These All Died in Faith – Hebrews 11:13 –

These All Died in Faith

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)
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Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
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For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. (Hebrews 11:14)
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. (Hebrews 11:15)
But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:16)

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INTRODUCTION

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)

   These all died in faith. This is a wonderful truth in a wonderful path when FAITH delivers a soul from death to life. To die in faith is to die IN Jesus who is the Author and Finisher of FAITH and eternal life. To die IN Jesus, which is only the removal of the flesh, and as the Spirit of God has said, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (1st Corinthians 5:50) We, the children of God, have been separated from the womb of the world. We have been taken out of the world of Adam. Even now, the Spirit through FAITH is within us and is eternal. Our FAITH is not just only for our earthly walk. Our FAITH takes us through death into the presence of the Lord. The absence of the body is the removal of the flesh of Adam, and the Spirit of FAITH take us into the presence of the Lord.
     In the fullness of the promises of God, as sons, we will be transformed into the image of Christ. Although the whole world denies the Person of the Lord Jesus, in the Bible the word of God, we have a great crowd of witnesses. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1).
    All they of Hebrews Chapter 11 speak to us as dying IN FAITH. They are witnesses of God’s faithfulness and this encourages and shows us the power and the eternal path of FAITH for us today. As we look up and see the immense clouds above, the massiveness and greatness of these chambers of water, we could call them an ocean above, they are witnesses of God’s care for those below. He sends the rain on the just and on the unjust. So, throughout the Scriptures and throughout time, think of all the godly clouds of witnesses that are NOW before the throne of God in Revelation 4 and 5. All these witnesses have walked in the path of FAITH. They had a relationship on earth and now they have a relationship of glory with the Person of their faith and IN their faith. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

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The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
Christ is the Author and Finisher of FAITH

  The phrase the doctrine of Christ is documented three times in Scripture: once in Hebrews 6:1 and twice in 2nd John 1:9. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, (Hebrews 6:1) Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. (2nd John 1:9)
   It is Christ that BEFORE the foundations of the world became the Author and Finisher of FAITH, and faith was to become the gift that would lead sinful man through the window of a new birth to see the glory and the express image of the Author and Finisher of their very faith. Faith not only becomes a path, but it also becomes a stairway. As you travel up that stairway, faith brings you closer to the Author, the Lord Jesus Christ. The first ONE who loved man was God. God had a love for Adam, but Adam betrayed that love by bringing sin and death into the world. But God’s love was greater than the sin of Adam. God had a plan of redemption and FAITH was the instrument to draw man back to God. It was Christ, even in the Old Testament, that was the Author and the Finisher of the FAITH of Abel.
   Abel was the first person brought into the womb of FAITH. The first person conceived by FAITH into a new birth. The first person to acknowledge the Almighty God in a more excellent sacrifice that would send a sweet savor up to God. Abel, although murdered by his brother, died IN FAITH . . . absent from the body, and present with the Lord. We are confident, [I say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2nd Corinthians 5:8) The Lord Jesus has so many attributes that sometimes we forget that FAITH is one of those facets of His glory, and it is just as important as life and light so that FAITH becomes the eyes to see and to understand the invisible in the word of God.
   In Galatians 2:20 the Apostle Paul, through the Spirit, steps out of the land of the living to describe a new life in Christ. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Paul began with death when he declared, I am crucified with Christ. (I have died in the cross.) The atonement of Christ was not for Himself for He was the sinless Lamb of God. The atonement of Christ was for Paul, it was for YOU and it was for Me that Christ FINISHED the work of redemption with the very words, It is finished.
   Sin began at a tree, and SIN was finished at another tree. When we come into this world as a child of Adam, we come in bearing his sin nature. We all share the guilt and the burden of our sin for it leads us to death. That sin of all the world, of all time past, present and future were placed on the Lamb of God. When we, through faith, acknowledge God’s provision of life in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we are born AGAIN. But many do not understand that at THAT point we go through the valley of death. The Lord takes us through the valley of death through FAITH and gives us a NEW LIFE. So, after the cross, the apostle Paul informs us through Galatians 2:20, that nevertheless I live. This is NOT the old life. This is the new life of FAITH. How can we live this new life of faith? The Apostle tells us that Christ liveth in me. This also brings in the reference of Galatians 4:6, where God the Father sends forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. He conceived a new life by FAITH through the eternal Vigor of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ. In His manifestation, He not only brought LIGHT into the world, but He also brought NEW LIFE as well. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
    It is evident that Christ was the Gift of God sent down to man. The Author of FAITH sends that FAITH as a gift down to man. The gift of faith belongs to the UNSEEN and comes down from above. As not all men have faith so also not all men receive faith. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. (2nd Thessalonians 3:2)
   When Adam brought sin into the world, it covered all areas and aspects of life and death. There was a darkness of sin over the whole world. This darkness grew in the hearts of men until God looked down and saw the evil imaginations of their hearts and in Genesis Chapter 6, the vileness of man had reached its limits. God decided to JUDGE the whole world with The Law of Sin and Death. But there was ONE person, ONE man, named Noah, and from all the populace of the world, this ONE man had saving FAITH. ONLY Noah, NOT the world, nor Noah’s family, but ONLY Noah had FAITH. With that faith, God drew Noah into God’s grace, and Noah walked with God and God provided salvation from the judgment to come with an ARK of salvation. Through FAITH, Noah took the plans of God and built an ark. Noah’s path of faith was evident every day as he labored in building the ark that God had declared would save him and his family, and basically also the animal kingdom.
   But where did this marvelous FAITH come from? It came from the Author and the Finisher of Faith the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only within reason that if Noah had faith, it had to come from the Author of faith. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our FAITH, that is, Christ is the AUTHOR, the SOURCE, the CREATOR, the FOUNDER, and the ORIGINATOR of FAITH.

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The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
Christ is Eternal Faith

   Since Noah, having faith, lived BY faith and lived IN faith; Noah, as all the saints, died IN faith. So, the Person of Christ is FAITH. As Hebrews 11:1 proclaims that FAITH is a substance it is also TANGIBLE evidence of a LIVING God who is both grace and truth. Faith is the Spirit’s voice to the heart. This is why the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20, after he had suffered the death of the cross declared, I LIVE by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. It is reasonable with such a mind set that the Apostle Paul had cast ALL off for Christ, and FAITH was the substance and the TANGIBLE evidence of new life in Christ.
   Our faith has a substance. Our faith is the tangible evidence of Christ. Christ is the enduring substance and the tangible evidence of FAITH in heaven. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. (Hebrews 10:34)
   Although, as Paul, I now live in the flesh, that flesh and that life have been CHANGED to a life IN Christ. Adam received life from Christ, the image of the invisible God. Christ breathed life into Adam, but Adam could never say, Christ liveth in me. This truth came later after sin when the first man of faith, Abel, offered a more excellent sacrifice. Abel understood that through FAITH God was going to provide HIMSELF as a Lamb. There is only ONE excellent sacrifice in Scripture, and that is the sacrifice of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who loved Abel for he being dead yet speaks. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4)
   As Abel BY faith yet speaks, so too, God has also provided a voice for me through a pen and a keyboard to reveal the wonders of faith. Abel’s faith came from the Lord Jesus who IS FAITH, thus, we see that beginning with Abel, and all the saints to this present day and age that have died, that they DIED IN FAITH. Faith took them through the portal of eternity.
   It is Christ who takes away the sting of death. It is Christ who takes this corruption and gives it incorruption. It is Christ who takes this mortal and gives it immortality.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1st Corinthians 15:53)
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1st Corinthians 15:54)
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1st Corinthians 15:55)
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1st Corinthians 15:56)
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1st Corinthians 15:57)

   We also have the wonder of 1st Thessalonians Chapter 4, verses 13 – 18.

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (1st Thessalonians 4:13)
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (1st Thessalonians 4:14)
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (1st Thessalonians 4:15)
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (1st Thessalonians 4:16)
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1st Thessalonians 4:17)

Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1st Thessalonians 4:18)

   1st Thessalonians Chapter 4 is a declaration of the Spirit of God. The dead IN Christ shall be raised FIRST . . . : and the dead in Christ shall rise first. The modern liberal belief has forgotten the importance of the resurrection of both the just and the unjust. This is the declaration of the JUST being raised IN Christ. Now read this carefully, these ALL died IN Christ, so it is only fitting that they should be raised IN Christ. These are that great cloud of witnesses. With these eternal and immortal words by the Spirit of God, He gives us courage in this ungodly world of unbelief. There is not only the resurrection of the JUST but the translation of the JUST who are alive at the Lord’s removing those of faith BEFORE He judges the world for their unbelief. We need to embrace the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall NEVER DIE. Believest thou this? Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (John 11:25) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:26)
   In this profound statement by the Lord Jesus Christ, we see the finality in 1st Corinthians 15, absent from the body and present with the Lord. We can nullify, through faith, the sting of death. If our heart is tuned by the Spirit of God to the truth of Scripture, we can enjoy the beginning of our everlasting life NOW. Yes, there are hindrances, and there is unbelief in wickedness all around us. But we, the children of God, have a path of faith through the darkness. Whether we are alive or we have fallen asleep in Jesus, the transformation of faith from the physical flesh to the life of the Spirit puts off corruption and brings in incorruption. Faith puts off mortality and brings in immortality. Many claim eternal life and they make this claim in many ways, but they neglect the one way and the one truth that brings us to the Father, and this is Jesus Christ. They remain scarred and scared by the thought of death. The gospel proclaims (without a doubt) that the child of faith is FREE of death. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
   It is the Spirit of life IN Christ Jesus that we NOW possess, that has freed us, broken the shackles of The Law of Sin and Death. By bringing sin into the world, Adam became sin. Spiritually this became the first man of death. The spiritual side of Adam died, and we could say that he became sin and death. And so, sin and death became the path of all of mankind. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (Romans 5:12) If sin could be called a plague then man would be more afraid of sin, but since ALL man has the inherent nature of sin they do not see sin as a plague of death. If they did, they would do every thing that they could against sin. Although man can have life IN Jesus Christ, he prefers darkness and death for he will not give up his sin and death. Having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is leaving the old world behind. Through the new birth, the Spirit of God changes a person from an earthly being to a heavenly being, and faith is the seed of that new life IN Christ Jesus.

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The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
Christ Joyfully Waits for the Fulfillment of Faith

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13)

   Now those in Hebrews in 11:13, died IN faith. They did not see the fulfillment of all the promises given by God; however, they KNEW that He is faithful who promised. In their knowledge of God, they looked forward to the FULLNESS and to the fulfillment of ALL of God’s promises IN Christ Jesus, the anointed Son of God with the oil of gladness.
   The oil of gladness brings joy into our redemption, for although He suffered for us, there is NOT an eternal sadness IN Him, as we read in Hebrews 12:2, for the JOY that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy of the gospel, the glad tidings to the ones who are mired in sin and death is all around them, the light of FAITH sparkles and gives life and removes them from the pit. The gospel is happiness, it is the joy of our redemption, it is laughter against our former position in sin and death. These glad tidings came in a Person, the Lord of glory from heaven. Now, He sits at the right hand of God and has sent down the gospel by the Holy Ghost to free us from sin and death. At our present time, we have not seen all things fulfilled. We have not seen all the promises of God, and yet, we know through the voice of the Spirit of God in the word of God that all things will come to pass. As those who died in faith, we today, the children of God, seek a better country, a heavenly in which God has prepared a holy city for us. We, as they of old, are strangers and pilgrims in this world below waiting to wit our adoption to be finalized.

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (Romans 8:20)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? (Romans 8:24)
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. (Romans 8:25)
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:27)
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

   In Romans Chapter 8, we have a series of great truths. We have the beginning of our birth IN the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. We are told by the Spirit of God that we are no longer under condemnation. We have been freed to walk by the Spirit, to enjoy the presence of Christ in our heart, and then, we are not only shown the way to walk, but the finality of our walk when we are ALL brought together IN Christ, heir of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. There is no material world in Romans Chapter 8. It is the Spirit’s view into the UNSEEN and the future climax of our faith as we groan within ourselves waiting for the redemption of our body: waiting for that which is of God and not of the world. This redemption can only come from the ONLY Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ breathed upon His disciples, His Spirit in our heart gives us the breath of His life. How blessed are we, the sons of God, born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but we are born of the redemptive power of the Spirit of life IN Christ Jesus.
   Through FAITH we have entered into that great cloud of witnesses. The first witness was a shepherd, Abel. He was the first shepherd of His flock. We have the first prophet in Enoch being the first of many who walked with God.

◆ And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: (Genesis 5:18)
And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (Genesis 5:19)
And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. (Genesis 5:20)
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: (Genesis 5:21)
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (Genesis 5:22)
And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: (Genesis 5:23)
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)
◆ And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (Jude 1:14)
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. (Jude 1:15)

   Enoch lived in a day and in an age when ungodly sinners spoke and railed against the Almighty God. As they faced the judgment of God in the world wide universal flood, the world of Adam never changed through the sons of Noah. And now, the ungodly speak against the judgment of God in Genesis Chapter 6. They deny the destruction of sinners in the world wide universal flood. They deny that Moses led Israel through the Red Sea when God parted the water to save His people. This was neither a puddle, nor a small stream of weeds as unbelieving liberals promote. This was the depth of the Red Sea that drowned Pharaoh AND his hosts, AND his chosen captains, AND his horses AND his chariots. God is not a God of half measures.

◆ And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: (Exodus 14:6) And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. (Exodus 14:7)
◆ And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. (Exodus 14:23)
◆ And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. (Exodus 14:28)

   As we have seen, Genesis Chapter 6 was to all men, (this 6th Chapter is NOT about angels, but it is ALL about man) even Noah and his family. It was grace through faith that brought those eight souls through the flood. It was Noah who found grace in the sight of the Lord Jesus. Noah was redeemed through faith that he had received from the Creator of all things. It was the Creator who brought Noah and his family through the flood.
   As Moses, by faith, stood before a doomed Pharaoh and proclaimed Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. (Nine times, Moses spoke the words of God, Let my people go. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Exodus 8:1. Since the number nine is the number of finality and judgment, it is fitting that Pharaoh heard the phrase Let my people go NINE times.) CLICK HERE for more about the number nine. 
   Although Moses was rejected many times, the faith of Moses saw Him who is invisible, and the great I AM brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea. Not all who came out of Egypt were saved. It is a fact that not all were even of Israel. Egypt was the slave capital of the world ruled by the children of Ham. There were Ethiopians and Libyan slaves in Egypt in addition to slaves from many other nations. After the Civil War in the United States, the visible chains of slavery were removed, but the spiritual temporal control of the souls of men still enslaved man. The chief Slave Master is Satan. His tools of slavery and his iron shackles have always been sin. How does the devil pay off the wages of his slaves? The wages of sin is death. There have been those throughout history, who in Adam have fought against sin in many ways, but not one child of Adam has ever conquered sin because all have died.
   I give present life in the Spirit of Christ that can FREE the man, the woman, and the child from The Law of Sin and Death. When Israel went through the Red Sea in a physical window, God showed us a spiritual picture of the valley of the shadow of death. In Psalm 23, it is the LORD and Him alone who restores the soul. It is the LORD and the LORD alone who walks with us in righteousness. It is the LORD and the LORD alone with the name of Jesus, His name’s sake, that saves the children of Adam from the Sea of the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
   In Hebrews Chapter 3, God instructs of those who came out of Egypt. Although they were saved from the water in a physical sense, their hearts were still hardened with the sins and iniquities of Egypt.

◆ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, (Hebrews 3:7)
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: (Hebrews 3:8)
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. (Hebrews 3:9)
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. (Hebrews 3:10)
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) (Hebrews 3:11)
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12)
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13)
◆ While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. (Hebrews 3:15)
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. (Hebrews 3:16)
But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? (Hebrews 3:17)
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? (Hebrews 3:18)
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:19)

   The words that these all died in the wilderness who came out of Egypt should be important to us. How many of them had a surrendered heart? How many of them knew their Redeemer who had led them through the waters of death? The purpose of dying in the desert and in the wilderness was a divine picture for us in our day. Those who went into the land were a NEW nation, a nation conceived in the wilderness of Sin. A nation that God would promise to defeat all their enemies, if they would only follow Him and Him alone, and be obedient sons to their Creator and God. Through the ordinances of sacrifice, God would redeem and forgive their trespasses. He would open the door of life to them if they would only be obedient to the ordinances and to the laws that He would set forth for a nation of God on earth. However, there was a conditional statement of OBEDIENCE, and Israel failed miserably in obedience. So all the blessings that they received from God in the land was ripped from their possession and they were driven into captivity, not once, not twice, but three times their nation fell to the rule of the governments of the world.
   The physical Church has also failed miserably as Israel failed, they left their first love in their first forty years of their sojourn in the wilderness of sin. Sin overran Israel through the Philistines and sin overran the visible Church through the Nicolaitans. These evil men fought against the truth of God and His word to remove all blessings from the Church and put the Church under the rule of man and Satan. However, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ can neither be suppressed nor conquered by the chains of sin. It is a gift of God from above from the Lord Jesus Christ sent down to the world by the Holy Ghost.

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (2nd Timothy 1:9) But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (2nd Timothy 1:10)

   Paul, the Apostle, was in physical chains many times, but the message of freedom that he carried could not be chained. The evils of man could NOT erase, deter, nor conquer the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)This verse from the book of Romans STANDS as the mountain of grace that through FAITH, The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus breaks and shatters The Law of Sin and Death. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou, my Savior, has conquered sin and death and thou art with me, and thou leadest me in the path of righteousness for thy name’s sake. The name that conquers all, Jesus the Christ. Many attempt to read the Bible with understanding without spiritual intelligence, without a light into the heavenlies, and without the Spirit of Christ within their hearts.
   In Revelation 22:16 we have the last message to the world by His name’s sake, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 16 begins with, I Jesus. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. Many do not see the importance of the last mention of Himself. It is not the I AM THAT I AM, it is not Jehovah, nor Jah, it is JESUS, and He tells us that He has sent His angel to testify unto these things in the book of the Revelation to the seven churches. He declared that He is the Root, He is the Foundation, and He is the offspring, He is the bulwark, and the security of David, He is the earthly King and then He moves to His heavenly throne, He is the brightest of all, He is the morning star, He is the first ONE that we should see and in our hearts we should absorb the brightness of His glory and the expression of His Person in full radiance of the glory in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel and the spiritual Church cannot be chained. Sin and evil cannot deter it. The Spirit and the true Bride say, Come, come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest in my grace and truth. All those who hear the message, he that hearth and believeth, let him also say Come, and let him who is athirst Come, and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely in Christ Jesus. The word of God both written and Living is a well of living water that will NEVER run dry.

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10)
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? (John 4:11)
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: (John 4:13)
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)

   The Apostle said that he testifies unto every person who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God also declares to us throughout the Scriptures that for salvation to take root in the heart of man it MUST come through the seed of FAITH. It is only the seed of FAITH that can introduce mortal man to immortality. It is only the seed of FAITH that can open the window to the evidence of things not seen.
   The heart in Adam contrived all the evil of Genesis Chapter 6. The first mention of the word evil is surrounded by a tree of corruption with many branches. The tree was a paradise of both good and evil. It gave knowledge to man’s heart, and man’s heart became a paradox of good and evil. Through the influence of Satan, Eve took the evil fruit (not the good fruit, but the EVIL fruit and gave it to Adam.) Many try to speculate what this fruit was, but God gave it a name. It was the EVIL fruit, and it came from a tree that had both good and evil. When God created man, did He not call man GOOD? When man corrupted himself, he changed his goodness and surrendered to the evils of sin and Satan. There at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the woman was NOT a bystander but was moved in transgression AGAINST a holy and righteous God.

For Adam was first formed, then Eve. (1st Timothy 2:13) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1st Timothy 2:14) Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. (1st Timothy 2:15)

   Eve was NOT the Federal Head of a human race. It was Adam who was given dominion over all including dominion over Eve. Although Eve, is the mother of all human flesh, she came from the bone and marrow of Adam, and from the flesh of Adam. She was the image of Adam, and she was to be the help mate to the ruler, which was Adam. If you don’t think that her transgression changed ALL of mankind, and put the spirit of rebellion in the hearts of ALL women, then you do not understand Genesis Chapter 6, and the influence and evil of the daughters of men. Look at us today. Women want to rule over ALL men because sin has run wildly among the female race and has deliberately corrupted the male race with both physical corruption and philosophical reasoning to worship the image of Diana for their beauty and lust. The female body has become the fruit of the tree of evil. I will take a break here to duck the rotten tomatoes . . . now FAITH is the substance, it is the FRUIT of things hoped for and FAITH brings with it the evidence of things not seen. Death is the evidence of Adam’s sin. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12)
   FAITH is the evidence of life in the Spirit of Christ. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) In Hebrews 11:1, we have, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In verse 3, it is THROUGH FAITH that we see the creation of ALL things by the word of God, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. In verse 4, see BY FAITH, the individual Abel is introduced by God to the more excellent sacrifice. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. In verse 5, it was BY FAITH Enoch entered into heaven for he was TRANSLATED and did NOT see death. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. In verse 7, it was BY FAITH NOAH, being warned of God of those things NOT SEEN, and moved with fear because he believed HIM who had promised through grace the deliverance of his family and himself. And Noah, as all the redeemed became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
   By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Hebrews 11:7) People get so caught up with where the ark of Noah finally may have settled and where it could possibly be today that they completely read over that Noah through FAITH became an heir of God and a joint heir of Jesus Christ in the righteousness which is by faith in the more excellent sacrifice.
   By faith, Abraham received the righteousness of God. Through faith, Sarah received strength to conceive the seed that was given to her from above, a living child in Isaac would come out from a dead womb. So today, the earth is the dead womb of sin, and to be free from the dead womb of sin, one MUST through FAITH receive the more excellent sacrifice that God has given to us in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The only true life that we can have MUST come from above. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

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The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
The Permanent and Supernatural Christ and Faith

   In the eleventh Chapter of the book of Hebrews, we see many facets of FAITH, the eye of faith brightly glows in the righteousness of God. Now, the theme of this message . . . these all died IN FAITH, the word IN discloses the permanency of FAITH that even IN death FAITH is permanent. One could say that FAITH is the gateway to the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness will dwell. We should learn of the element of FAITH since it is the substance and the tangible of things HOPED for it therefore leads us to the evidence, the invisible of things NOT SEEN. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
   We began the new birth with BY FAITH. This is the action of the supernatural. Faith MUST come from the invisible who is the Author and Finisher of our FAITH, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are two elements of faith: BY FAITH and THROUGH FAITH. By FAITH is the gift that we receive from God. THROUGH FAITH is that which is given to us and working THROUGH us by the power of the Holy Ghost. The aspect of everlasting faith joins us to everlasting grace and this joins us to everlasting life AND the finality is the everlasting PRESENCE of the divine Author of faith and Finisher of Faith, the Lord Jesus Christ.

   Again, I repeat, these all died IN faith as Noah was in the ark through the flood, so, we today, who love and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are IN the heavenly Ark of faith. We have considered that faith does not die. It is part of our everlasting life which begins when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus never denied the faith of His servants. He exclaimed that they had little faith, but never did He say that they had NO faith. When the Lord’s disciples realized that they had little faith, they asked the Lord Jesus to INCREASE their faith. Because of the Philistines and their god Dagon, and the Nicolaitans in the New Testament and their goddess Diana or Mary, the religious world has little understanding of the TRUE POWER of divine faith. Speak to people, it is always ‘my faith,‘ they never credit the Lord Jesus as the Author and Finisher of their faith. When you look at faith as an element that you can have in Adam, then you are a lost soul, and have no understanding of the SUPERNATURAL WORK OF GOD in giving FAITH through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
   When we sleep in Jesus, we sleep IN faith waiting in that faith for the resurrection of our body. For if we believe that our Lord and Savior died and rose again, we believe also that He will call us from our sleep in faith to our glorious home above. They who died IN FAITH, we, who will die in FAITH, simply travel by faith. We take our place in the bosom of faith as Lazarus of old in Luke 6 in Abraham’s bosom.
   The reason that it is Abraham’s bosom is a metaphor for in Hebrews Chapter 2, Christ is the Seed of Abraham, although HE is also the God of glory that appeared to Abram while he was still in Mesopotamia. (Acts 7:2) Here is where FAITH possesses its new vehicle, and the walk of Abram by FAITH begins as a gift from God the Son, the Author of Abram’s faith. Again, was it not Abraham’s bosom that received all the promises of God both earthly and heavenly. The Spirit of God is consistent with the theme of resurrection. In Genesis Chapter 22, although Abraham was to offer his son Isaac, he told his men to wait for he and the lad would return. In the book of Ezekiel, we have the impossible to man, but possible to God, a valley, a place of dry bones and yet every bone finds its host. Everyone will be complete. God counts even the scattered bones and KNOWS where it sleeps. The Apostle Paul informs us that we shall sleep IN Jesus. We see the evidence of the saints in the Old Testament that slept in Jesus.

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. (Matthew 27:50) And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; (Matthew 27:51) And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, (Matthew 27:52) And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. (Matthew 27:53)

   Now PAY ATTENTION . . . if you never saw this before . . . and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, they, which were in the grave were sleeping and this is the record of the Spirit written in grace and truth. This is a preview of the resurrection of the saints. This is tied into the very power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ . . . And came out of the graves after his resurrection. This is the PROOF of what Christ said to Martha in John Chapter 11.

Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. (John 11:23)
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:24)
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (John 11:25)
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:26)
She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. (John 11:27)

   The PROOF of the Lord’s statement to Martha has already been seen by mortal man and yet, they will not believe. Let us go to Revelation Chapter 6:9 – 11.

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: (Revelation 6:9) And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:10) And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:11)

   We now pass into a different time frame. Revelation Chapter 6 (6 being the number of man) brings out the works of man in a world without the Spirit of God. We see that there is a time frame because those UNDER the altar cry out, How long, they do NOT cry out, Grace, grace. They cry out that they should be AVENGED. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Yet these saints have a presence IN faith for they also (although they were slain) ALL DIED IN FAITH. They have a presence under the altar. The very altar of redemption protects them from the evils of the world. They have an open audience with the Lord because these ALL DIED IN FAITH. Their faith although they ARE DEAD, gives them a presence in the SPIRIT with the Lord Jesus Christ. In this beautiful picture, we also see the ETERNAL EXISTENCE OF THE SOUL. This is a window into the things NOT seen. The Lord Jesus does not want us to fear the unknown or the unseen. When the Lord was about to depart from the world, He made a divine promise to His disciples and TO US as well. He proclaimed, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20) As He spoke to His disciples, these all died in faith, FAITH is the great sea of all the redeemed. It is a great ocean of faith which makes us, the redeemed, fishers of men.
   In our FAITH we should have the awareness of the UNSEEN around us, and the power of the Holy Ghost to preserve us and to keep us and to guide us. The nail pierced hands and the wounded side should be complete evidence of our faith upon our very souls. Whether you want to believe it or not, those of FAITH have stepped through the door of everlasting life. Although we are on earth, we belong to the land of the UNSEEN. It is TRUE we do not see ALL things as yet, but with eyes wide open and the Spirit of God working IN us, we see in our souls, through the Scriptures, the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. Through FAITH, we see the future, we see things afar off for the Holy Ghost presents to us a better country and a holy city where just men are made perfect IN our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22) To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23).

   Verse 23 ends with the word perfect. We are made in the Prince of Perfect for He is our Perfect example, and we will be conformed to HIS likeness. To become just men the divine work of God on the cross of Calvary was to shed His own blood from that holy thing, to the holy child, to the Holy One of God and NOW declared by the Spirit holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, and this ONE is made higher than the heavens.

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; (Hebrews 7:26)
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)
And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. (Mark 14:24)
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28)

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (1st Peter 1:18)
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1st Peter 1:19)
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (1st Peter 1:20).

   Here is an aspect of divine truth that IN Christ there was NO Adam. IN Christ there was NO sin. In the perfection of the heavenly manifestation there was NO blood of Adam IN Jesus Christ. A divine sacrifice DEMANDED the purity of GOD’s BLOOD and the PURITY of the soul of God to redeem mankind. This was DIVINE BLOOD. In the cup that the Lord held in His hand, it represented DIVINE BLOOD and THIS speaks of better things than the blood of Abel. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)
It is quite evident that the divine truths of Scripture even in the Old Testament is to show us the PURITY of the sacrifice. The Lamb had to have NO flaws, NO spot, NO contamination on the outside or inside. The entire idea of the Old Testament sacrifice was to show the PURITY of the ONE who would come as Abraham said in Genesis 22:8, God will provide himself a sacrifice. And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. To emphasize that, the Apostle Paul informs us by the Holy Spirit of God that God was IN Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; (2nd Corinthians 5:18) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2nd Corinthians 5:19)

   Christ is the TANGIBLE evidence of our FAITH IN His reconciliation of the world. As the Author of faith, He stands before God, the Father, with the book of life and the names of faith written on its golden pages of righteousness. For us, today, the cross secured our faith both in the Old and New Testament times. The fullness of time, the center point of redemption brought Christ into the world NOT IN sinful flesh, but in the LIKENESS of sinful flesh, and kept HIM as the holy thing completely apart from Adam so that HE could fulfill the righteousness of God on earth.
   The Supernatural work of the Holy Ghost that came upon Mary was the catalyst of that holy thing sent down from heaven. It was the Holy Ghost who surrounded that holy thing in the womb of Mary to keep it from any contamination of mankind. During the Lord’s ministry, He continually declared that He was sent down from heaven, that He came from above, and that the Father sent Him into the world.
   Returning back to Genesis we get a great revelation; we have to look beyond the obvious. Adam was NOT begotten of God. Adam was CREATED from dust. God breathed life into dust. From dust, God created man. Now, when Adam brought sin into the world, he personally became sin, and the outcome of that sin was death by sin. Christ was NOT created. Christ was begotten of the Father.

Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:4) For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? (Hebrews 1:5)

   This separated the Lord Jesus from the human race. In Galatians 4:4, the word made is very important. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. For Christ was MADE the manifest image of the invisible God. This unique personality of the Divine Being was brought forth by God the Father BEGOTTEN of the Father, a Being of total PURITY and total FULLNESS of the GODHEAD BODILY to take away sin and to overthrow death.

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:15)

  Spiritual reasoning is very important; how do we get to true spiritual reasoning? First: It must be by the Spirit of the Living God. Secondly: it has to be according to the Holy Scriptures which are written by God and seated in heaven. So, if Christ had one drop of Adam within Him, one grain of dust, that would have contaminated Him and He could not take away the sin of the world. He would not be able to fulfill all righteousness. When John the Baptist proclaimed, Behold the Lamb of God, He was giving us a picture of the PURITY of sacrifice. He was showing us the uniqueness and the separation from sinners so that THIS Lamb, THIS manifestation of God could take away sin. If He could not fulfill all righteousness, then we could NOT be made the righteousness of God IN Him. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1st Corinthians 1:30)
   Here again we have to understand what the Holy Ghost is telling us. He is speaking only to those who have FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus . . . ye in Christ Jesus . . . these words, who of God is made unto us, again I write that these words are very important. And again, we have the word made. Remember . . . made in the likeness of man, sinful flesh, and made in the image of the invisible God, and NOW, to those of FAITH, God has made HIM unto US ALL the wisdom of God, ALL the righteousness of God, and ALL the sanctification of God, and with all these three, we have the redemption of God IN Jesus Christ. We could not have righteousness without Him, and look at the word sanctification, you can’t just stop at being set apart. It has to be the PURITY of what is set apart. It has to be the unction of the Holy Spirit of God that has worked to cleanse the soul, the spirit, the heart, the very being for redemption. This was ALL accomplished by the manifest image of the invisible God.
   In 1st Corinthians Chapter 2, I would like you to pay attention to that little word made. For we have been embraced by the heavenly majesty. We have been changed into a heavenly being, therefore, God has given to us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption IN the PERSON of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are MADE of Christ, so there is NO going back. The way of our past is forever cut off. He will remember our sin NO MORE. We have gone through the valley of death in our sin, and we have been changed to life in the righteousness in the Son of God. The heart is more than a pump of blood. The Bible proves that the very intents of the heart are known by God. Therefore, the heart is linked to all our intelligence whether for good or evil, the mind and the heart are inseparable. The heart of righteousness of the new born child IN Christ MUST compile the great truths of that righteousness. As Peter discloses, we are to GROW as newborn babes. We are to GROW in our faith and see all the wonders of what God given us, and through His Spirit He will reveal to us the wonder of His beloved Son.
   In Hebrews Chapter 1:5, we are told, For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? This verse KILLS  so-called angelic sonship. The only ONE who bears the name of SON is the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m speaking on a divine level, not the level of the children of God. Angels are created. They are created beings, but they were NOT begotten. There is only ONE who possesses deity who has been begotten of God the Father, and this is the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot give sonship to angels for they have NOT been begotten. They have been created. The liberal theologians, the Philistines, the men of renown, and the Nicolaitans do not believe this. We believe in the unique Sonship of the Son of God for God was IN Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Adam did not have God WITHIN himself, for Adam was created and not begotten. Angels cannot make that claim for they have been created and NOT begotten but here is the miracle of the new birth: God the Father has freed us from sin and death through the Spirit of Life that is IN Christ Jesus. Then, God the Father sent down the Spirit of Christ into our hearts so that we can be called the sons of God. Here is the miracle of John Chapter 3, we are begotten of the Spirit of God and a man MUST be born again.

◆ For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
◆ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)
◆ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1st John 3:1)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1st John 3:2)
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1st John 3:3)
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1st John 3:4)
◆ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? (John 3:4)
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)

   For He, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has a MORE EXCELLENT name then they. His earthly name is Jesus, and as He ascended into glory, His heavenly name is Jesus, as He ascended, the angels told the crowd, that this same Jesus will come again in like manner. The angel declared to Joseph, thou shalt call His name Jesus. Unto us a child was born; unto us, a UNIQUE, one of a kind, the manifestation of Deity . . . a SON was given from heaven above. It is evident when we see the works of religion (I’m talking about the religion of man) he has this thought in his heart that through his religion he can redeem himself. Man has to have a mind twisted in sin to think or to believe or to say that sin can cancel sin, or that death can destroy itself. Man in his religion takes Satan out of the loop of sin and death. Behind the pulpits and the podiums of religion, Satan laughs when he hears the words of self righteous men and women denying the Lamb of God. Satan himself is a created being. He was NOT begotten of God, but a created entity for a specific purpose, and because of sin and iniquity that was found in him, he is called a murderer from the beginning. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
   To the children of Adam at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Genesis Chapter 3, this evil diabolical serpent manifested his hatred for God. This unbelievable tyrant of sin put ALL man in the shackles of sin that he brought down from glory and corrupted the soul of Adam when Adam brought sin into the world. All those born of woman, and have sprung from Adam, this evil serpent (Satan, the devil, the murderer and the liar) is your father. You have been embraced by his sin since the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when Adam partook of the fruit of evil and disobeyed THE LAW of God: The Law of Sin and Death.

◆ 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. (Genesis 2:17)
◆ For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

  God in His infinite wisdom in the determinate counsels of God AND in His foreknowledge provided a Lamb of sacrifice for the sin of the world. As Satan overthrew Adam at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, this ENDED man’s fellowship with God in a spiritual sense. This is why God began a NEW WORK, a supernatural spiritual work through FAITH with Abel. Abel became the first of the redeemed through a more excellent sacrifice to overthrow both sin and death. This excellent sacrifice spoke of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ took away the sin of the world and overthrew death. 

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:15)

   Abel offered his more excellent sacrifice, By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Hebrews 11:4. Abel was looking for the fulfillment of the fullness of time. All who died in FAITH in the Old Testament were looking forward to the fullness of time. All those yet to come AFTER the fullness of time would also be included in the more excellent sacrifice in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not for man to decide the truth. Man has been told to OBEY the truth, for the truth is IN Jesus, yet man will NOT obey the truth. Too many deny the Supernatural work of God. Too many take the Supernatural out of God’s dealing with man. It is GOD who controls the very existence of nations and ALL of mankind. When man takes God out of his relationship then man has to deny the DEITY of the beginning of the creation of God who is the Lord Jesus Christ. They also deny the work of the Spirit of God, for it is HE and only HE who can lead man into all truth. In Colossians 2:9, the Spirit of God announces to the world that Jesus Christ is the FULNESS of the GODHEAD BODILY. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. What is the Holy Ghost telling us? ALL is of GOD, ALL that is found in the GODHEAD is IN JESUS CHRIST. The Father is inseparable from the Son, and the Father and the Son is inseparable from the Holy Ghost, and this FULNESS of the Godhead bodily was revealed to man in the manifest image of the invisible God. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. (Colossians 1:5) The Spirit of God also reveals to us in Hebrews 1:3 that Christ is the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of His Person. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. The Lord Jesus put all this together in His own words when He was speaking to Nicodemus, who was a teacher of the Jews. In John 3:11, we should see the unity of the GODHEAD as the Lord Jesus used the word we three times. Then concluded the verse with the word our. Thus, not only showing the fulness of the GODHEAD, but that He Himself was the Possessor of the Godhead. Too many have tried to break apart the Godhead when in John Chapter 3 we see that Christ had NO intention of being separated from God the Father or from the Holy Ghost, thus, clarifying with the word we three times. I have written this many times that the Bible is ONE WHOLE from Genesis to the end of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Too many times one-verse- hypocrites try to overthrow the deity of God and the reason for their attempt is that deep within them there is an enmity in their hearts from their father that has never been removed.

 —–◆—–
The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
FAITH and the SONSHIP of Christ BEFORE time, space and matter.

   Now faith, yes FAITH is the substance, it is the tangible substance of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is tangible proof of things hoped for, and it is the doorway to ALL the evidence of things NOT SEEN. It is the evidence of a faithful God who is the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s beloved Son, the first born from the dead, a child that was born, a son that was given to us, a Son that came down from heaven, a SON that was made of a woman, a SON that was a holy Seed, a SON that was the holy thing. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
   It is here that the holy child came down from heaven in the indescribable form of the holy thing. There’s overwhelming evidence both in the Old Testament and the New Testament that the Lord Jesus was SENT DOWN to us to redeem us from our sin.

◆ Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; (John 13:3)
◆ Jesus said 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. (John 8:42)

  The evidence of the child being sent from above is overwhelming. The Spirit of God shows us the Temple of God IN the holy thing, the holy child and in the Holy One. That HE is the Tabernacle of God. He came to dwell among us, and now in heaven, He sends His Spirit to dwell WITHIN us. When we think of Isaiah 9:6, and the phrase that a son is given. In the New Testament, it is overwhelming that this is God’s beloved Son from heaven above, God proclaimed the Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the holy mountain, when Christ revealed His glory to His disciples, the heavens opened again . . . this is my beloved Son hear ye Him. In Hebrews 1:2, we are told that in these last days God has spoken to us BY His Son. Christ has spoken on earth to reveal the FULNESS of the Godhead bodily: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. His last promise to us was that HE would always be with us (those who are redeemed) to the very end of the world. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:20)
   To those of saving FAITH, the very words of the Lord Jesus, the prophecies, and the prophetic warnings and the future evidence of things not SEEN have come to us. There shall be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is not yet. All we see around us today is man fulfilling his own wickedness, the evil blood of Cain spreading death and destruction through the world. The world as we KNOW it today and in this moment is NOT the world of the past, but it is the SAME world filled with the SAME sin of Adam. Man destroys man in every imaginable way and means. The imagination of the evil heart of Genesis Chapter 6 has magnified itself to a height that even the spiritual mind cannot understand the depth of that seed of wickedness, the depth of sin. No one can understand and words cannot express what Christ endured on the cross. When a Holy and Righteous God, who was separated from sinners could endure the sin of the whole world upon Him, this was the Son that was given, the ONLY begotten of the Father, the wonderful Son, the divine Man, the heavenly Man, the Holy Man, the undefiled Man, the ONLY MAN of pure righteousness, sanctified by God to be the Lamb of Sacrifice for the SIN of the whole world.
    Here is another controversy: there are those who say that if Christ only died for the elect, then how could He sit in judgment at the great white throne? All sin had to be dealt with because ALL sinners had to be judged. The elect have been judged in the cross, and they are FREE in the righteousness of God IN Jesus Christ. Those who have refused the grace of God will stand at the great white throne without excuse because their sin was paid for on the cross of Calvary and they REFUSED the grace of God. We cannot fathom the very thought of the tremendous load of sin that was placed on the beloved of God. It is God Himself and HE ALONE who knows the full price in the Holy work of redemption on the cross at Calvary.
   There is a lot of eternity in the Son that was given. In Revelation13:8 within the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we receive a wonderful revelation of Himself. He is a Lamb SLAIN from the foundation of the world. In the foreknowledge of God, in His determinate counsels, in His divine will He prepared the Lamb for sacrifice from the foundations of the world. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
   Now, I would like to insert another verse dealing with things BEFORE the foundation of the world. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. (Ephesians 1:4) He hath chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Who is this us? Those who are born again according to His grace. Before you insert the thoughts of man in your minds, bow your head and ask the Holy Spirit of God to give you wisdom and knowledge in the things not seen. Erase from your memories all that you have heard from the pulpits. Give your heart, soul and spirit unto the leading of the Holy Ghost. Then read Ephesians Chapter 1:1-14. Not once, but since it has fourteen verses to that point, unto the praise of His glory, READ IT, pray over it and absorb it into the depth of your soul. I will NOT comment on these verses at this point, for I believe that under the direction and wisdom of the Holy Ghost, Ephesians 1:1-14 with the mind of the Spirit is self-explanatory, just as Revelation 13:8. Revelation 13:8 shows us that the work of redemption was foreseen by God from the foundation of the world and BEFORE Adam sinned. Revelation 13:8 also shows us that the book of life was written from the foundation of the world. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8)
   I know that it is too much to bear in a small mind. That’s why God has given us the mind of the Spirit so that He may teach us these things of the heavenly. In the foreknowledge and wisdom of God according to His determinate counsels from the foundation of the world, He saw His beloved Son as a Lamb of sacrifice, as a sweet smelling savor to God the Father. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5:2) This little known verse takes us from the foundation of the world to the fulness of time, to our very moment of physical existence because God the Father still looks upon that Son that was given, that Lamb that was slain as a sweetsmelling savor.
   Consider the foreknowledge of God from those first two lambs that were slain in the garden where man brought sin into the world. And by the way, ALL flesh was corrupted for Romans Chapter 8 proves that. However, in those first two lambs, God saw the fulness of time, He saw the sweetsmelling savor of His Son ascending up to heaven from the fires of judgment of the cross. Every sacrifice in the Old Testament from Abel onward God the Father saw in His foreknowledge the very moment of the fulness of time. As Abraham took his only begotten son up into the mountain, every step was heavy on the heart of this earthly man and father. With a knife in one hand, and the fire of judgment in the other hand, Abraham put one foot in front of the other foot in the path as he led His son into that mountain of Moriah. At the summit of the mountain, Abraham built an altar, and then he laid the wood upon the altar in order. Board by board, horizontal and vertical (in order) as his heart sunk deeper into his chest thinking of when God called him and Abraham said, Hear am I. Then God told him to take his son, his only son, and offer Isaac on one of the mountains in the land of Moriah that God would show him. With all the emotions that a human father could possibly have was only a small emotion compared to what the whole GODHEAD would endure at that SAME mountain of Moriah, at that SAME place where Abraham built an altar, at that SAME place where Abraham laid the wood in order that Isaac carried on his back; that SAME place that he bound his only son, that SAME place that he raised the knife in his hand, and with a broken heart thought of plunging the knife into his son, and God stayed his hand. In the thoughts of God, God saw that at that moment, the fulness of time when the fires of judgment would not spare His Only Begotten Son, when the spear in the Roman centurions hand was NOT stayed but plunged into the side of His Son. When the darkness of judgment came over all the earth and there was not a glimmer of light left in the realm of mankind. Three hours of judgment fell on His Beloved Son, the Son that was given, the Lamb that was slain. Here the determinate counsels of God was fulfilled in the fulness of time. Not in the beginning of time, not in the middle of time, not at the end of time, but in the uniqueness of that moment ONLY once in all of Scripture are we given the FULNESS of TIME in the ONE SON who was given, in the ONE Lamb of God that was slain, in the ONE manifest image of the invisible God, in the ONE brightness of His glory and express image of His Person, and in the ONE SON that was given.
   In Ephesians 5:2, (And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour) in the fulness of THAT time we see the love of the Son of God for us. We see the love of the Son of God for the Father in the obedience of the cross, and we see the love of the Father for the Son in life on earth and death and now in resurrected Manhood (holy Manhood) ascending in glory as a sweetsmelling savor. In Ephesians 5:2, this one word sweetsmelling is only mentioned as one word in all of Scripture to show that the sacrifice of Christ overshadowed ALL the previous sacrifices in the Old Testament. As all of those sacrifices ascended up to God, He only referred to them as a sweet savor, from the very beginning in the garden (the two lambs would be a sweet savor) BUT NONE would be a sweetsmelling savor. ONLY Christ in His offering of His body and soul could over power the stench of sin and death. Although Adam and Eve wore skins of death upon their bodies to hide their transgression, as they were driven out of the garden, they carried the ugly stench of sin and death upon them in the covering of the skins of the dead sacrificed lambs to show us the complete casting off of Adam and Eve. We see that God barred the way to the tree of life with a flaming sword of judgment and placed Cherubim at the entrance to the Garden of Eden. The sword of flaming fire turned EVERY way, thus showing that there is NO way back for man, not from the north, not from the south, neither from the east, nor from the west. Adam began his domain in his own wicked world (that he had brought to pass by bringing sin and death into the world) by disobeying THE FIRST LAW given to man, THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH. 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. (Genesis 2:17) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. (John 20:13)
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. (John 20:14)
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. (John 20:15)
Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (John 20:16)
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)
Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. (John 20:18)

 What and when was this ascension that Christ spoke of? Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and [to] my God, and your God. (John 20:17) 

   At His death, the veil at the Temple was rent from top to bottom. The way of the Holy Place in heaven was OPENED. Also, the sweetsmelling savor from the altar of His Body had ascended into the Holy Place in heaven. Then, Christ as the High Priest Melchisedec, as the Eternal High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, HE must take HIS own blood and place it on the eternal mercy seat in heaven.

But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; (Hebrews 9:11)
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (Hebrews 9:13)
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)

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The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
The Beginning of the Doctrine of Christ
The Son of God Before Time and Before Creation

   It is quite evident that there is a doctrine, a teaching of Christ, in the New Testament; however, according to Revelation 3:14 the doctrine of Christ begins at the beginning of the creation of God. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. We saw on the day of the Lord’s resurrection the unbelief in Mary unto the moment that the Lord revealed Himself to her. This same unbelief is in the Church today. There are many who do not belief the doctrine of Christ in the Old Testament. Yet the New Testament takes us back to the creation of God with the doctrine or teaching of the Son of God. Many times, in the Old Testament the Lord made His presence known to the children of Adam. In fact, after the Lord created Adam, the Lord revealed Himself to both Adam and Eve. This was the manifest image of the invisible God. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. (Colossians 1:15) Adam was created in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26) So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27) Therefore, the doctrine of Christ began with the beginning of the creation of God.
   Throughout Scripture the Lord Jesus manifested Himself to the children of man. As the Lord Jesus, who is the Law Giver, He gave the FIRST LAW to Adam: The Law of Sin and Death. After the fall of man when man was driven out of the garden, the Lord manifested Himself to both Cain and Abel. God gave them both the knowledge of FAITH and GRACE surrounded by TRUTH. They were instructed in an accepted way of sacrifice that was a foreshadow of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Cain disobeyed the ordinance of sacrifice and brought the works of his own hands which God rejected. Abel brought the more excellent sacrifice out of the firstling of the flock, a lamb without blemish both inwardly and outwardly. The word excellent also relates the perfection of that sacrifice, and the Holy Ghost gives us THAT part in Hebrews 11:4, By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. When we see the words more excellent sacrifice put this thought into your mind and heart: more then the excellent sacrifice that was the sacrifice of the Lamb of God the Lord Jesus Christ.
   In Judges Chapter 13, the Lord Jesus appeared as an angel. How do I know that it was the Lord Jesus? I know because Manoah told his wife that we have seen God. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. (Judges 13:22) Also Manoah offered a sacrifice NOT on an altar but on a ROCK. He offered TWO sacrifices: a burnt offering and a meat offering. As the fire consumed those offerings, the angel ascended UP in the flame of the altar.

So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. (Judges 13:19)
For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. (Judges 13:20)
But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. (Judges 13:21)

   The angel did wondrously. . . . The word wondrously is only mentioned in Scripture twice for a specific purpose. Once in Judges 13:19 and once in Joel 2:26)

1. So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered [it] upon a rock unto the LORD: and [the angel] did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. (Judges 13:19)
2. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. (Joel 2:26)

   What we see in the book of Joel is the confirmation of the Lord doing wondrously for the children of Israel. The connection takes us back to the angel in Judges 13:19. The number two is the number of witness, and the connecting point is Judges 13 with Joel 2 is that both are related to the LORD God. Manoah declared that they had seen GOD, the witness in Joel is the reflection of ALL that God had done for Israel. Now we need to go to the book of Joshua.

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? (Joshua 5:13)
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? (Joshua 5:14)
And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. (Joshua 5:15)

  Notice in Joshua 5:14 that Joshua worshiped the CAPTAIN of the LORD’s host. Also, as Moses in Exodus Chapter 3:4, 5 and 6 was instructed that he stood on holy ground and to put off thy shoes from off thy feet, so all the Captain instructed Joshua to remove his shoes for the ground was holy.

 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. (Exodus 3:4)
And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (Exodus 3:5)
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. (Exodus 3:6)

   In Joshua 5:14, we have the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Captain of the LORD’s host who was God Himself. And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? As the whole nation had been instructed by Moses NOT to worship any other God, consequently if Joshua had worshiped some other entity besides GOD, the Captain of the LORD’s host would have rebuked Joshua, if the Captain had not been GOD HIMSELF. Let us go to Chapter 9 of the gospel of John in the New Testament.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (John 9:35) He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? (John 9:36) And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. (John 9:37) And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (John 9:38)

   In the 9th Chapter of the gospel of John, we have the man who had been born blind. CLICK HERE for more about the blind man. CLICK HERE for more about the 9th Chapter of John.
  The Lord Jesus gave this man sight and later met the man after the man had been denied entrance to the Temple. The Lord asked this man with new sight, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? The man replied, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Then the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to the man who was born blind, and in this transaction, the man who was born blind received DOUBLE SIGHT. His eyes were restored, and NOW his soul was restored in the words, Lord, I believe. Then he worshipped the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus never rebuked him because the Lord Jesus was/is GOD. Now we are going to fulfill this thing: we are going to Hebrews 1:6, And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. Again, this shows that the Lord Jesus is GOD: ONE with the Father and ONE with the Holy Ghost.
   Continuing in the Old Testament, we have the angel of His Presence in Isaiah 63:9, In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. The phrase the angel of his presence is only mentioned ONE time in Scripture. How do we connect this angel, the angel of His presence, with the manifestation of the invisible God, the Lord Jesus Christ? Here was the ONE whose name is Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) He led them of old by a cloud by day and by fire at night. It was Christ Himself, the KEY word in Isaiah 63:9 is the word REDEEMED. There is NO angel, NO Cherubim or Seraphim who has redeeming power. Here in Isaiah 63:9, He LOVED them . . . .in his love and in his pity he redeemed them. When the Lord Jesus prayed to the Father in the gospel of John Chapter 17, He used the words that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

◆ I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)
◆ And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it]: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26)

   This links us back to Isaiah 63:9. In His LOVE, and in His pity, He redeemed them. The phrase and title in Joshua 5:15 the captain of the LORD’S host is also recorded ONLY ONCE in Scripture. And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy. And Joshua did so. In the Captain of the LORD’s host, we see the sword that He uses against His enemies in behalf of His people.
   In Judges Chapter 13, we see the sweetsmelling savor as the angel did wondrously ascending in the flames of the sacrifice for the JOY that was set before Him. (So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. (Judges 13:19) For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. (Judges 13:20) Therefore, as the angel did wondrously ascending in the flames of the sacrifice for the JOY that was set before Him, so also Christ did wondrously in the flames of sacrifice for the JOY that was set before Him: enduring the cross, and despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
   In the angel of His Presence, it uniquely provides a picture of the GODHEAD as the Lord Jesus declared to His disciples I and my Father are ONE. There is NO division in the mind of God between God the Son and God the Father and God the Holy Ghost. Then why does man continually attempt to separate the GODHEAD as making one part superior over the other, and the other part inferior to the same? GOD IS ONE. The manifest image IS the Lord Jesus Christ. He also is the Lamb of God, the angel of His Presence, and the Captain of the LORD’s host, the Son of God, I AM THAT I AM, the beginning of the creation of God, and the true and faithful witness to both grace and truth.
   We see in Scripture that God receives worship from His creation and He is a Jealous God, and He does not want man to contrive or interject any other god that man created to interfere with God’s interactions with the race of Adam. But man has many gods, it is man who has made these gods. Everyone of man’s gods has failed. The Lord said in Isaiah 63, that He carried them in the days of old, however, man has to carry his false gods, and he has done exactly that all the days of old. Ride through the streets of New England, especially Massachusetts in the older section of cities and towns, and you will see a man-made God on almost every lawn. No matter what name they call it:  it is still an idol. These white spotlight-lawn colorful decorations maybe named after a person from the Bible, but these concrete idols are not holy, they cannot breathe, cannot think, cannot move and they do not deserve man’s worship. These lawn ornaments do NOT represent Christianity; they represent a dead religion. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, your Creator and Him ONLY thy shall and should serve. CLICK HERE for more about the difference between Christianity and Religion. 

◆ Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3)
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: (Exodus 20:4)
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (Exodus 20:5)
◆ Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 26:1)
◆ Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: (Deuteronomy 5:8)

   As the Lamb of God, the angel of His Presence, the Captain of the LORD’s host, the Son of God, the I AM THAT I AM, and the beginning of the creation of God, the true and faithful witness to both grace and truth reveal CHRIST. All these things in the Old Testament when Christ revealed Himself are for FAITH. All these things are part of the substance of things hoped for. God gave us evidence of the things NOT SEEN. This is to help us in this day to GROW in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
The Doctrine of Christ
Christ FULFILLED ALL Righteousness and ALL FAITH

  Many individuals become stagnant in understanding the greatness of God’s promises.  Some say that the promises were only meant for the Old Testament saints. However, there’s more than just promises that God gave to Abraham. If we were to list all the promises from Abraham in Genesis to the end of the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, we wouldn’t have enough ink or enough paper. The promises of God take in both the Old and the New Testaments. For instance, in the book of Isaiah, we have a new heaven and a new earth. God PROMISED a new earth and new heavens.

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17)
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. (Isaiah 65:18)
And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (Isaiah 65:19)

   In the New Testament, we have the same promise of new heavens and a new earth.

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (2nd Peter 3:12)
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2nd Peter 3:13)
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. (2nd Peter 3:14)

  Then the conclusion of this specific promise is found in The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. This is the way everlasting, from everlasting to everlasting. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (Revelation 21:1)
   In 2nd Peter 3:13, we go back to God’s promises to see the word promise. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. This makes the words of Peter by the Holy Spirit a heavenly FACT of eternity. The child of FAITH rests in this. The whole Chapter of Revelation 21, should be embraced with anticipation by every child of God. God has laid out the future in TANGIBLE FAITH, the very substance of things hoped for.
   As we study Hebrews Chapter 11, we are building that great cloud of witnesses that we see in Hebrews 12:1. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Each one of these witnesses within this great cloud embraced the promises of our LORD GOD AND SAVIOR. They (through the Spirit of God within) saw the promises of God a far off, a heavenly country, a holy city; they embraced the more excellent sacrifice of Abel. So, now, WE look for a new heaven and a new earth where God’s righteousness CONTROLS ALL and that all who are there have been made righteous in Jesus Christ. In this wonderful new heaven and new earth, there will be NO darkness, but there will be Light. There will be NO reason to separate the Light from the darkness, for it was separated on the cross of Calvary when the Lord Jesus proclaimed by His Spirit, It is finished.
   There will be NO evil, NO sin, NO iniquity, NO enmity, NO vanity, NO pride for we shall be like HIM, who is the Fulfiller of ALL righteousness.

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. (Matthew 3:13) But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (Matthew 3:14) And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. (Matthew 3:15)

   We should not pass by the glory that is in the words of the Lord Jesus in verse 15, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. This is the foundation of God’s redemption. ALL righteousness HAD to be fulfilled IN God the Son. Pay attention! The heavens were opened.  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (Matthew 3:16) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)
   This is a heavenly witness to the faithful and true witness of God which is Jesus Christ. Verse 17 discloses the pleasure of God fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:10. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. This is the only place in Scripture where the phrase the pleasure of the LORD is documented.
   The witness of the Spirit descending was not something NEW to add to Christ. This was a witness for MAN revealing that this holy thing, was the holy child and NOW it was the holy Man. Within Christ was the Spirit of the Living God. God was IN Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
   The heavens were opened, the Voice from heaven was a witness of the SONSHIP of Christ by God the Father. This was a TRUE witness of ALL that Christ had done to this part was well pleasing to God the Father. As an infant, Christ was well pleasing; as a child, God was well pleased; as a growing adolescent, God was well pleased; and now in manhood, on the way to the cross, God the Father was well pleased IN His Beloved Son, who was going to take away the sin of the world.
   The Lord Jesus had prepared Himself to be the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world since BEFORE the foundation of the world. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)
   I ask a question, Could Adam wear the crown of thorns? Could Adam take away the curse from a world that is cursed? No, it took a Man from heaven, the ONLY ONE who could wear a crown of thorns, the symbol of the curse, that Adam brought into the whole world. The thorn bush with spikes up to 3″ long is a symbol of a world cursed by sin. It is a symbol of the cruelty of mankind, for they fashioned a crown for the King of Kings from the thorn bush. This is a world that has forsaken its own Creator. Mankind is in opposition to God. Man rebels against God in the simplest things. Man very rarely acknowledges the blessing that God has in the rain, for God in His love sends the rain on both the just and on the unjust. Yet man forsakes God, and the Lamb of sacrifice sent down from heaven. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)
   All the offerings offered by holy men of old, all the altars that were built by holy hands were ALL foreshadows and symbols of the True Offering and the True Altar where Grace and Truth in Jesus Christ would be fulfilled. The Son of God was the divine Seed from above. He came to fulfill the divine process in the determinate counsels of God. He was the Seed of God brought down from heaven by the Holy Ghost. He was the Holy Seed that was separated from sinners, and the Holy Ghost implanted that holy thing into the womb of Mary. As she carried that holy thing, the Holy Ghost watched over that child while in the womb. Many do not understand the Scriptures and the meaning when Mary entered the room of her cousin, Elisabeth. John the Baptist, a child in Elisabeth’s womb JUMPED for joy and Elisabeth recognized that her Lord and God had entered into the room. When Mary’s time was fulfilled, this means more than birth, for the holy child came forth made of a woman, made under the law. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. (Galatians 4:4) Study the address of this verse. It is the fourth Chapter and the fourth verse. The number four (4) is the number of the world. Christ came into the world as God’s witness of Grace and Truth contrary to man’s belief, you cannot have grace without truth, and Truth is IN Jesus. The second aspect and witness to the world is that the Law Giver was made under His own law that He had given. Perfectly without any shadow, without any doubt, He and ONLY the Lord Jesus could and would fulfill the whole law. To fulfill the whole law He had to fulfill ALL righteousness, for once He fulfilled the righteousness of God, all those who DIED in FAITH would have the blessing of that righteousness in Jesus Christ. Although they had NOT received the promises, but through FAITH they had SEEN them afar off from the godly seed of Abel to the last lamb brought into the fold, Christ fulfilled ALL righteousness to bring them into a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH wherein righteousness dwells. As they looked afar off by FAITH, faith gave them eyes to see what God had planned. The whole 22nd Psalm is a vision given to those of the Old Testament of a rejected Savior, yet a triumphant Savior who fulfilled ALL righteousness in Psalm 23, and then in Psalm 24 the King of righteousness is exalted higher than the heavens.  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. (Hebrews 7:26) 
    Those who died in FAITH . . . our text tells us in Hebrews Chapter 11 that through FAITH they embraced the promises of God. What do you embrace today? Do you embrace the gospel sent down from heaven as that holy thing? Do you embrace the gospel in your heart? Do you have the presence of the Spirit of Christ in your heart? Do you have the wonderful gift that He gives to all those who are born of the Spirit of God? I am writing about PEACE with God. Do you embrace the heavens to come and the new earth? Do you embrace being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ? Do you embrace one day or one moment seeing the Son of God and being like Him? Those of old embraced the truth of Isaiah 53, and Isaiah 63, although it was all in the distance, God opened their eyes of FAITH so that they could see God’s salvation far off. They knew that it was ALL true from the beginning. To have the eyes of FAITH and the ears of FAITH opened is a wonderful gift. To see the things afar off, and let the heart be persuaded of all the promises of God, and the things to come that are written in the holy word of God, the heavenly blessings, the heavenly inheritance that the child of God has in Jesus Christ.

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The Perfection of the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
The Doctrine of Christ
Everlasting Faith Through the Everlasting Christ

   Man has two eyes, and two ears, both the eyes and the ears are the number two (2) of witness. Although the two eyes are separate, yet sight is joined together in one vision. Man has two ears, again we have the number of witness, as man receives a divided sound it is brought together as a witness in one voice. The Lord Jesus said that in the mouth of two or three witnesses everything is established, and the two witnesses must agree. As the Lord Jesus witnessed on earth, now the second witness of the Holy Ghost is around us. These two witnesses bring everything to one point and that is the point of TRUTH. There is ONE Jesus. He is the Christ, the anointed One of God. There is ONE Spirit of Christ who was manifested before mankind as Emmanuel, God with us. Adam when he brought sin into the world had NO power over sin. In fact, sin brought forth Adam’s own death both spiritually and physically. Man would never have power over sin or over death. Therefore, no seed of Adam, no conception of the daughters of Eve could ever bring forth a PURE man who could take away sin from the world. Look at sin as a great cloud that rains upon all of mankind. Every moment of their life, sin is within man, and without the God of glory, the only outcome is death by sin, and then the final outcome is the second death. Only God in Jesus Christ could restore the souls of mankind that was lost in Adam. Only God IN Jesus Christ could completely change man through the divine breath of the Holy Ghost: not by blood, not by the will of the flesh, not by the will of man, but by the Holy Ghost sent down with the Spirit of Christ. It is here we enter into the womb of FAITH. This womb is sent to us from above and completely surrounds our new birth in Jesus Christ. FAITH comes down from heaven on the wings of grace and truth. The Spirit of God moves as the wind over the heart removing the judgment of sin. Our heart is changed and our senses have been renewed to a spiritual quickening, and what follows after the new birth in the path of faith is still of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven to led into all truth. As new born children desiring the sincere milk of the word, the sincere truth given of God and NOT of man, so therefore, we today, who walk in that path of faith, we embrace all the promises of God with divine affection. Affection for the Living Word of God set down at the right hand of the majesty on high. The affection for the written word of God, those of old could embrace Psalm 119 with the affection of their own heart for the word of God. Why are there so many different Bibles today bought with zeal and yet sit on shelves gathering dust? That zeal was only for a moment because it did not have the permanent power of the Holy Ghost. Look deeply into the pages of Psalm 119, put your heart into the very words of this wonderful portal that God gives the redeemed heart into the word of God. The affection of all the senses, did you ever see that in Psalm 119? All the senses of the person writing Psalm 119 with the Spirit of Christ within had a deep love for the very words that he was writing. If you are looking for a mere snack, do not go to Psalm 119, for in this Psalm you will find never-ending manna from above. When Adam and his father the devil comes against us, our soul languishes for the word of God. The answer for our soul is always in God’s holy word. The answer that we need is always found in Psalm 119. This is just a small taste, a small example of the man found in Psalm 119, verses 25 – 28.

DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. (Psalm 119:25) I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. (Psalm 119:26) Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. (Psalm 119:275) My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. (Psalm 119:28)

   Those of the heavenly calling IN Christ Jesus of the past of the Old Testament were given a window of FAITH from Moses and the prophets and the Psalms to embrace the promises of God, to embrace the heavenly things, to embrace the evidence of things not seen. Now we who have received the heavenly calling IN Christ Jesus embrace the heavenly Jerusalem, we embrace the heavenly country, we embrace the city of our God in heavenly places. We have been conceived by FAITH into a spiritual realm. The UNSEEN is now a reality in our hearts. We have become strangers to our family and to our friends. We have become citizens of a heavenly land, and although we are strangers in this jungle of sin, we have been set on a journey of pilgrims by FAITH to our heavenly home. The earth and the world and they who dwell therein give us NO pleasure. We have become incompatible with the world of mankind. In our new birth we lost our citizenship in Adam. Therefore, we have been given a heavenly country above. Our eyes see the Light of heavenly things, and our ears hear the Voice of the Spirit of Christ. As the world is consumed in darkness, it has cast out the Light and Life of Jesus Christ. The day of His crucifixion, darkness descended over the entire earth. No light was able to be seen. This proved the heart of all mankind, for they loved the darkness and hate the Light. Thus, the Holy Spirit declared this in John Chapter 3, 19 – 21.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:20) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:21)

  Let a man of heaven who has been born of the Spirit of Christ be a witness of the divine Light above. Let the LIGHT within the heart reveal the work that the Holy Ghost has given as a gift from above.

But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. (Galatians 6:4) For every man shall bear his own burden. (Galatians 6:5) Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. (Galatians 6:6)

  In the words let every man prove his own work, one first must acknowledge the TRUE Author, and the Presenter of that work is NOT of man, but of God. When we think that we have the preeminence in the work then we deceive ourselves. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. (Galatians 6:3). In verse 4 of Galatians 6, it is the confidence that it is of God and NOT of us. It is the confidence that FAITH has brought into it, and when the footprints of FAITH can be seen in that particular work, you have confidence IN God and not in yourself. These are the things that are NOT taught within the worldly church. Vanity and pride have swallowed the pulpits and the lust for gain has brought in the hireling and gifts of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven have been rejected.

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; (Hebrews 2:3) God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will (Hebrews 2:4)

   Most of the time a heavenly pilgrim is misunderstood by the world and sadly also be the worldly professing church for the pilgrim, the heavenly pilgrim, rejoices over heavenly things. The world in all their knowledge and in all their worldly wisdom cannot understand the Spirit of God working through us to glorify the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was taken from the world in my new birth, and the Spirit of God introduced me to heavenly things through the word of God. Faith became the beacon of my walk, and a guide as a light from a lighthouse to guide me home. When I was a new Christian, one day during a conversation, a man of renown of self-importance said of another Christian, He is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good. I was taken on the heels of FAITH, and I returned fire by saying, Shouldn’t we be heavenly minded in order to BE any earthly good? Well, at that point I was X’d from that brother of renown. When a baby comes into the world as a child of Adam, the world teaches that child all the ways of Adam’s world. When a child comes out of the womb of FAITH, it is the Holy Ghost who teaches that child of heavenly things. Now, when one who has been gifted from above and he has been gifted to preach and to teach by the presence of the Holy Ghost within him come down from heaven with the gospel of truth, the world and sadly, the world church rejects the very gift that God has sent to them.
   I am reminded of the greatest gift that was ever given to man from God: yes, the gift was the Lord Jesus, the SON of God, the Son of divine love sent down from heaven, and yet, man rejected the divine MAN for the leeks and garlic of this world. I am now presently 81 years old (2026), I have witnessed a lot in the world around me. I have witnessed much in the world church, and sadly, the world church desires the men of renown with evil imaginations. The Nicolaitans and the Christ rejecters, the darkness of this world, have darkened the collective. The collective has become saturated with unbelievers it is difficult to tell them from the world. They have truly become embraced in the worldly things of life that they are no heavenly good.
   As you walk in the footprints of FAITH, you spend time at the Brook Cherith. You go up into the mountain of faith apart from the world and listen to the Voice of the Spirit of God. The world becomes a negative place for the child of God for the true child of God sees all the opposition to His Savior that the worldly church does not see. Yes, from the pulpit they do occasionally mention a God in their preaching, even in their political speeches they mention ‘a God’ but THAT God of the imaginations of their hearts is NOT the GOD of the Bible, or the God of heaven, or the God of the heavenly Jerusalem. They do not understand that Jesus Christ is the beginning of the creation of God. It is HE who called ALL into existence by the Word of His power. If you could listen to all the preaching around the world, you would find that they have many gods, even those of the same of what is called denominationalism have different gods that they place under one name as they preach their heresies and their falsities.
   Here in Hebrews 11:13, FAITH did not end in death. These men and women of FAITH took their FAITH with them in their pilgrim journey home. A glorious FAITH, for it is IN the ONE who is ALL GLORY: the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 16 of Hebrews 11, the saints met the Honor Roll of God. Why do I call it the Honor Roll? It is the Honor Roll because God was NOT ashamed to be called their God. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. God was NOT ashamed because these men and women who walked by FAITH brought NO shame to the GODHEAD. Every person needs to examine their work whether it is of FAITH or of the fleshly world. By the way, you can’t have both. There is NO half way house with God. You’re either ALL in or ALL out. God has prepared for us in the walk of FAITH a city where the Lamb is the Light thereof. We, who are alive, will join the spirits of just men made perfect IN Christ Jesus.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22) To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)

   In Hebrews Chapter 12, we see the Church of the first born. In the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, He is said to be the first born from the dead. In His own POWER of resurrection, He is the first born, the pre-eminent figure and the very POWER of resurrection. We have the heavenly Jerusalem made up of man, made perfect by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. These saints of the Old Testament were persuaded by the evidence around them and by the word of God. They were persuaded through sundry times and in diverse manners and through both the Living word of God and the written word of God. You cannot enter into the UNSEEN world of God, the UNSEEN Kingdom of God, unless you are born again. As we saw in Psalm 119, there is LIFE in the written word of God. As you read Psalm 119, it persuades the soul and the spirit of godly people. Paul, in reflecting on the persuading power of God in Jesus Christ, wrote to Timothy that all that God has promised will come to pass. Paul embraced the blessings of God IN Jesus Christ. The Damascus Road experience was always before him for FAITH answers to FAITH: from faith to faith. FAITH has many building blocks, and FAITH has NO boundaries in the will of God. It is up to the person of FAITH to lean upon that FAITH and to trust God for the impossible, and the things NOT SEEN.

For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2nd Timothy 1:12) Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. (2nd Timothy 1:13) That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. (2nd Timothy 1:14)

   Notice the verbal expression of verse 14, it is kept by the Holy Ghost which dwells within us. Does this not dovetail into Hebrews 11:13. They ALL had eternal FAITH KEPT by the Holy Ghost. Their eyes were open to heavenly things. They saw the evidence of things not seen. Abel experienced the new birth through his more excellent sacrifice, and he took his FAITH through the portal of death so that even in his death he still speaks to us of the more excellent sacrifice in the Son of God, Christ Jesus. Abel has a new country. It is a heavenly land ONLY made for pilgrims looking for that heavenly city that God has built and not man. The Lord Jesus spoke of His Father’s house and the many mansions within His house.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. (John 14:1) In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:3) And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. (John 14:4)

   In John 14, the Lord Jesus began with a statement of His own Sonship when He proclaimed with the words, my Father’s house. These words are given to us to calm our hearts and to settle our FAITH IN the Lord Jesus Christ. In this brief introduction of His Sonship, Christ used His position to minister the peace of God to His own disciples. This is not a world of strangers who seek a better country and a holy city built by God. This 14th Chapter of John is all about PEACE with God IN His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. First, He settles their permanent resting place IN His Father’s house. Secondly, He opens their eyes to the ONENESS of God the Father and God the Son. He presents the way of FAITH to them IN Himself as The Way, as The Truth, and as The Eternal Life. He builds a relationship with them as the Savior and as the Shepherd of the sheep. He gives them confidence IN Him, for NO man can separate them from the love of God IN Christ Jesus. NO man can pluck them out of the Father’s hand. There are many more issues to be discovered in John 14 such as beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
   In all of John 14, we have a formula of God’s peace that those of FAITH enter into God’s rest. We also have the sending of the Holy Ghost, and that the Lord Jesus is not going to leave us without a Friend in this unfriendly world. The Holy Ghost is sent down to lead us into ALL TRUTH concerning the Son of God. In this 14th Chapter as we consider verse 26: it is the finality of the fulness of the GODHEAD. In the beginning the Son declares His Sonship, He proclaims the Father in the manifest image of His own Person. Then He states that He will send a Comforter, the Holy Ghost, thus completing the fulness of the GODHEAD bodily.
   In verse 26 of John Chapter 14 we have many wonders. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. In this verse something you haven’t seen previously is the fulness of the GODHEAD bodily. The Father will send a Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the UNSEEN personality of the Spirit of God, and the Holy Ghost will be sent in the name of Jesus Christ. The uniqueness of this verse is that we see all three personalities: Father, Son and Holy Ghost to fulfill the GODHEAD bodily.
   There is another wonder in this verse: it took man thousands of years to develop instant replay. However, God has always had that capability. The Lord Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Ghost will use instant replay. The Holy Ghost will bring to their memories ALL things that Christ had said, bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. That same Holy Ghost is still here in this world. I want to write about memory. It is very important for the child of God to have a memory program, to memorize Scripture. There will be times in your pilgrim journey of FAITH that you will need to call from your memory the word of God. You might be sick in bed, not able to read. You may be in a busy airport without your Bible handy. You might be walking a dark unlit street, if the word of God is in your memory, the Holy Ghost will call it up and use it to comfort you. In verse 26 that is not all that we see. Through the word of God, through what the Holy Ghost brings from your memory, this UNSEEN personality will lead the believer into ALL truth. I am going to say something that is very important: have you ever weighed the sermons that you have heard in light of the Holy Word of God and in the presence of the Holy Ghost? There is much error out there, and many messages are NOT of the Word of God or of the Holy Ghost. You need to weigh all that you hear and read by the Word of God and by the Holy Ghost to lead you into ALL truth. First and foremost, you MUST belong to the true flock of God. You must hear the Shepherd’s voice from heaven. You must allow Him to lead you in the way of FAITH, in the way of Truth, and in the way of life. This will take you to the WAY of the Father, and the way to God’s peace. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6) In John Chapter 14 we have the WAY of the door, the WAY of the Shepherd, the WAY of the sheep, the WAY to ALL truth and the WAY to the peace of God. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)
   I would like you to see what FAITH is doing for you at this very moment. In John 14 the Holy Ghost has surrounded you with the FULLNESS of the GODHEAD Bodily in Jesus Christ. The GODHEAD unity is throughout this entire Chapter. The Spirit of FAITH joins the sheep to the Shepherd, and to the Father and with His own personality to the Holy Ghost. We also notice that peace with God only comes to those of the flock. Those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, those who belong to the Father and those who belong to the Holy Ghost are ALL ONE IN Jesus Christ. No one can enter into the rest of God without having peace with God. Peace with God comes with the creation of a new life being born again into the UNSEEN kingdom of God.

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Hebrews 4:2)
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 4:3)
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. (Hebrews 4:4)
And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. (Hebrews 4:5)
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: (Hebrews 4:6)
Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. (Hebrews 4:7)
For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. (Hebrews 4:8)
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9)
For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:10)
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Hebrews 4:11)

   This is a solemn message to all those who profess Christ. Hebrews Chapter 4 reveals that it is NOT profession BUT possession. To have peace with God, to enter IN to God’s rest, to become a finished work of the creation of God one MUST POSSESS the Son of Peace, the Father of Peace, and the Spirit of Peace. The words, Lord, Lord will never do for those who merely profess and do not possess the Spirit of God. These are solemn words, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (Matthew 7:22) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23)

   When we read our Bible, and as we watch the Lord’s disciples, and when we consider all those of faith in the Old Testament who died IN faith, they died IN faith to live IN Jesus Christ. This discloses to us, that their faith was the tangible evidence of things not seen. Their faith was the spiritual eyes that SAW the fulness of time, the eternal promises of God. They saw them afar off. When Peter was told three times that feed the lambs, feed the sheep, little did he know or realize how much the Holy Ghost was going to feed Peter’s own soul throughout the years. When we consider Peter’s two epistles, we see the footsteps of Peter’s faith given to him by the Holy Ghost in the words that he wrote for future generations of the generation of Jesus Christ. Today, we take the word of God, both Old and New, and we, of the Spirit of God, look back to the fulness of time and then with our spiritual eyes wide open we also can look forward to that heavenly country, and that holy city built by God and not by man. This holy city where God is ALL in ALL, nothing left behind. So, I ask the reader, Are you persuaded of heavenly things? Have you, by faith, embraced Revelation Chapters 4 and 5? Have you seen them afar off: the heavenly country, and the heavenly saints? Are you ready to sit down with Christ and to listen to His voice from heaven in the presence of the Holy Ghost? Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
   In the gospel of John, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He was going away. That it is time for Him to depart out of this world, but He promised them to return again, and this promise is also for us. He will come again to them. In Revelation 3:20, we not only see the fulfillment of that promise, but that promise is for US today. The Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God has promised US that if we open the door to our heart, He will come in and sit down with us, and sup with us over heavenly manna.
   In my King James Bible, I have sixty-six books of heavenly manna to feed ME in my path of faith by the Holy Ghost in the name of Jesus Christ. We have the SAME opportunity EVERY DAY as those two individuals on the Emmaus Road. To learn of Christ through Moses, and the prophets and the psalms and ALL the New Testament by the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Christ sent down into our hearts by God the Father. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)
  Knowledge is wonderful, but spiritual knowledge is supreme because it comes from heaven by the Holy Ghost and from the Voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you want to open the door then you have to come apart, you have to go to a place of God’s rest, and you have to sit down with the bread of life. Man does not live by bread alone, but from every word of God that proceeds from the mouth of God. In the Old Testament, the heavenly wonder of the Word of God is that these men wrote through the breath of God with the Spirit of Christ within them. In their own writings, they were learning of Him. Do you think that they could have written those words with a busy, worldly life? Their hearts were separated from other men by the Spirit of Christ that was in them.

Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1st Peter 1:10) Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1st Peter 1:11) Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:12)

   The prophets of old where NOT ignorant of the presence of the Spirit of Christ. They learned of Him, and they KNEW that their message would endure through time, and their message would reach into future days, and future nights and future years and future centuries and even into future millenniums. They saw these holy things afar off through the Spirit of Christ. They ate the heavenly manna of the Spirit of Christ that was within them day by day. They received spiritual nourishment from the Spirit of the Living Christ that was IN them. God gave them the spiritual witness of Himself and His own personal Word for the souls of FAITH. There are instances in Scripture as we see in the book of Ezekiel, and in Daniel, and all the way back to Moses: they saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the image of invisible God. Today we covet that same Spirit of Jesus Christ. By FAITH we see the promises of God, we see them afar off, the UNSEEN becomes visible to our soul and spirit. (Hebrews 11:1)
   Through our study in this 11th Chapter of Hebrews, do you see that FAITH becomes the eyes of the UNSEEN? It locks the promises of God in the heart vault of faith. These all died in faith . . . consider Jeremiah, he is one of those who died IN faith. He is embraced by Hebrews 11:13. One of the great mysteries of Jeremiah is the election of God. In Jeremiah 1:5 we have the verbal voice of God. It is the Word of the Lord with the words, Before I formed thee in the belly I KNEW thee. Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. There are four important points to the election of Jeremiah: first, I formed thee; two: I knew thee; third, I sanctified thee, and last, I ordained thee. In these four points we see the number of the world, and Jeremiah’s mission in his walk of faith was that he would be a prophet unto the nations. In the election of Jeremiah, we should consider the womb of faith. To understand this part of God’s creation we need to understand Psalm 139: 1-34. Not only does God know our words, and our thoughts afar off, but according to Hebrews Chapter 4:12 and 13, He also knows the intents of our heart.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)

   Are you ready to accept this . . . that God KNEW YOU when you were in the lower parts of the earth. There is a simple conclusion in verses 23 and 24 of Psalm 139, Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: (Psalm 139:23) And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:24). Let’s center on the words, the way everlasting. In the word everlasting, there is NO beginning and there is NO end. This is a great revelation. There is a way everlasting, and God fills this way that is everlasting. This is where Jeremiah existed BEFORE he was conceived in the womb, BEFORE the foundations of the world (or earth as we know it). Jeremiah existed in the womb of faith, as Jeremiah’s spirit and soul waited for his fulness of time. The psalmist takes us to that womb of faith in the way everlasting, or from everlasting to everlasting. The phrase everlasting to everlasting is documented three times in Scripture.

1. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God. (Psalm 90:2)
2. But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; (Psalm 103:17)
3. Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 106:48)

   These three verses reveal the bridge of eternity. No entity but The Almighty God can span from everlasting to everlasting. This is much more than mere time. Yet time is contained in a portion of the everlasting: past, present and future. Christ is the same yesterday, today and for ever. He is the possessor of everlasting to everlasting. The most important doctrine or teaching in the Bible is the Doctrine of Christ, from everlasting to everlasting; the existence of Christ BEFORE the beginning of the creation of God. The Lord Jesus Himself proclaimed, Learn of me to all His disciples. This declaration also spans the full spectrum of time. The Comforter, the Spirit of truth, has been sent to reveal the Person of Christ to us. It is so very important to understand the immensity of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Comforter, the Spirit of truth, is here to reveal ALL the things of Christ to us. Christ, to the two of Emmaus, opened the Scriptures from Moses and the prophets and the psalms. He taught them about Himself. Undoubtedly, He told them that He is the great I AM; that He is the ONE who parted the Red Sea; that He is the Manna in the wilderness; that He is the Cloud by day and the Fire by night; that He is the image that spoke face to face with Moses; that He is the Rock that gave them water in the desert as a river; that He is the ONE who guided the stone of David that crushed the skull of the giant; that He is the ONE who gave wisdom to Solomon; that He is the ONE who (by the angel of death) delivered Hezekiah from the swords of the Assyrians. In one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand mighty men of war drew their last breath as the angel of death moved over the camp of the Assyrians. We could go on and on with all the movements of the Lord Jesus through the Old Testament delivering Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, and into the future in the book of Zechariah 13:6, And [one] shall say unto him, What [are] these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, [Those] with which I was wounded [in] the house of my friends. This prophecy from Zechariah will take place when the Lord Jesus delivers Israel from the Kingdom of the Beast and from the nations of evil. He will deliver 1/3 of the nation of Israel through the fires as Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. They will ask Him, What [are] these wounds in thine hands? Do you see how the Lord Jesus melds with both the Old and New Testament? He travels as a River through the pages of both Old and New, from everlasting to everlasting. Today the world professing church suffers from biblical blindness, not understanding the holy Scriptures. It is more than just knowledge, it is listening to the breath of the Holy Ghost, it is listening to the heart beat of heaven as the Lord Jesus Christ teaches the holy Scriptures inside the room apart from the world. Listen to the Voice from heaven and do not listen to the voice of man. His Voice gives the holy Scriptures life and validity. You begin to hear and feel the heart beat that is in rhythm with all the love of God in Jesus Christ. Again, in the closing Chapter of the gospel of John, the Lord gave one instruction to Peter: feed His lambs, feed His sheep, Oh, yes, He did remind Peter to follow me. Peter was NOT to follow the world, nor man, but to follow me. To share manna from heaven with someone else one must have received that manna from heaven in his heart of faith.
    These all died in faith but they ALL received an abundance of life and eternal life in Jesus Christ. Remember that I wrote that there is no halfway house with the Lord Jesus Christ. You’re either ALL in or ALL out. When the Lord Jesus called Peter and John, He simply said, Follow thou me. As we read Matthew 4, verses 18 – 20, they never questioned the call to Follow thou me. When Christ called, they reacted with total abandonment of their life for the life of Christ. They set down their nets and became fishers of men with the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. All the apostles died in faith in the everlasting womb of God’s love through faith in Jesus Christ who is the heavenly Seed of grace and truth.
   Those of us today who love the Lord Jesus are persuaded as those of old through the holy Scriptures and from the breath of the Holy Ghost that we have a divine Voice from heaven to guide us through this dark world. We embrace the truth and confess that we are strangers in this world below. We are pilgrims in the sea of humanity seeking a BETTER country, a HEAVENLY country. Earth cannot be compared to what lays beyond the horizon of faith in that heavenly country and in that holy City above. Sin has turned the world of mankind into an existence of planned and pleasurable chaos. Adam’s sin has filled the earth with blood and the insatiable thirst for more blood. In Genesis 4:8-10, the dead in faith have a voice in their blood.  

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. (Genesis 4:8) And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? (Genesis 4:9) And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Genesis 4:10)

   In Revelation Chapter 6:10, the saints under the altar also have a voice. How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? In Hebrews 11:4, although Abel is no longer on earth, He being dead yet speaks. They ALL died IN faith, they are waiting in the cocoon of faith until the Lord calls their names. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we, who are alive, will be caught up together WITH them in the clouds. We will hear the Master’s voice, Come up hither, and we shall be changed in a twinkling of an eye, we shall be like the Lord, and we shall see Him as He is . . . the fullness and the radiance of His glory. Scripture will be fulfilled in our sight for Hebrews 1:3 will become a reality to those who love the Lord . . the brightness of His glory and the express image of His Person, Jesus Christ or Savior and God. What I have written, I have written . . . the Doctrine of Christ begins with His Divinity as God Almighty. This concludes this article in the Spirit of truth.

Amen and Selah.

© Copyright – Michael Haigh
Published on June 7, 2026 @ 10:50 AM (EST).
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)