wallow in filth and degradation.
TRENDS OF OUR DAY
A brother in the church handed me a newspaper clipping this morning written by some educated character, and he literally ridiculed religion. You get the idea from reading this article, that he more or less looks upon religion as a scourge to humanity. Of course we all know that many of the religions of the world are just that, but we also know that those who hold truth from God’s word, precious to their soul, are a blessing, and a benefit to any society, for they are the ones that hold back the Sodom and Gomorrah conditions that natural minded humanity tends to drift toward. Forty or fifty years ago, when truth and holiness was still reverenced by a greater majority, only a small percentage of the law enforcement people needed in this day and hour kept immortality and lawlessness within certain bounds, but in this hour of time there are no boundaries; humanity is running wild. The gospel has been diluted until it no longer has any bearing on what the world wants to do. Apostate religion is a promoter of much of the evil in the world today. Those who fight so hard for freedom to do as they choose, are mostly those who choose to do the devil’s business, rather than God’s business. The devil, by perverting their minds, will see to it. You just simply cannot put babies and rattlesnakes into the same crib and expect perfect harmony, without the babies being bit. You cannot educate rattlesnakes, and this world is full of two legged rattlesnakes, so to speak, and some of them have degrees a mile long. They are enemies of the very Creator that gives them the right to live. They are just like what we read in Genesis, chapter 6, great men of renown. Dean So and So, and Professor This and That, but in the eyes of God they are no more than worms. Saints: I have to talk like this, for this is my way of painting a picture before you. God must be supreme, reverenced and respected in the minds of some people that fear “Him”.
THE HEAVENLY PRINCE OF PEACE
Now this child that was to be born would be called, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. What? That child is going to be looked upon and called all of that? He certainly is. Through the history of time the sons of ruling kings have always been called princes, and most usually the king’s eldest son would be his ambassador of peace, sent to other kingdoms in an effort to establish peace. Do you catch my point? They were in a role as a prince of peace. That is exactly what Jesus Christ will be when He does come to establish that divine kingdom upon earth, or maybe I should say, in the world. He is the Prince of that great eternal King which is a Spirit, and He will be the administrator of divine law and authority in the earth. In one way or another, He will fulfill a role that will be in perfect harmony with all that has been prophesied of Him by God’s holy inspired prophets. Brothers and sisters, we are taking our time, not trying to rush through this message, and I realize I may say some things that could create a question in your mind. Don’t wrestle with it, because as we take this subject right on through the scriptures, you will see everything drop right into place. Just bear with me, and please do not allow the devil to set on your shoulder, because we are going to look at some scriptures the Trinitarians will not use, and some others, that the oneness will not use. They will not use them, because they do not know how to explain them, but we will use them, and allow the Holy Ghost to explain them. All of these scriptures were spoken by the Spirit of God, and through the years they have been perverted by the spirit of Satan, and the truth of them hidden in a lot of confusion in this Gentile world, but the same Spirit that inspired them in the first place will reveal them again in God’s true people. So let us read verse 7, of Isaiah, chapter 9. “Of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” If you study the gospel of Matthew, you will see how this verse pertaining to the throne of David is applied. It seems that each of the gospel writers had a certain main point that they emphasized as they related what they saw and heard. Matthew dwelled more upon the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, He who would sit upon the throne of David, His father according to natural genealogy. Mark dwelled more upon the suffering servant aspect of His life and ministry upon earth, and Luke seemed to emphasize the son of man, speaking more of His humanity. But then when you come to John, you find him placing more emphasize on the deity side, proving that, He truly was the Son of God, and that God who is Spirit, dwelled in Him. You find this not only in the gospel of St. John, but also in the little Epistles of John also.
GOD IS FOREVER THE SAME
The Lord of hosts as spoken in Isaiah 9:7, is not referring to the man Jesus, but rather to the omnipresent Spirit that always stood by the Israelites. It is He, that makes sure every word of prophecy is fulfilled. It is these verses that continue to speak of God as a Spirit, that the oneness people try to avoid, since they do not know how to properly assimilate the oneness of the Godhead with scriptures that actually sound to the unrevelated mind, like God is more than one. When they read Col. 2:9, where Paul said, “For in Him (Jesus Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” they seem to feel that all of God was poured into that little body of Jesus, and that He (Jesus) is all there is. If that were so, then God would have ceased to be omnipresent when Jesus walked upon earth among men. It does not take much of a revelation to know that such an idea is completely out of harmony with all the rest of God’s word. For whatever God ever was, He still is, and He will always be, for He does not change; the scriptures tell us so. Well that remains to be the great mystery of the Godhead tot hose who do not know Him by a personal revelation. God ordained it to be like that, for He did not intend for natural man to learn all about Him. On the other hand, it is God’s will for every genuine believer to see and understand His eternal existence, and His many manifestations in this great plan of redemption. John certainly was not afraid to mention the Father and the Son. He was not afraid someone would accuse him of thinking that God is three persons. Neither is any other revelated believer. If you did not know better, there are times when you might think the apostle Paul was Trinity, as you read certain epistles he wrote. But then you have to realize that he also wrote the Colossian epistle which speaks of the oneness of God, and the fulness of the Godhead that was in Christ Jesus. He did not have to worry about being misunderstood, for He was writing to believers that understood His terminology. You just have to realize that these men did not just sit down with the idea of writing their particular portion of what we call, “The Bible”. Men in other ages have taken their letters and bound them all together into one book, and we have it as the word of God, the Bible, but when they wrote, they did not know they were writing the Bible. Even the gospel of Luke was a letter written to a believer by the name of Theophilus, and Luke’s purpose was that he might get the full recorded account first hand, from one who had perfect understanding of all that was commonly believed among the disciples who walked with Christ for 3 and 1 half years.
BOTH OF ONE SPIRIT
Let us go back in our Bibles to the 2nd chapter of Psalms, where we will pick up some prophetic words uttered by a little shepherd boy named David, the same David that later became king of Israel. No doubt he would just sit down and lean back against a rock and meditate upon the goodness of the Lord God while his sheep were grazing. Words like we find here in chapter 2, do not necessarily come to a person all at once. You might, in your daily meditations, receive a few words of a song each day, and then one day the Spirit of the Lord might move upon you to put them all together. I believe that is how it was with David. This was the Spirit of the Lord speaking, and it was in the form of a song, ( a Psalm.) Notice verse 7, “I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” Was that the Lord speaking to David, “Thou art my son?” No. It was a prophecy concerning Jesus the Christ, who would be born, brought forth from the womb of woman just like any other little baby. The big difference would be in the process of conception, for as we have already stated, That which she conceived was by a creative act of Jehovah God, and it was implanted in a virgin womb that had never known a man in that way. She was engaged to a man called Joseph, but she was still a virgin. “This day have I begotten thee.” Paul even mentioned this verse of the Psalms in his letter to the Hebrews, but there are a lot of Oneness preachers who would not dare mention it, lest they detract from the deity picture they are trying to paint of Christ Jesus. I suppose we have all been guilty at times, of just avoiding scriptures that we feel might cause the person, or persons we are speaking to at the time, to fail to see the picture we are trying to paint before them, of the deity of Christ. We have just sort of excluded the flesh at times, but we need not do that, for all that are foreknown of God will eventually get the true picture, and the others cannot possibly get it, no matter how we present it to them. Truth is truth regardless of how it is understood, and the truth about the flesh of Jesus the Christ, is that every molecule of it was from the earth, just like yours and mine. It was not His flesh that was God. It was the Spirit of Elohim that indwelt Him, that made him God. Every attribute of the great God of all creation was in the little man called Jesus the Christ, and that is the reason Paul could say, in Colossians 1:19, “For it pleased the Father that in Him ( Jesus) should all fullness dwell.” When we are born again we receive a certain measure of the Spirit that indwelt Jesus, but none of us will ever receive the measure that He possessed, at least not in this life. The Bible says that He was tempted in every way that we are tempted, yet He remained completely sinless through it all. You say, Could He have sinned if He had wanted to. Yes. He could have done anything that anyone else could do as pertaining to the human side of Him, but the beautiful thing about it is, He only wanted to do what would please the Father. Therefore he did everything He wanted to do. Jesus, who was the Christ, was the fulness of God manifested for the purpose of redemption, we understand that, but let me say this, The true church is to be the fulness of Christ, to represent Him in the gospel age, the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew chapter 13) As we said earlier, No Gentiles has had the opportunity to know Christ after the flesh, but through the true church, others are led to know Him by the Spirit that is in them, which is the very Spirit of Christ, which is the Spirit of the living God. Let me see if I can put this into words that will convey to you, exactly what I see. Jesus had a human spirit from the very day that the breath of natural life entered into Him, but, that spirit was not deity; it was just sinless. But the day John baptized Him in the Jordan, and the Spirit of the Father descended to Him, and was described as in the form of a dove, and the two were joined together, they became one Spirit. He did not have His human spirit over in one corner, and the Spirit of the Father in another; they were joined together as one Spirit, yet He could speak either as deity, or as human, as is detected throughout the gospels. One time He would say, I will pray the Father, and He will give it to you. Then another time He would say, Whatsoever ye ask in my name, I will do it. Therefore when we receive the Holy Ghost we not only receive a measure of the Spirit of the Father, for the Holy Ghost is that Spirit of Christ. There are many verses that one could look at, such as 1 Cor. 3:16, 6:17,19, Acts 2:17, 2 Cor. 13:5, and many others, but there is one verse that says it all, and that is Romans 8:9, Listen. “ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the SPIRIT OF GOD dwell in you. Now if any man have not the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, he is none of His.” Then you could read verses 10, 11, and 14, if you need more. But tell me this, When a person receives the Holy Ghost, do they receive two Spirits, one of the Father, and another of the Son? Absolutely not, for the Father and the Son are of one Spirit. That is why Jesus could us terminology like He did, in John 17:21, and 23. He prayed for all that would ever believe unto salvation, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” Now this is a verse that the Trinitarians like to use, for to them it sounds like the word US, applies to two persons. They have never been able to understand how Jesus could pray to the Father, unless the Father was another person. Neither can they understand how Jesus could be called God, nor how the fullness of the Godhead could be in Him and He would still pray to one He called, the Father. In other words, If He were God, then why would He pray to God? These are all questions of an unrevelated natural mind. But we will not boast because we understand these things, for it is only by the mercy and grace of God, that we are not still among them, thinking those same thoughts, and arguing about simple doctrines of the scriptures.
WHO IS THE FATHER OF JESUS
Go with me now into the gospel of St. Matthew, as we approach the time when this promised Son is soon to be manifested. Chapter 1, verse 18, is where I want to read from first, because this is the first mention of the name Jesus Christ, in the New Testament. But technically, what we will read from Luke’s gospel, where the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary, took place a few months before this event here in Matthew. The angel did not appear to Joseph until after it became obvious that Mary his espoused wife, was with child, so let us read. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” So the events of Luke, Chapter 1, have already taken place, for that is where it is recorded, how Gabriel appeared to Mary, and told her what was going to transpire in her life, because she had found favor with God. Mary submitted herself to the will and purpose of God at that time, and it was not until she was found with child of the Holy Ghost, that the angel came to inform Joseph of what was taking place. This is another verse the Trinitarians like to use, for they will say. See there, there is more than one person in the Godhead, and they never stop to realize what a complex situation they come up with when they make the Holy Ghost a person, and especially a person separate and distinct from God the Father, which they also refer to as a person. I am sure most of you see it already. If the Holy Ghost is a person, and God the Father is another person, then Jesus had two daddies, if you will pardon my expression. They will readily confess that Jesus is the Son of God, the creator of all life, yet they never stop to realize that if He truly is, then God the Father, and God the Holy Ghost would have to be one and the self same Spirit, and not two separate persons. Another thing you need to remember is that the term Holy Ghost was never used until after the advent of Christ. Some people tend to think of the gospels as though they were diaries, written day by day as events occurred. That is not the case at all, for all except the gospel of Matthew were written many years after the crucifixion, and it is commonly believed that Matthew was written somewhere around A.D.37. The exact year of writing is inmaterial to the point I want to establish, and that is this, All these gospel writers picked up the pen years later, and recorded what they knew of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ upon earth, lest they all die without leaving a record of what actually took place. Therefore there are terms of speech used even in the very beginning of the gospel records, that were not even in use when the actual event being recorded occurred. That is always true in any record being written years after an event occurred. On the other hand, a diary is written day by day as events occur, and the terminology will always be that which is common in that particular day. I hope this little explanation will help some of you to better understand why some things are written as they are, and that you simply cannot read the scriptures straight through with the idea that you are following events as they occurred in a chronological order.
JESUS– A COMPOUND NAME
Now we will read verse 19. “Then Joseph her husband, (her husband to be, after finding that Mary was with child.) being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Before reading verse 21, let me just say few more words about the Godhead question. God, that is referred to as Father, is truly the Father of all creation. He is the very source of everything that exists. In Him, all life lives and moves, and has its being. He is Father because everything that has life originated with Him. He was the Creator of it. But after creation was finished, there was no more need for Him to continue as Creator, so He then began to work in His creation, but He remained to be that same Spirit being. Let us use a natural illustration to show His threefold function as Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Just suppose you owned a financial institution, and you were president, secretary, and treasurer. You would have three separate functions, fulfilling the duties of three offices, but that would not require you to be three separate persons. There would be times when you would be referred to as the president, others, the secretary, and at other times, the treasurer, but none of those titles would be your name. Whatever you name might be, you would still be that, no matter what title you were called by. With God, each title is what He is, as He functions in that capacity. It just so happens that Jesus is that redemption name of the one great God who is Spirit; therefore when it came the season for Him to robe Himself in human flesh, to function as Redeemer, Savior, the sacrifice for man’s sin debt, that flesh and blood male child was given that compound name JESUS. It is spelled the same way as all the other Jesus’ in the world, but none of the others carry a compound meaning, they are just plain Jesus. We can draw another example from the man Jesus who was the Christ. He was and is called Savior, Redeemer, Lamb of God, a Healer, the word of God, and many other things, but He is still Jesus, one person. So as the angel is speaking to Joseph to enlighten him, and to encourage his heart, he is told that Mary has conceived seed of the Holy Ghost, (or by the Spirit which is God the creator.) “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Now some will say, What happened to the Emmanuel that Isaiah prophesied about? What about the Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace? That is exactly what I want you to see. All of that incorporated in the one name Jesus. All of these speak of attributes, but the name of the one that carries all those attributes of the Father, is Jesus. “And He shall save His people.” Who is doing the saving? The very Father who created them. When His people became lost, this was His way of coming down to their level, in order to speak to them face to face, walk with them and personally bestow His attributes upon them.
A PERFECT, SINLESS MAN
Let us just go to the first little epistle of John, and read what he said about this very thing. “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: For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us. (Listen to this next verse.) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, (Why?) That ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son of Jesus Christ.,” Was John referring to two persons there? Don’t you ever allow yourself to think a thing like that. John knew perfectly well that the Father was in the Son, and that to fellowship the Son was to fellowship the Father also. He said, We have handled Him, and our eyes have looked upon Him., and he knew that he was speaking of the very God of all creation, when he made that statement. So let us just go back to the first chapter of Matthew where we will see how John could make such a statement. As Matthew writes his account of Gabriel appearing to Joseph, just as soon as he finishes the sentence, “Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people,” he goes right ahead and says, (verse 22) “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (he goes right back to Isaiah 7:14) Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he (Joseph) called His name JESUS.” Joseph know exactly what to name that baby. He did not have to do as my wife and I have done; What will we name this one? Neither did he have to guess, as to whether it would be a boy or a girl; for that was already settled also. “She shall bring forth a SON, and thou shalt call His name JESUS.” That was all he needed to hear, for there is no record that he ever questioned anything that the angel spoke to him. Verse 24, lets us see that he was a man of action also, for as soon as he awakened from sleep, he did exactly what the angel had told him to do. Remember though, the angel had already spoken to Mary long before that, and explained the whole thing to her, and even told her about Elizabeth her cousin being with child in her old age, and that she was already in her sixth month. It is from Luke’s writing that we get the full impact of the human side of Christ, and it is important that every one of us get this fact of His humanity settled in our minds, and treat the human side as just exactly that. If you cannot see Jesus as completely human in every way, you can never have a true revelation of the Godhead. By that I mean, that there was no area of humanity that he came up short in. He had the five senses, sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, just like the rest of us, and he got his clothes dirty playing, just like every other little boy. The fact that he had a perfect mind without any of the hindrances of man’s fallen nature did not make him any less human, it just kept him out of undesirable circumstances that other humans get caught up in, because his mind was always occupied with proper thoughts. We do not have much to look at along that line, but we do have enough to enable us to speak intelligently about it, for even at the age of 12 years, (you have all read what he was doing) he was sitting with a bunch of scholars discussing things that other little boys his age would never even think about, much less know anything about. Then we learn that he went with Joseph and Mary, and was completely subject to them. In other words, he was a perfectly obedient child. You say, Well, there wasn’t anything normal about that, for all children are disobedient at times. You mean, every other child, every other child in the world has an inherited nature to sin, but since Jesus was born from a created embryo, he did not have anything in him that would automatically cause him to disobey like other children, yet he could have, for that part of Him was not God. As a matter of fact, if man had never fallen from his original creation, every child born into the world would have had a perfect mind, and a sinless nature just like Jesus did. That is how Adam was, before he disobeyed God, and God set a law in effect, that everything must bring forth of its own kind. Hereditary traits are transmitted through the genes of both father and mother to all their offspring, and from generation to generation. The potential for anything that any of our ancestors ever did lies within each of us through our genealogical makeup. That is why we are all under a death sentence from the moment natural life is imparted to us, simply because Adam and Eve had death imputed to them, because of disobedience. That will help you better understand why the embryo in Mary’s womb had to be created from both the male and female side, for if God had just supernaturally fertilized an egg from Mary’s reproductive organs, Jesus could not possibly have been without sin, for Mary had the same inherited nature to sin that every other offspring from Adam’s race had.
WHO HELPED GOD CREATE ADAM?
Let us go into the Gospel of Luke now, where in chapter 1, verse 26, we find the angel Gabriel speaking with Mary. “And in the sixth month (the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth.” Let me just stop reading right there, and make a couple of observations that I believe are important. First of all, if you are paying attention, I believe you will catch something that will clarify Genesis 1:26, for you, if you have been prone to lean toward a trinity idea of the Godhead. In Genesis 1:26, “God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and so forth,” and all Trinitarians use that verse trying to prove that God is three persons, rather than one Spirit like the Bible declares Him to be. Well, Bro. Jackson: If God was not speaking to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, when He said that, who was He speaking to? He was speaking to the same ones He no doubt spoke to when it came time for the participants in the first advent of Jesus Christ to be informed, His angelic helpers. Gabriel did not come to Mary, Joseph and Zacharias, without a command from the Father to do so. Therefore I ask you, What do you suppose first took place when it came time for this great event to transpire? The Bible does not give us all of this, but I can believe that the Father said, LET US inform Zacharias that his prayer is heard, and that his wife Elizabeth shall bear him a son. In Luke 1:29, Gabriel said to him, “I am SENT to speak unto thee, and to show thee glad tidings.” God used the same angelic helpers to set the stage for the appearance of the second Adam (Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15:45) that He used in the creation of the first Adam. If you can see this, it will clear up a lot of the muddy water that has been keeping the true light of God’s word from becoming real to you. Even the very next verse there in Genesis 1, declares that God is one, if people would just read on with an open mind. Pay close attention to every word of verse 27, as we read, and I believe you will see it. “So God created man in HIS own image, in the image of GOD created HE (GOD) him; (Adam ) male and female created HE (GOD) them” (Adam & Eve). Does that sound like God is three distinct persons, all three equal in authority, and all three agreeing upon everything that is done? Why do you suppose God is mentioned altogether in the singular, if He is more than one? Also, let me ask you this, Why is HE always mentioned, and referred to, in masculine terminology, if there was the remotest possibility that He could be feminine instead of masculine, as some of these Women’s Liberation movements try to claim? Saints: I am so thankful that God’s word explains itself, when we just simply allow Him, by His Spirit, to take our minds and lead us through the Bible. Hallelujah! What a great God He is! I love Him. What God created in His image, and after His likeness, was not a human form; it was a spirit being with the same attributes as the Creator, and He could say, After OUR image and likeness, because His angels were spirit beings also.
GOD’S WORD IS GOD’S THOUGHTS
While we are on the subject of God’s image, we just as well go into the Colossian letter where Paul was dealing with this very subject, and try to clear it all up while we are at this point in the message. We will start with verse 12, of chapter 1, so that we may pick up this thought. “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath (It is already done.)translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: (Jesus Christ) In whom (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.” Let us be sure we realize that the “WHO” in verse 15, is Jesus the Christ, but at the same time we must also realize that it is not His flesh, that is the image of the invisible God; it is the Spirit man dwelling in that flesh. So now we will read verse 16, and that will require us to go to the first chapter of John’s gospel to get a clarification of who created all things. Notice here now, still speaking of Jesus the Christ, Paul says, “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.” To some, that seems like a contradiction of other scriptures, and to others it sounds like Jesus the Son of God, was with Him in creation, and even, that the Son was the one that did the creating, so that is why we want to read a few verses from the gospel of John. Notice verse 1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Now verse 14 says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Naturally we understand that the flesh was the flesh of Jesus, but that only occurred two thousand years ago, when by the Word of God, or when the Word which was God, spoke, to create an embryo in the womb of Mary, the young virgin, and she nurtured it to birth. But what about the original creation, Why did Paul say, while speaking of Jesus Christ, that all things were created by Him? Brothers and sisters: You just have to realize Paul, having a revelation of the Godhead, and writing to saints that also had such a revelation, was speaking of the Father which dwelt in the Son, and was ONE with Him, when he said that all things were created by Him. As we go to the Greek to get the meaning of the terminology in John 1:1, we find that in the Greek, this WORD term, used here, simply means, “a thought, or concept,” and also pertains to the expression or utterance of that thought. So it was God’s thoughts that were with Him before there was ever anything created, and by those thoughts, were all things created. Therefore as we continue reading in John 1:2, let us be conscious of the fact that WORD, as used here, applies to the Father, and not to the Son, and if the Father created all things by his Word, then certainly, we know Paul the apostle knew that, and was not even thinking in terms of the Son, when he wrote that particular statement to the Colossians. John 1:2, “The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; (still speaking of the Father) and the life was the light of men.” That life spoken of in verse 4, pertains to eternal life, and it is that eternal life that has become the light of men, for this eternal life in man, illuminates and makes know the very will and purpose of God. That eternal life has shined in darkness, and the darkness cannot comprehend it. The word darkness pertains to the sinful and evil world, and encompasses all of Satan’s demonic forces as well as all evil men. They cannot lay hold upon this light, for this eternal life is shed forth upon only those who were unknown of the Father before the foundation of the world. Verse 10 says. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” He (the Father) was in the world, ( in the flesh of His Son ) and the world was made by Him, (before there ever was this Son) and the world knew Him not. But when He came unto His own, He came in the form of a man, and His own received Him not. Instead of receiving Him, they allowed their very Messiah to be crucified.
WHO CREATED ALL THINGS?
I believe we have sufficiently showed that Paul could not possibly have been referring to the Son when he wrote to the Colossians, that all things were created by Him. Of course we do certainly realize that the Son of God was in the very Spirit image of the Father, but the Son (as the Son) was not with the Father in creation, except in His great mind. Even to say that the WORD was the Son, after the Son came into the World, is not correct terminology, for He was just the expression of that WORD, which, as we pointed out, pertains to the thoughts of the Father, in redemption. That is why He (Jesus) said, I only do what my Father shows me. Now let us read Colossians 1:19, and we will return to Luke. “For it pleased the Father that in Him (Jesus) should all fulness dwell.” Yes, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was a full expression of all the attributes of the Father. That is how God chose to walk among men. Not by vacuuming Himself from His omnipresent existence, and pouring all of Himself into His Son, but simply by filling His Son with the fulness of everything that He is. It is just like taking a half filled glass of spring water and filling it the rest of the way with salt water from the Pacific Ocean. Once you do that, you then have in that glass a full representation of all the mineral content of the Pacific Ocean, but you do not have all the Pacific Ocean in your glass. Yet you could truthfully hold that glass up and say, that the fulness of the Pacific Ocean was there in your glass. Do you see it? Every attribute of the Father was present in the Son. Yet from the standpoint of the flesh, Jesus was human in every way, and that takes us back to Luke 1:27, where Gabriel was sent to Nazareth, “To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.” If I was going to Israel to find such a person, and I had never been there before, I would no doubt have to ask along the way, Could you tell me how to get to Nazareth? Then when I finally reached Nazareth, I would be asking someone, Where will I find a certain young woman named Mary, who is espoused to a man named Joseph? Do you catch my point? That angel knew exactly where to go, how to get there, and how to find the certain virgin named Mary. He made no mistakes. “And the angel came in unto her, and said, hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: (Jehovah Elohim) blessed art thou among women. (The Catholics sure like to use this verse.) And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.” In other words, What sort of greeting is this? What is he getting ready to say? “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” Now even though Isaiah said, His name shall be called Emmanuel, the angel told both Mary and Joseph, that His name would be JESUS, so there was no mistake made. Emmanuel meant, God with us, but that was not to be the name He would be called by, for the name JESUS conveyed all the attributes of the Father, and came in perfect harmony with Isaiah 9:6, which gives many of the titles attributed to Him. As for myself, I find it very interesting in reading Isaiah 9:6, that God spoke in such a way as to be speaking on behalf of the people who would be looking for the Messiah, a Savior which was to come. “For unto US a child is born, unto US a son is given.” Simeon and Anna were both good examples of those in Israel who looked for, longed for, and lived for the day that their promised Redeemer would appear.
SIMEON AND ANNA IN THE TEMPLE
Notice Luke 2:25, what is said about Simeon. “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; (the deliverance, or Comforting) and the Holy Ghost, (If this had been written at the very time it took place the term Holy Ghost would not have been used; it would no doubt, have stated that the Spirit revealed unto him.) That he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ, (or anointed one) And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; (but only a few, recognized what child this was) A light to lighten the Gentiles, (Notice this prophetic promise to Gentiles.) And the glory of thy people Israel.” Actually this child was not yet God’s anointed one, but since Simeon was giving out a prophecy, everything is spoken in a positive sense. I can just see that devout old man standing daily in the temple compound, always looking with expectancy toward every little baby that was carried past him, for he knew in his heart that he would not die until his eyes had seen the Lord’s promise, the Messiah that was to come. In the natural,, there was nothing different about this little baby that Mary and Joseph brought in. He probably looked just like all the rest, to everyone else, but I believe that Simeon and Anna saw a light around him that others did not see. Besides that, the Spirit of God was present to say, (though not be audible words) This is the one you have been waiting to see. He no doubt walked to Mary and said, Madam: Would you please let me hold your little baby? Probably, tears of great joy began to roll down his cheeks as he held that little baby in his arms, and he began to pray, and magnify God who had been faithful to His promise. Then he said, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, according to your word: for my eyes have seen thy salvation. By the Spirit, he could see what this child was destined to become. Was salvation already accomplished? Only in the mind of God, but everything was moving forward toward that hour. Simeon would be a dead man himself, long before Jesus would ever hang upon that old rugged cross, and therefore would never see the day when Gentiles would be partakers of God’s great salvation plan, but he rejoiced to be able to see it in the Spirit, and to be able to hold in his arms the very little vessel that would one day, fulfill all that he had been showed by the Spirit of God. Let us read some more. Verse 33, “And Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him.” (Here was a man, revealing things that went far beyond what the angel of the Lord had revealed to them, as he appeared to them individually. This man stood there holding the little baby in his arms and began to prophesy as he blessed them.) Verse 34, “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel: and for a sign which shall be spoken against: Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” The Godhead was not even in the picture at this time. Every mention of the Lord, and of the Holy Ghost, pertains to the one great eternal Spirit Elohim, which existed before there ever was anything else. This same Spirit had been dealing with an elderly woman named Anna, and she also appeared on the scene about the time Simeon handed the baby back to his mother, so let us read verses 36-38, and hear what she had to say, by the same Spirit that caused Simeon to prophesy. “And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple (they were not actually allowed access to the temple itself, but to the temple grounds within the walls.) But served God with fasting and with prayers night and day. (Notice what Luke said about her.) And she coming in at that instant (right when Simeon was handing the little baby back to its mother)gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to ALL THEM, THAT LOOKED FOR REDEMPTION IN JERUSALEM,” all them that believed Isaiah’s prophecy, and trust in the Lord to fulfill it. God never has any missing pieces to the puzzle, He is putting together. Everything falls right exactly into place, and at the exact time it is supposed to. That is why we need not fear, nor be over anxious about the rapture of the church, and what my take place before then, for God is in perfect control of it all.
EDUCATION PRODUCES MAKE BELIEVERS
Alright, so the angel of the Lord told Mary that she would conceive in her womb, bring forth a son, and that he should be called JESUS, and then continues saying, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: (In other words, This child is going to be special child, and will be called the Son of the Highest. There, again, let me say, If God, known as the Father, is the Highest, then it would be impossible for there to be three, all equal in authority.) And the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” Actually time just passes from the Millennial age right on into the Eternal age. “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Since we are devoting the time to this message to try and clear up a lot of tradition in the minds of God fearing people, let me just take this opportunity right here to point out the fact once again, that if the Holy Ghost, the Highest, and God, the Father, are not all one and the selfsame Spirit, then Jesus had more than one Father. I hope this is clear to all of you who love truth, for it is such an important point, in striking down this trinity doctrine that is so common among Gentiles. So just think about this for a moment, before we move on. Anyone that has common sense knows that whoever impregnates a woman, is the father of the child that comes forth, and both here, and also in Matt. 1:20, we learn that Mary was with child of the Holy Ghost, (the Spirit of God.) Therefore her child JESUS, having but one Father, and that one Father being the great eternal Spirit, the Creator, how can anyone possibly allow themselves to believe that the Holy Ghost was, and is another person of the Godhead? Even pagans, before the advent of Jesus Christ, knew that a baby, born of woman, had only one father, so how can people who profess to be enlightened by the Spirit of God, believe something that is absolutely impossible? Only the devil himself, could hatch up such a foolish bunch of nonsense. They (those who believe in a trinity)say that it is a great mystery, and that we are not supposed to understand it, and brother, it is a good thing that a true child of God does not have to try to understand such a senseless bunch of nonsense, or he could never have a minute’s peace of mind. You would never know who to pray to, you would never know how many thrones God has in heaven, nor what to expect when you get there. With a trinity concept of God, and a closed mind about the Godhead, the more you study the scriptures, the more confused you become. That is why these great Doctors of Divinity have to use such high and holy terminology, it is a disguise, to hide their spiritual ignorance. They did not get those words, and terms of speech from the Bible, I know that much; for the Bible is written in terminology so simple that even the uneducated can understand it, if they have the Spirit of God to guide them. Therefore I say to you, whoever you may be that looks to your education to reveal God to you, You are searching in vain. God cannot be found that way. Did not Jesus Himself say, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” That means that in child like faith we must accept Him, and allow the Holy Ghost to teach us what we need to know, instead of depending upon our education, or our situation in life. Some people have spent their whole life in church, so to speak, and they are still just as lost as anyone else, because they have never come to Jesus Christ the only way he will receive anyone. How is that, Preacher? Brother, there is only one way, and that is the way Peter pointed those Orthodox Jews to, in Acts 2:38, when they finally asked, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter answered them saying, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. All of those Jews were already religious, just like many of you, but they needed to be born again, in order to enter into God’s great redemption plan, and so do a lot of you. Your father’s religion, or your mother’s religion will never get you into the kingdom of God. It may keep you going to church. It may cause you to take part in all that the true saints are doing, but the sad truth is, no matter how much you do, if you never come to the reality of the new birth, you are just a hypocrite, a make believer. Now, don’t get offended at me, I am trying to help you. It is God’s word that requires you to be born again, in order to enter into the kingdom of God, and none of you should have to be told whether or not you have been born again. If you do not know beyond any shadow of doubt that you have, then the chances are great, that you never have. For the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons and daughters of God. (1 John 5:10, Romans 8:16) Therefore it you do not have that witness within you, your works in the church are vain. Romans 8:9, the last part of the verse says, “ Now if any man (or any person) have not the Spirit of Christ, he (or she) is none of His.” If you are too high up in church government to ever humble yourself and obey the gospel according to God’s only way, then you will live your life as a make believer, and die in your sinful state of unbelief, and the only record of your life upon earth will be dependant upon what people think of you, and that has no eternal value. To obey is better than sacrifice, says the word of God, regardless of who you are.
JESUS— OUR ELDER BROTHER
Now if you have followed my words this far in the message, and you still believe in the trinity, don’t blame me when you are rejected of God, for I have told you the truth, and I have not asked you for one thing in return. I have nothing to sell, and I am not trying to make a great name for myself; I am only trying to obey the call that I believe God has upon my life. If you have better words in which to express the truth of God’s word, then use them. You will not offend me in the least. I just have to use what I have. One thing I do know though, when we get to Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, we will be right back where it all started from, in the Garden of Eden, all believing in one God, and He will be all in all, just like the apostle Paul stated, in 1 Cor. 15:28. God will be back in His family in the fulness of Himself throughout all eternity. In 1 Cor. 15:28, Paul said, “Then cometh the end, when He (Jesus) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He (Jesus the Christ) must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” So, brothers and sisters: There will come that glorious day when Jesus will no longer have to function in the redemption offices, for all of God’s lost creation will be redeemed back to the place Adam had with Him before the fall. Jesus will then be our elder brother (Heb. 2:11) in the great family of God. Bro. Jackson: Does that mean that Jesus will lose something. NO. It means that we will gain something, so that we will be just like Him. It really is not a matter of Jesus losing anything; it simply is a matter where God’s Ambassador of Peace has accomplished His mission, and no longer has any need for the credentials He carried in the role of redemption. Does that mean that all of God’s redeemed children will be perfect, just like Jesus? That is what redemption is, returning something back to its original. When Adam was created, he too was sinless, and possessed the same attributes as the God that created him. That is what being in the image of God means. Adam was God’s first son, but Jesus was God’s first begotten Son. Adam was created from nothing, while Jesus was allowed to pass through God’s law of reproduction from the standpoint of His flesh. In other words, God bypassed the sex act between man and woman, and simply created an embryo in the womb of Mary, and then allowed the woman’s body to take it from that point. Therefore as far as the flesh of Jesus is concerned, it was made from the same carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and water from the earth, that all other flesh is made from, through what Mary ate and drank. By bypassing the creative law of reproduction, that is, from the seed of a man coming into contact with the egg of a woman, and just simply creating an embryo in the womb of Mary, by His spoken word, Jesus was born of woman just like all other little babies are born, but he was without any of the inherited attributes that all the rest of us have. It is a biological fact, that every little baby born into this world as a result of the sex act between man and woman, has equal hereditary attributes both from the mother and the father. At any rate, regardless of what terminology you may wish to use, to speak of it, God created a perfect life cell in the womb of that young virgin girl, and that is the reason, and the only reason that it can be said that Jesus was completely sinless, and perfect in every way. He had a Godlike nature, and in every way, attributes of God, yet he was not deity until the day John baptized him, and the Spirit of the Father who created that cell of life in Mary, descended upon Him from heaven, in the (as Luke described it) bodily shape of a dove. At that time, a voice came from heaven saying, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” From that time and onward, the great God of all creation was incarnated in the flesh and blood man called the Son of God. But all this talk you have heard about the eternal Son of God is incorrect, for until two thousand years ago, the Son Jesus, existed only in the mind of God. He was in the mind of God even before there was a son, or moon, or any star, and the very virgin that would carry that cell of life was in His mind also, but not until two thousand years ago, did this Son have any literal material existence. For a full thirty years this Son of God grew up in stature and maturity, and during that time, he spoke as the Son of God, just like at the temple that day, when Mary and Joseph had been searching for Him, and upon finding Him sitting in the midst of the scholars, both hearing them as well as asking questions of them, and when Mary inquired of His behavior, He said, How is it that ye sought me? Know ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? They did not understand exactly what He meant, but we can be assured that He knew who His Father was, and He was learning all about Him.
JESUS’ FIRST MIRACLE
Now the Catholics will tell you that as a little boy He was out creating birds and so forth, but I am here to tell you, that this perfect Son of God never did any miracles at all, until after He was baptized by John. I know that disturbs some of you, but I can prove it by the scriptures to anyone who will take the scriptures as the authority. It is true, as we have already pointed out, that all the prophecies about Him were spoken in the present, positive sense, but they only became effective when He was anointed to fulfill them. You will recall, that after He was baptized, He was driven by the Spirit, into the wilderness, to be tested by the devil. That is where He proved Himself to be the perfect Son of God. Before that, there were no miracles performed by Him. We go to the 2nd chapter of John to prove that. We find here that He is attending a wedding reception in Cana of Galilee, and when they ran out of wine, Mary came to Him and said, “They have no wine.” But, notice what He said back to her. “Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.” That was not God speaking; that was the Son speaking. He did not yet know what to do about it. He only knew that it was not yet time for Him to do anything except to continue walking obediently to the Father. But Mary just ignored His answer, and said to the servants, Whatever He tells you to do, that do ye. So now He has really been put on the spot, and the Father did not forsake Him, for about that time, He looked at those servants and said, Fill the water pots with water, and they did as they were told. Then He said to them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. I need not go on. You and everyone know the story. What they served from those water pots was the best wine that any of them had drank. Turning that water into wine was His first miracle. Verse 11, tells us so, but I want you to know, those words, “Fill the water pots with water,” were not the words of the Father. The Father and the Son are now a complete unity, if I may express it like that. The Spirit of the Father and of the Son are one Spirit, and from that time on, throughout the rest of His ministry upon earth, one time you would hear Him speak as the Son, and another time, you would hear Him speak as the Father. That is what Trinitarians are never able to reconcile. They hear Him praying to the Father, and they will say, There has to be more than one, or else He (Jesus) would be praying to Himself. Now, Saints, Do not allow your mind to be channeled into the devils’s trap. The fact that the Father (Spirit) dwells in His Son, does not eliminate the Son, and neither does it remove the Father from His omnipresence in the universe. Therefore even though all the fulness of the Father dwelled in Him, Jesus the Son was not looking within Himself when He prayed; He spoke to the omnipresent Spirit just like we do. Is that clear: Can you see it? I will use a little illustration, that may make this a little more clear to some of you. It will not be exactly the same, but it will allow you to see how one set of vocal cords can be used both by God and by the person whose voice does the speaking. A person could be speaking upon any human subject one minute, and the very next minute the Spirit of God could anoint him to speak, “Thus saith the Lord.” It would be the same vocal cords being used, in both instances, but the, “Thus saith the Lord, would not be from the human spirit of the person; it would be from the Spirit of God in him. The big difference here is, Jesus had the Spirit of God without measure, and we have only a measure. You can turn to John 3:34, and see what John said about Jesus Christ. “For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.” In other words, Here was a Son completely submitted to the will of the Father in all things, therefore the Father bestowed upon that Son, all power and authority to accomplish His mission and purpose, but when the Son exercised that authority and power to perform a miracle, it was from that standpoint of the Father rather than the Son.
JESUS’ THREEFOLD WORK UPON EARTH
Naturally this great subject of the Godhead, encompassing the humanity and the deity of Christ, is too big for any of us to comprehend with the natural mind, and that is what has caused religious minded people down through time, just to give a traditional interpretation to those things that they did not understand, and let it go at that. But tradition, in the spiritual mind of a person, is darkness, while truth in that same mind, is light. That is what John meant when he said that this light lighteth the pathway of every man, or is made available to every man, but all men are not going to receive that light, and that is where the condemnation is. Those who love darkness better than light, are rejected of God. Their traditions are not acceptable to Him. You may believe exactly what your saintly old grandmother believed, and still be walking in darkness, for truth has been made available to you, that was not present in her hour, and that is what God is looking at . The Scribes and Pharisees in the days when Jesus Christ walked upon earth, had their traditions which spoke of this great revelation that was to come, but when it came in such a simple fashion, they were not able to shake themselves loose from their traditions, to receive it. That great light was walking the streets of Jerusalem in the flesh of His only begotten Son, and only those to whom the Father revealed Himself, were able to see it. That is why Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father (the Spirit ) draw him.” The Jews were to see the Father, in Jesus, (John 14:7-11) but the disciples were to see Jesus, in the church, (John 16:16-17) Jesus had a threefold work in revealing the Father to the Jews of that day. For He was to reveal His name, His word, and His works. All this was in Jesus the Christ. In John 14:9, He said to Phillip, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” Why did He say that? Because Phillip had just said, Lord, Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied. You have to have a spiritual eye to see the Father in me? That kind of intermingling would be impossible for anything except spirit beings. “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: (The Son talking) but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works sake.” Now notice verses 13-14, how the name of the Father is revealed. The redemption name of the Father is the name of the Son, so He says, “And whatever ye shall ask in my name, that will I DO, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Why would the Father be glorified? Because it is by the power and authority of the Father, that the Son is able to perform feats that go beyond the realm of natural man. 14 “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I WILL DO IT.”
HIS WORD— HIS WORKS— HIS NAME
Now notice verse 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 remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” It is by the authority of the Father, that the Spirit of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts. There are many scriptures that we could read, which show that Jesus’ mission was to reveal the Father to His creation, but for now, let us just read a few verses from John chapter 17, where Jesus was praying to the Father. In verse 3, we find, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the WORD which thou gavest me to do.” Here we see that He had been doing the WORKS of the Father, and in verse 6, we see that it was the Father’s name that was being revealed through Him. “I have manifested (made known) thy NAME unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, (by foreknowledge and predestination) and thou gavest them me; and they have kept THY WORD. Verse 7, Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. Notice verse 8. For I have given unto them the WORDS which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” So it is the works of the Father, and words of the Father, and the Father’s name, that was being revealed during the 3 ½ years Jesus walked among men. Then when we go back to John 14:12, we learn something else. Not only did Jesus do the WORKS of the Father, but those who believe on Him will also do likewise. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the WORKS that I do shall he do also; and greater WORKS than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” That just allows us to see that it is God’s name, God’s word, and God’s works, that are revealed to mortal men, when the true Gospel is preached. But none of these are revealed through the preaching of man’s traditions. Trinitarians speak of God being incarnated in Jesus Christ, but they did not, and do not understand it, or they would not believe that God is three persons. They speak of the only begotten Son of God, and never once stop to realize the fact that if He were begotten of the Father, He could not possibly have had any part in the creation of the first man Adam. Bro. Jackson, the Bible says all things were created by Him. Yes, I know. We have already been through all of that, and you did not catch the revelation of it. All things were created by He(the Father Spirit)that dwelled in the Son (Jesus the Christ.) Brothers and sisters: It requires a spiritual revelation to walk with God in truth. For even the ancient Egyptians believed that the God of heaven was incarnated in flesh, but the flesh that they looked to, was that of a cow. I have seen the tombs where they would entomb their sacred cows. They were just as serious about their religion as any of you. Now you say, (picture of Take The Narrow Road In the Middle, THUS SAITH THE LORD)But that is just plain spiritual ignorance. I agree. But that is also what believing that God is three persons is, spiritual ignorance, likened unto paganism.
WHAT CAME DOWN FROM ABOVE?
Brother Jackson: I still do not understand how Jesus could pray to the Father saying, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was, if Jesus did not come down to earth from heaven. Even Jesus Himself said, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world, and go to the Father.” Alright, let us just go back to the birth of Jesus and look at a couple of realities, for when this message is completed, I pray that everyone of you will be able to see exactly, in what capacity God was in His Son Jesus, and also how He accomplished it, and in what way is He also in every born again believer. For centuries the Jews had been looking for the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning their promised Messiah, and they knew that their Messiah was going to be a man, a man anointed by that divine Spirit of God. But they, like religious people of all ages, gave the scriptures their own human interpretations, and closed their minds so tightly that they could not be opened to receive the Messiah when He came God’s way. By man’s reasoning, the birth of Jesus who was to be the Christ, should have been announced to the religious leaders of that day, but God who knows the heart’s innermost thoughts of every man, had a different opinion about it. In the first place He let Him be born under very obscure circumstances. There was no great preliminaries leading up to His birth. In fact Mary her self did not even know exactly when she would give birth to the little baby she was carrying, for she did not know at what moment in her life conception actually took place. That is why she left Nazareth, and went to Bethlehem with Joseph, to pay their taxes, without taking along anything for the little baby that would be born of her while they were there. This accounts for the fact that, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes when the shepherds went to see Him, which was nothing more than some old rags, the wrappings off of an old ox yoke that was probably hanging on the wall there in the stable. Do you think any expectant mother would be without little baby clothes, when that little one arrives, if she knows approximately when to expect it? We all know better than that. All right, so what did God do, when the little baby was born? He sent His angels to announce the birth of His only begotten Son, not to the religious leaders in Jerusalem, but to some humble shepherds abiding in the field with their flocks out on the Judean hillside. We have already touched on it, but turn back to Luke 2:8, and let us read a few verses. “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory (presence) of the Lord shone round about them: And they were afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” When the angels left them, those shepherds immediately went into town to find the Savior that had been born unto them. They found Him exactly as they had been told they would, for there in a manger lay the little baby, wrapped in those old rags to keep him warm. Was He the Son of God at that moment? Yes, He most certainly was. For He, like every other little baby boy that is born into the world, is the son of the one that its mother conceived from, and we already know that Mary conceived by the Spirit of God, without the sex act that God’s natural law of creation works through. Therefore we can say dogmatically, Yes, that little baby lying there was already the Son of God. But right here is where I want every one of you to pay close attention to what I say. The flesh lying there DID NOT come down from above. Every molecule of it was from the earth. Is that understood? All right then, What did come down from above? What was with the Father in creation? The very spirit of life that was in that little body of flesh, is what came down from above. But that life was not deity at that time; it was just perfect human life exactly like Adam had before He disobeyed God, and had a sentence of death imputed to him. In other words Jesus was a flesh and blood human being, and the Spirit of life in that flesh and blood is what came down from above, but it was not the Spirit, Elohim, the Father of all creation. It was the spirit of life from that Spirit which is that source of all life. Maybe you could better understand, if you will just stop to realize that the spirit of life in every creature comes from that one great eternal, omnipresent Spirit called, The Father. But as we have said already, the thing that made Jesus sinless, was the fact that his conception bypassed the genes of Joseph and Mary, and came directly to the womb of Mary by an act of creation. That is why the Son could pray to the Father, and also speak of coming out from God. He knew exactly who He was. He also knew that He did hot have that Spirit of deity, until after He was baptized by John at the age of thirty years. He knew Joseph was not His paternal father, but He also knew that He was to respect him as His earthly father in all matters of respect and submission. Genetically, there was nothing in Him from Joseph nor from Mary, but from the human standpoint Mary was His mother, because she gave birth to Him. It was also proper and customary for Joseph to be referred to as His father; we all understand that, I am sure. But what is so hard for so many to understand, is how a child at age 12, could have such perfect knowledge and understanding of the things of God. Brother! That is how every one of us would have been, if Adam had not done what he did. As I said already, He had a perfect mind throughout all the years of His childhood, but He had to be allowed to grow up into manhood, and come to maturity before deity powers were bestowed upon Him. Then, even after the Spirit of the Father descended, and abode with Him, He still had to be tested and proved, in order to see if He would misuse those deity attributes. That is what the test in the wilderness was for, after He was baptized, after the Father had taken up His residence inside the Son.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS TO MAKE
Many people seem to have the idea that a child of God, filled with the Holy Ghost, cannot be tempted, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. Actually, that is when the real temptation, or testing, begins. For you then have something in you that can resist the devil and all his demonic powers, but that something in you, will not force you to follow the right path every time you are tested. He is there to enable you to overcome, if that is your choice, and He is there to chasten you if you make the wrong choice, but He will not force your choice. Yes, He will influence your choice. He will flash scriptures before your face, and at times, even allow you to see what the consequences of a wrong choice will be, but the choice is yours to make. That is how it was with Adam. He was not forced to disobey God’s command, and neither was he tricked by the devil. He knew what God had said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof (or partakest) thou shalt surely die,” but he went ahead just the same, by his own choice, and thereby brought down a death sentence upon the whole human race. When Jesus was tested, there in the wilderness, the fulness of the Godhead that Paul spoke of to the Colossians, was already dwelling in Him, so that He could have literally turned every one of those stones into a tasty loaf of bread, but that obedient Son refused to use the supernatural power of God to satisfy a need of the flesh. You say, If the Father had already joined Himself to the Son, could He really have been hungry? Yes, absolutely. That did not change His flesh in the least. The human (flesh and blood man) Son of God still had to be fed and cared for just the same as anyone else. The big difference is, He did not pamper His flesh like we do. What He did as a Son of God was set a perfect example before all who would ever be faced with choices between right and wrong in this life. Not just as an adult, but throughout His whole life. It would be wrong for us to even think that He did not enjoy playing with other children as a boy growing up, for I believe there were certain things He enjoyed doing. But you can believe me, He was not out somewhere throwing rocks at His neighbor’s camels, stealing, nor shooting dice in a back alley. His mind was constantly occupied with how to please the Father, the great eternal Spirit. When we are born again, God desires for us to catch a true vision of this perfect Son of God, and pattern our own lives after it. No I am not talking about a supernatural vision by the Spirit; I am talking about us seeing Jesus Christ in the scriptures in such a real way, that His fervency to always please the Father will cause us to dwell more and more on pleasing the Father. That is a real part of growing into the stature of Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful thing, to know the truth. But it is a pathetic sight, to see people who know the truth, actually living below the moral standards of some ancient pagans. Then there is another element of religious people that spend all their efforts trying to be where they can witness or partake of some supernatural phenomena, and these never give any thought to the true doctrine of Christ, nor to proper Christian conduct and moral behavior. These seem to think of God’s gifts of the Spirit the same way a small child does a box full of new toys; they will play with one for a little while, then throw it down and try another one. Are you getting my point? I have actually been present in meetings where the gifts of the Spirit was used like toys, and I am sure that some of you have too, but it ought not to be so. Of course we all realize that babes in Christ do not understand everything there is to know about proper Christian conduct the first day they give their heart to God, but there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for such a person to go year after year without ever growing in the stature of the Lord Jesus Christ.
GOD’S WORD IS OUR DEFENSE
Now at this point, I want to explain something to you about the Godhead. We have used the scripture many times, even in this message already, where Paul wrote to the Colossians saying, “For in Him (Jesus Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.” But how many of you actually realize that there are still some things that He who is eternal keeps to Himself? In order not to feel like there is a contradiction here, we must realize what Paul was looking at when he wrote those words. When Jesus walked upon earth among men for 3 ½ years, what was his purpose? What was He to accomplish? He was to reveal the mind of God the Father in all things pertaining to the salvation of lost mankind. During that time all the fulness of the Godhead pertaining to that office was bestowed upon Him. But you know the prophets spoke of Him not only as Savior and prophet, but also as High priest and King, so I ask you, Was He King, when He walked upon earth? NO, He was King to be. Was He High Priest? No, He was High Priest to be. Brothers and sisters: When He comes, God incarnated, to fulfill His role as King of kings, He will not conduct Himself as a prophet. When He was a prophet, He was meek and lowly, but when He comes as King, He will be swinging a sword. He has been before the throne of the great eternal Spirit for two thousand years interceding for all that would ever repent and turn to God, but when time comes for Him to leave that mercy seat, intercession will be finished for the grace age. Therefore when you think of Him in the fulness of the Godhead, you need to think of the fulness of the purpose of God, or the will of God that He is seeking to unfold. Whatever realm He is functioning in, you will not find God working outside of that dimension. But He will certainly be there in all the fulness of His great attributes unfolding the fulness of His purpose. When Jesus was ministering here on earth for 3 ½ years, He was not demonstrating how to be a perfect King, He was demonstrating to all mankind, how to be a perfect son of God, how to yield to the will of the Father in every situation. Bro. Jackson: How can we always know the will of God? Saints, God is not unfair; He will never expect any of us to go beyond what we know to do, but at the same time, we have no right to expect God to reveal more of His will to us, unless we are making an honest effort to walk in what we know already. It is a proven fact, the closer you follow Him, the better you will know Him. But do not ever get the idea that walking close to God will set you free from Satan’s sneaky attacks, for he will watch for every opportunity to try and trick you. Whenever you get to feeling a little low for some reason or another, he will be right there accusing you, you must have done something wrong. Surely God doesn’t love you anymore, or He wouldn’t let you suffer like that, and a million other things, but regardless of what the devil throws at you, if you know how to use the sword of the Spirit (The word of God) you will always be able to overcome. That is why Paul wrote what he did in (1st Cor. 10:13,) “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer (allow) you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” In other words, those who walk close to God will always have that sword of the Spirit handy to use, just like Jesus did when Satan tempted Him, there in the wilderness. When the tempter said to Him, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” But Jesus was ready with His sword, and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Then the devil took Him to Jerusalem, and sat Him upon a pinnacle of the temple, (Now the devil did not literally carry Jesus to Jerusalem and sit Him upon such an high place; he merely gave Him a vision) and saith unto Him, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Now the devil was actually quoting scripture to Him, (Psalms 91:11) but what did Jesus say to him? “Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Some of these snake handlers ought to read that verse along with Mark 16:17-18, and there would not be so many of them dying from poisonous snake bites.) Then the devil took Him up to a high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (by another vision) and said unto Him, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then Jesus saith unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.” Now I hope you were paying attention, for I want to ask you a question. What power did Jesus use against Satan, that is not just as available to us, as it was to Him? Do not say, as some have, But He was God. That was not God being tempted, for God cannot be tempted with evil. You will find James saying that. This was the Son of God being tempted. The Father was in Him already, but He did not intervene. Everything was still up to the Son. This newly invested power and authority was there, but this Son of God overcame Satan the very same way He expects each and every one of us to overcome him, but our correct usage of the word of God. That is why Paul said in 2 Cor. 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” I want you to know that there are very few times if any at all, that Satan will ever tempt you by speaking with an audible voice. It is the mind that he works through. Your vain imaginations do not come to you from the Spirit of God; they come from that other spirit that is the enemy of God. Yes, Satan is a spirit also, invested with certain powers, but those powers have become perverted, to be used for evil purposes that are contrary to the perfect will of the Creator.
JESUS SAID, FOLLOW ME
Now the Father knew that the Son would not fail, but nevertheless, it had to become an established fact that the Son had been tested, and also how He overcame the tempter, or it could not have rightly been said, that in all points He was tempted like we are. Neither could Paul have written to the Hebrew saints saying, “Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” One thing I learned while I was in the army, was that an officer that had actually been in combat, spoke with a certain authority that could not be found in those that had just learned what they knew, from books, in a military academy. I will say this also, It is easier to obey the orders of an officer that will jump out of the fox hold and say, Follow me, Boys, and let’s get them, than one who sits back and says, Go get them, Boys. Are you getting my point? In Hebrews, Paul also wrote, that the captain of our salvation was made perfect through the things which He suffered, or through sufferings. In other words, He did not just say, Now all you that want to be saved, Get up and go do what I tell you, instead He said, Follow me. Sinful mankind could never have accepted that perfection and seen Him as a Savior, unless He too had been tempted and tested in every way that we are. The same one that refused to use supernatural power to satisfy His own personal hunger, a few months later, took a little boys lunch and fed a great multitude. Do you know why, or how? Because those people that had been following Him for days, without food to eat, were on the verge of dropping in their tracks, and when His compassion reached out to them, there was something in Him that just kept on multiplying those loaves and fishes. That same something was already in Him out there in the wilderness, but He refused to call upon that authority for the gratification of His own personal flesh. That pleased the Father to witness Him proving His example ship for you and me. After that temptation was completed, He returned in the power of the Spirit, or as another writer said, full of the Holy Ghost. Later when He returned to Nazareth where He was brought up, He entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read, as His custom was, so they brought Him a scroll of Isaiah, the prophet, and He read the portion where Isaiah had written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” He closed the scroll and handed it back to the minister, and sat down. He knew there would be a day of vengeance, just like the 2nd half of verse 2 says, but that would be later, so He did not read that part. Brothers and sisters: I am showing you this to let you see how the Son knew exactly how to yield Himself to every scriptural setting. He just rolled up the scroll, handed it back, and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” All that heard Him marveled at the gracious words He spake, but they began to say, Is not this Joseph’s son? You all know the story, how He knew exactly what they were thinking and whispering one to another, and said, “Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.” He went ahead to remind them how Elijah had been sent to only one of the many widows in the land during the time of a great famine, and how Namen the Syrian was healed of leprosy when there were so many others in the land of Israel at that same time which also had leprosy, and they must have caught the point He was making, for it says, they were all filled with wrath and would have thrown Him down from a high hill, if He had not passed from their midst. It just goes to show that people whose motives are not right, cannot bear to hear the truth. Trinitarian preachers that are afraid they might lose their job unless they preach what the congregation wants to hear, cannot stand to hear the truth about the Godhead. They enjoy standing so piously, and speaking of the blessed holy trinity, and how God is perfected in three persons, all equal in authority, yet three distinct persons, each having his own identity.
Brothers and sisters: I hope you are enjoying these messages as much as I am. For as I search out these many scriptures that we are using to show the humanity, and also the deity of Jesus the Christ, it thrills my soul just to realize that God saw fit to lift me up out of man’s traditions, and put a revelation in my heart that allows me to wade through all the confusion of our day, and see God’s great purpose being perfected in spite of all that Satan can do. HALLELUJAH! Praise His great name. Some think He should be called Jehovah, others say He should be called Yahweh, and others, This and That, but in my Bible, His redemption name is JESUS, and I like what Paul said in Ephesians about the whole family in heaven and earth being named that, In Ephesians 3:14-15, he said, “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” I was born into a family by the name of Jackson, so I carry the Jackson name. It is a family name, that wherever I go it still identifies me with that certain family. You each have your family name that identifies you with certain genetic family. Why then would anyone object to God having a family name by which all His redeemed children would be called? That is exactly what the compound name JESUS is, and I believe the scriptures will bear that out, as we continue looking into this precious book for the scriptures that show both the humanity, and also the deity of Jesus the Christ. We will not only see a perfect man seeking only to please the Father in everything He does, but we will also see a perfect God being exemplified through that same body of flesh. When the apostle Paul said, Let this same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, he was not just speaking idle words, that is exactly what God’s purpose if for us. His whole plan of redemption is designed to provide Him with a whole family of redeemed children that will be just like Jesus Christ. Tradition has God’s redeemed children going to heaven, there to dwell eternally in the heavens more as just a spirit than in a human family here on earth that He could fellowship with, and He will still have that family. As I have said many times before, redemption is restoring back, not making something different. Some of His saints will be in heaven in their immortal bodies for a period of about 7 years, but others will not leave this earth at all. They will be right here throughout all eternity.
We are going to hold the rest of what we have of this message until our next issue, for there are just too many more important points to be brought out, to try to get it all in one paper. There are many things in the Gospels that Jesus said, and did, that we want to examine more closely before we actually bring this great subject to a close, so pray for us, and watch for our next issue. May God be with you everyone, to guide you, and to protect and provide for you in this evil hour.