Come and See
Chapter 10 of the Gospel of John
Part iii
The Seen and The Unseen
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber . (John 10:1)Â
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Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. (Psalm 66:5)
For I [know] their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. (Isaiah 66:18)
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He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about tenth hour. (John 1:39)
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. (John 1:46)
And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. (John 11:34)
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Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; (Philippians 1:27)
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And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. (Revelation 6:1)
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. (Revelation 6:3)
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. (Revelation 6:5)
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.(Revelation 6:7)
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Verily, Verily
Introduction
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Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53)
  In our study of John 10:1, I mentioned, Verily, verily, or truly, truly, or Amen and Amen, and I am moved to return to this important point. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1) In the racing world, it would be known as a pit stop to prepare our car for what is ahead, to open up our chances to see the invisible. So I am moved to return to this point of importance not only for the value of Verily, verily, but how the Spirit of Christ uses this combination throughout the gospel of John, and ONLY IN the gospel of John. It is evident that the three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are predominately of the earth. However, John by the Spirit of God takes us into the unseen world, into the mind of Christ, and into the revelation of God. We pass from the temporal world to the spiritual world in the first three gospels. We can see the horizon of the earth: Matthew being the gospel of the king, Mark reveals God’s faithful servant in every way, and Luke unfolds the Son of man in a divine form as the Man from heaven. However, in the gospel of John, we are above the earth, and we see heavenly things such as the eternal Word being made flesh, and being God. We have angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man as the Spirit of God looks down from above wherein the three preceding gospels it is the world looking up. In the gospel according to John, it is the Spirit of Christ opening to us spiritual truths found no where else in the Scriptures. This reveals the very importance of Verily, verily in the gospel of John. Before we begin, I will list all the verses that have the words Verily, verily.
1. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (John 1:51)
2. 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)
3. 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)
4. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. (John 3:11)
5. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. (John 5:19)
6. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
7. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (John 5:25)
8. Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. (John 6:26)
9.Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. (John 6:32)
10.Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47)
11.Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53)
12. Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. (John 8:34)
13. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. (John 8:51)
14. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)
15. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)
16.Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7)
17. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24)
18.Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. (John 13:16)
19. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. (John 13:20)
20. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. (John 13:21)
21. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. (John 13:38)
22.Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)
23.Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20)
24. And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you. (John 16:23)
25. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry [thee] whither thou wouldest not. (John 21:18)
  The different subject matter found with each Verily, verily is extremely important. The Spirit of God emphasizes these verses so that we might know and understand the mind of the Spirit of Christ. Let’s take each Verily, verily together that through the mind of the Spirit we might understand and receive of the glories of Christ. This will take some time, but I believe that this will be our only opportunity to see these truths within the veil. I suggest that you read the previous articles on Verily, verily.
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Verily, Verily
The World of the Seen and Unseen
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Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53)
  Chapter 6 of the gospel of John is a Chapter of division. It divides heaven and earth. It divides the carnal from the spiritual. It divides the seen from the unseen, and to truly understand this Chapter, one must have a working knowledge of the Old Testament, especially the books of Moses. In these books of Moses we have the seen in type (or shadows) of the unseen.
  One type was in the manna. The manna from heaven was not given by Moses, but was given by God Himself, and in the book of Leviticus, Aaron and his sons were to partake of certain sacrifices, and they were to eat them in the Tabernacle: this also was a type of the unseen through the seen.
And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. (Leviticus 2:3)
And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. (Leviticus 2:10)
And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest’s that offereth it. (Leviticus 7:9) And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. (Leviticus 7:10)
  This was the Law of the meat offering, and the peace offering. And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the LORD. (Leviticus 7:11)
And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest’s that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings. (Leviticus 7:14)
And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. (Leviticus 7:15)
But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten:Â (Leviticus 7:16)
But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. (Leviticus 7:17)
And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. (Leviticus 7:18)
And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof. (Leviticus 7:19)
But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 7:20)
Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 7:21)
  Remember that in these Old Testament types we are dealing with the SEEN and the UNSEEN. In the seen we have the carnal existence of mankind in Aaron, and in his sons. In the unseen we have the meat offering and the peace offering as types of God’s TRUE MEAT OFFERING and PEACE OFFERING, the Lord Jesus Christ. The meat offering and the peace offering are closely joined. We see this in John 6:53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53)
  The meat offering shows the work of the Spirit of God in the oil, this joining with the meal which is the manifestation of the Son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another. (Leviticus 7:10) In preparing this offering we have the fire that reveals to us the sufferings and travail of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Aaron and his sons partaking of this meat offering we see that through faith WE partake of Christ’s sufferings and His travails in both our minds and in our hearts as WE pass through the portal of the unseen as a new creature in Christ. And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire. (Leviticus 2:10) The new believer is now seen before God IN the offering and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. God the Father made the soul of Christ an offering for sin. (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. (Isaiah 53:10) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)
  The meat offering speaks of the body prepared before the foundations of the world to be an offering for sin which is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is both the meat offering and the peace offering. We are sanctified through His flesh. We are redeemed by His blood. In His body He has suffered for us in offering His soul an offering for sin . . . when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. In His blood He has justified us and covered all that was against us. This goes much deeper than the Old Testament types, for in offering His soul, He joined His soul to ALL believers and future believers by His ONE offering. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, (Hebrews 10:15)
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;Â (Hebrews 10:16)
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 10:17)
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:18)
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (Hebrews 10:19)
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;Â (Hebrews 10:20)
And having an high priest over the house of God;Â (Hebrews 10:21)
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)
  Now all the types of offerings and sacrifices in the Old Testament were only shadows of the true. It was Christ, from the foundations of the earth, who was prepared to be the true offering whereby mankind could be saved. The truth came in the manifest image of God, and within Him was both grace and truth. Part of this truth is that Christ CAME knowingly to offer Himself for a sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. This began in heaven with a body that was prepared by God to be the manifested image of the invisible bringing the unseen world of God into the visible world of mankind. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5)
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1st Timothy 3:16)
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:Â (Colossians 1:15)
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2nd Corinthians 4:4)
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:18)
And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me. (John 12:45)
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (John 14:9)
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2nd Corinthians 4:6)
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The Temporal Separated from the Spiritual
  To truly understand the 6th Chapter of the gospel of John, the first step is to divide the temporal from the spiritual. We begin the temporal food in the manna, the five barley loafs and in the two small fishes; then we move from the temporal to the spiritual food which is Christ Himself. The following references are of the temporal world.
There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? John 6:9 (John 6:11; 6:13)
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. John 6:31 (John 6:49; 6:58)
  In John 6:53, we move from the temporal into the spiritual realm. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53) By partaking of the spiritual food we have the working of the Spirit of God in our conversion from death to life, from the world that is seen to the unseen world of God, and of the kingdom of His dear Son. One of the keys to John 6:53 is John 3: 6 and 7. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:7)
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The Law of the Unseen World
  We are also transported by the Spirit of God to Romans Chapter 8 in verse 2, we have the Law of the Spirit. This is the Law of the unseen. This is the Law of the invisible. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Now the Law of the Spirit is IN Christ Jesus. He is the declaration in His manifest image of the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is also one of the positions of the believer, the new creature in Christ, that he is within Christ, and Christ is within him. The believer has partaken of the Spirit of Christ. Therefore, He is born again by the Law of the Spirit, the Law of the unseen. This has set the believer FREE from the Law of sin and death.
  One of the trials of this present age is that man does not understand the depth of sin in Adam. Once again, we must examine the full character of sin. When Adam brought sin into the world, in his person, his image, body, soul and spirit became SIN, and the result of sin brought forth death. This is the Law of sin and death that God foretold to Adam that he would surely die if he partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before Adam sinned, he could behold both the temporal world and the spiritual world. He had communion with God. God had given Adam rule over the paradise that God had created especially for mankind. Sin in the unseen shattered the world of Adam, and shook the very creation of God where the creation itself now travails because of Adam’s sin.
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)
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The First Commandment
The Law of Sin and Death
  So what took place in the garden of Eden? Adam died in spirit, he emptied himself of any righteousness, he was no longer sanctified before God, he was an abomination before a holy and righteous God, and according to Romans, Chapter 5, verse 12, all the descendants of Adam suffer from both sin and death. Sin became an inherent quality that Adam passed on to all of mankind; consequently, when we are born into the natural world, this sin of Adam is part of our being. We are joined to Adam and his trespass against God, and WE are without excuse before God. This Law of sin and death is very important for it is the first Law that was placed upon mankind, and there were no exceptions. This Law of sin and death is the result of the first broken commandment. 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) The very fact that this was a commandment is seen in verse 16, of Genesis Chapter 2, And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. Through the other writings of Moses, we can also understand what took place with Adam.
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. (Deuteronomy 11:1)
In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. (Deuteronomy 30:16)
  This was so important that the Lord Jesus mentioned it in all three gospels as recorded by the Spirit of God.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Matthew 22:37)
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment. (Mark 12:30)
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. (Luke 10:27)
  Adam’s unwillingness to obey God and to love God with all his heart, mind, and spirit brought sin and death because Adam disobeyed the FIRST COMMANDMENT given by God: the commandment of sin and death. Adam took his eyes off of God, and saw the tree of good and evil, and listened to the woman and the serpent. The result was Adam partook of the tree of good and evil and brought sin into the world. Everything in the spiritual realm was turned upside down. The love that God had placed in the heart of Adam was gone, and now in this same heart was enmity against God.
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)
  There was only ONE command for Adam to follow; yet, this command was like any command given through the history of mankind. The soul that sinneth shall die. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4) This was a commandment to Adam directly from the mouth of God. 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) It was the Word of God breathed upon Adam, and it was the Law of life and death.
  In all the millenniums of time, this Law of sin and death HAS NEVER faltered. It is just as true today as when God gave it to Adam in the very first Law of sin and death, and because of Adam’s transgression he was driven out of the garden and lived in a spiritual world of darkness separated from God. As the natural world consists of light (the sun) and darkness (the night), so also the spiritual world consists of light (the Son) and darkness (the world, the flesh and the devil).
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The Law of the Spirit of Life
  It took the fullness of time, through millenniums, and through centuries when God sent forth His Son with the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. 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 Law was demonstrated by the divine birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the divine path of righteousness that He trod through this world. The multitudes who followed Him because they had seen Him raise the dead, give sight to the blind, cleanse the lepers, and many other miracles combined. They had eaten of the natural bread, and of the natural meat, and at His command He fed the multitudes of five thousand plus with merely five barley loafs and two small fishes, and after this multitude were satisfied, there were twelve baskets full left over. They could identify with this only on a temporal level.
  In John 6:53, the Lord Jesus was speaking of the spiritual world. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. He offered them life, the Spirit of Life within Himself. 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) He had come from above as the True Manna of life. There was no death related to His message, ONLY everlasting life in Him. Partaking of this Manna from heaven must be through the Spirit of Christ, and having partaken of this Manna then and only then can one enter into the spiritual realm of Christ’s life which is eternal, and that one, who by faith, enters by the Spirit of Christ will partake of the tree of life in Revelation 2:7. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. This Scripture is very important for the new believer to understand. The new believer has become an overcomer, and has overcome the world in Jesus Christ; thus, they are no longer of the world, and they no longer love the world because they are in Jesus Christ.
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A New Unseen Spiritual World Given Through Grace
  The overcomer is mentioned in Revelation Chapter 2 and in Chapter 3, and it is the overcomer who will enter into the paradise of God. We do not see two classifications of Christians because there is no such thing as two types of Christians. We, as Christians, are all ONE in Jesus Christ, and every one of us has overcome the world through faith in Jesus Christ, and each one of us will eat of the tree of life.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (1st John 5:4) Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (1st John 5:5)
  Both in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, and in 1st John Chapter 5, there are only ONE class of born again believers. There is no such thing as a nominal Christian. (Maybe I should have written there SHOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS A NOMINAL CHRISTIAN!) The very word ‘nominal’ (in name only) defeats the purpose of God’s grace. It was God’s grace to remove us from the world, to remove us from sin, and to remove us from death.
  In our salvation it is God’s will to give us a NEW world in Jesus Christ, the unseen world of God’s dominion, and the kingdom of His dear Son. In our new habitation we are free in Jesus Christ, we have eternal life in Jesus Christ, and we are marked as part of the heavenlies in Jesus Christ waiting to wit the redemption of our bodies, to be conformed to the very image of Jesus Christ.
  In Chapter 6 of the gospel of John, the entire Chapter is giving us the difference between the bread of the earth and the Bread from heaven. God the Holy Spirit goes into great detail defining the bread of the earth in which there is no eternal life, and the Bread of heaven which holds the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Although these men (in John Chapter 6) were fed miraculously from the Lord out of five barley loafs and two small fishes, it was still the bread and the meat of the earth, and this could not give everlasting life. It seems that all of these people ignored the offer of everlasting life by the Lord Jesus Christ because the bread of the earth could only maintain life here on earth. In the present life we have all been partakers of the fruit and bread of the earth. When we are old and ready to die, no matter how much of the bread of earth we have consumed, we will still die. When sin is finished, its finality is the Law of sin and death; however, Christ presented Himself as the Law of life in Christ Jesus. What was the condition? You see . . . the Law of Life is conditional. The condition is to believe on Him whom God had sent. Now the believer in Christ Jesus, who through faith, has partaken of His body and of His blood has been made FREE from the Law of sin and 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) Belief in Jesus Christ is the outward working of the inner faith that Christ has imparted to the believer.
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Faith Opens the Unseen Spiritual World
  In the book of Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 1, faith is the substance . . . God the Holy Spirit used this phrase to show us that faith is a tangible element, and it is given by God so that mankind can believe on His dear Son. Faith is WITHIN Christ. He is the beholder and the possessor of all faith. He is the substance of our faith, and the substance of things hoped for. It is Christ who is the tangible evidence of things not seen. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
  In John 6:53, we have the flesh and the blood of the Son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53) There is no way that Abraham, a child of faith, and a friend of God, partook of the flesh and the blood of Christ. However, through faith Abraham believed that God was able to raise him from the dead.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:5) And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (Romans 4:3)
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (James 2:23)
  Abraham believed in the unseen . . . and through belief in the faith of the Son of God . . . God imparted faith and His righteousness because of Abraham’s belief. The Son of God is not with us here today on earth except in Spirit, and it is His Spirit that dwells within every believer, and each and every believer partakes of the spiritual flesh and blood of Jesus Christ by His once offering of Himself, once and for all, on the cross of Calvary.
  By faith we are partakers of His Spirit, and this is the inward evidence of things hoped for, and things not seen. The Spirit of Christ has entered into the believer’s being as both His flesh and His blood. There is NO repeat of this transaction! It is done ONCE and FOR eternity with belief and tangible faith.
  We are born into this world, in the natural sense, of the seed of Adam, a seed that has been condemned by God, even in our conception. It is the spirit of Adam with his sin that feeds us and nourishes us in the Law of sin and death; however, faith breaks the natural chains to reveal the spiritual and this is the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which gives us grace and truth.
  In John Chapter 1, verse 17, we see that the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came BY Jesus Christ. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. To understand this verse, we need to understand that it is a verse of possession, that Jesus Christ, Himself, possesses grace, and Jesus Christ, Himself, possesses truth. When He was sent by God the Father from heaven’s glory, within THAT HOLY THING born was God’s grace and God’s truth.
  The Law of Moses was holy and just, and condemned mankind for what man is: mankind under the Law of sin and death. Christ came with grace and truth. Grace as a gift, for He Himself was the Gift of God, and the Truth that belief through faith IN Him sets us free from the Law of sin and death. The natural man (without faith) cannot behold the evidence of the things not seen. To behold the wonders of Christ one must be united with the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Adam is completely cut off from God. Adam can pretend to be righteous. Adam can pretend to be holy. Adam can pretend to be good. Adam can even claim to be justified before God; however, as long as man is Adam, he cannot partake of the Spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus, the Spirit that encompasses grace and truth.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1st Corinthians 2:10)
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1st Corinthians 2:11)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (1st Corinthians 2:12)
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1st Corinthians 2:13)
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1st Corinthians 2:14)
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1st Corinthians 2:15)
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1st Corinthians 2:16)
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The Spiritual Bread and The Spiritual Flesh
  Now let us unlock another mystery in Chapter 6 in the gospel of John, verse 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. In this verse the Lord Jesus specifies Himself as the I AM, that He is the Bread of life, the Living Bread. He specifically told them that HE CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN. And if anyone eats of THIS BREAD from HEAVEN then they shall live for ever. Then the Lord Jesus specifies that the Bread that He will give IS HIS FLESH. Then He again specifies how He will give His flesh . . . I will give for the life of the world. Here He is referring to His atonement on the cross of Calvary when through His sacrificial death God would make Christ’s soul an offering for sin for the whole world. Salvation is not a blanket. Salvation is a command. It is commanded to all of mankind to believe, yet all mankind will not believe. Does this lessen the sacrifice of the Son of God? NO! It leaves unbelievers without an excuse. For Christ has freely given His life for the life of the world, and for those who dwell within the world. When that turbulent day of judgment comes at the great white throne ALL those who have rejected Christ will see the nail pierced hands and they will know that the atonement was for the whole world. In their rejection of God’s Christ, they (in turn) also rejected their own souls; for their souls will then endure the flames and torment of the lake of fire forever.
  God puts into the believer the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus as tangible evidence of his faith in the unseen. As in 1st Corinthians Chapter 2, we have the evidence of faith within us by the Spirit of God. The Spirit reveals the things of the Spirit to us. He gives us the discerning mind of the Spirit of Christ completely removed from the spirit of Adam which once more is proved in Romans Chapter 8. We have other spiritual scriptures which are given by the Spirit of God in symbolic ways, so we must compare spiritual things with the spiritual. John Chapter 6 is the comparison of the carnal with the spiritual. (I often call the gospel of John, the gospel of the Spirit of God because it is rich in spiritual symbolism.) In Galatians 2:20 we have another comparison; Paul was not physically nailed to a cross or to the cross of Christ; however, through the Spirit of Christ, Paul spiritually knew the depth of the finished work of Christ. As a result, through the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, Paul and ALL the apostles KNEW that they were partakers of the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in His sacrificial death upon the cross of Calvary. This spiritual realization plays havoc with the professing church in Adam because they do not have a clue, neither can they apply the spiritual nor can they comprehend the depth of salvation and eternal life. There is no witness of the Spirit within, no matter how much they pretend. What gives them away? The nature of Adam gives them away because they love the world, and its material goods. This gives them away every time because spiritual things are not the things of this world. The spiritual things are of the world to come.
  There is so little understanding of the spiritual world to come, and the spiritual world within the believer; consequently, the gospel preacher without the Spirit of Christ cannot expound about the inheritance of the saints in light. All that we (believers) have in Christ has been left behind by the spiritually empty modern gospel preacher preaching a material gospel of world riches intertwined with social justice philosophies. It is the Spirit of God who tells the child of God not to love the world, neither the things that are in the world. And yet, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday the professing church is satisfied with the status quo of the world. Very rarely is there a message condemning the unrighteousness of the world. There seems to be no spiritual flame in their hearts concerning the souls of men.
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Spiritual Symbolism and The Substance
  In the very beginning of the gospel of John readers are introduced to the eternal existence of the Word of God, and that this eternal Word was made flesh. We are introduced to Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This also binds us to the Lamb and to the Shepherd of the sheep in John Chapter 10. He is One with His sheep in the sacrifice of Himself. He becomes both the sacrifice in calling the sheep, and the Shepherd as leading the sheep. As the Sacrifice He becomes the pure Lamb of God sent from the purity of heaven. Through His sacrificial death He drew His sheep to Himself. In the atonement, which of course, became God’s day of atonement we become identified with the atoning sacrifice because it was our sin that caused the doors of heaven to open. All is in Christ. Spiritually we have the unseen and the seen in the Lamb of God and the good Shepherd. Just as in Christ we see the spirit of life, In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4) We are joined to Him and we become the sheep of His pasture. We see our own identity that when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, that on the cross of Calvary the Lamb of God bore all our sins. For the individual that is a great revelation because if we have been relieved of our sins then we have been relieved from the Law of sin and death.
  It was in God’s plan to destroy all sin, to defeat death and the works of the devil. Since His sacrifice was sufficient for ALL sin then man is without excuse before a holy and righteous God. There would be no but’s or maybe’s. This was the positive + charge of God to remove the negative – of sin and death. Man could not atone for his own sin. This was evident in the day of the Lord’s crucifixion. There were two thieves crucified with Him; however, He stood between them both as the only sufficient One to bear the sin of man, the sin of the whole world.
  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43) We see both the beginning of man in the garden before the fall, and we see his return to a garden in Revelation 2 where the overcomer partakes of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7) In all this symbolism what binds us to Christ? It is the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. When the Lord was manifested on earth to mankind as the Son of God, and as the Son of man, and as Jesus Christ, He was the Light of heaven sent into the darkness of the world. He was divided from the darkness because He was the Light, and the darkness comprehended it not. Those who lived in darkness and who were possessed by darkness could not comprehend that there was a mighty God who sent His Son to be both Light and Life to the world of men. This is what we have in John Chapter 6, a great division from Light to darkness as the Bread of Life. The Light is this: that He was the spiritual Manna from heaven, and the truth of this is that we must partake of this Manna from heaven through faith, and the result is everlasting life.
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (John 6:57) This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (John 6:58)
  Sin is removed when Christ comes within. We are no longer hunchbacks burdened by our sins. The Spirit of Christ has relieved us of all our burdens, but this is only the beginning of the treasures within His inheritance. As new born babes in Christ, we have a spiritual garden before us with all the wonders of Eden in Christ Himself.
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Spiritual Bread in Visible Body and Blood
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2nd Corinthians 4:18)
  Christ is truly the Bread and the Blood of salvation. God sent the true Manna from heaven, the bread of life in the very body of life because the very blood of the Son of God was the blood of redemption.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)
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)
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)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1st John 1:7)
  This transaction of salvation is very important. In the sacrifice of God’s dear Son, it was ALL of God through His determinate counsels. It was God who provided the Lamb, the body that was prepared before the foundation of the world, it was God who sent the Lamb in His Son into the world, and it was God through His foreknowledge who brought salvation into the world through the wicked hands of men to reveal the true enmity of mankind against God. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (Acts 2:23) It is written that these wicked men at the beckoning of Satan crucified the Prince of Life. This is truly the Manna in Jesus Christ sent down from heaven. God sent forth His Son and mankind did every thing they could to refute God’s claim even crucifying the Son of God. God sent the true Manna from heaven, the bread of life was in the very body of life. The very blood of the Son of God was the blood of redemption that He shed for the whole world.
  Through the simplicity (or the very depth of the cross) God said to mankind, ‘That’s enough, I have watched man kill his brother from the beginning, and man’s sin is unbridled, therefore, all must end at the cross of Christ, therefore, in the fullness of time is the end of sin, It is finished.‘ It was God who laid the sin of the whole world ON His beloved Son to give His life for the world. Man could only take life in death, his sin demanded the finality of death, however, man could not place sin upon himself, there had to be a sin offering, one that was worthy, one that was of the purity of heaven, and then it was God the Father who had to lay the sin of the whole world upon His Son. The blood of the cross was to counter or annul the blood of the seed of Cain, and all man’s enmity against God. I have said, and have written this before, that everything is finished on the cross of Christ, but not all is revealed. Those of us who are truly Christians are this generation’s revelation through the Spirit of Christ for we have the Spirit of Christ and not the spirit of man. (Romans 8) We have the mind of Christ, and the world has NO defense against the Spirit and truth that is within us.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1st Corinthians 2:13)
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1st Corinthians 2:14)
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. (1st Corinthians 2:15)
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1st Corinthians 2:16)
  The apostle Paul, through the Spirit of Christ, exclaimed to the Romans I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, (Romans 9:1) What a statement. Why was it necessary? It was necessary because false brethren had crept in unawares. These were individuals (little sneaky snakes and serpents) without Christ were sent by the adversary of God to confuse and to confound the Church attempting to destroy the truth, which of course is impossible. There were many adversaries in the days of the apostles. When the apostles passed from earthly life there were many false apostles who probably said ‘Good riddance, now the vineyard will be ours.’ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (2nd Corinthians 11:13) The Spirit of God, however, always has a continuous voice. God does not lack in power. He raises up whom He will.. He is no respecter of persons. The Spirit of God makes sure that every true servant of God understands what he has come from, what his position is today, and where he is headed . . . that he has been chosen from the base things of the world to be a servant of God . . . a God with unlimited power . . . and as a child of God they will be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;Â (1st Corinthians 1:27) And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: (1st Corinthians 1:28) That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1st Corinthians 1:29)
Side Note: The deception of the world is all around us. In our day, we have COVID-19, this is to occupy the minds of men deliberately to blind them to the things of God. Covid-19 is a military and political weapon, a weapon of stealth and deception. It was brought upon the world by the corrupt politicians of the US and of China and other contributing nations. They loosed on the world a plague that has brought us to the brink of the very end of time. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ (the body of Christ) will soon depart from the ungodly world. Satan is well aware of all of this, and he is working overtime in the dark corners of the political world to bring the world’s populace into slavery to those of world wealth. But even with all this upon us, what has this shown you? Last November Satan used his henchmen to nullify the vote of the majority of Americans. In turn, this was the end of the United State of America under the Constitution of its founding. And yet, what has this taught us? That man will believe a lie before he will believe the truth. Both with the fraud vote and with COVID-19, man has been duped by the slimy, sneaky snakes of Satan. However, there is a greater treasure that is hanging in the balance. It is the treasure of the souls of men. That is worth ALL the treasures of the world, and the only one who holds them in value today is God Himself. Whether we look at the political or religious systems of this world, we know that they are all handled (manned) by the children of the devil. And the greatest liar of all time is Satan himself, When the Lord condemned the Pharisees for their great lies, He was also speaking to all of mankind. He declared in John 8:44 that they were the children of their father, the devil.
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) ♦ End of Side Note: The deception of the world
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The Tangible and Spiritual Evidence of Faith
  Adam became the abominable seed of the devil: SIN. Adam not only brought sin into the world and death by sin, but Adam himself became the great plague of sin; however God (through His foreknowledge and determinate counsels) had already provided a Seed from heaven, a Seed of righteousness, a pure Seed, and a 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)
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:Â (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)
  Christ is THAT Seed from heaven, and He came to redeem man from the plague of sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Within the Spirit of Christ is the seed of life for those who are dead in trespasses and sin. Adam has to be completely removed.
The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. (1st Corinthians 15:47)
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (Hebrews 10:9)
  Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only means by which Adam (mankind) could be removed. However, not all men have faith. Faith is a gift of God through and IN the Lord Jesus Christ. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. (2nd Thessalonians 3:2) Man will believe that within himself there is faith, he will also believe that he has some goodness within. This again is a lie from the devil. Within Adam and mankind there is no faith, and there is no goodness. Adam was completely shut off from God because of his sin condition. Sin ended any relationship that Adam had with God. Faith MUST come from the Author of faith, and this is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God declares in Galatians 2:20, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Christ is the Author and the Finisher of ALL 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)
  You will not find man’s faith in the Bible because faith is only imparted by God. In Hebrews Chapter 11 it is ‘by faith’ and this phrase is mentioned 16 times in 15 verses; and the phrase ‘through faith’ is mentioned in five verses. Why should this be important to us, and why did the Spirit of God treat faith as a tangible object in Hebrews Chapter 11? It does not say, ‘By the faith of Abel,’ nor ‘By the faith of Enoch,’ or ‘By the faith of Noah,’ or ‘By the faith of Abraham,’ etc., etc. Why? Because faith belongs to God, and He bestows faith upon man. This is how the Spirit of God records faith in Hebrews 11: By faith Abel, By faith Enoch, By faith Noah, By faith Abraham, By faith Isaac, By faith Jacob, By faith Joseph, By faith Moses, etc., etc.
  In the Old Testament the word faith is only mentioned twice. Once in Deuteronomy 32:20, and the second mention is in Habakkuk 2:4, In Deuteronomy 32:20, it is the children in whom is NO faith. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end [shall be]: for they [are] a very froward generation, children in whom [is] no faith. God is showing us the absence of faith in man and man being void of faith. Through Deuteronomy the Holy Spirit is speaking of a whole generation of children who have no faith.
  When we compare this to the New Testament verse in 2nd Thessalonians 3:2, we see an overlapping by the Spirit of God in that not all men have faith. Why? This is because it is a gift from God. Christ is the Author of faith in Hebrews 12, He is the One who imparts faith, and He is the One who brings faith to its final conclusion in that it is only through imparted faith that man loves God IN His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In both Deuteronomy (we have children) and 2nd Thessalonians (we have men) this encompasses all of mankind. Faith, once again, is a gift from God. Behold, his soul [which] is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4)
  We have a division, we have those who have no faith for there is nothing within whereby they may believe. However, those who are justified by faith, as a gift from God, have eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. This makes faith in the spiritual realm a tangible object. With faith man not only experiences salvation and the grace of God, but from the point of salvation this faith leads man in God’s path, by God’s work, by the same faith in the Son of His love. This faith must come from above. It must come from the very Person of Jesus Christ.
  Let’s consider faith as documented in the first three gospels: in the gospel of Matthew, the word faith is mentioned in twelve verses; in Mark’s gospel the word faith is mentioned in five verses, and in the gospel of Luke, the word faith is mentioned in twelve verses. Now we come to the fourth gospel, the gospel of John. You will not find the word faith mentioned in the entire gospel of John. Why is this? It is because FAITH is walking among men. The faith of God was manifested before man, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The key word in the gospel of John is BELIEVE and its derivatives. The word believe in the gospel of John is a distant cry from above. God is seeking those who are lost. God is crying out to them to believe in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We find the word believe in forty-six verses, sometimes it is mentioned more than once in a single verse. In John 10:38, we see believe three times. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. (John 10:38)
  In the mysteries of God believe or belief is a part of revealed truth, we see this in Hebrews 11:6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Those (whether past, present or future) who are without faith, and do not believe God do not please God, neither do they diligently seek after God. This is good formula even for today. How many of the professing church spend hours in the Scriptures searching and seeking the mind of God and what God has revealed in His beloved Son?
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The Spiritual Portal in Heaven Opened by Faith
  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) This is only time in the entire gospel of John that the word gift is used by the Holy Spirit of God. Without this gift from God a person cannot have living water or eternal life. Being born of God is a tremendous transaction, it is a miracle of faith imparted by God, a tangible object imparted from God to man.
  Faith walked among mankind as the manifest image of God, and they could not see the miracle of grace before them. They could not believe because there was no faith in them. They remembered the five barley loafs and the two small fishes, but that only satisfied their natural hunger. Light had come into the world, and although they walked with Him, saw the miracles that He performed, and were beneficiaries of the bread and meat of the world by Him, they could not believe because there was no faith in them. In John 10:38 the Holy Spirit of God refers to belief in the Father, and Christ within the Father, and the Father within Christ, and men with no faith could not comprehend these words. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. There had to be faith to open the spiritual portal to heaven in belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
  Although the Godhead is inseparable, however, there is one representative of the Godhead, who has been manifested among mankind through the entire history of mankind. The Lord Jesus Christ was always God manifested.　This manifestation of the Person of God (in His Son) is in heaven today as a witness to His eternal manifestation as the Son of God, Jesus Christ. God established the name Jesus (which means Savior) before the foundations of the earth.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. (Luke 1:30) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (Luke 1:31)
  In John 20:27 we have the only derivative of the word faith which is faithless. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. The Lord was referring to the absence of faith within Thomas. Christ as the Object of faith, the Author and Finisher of faith was standing before His disciples in living form as the manifest image of God in Jesus Christ. He is risen from the dead, and although the word faith is not mentioned, He is ministering to Thomas to have faith, to believe. Again, compare Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. What is the result? What is revealed to the heart of Thomas? We find the answer in John 20:28, And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Here is faith in the Person of the Son of God. Prior to His crucifixion while Christ walked among His creatures, God the Father revealed to Peter that Christ was the Son of God. After His resurrection, God revealed to Thomas that the resurrected Christ was Lord and God. This also applies to us today, when Christ is revealed in our hearts, He becomes My Lord and my God. And just so we will not stray, in our present age, we have verse 29, Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. This verse applies to us today. Having not seen, yet we have believed; thus, we have believed in the unseen through faith. God (through the Spirit of Christ) has made His presence known in our hearts.
  Now just for the record book, the word believed is found in twenty-five verses, the word believeth is found in fourteen verses, and the word believing is found in two verses, showing us that the prime root of belief is a major portion of the gospel of John, that without belief it is impossible to please God. Since faith and belief are united together let’s listen to the voice of the Spirit in Romans 10 verses 5 through 15.
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. (Romans 10:5)
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)Â (Romans 10:6)
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)Â (Romans 10:7)
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;Â (Romans 10:8)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:10)
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Romans 10:11)
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. (Romans 10:12)
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14)
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15)
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The Natural Mind and Heart
and the
Spiritual Mind and Heart
  In Romans Chapter 10, we have the unification of both belief and faith within the heart. And who searches the heart of man? Within man there is a natural mind, but there is also a spiritual heart. In the natural man, we have the spirit of Adam, this is ALL of mankind born into this world. The natural mind of Adam desires the knowledge of the world, and his spiritually darkened heart desires the things of the world. However, when the shadow of the Spirit of God broods over an individual He leads that individual to the point of the knowledge of God. This individual now has the knowledge of man, and he now has the knowledge of God; here is the mystery that has been hidden since the foundation of the world, and this mystery was revealed in Jesus Christ. Yet, we, still in many ways, find the life of Christ a mystery because even a person even with the knowledge of God will refuse to believe. Another person with faith believes, and now there is no more mystery for this person, for now God reveals Himself to the individual who believes in Jesus Christ. Romans Chapter 10 brings both of these words together belief and faith IN the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of God is a very instrumental tool of the Spirit of God, or we could say, the Spirit of grace. God has witnessed in the Old Testament through the book of Jeremiah that Adam’s heart was and is deceitful above all things. It is beyond hope. The heart is also desperately wicked. Why? Because sin lieth at the door. (God spoke to Cain saying, If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Genesis 4:7) If man does not know his own heart, who can know it? We have both the question in Jeremiah 17:9, and the answer in Jeremiah 17:10.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?(Jeremiah 17:9) I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.(Jeremiah 17:10)
  It is the Lord who searches every heart because the Lord KNOWS that there is a temple within man. This is where he worships his own sin. This is where he loves the world, and this is where he wants to possess the things of the world both seen and unseen. You do realize, of course, that the devil also has a kingdom, and he has power. This is proven in Revelation Chapter 13, for the man of sin, the Beast, receives his power and throne from the devil himself. This is the heart of man that we are dealing with. In Adam we have the seed of the devil brought out by the Lord Jesus In John 8:44. 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. Isaiah 14:13 informs us that the devil also has a heart. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: In verse 14 we see the end goal of Lucifer/Satan. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
  What was in the heart of Lucifer? His unattainable desire was to ascend above the highest heights in the spiritual realm. He wanted to exalt his throne above the stars of God. He declared that I WILL SIT upon the upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: He proclaimed that I WILL ASCEND above the heights of the clouds, and he boldly stated to God that I will be like the most High. This is the heart of Lucifer, which in turn, through sin, he imparted unto mankind. Through Lucifer’s sin and his seed, he now possessed and is in possession of the heart of man in Adam.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Genesis 3:4) God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil . (Genesis 3:5)
  This was Lucifer’s first verbal message and outreach to man in Adam, and it has not changed, it is the same message today, Don’t believe God, instead believe me, for I am the god of this world. Secondly, in Lucifer’s deception of mankind, he denied the truth. God had said, But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:3) But Satan again countered God’s words lest ye die, by saying, Ye shall not surely die. (Genesis 3:4) Although Adam and Eve had the knowledge of the truth Satan was able to diabolically deceive Eve, and through her deception Adam willfully (without hesitation, without a fight or argument) turned against His God and Creator. Satan first deceived the woman, however, Adam was NOT deceived by Satan. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1st Timothy 2:14) Adam readily went into death rejecting God’s word and truth. Adam placed it all on the line because of Satan’s lie — ye shall be as gods. Adam believed in his heart he could be like the most High. What overthrew Satan, has now overthrown man.
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:6)
  Now let’s trace mankind through history bringing out some examples of the heart of man. Cain refused to obey God, and Cain exalted himself as God over his brother Abel, the result was that Cain became the first murderer from the children of men. In John 8:44, it is the devil who has been a murderer from the beginning. Cain believed that he was greater than God, and his descendants felt the same way. They fervently worked through history to destroy the line of Seth, who were called the sons of God. In Genesis Chapter 6, ALL that was of God was removed from their hearts. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5) The dispensation of sin had completely corrupted and cursed their imaginations, the imagination of their hearts. They were as wild asses, running freely in their sins. And God watched. There came a time when God would destroy ALL flesh. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. (Genesis 6:7) So what stopped God from destroying ALL flesh? It was His own righteousness. As His eyes beheld the world, there was one man preaching righteousness, only one man in the whole world crying out to the people to repent of their wicked ways; yet, mankind would not listen. And Noah found grace in the sight of God. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8) In 2nd Chronicles Chapter 16, verse 9a, we read these words, For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. . . .
  Noah was the overcomer in his day which compares to the overcomer in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Chapters 2 and 3. The overcomer is the one whose heart is perfect toward God, Also consider 2nd Peter 2:5, And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8) These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)
  Noah was a mediator between God and man. Yet, man wanted to be like the most High. At that time in the history of mankind, the hearts and mind of those who lived in the ages of Cain through Noah were completely given over to the works of Satan. They were without God, and without hope in this world.
  Scriptures, in both the Old and New Testament, unfold how the corrupt hearts and evil minds of those who lived in the antediluvian age worshiped and served idols and gods of their own imaginations.
Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. (Joshua 24:14) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:Â (Romans 1:20)
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21)
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:22)
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (Romans 1:23)
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:Â (Romans 1:24)
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. (Romans 1:25)
  What was the result of refusing the righteousness of God through Noah? The hammer of God’s judgment and wrath fell upon them, and only eight souls, along with the animals came through the deluge. In a moment of time the heavens were opened forty days and forty nights, and the fountains of the great deep were uncapped — the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up. Only eight souls from thousands upon thousands of souls survived safely in the ark of God. Mankind ceased to exist except for seven souls, and ONE preacher of righteousness. Noah was an article of grace, and the other seven were articles of God’s mercy, and because Noah was a vessel of God’s grace, God had mercy on Noah’s entire family. God looked down and saw the wickedness of man, but His eyes also beheld the man Noah preaching righteousness. Noah was a preacher with no restraints. He was not favored among men, neither did he hold a worldly position of renown where thousands of followers eagerly gathered to hear him preach the righteousness, holiness, and judgment of God. Each and every one of God’s children today should take heart in all your labors for God. Never forget the same eyes that beheld Noah are the same eyes that look upon you.
Side Note: The Weeping Eyes of God in Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ walked among man, being God, He KNEW what was in the heart of every man. And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. (John 2:25) He saw the works of man and groaned. It is documented in Scripture that the Lord Jesus was brought to tears three times. The most recognized was at the tomb of Lazarus in the gospel of John Chapter 11, verse 35, in the shortest verse in the Bible, when Jesus wept. In just two words, the Creator of all things, the Sustainer of all life, the very Power and existence of the worlds, and of the galaxies CRIED. Yes, God cried. He knew that the result of sin was death. As His friend, Lazarus, lay still and quiet in the cold tomb of death, the Lord Jesus knew THAT hour, and THAT moment (in time) had come to reveal His Power over death to those around Him. Yet, the result of sin was so profound that God cried. The second display of tears from the Lord Jesus was when He wept over Jerusalem. He came to sit upon His throne as the King of Israel at Jerusalem. It is Jerusalem whom He considered His holy city; yet, man had defiled every dwelling, every street, and all that He loved in His holy city. Thus. He wept over His beloved city. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37)
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:40) And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, (Luke 19:41) Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.(Luke 19:42)
• Christ wept over a friend, who was a symbol of all of mankind. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (Hebrews 9:27)
• Then He wept over His beloved city that by their own wickedness the people of Jerusalem and His nation (Israel ) had turned their hearts against Him.
• The third time that Christ wept was in a garden. The pleasantness of His surroundings was clouded by the history of man. Undoubtedly He remembered the Garden and walking with Adam in the cool of the day, and now He again was in a garden, and all that had transpired from the fall of mankind in Eden, through man’s history, and prophetically into the future, all was upon Him. No other one suffered like He suffered over the souls of man. No one ever committed such a price of His own divine personality and Person to save man from sin and death. Although very God He humbled Himself to walk through the halls of spitting and taunting of man. The righteousness of God was mocked, slandered, and falsely accused. The final and complete hatred of man against God was realized in their choosing a murderer and a thief over the Son of God, over their Creator God. (Man choose then a murderer and a thief; Adam (listening to the lies of Satan) also chose to believe a murderer and a thief; and into our age of insanity, mankind still chooses to believe the lies of the first murderer and the first liar, Satan.) How depraved is man . . . it was at the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ that the total depravity of mankind was revealed. Yet, Christ wept over the souls most precious to Him.
Although His physical suffering was yet before Him, in the darkness of the garden of Gethsemane, it was the spiritual anguish and agony of His taking on and bearing the sin of the whole world upon Himself. He was to become sin, the one who knew NO sin, and who had no sin within . . . HE WAS TO BE SIN FOR ALL.
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:44)
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; (Hebrews 5:7)
One thing that truly proves the very deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He as Christ, and BEING VERY GOD, was the only ONE who could take the sin of the whole world upon Himself. There was no other. . . ONLY GOD could justify man by the death of Himself on the cross. The very breathe, depth, height and width of the words . . . It is finished, cannot be defined by man.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2nd Corinthians 5:21)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1st Peter 2:24)
Yes Christ Jesus wept three times: as the Priest (in the Garden of Gethsemane), as the Prophet (over Lazarus), and as the King of Israel (over Jerusalem).
♦ End of Side Note of The Weeping Eyes of God in Jesus Christ.
  He had watched mankind through time, and many times mankind had grieved Him. Ephraim had grieved Him so heavily that God, Himself, declared that His heart had turned within Him. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? [how] shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? [how] shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. (Hosea 11:8) In understanding the gravity of Israel’s condition in the days of Hosea God reminds us in Hosea 11:8 of the cities of the plains (Admah and Zeboim) when the fires of judgment consumed the cities of the plains. God’s heart was turned within Him, for Ephraim and Israel had plummeted to the depths of the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. (Genesis 19:29)
[And that] the whole land thereof [is] brimstone, and salt, [and] burning, [that] it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: (Deuteronomy 29:23)
  In the antediluvian days of Noah, we have the complete depravity of mankind. And although God was going to judge all man (all flesh) He repented of His decision because of a preacher of righteousness: Noah. When the ark came to rest on dry ground, Noah and his descendants were facing a new fresh clean world.
  Noah was still a preacher of righteousness, and he lived many years among his sons and their descendants. In this new world God still had a testimony in Noah. One of the amazing facts found in Scripture is that after the flood, although 8 souls were saved, it was ONLY Noah who built an altar to God.
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20)
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21)
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)
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The Visible Altar and the Spiritual Altar
  The altar that Noah built unto the Lord was predetermined by Noah’s knowledge of the righteousness of God. Before the flood there was no specific description of an altar built by man as compared to the altar that Elijah built in 1st Kings 18:31 . . . And Elijah took twelve stones . . . however, through the documentation in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament in Chapter 11, verse 4, we know that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. The altar of the Lord is most precious for the brazen altar in the book of Exodus is a foreshadow of the cross of Christ where the Lamb of God offered Himself for the sin of the whole world. As hungry chirping birds in the nest we eagerly open our mouths to be spiritual fed by the Spirit of God. Although there is no description of the altar, yet, through Scripture we learn that the altars were built with stones that were untouched by the tools of man. Each and every one of the altars that God’s chosen have built through the ages in the Scriptures revolved around twelve stones.
  We have the altar that Elijah restored that was built prior by another patriarch. Elijah renewed this broken down altar (1st Kings 18:30) by assembling twelve stones, one for each tribe of Israel, and he placed and arranged the wood of the altar in a specific order. (1st Kings 18:33) Only by Elijah’s obedience and knowledge of the altar did God respond. Every thing that Elijah renewed was met with the approval of God; therefore, God sent fire from above. This fire consumed the water, the blood, the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones . . . all that spoke of the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ flowed up into heaven as a sweet savor.
  Noah’s altar was an altar of like manner, and on this altar Noah offered according to the precepts of God, he offered one of every clean beast, and one of every clean fowl, and he offered this offering as a burnt offering unto the Lord.
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1)
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. (Genesis 7:2)
Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 7:3)
  Compare the sacrifices of Noah with the burnt offering in the book of Leviticus Chapter 1. Now in this offering of Noah the Lord was present, He was watching, and He smelled a sweet savor, and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man’s sake.
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20) And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21)
  God provides us with a bit of prophecy in the last part of Genesis Chapter 8, verse 21. God reaffirms that the imagination of the heart of man is still evil from his youth, even after the flood the descendants of Noah would continue the sin of antediluvian age and fall into the same trap of Satan, that they shall be as gods. God beheld the sacrifice of Noah as a sweet savor. Do you know where the last mention of sweet savor is found, and what is it in relationship to? It is found in the book of Ephesians, Chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 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) Do you see how God’s word expands our knowledge of the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ? The sacrifice of His only begotten Son was a sweet savor to God, the Son in whom He was well pleased . . . the Son of His love . . . the Son of God whom ALL the holy angels worshiped. And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. (Hebrews 1:6)
  All the altars unto the Lord, which were built by man in God’s favor, were shadows of the altar of the cross whereby the Lamb of God was offered as a sweet savor unto God the Father. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. (Hebrews 13:10) This reference shows us that the cross of Christ and the sufferings of the Lamb of God upon that cross was the FINAL ALTAR in ALL the shadows given in the Old Testament. Hebrews 13:10 reveals to us that the cross and the Christ of the cross were both a spiritual Altar and a visible Offering. (Once again we have the spiritual world and the visible world united in Christ Jesus.) In Hebrews 13:12, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Through His blood through all time (past, present and future) His own are sanctified. In the book of Hebrews 13:15, we have the priesthood of every believer and their responsibility to the altar and to the sacrifice in Jesus Christ. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. By Him, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ, and FOR Him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, for that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to the name of the Lord, the name above every name, and with such sacrifices (verse 16) God is well pleased. For they are a sweet savor unto God for His nameS sake. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)
  We are privileged, as the children of God, for we are a chosen generation, we are a royal priesthood, we are a holy nation that men cannot see; yet, we exist before Him every day. We are a peculiar people because we have been born from above. And with the fruit of our lips we DO show forth His praise for He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1st Peter 2:9) God beheld Noah’s sacrifice as a sweet savor because God the Father saw in Noah’s sacrifice the sacrifice of His beloved Son on the cross of sacrifice and love. (Once again, we have the spiritual world and the visible world united in Christ Jesus.)
  The altar of Noah would be the ONLY altar built in the new world UNTIL the days of Abraham, again, God would choose a man (one man) out of the world, out of the abyss of sin and idolatry (Ur of Chaldees, the center of demon worship, the Capitol of Babylon), by the name of Abram. The Chaldees connects ancient Babylon to future Babylon, and this long continuous bloody thread of idolatry has woven its evil into every age of mankind. From the age of Abram (the early glory days of Babylon) to the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ we have the prophetic fulfillment of the end of this wicked city. (Since this article deals with the spiritual realm and the natural visible realm, consider that Babylon is much more than a visible city.)
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (Revelation 17:4)
And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. (Revelation 17:5)
  I will remind you that Abraham was called and chosen. Abraham was not looking for God, but God was looking for Abraham; thus, Abraham became the elect of God. Why did God have to move in such a way by drawing Abram to Himself appearing to Abram as The God of glory? (Acts 7:2) The age of time between Noah and Abram was an extremely long period of time where the descendants of Noah ( Shem, Ham, and Japheth) became idol worshipers, and worshipers of themselves, and WITHOUT AN ALTAR OF GOD.
  Deep in their subconscious was the old lie of the devil, ye shall be as gods, and the evil seed of the devil’s imagination that he passed on to Adam, and on to all of the future of mankind. In the days of Nimrod, they (the descendants of Ham) built a city (Babylon) and a tower (Babel). Ham and his descendants yearned to reach into the heavens, so that they could be like the most high, so that they could ascend above the heights of the clouds, ascend above the stars of God, so that they could establish their own throne above the stars of God, and to also sit upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. The family of Ham wanted a heavenly city; however, their city was built on sin (the sin within them) and all that they built was to exalt themselves, and to promote man ABOVE the throne of God. The heart and goal of the people of Ham was also in the hearts of all the descendants of Noah including Shem and Japheth. They wanted, in themselves, to have a name above every name. They were propagating the lie of the devil, they proclaimed in their own hearts, we shall be as gods.
  God (looking down) once again saw this desire of mankind. Once again, He saw the result of man’s vain sinful imagination. Because of God’s righteousness, and His promise to Noah (at the altar) when Noah offered sacrifices, God would not destroy man again, instead, He came down at Babel and confounded their unified strength of communication through one language and scattered this united people into separate tribes all over the earth. However, then mankind (in his enmity against God) would develop and take up many gods, and many images, many languages, and once AGAIN show the total depravity of mankind. Consequently, ALL the earth became totally corrupt and given over completely to idolatry.
  With the assistance of the holy Scriptures and the Spirit of God, the study of man’s history and corruption instructs us of man’s inherent desire to gloat over his images, imaginations and inventions, and to praise his idolatry in the images that he has made. Many of man’s prideful idols still stand today in many locations for all to see as a witness of the heart of mankind. Man’s desire to be like the most high is still buried within his subconscious.
  In the days of Abram, God found a friend, a man called Abram, and God called Abram, and he chose Abram. This calling of Abram begins a theme through Scripture: that God calls, and God chooses His elect. It is interesting that one of the last times that it is recorded about God’s choice and about His chosen is in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. After the revelation of the great mother of harlots, and the powers of the evil world that surrounded around her, we read this in Chapter 17, verse 14, These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
  By those who are called, and chosen, and faithful, Abraham in the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, he was called, he was chosen, and it is recorded that he was faithful. How God begins His precepts in Genesis carries throughout the entire Bible. God has shown us by calling many out of the world, by choosing many out of this life that God has had many friends who have been faithful and true. You need to read about these friends through the Old Testament and also as well in the New Testament. I want you to notice that the great whore of idolatry, which is religion, and her political friends (the kings) will make war with the Lamb of God and His called, and His chosen, and His faithful friends. The battle is not over in this life, we will yet still come with the Lord of lords, and the King of kings, and WE will do battle against the world of idolatry and against political evil that the world has ever seen. But for now, as Abraham, we have been called OUT of this world, and we seek a country and a city whose builder and maker is God. Well now . . . you are saying, What does all this have to do with John Chapter 6? The answer is in Chapter 6, verse 28.
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The Spiritual Works of God and the Works of Man
  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? When we look at John 6:28, consider the heart of man. What was buried deep in the subconscious part of man? They wanted to be like the most high. Their request was motivated out of sin, not from the righteousness of God. What shall WE DO, that WE MIGHT WORK the works of God? And most people miss this point. They wanted to do what Christ was doing so that Christ in turn would have no validity among man. This was one of the ploys of Satan through mankind: to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ IN HIS WORK. Sadly, this still goes on today with the quest for gifts of Satan that is referred to as ‘gifts of God.’ Discernment between the works of God, and the works of men is the difference between that which is spiritual and that which is of the flesh. Yet, in the deception by Satan, he and they who claim to do the works of God are revealed in the Lord’s rebuke to the men who asked, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
  The Lord Jesus exposed the deep root of their lie, for He knew the heart of every man. And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. (John 2:25) The Lord Jesus defined the work of God for these unrighteous people. Even today, what is the simplicity of the work of God? That man might believe on Him, whom God has sent. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:29)
  Sometimes, man loses sight of the message — that the work of God is that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Man interjects too much of himself into God’s message and into God’s gospel, and not enough of Christ. Any message that is given should always have a Center Point, which is Jesus Christ . . . “That in ALL things he might have the preeminence.” And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18) This also includes the gospel message, the ministry to the Church, and the witness to the world. (Christ FIRST, Christ NOW, and Christ ALWAYS.) Our lives should have the Center Point of Jesus Christ both within us as a testimony and our outward testimony. The power of God within us should be a witness to the lost world around us. It is interesting that this throng of men in John Chapter 6 had traveled across the Sea of Galilee to follow the Man of miracles, and gather around Him in the city of Capernaum. Now, let’s look inside this favored city of God, and what Capernaum was in reality in that present age and their sinful state and condition.
And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. (Matthew 11:23)
  Through the gospel of John Chapter 6, verse 59 we know that the Lord Jesus was in Capernaum because He taught in their synagogue. It was here in this city that Christ drew out the treasures of the visible world of offerings and sacrifices in the Old Testament writings by Moses, and through those writings unfolded to them THAT in HIS PERSON all the offerings and sacrifices were fulfilled.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53)
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:54)
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. (John 6:55)
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:56)
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (John 6:57)
This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (John 6:58)
These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. (John 6:59)
  As the people in the age of Moses could not fully comprehend the spiritual significance of the visible message in the offerings, sacrifices, and manna, so also the people gathered in Capernaum refused to see that Christ Jesus was the spiritual Manna sent from heaven. To them flesh, meat, blood, and bread were tangible items not in any way connected to spiritual concepts.
  Now look at the condemnation, remember that all these people were gathered to witness great miracles performed around things in the natural world . . . things that they could actually see with their eyes, not with their hearts. Their hearts were turned so far away from God that the Lord Jesus condemned Capernaum and declared that if the works that He had done in Capernaum had been done in Sodom, then Sodom would have still remained until that day. The Lord Jesus was showing them that the works of God was to believe on Him, and that the works that He performed were the outward manifestation of His own Person, God Himself. However, Adam still wanted to be like the most high God.
  The Bible declares that Christ is the Head of man (this truth goes back to the creation of Adam) that the image of God, in Jesus Christ, was both the Creator and the Head of mankind. This position of God’s preeminence over man has not changed. This is why the Lord Jesus is the Center Point in all that we do for Him. When He walked on earth, the power of God was within Him. As He sits now in heaven He has sent His Spirit WITHIN us to work the power of God in the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His gospel, and it is His plan of redemption. In John 6 the old lie of the devil in Genesis 3 surfaced once again. Now why should we be concerned with a history lesson from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament? It is because the history of man repeats itself. Why? It is because sin never changes. Today with all the religious activities in the world we have come to a great falling away from the Center Point which is Christ.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, (2nd Thessalonians 2:1)
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. (2nd Thessalonians 2:2)
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2nd Thessalonians 2:3)
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (2nd Thessalonians 2:4)
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (2nd Thessalonians 2:5)
And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. (2nd Thessalonians 2:6)
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2nd Thessalonians 2:7)
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2nd Thessalonians 2:8)
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (2nd Thessalonians 2:9)
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (2nd Thessalonians 2:10)
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2nd Thessalonians 2:11)
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2nd Thessalonians 2:12)
  The professing (not the possessing) gospel of today has been so rearranged that it favors the unrighteous above the righteousness of Christ. The man with the filthy garments is welcomed to the marriage feast although he has not the love of the truth within, and if the righteous demands to see realities in the lives of those who profess Christ then because the unrighteous are the majority, the righteous is rejected. And by doing this the same mind of those John 6 rejects the righteousness of Christ. Over the last two thousand plus years the unrighteous, the ministers of Satan, have been bringing in damnable heresies by electing their own leaders and preachers from the courts of Adam by choosing men after their own hearts with unrestricted imaginations. However, all these things are foretold in 2nd Thessalonians.
  In the prophetic value of the word of God every bit of prophecy is met and established in truth. One of the greatest studies in prophetic writing for a child of God is to see how His God has fulfilled EVERY prophetic word in the canon of Scripture, and WILL YET fulfill the things to come. In every one of the epistles, we have the present time of the apostles, we have our time now as believers, and we have prophetic truth to come. With Paul’s epistles, with Peter’s epistles, and with the epistles of James, John and Jude one of the underlying themes in all their epistles is the message of correction, not just instruction, because the infant Church had already swayed away from its Center Point which is Christ. The Church today will not accept correction from the Spirit of God to heart. From the beginning of time and from the creation of man, the main point by the Spirit of God concerning man is that Adam (man) has an evil and wicked heart above all things. This is saying a lot and it does not leave any wiggle room for man to deny his true state and condition. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:10)
  This is not just Old Testament man in Adam, or a group, it is ALL of mankind. We already need a heart transplant when we first come into the world as babes. The only way that anyone can be spiritually quickened is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The world is being sucked down by a gigantic evil whirlpool of both religion and political power. We have watched, and we have all been victims of this expanding whirlpool in our lifetime as it spins faster and faster.
Side Note: The End Result of Man without the Spirit of God. Building his tower of Babel man has reunited the world in a language of numbers, a two-number system of “0” (zero) and “1” (one). Through this binary language of the internet and by the development of technology man has been on the moon, and has built his own moon in space circling this earth. Man has set himself once again above the clouds, and now he yearns to reach for the stars and for the planets. Using all of his limited skills and knowledge, he is desperately trying to be like the most high.
  Man has entered into a new age of idolatry, building robots in his own image. As God created man in His own image, so too, man creates robots in his own image. (Also note that as man creates Artificial Intelligence to resemble himself, he is also at the exact same time attempting to change what God has created as male and female into beings of half male and half female, 3/4 male and 3/4 female. Hatred of God and what God created has driven His creatures into avenues of insanity and evil imaginations.) Man (in his inherent sin) cannot solve the evils, the wickedness, the lies, and the discrepancies of this world, or of his societies because man has created all of his own problems. In practically every city, and nation men and women walk as zombies because of their addiction to drugs; they have no life, and many will soon have no breath, and this is all rooted in sin. We can see the condition of mankind every day. The condition of Adam strikes all, rich or poor, famous or unknown. They are all led by the same master and prince of this world, Lucifer, with the same lie to exalt themselves above the heavens, above the most high God.
  Man doesn’t want to take righteousness into space. He wants to take the sin of Adam into space. What man has ruined upon the earth, he wants to ruin in the heavens. Mankind cannot understand his own insanity of sin. He cries about global warming and continues to destroy the ozone each time he sends a rocket to punch a hole through the protective layer that God established to protect the earth.
  Covid-19 was man’s design, yes, man designed that plague to be used as a military and a political weapon to destroy and deplete the population of the world . . . what a wonderful weapon indeed! For Covid-19 leaves the things of the world untouched, the buildings will still stand, there will still be material wealth, although it will be divided among less, it is a perfect weapon to overcome nations, and to overcome the world. And if the plague of mankind is not enough, they have developed a false vaccine that I call ‘the kill shot.’ It is to finish the rest . . . the RESET.
  Man, once again, has reached Genesis Chapter 6, verse 5. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. He has cast off God, and has completely revealed his incapability of governing himself. The last pseudo democracy ended in the United States on November 2020. There is no more legitimate democracy nor republic in the world today. Every country (including the United States) is run by political tyrannical hack hirelings controlled by wannabe gods of oppressive wealth. You say, ‘This can’t be our true condition NOW.’ Sorry, IT IS OUR CONDITION NOW.
  As the Church would not wake up and be obedient unto the epistles of the apostles, so the world also will not wake up to its sin of Genesis Chapter 6. Mankind seeking all kinds of identity has lost complete identity of who and what man really is. Compare this verse from thousands of years ago with today. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5) When the Lord Jesus mentioned the days of Noah, He was referring to these people in Genesis 6:5. And now today, through the word of God, through the Spirit of God, take it to your heart, your soul and your spirit . . . THIS IS YOUR WORLD TODAY.
  This world is breeding sin faster then fleas. They have no time for God, or His word, or His Son. No matter how many meetings, not matter how often they attend church, Christ remains in their far off thoughts. It is the world that is number 1, it is the things of the world that is number 2, and it is man’s own love of himself that is number 3. Man has taken on the character of Lucifer. He thinks within himself that he is a godlike being, and he wants so much to destroy and to put down all that speaks of God and of His Son, Jesus Christ. The smiles in the pews will be erased at the great white throne judgment.
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)
  Refusing spiritual life in God’s Christ, all of mankind (those without the Spirit of Christ) has come to his final earthly end clinging to an empty meaningless temporal world. ♦End of Side Note of The End Result of Man without the Spirit of God.Â
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Spiritual Food of the Spiritual Realm
  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. When the Lord spoke these words to the people in Chapter 6, verse 53, of the gospel of John, the true perspective had already been spoken to them in the words recorded in John 6:51, I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Christ was speaking of spiritual manna from heaven given by His Father, and that He was/is the Living Bread that had came down from heaven. This shows the preexistence of the Lord Jesus Christ BEFORE He came down from heaven. When He came down He brought Life . . . for man was dead in Adam. The Lord Jesus, as the Savior of man, was sent FROM heaven for the life of the world: past, present and future. Again, I will remind you that faith is a substance. (Hebrews 11) It is a tangible element. It is a spiritual reality of the unseen. Faith is powered by the Spirit of Christ; thus, faith IN Christ acquires the Spirit of Christ within. There is temporal food in the fruits of the earth, and there is spiritual food from the fruits of heaven, and Christ IS THIS fruit to be spiritually consumed and loved within man. The new creature in Christ understands the spiritual food and understands the sincere milk of the word because he is now a new creation bound to heaven by his faith in Christ. In Hebrews Chapter 11 both those who are named, and the unnamed as well, are passed from death to life in their faith in the Son of God who loved them and gave Himself for them.
  Again, around us right now, wherever you are, is the temporal world, look around and what do you see? You see the works of sinful man because the sin of man is predominant in every culture and in every society of the world. Sin separates man from God. We could call it the great wall of sin, and this purposely keeps Adam from God. You see that Adam loves his side of the wall. This is evident every day.
  Since Cain killed his brother Abel, has mankind stopped killing? It is unimaginable how many he has murdered and mutilated of his own kind throughout his history. Only a heart filled with sin and encouraged through the works of the devil within could do such atrocities. The temporal world never satisfies Adam. He will build bigger and better to accommodate his sin.
  In John Chapter 6, they could only be satisfied with temporal food, with temporal wealth and with temporal goods. In their blindness to the truth of God to believe on Him whom God had sent, they would not cross over to God’s side of the wall because the only entrance was/is to accept the Spirit of Christ. Still, today man loves his side of the wall in Adam. The Spirit of Christ still proclaims that He has everlasting life on His side of the wall. God also declares to Adam, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. It is recorded in 1st John 2:15, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
  When the Spirit of God brings the Bread of heaven to you in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, belief and faith in Christ, MUST be united into your heart. This is the Seed of Christ. It is His Spirit that creates a new creature, a new heart, a new spirit and a restored soul. This new creation is moved from the world to the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13) Therefore, let us seek those things that are above: the heavenly Jerusalem, the city whose builder and maker is God, and a new country, a new territory, a new dominion called heaven. Why should heaven be the seat of our affections? All our affections should be where the Man of God’s own choosing is enthroned. This glorious Man is the Supernatural Man of heaven: past, present and future. He is the Man who has redeemed us unto God, and therefore, our affections are centered in the Lord Jesus Christ.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1)
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)
  In Colossians 1:13, it is God’s part; it is God who has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, and it His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us to God through His blood. Now as we travel into Colossians Chapter 3, we find that our responsibility, as the children of God, we are to set our affections, that which is within our hearts, on the things above in Christ Jesus, and we are to seek those things which are above. We are to drink the things of heaven while we walk our path while on earth. We are to lean our heads on the breast of Christ, and listen to the heartbeat of eternity which is the heartbeat of our soul. God initiates and places the desire for His word within the hearts of newborn babes. This is one of their credentials that they DESIRE the sincere milk of the word of God. As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: (1st Peter 2:2) This is a fact of the new birth, and I will be to the point, if you do not DESIRE the sincere milk of the word of God then you are none of His. You are a pretender, you are a goat among the sheep, and the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9) does not dwell in you. This should cause a lot of thought within, Psalm 2, verse 12 states, Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
  Again we come to the Center Point, which is Christ, and again, He speaks to the newborn babe, that His word is FOOD and MEAT indeed to the heart and to the soul of the newborn in Christ. The following references instruct us how God teaches spiritual principles through temporal objects.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now are ye able. (1st Corinthians 3:2)
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. (Hebrews 5:12)
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. (Hebrews 5:13)
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14)
  The word of God is ministered by the Spirit of God to the new born in Christ, and to all who are IN Christ. The key to this is that Christ dwells within His own. He has become a partaker of your new heart, and you have become a partaker of His Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5)
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)
 The Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, within completely separates you from the perceived necessity of church membership as the outward sign of being a child of God, and the church’s approval and acceptance into the body of Christ. Since it is Christ Himself who calls His sheep, and it is HE alone who is the manifest image of God, THEN IT IS HE who determines whether you are a member of His body or not. This is very difficult for some to comprehend. For the mind of Adam, as in John 6:53, cannot understand the working and the power of God. These men in the days of His flesh had no life in them. The gospel of John began with this truth that In him was life; and the life was the light of men. Let’s not pass over this verse. This verse has a spiritual message to the children of Adam. There is nothing temporal about this verse. IN the Lord Jesus was and is spiritual LIFE. One cannot live by the Spirit of God unless the Spirit of Christ has come within, and the Spirit of Christ IS the LIGHT of men. It is totally a spiritual element, but the temporal cannot understand. This spiritual truth of Christ being the Life and Light is embedded within the gospel of John.
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The Spiritual Realm of Eternal Life and the Temporal World of Death
  The more that you understand the gospel of John, the more you will understand the Spirit of God and the more you will relate to His Spirit, being born of God, because He has given each and every believer the power to become the sons of God. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12) Being born ones of the Spirit of God we live a spiritual life; although we exist in the temporal world, we are forever part of the spiritual realm of eternity.
 We never consider Adam as a dead man. Yet, he was and is dead to all that was of God. Therefore, his descendants come into this world dead to the things of God. Even in the days of Israel God promised them LIFE if they would obey, however, He also spoke of the judgment of death if they disobeyed.
And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. (Jeremiah 21:8)
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;Â (Deuteronomy 30:15)
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:Â (Deuteronomy 30:19)
  In John Chapter 6, the Lord gave the evidence of His power and who He is. He is the divine Man sent from heaven. He is the tangible manifest image of the invisible. He is God Himself, and those of John Chapter 6 could not comprehend this. Adam (through the centuries) had fallen into the depths of his own darkness, and he could not behold the Light of God in Jesus Christ. They could not accept that the Lord Jesus was declaring to them that HE IS THE MOST HIGH GOD. You may say to yourself, ‘No they just didn’t understand.’ YES they did understand.
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:18)
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33)
  They understood that Christ Jesus said that He was God! They plainly understood everything that He said, and they openly rejected His works, and His words for being God. Throughout the entire gospel of John, the voice of the Spirit of God proclaimed that Jesus Christ was/is God. And then we have the BUT PEOPLE . . . . but what about His life on earth? But was He always God? But this man Jesus Christ, did He do the works of God? The gospel of John set the theme of Christ being God from the very beginning in Chapter 1, verse 1, and the last book of the Bible seals this truth in Revelation 19:13.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1)
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1)
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:5)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:13)
  Christ was the Word that was made flesh, and the Word was God. This Man sent from heaven had nothing in Him to respond to the sin of Adam. Adam was a completely different creature and creation. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1st Corinthians 15:47) This reference verse of 1st Corinthians is connected to Hebrews 10:9 to enforce the principle that Adam HAD TO BE TAKEN AWAY, ADAM COULD NOT REMAIN. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. (Hebrews 10:9)
  This is exactly why the Lord Himself went into detail in the new birth in John Chapter 3, that a man MUST be born again. This is a spiritual transaction, and the Lord separates the old man (Adam) from the new man born again in John Chapter 3. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6) You cannot combine Adam with the Spirit of God. It is impossible. There must be a NEW creation for in Adam there is NO Spirit of God. Adam cannot be improved, neither can Adam be renewed . . . ADAM HAD TO BE REMOVED because in Adam the spirit of man thrives as man waits for death.
  The new creation is transformed by the Spirit of God. Where death was, God replaces it with life in Himself. He has taken that which was defiled and created a complete NEW BEING in His spiritual realm. It is this new spiritual being that will be conformed to the image of Christ.
  Chapter 6 of the gospel of John continues the theme of That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Through this theme we can further understand the words and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ was offering LIFE, however, the people that Christ offered life wanted to maintain the way of death; consequently, He drew the conclusion for them. He pointed to their present condition, and Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53) Of course, this was also spoken of all mankind in Adam . . . . ye have no life in you.Israel had been offered spiritual life in the most high if they obeyed, however, if they refused then it would be death. This principle of life or death was not directed only to Israel, but it was also meant to be a revelation to all of mankind that no matter what conditions God sets up for man, even in blessing, man cannot obey because of sin. Although Israel was called of God, they were still of Adam, and Adam was the progenitor of death, and not life.
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:Â (Romans 5:12)
  We cannot forget that in Chapter 6, verse 32, that Moses was mentioned. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. Moses was a mediator between God and man. He was a mediator for Israel, and his purpose was to put Israel under the covenant of God, this included the Law, and all the ceremonial feasts and sacrifices, and the priesthood of Aaron and his sons. Through this covenant God made a way for man to approach Him. Israel, as a nation, could meet with God through Aaron who represented the heavenly priesthood of God’s dear Son the Lord Jesus Christ. God supplied the covenant, and God supplied their approach. However, Israel, being of Adam, could not live up to the covenant. (As ALL of mankind cannot live up to the commandments of God because as the Law was holy and righteous, man is not capable of faithfully obeying anything that is holy and righteous.) Israel failed in every stitch and thread of the Law and the precepts of sacrifice. They also failed in listening to the prophets that God sent to them. They turned their backs on the Temple, and worshiped the sun and the sky.
And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, [were] about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. (Ezekiel 8:16)
  Although Moses was a great servant of God, he was but a mediator and not God, and there was no power of an endless life given by Moses. Although we do not like to mention it, we also see the deep root of Adam in Moses (as it is in all of mankind). Moses was denied entrance into the promised land because of disobedience.
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,(Numbers 20:7)
Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. (Numbers 20:8)
And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. (Numbers 20:9)
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? (Numbers 20:10)
And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. (Numbers 20:11)
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. (Numbers 20:12)
  The words in Deuteronomy Chapter 30, verses 15 and 19, this is an everlasting theme that God has given. If you examine the command to Adam from God, you will see that God offered Adam life and He offered him death depending on Adam’s disobedience or obedience.
See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;Â (Deuteronomy 30:15)
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (Deuteronomy 30:19)
  Read Deuteronomy Chapter 30, verses 11 – 20, and then transfer the words to the fulness of time when Christ was manifested on earth. These words of the Lord Jesus came to a very disobedient people. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53) They had virtually failed in all that God had given them.
Side Note: The Three Failures of Israel.Â
• Their first failure was in the priesthood. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. (Leviticus 10:1) And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus 10:2)
• Their second failure was in unrighteous kings.
Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. (2nd Kings 23:26)
But he did [that which was] evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;Â (2nd Chronicles 33:22)
• Their third failure was in false prophets.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! (Ezekiel 13:3)
The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, [Is] not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. (Micah 3:11)
Her prophets [are] light [and] treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. (Zephaniah 3:4) ♦ End of Side Note – The Three Failures of Israel
  Adam became the center of Israel, and not God. In every vineyard in the time of the kings was a statue or an idol to a pagan god. These practices of Israel along with their multitudes of sin and their denial of God caused their captivity in Babylon.
  In the days of His flesh, the Lord Jesus was manifested to a people who were without God, they had perverted ALL that was of God with the traditions of men. They had ravished the vineyard of God with their sins and wickedness. Therefore, lastly, when there was no hope for man upon this earth, when all had failed in Adam, where sin and darkness abounded, God sent forth His Son, a Holy Man, a righteous Man, a Supernatural Man out of heaven above. The door of heaven could only be opened by a heavenly Man, and not by an earthly man; therefore, Christ could have NO Adam in Him. Christ had come with life in Himself, eternal life to offer the children of Adam. All the promises that God had made to Israel stood before them in the likeness of flesh, to give them life, not only as individuals, but He came to renew His relationship with the fallen nation of Israel. It was the theme as in the garden, I have set before you life and death. The same theme He gave to Israel, I have set before you life and death.
  As they were dead in Adam, in their rebelliousness, they would not accept life in the Son of God. Thus, there was a great divide between the carnal and the spiritual. In the flesh of Adam, we have the carnal the temporal, and this was death. In the Spirit of life we have the Lord Jesus, and the difference of flesh and spirit are born out in John 3:6. This also gives us great insight when we consider the epistle of the Spirit of God through Paul to the Romans especially Chapter 8, verse 2 thru 9.
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)
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (Romans 8:3)
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5)
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)
  This section in the book of Romans reveals the mind of those in John Chapter 6. I want to make it perfectly clear that the Lord Jesus told them that He was from heaven that He was the true Manna from heaven, and that He had come to give them life. It is not a question of knowledge here. It is a question of BELIEF, and unbelief. It is question of obedience and disobedience. Christ presented to them the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and they would not accept the reality of SPIRITUAL LIFE in Christ Jesus. Their world, the world of Adam, was the only one that they wanted.
—— ♦——
Divine Laws Command the Spiritual World
  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). There is the Law of the Spirit of life. This must be comprehended.
  If anyone partakes of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus then he is free from the Law, YES, FREE from the Law of sin and death. This is the carnal and temporal, this is the flesh, so that mankind is under the penalty (in Adam) of this Law of sin and death. This came long before the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was another attempt by God to bring mankind unto Himself. However, it was keyed on man’s obedience, which man could not do in Adam. You cannot wring righteousness out of a stone, and Adam had become just as dead to God as a stone. Throughout the centuries, mankind has deceived himself many times through his works, and through his religion, he has declared, ‘See, there is some good in man after all.’ This is another deception and lie of a fallen being without God, and without hope in this world. Man cannot bring about righteousness within man. This is why it takes a greater Law, a Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. As you read Romans 8:9, you see that this life cannot be attained unless this Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is within you. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus offered them in Chapter 6. And it is exactly what the Lord Jesus is offering YOU NOW. . . . life from above in the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. In Romans 8:2, and Romans 8:9, we have the same Spirit, the same Savior, the same Bread from heaven, and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ there is no life in them. In the spiritual world, there are no partial births. There are no restrictions placed on the new born babe. He has the desire to drink the milk of the word of God, which is also a spiritual concept, as that of John 6:53. Also, in Romans 8: 5 and 6, we have the difference between the spiritual life and the carnal life. The carnal mind is enmity against God. Here we have a separation of the spiritual life in Christ Jesus, and the carnal life in Adam. The carnal mind loves sin. He loves darkness. He is in opposition to the things of God because of the enmity within Him all the way back to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He loves the world, for he feels that he has conquered it, and yet in his conquest all men still die. In their death they lose their authority, they lose their possessions, they lose their wealth, they lose their name; in fact, the word of God is true, they return to dust from which they came. They look upon the world with glitter in their eyes, they are infatuated with what they have built, and in many cases they are also infatuated with what they defile. They are full of pride and vanity of every kind, and this has dimmed their eyes . . . (I will correct that statement). No, this has blinded their eyes to the truth of God. The glitter in their eyes goes dim when they hear the gospel of Christ, and Christ crucified; they shake their heads in disgust of the belief that is in the children of God. The total enmity of Adam, and of all his descendants is evident to the eyes of the Spirit of Christ which is IN EVERY true believer.
The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. (John 7:7)
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1st John 3:8)
  We need to join these two verses together in our minds. One is the works of the world, they are united in their hatred for God’s beloved Son, and they in turn do the works of the devil. You see that they are joined together, as the world says, ‘They are joined at the hip.’ Do you see this? That the very enmity of mankind is so great that his works are joined with the works of the devil in enmity against God. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
  Now I need to get under your skin, if I already haven’t! This enmity against God causes the little child to love Christmas and the Christmas tree, and all the gifts of the world around it. (Read Jeremiah 10:3 – 5, and ask yourself, How does this compare with in our age?) As a child, the parents teach that THIS is how the world works. We are motivated by gifts one to another. And the richer we are, the greater the gifts. As this child grows it never leaves its childhood for it has been taught to love the world and all of its treasures. And yes, this is one of the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8) Well . . . I am on a roll! Now, in this month of October how do we express ourselves as the children of Adam? We have Halloween. Again, we bring up a child in the way that he will go, and when he is old, he will not depart from that way. Halloween is definitely the devil’s day. He is worshiped by all the attention that he gets; paper witches and plastic goblins are just facades hiding the truth of his purpose, and his purpose is to gather the witless into what outwardly appears as harmless, but it is far from harmless. The spiritual world of evil knows no boundaries. This evil realm (as all evil) first draws in the imaginations of children, then draws in the imaginations of adults. This is a celebration that draws in and gathers in people around evil, an ingathering celebration. What first appears as a playground leads to another type of ground, a swamp, quicksand, a slue of sin. It is a specific day set aside to celebrate evil. (First comes humor, laughter, and celebrations, then comes denial followed by actuality and transition from the temporal to the spiritual world of evil.) Why are pumpkins carved? Here is the kicker . . . they are carved so that light from within can reveal the face on the pumpkin. What is THIS message that Satan/Lucifer is trying to promote? Can the message be that he (Satan) is the light of the world? How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (Isaiah 14:12) This just didn’t happen overnight; Satan is a long-range planner. Even in the very words that children chant, ‘ Trick or treat?’ Accept the trick of the serpent (death) or the treat of God (life). Death or life? Think that this is ridiculous? . . . Think again! Christ knew His cunning clever adversary was a trickster, a murderer, and a liar. This cunning hater of God and of man has always been actively involved in redefining words, and changing concepts wherever God has planted His principles and precepts.
  There is an interesting study around the feast of Jehovah or the feast of tabernacles. And this is interesting study the feast of Jehovah. Of all the feasts of Jehovah, you will find one marked for a special time . . . harvest time, which would be the ingathering of the fruits and grains. This was a special time in Israel because God marked this time every year with His feasts. First, we have the blowing of the trumpets, then the day of atonement, and lastly the feast of ingathering, better known today, as the feast of tabernacles. This took place in the month of Ethanim, or Tishri. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. (1st Kings 8:2) This time corresponds with the middle of September to the end of October among the English-speaking world. Let’s examine this plan of the deceiver Satan to annual God’s program and install his own plan. The strategy of the deceiver of this world was to build and to install his own kingdom, and part of his plan was persuading mankind (through deception and subterfuge) to worship him through guile, misdirection, lies, and misplaced humor and entertainment. (You know, the same techniques that the corrupt news readers today use to deceive their viewers.)
  The feasts of Jehovah (September to the end of October) were set aside to give thanks unto the Lord for all His benefits. Out of their bountiful harvests, they offered a portion unto the Lord, and they were to keep the feast of tabernacles or the ingathering seven days.
Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine:Â (Deuteronomy 16:13)
And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. (Deuteronomy 16:14)
Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. (Deuteronomy 16:15)
  However, deep in the kitchens of hell, Satan had his own plans. He invented a specific day, and a specific time where he would be glorified among men as that once glorious angel of light (which he is no longer). As man cannot accept his fallen condition, neither can Satan accept his doomed position before God. And what better time to have his day then to overshadow God’s feasts of tabernacles. Satan would make it his day, a day and a night celebrating death and sin. What fun it became to be clothed and camouflaged with symbols of death, and many clothe themselves pretending to be something or someone else (very similar to how Adam and Eve clothed themselves with fig leaves trying to hide themselves from God). Take a good look at Halloween from its conception to its present form.Â
  We are just getting started, in John Chapter 6, they were concerned about the works of the devil, for they wanted to do the works of God WITH enmity in their hearts. This, of course, was impossible; therefore, the Lord Jesus rebuked them, for the work of God was to BELIEF ON HIM, Jesus Christ, whom God had sent. Lucifer succeeded with Adam, and he continues to stir the pot with every child of Adam. Lucifer has never done anything good for our souls. He has deceived man every way for millenniums and centuries. You know . . . Satan . . . the old serpent. He is wise in the worlds’ wisdom. The feast of tabernacles is not only attacked by Satan, but Satan places his counterfeit in its place. I ask you, take some time, take ALL the holidays of the world, or days of celebration and look hard and deep, and you will find at their roots the work of Satan, and the enmity of man.
  I want you to realize how deep is the deception of the devil, and the enmity of man against God. Tell me, at the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ how many Christmas trees were in the manger? Besides the magi, or the wise men, that LATER brought gifts to the young child, how many gifts were found in the manger at His birth? How many drunks were present at His birth? How many empty whiskey and rum bottles were there in the Lord’s presence? Yet, man wants us to believe that his celebration on the 25th of December is ALL for the Lord. Do you see the deception? All is of the devil, and the enmity of man. I am going to show you how God saw the birth of His Son. We will begin when God the Father brought His Son into the world. And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. (Hebrews 1:6)
  First we find that it was God the Father who brought His own Son into the world. It was not Joseph nor was it Mary, but God the Father, through a divine act, brought His own Son from heaven into the world. And what took place at that time? As an infant, in a manger, this One of divine origin received ALL the worship from ALL the angels of God showing the divine nature of this infant in the manger. And again, is this is not enough about the celebration of the Lord Jesus Christ, then let us turn to the gospel of Luke, beginning at Chapter 2, verse 8 through verse 14.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. (Luke 2:8)
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. (Luke 2:9)
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. (Luke 2:10)
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11)
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. (Luke 2:12)
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, (Luke 2:13)
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:14)
  Do you see the message? This day, in the city of David, a Savior is born, Christ the Lord. Notice the two titles announced at His was born, He was the anointed One of God, Christ, and He was the Lord. He was the Lord, or if you will (in the Old Testament) . . . it is Jehovah. He was the Savior of man. We have the presence of the angel of the Lord announcing the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we have the doors of heaven thrown wide open in verse 13 for suddenly from out of the spiritual realm in the presence of the angel of God was a multitude of a heavenly host praising God and giving God the glory, worshiping the highest, and worshiping that which was born of God and brought into the world to be the Savior of men. I ask you, ‘How does this compare to man’s Christmas on December the 25th?’ There is no likeness. The only likeness that we see on December the 25th is the image, the vanity, and the pride of the world and man in their enmity against God. (Also note another deception that Satan has employed in redefining or redirecting man from the truth to a delusion, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Mankind says ‘Peace on earth.’ However, there can never be peace on earth. God (in Luke 2:14) offers mankind HIS PEACE and HIS GOOD WILL toward ALL men in the birth of His Savior which is Christ the Lord. The only way that man can have peace is THROUGH the Lord Jesus Christ. This is just one of many examples of how man (through Satan) has changed the message of God into an acceptable delusion of man.) We could go on through every holiday that man celebrates, and we will either find Satan at the root, or man’s enmity at the root. All that man celebrates is to discredit God, to erase the knowledge of God, and to minimize that wonderful day when God the Father brought His Son, both Life and Light, into the world.
  I am giving you a lot of homework, be wise and diligent, and use the Scriptures as your guide. We are not only called to examine ourselves concerning our salvation, but we are called to be able to discern the evils of the world, and the works of the devil. The devil is very wise in his deception. He has been at it for a long time. In all that the world celebrates is of the world, and not of Christ. Look at all these celebrations, and find something SINCERELY and TRUTHFULLY of God, just as in John Chapter 6, the master of darkness has blinded their eyes for there is no life in them.
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The Spiritual World Revolves Around the Love of God in Jesus Christ
  Now we move from the temporal world of the past to the present temporal world of the Church age. We are also called to be able to distinguish between the sheep and the goats, between believers and unbelievers, between the professors and the false professors. The present gospel of John 3:16, is not the gospel of the Lord’s time, or from the time of the apostles. The perversion of this wonderful verse from God’s holy word has been mistreated for centuries. In the liberality of man’s preaching, he has used John 3:16 as a key and a door to heaven. It is not the love for the world that opens the door, it is the love the Father had and has for His beloved Son that opened the door to heaven. John 3:16 is the outcome of John 3:14 and 15, if you don’t have 14 and 15, then there is no 16.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:Â (John 3:14)
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
  The love of God was in the sacrifice of His beloved Son. He was lifted up before man as a sacrifice, suffering the sin that was laid upon Him so that the believer might understand that ALL the punishment, and ALL the judgment for sin was satisfied THAT day, THAT hour, and THAT moment that the Lord Jesus declared from the cross, It is finished. We have the spiritual transaction (the transition from the temporal world to the eternal spiritual realm) when the Lord Jesus spoke to the thief while He was on the cross. To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. This was the same spiritual transaction that Christ offered the men of John 6:53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53) TO DAY shalt thou be with me in paradise.
SIDE NOTE: Paradise:Â
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2nd Corinthians 12:4)
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)
  The word paradise is only mentioned three times in the New Testament, in fact, it is only mentioned three times in the entire Bible, and not one mention in the Old Testament.
• This should be sign post for us because when the Lord spoke these words, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise, the New Testament had not yet been written. The record that we have in our Bible is the record of the Holy Spirit of God, and the conclusion is that on THAT day the thief who believed on the Son of God was in paradise with His God. This was a spiritual transaction that men still do not believe.
• Now, let’s go to the second mention of paradise. It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. (2nd Corinthians 12:1)
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. (2nd Corinthians 12:2)
And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)Â (2nd Corinthians 12:3)
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2nd Corinthians 12:4)
  Where does it take place? It took place in the third heaven, in the paradise of God. This makes heaven synonymous with God’s paradise. The apostle Paul, so that we would have the true revelations of God, was caught up to the third heaven, the paradise of God where Paul received the revelations that he presented to us in his epistles.
• The third mention comes from the apostle John, it is from the voice of the Lord Jesus speaking to John and speaking to the Church that He Himself possesses. The message was to the overcomer. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)The overcomer was to share paradise and partake of the tree of life with all the other overcomers. John was also privileged to see the spiritual world of heaven, and the throngs and multitudes worshiping God. One and all (including the beasts) had their eyes fixed on their Creator, and their Redeemer, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:6)
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Revelation 13:7)
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)
  In all three references of paradise: one, the thief on the cross met with Christ, and believed IN Him; two, Paul met Christ on the Damascus road and believed on Him, and three, the overcomer in Revelation Chapter 2, met with Christ and believed on Him. The believer overcame the world and was united to Christ by the Spirit of Christ. ♦ End of Side Note: Paradise.
  The love of God was in the sacrifice of His dear Son. We see this on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice in the words, Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. (Luke 23:34) Then in the words of life, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And then lastly, when the work of redemption, when all was satisfied in God’s eyes, when all the transactions were finished, the Lord Jesus cried, It is finished. There was boldness in His voice, the voice that cried out, I have completed the work that the Father has sent me to do, IT IS FINISHED.
  The more that we delve into the spiritual world of God, the more we see the love of the Father, and we can boldly say, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. When the spiritual transaction took place on the cross, did man visibly see the sin of the whole world placed on the Lord Jesus Christ? No. It was a spiritual transaction between God the Father and God the Son. Man had no input into this transaction. This transaction was to fulfill the righteousness of God that God (in His grace) provided a sacrifice for ALL men, for the world, and they that dwell therein. (Psalm 24) The transaction of the cross (in the redemption and forgiveness of sin) was done in the spiritual world. The outward display of Christ on the cross was to give man a witness of the love of God for them. And yet, just as in John 6:53, man will not believe because in Adam he cannot enter into the spiritual world. It takes a divine transaction from God Himself IN Jesus Christ to call His sheep, and yes, call them by name, and those who believe on the Son of God have everlasting life. Again, this is a spiritual action, and not a carnal act of the flesh. Our salvation is a determinate act of the Spirit of Christ. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10) Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. (Hebrews 13:12) As we delve into the mind of the Spirit of Christ, in Hebrews 10:10 we have the spiritual transaction of the Lord Jesus giving His body on the cross to sanctify those who are called by His name. In Hebrews 13:12, He sanctifies the people (on the cross) by His blood; both His body and His blood sanctify His people, and this is exactly what He was offering the people of John Chapter 6, verse 53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. This was a spiritual transaction that would be assured by His work of redemption on the cross of Calvary. They could not comprehend this. The multitudes THEN and NOW today, stand before the threshold of the spiritual world; yet they will not open the door to the presence of Christ. The barkers of the world (in their robes of deception, the ministers of Satan) deceive throngs every Sunday. It is a gospel of enmity not of faith, for they preach the god of this world, not the God of the world to come. Christ was standing right before them, they could see eternal life, yet sin would not let them open the door. Today, the last message to the Church comes from the Amen, the Faithful and True witness of God, the beginning of the creation of God, the First and the Last witness of the truth from the Lord Jesus Himself in Revelation 3:14. 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.
  The last gospel message comes from the beholder and minister of grace and truth, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. After a list of failures and unbelief, the last Church of the Laodiceans is cast out of His mouth. However, in the darkest day, there is STILL a LIGHT of the TRUTH. In Revelation 3:20. He stands before the door, and knocks. If anyone hears His voice from heaven, and opens the door, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, will come in; and as He sat at meat with the two on the Emmaus Road, He (the Lord Jesus Himself) will expound the Scriptures to the one who He has purchased with His own blood. He will sup with you. He will feed your faith because you have opened the doors by the work of salvation. You see, faith becomes the Spirit of life which is IN Christ Jesus our Lord, and the blood and body of Jesus Christ sanctifies us before the Almighty God. We are joined to Christ Himself BY His Spirit of life in our new birth, and the mystery of God is fulfilled in us, for WE are the sons of God, and we will be conformed into the image of Christ. That which was lost at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will return in the presence of the tree of life in the likeness of God’s dear Son.
Amen and Amen.
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)
© Copyright 2021, Michael Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJV)