WE ENDED PART ONE IN JOHN, CHAPTER 6, WHERE JESUS WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW HE CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, NOT TO DO HIS OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHICH HAD SENT HIM, AND WE POINTED OUT THAT IT WAS NOT THE PHYSICAL MAN THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, BUT RATHER IT WAS THE EXPRESSED THOUGHT OF THE FATHER, THAT CAUSED THAT LITTLE GERM OF LIFE TO BE IN THE WOMB OF MARY, THAT ACTUALLY CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN. THEREFORE AS WE PICK UP OUR THOUGHT ON HOW GOD REVEALS HIMSELF, WE WANT TO LOOK AT SOME MORE SCRIPTURE, THAT WILL OPEN IT UP TO US EVEN FURTHER. LET ME SAY THIS THOUGH, UNLESS THE SAME SPIRIT THAT ANOINTED THESE VARIOUS MEN TO WRITE THESE SCRIPTURES, ANOINTS US TO UNDERSTAND THEM, THEY WILL JUST BE SO MANY WORDS. THEREFORE LET US PRAY THAT HE WILL OPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING, AND ALLOW US TO GET A REVELATION THAT WILL LIFT US ABOVE ALL OF THIS RELIGIOUS CONFUSION IN THE WORLD TODAY. WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE GOD, ALL

THE WAY FROM GENESIS 1:1 TO REVELATION 22:21, WITHOUT HAVING TO WONDER IF HE IS ONE TWO, THREE, OR A HALF A DOZEN. NOW A STATEMENT LIKE THIS MAY SOUND A LITTLE STRANGE, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE HEARD AS MANY OPINIONS ABOUT GOD, AS I HAVE, YOU CANNOT HELP BUT WONDER, WHAT ACTUALLY DO SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE ABOUT GOD? THAT IS WHY HELPING PEOPLE GET A TRUE REVELATION OF THE GODHEAD, HAS BECOME SUCH A SPECIAL CONCERN OF MINE, FOR ALL THE BEAUTIFUL TREASURES OF REVELATION ARE ACTUALLY LOCKED UP IN THAT ONE THING. AS LONG AS ANYONE BELIEVES GOD IS THREE PERSONS, ALL EQUAL IN AUTHORITY, THERE ARE AN AWFUL LOT OF SCRIPTURES THAT THEY WILL HAVE TO IGNORE, FOR THEY CANNOT POSSIBLY EXPLAIN THEM. THEREFORE WE HAVE DETERMINED TO APPROACH THIS MESSAGE FROM THE STAND POINT OF SHOWING THE VARIOUS WAY THIS ONE SOVEREIGN GOD REVEALS HIMSELF THROUGH THE BIBLE, AND FOR WHAT PURPOSE THAT MANIFESTATION WAS TO ACCOMPLISH, SO LET US CONTINUE ON. WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURES

We received a letter from a man, a minister that has been on the Contender mailing list for quite some time now. He was here on Sunday morning when I preached a message, and as I now look back over some of the notes the man sent, I realize that there are actually some things in the Bible , that when you begin to preach them, people start to get nervous. It seems that they get their mind fixed in a certain channel, and they just simply cannot look at certain other scriptures. They look at them, but they have no meaning, no bearing on the subject. I copied it all down, and now as I look back at the things I brought out about the Godhead, the oneness and everything, I can see that the man’s thinking goes back to the extreme oneness side of thinking. As I have already pointed out, they give no recognition to the Son of God at all. They look at Jesus as strictly a manifestation of God in the flesh. Truly we do have a scripture in 1st Timothy 3:16, which says, “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,” but do not forget, that the same man that wrote that God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 2 of 26 verse, also wrote a lot of other scriptures that clarify that verse. These are the things that people ought to look at. In other words, when you hear a man say something, if he has said other things that are relative to the same subject, then it becomes your responsibility to consider the whole scope of the thing. There are three or four scriptures in the gospel of John that most people use when they are on the subject of the Godhead, and all those other scriptures that actually show the Son talking, they just jump right over the, as though they do not even exist in the Bible. A trinitarian will see them, but a oneness will not. A oneness will see Acts 2:38, and a trinity will see Matthew 28:19, and there they go: one in a ditch on this side, and the other in a ditch on that side. It reminds me of two dogs pulling on a rabbit; sooner of later, they will pull it apart, and then neither one of them will have the whole object. That is exactly the way people do the scriptures; they get certain things, and just pull, and pull, and pull, until they get it away from everything else. Of course I do not want people to think I am going to seed on certain things; but at the same time, I realize that there are people out here in the world today, that need help with these scriptures. Not just because Raymond Jackson says so, but because they are unable to put a picture together. There are a lot of people in the world that will follow a man, no matter what he tells them. He can tell them that the moon is made of green cheese, and they will never investigate, to find out if it is true or not. Brother and Sisters: I hope none of you will go through life believing something a certain way, just because I have said it. You need to make sure everything you believe, lines up with the scriptures. That is every believer’s responsibility.

THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST

As for the scriptures we are looking at, the same man wrote both the gospel of John, and the book of Revelation, but there was a difference in his writing between the two. When he wrote the gospel of John, he used his own language, as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, to record things as he saw them. But when he wrote the book of Revelation, he had the Lord Himself, telling him exactly what to write. Therefore we have to look at the wording in a different light, yet endeavor to come out with the same picture. Turn in your Bibles, to the 1st chapter of Revelation, at this time. It is titled, The Revelation of St. John the Divine, yet the very first verse tells us that it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and that is exactly what it is. What we need to realize though, is that He is no longer the prophet, that John wrote about in his gospel record; He is now the high priest. But let us see if John’s revelation has changed. If what he wrote in his gospel account is true, it cannot be changed here in this prophetic letter. The truth is, this oneness picture is so beautifully entwined in the scriptures, you are just almost awestruck, as the Holy Spirit reveals it to you. One way you look at it, you see the complete human being, Jesus, the Son of God. Then on the other hand, you can see the complete perfectness and divinity of the omnipotent God portrayed. That is why it is proper to say, He is perfect God, and yet He is perfect man. But as I have already pointed out, God Himself, (Jehovah of the Old Testament) will never be your brother. Naturally you will not find anything exactly like that, written in the scriptures; this is just some words I am using here in our day, to clarify some things. God, whom you respect as your Creator will never be your brother, and Jesus the man, that was born into this world by a virgin birth, will never be your Father. Yet in the scriptures, we see where He is reverenced in that manner. The reverence though, is not going to the flesh, it is going to the deity that is portrayed through Him. Therefore if we lose that picture, we will be no different than a lot of other church going people. Therefore with these few words in mind: let us begin reading here in the first chapter of revelation. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass, and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.” Even in that, we see that there is an angelic being, a ministering spirit involved. From beginning to end, all through the sacred story, wherever God moves on the scene to contact mortal man, there is always an angel, or angels in the picture. You would not necessarily see them; but they are there just the same. Let us go on. “Who bare record of the word of God.” The word of God is the word of Jehovah. Jesus never referred to what He said, as His own God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 3 of 26 word. The audible sound came from the vocal cords of the man Jesus, but the thoughts that were conveyed, were the thoughts of Jehovah. Yes, John was a personal disciple of Jesus Christ. He was one of the two that went to the tomb, so he could truly bare record, not only of the word of God, but also of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, (The book of Revelation is not an epistle, nor a gospel; it is entirely a prophecy.) And keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Sprits which are before His throne; (That reference is giving acknowledgment unto God, Jehovah, so notice how John breaks it down.) And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead.” The word, AND, is a conjunction. This proves beyond any shadow of doubt, that Jehovah did not die. Jehovah did not raise from the dead, It was Jesus, the Son of God, that was raised from the dead, as the scriptures say, by the power of God. Anyone who pays attention to the wording in these verses, should be able to see some things. In verse 4, you see these words; “And from the seven Sprits which are before His throne.” You cannot help but wonder how the trinitarians take God, split Him up into three separate distinct persons, and still incorporate these seven Spirits into the three persons. Well, some would say, That is a mathematical problem that would take an Einstein to figure out. Yet when God is truly seen as one God, we realize that He is not seven Spirits; but within the one complete Spirit that He is, there are seven different attributes. Seven is an important number with God, for it speaks of completeness. That is why, in the Old Testament, when God began to unfold His plan of salvation, at various times, He would reveal one of those seven redemptive names. As I have already said, when men began to lose sight of, or true understanding of the one God, they eventually worked it around to where the pagans had a god for every individual thing man had need of. That is why you see so much of what actually amounts to paganism in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a mixture of ancient paganism, and primitive Christianity blended together. They just took a lot of the old Roman deities, and put in saints, to take their place. It all sounds good to carnal flesh, but it is as spiritually unrealistic, as it could possibly be. Yes the ancient pagans had a god for every individual need; but the children of Israel knew that the one true God, was the God of every situation, and that He was the only God they needed. Therefore let me say this; The seven Spirits, are not seven different spirits, separate one from another, but rather, are mentioned like that to designate the quality and virtue, and the attributes of the one true and living God. That is why also, there are seven lamps burning before the throne.

GOD’S SON WAS HUMAN

Once you accept the fact that God is not a person, but a sovereign, omnipresent Spirit, you will realize some other things also. The God that created all things, does not need oxygen to live. He needs no food to eat, nor water to drink. He does not need the sunlight, nor the light of the moon: for He was here before any of that got here. On the other hand though, the Son of God had to eat; He had to drink, breathe oxygen; and all of that, just like all the rest of us, but He was perfect man. So we can see here, John was a Jew, and all these many years later, after he has written his gospel, he still has not changed his approach to the Revelation that he saw manifested in the earlier years of his life. “Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; AND FROM JESUS CHRIST, who is the faithful and true witness, (Why is He called that? Because He is the only one that ever lived, and died, and rose again from the dead. He is the witness of that.) And the first begotten of the dead. (You can take that right to Romans 8:29) and the prince of the kings of the earth.” He has never been King of the earth yet, but all of that is potentially in Him. “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” He did that by dying for us at Calvary, and having His own blood spilled out there on the ground. That was the perfect atonement for the sins of the whole world, past, present, and future. Verse 6, “And God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 4 of 26 hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.” It is through His intercessory high priest work, that we are made kings and priests unto God, and His Father. Now if we were to take the extreme oneness stand, we would have to jump over those last three words, “And His Father,” for as we have been pointing out, they see the flesh of the Son, only as a shell for God to abide in, leaving no room for any human mind at all. Well if that were the case, why was the Son out there in the garden on His knees, praying, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me? Jehovah God has never been scared of death. But the Son of God reacted like any human would. In Hebrews, Paul speaking of Him, when He was here in the flesh, how He sought God with tears, that if it be possible, that cup might pass from Him, that cup of suffering and death. Do not ever allow yourselves to think for even a moment, that God was out there sweating great drops of blood, afraid to die, or you will find yourself believing in a God that is too weak to do anything for you. Alright, so He hath made us kings and priests unto God. That was a finished work in the mind of God, before the world was ever created, but it was not activated until Jesus was in His high priest work, interceding for us.

THE BEGINNING AND THE END

As we read verse 7, you will see that it reaches all the way out to the end of the great tribulation. “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.” This, of course, is speaking of the coming again of Jesus Christ, in His second advent. It will take place at the end of the great tribulation, after the Antichrist has fulfilled his 3 ½ year rule, and when Jesus comes to earth this time, He will truly come down from heaven in a bodily form, and His little bride will come with him. That is when the wrath of God will be poured out upon wicked mankind, and truly, men will wail because of him. Alright, verse 8 gives us a picture of something here, but we want to keep in mind, that these are words that John is hearing. He is relating the introduction, but he has not yet described what he sees. He cannot do that, until he turns around. Therefore the words we are reading, are words spoken from behind him, and that is the way he writes his introduction. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” The beginning, and the ending, gives primary recognition to Jehovah. It is stated that the words alpha, and omega, refer to the beginning and the ending of the Hebrew alphabet. I was asked a question concerning that, in a letter I received, so I just made a tape, and sent it to the person. We have to realize that when Jehovah asks human beings, to give to Him that kind of recognition; that He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending, there is a reason why He wants to be recognized in that way. It is because, before there was anything other that God Himself, there was not even a beginning yet. As a matter of fact, He was not even God yet, because the word god, speaks of an object of worship, and there was nothing to worship Him. He was a sovereign Spirit though, and everything had its beginning in Him. A beginning has got to be when something begins to come into scope, or visibility. Until there was something that was tangible or materialistic, there was no beginning, and there could not be anything associated with an ending. So we have to realize that if there is a beginning, it has to be because God is the author of it; you are dealing with creation. Then if there is an ending, we have to realize, that there is going to be certain things within the scope of time, from the beginning to the end, that will pass out of existence, never to be again. Why? Because it never finds a place in the plan of God for an eternal existence. Therefore anything that is created, can in God, have an ending. Knowing in your heart, that God is the Creator of all things, will enable you to avoid the frustrations a lot of people have today. They have missing links in the picture they are trying to put together. There never was a need for any language, until after God created something to speak it. But when god put man here, He also gave him the ability to communicate. As a matter of fact, the whole human race was of one language, all the way over to the tower of Babel. Well, who divided the languages? Jehovah God, because He is the beginning of every dialect, and He will be the ending of them also. The Bible plainly states, that in that day, in the God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 5 of 26 Millennium, He will return unto the people, a pure language. But some people get so technical: they wonder whether it will be English or Hebrew. What difference could that possibly make? God will still be the author of it, just like when He confused the languages, at the tower of Babel. This puts Him in the position of being recognized as the sole means by how anything can come into existence, and also how it can have an ending. If he is the alpha and omega of the Hebrew language, do you not think He is also the alpha and omega of the English language as well? He sure is. But let us finish verse 8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, (now) which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Yes Jesus is coming again. He is coming from heaven, and every eye shall behold Him, but in Him, is Jehovah, the great God of all creation, coming to do what? To fulfill in the earth, something related to His redemption plan for the nations, as well as the earth. We call it the second coming of Jesus Christ, but let us realize that it is the coming of the Almighty too. That redemptive name which means, the Lord is present, will be applicable when He sits in Jerusalem, as King of kings, Jesus will be seen sitting there, but He will be invested with all the kingly authority of Jehovah Himself. The kingly authority comes from Jehovah, but as it was nineteen hundred years ago, it will be Jesus the Son of God that is seen sitting there.

VOICE LIKE A TRUMPET

“I John, (verse 9) who am also your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” That voice as a trumpet, lets us know that this is truly Jehovah speaking. Was not that the same thing they heard on top of Mt. Sinai? He did not say it was a trumpet, but that it was as of a trumpet. In other words, we will have to say, the voice was speaking with such sternness, and with such volume, it did not sound like just a mere human talking. It sounded like a voice that could be heard to the ends of the earth. Therefore what that actually says to us, is that even though the words are coming from the mouth of Jesus, it is Jehovah Himself, the Elohim, invested in the man, that is doing the speaking. So as this voice is speaking, again it goes back, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” Everything up until now, John has heard coming from behind him, but in this next verse we will see him turning around, to see the one that has been talking with him, so notice what he sees. “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.” The seven golden candlesticks that John saw, which looked to him like they were right there on that island, were actually a reflection of what was portrayed in heaven: seven lamps burning before the throne of God. But here on earth, they portrayed how the Spirit of God burned in those seven churches. “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.” John remembered what He looked like, for he had walked with Him for three and a half years. He knew also what He looked like, when He rose from the dead. Therefore from John’s words there, we will have to say, There are certain characteristics about Him, that have not changed. “One like unto the Son of man, clothes with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” This golden girdle around His chest portrays the role of high priest, that He has been elevated to, throughout this dispensation called the dispensation of grace, which is also the Church Ages. Notice now, as John continues the description of the one He is seeing, “His head and His hairs were white like wood, as white as snow.” From certain visible points, John could recognize that the man he was seeing, was Jesus. That is why he said, one like unto the Son of man. But His hair is definitely a different color now, than what it was when He was on earth. Does that mean His hair has turned white, because He got old? That is not the picture that is being portrayed here. The white hair portrays the ancient authority that was invested in Him, when He was taken up into heaven, and seated, or positioned at the God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 6 of 26 Father’s right hand. The Ancient of days has literally invested in Him this priestly authority which can only come from Jehovah. But the investment is not in the garment. The garment portrays the high priest of course; but the white hair, and the appearance it gives Him, is what portrays the ancient authority of Him who has always been. He is older than anything in the world. The ancient of days is never a person, but rather, the quality of what He is. Therefore all of this is meant to show us that God Almighty, the Elohim which always was, has delegated to the person of His son, the ancient authority to be high priest. But we realize that the actual priestly qualities belong only to God. For that matter, all Kingly qualities belong to God, Jehovah, and also all prophetic qualities. All of that is in that one omnipotent Spirit. But He is able to bestow that anointing upon this obedient Son, and cause Him to be invested with all of that ancient authority. As for His appearance, not only was His hair as white as snow, but His eyes were as a flame of fire. That lets us know that His vision was not limited to what His natural eyes were, on earth. Being as flames of fire, they are able to penetrate every unexplained mystery. Why? Because that was an investment in Him, from Jehovah. It is the vision of that omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient Spirit; therefore it is unlimited.

WHAT JOHN SAW

As we come to verse 15, notice His feet. “And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” This is significant of the fact that He stood in our place at Calvary, and sin was judged in Him, for every one of us. Therefore as He stood there, being recognized from some qualities as the Son of man; all of these other characteristics speak of that which has been delegated to Him. Let me say this also, The actual immortal man, that was taken up to heaven, whatever the color of His natural hair was, it never changed. Every description we see here is symbolic of something that has been delegated to him to fulfill. It all goes to show, how the object changes from position to position. This is where too many times, people lose sight of what God is. John stood there looking at this image before him, and his description of what he saw, allows us to see a portrayal of what He is, and what He has done, and what has been invested in Him. Those feet of brass, or like unto brass, then, speak of how He stood in our place, and had our sin judged in Him. In other words, just like Isaiah said, (53:6) “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Alright,”And His voice as the sound of many waters.” This takes on a characteristic likeness of Jehovah Himself, speaking, because the natural man that Jesus was, had a voice not much different than any other human voice. But when Jehovah chooses to use this voice, in that manner, this description does not bring out the human side of Jesus; it brings out the divine side, Jehovah Himself, speaking through Him. “And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” John is now looking at His face, and he is seeing something that Jesus did not have, when He appeared to them after rising from the dead. So here again, we have to realize, that this is portraying something that has been invested from the eternal Spirit into Him, to cause Him to have this likeness. This is how Peter, James and John saw Him, on the Mount of Transfiguration, when they were allowed to see a preview of His Millennial glory. When He was transfigured before them, not only did His face shine as the sun, His raiment was as white as the light also. Therefore we will have to say, All of that is a description of the glory of Jehovah invested in Him. But it is to draw complete attention to the person of Jesus Christ, even though it is God almighty that gives Him that complete description. “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” Only those that had demons cast out of them, ever fell at His feet like that, when He was on earth. But can you not see why John would react like that? Right there before him, is displayed the majestic countenance that Jehovah has invested in His obedient Son, and it caused John to react like he did. So John fell at His feet as dead. “And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last.” Once again, attention is turned back to the great Creator, and then the voice said, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore.” This gives recognition to the physical man who suffered and died. But brothers and sisters, God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 7 of 26 this is such a unified picture, it cannot be seen, except by divine revelation. When Jesus was here before, and was truly the prophet of all prophets, He exemplified that great prophetic Spirit of Jehovah, in the fullness of what it can be. In that day, many Jews saw only a man, but there were others, that saw more than a man. Those that saw more than a man, truly saw their Messiah, God invested. He was more than just a human vessel Jehovah created to get inside of; He was a living soul Himself. Yet because of the way He was conceived in Mary’s womb, by a divine act of the Spirit of God, He was without sin. But you must always remember. He was a complete human being. He cold have exercised His will at any time, and the truth of the matter is, He did exercise His will, but His will was to do the will of the Father, always. Of course we will have to say once again, The life in that vessel of clay, did come from Jehovah, but where did your life come from? This is what we want to illustrate and deal with in our next message. All life had to come from Jehovah, but the very fact that we came into the world by a perverted act, makes us fallen creatures, standing in need of a Savior. Sin entered the picture, when Adam and Eve failed their test. They had a commission, to multiply, and fill the earth, but instead of fulfilling that commission through the tree of life, they allowed themselves to be tempted and overcome, and they ended up fulfilling God’s commission through the law of the tree of death, which was the tree of knowledge. Therefore redemption was necessary, but it could not come through Adam’s genetic seed. That is why God had to act again. But this time, He did not go out, and mix clay and water, and fashion another Adam. He simply created in the womb of a young virgin, a cell of life, that would produce a Son without the fallen nature. In other words, the life of Jesus came into being, by an indirect act of creation. That is why it is right to say, Jesus the Christ, was the only begotten Son of God. He was born of woman, like any other little baby, but there was no nature to sin, in Him, because His life came from above, and ours came from beneath. In other words, our lives are the result of God’s law of creation. That law of reproduction gives us all an existence, but our life goes back through that law, to the very author of life, the Creator. When it came time for this great Creator to show His redeeming qualities, then He gives Himself a begotten Son, to carry it out through. He is called by Paul, the second Adam. Adam our progenitor according to the flesh, was a perfect man, before the fall, and had the presence of Jehovah living in that vessel of clay with him. That was where the test lay. Would they obey the voice of their Creator, and continue to enjoy that presence? Or would they disobey His command to them, and lose that presence? I think we all know the answer to that. The devil entered the picture, and Adam forfeited the position he held. As I have said, we are told in the Bible that God drove them out of the garden of Eden, and placed cherubims to guard the way to the tree of life, but that does not mean that God drove them out of a geographical spot of ground somewhere. He merely withdrew His divine presence from them, and made them subject to the five senses. They no longer had the privilege of communicating in the spirit world, as they had before. God stripped Eve of the knowledge of knowing when to partake of His law of reproduction according to the tree of life. From that time on they would have that intimate relation with each other, and it would serve the purpose of repopulating the earth, but it would be apart from the tree of eternal life. Now they could only see the animal kingdom about them, and the ground that had to be tilled by Adam, instead of the serpent that God had given him for a servant. When they lost that abiding presence of Elohim, they lost contact with the spirit world, that had previously been just as accessible to them as the material world, and they lost the privilege of bringing offspring into the world by the tree of life. All their children had death in them. But Jesus the Christ, was not born by that route; His life truly came from above. However, as I have said before, Do not try to make Him Emmanuel from the moment He was born into the world. That terminology did not apply to Him at any time, before He reached age 30.

INCARNATION MADE THE DIFFERENCE

I get letters from people who have read in the Contender where I made that statement that Jesus was not Emmanuel until after He was baptized by John, and the Spirit of the Father came down to indwell God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 8 of 26 Him, and they say, But Bro. Jackson: How about Isaiah 7:14? Well Isaiah 7:14 just simply covered the whole scope of what He was to be, just like Isaiah 9:6 does, but He was not to be known by any of that, until after the Father incarnated Him at age 30. Only a few people even knew that about Him before then. At the time of His birth, God bore witness to a few people, Anna, Simeon, the sheep herders, and so forth, but to everyone else, He was just another little Jewish baby. The wise men from the East, came and inquired. Where is he that is born King of the Jews? But He was not King of the Jews at that time; He only had that future potential lying within Him. Therefore as I have stressed over and over. He was not God with us; He was not the mighty God; He was not the everlasting Father, an neither was the government upon His shoulder at any time during the first thirty years of His life. He was perfect man, but He was not God. He had a perfect human mind, that could think, make choices, and act upon his decisions, but He never at any time during those first thirty years, attempted to work any kind of miracle, or be anything that would catch the attention of the other people. Then when the Father did incarnate Him, and He did enter into His foreordained ministry, no less than 80 times. He referred to Himself as the Son of man, placing particular emphasis upon the fact of His humanity. Brothers and Sisters: It may seem at times, like I am going to seed on certain things, but if you could read my mail, and answer my telephone for awhile, you would realize that there are still a lot of people out there, searching for truth, and no matter how well some of you may know these things already, we still have to be concerned for the ones who do not yet know them, but want to. No, we are not going to change the world, no matter what we say, but those who are still seeking to know the truth, let us be there with that truth. Those trinitarians and extreme oneness, that have already settled in their heart, what they want to believe, are not going to change, but scattered here and there among them, are still a few people who desire to walk with the Lord, and to know what truth is. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” No wonder Jesus said that, for once you know the truth, you could not care less about what the devil throws at you. His accusations and criticism means nothing to you, once you know the truth. When your conscience is clear before God, let the world scream all they want to, it will not disturb you in the least. Therefore as we put this in print, I want every angle to be covered, so that, the Lord willing, I will never have to deal with this particular message, in this way, again.

ISAIAH’S PROPHECY CONCERNING JESUS

Let us go to Isaiah 7:14, and examine it carefully. “Therefore the Lord Himself (This is none other than Jehovah Himself, speaking through Isaiah the prophet.) Shall give you a sign; (meaning Israel.) Behold, a virgin shall conceive, (It does not say when) and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” The sign was to appear to Israel, and you will notice, it said a virgin shall bear a SON, not just a child, as many people want to believe. It was to be a son, and His name was to be called Immanuel. You cannot get much more specific than that. But still people see things that are not really there. Many of the extreme oneness people, read that verse and say, See there! That proves that He was born God. No, it does not. You cannot put that one verse of scripture above everything else, that gives you a revelation of when that prophecy was fulfilled. I have never yet heard a oneness person say that the name Jesus, is a compound name. If those various deity names, or titles, carry compound meanings, then why would not this redemption name carry a compound meaning also? When Jehovah is manifested in a man, and that man constantly proclaims that He has come in His Father’s name, then how can you help but see a compound name there? We are just looking at the name here, we are not yet dealing with the man Himself, so let us go to Isaiah 9:6. This is the next thing that prophet recorded about that son that was to be born of a virgin. This is actually the Spirit of God, speaking on behalf of the people, that are looking for this great visitation from their God. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government (Now notice these prophecies; they are all given in the fulfilled sense.) Shall be upon His shoulder. (In other words the prophecy carries all the way from birth, to the climax of all that He was to fulfill in the purpose of God, but we have to be able to see an elapse of time God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 9 of 26 in all of that.) And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” I do not find in the scriptures, where anyone ever met Jesus on the street and said, Good morning Wonderful, Good morning Counselor, or anything like that. Actually He was to be all of that, but when? Not at birth. I would have to challenge anyone on that. We have too many other scriptures to look at, not to realize that. Of course, where some will argue the point, others will say, What difference does it make? It makes a lot of difference to a true revelation. Let us read on. “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 judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the lord of hosts will perform this.” Now that prophecy is spoken in the complete fulfilled sense and purpose, but its fulfillment had to await its time.

PROPHECY CONCERNING JOHN THE BAPTIST

Let us to go Isaiah 40, where this same prophet wrote something else, concerning the actual time when those other two prophecies would have another phase of their fulfillment. This pertains to something that took place 30 years after His birth. Verse 3, “The voice of him that cried in the wilderness was John the Baptist, sent to prepare the way, before the coming of the Lord. “Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” What language. That sounds like there should have been someone out there with survey instruments, surveying and driving stakes in those old Judaean hills; does it not? But for the most part, those old Judaean hills are still just like they were two thousand years ago. Listen. “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.” That sounds like quite a highway was being built. But every bit of that is spiritual. Those mountains are figurative; those valleys are figurative, and so are the crooked and rough places. That is the way God hid the true thought, until time for it to be fulfilled. But notice verse 5; this is what we want to see. First there had to be a highway prepared. But to where, and to what is this highway prepared? It was a way into the hearts of the people, and verse 5 tells us why. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah was speaking of a time when the Lord would show forth His glory. But it was not at the birth of Jesus; it was at His baptism. There was no such manifestation of the Spirit of God at the birth of Jesus, like there was at His baptism. Let us just look back at his birth, and see what happened. When the angel of the Lord spoke, he spoke in the sense of the completed prophecy, but there is a long span of time between birth and baptism, with very little written about Him. Surely to goodness, if the glory was as real at His birth as it was at His baptism, there would have been something more written about this Son of God, in between the two accounts. He was the same man all the way through, but we just have to realize, God did not mean for us to learn of His great plan of salvation just from the mere flesh part of the man. He used that flesh to reveal Himself through, but salvation is of the Spirit. Let us go to Matthew 1:18, where the angel spoke to Joseph who had become engaged to this young woman, knowing nothing of the plan of God. Therefore what was about to happen, would be a great surprise to him, and he had to make a decision. “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.” Now saints, we are not trinitarians, therefore we know the Holy Ghost was not a person, and neither was His father a person. But God (the Father) did possess the person of His Son, for it is written, that Jesus had the Spirit without measure. So notice how this goes. “Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make he a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on those 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. And she shall bring forth a son. (The angel is going to announce what the name of that son is to be. Isaiah did not give the name; God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 10 of 26 he only told what the name given Him would mean.) And thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Like I said, those prophecies were spoken in the complete fulfilled sense, but if we have spiritual eyes to see, we are going to see that it took time for that name given to that little baby, to take on the full significance of its compound meaning, God with us. The angel concludes by saying, “For He shall save His people from their sins.” Which actually means, Jehovah God Himself shall save His people from their sins, and He will do it through the power and authority of that manifested name. Now that name just simply written down on a piece of paper would have no authority in itself, for there have been a lot of people named Jesus, down through time. So what made the difference? It was that anointing He received at His baptism, that made the difference. Those other Jesus’ did not have it. Verse 22, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 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.” This was Matthew’s account of the angels appearance to Joseph, so let us go to Luke 1:26, where we will find Luke’s account of the angel appearing to Mary. “And in the sixth month (The sixth month of John’s mother’s pregnancy) the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, (That is where Joseph and Mary lived) to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (The Catholics really love that verse.) And when she saw him, she was troubled at His saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.” Remember, Brothers and Sisters: This took place before what we just read in Matthew. There could have been a number of months in between the two accounts, for the angel appeared to Mary to announce her conception, but he did not appear to Joseph until he found out that she was with child. Notice now, “And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David.” Well we see here, that this son is to be called the Son of the Highest. This was one of the deity titles we looked at earlier, the Highest. “And He shall rule over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. 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; (The word power, actually means authority. There are many places where the translators have used power, where it actually should have been authority.) therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”

PROPHECY FULFILLED

Brothers and Sisters: We are dealing with the child of a virgin woman, but here, the angel speaks specifically, He shall be called the Son of God. At what time will He be known as the Son of God? Actually He was always the Son of God; but to most people, it was only known by a divine revelation, after His baptism by John. I do not mean to say that most people say that, but of those who did, it was because it was revealed to them by the Spirit. So we just have to say, a lot can take place as time moves on. We will go on over into the 2nd chapter of Luke, for there are a few points we want to make. God did not speak to Joseph, and tell him, Now Joseph, when Mary gets close to the time for her delivery, you take a trip to Bethlehem. The prophets of old, spoke of Bethlehem, but how was it all going to fulfill itself? God creates conditions that work together to fulfill His word. He will speak certain things, and they become established by His word, but then He has to work conditions to make sure that word is materialized into a fulfilled reality. Here He lets the old Roman emperor make a decree, requiring that all the world should be taxed, so the taxation went into effect right at the exact time, to force Joseph to God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 11 of 26 go to Bethlehem to pay his part. So to Bethlehem they went, to pay their taxes, and during the days they were there, Mary’s time was up, and she gave birth to her first child. In other words, they could not just walk up and pay their taxes, the first day they got there, for the little town was no doubt running over with people that were there for the same purpose. The fact that they could find no place in the inn, lets us know that the little town of Bethlehem was like a beehive. People were coming from far and near, just to pay their taxes. Therefore when Joseph and Mary got there, Howard Johnson’s was full, the Ramada Inn was full, the Holiday Inn likewise. I do not know what they named those places back then, but at least you get the point. Well the last place they went, they were told, The Inn is full, but we do have a stable out back that you could stay in, and that was exactly as God meant for it to be. But the minute you mention a stable, people will say, Oh that is terrible. But let me tell you saints, there have been children born in worse places than that. The point was, God wanted that humble environment for what was going to take place. The child was born there in that stable, and there were shepherds abiding in the field, in the same country, keeping watch over their flocks by night. It was not snowing, the weather was not bad, and when Jesus was born, the Bible says, (Luke 2, verse 9) “And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore 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 Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” There again, this prophecy was spoken in the fulfilled sense, like most of the prophecies were, so you just have to be spiritual enough to look at all of the scriptures, and see how it transpired. “And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” When that angel told them that, they knew better than to go to the Ramada Inn and inquire, Do you have a little newborn baby here? No. The angel told them they would find him wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, so what they had to do, was go into town and look for a stable. “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.” Well the shepherds came, and saw the little baby, and returned to their flocks rejoicing because of what they had heard and seen. That brings us down to verse 21, where the little baby was legally named JESUS. Of course in their hearts, Joseph and Mary named Him Jesus at birth; but according to their law, when they brought Him to the temple, that is when the name JESUS, became His legal name. It went on record then, and became the name that He would be identified by. It was just like us having our children’s names recorded at the county courthouse. You can name a baby in the hospital room, but until that becomes a recorded fact, the child has no legal identity. The Jews were very particular about those things. In fact, they kept records of their tribal lineage, of whose house this one, and that one was from. They were practically the only people on earth that did so. “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child, His name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord.” This is when the name really became authenticated, when the offering was made, and the priest made a record of it. “As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according to the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledove, or two young pigeons. (Notice now) 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: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ,” (or the Lord’s anointed one, which is what it means.) In other words, when Simeon saw that child, he saw it for what it was destined to be, to Israel, and really to the whole word. Through Him, would be accomplished God’s salvation plan for lost mankind. But we all know good and well that when Jesus came to the river to be baptized by John, and that salvation plan was set in operation, the man called Simeon was no longer around, but the beauty of it all was the way God confirmed through him, what this child was destined to be, to fulfill every scripture. Time itself brought about the fulfillment. But God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 12 of 26 to even think that this little baby born in Bethlehem, in a stable, was already Jehovah in the flesh, is completely contrary to too many scriptures, and it keeps many scriptures from even having any importance. Nevertheless the child’s destiny was confirmed to the shepherds, to Mary and Joseph and to the spiritual people at the temple, but to the nation of Israel as a whole, He was not confirmed. As a matter of fact, He was between one and two years old, before the next confirmation was made, and that was to the wise men that came from the east. Like I have already pointed out, Those wise men did not come and say, Where is He that is born Immanuel? They said, Where is He that is born King of the Jews. He was not king at that time, but He was King to be. His first role was prophet, but like we have said over and over, He was not even that, until after He was baptized by John, and the Spirit of the Father descended, and incarnated Him. He was a prophet for three and a half years, He has been high priest for almost two thousand years, and when His Kingship is fulfilled, He will deliver everything back up to the Father, that God, the same Spirit that caused His conception in the womb of that virgin; may be all in all. Where then, does that put Jesus? Does He disintegrate? Or is His position lowered? No. We do not look at it like that. After the whole redemption plan is completed, He will still be the Son of God that He has been ever since the day He was born. He does not lose one thing, because through the whole thing. God has been lifting you and me up, to be like Him, so we can see him as our elder brother. It was God, our heavenly Creator, that we could not see, so He revealed and manifested Himself through this one that could be seen and touched, and He ordained that we could worship Him through the person of this dear Son. There has never been another human on the face of the earth, through which this could be done. That is why the scriptures say that He has been made both Lord and Christ. He is simply fulfilling the perfect will of God in His great plan of redemption. Therefore when the kingdom is all redeemed, and the purpose of God has been completed, then there will be the whole family of God on earth, and Jesus Himself will be the elder brother of this whole family.

SIMEON AND ANNA RECOGNIZE JESUS

Let us look back a few more minutes, at how the baby Jesus was confirmed to be what He was. Simeon and Anna, were representative of the people that had been looking for this special child, which was the hope of Israel for redemption. Simeon was old, and once he saw Him, he said, Now Lord, let me die in peace, according to thy word. He was not worried about remaining on the scene any longer, to see what God would do, because he knew what God would do. That is the part that makes me feel so happy, just thinking about it. Hallelujah! Then there was the old woman by the name of Anna, just moving in the Spirit, that came right to Him. Brother, when the Holy Ghost does something, it is done right, and you can get a true revelation that will move right on through the scriptures without any conflict. That old woman came by and she too, began speaking of Him, to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. You know she did not live to see the day when He would start to fulfill the things she was speaking of. She no doubt died pretty soon after that, but she had lived to see the hope of Israel, Joseph and Mary pondered those things in their hearts, and just waited to see what God would do. Now Luke, the historian, says that they returned to Nazareth after that, but if you will pay close attention to the record of Matthew, you will notice that they did not immediately return back to Nazareth. They went right back to Bethlehem. Luke did not record their flight into Egypt, nor the wise men coming from the Far East; it was Matthew that included those events in this account. No doubt they felt that because of what had taken place at Bethlehem, there was something special about the child being there. Their personal feelings were probably that they should stay right there in Bethlehem. The months passed, Jesus was no longer a newborn baby, and according to Matthew, they were living in a house, when the camel caravan arrived from the east, coming to visit, and pay their respects to a special person. They went to King Herod’s palace, introduced themselves, and said, Where is He that is born King of the Jews? We have seen His star in the East, and have come to worship Him. (There are many legendary stories about this event, but the Bible tells us enough to cancel out many of them, if we will pay attention. Time and space will not God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 13 of 26 allow us to go into them; but you can read the 2nd chapter of Matthew and catch the main points.) King Herod sent for the Scribes and Pharisees, chief priests, and so forth, and inquired of them, where such a child was supposed to be born. Naturally they were all familiar with the scrolls, and exactly what he was talking about, so they said, “In Bethlehem of Judaea; for thus it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” King Herod then told the wise men what he had found out; that according to their authorities, this child was to be born about 9 miles down the road, in Bethlehem. Go and search diligently for the young child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship Him also. What a political hypocrite; that was a conniving trick, to try and get rid of Him. The star that had guided them, went before them to Bethlehem, and stood over the house where the young child was. That was how they found Him. Now the scientific world has a lot of theories about that star, and every one of them are no doubt wrong. I cannot help but feel that this was a supernatural star, and here is why, you can go outside on a clear night like tonight, and I challenge you to tell me which one of those stars are actually hanging over your head. There no doubt would be one, that you would feel was right over you, but if it were possible to draw a straight line down from it to the ground, you might find that it is a hundred miles away. Yet those wise men were able to actually follow a precise star, that led them to Jerusalem, then on to Bethlehem, where it went and stood directly over the house where the young child was. I challenge any one of you to step outside, and tell me which one of those stars are actually hanging right over this church house. You simply cannot do it.

A SUPERNATURAL STAR

Those wise men were astronomers from the east, and I know they did not have the huge telescopes like we do today, so there had to be some sort of supernatural manifestations that really got their attentions, and they had to know something of what was written in the scriptures in order to associate it with this event. Well whatever there was in the natural elements, God just put a supernatural something about it, and that was the thing that guided them. It went before them, and stood right over the place where the young child was. First it was over Jerusalem; that was to get Herod into the picture, but then it was nine miles away, standing over Bethlehem. That required some sort of supernatural intervention. I hope you understand my point, for I am persuaded that God is not going to write a book explaining it. The wise men followed that star and what did they find? Not a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. No, it was a young child under two years old, and they were living in a house. Herod had asked them, How long ago did you see this sign, and based upon their answer, when they failed to return to Him with the information he wanted, he made a decree that all children in Bethlehem, and in the region round about under two years of age, should be killed, and that was based upon what the wise men had told him concerning the time they had first seen the star. That shows that Jesus could have been close to two years old by that time. Well they worshiped and adored Him, all based upon the assumption that He was the one born to be King of Israel. Naturally we all know that He was not a King at that time, but the prophecy declaring that the government would be upon His shoulder was a true prophecy, so He will one day be exactly that. He had to be a prophet first; then high priest, and one day He will take the throne of David, and rule for a thousand years, and after that, He will eventually be looked upon as our elder brother, standing at the head of the redeemed family of God. Alright, Herod had told these wise men to return to him, and let him know where the young child was, but they were warned by an angel of God, to return some other way, and bypass Herod, so they did, and were not heard from again. Herod did not like the idea of them making a fool of him like that, and he certainly did not intend to stand by, and allow that child to grow up, being looked upon as King, so his decree was designed to prevent that. But just about the time that decree became law, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him. Joseph did as he was warned to do, God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 14 of 26 and Herod’s troops did as they were instructed to do, and slew all the children under two years of age, but Jesus was spared, because He was in Egypt, and every bit of this was to fulfill scriptures. One was Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” That is how Matthew expressed the prophecy. The type was set by calling Jacob (Israel) out of Egypt, and the fulfillment of it was when God called His only begotten Son out of Egypt.

JOSEPH GOES BACK TO NAZARETH

When word came that King Herod was dead, the angel said to Joseph. “Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.” I can just see Joseph, as he saddles up, loads up their personal belongings, takes his wife and child and starts up the old trail toward home. But as they come into the borders of Israel, he hears that Herod’s son is reigning in his father’s place, and he knew that this fellow was not much different than his daddy, so he was afraid to go on to Bethlehem. Again, he was warned in a dream, so he just bypassed Bethlehem and Jerusalem, and went right back to Nazareth, where they had originally come from. That is where the child grew up, and that also fulfilled another prophecy which stated, He shall be called a Nazarene Brother, the scriptures are being fulfilled right and left, and still no one has recognized Jesus as Immanuel. There were those that God had vindicated it to; who knew that He had this potential lying in Him, but to the rest, He was just another little Jewish boy. As for conditions themselves, you can almost imagine what the people of Nazareth might have said to Joseph and Mary: What in the world ever caused you to move back here? Well there was a lot to tell, but we do not know how much Joseph and Mary ever told, concerning the circumstance that caused them to move back there. One thing is sure though; they knew they were going to stay away from Herod’s son, that ruled in his place, an Nazareth seemed to be the place to be, so all of that worked together, to fulfill other scriptures. At age twelve, when He was found setting among the doctors in the temple, both hearing them, and asking them questions; they knew He was a smart little boy, but they did not know what He was to be. Naturally they marveled at His wisdom, for He, being the Son of God, had unlimited potential. He possessed a perfect knowledge in that respect, and He knew who He was. Never did He have to ask, as some do today, Who am I? We are living in a generation where many people are going around from place to place, trying all sorts of things, trying to find themselves, but He knew who He was. That is why He answered Mary as He did, when they found Him in the temple that day; Did ye not know that I must be about my Father’s business? That in itself, should be enough to let people know that He was not yet Immanuel. He was not speaking a riddle. Elohim was not talking. That was absolutely the Son of God talking. I keep stressing these points, hoping that some extreme oneness people can be helped with them, to the point where they can realize that the Son of God has always been in the picture, from the very day of His birth. Even the incarnation thirty years later, still did not do away with the Son. Any person that cannot glorify Him as the Son of God, has something wrong with their revelation. No, saints, I am not ashamed to stand here and talk like this, for I am not trying to please anyone except God. It would be vain, to try to please the world, the trinity, or even the oneness, for it is the purpose of God, that we ought to endeavor to accomplish. When you know that there is going to be some people go out of here one day, because the truth has set them free, it makes you even more determined to see that they get the truth. I am not trying to convince the world; the world has what they want. But there is a people that have been called out of the world, and they still do not have the truth. These are the ones who must hear, and receive a revelation, in order to be ready when the Bridegroom cometh. It may seem like the devil has completely taken over, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ has lost its power; but I am here to tell you that it is still accomplishing all that the Father ever meant for it to. It is bringing some to repentance and God likeness, and it is judging all the rest. God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 15 of 26

OUR PERFECT EXAMPLE

Getting back to our subject now, let me say this, Not even Joseph and Mary understood from the very beginning, the full significance of what the angel of the Lord had spoken to them. They had to grow with the unfolding circumstances that brought it all to pass. But the Bible tells us that from the episode at the temple, at age twelve, He (Jesus) went down to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary, and was subject unto them. No more did they have to wonder where He was, and never did they have to worry about what He was getting into, like other parents did, for He had no nature in Him, to want to do wrong. Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” He had to eat natural food just like the rest of us, in order to increase in stature, and the fact that He found favor with God, proves that He was not God already, But, Hallelujah! He was the one through whom God would reveal Himself to this lost and dying world of mankind Jesus, the perfect man who knew no sin, went to the cross and died, to redeem you and me who are so unworthy of redemption. An innocent one took our place and became sin, in order that we who were sinful might be lifted up, and be made like unto Him. Just as sin was imputed to mankind when Adam sinned, righteousness is imputed to all those who truly believe and put their trust in that work of redemption that was wrought at Calvary, through that perfect Son of God. When He was growing up, there in Nazareth, it was not His nature to aggravate people. He found favor with God and man, and in order to do that, you have to be morally, socially, principally, and ethically above reproach. People could always speak well of Him. As a man, He set a perfect example. How was He able to do that? Simply because He was not a sinner. There was no iniquity in Him, His nature was to express the attributes of His Father, who was, and still is the true and living, and all sufficient God of all creation. But because of our fallen nature, we had more of a tendency to express the attributes of the enemy of God, the devil. That is what we have been redeemed from. Because of what Jesus did for us, our own nature has been changed, to be more like him. Well, as I said, we do not have any record of what took place in His life, between the age of twelve, and the time when He was baptized at age thirty, but we do know that He possessed wisdom and knowledge. When He came back to Nazareth, after He was baptized, and went into the synagogue, He knew what was written in those scrolls, and He knew where His life fitted into them, and when and how certain things were to be applied, so let us go back to Matthew, chapter 3, where John is baptizing there in the Jordan River.

THE HOLY GHOST BAPTIZER

John has been asked a lot of questions: who are you, and what have you got to say for yourself, and all such like, and in verse 11, he says this. “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in His hand and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” That, brothers and sisters, was a prophecy, because none of that would be applicable when Jesus was here in His earthly ministry. That would be applicable only after He had entered into His role as high priest. Notice now. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? John knew he was a sinner, and that at his very best, he fell short of what this man was. “And Jesus answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered Him.” We have already spoken of Isaiah 40:5, but right here is where it was actually fulfilled. This is where the Jehovah Elohim from above, comes upon the scene and possesses His only begotten Son, to literally fulfill the scripture, “God with us,” which is what the name Immanuel means. At this time, the name Jesus begins to take on a compound meaning. “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, (What is taking place now? The glory of the Lord is going to be revealed, in a way that was not revealed at His birth. There was God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 16 of 26 no such demonstration at His birth.) And He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him.” This is Jehovah which is a Spirit, and cannot be seen, coming down to incarnate His Son, but in order to fulfill the scripture, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,” He gave Himself this manifestation, and appeared in the form of a dove. You cannot say that God is a bird, yet that dove expressed the quality of the nature of God, and it sat upon Jesus, that obedient Son, and while the dove was sitting there upon Jesus, the voice still spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This does not make God a ventriloquist; It simply demonstrates the fact of His omnipresence. Though He will be in His Son in the fullness of all His attributes, He will still fill the whole universe with His great presence. But from that moment on, Jesus could say, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. There stood the only sinless man that ever walked the face of this earth, and now the great Creator who begat Him, is dwelling in Him, in the fulness of all of His attributes. Adam was made sinless and perfect, but he was placed here on earth with a commission to fulfill, to replenish the earth, and before he could get started fulfilling that commission, he failed his Creator. God imputed a death penalty to him, and that penalty passed upon the whole human race, but God still allowed the law of reproduction to go right ahead and fill the earth with offspring from that law. The difference though, is that every little baby born, already had that sentence of death in it. Every little baby is born with a nature to sin, instead of a nature to be holy. Therefore God gave Himself another Son, for the purpose of redeeming that which is in bondage to Satan, the devil. As we have said already, God sent His angel, and gave the yet unborn baby its name, JESUS. This name would have a singular application for the first thirty years of His life, and then it would become a compound name, by which the Son, as well as the Father, would be known in redemption. Men could see the Son, who was always glorifying the father whom men could not see. But when the Son left the scene, the Holy ghost took His place on earth among men, and He, an invisible Spirit, always glorifies the Son whom men have seen in the flesh. Well that is exactly what Jesus said the Holy Ghost would do, when He came. He said He (the Holy Ghost) would not speak of Himself, but would take the things of His (Jesus’) and show them unto us. That is why we are able to get revelation, because the Holy Ghost is taking those things, and showing them to us.

GOD IN HIS SON

We have gone through the Bible, showing various manifestations of Jehovah God (the Elohim) as He would reveal Himself to men of the Old Testament era, but as we have pointed out, none of those men ever saw God, for He is an invisible Spirit. He has no form that even could be seen but all those people who were privileged to see Jesus, after He was baptized by John, came as close to seeing God as anyone can. That great eternal Spirit dwelt in Him, in the fulness of all of His attributes. Paul said Jesus had the Spirit without measure. Everyone of us who have been baptized by the Holy ghost, have a measure of the Spirit of God in us, but He had the fullness of the Spirit, without measure. Once the Son was manifested, almost two thousand years ago, the Father has never shown Himself in any other kind of manifestation, other than to point us back to Jesus. For as we have already pointed out, all those other manifestations were pointing forward to that one particular Son, in whom would be consummated all types and shadows. “God who at sundry times and divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom (or for whom) also He made the worlds.” We are back in the 1st chapter of Hebrews. It is hard to talk very long in a message like this without coming back to these opening verses of the book of Hebrews. The apostle Paul was not a personal disciple of Jesus Christ, when Jesus walked on earth, but oh, what a revelation that man had in his heart, once the Spirit of God finished dealing with him. Of course there are times when one might think he did not have a revelation, but you just have to remember, that the Bible has been translated by trinitarians, and there are places where that trinity view comes through in the translation. In verse 2, where it says, “By whom also He created, or made the worlds,” it sounds as though God used the person of Jesus to create all things. God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 17 of 26 That is not the thought you should get from that verse. It was God that created all things, and that should say FOR WHOM, instead of BY WHOM. Before there was ever anything created, God’s plan of creation was already a finished thought in His great mind, and He, knowing even then, that man would fall, and stand in need of a Saviour, included that provision for man’s redemption, before He ever created anything, and therefore chose to redeem all things by, and through the person of His Son, back to Himself. “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person.” before we read on, let me say this, Actually the person of His Son, was a full illumination of the glory and majesty of this invisible Spirit that created all things by His word. It took that perfect Son, who was born without sin, to be so submissive to the sovereign mind of the Father, as to allow Him to direct all His ways. We would have to say that Jesus was possessed by a super mind, that far exceeded the natural mind that the Son Himself possessed. Of course when you talk like this, some people actually get scared, and think you are actually diminishing from the oneness of God. But believe me, you are not. It is just merely teaching it like the apostles of Christ taught it. It is not offensive, to refer to the man called Jesus, as the Son of God, for that is exactly what He is, and neither is it discrediting God, to recognize that the fullness of God was manifested in Him. He was as much God as man, and He was as much man as God. That is why you can say, It is a perfect unity. That is the same picture God has chosen to manifest in each of us. Not that we will become God, but God is moving us toward that perfect unity that we see here. It takes time for all of this to come about, but in the end, in eternity, you become a full fledged, manifested son and daughter of God. That is why it is spoken in Ephesians, “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He (God) might gather together in one all things in Christ.” It is God, the eternal Spirit, showing Himself in all of His glory and majesty, in and through His entire redeemed family, as well as all creation. Redemption will have been accomplished by God, in and through the person of His only begotten Son.

THE IMAGE OF GOD

As we read verse 3 here in Hebrews, chapter 1, we get a misleading thought, if we do not stop to analyze the phrase, “The express image of His person,” forin the English language, the word IMAGE, pertains to something that has some sort of visible form. Therefore what you have to realize, is that the physical form of the man called Jesus, is not what Paul was referring to, as being the express image of God. He was a man, but He was possessed by something that was truly divine. The first miracle He ever did, when He turned the water to wine, that was the image of God being seen there. Mankind was getting a glimpse of what God is, because the Son Himself plainly stated over and over, The Son can do nothing; it is the Father in Him, that doeth these works. Therefore the image we must see here, is not what can be seen with the natural eye, but that which can be seen with the spiritual eye, by a divine revelation. God gave us two natural eyes, to see how to get around from place to place, but inside of us, that inner man has got to have some spiritual eyes that allow him to see where he came from, and where he is going. Otherwise he is lost. Now that verse says, “The express image of His person,” so the word person, is also misleading, for God is not a person. But here again we have to realize that the Bible was translated like this, by people who believed that God is a person, so it is up to you, if you have a revelation of the godhead, to realize that it should read, the express image of His substance. That speaks of what God really is. Jesus was the very expression of the invisible substance that God truly is. Then it says, “And upholding all things by the word of His power.” The word power, as used here, means authority. It is not the person Jesus, doing it, but the Father in Him, directing Him to speak things, is where the authority lay, and that is what this verse is giving reference to. The Son never exercised any authority, apart from what the Father in Him, directed Him to do. “When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” He purged our sins by laying His own life down. It was not Jehovah dying; it was the Son of God dying, and because of what He did on our behalf, we also have a measure of that same Spirit that was in Him, in us. We can say, we have a measure of God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 18 of 26 God in us. One day, if Jesus tarries His coming, we will die, but the Holy Ghost in us, will not die. He is not in us to keep us breathing the breath of this natural life; He is in us, to give our inner man, which is spirit, eternal life. He will take care of the flesh, a little later on. That is His plan. Yes, Jesus literally took our place, and bore the penalty for our sins. The eternal Spirit heaped upon Him the sins of the whole world; past, present and future. He was guiltless, yet He was despised, and as Isaiah said, “Stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” God let Him be abused, humiliated, ridiculed, and shamed, without doing one thing to stop it. Not knowing who He was: they called Him a blasphemer, an imposter, and they even called Him an illegitimate child, and though He was innocent of every one of their accusations, God still heaped upon Him the sins of the whole world. Jesus the man, took our sins, and let us go free. It was not God crying. It was not God begging to be saved from that terrible fate; it was the Son of God begging, If it be thy will, let this cup pass from me. He knew in His heart that He was going to face what He did, but the human side of Him did what anyone else would do, try to get released from the fate, which supports the fact that He was as human as anyone else. His life was destined to fulfill many prophecies, beginning at His birth, and going all the way to the eternal age, and though He cried, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me, He already knew that it would not pass from Him, for He knew that every prophecy of the scriptures must be fulfilled.

JESUS’ INHERITANCE

As we come to verse 4, remember, Paul is getting this from the Psalms. Paul did not know Jesus after the flesh, as the other disciples had known Him. He became acquainted with Him, completely by the Spirit, but let us pay attention to the revelation he had. Still speaking of Jesus, he says this, “Being made so much better than the angels, (In what way was He made better than the angels which were also offspring of God? Listen) as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said He at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?” When David, in the Spirit, was inspired to write those words and express them in song, it was none other than the anointing of the Spirit of God, speaking in the future tense, concerning this Son of God that was destined to come upon the scene. This is the promise pointing to that Son. “And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son.” In other words, Paul is saying, To which of the angels did God ever say a thing like that to? That gives you the whole thing in a nutshell. But let us go on, in verse 6. “And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith, And let all the angels of God worship Him.” God made sure that all those prophecies concerning His only begotten Son would be fulfilled. So let us go to Bethlehem, the night He was born. Not on December 25, but in the fall of the year. Mary went with Joseph to Bethlehem, strictly for the purpose of paying their taxes; not even knowing when she would give birth to the little baby. If she had even suspected that it could happen while they were gone from home, she would have taken her baby clothes with her, on the trip. But the great eternal Spirit always watches over His word, and the prophecy was lying there, waiting to be fulfilled, in Micah 5:2, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel,” so Mary had to be in Bethlehem when He was born. In the 2nd chapter of Luke, it says, “And when the days were accomplished, that she should be delivered, she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger.” Just imagine what Mary must have felt like, giving birth to her first little baby, and not having any of those cute little things she had been knitting, to put on it. But no sooner was this Son of God born, and laid in a manger, than the angels appeared to the sheep herders who were bedded down for the night, singing and praising God. The angel of the Lord said to them, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Meaning, The Lord’s anointed one.) And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” That is why those sheep herders knew better than to go knocking on the doors of houses, looking for Him. They went right to the barns; God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 19 of 26 for that is where they were told He would be, and that is exactly where they found Him.

THE CAPTAIN OF OUR SALVATION

Let us go back to the 5th chapter of St. John, where we will again look at the name given to the only begotten Son of God. As I have said, If the oneness people would just allow themselves to study the whole gospel of St. John instead of just a few isolated verses, they would see the whole thing portrayed so beautifully, just like those Jewish disciples and apostles did, for God gave them the revelation, and they presented it in its true form. I have said repeatedly, the name JESUS, given to the Son of God, was a compound name; that carried a dual meaning. There were many Jews name Jesus; but none of them were the Christ. Their name only had a singular identity attributed to it. But as God Himself, chose this name, it lets us know that the Elohim of the Old Testament, who had already manifested Himself through the centuries, in many ways, when it came time for Him to bring His only begotten Son into the world, He had to have a name through which He would reveal Himself, so JESUS is the name He chose. But as I have pointed out, When the child was born, He was not yet God with us; He was merely the Son of God. For the first thirty years of His life, His name only carried a singular identity. He grew into manhood, waked as a man, breathed as a man, got dirty like other men, combed His hair, and dressed Himself like other men did. Why? Because He was a man, a perfect man. He never sought to be outstanding, nor to put on a show, even though He was born with that great intelligence. That is why I said, He knew more at age 12, than most of us do in a lifetime. He also knew exactly when to go get baptized, and He knew the scriptures that His life were to fulfill. But none of the rest of them could be fulfilled until after He was incarnated by the Father. When that incarnation took place, the Father descended from heaven to Him; not in the form of a crow, nor a buzzard, but a dove. Something symbolizing peace. When that dove descended, and sat upon Him, Isaiah 40:5 was fulfilled; the glory of the Lord was revealed. The people saw it. They saw a man receiving a baptism of the eternal Sprit in complete fullness. John the Baptist is the one who said Jesus had the Spirit without measure. He knew who He was, and he knew that he would speak the true words of life, and all who refused to hear Him would be doomed for destruction. But even though He was perfect, and had the Spirit without measure, He could not enter into fulfilling His predetermined purpose until after He was put on trial, like Adam and Even. He was not going to be the progenitor of life; He was going to be the Redeemer of life. Adam and Even brought life into the world, but that life had a fallen nature, with death imputed, and sin reigned throughout all mankind. So this perfect Son of God had a mission to accomplish. His mission was to redeem God’s fallen children back from the bondage of Satan. But first He had to be tempted. No, God was not tempting Him, but He allowed Satan the privilege of doing it, and He, the Father, was in Him during every bit of it. Brother I want you to know, When you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, your battles and warfare are just starting. That is what puts you right on the front lines. There are times when God allows the devil to hit you, knock you down, wallow you around, and scare the daylights out of you, just to see if you will get up whimpering and crying, or take your stand, and hold your ground. We have an example set before us. That perfect Son of God did not threaten the devil, saying, Listen devil, I have the Father in me, so you had better flee. No. He defeated the devil on every temptation, with a bold confession of what is written in the scriptures, and that is exactly what you and I have to do. It just goes to show: He who was the Word made flesh, still had to live according to the written word. He had to do that, in order to set a perfect example as a Son of God. The scriptures tell us that He is the captain of our salvation, and that He was made perfect by the things which He suffered. As a man, He was already sinless and perfect, but His purpose was perfected through the things He was forced to suffer. As the captain of our salvation, He established a perfect image of what God wants us to be in the likeness of. If He had never faced temptation, He never would have known what you and I have to face in this life. He was tempted in all three areas of what He was destined to fulfill, and during all that temptation, He never moved one inch from where He was, there in the desert. Satan was allowed to pick Him up, in the Spirit, and God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 20 of 26 illuminate all of that to Him, and talk to Him audibly, showing Him all the kingdoms of the world, and offer them to Him, if He would just bow down and worship him. Brothers and Sisters: When the devil does that to you, I hope you are grounded in the word, so that you will know that it is the devil doing it, and not God. He knew it was the devil talking to Him, and He knew exactly how to overcome, and how to demonstrate the power of God, in His written word. That is why it could be written of Him, that He came forth out of the wilderness, in the power of the Spirit. He came forth in the power of the Spirit, and the very first miracle He performed was turning the water into wine. It was more or less forced upon Him, but the Father was right there to back Him up. That is how we express it; though we know it was not the Son doing the miracles, but the Father in Him. Jesus the man, was just like a light bulb. A light bulb does not give light, it is only a channel through which the invisible energy shows itself.

THE FATHER’S REDEMPTION NAME

Alright now, the time has come that Jesus is before a lot of religious Pharisees and such like, so let us look at John 5:43, and see what He said to them. “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye received me not.” Those Pharisees knew that the name of the man doing the speaking was Jesus, but they did not understand what He meant, by saying that He came in His Father’s name, for to them, His Father’s name was Joseph. Yet we know that He was speaking from the stand point of the fact that the Father was in Him, leading Him, and speaking through His very vocal organs, the wonderful words of eternal life. The Father was being revealed through His Son, and the name Jesus, was the Father’s redemption name. That is what makes it a compound name. As you go through the gospel of John, here is the first time Jesus mentions the fact that He has come in His Father’s name. But from here on, in practically every speech, He lifts up the Father. He turns attention from Himself to the Father. It is not I that doeth the works, but the Father that dwelleth in me. Whatever the Father doeth, that doeth the son likewise. Why? That the Father may be glorified. Where? In the Son. The Son was the means by how the Father was demonstrated to the world. But it took a divine revelation for anyone to see who that man was. That is why we can say, Theology will never get anyone out of this world, in the rapture. It takes the Holy Ghost in us, to guide us, change us, and take us to glory. Notice verse 28 in the 7th chapter now. I am not trying to isolate these scripture verses from their context, but merely calling attention to them because they establish the thought we are dealing with. “Then cried Jesus in the temple as He taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am.” In other words, you know where I came from, Nazareth, and you know who I am. To you, I am the son of Joseph. “ I am not come of myself, but He that sent me is true, whom ye know not, (The eternal Spirit) But I know Him: for I am from Him, and He hath sent me.” Praise God! If you do not get a revelation out of that, something is wrong. Yet I realize that there are multitudes of people in this world, who will read verses like these, and not see a thing in any revelatory way. These verses we are using are just like stepping stones, through the gospel of St. John. That is why I have said, If people would really study this gospel record, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to them, they would see something precious. John’s gospel, starting right from the very first chapter, is all pointing to the man called Jesus, after His baptism. He does not even touch His birth; he picks up the subject, after the incarnation, and takes it straight on through. So let us go to the 8th chapter, verse 42, where Jesus has just preached a sermon and He is discerning the hearts of those Pharisees. Deep down within their hearts, they were saying. We be Abraham’s children, and they even expressed it. Oh saints, this is just too good to pass up, so let us go back to verse 37, and notice, this is Jesus talking. “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.(the devil) They answered and said unto Him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. (Listen to this.) Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to Him, We be not born of God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 21 of 26 fornication; (That is how they looked upon Him) we have one Father, even God. (Now we come to verse 42) Jesus saith unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but He sent me.” Now to you extreme oneness people, let me ask this, Does that sound like this flesh is only a tabernacle for Jehovah to dwell in, or would you be honest enough to admit, that there is another mind present, other than the mind of the Father? I like to keep stressing the point that if this flesh had only been manifested for the Father to dwell in, and there was no Son in the picture, then there would have been only one mind involved, and many of the things that Jesus said, would have made no sense at all. On the other hand, if you can see it as it really is, this man is talking like the sane sensible man that He is. Not only is He giving honor to the Father, but He is acknowledging before sinners, that He knew where He came from. He knew that His existence did not come from Joseph and Mary, as they supposed. His life originated from God Himself, and He understood every bit of it. That is why He could say, The Father sent me.

ONE SPIRT–BUT TWO MINDS

Let us go to chapter 10 and start with verse 29. “My Father, which gave them me is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” Brother: If you actually catch any revelation at all, of what is going on in the person called Jesus, you should know why He is talking like this. He did not want people hanging on to His flesh. “I and my Father are one.” The Father which is Spirit, always was, and always will be, merged with the Spirit of His Son, in such a way that there was only one Spirit involved, but there were two minds. That is why you can hear both the Father and the Son, speaking from the same mouth. It is a unity of the life of the Son, and the life of the Father, exemplifying what God wants to do in and through you and me. The end result is, one God, manifesting His word in His creation. As I said, God did not become a rock; but every rock is a result of His thought expressed. For by His word, He created all things, but His word was not His Son. His word was His thought expressed. He did not become a tree, but every tree is a result of the thought of God being expressed. By the same process, He gave life and existence to everything you see, yet He became none of that. By the word of God, all things exist, but God is not any of those things; therefore He never became flesh; He was only in that flesh. I hope you are following my train of thought, for John 1:1 can put your head in a spin if you do not allow the spirit of God to put a revelation in your heart, and realize that what is translated Word, is really the expressed thought of God. That is what 1:14 says, was made flesh, and dwelt among us. God created Adam from the dust of the earth, and breathed into him, the breath of life, and indwelled him. But when this son of God was tested, he failed the test; therefore God had to separate Himself from him. He drove Adam and Even from His presence, fulfilling His own word. For when He placed them at the head of his creation, He said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” They did not die a physical death that day, but when God removed His life giving presence from them, they became spiritually dead, and every child born into the world, had that death imputed to them. In other words, Adam forfeited everything; just turned it over to the devil. That caused every individual born into the world, to be born with a nature not to seek after God, and you see what it finally led to. By the time the devil had worked with those minds through generation after generation, humanity in general became so corrupt, God had to bring a flood to destroy all but eight souls, and take a fresh start at repopulating the earth. Well you would have thought that flood would have left such a profound impression upon Noah and his descendants; that just the thoughts of it should have kept them from straying from the knowledge of God, for I am sure Noah and his sons kept that story alive to oncoming generations. But before too many years had passed, mankind was again doing anything and everything but the right thing. It just goes to show that man without God, is worse than someone lost in a jungle in the darkest of night. He just simply cannot find his way. It seems that about 40 years is as long as a divine revelation can be kept alive, before people start straying from it. That makes me ever so thankful God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 22 of 26 to God that in this end time, He will deal with an element of people to clear up everything, so that when He takes them out of here, they will not be a mixed up, divided in their thinking, self-satisfying bunch of people. They are going to know the truth, and they are going to live by that truth, and not be always seeking attention for themselves. Jesus never sought opportunity to put on a show to exalt Himself. No. That perfect Son of God, our pattern, always kept His thoughts yielded to the father, that the Father, which is Spirit, was always in control. What did Paul say, I believe it was in Philippians? “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” That means, the same attitude, and manner of thinking, which always caused Him to yield to the mind of the Father. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being the form of God, (or of the same substance) thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” In other words, After God has visited us, and lifted us up out of sin and degradation, then we may say to Him, Oh God, and express ourselves through this life, in the same manner. Not that we would think of ourselves as being equal with God, but we are able to commune with Him, and submit ourselves to His will and purpose, just like Jesus did. God has purposed in this period of time called the grace age, to be in His Church, not in any one particular person, but in the Church as a whole, in the fullness of His attributes that was in His Son Jesus. It is God, in His people, redeeming and reconciling, and expressing the same life that was in His only begotten Son. God has continued, through the church, to bring to completion, all that was set in motion through the life and ministry of Jesus. It is God, in creation, as Father. Then, God in His Son, in redemption, and finally, God, the Holy Ghost, in His people, for the work of regeneration. It is not three God’s. It is not three persons known as one God, but truly, one God, which is Spirit, manifesting Himself in three office works. Oh what a beautiful picture it is, when you see it through your spiritual eyes. Well that is what we are hoping these select verses of scripture will enable each of you to do, see Him through eyes of the Spirit, that is given to all who obey Him.

TRUTH SPOKEN THE RIGHT WAY

Coming back now, to John 10:30, when Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” notice what verse 31 says. “Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. (Those Pharisees were mad.) Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?” He knew they were mad, and He asked them a question that should have put them to thinking, but notice how they answered Him, in verse 33. “The Jews answered Him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” All they could see, was the man standing before them. They accepted the works, but they were sure not accepting the man through which those works were manifested. Out of everything they saw and heard, their conclusion was that Jesus was making Himself God. Well, for all practical purposes, He was God, but He sure did not make Himself what He was. It was the Father, which said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Whatever He was, it was the Father, that made Him that. Well Jesus answered the, “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” We know when Bro. William Branham would use this scripture, what a lot of the people sitting there would say, yet it has its true application. Jesus knew from what scripture He was getting it, and notice also, that gods is spelled with a little g. The Holy Ghost in Bro. William Branham, demonstrated the same works that were demonstrated in the life of Christ, and that same Spirit is still working through the Church in the same way, but in no way is the flesh of any individual to be looked upon as God, with a capital G. No manifestation of the Spirit of God could ever do one thing to ascribe any deity to human flesh. Jesus continues saying to them, “If He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” Brothers and Sisters: There is a right and a wrong way to speak the truth, and there are times when we need to depend upon the Holy Ghost to show us that right way. The truth, spoken with wisdom, can settle an uncomfortable situation many times. Then on the other hand, that God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 23 of 26 same truth, spoken with the wrong motive, many times will just start an argument. But in this particular situation, God is establishing something to those who have ears to hear, and the rest are still going to try to kill this Son of God. Therefore He said, verse 37, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe me not, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him.” That is not what they wanted to hear. They did not want to hear anything that went contrary to their traditions. But let us think about those last words, “The Father is in me, and I in Him.” The Spirit of the son, was the Spirit that came out of God, to give life to this body of flesh, and now the Spirit of the Son was immersed, or merged back into the eternal Spirit through the baptism of that Spirit, never to be separated again. It is an eternal picture, and one that God wants to eventually accomplish in all of His foreknown children. We will never be Jesus, in the sense of the man He is. But we are to be Jesus in likeness, quality of life, character, and spiritual reaction. That is why we say, He was our pattern. Those Jews were not looking for a pattern though; for they were not even looking to the pattern they had. They claimed to be following Moses, but their lives were far from what Moses taught. “Therefore they sought again to take Him: but He escaped out of their hand.” They would eventually be allowed to kill Him, but they could not take Him, before the proper time, for everything was guided by the great eternal spirit, to fulfill the scriptures. Nothing in His life was ever out of season.

SEEING THE FATHER

Now for another very familiar verse, and also a very important verse to our subject, let us go to chapter 14, verse 7. The oneness Pentecostal people, like to use this verse. But like you have hard me say, They are just as afraid to use certain other scriptures, as the trinitarians are Acts 2:38. You will not get a trinitarian to quote Acts 2:38, for it is contrary to what they teach. If you ask one of them what it means, they will cough, and grunt, and get as nervous as can be; for they have no revelation on it. But let us come back to the verse we were about to read. Jesus is not talking to the multitude here, He is saying this to His disciples. Verse 7, “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth (meaning, From now on,) ye know Him, and have seen Him.” Jesus knew those words would put a big question mark in the disciples’ minds. But remember, He said many things to stir up their minds and put them to thinking. For He wanted them to catch a revelation, and getting them curious was the first step of it. “Phillip saith unto Him, Lord, Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” That was Phillip’s reaction to what he had just heard. In other words, he could have said, Now wait a minute, I don’t know whether I have seen Him, or not; where is He? But he said, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me Phillip?” The oneness like this verse, because it seems to point more to the flesh, than to the Spirit. But I assure you, Jesus was not referring to His flesh; He was talking about the Spirit that was in Him, and the only way they could see that Spirit, was in the works that were done. Had there never been a miracle, they would never have seen the Father, the eternal spirit, that was incarnated in His perfect son. Like I said earlier, a few people knew who Jesus was, at the time of His birth, but from this moment on, only those who received it by divine revelation, would know that He was the son of God, the Messiah that their prophets had talked about. So Jesus goes on, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” Jesus was speaking very explicitly, of what the Sprit has done through the past 3 ½ years, but people who are pushing a oneness concept, without having a complete revelation themselves, will not tell you that. They just leave it as though Jesus was speaking only of seeing Him with their natural eyes. “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?” That question sure takes it out of the realm of the flesh, would you not say? You cannot speak about the flesh in such terms as that. Furthermore those disciples know that God is a spirit, and that He had never been seen by any man, except those various times when He would manifest Himself in a form of some kind. But standing right there before those disciples, was the thought of that God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 24 of 26 invisible Spirit, in a human form, for it was the expressed thought of God, that became flesh. Jehovah never became flesh, at any time, but this Son of God could say, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, because the Father was in Him, and they were one Spirit, and He was pointing to the manifestation of that eternal spirit. Therefore Jesus said to Phillip, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: 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 work’s sake.” In other words, Phillip, If you cannot believe it for any other reason, the very works that you have seen should be enough to convince you. Brothers and Sisters: The important thing when you are dealing with the Godhead, is to keep your balance. The trinity people see three persons, so they say. Then on the other hand, the extreme oneness see only one, and that one is the Father dwelling in human flesh that He created for that purpose, and they leave no room for the Son, which from the standpoint of a true revelation, is the only person of the Godhead. We must be able to see the Son as a complete human; having every quality of humanity, but without sin. He had the nature to think like any other man, but His thinking was pure, and He could be interested in human things; but He would never allow human thoughts to go beyond where they should, for His mind and spirit were perfect. As we have said it over and over, for the first thirty years of His life, there was not deity about Him. He could not have performed a miracle under any circumstances. But He was the son of God, and He was as perfect as perfect can be. Therefore when the Father incarnated Him, the Son did not cease to be, but He became completely subject to the mind of the Father, and did only what the Father in Him, showed Him to do. That is why I say, Anyone who cannot see the human side of Jesus in its complete perfectness, just simply has not read their scriptures right. It seems so hard, for a lot of people to understand how the Father and the Son could be one, and there still be two minds involved, but it is really very easy to understand, if you will just turn loose of your traditional teachings. The Father, who is Spirit, has a mind. To that we would all have to agree. But you must see also, that Jesus the Son of God, had a mind, and it did not cease to exist when the Spirit of the Father, and the spirit of the Son merged into one Spirit. The two intellects were still there, but the Son kept His subject to the will of the Father at all times, and they will forever remain to be one Spirit. There is no reason for them to ever be separated, for the Son has already had His test, and overcame, so they are one Spirit, and shall remain so. Therefore what we see then, is the infinite God dwelling in His only begotten Son, in the fullness of all of His attributes, and He is revealed through Him, to all who have eyes to see. That is why some looked at Jesus, and saw God, and others saw on a man. That is also why Jesus said in verse 12, “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.” He is referring to the time when the Church becomes possessor of the same Spirit that is in Him. They would do greater works, because there would be more human instruments for that sovereign Spirit to work through. God can do those same works, through the most unimportant looking little piece of human that you have ever seen, simply because what that sovereign Spirit does, is not dependent upon the ability of any human flesh. If we would allow Him to take complete control of us, like Jesus did, there is hardly any limit to what He might do through us, and especially so, as we approach the end of the age.

GOD’S SPIRIT IN US

Alright let us go to the 16th chapter, where to me, we find something very beautiful. This is the chapter where Jesus, in His final conversation with His disciples, said to them, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I (meaning the human person) go not away, the Comforter (which is the Holy Ghost) will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” He knew that the disciples were leaning too heavily upon His person; in other words, His flesh. But if He, or rather, when He would go off the scene, there would come something to dwell inside of them, that would so possess their mentality, their physical organs, and their spirits, they would not longer look back to the person of His flesh, to lean on as a crutch. Why? Because the measure of that same Spirit God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 25 of 26 that was in Him, would be in them, enabling them to do whatever there was to do. That is why He said to them, In that day, ye will know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. That Spirit would open their understanding, and give them revelation. Well Jesus goes ahead and talks to them concerning His going away, and the sorrow they would feel, and so forth, and in verse 22, He said, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” Actually He was referring to the joy they would have, on the day of Pentecost, when they would receive the Holy Ghost. He was not necessarily speaking of how glad they would be when He arose from the dead, for you know what the scripture says about that. When He appeared to them where they were assembled together, they were frightened, and thought they had seen a spirit. Therefore the joy He is referring to, is that joy they would have after receiving the Holy Ghost. When the Spirit of God comes into a human vessel, a sudden change takes place. That is why I said, Had the incarnation never have taken place, no one would have ever known that Jesus was the Son of God, (except those to whom it was told at His birth) they would have always looked upon Him as just another Jew. But when He returned from the wilderness in the power of the Spirit, turned the water into wine, fed the five thousand, walked on the water, and the many other things, then some began to say, Never have we seen it like this before. Why? Because He had no power to do any of those things before that. It was after that, when He verified the authority of the name Jesus. So as He says these things to His disciples, He then says, “And in that day (what day? The day when they shall receive the Holy Ghost) ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it you.” When He was here in the flesh, He always said, I come in my Father’s name. But when the Spirit came back to indwell the disciples, He came vindicating the name of the Son, but JESUS was the only name involved, so that proves beyond any shadow of doubt, that His name given Him before birth, by the angel of the Lord, was a compound name. It is a beautiful picture we have here in the scriptures, but it takes a proper revelation of the Godhead, in order to see the beauty of it. When the Son was on earth in human flesh, He always pointed to the Father, but when the Father came, in the office work of the Holy Ghost, He would always point back to what the Son is, and what the Son did. It was not the Holy Ghost that died for the sins of lost mankind; it was the Son. The Son glorified the Father, through the works that were done; therefore those Jews that did have eyes to see, knew that it was Jehovah, revealed in that name, saving His people. But the Holy Ghost lifted up the name of the Son, because it was through His shed blood, that we have forgiveness of sins. He is the one that offered Himself a sacrifice to the great eternal Spirit, that the rest of the world might have opportunity to be set free from the bondage of sin and death. Verse 24, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: (Meaning words that conceal certain things) but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father.” He is talking about the Holy Ghost now, for the Holy Ghost, said He in another place, shall take the things of mine and shall show them unto you. The Holy Ghost is that revelatory Spirit; He does not speak in proverbs. Now when we say that the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Father, in that particular office work, let us not forget that it is also the Spirit of the Son, for they are merged into one Spirit. As you go through the epistles you will find this terminology used in connection with the Holy Ghost: Spirit of God, Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of the Son, and Spirit of Jesus Christ, so no matter which you read, they are all referring to one and the selfsame Spirit; and that Spirit does not speak in proverbs. It speaks of the finished work at Calvary, shows that it was the design of the Father, and it was the Son that carried out the plan to completion. “At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father Himself loveth you, (Meaning, the eternal Spirit loveth you.) Because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” Let the oneness who have no regard for the Son, explain verse 28, if they can. “I came forth from the Father, (How? That little cell of life that was placed in the womb of Mary came out from God, and in process of time, it came forth in a human body.) And am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.” You may not see that yet, but those disciples did, for notice how they God Reveals Himself, Part 2, May 1986 Page 26 of 26 responded in verse 29. “His disciples said unto Him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly and speakest no proverb. (It sounds like they really caught a revelation from His last remark.) Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe.” That was as much as He could actually tell them, and have them understand. He was the perfect Son of God from birth, and now He is filled with the fullness of all that the Father is, and He has been demonstrating that to them for 3 ½ years, but now the time has come for Him to leave them, so whatever they learn from this time on, will have to be revealed to them by the Holy Ghost, the promised Comforter that was the come. He would show them all things and they would have a revelation of the whole picture. Brothers and Sisters: That is exactly what the Holy Ghost is doing with the true bride of Jesus Christ in this day and hour. He is giving us back the pure revelation that was lost, in the Dark Ages. The revelation those Jews had, when the gospel came to the Gentiles almost two thousand years ago, is what we are going to have to have, to get out of here in the rapture. The trinitarians have never had it, and the oneness who did have a beautiful picture of the Godhead at one time, died off, and the generation that followed, lost it, and went like all the rest, with a lot of suppositional ideas and traditions. I am going to close the subject now, but as a closing thought, I want to say, The true bride of Jesus Christ, will have a true picture of the Godhead, like our forefathers had almost two thousand years ago. God has revealed Himself in many ways, through time, but His last office work is in you and me, and His purpose is that we may have a pure revelation of His word, and be made like unto His only begotten Son. So let us be thankful in our hearts, for the Spirit He has given us, and look for the day when that Spirit shall quicken this old mortal body, and change it into the glorious likeness of the body of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful day we are living in. Amen.