Come and See – Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John – Part vii – Questions

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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The Questions in Chapter 9

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    For your remembrance we will post the eighteen questions in this third message of John Chapter 9. One should understand the far reaching depth of the Spirit of Christ in the COMPLETE gospel according to John. It is the REVELATION of the mind of the Spirit. We must enter into His presence to understand ALL the truths and all that are revealed in the gospel according to John. Chapter 9 is the final single digit, it contains the number 3, three times, and begins with the awakening of blindness of the soul in John Chapter 3. Chapter 3 is a man meeting the Lord in the darkness of night: the whole condition of Adam who has no light in his heart, soul, and spirit. The second segment is Chapter 6 (the duplicate of the number three) and in this duplicate the Son of God is completely revealed before man in His power over the elements of nature, over the feeding of the five thousand, and by many of the miracles that He performed that man might believe. Chapter 6 closes with the declaration of Peter, thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (John 6:69) Therefore, we see in the number 6 the entire need and the whole number of mankind.

   We also see that in Adam ALL die because of sin, and therefore, God sent His Son to deliver man out of the bondage of sin and death, and to give His life for an atonement for the sin of the whole world. The Holy Spirit wants to break down all theological questions in John Chapter 9. He uses the simplicity of a multitude of questions that every man MUST answer before God.

    You do not have to be a Greek scholar to understand these questions. You do not have to be a theological professor to lay hold of the truth that is found in John Chapter 9. What is the premise of these questions? By answering them you determine what path you are on; whether you are on the right path which leads to redemption and the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, or the wrong path where you continue in darkness. Where your heart, soul and spirit continue to grope in blindness and you will not believe because of your sin. I am going to present these eighteen questions found in John Chapter 9. These questions are not just to be answered with knowledge but with heart sincerity before God. I will list these eighteen questions, and then we will discuss them one at a time to reveal man’s blindness, and how all men come into this world blind to the knowledge of God.

1. Who did sin? (verse 2)

2. Is this not he? (verse 8)

The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?

3. How were thine eyes opened? (verse 10)

4. Where is he? (verse 12)

5. How he has received his sight? (verse 15)

Then again the Pharisees also asked him  how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.

6. How can a man? (verse 16)

Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.

7. What sayeth thou of him? (verse 17)

They say unto the blind man again,  What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

8. Is this your son? (verse 19)

And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?

9. How then doeth he now see? (verse 19)

And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?

10. What did he to thee? (verse 26)

Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?

11. How opened he thine eyes? (verse 26)

Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?

12. Would you hear it again? (verse 27)

He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?

13. Will you also be his disciples? (verse 27)

He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?

14. Since the world began (verse 32)

Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

15. Dost thou teach us? (verse 34)

They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

16. Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (verse 35)

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

17. Who is he Lord that I might believe on him? (verse 36)

He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

18. Are we blind also? (verse 40)

And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

   Before we enter into these eighteen questions, please read in its entirety John Chapter 3, and John Chapter 6 with these two points in mind — following the mind of the Spirit of Christ, and the opposition to His Spirit in the Spirit of man. Then read the entire 9^th Chapter of the gospel of John. And now, we will continue with question number 16.

16. Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (verse 35)
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

   Question #16 is the most important question in this Chapter. Although the actual number that I selected as the 16th question in this Chapter16 should not be considered as inspired by the Lord, however, in the number 16 we see the responsibility of man in the number 6, and his responsibility under the Law in the number 10. Combining them together gives us the number 16 which is man (in Adam) with no hope. This leads us to this important question, and maybe, one of the most important questions in the world, or in YOUR life, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
   We can conclude that this question is the most important question that the world has ever been asked, or has ever heard, or even read. How many times has the Spirit of God (through His servants) uttered, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? How many printing presses have printed out this one phrase, how many eyes have read these words, and how many ears have heard these words? How many voices through the radio, and through the media have asked the multitude listening, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? How many pens of ready writers have written these eight words, only eight words that hold eternity in them, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
   Repetition in education is a main tool of the teacher. Repetition by the Holy Spirit is a tool of the great Revealer and Teacher of God’s love to mankind. The Holy Spirit of God is that teacher. Notice that in this 9th Chapter there are no names mentioned except for one name, and this is the one name that is above all names, the name of Jesus. The disciples are not named, the Jews are not named, the Pharisees are not named, the parents of the blind man are not named, and the man who was born blind is not named. They are all as ghosts in this Chapter because the veil of blindness that this Chapter represents is the veil of blindness and unbelief of ALL mankind who are born blind into this world. And that one name of this one majestic divine Being who can open eyes is God’s beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, in John Chapter 9 we have God the Holy Spirit invoking every argument of mankind to prove the blindness of ALL men, and to show forth the eternal light and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. In this Chapter we have the Savior of man presenting Himself to one individual, not to the masses, but to one man who was born blind. In this the Lord Jesus Christ is inviting (by the Spirit of God) the hearts, souls, and spirits of everyone to believe in the Son of God. If this question was only asked to the disciples of Christ where would we be? If salvation was determined by mankind, where would we be? It is the majesty of the Son of God and His Spirit (through the love of God) that approaches and woes the heart of everyone. While you are in your car, the Holy Spirit prods you, while you are waiting for your bus, the Holy Spirit prods you, while you were flying over the clouds and looking down out of the window, the Holy Spirit prodded you. In your heart, soul and spirit through your life time, the Holy Spirit has been asking you this question, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
   In this question (by the Lord Jesus Christ) we receive a very important lesson. After the man was cast OUT of the temple, it was the Lord who sought him out. He looked for him, for the mind of Christ, that omniscient mind KNEW what had taken place for the Savior’s work was not yet completed in this man who was born blind. Christ had one more miracle to perform on the man who was born blind. He had given him natural sight, which of course was a wonder, however, with natural sight the man could only see the horizon and the things of the world. Now, the Sovereign of all creation was going to open the spiritual eyes of the man born blind by revealing Himself as the Son of God. Don’t let anyone tell you that the Lord Jesus never claimed His own Sonship. For right here in John Chapter 9, Christ not only claimed His Sonship, but accepted and received WORSHIP as the Almighty God.
   Everything that transpired with this blind man was personal: the personal miracle of his eyes being opened, and the personal miracle of his life being changed from the realm of sin and death to eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. To give you more meaning of THIS miracle that transpired in the new birth of the man born blind consider the word ‘believe’ through the whole of the gospel of John. This one word will open your eyes to the majesty and the fullness of the Son of God. That He is truly the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His Person. When the Lord was walking with His disciples He asked them, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? (Matthew 16:13)
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. (Matthew 16:14)
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (Matthew 16:15)
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17) 

   The disciples had been walking with the Lord Jesus for quite some time, they had witnessed the casting out of demons, and all of the miracles that He had performed. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalm 8:4) All those footsteps, all the trails, and roads that they had traveled together with the Lord Jesus Christ, and when He had asked this question, the disciples quickly answered with a volley of replies. The first answer that the Lord received, was the answer of mankind. And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. (Matthew 16:14) The disciples would not even answer according to their own convictions, but listened to the voice of others, and not to the voice of the most high God possessor of heaven and earth. Some say is the voice of the world and not the voice of the Spirit of God. Remember our question in John Chapter 9, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? This was not their immediate reply to the Lord Jesus Christ. The first name that came to mind was John the Baptist. Then SOME in the surroundings of Jerusalem claimed that the Lord could be Elias (which in the New Testament is the name for Elijah), and others said that He must be Jeremias, or one of the prophets. This is sad, for how deep is the blindness of Adam’s soul, his spirit and his heart. Why do men NOT SEE? Mankind cannot see because the scales of sin that covers their eyes has severed their relationship with the Almighty God. The disciples were not the only ones who could not see the beauty before them in the Son of God. For the whole world was under the spell of sin and death, and under the master tempter, Satan himself. We have the same condition today, even among the churchaholics, they cannot accept the COMPLETE DEITY of the Son of God as His image being the FULLNESS of the Godhead. They cannot accept that His image (as Jesus Christ) is the brightness of God’s glory, and the EXPRESS image of His Person. The absolute perfection of the Son of God, the Son of man, is undisputable for the sacrifice for sin had to be without any blemish, without and within.

Side Note: The Israelite had to take one of the first born from his flock, set it aside, care for it, nourish it, protect it, and watch daily as it grew strong and totally dependent and secure in the Israelite’s caring hand. The lamb became as dear to that Israelite as a son or a child. How much it must have broken the heart of that Israelite to take this lamb to the gate of the tabernacle where he (because of his sin) would place his hands on the lamb’s head, confess his sin, and then this lamb that he had nourished, that he had loved, was struck down because of his sin and offered in the flames of the brazen altar to appease the wrath of God. ✦ End of Side Note.

   Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Yes, the world has all kinds of names for the Lord Jesus Christ. They try to make Him as a man just like themselves. They have not figured out that they cannot bring the Lord down to their level of sin for there was, and is, and forever will be no sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was so PURE in His flesh that God had to lay sin upon Him. God had to make Him sin for us because the Lord Jesus knew no sin. There was not one speck of Adam within Him or upon Him. So all the disciples were scrambling for names, and they were picking names that they had heard from others, and then, from above, God the Father revealed to Peter the wonder of His Son, and Peter exclaimed, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Chapter 9, the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to the man born blind. It is a revelation from heaven, just as Peter received the voice of the Almighty in his heart, soul, and spirit, the Lord Jesus revealed Himself from above in the express image of God Almighty, the Living God.
   Even today, men throughout this world try to humiliate the Son of God by using His name blasphemously. When man loses his temper, it is neither his circumstance, nor his sin that he blames for leading him on a downward path, but he attacks the name of the Lord Jesus, and screams it out because of his own wicked sinful heart. It is easy to blame Christ for our own sin that has raped us of the goodness of our life. It is our sin not only individually, but also collectively that has led us to misfortune, and suffering, yes, mankind has brought his tragedy upon himself because of sin. Yet, mankind blames God, and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is difficult to write the complete waste and failure of man in Adam because every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ hears those phantom voices from the past; although we understand that, and we know that sin is forgiven, and sin is past forever, in the stillness of night the devil stirs remembrances of our sin. Although our conscience is clean, and we can stand before God NOW, and confess every sin, and are whiter than snow, nothing can soil our righteousness or blot out the glistening of our garments that God has given to us; nevertheless, the struggle on earth is part of our journey, not only do we fight against the outward influences from mankind but we struggle against our own flesh. We are locked into a society that is ruled by man. We have that which is without and that which is within our own flesh to deal with. Paul wrestled with this as every Christian wrestles hourly. Listen to Paul’s groanings and his mournful cries over his flesh.

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Romans 7:14)
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. (Romans 7:15)
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. (Romans 7:16)
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Romans 7:17) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (Romans 7:19)
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (Romans 7:20)
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (Romans 7:21)
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: (Romans 7:22)
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (Romans 7:23)
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24)
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:25)

   It was not the past that troubled Paul, but it was the present: what he was and is. He knew (without a shadow of a doubt) that he had been changed from death to life. He knew his life was extinguished at the cross of Christ. That in the mysteries of God, God could see Paul dead to sin because of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
   The transformation of our new birth has to come under the very blood that was shed on Calvary’s cross. As the Israelites were under the protection of blood, so in this new life, the new creature is under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God sees a complete NEW being. Everything from the past has been removed. Adam has been removed. The spirit of man, the soul of the fallen, the heart of enmity has ALL been removed in the new creation. When Adam received breath, it was from the Son of God. When we receive our breath (in our new birth) it is from the Son of God.
   The difference between us and Adam appears after the fall. Adam and all mankind were bound by sin. They had taken on the shackles of slavery to both sin and death. The new born creature in Christ has been freed from all that was in Adam, from all that Adam did, and from all the consequences from Adam’s sin, and his own sin. We fight our battle today upon the earth, we fight a battle that is spiritual from without and spiritual from within. Our new spirit fights to put our flesh in subjection to the Lord. Our flesh fights against the very Spirit of God, and this will continue until we all come together in Christ when this flesh is changed into the glorious image of the Son of God.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16)
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (Romans 8:20)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22)
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23)

   In Romans 8:23 we have the redemption of our body. This is a marvelous thing. As believers, we will be changed into the glorious image of God’s Christ. Remember that Adam, from his creation to his death, was an earth dweller. The glorious gate from above was not opened for him. He never regained the image of the One who had created him; however, the Almighty has made a way for US to cast off our dwelling place on the earth, and to take up a new residence with Christ above. And at the redemption of our bodies we will be transformed into the image of Christ.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1st John 3:1)
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1st John 3:2)
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1st John 3:3)

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1st Corinthians 15:45)
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. (1st Corinthians 15:46)
The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. (1st Corinthians 15:47)
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. (1st Corinthians 15:48)
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (1st Corinthians 15:49)

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2nd Peter 1:4)

   Yet, this is a lot to digest, but let’s put away the milk, and get to the meat of the Word which the Spirit of God desires that we should study and be diligent in the very words that the Spirit of God has breathed to us. By the knowledge of the Word of God as new born babes in Christ, the Spirit of God feeds us with milk at birth, as we grow in the Lord we desire MORE, this desire is put into our hearts by the Spirit of God. This desire of the Spirit of God brings us to manhood so that we might discern what is good and what is evil. 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) This reference verse is NOT the age of mankind, it is not grey hair, nor wrinkles; it is spiritual growth from babes to maturity. The desire of the Word of God within waters the heart, soul, and spirit, and this desire grows as the Spirit of God waters the plant, which is every soul who has answered the question, and believes in the Son of God, and has been transformed from this earth into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.
   It is BY the Word of God, as a tool of the Spirit, that we discern good from evil. We cannot even trust our flesh, we must have complete trust in the Word of God that it was given by the Son of God who is the eternal Word and Voice of the Almighty to instruct us and get us safely through this life and into His presence. We might ask ourselves then, what is good and what is evil? The answer is found in the Word of God. A man must understand the root of sin before he can understand his present position on planet Earth. The Bible is God’s mirror that reflects our sinful image to us that we are completely undone in Adam. When we see the truth in this reflection then God gives us a NEW image, a glorious image, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we were in Adam, in unbelief, is gone forever. As believers, it is NOW what we are IN Christ. We have been transformed from sin and death to life and immortality. We have been translated from earth to heaven, and are waiting for the redemption of our body into the glorious image of the Son of God.

   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) This verse returns us to contemplate the things that took place in the Garden with Adam and Eve, the serpent, and of course, what transpired to disrupt and change man’s position before the Almighty God. Both sin and death severed Adam’s relationship with His Creator. Man’s entire being was turned upside down and inside out. His spirit was filleted with the blade of sin. His conscience was seared with a hot iron. His soul crumbled to dust. His heart drank in the enmity from the cup of his own sin. Adam was completely overturned by sin, and in him was no good thing. He had become an alien to God, and Adam had become a curse to God’s creation. All communion with Eve, with the animals, and with the very ground that he stood upon was in upheaval because of Adam’s sin.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Genesis 6:11) And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. (Genesis 6:12) And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:13)

   As Genesis Chapter 6 proves the state of mankind in Noah’s day, so also Revelation Chapter 13 shows us the end of man, and confirms that man has become a Beast. (Read Chapter 13 of Revelation.) I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. (Ecclesiastes 3:18) Mankind, as beasts, will be judged by the Almighty God. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and who walk in His presence, will be conformed to the image of Christ. We will not bear the image of the Beast, neither his mark, nor his name. For as believers, we represent the One who is above all, and who has created us, and who has saved our souls from the pit of destruction. The image that we bare today will be changed into his glorious image because Christ in His sovereign decree has declared through His Word, and through His Spirit, that He went into death to redeem those that He now calls his brethren. (Hebrews 2)
   Everyone of us who believe has heard the voice of the Spirit ask that question, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? The miracle of grace, as a tangible reality, came by faith BY and IN the Son of God. Faith comes as an imparted gift in the gift of God. 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) Faith in Jesus Christ is centered in His very Person because He is the Author and 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) Faith is the foundation of belief. 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. (Hebrews 11:6) Faith is the gift of the Spirit of Christ that He imparts to us, for He is the foundation stone of all God’s righteousness, and God’s grace through God’s love. Faith is NOT a natural possession of mankind. Faith MUST come from the Son of God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) Faith (in the spiritual world by belief in the Son of God) becomes a reality in the life, the heart, the soul and the spirit of those who believe on the Son of God. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith becomes a tangible reality to the one who has been transformed from death to life, and from earth to heaven. The same faith that we walk with while on earth is the same faith THAT will conclude and finish our journey into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Hebrews 11 declares that our faith IS a substance, and this substance is sitting upon the throne of God in heaven’s glory, for He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. In Ephesians 1:13 and Ephesians 2:8 we see the path of our belief, and that it is crowned by the gift of faith. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)
   The transaction of our faith is sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, and our faith has led us to grace which is the gift of God in Jesus Christ who is the eternal Gift and sacrifice of God to us. In turn, He gives us life within Himself who is the Author of life, and the Author and Possessor of eternal life. Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. (Hebrews 7:16)
   In the new birth we see a divine act of creation. The Spirit of God has moved over the face of the deep, or the darkness of the heart of man. The Spirit of God comes to reprove mankind of sin, and to reveal man’s need as a sinner, and to present a Savior who is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
   When we are born into the world as a child of Adam, we have no say in the formation, development, and the outcome of our being. It is certain that we are born into the world as a sinner. Sin within has no description of height, weight or color, and yet, sin is ignored by mankind. Yes, man sins, but man ignores the root of sin. Man has no choice. He is born into this world a sinner. This fact is set in stone. For it is God who has declared that all have sinned. It is God who produced the Law that no man can keep. The fact of Adam’s transgression has placed sin within every man, and there is none good but God. In the first breath that we take, we are of the earth, earthy, we are sons of Adam, and not a child of God. When we come into the world, and take our first breath, in one sense, it is the first breath of life, and in another sense, it is the first breath of death, for death is upon all of mankind. For all men are cast off in Adam. Adam’s life after he took of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil was made up of sin, and it was sin that brought forth Adam’s death. It is impossible for a child in Adam to change himself. He is locked into sin, and he is locked into death. Only a divine act by our Creator will set him free from sin and death in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God has come to reprove the world of sin. To convince those who are ungodly of their trespasses against God.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7)
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (John 16:8)
Of sin, because they believe not on me; (John 16:9)
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; (John 16:10)
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. (John 16:11)
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. (John 16:12)
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:13)
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 16:14)

   The power of the Spirit of God within the souls of men is determined by His divine power. He will reprove every man. Whether or not man lies or deceives himself it is certain that in his lifetime he will be reproved of his sin. God will convict him that he is a sinner. He can deny it before man, but not before God. For God KNOWS the state of every person, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (Romans 9:20)
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (Romans 9:21)
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: (Romans 9:22)
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, (Romans 9:23)
Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:24)
As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. (Romans 9:25)
And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. (Romans 9:26)

   It is expedient for us to understand that in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that God IS the Creator, and to have a new creation, and to be born again that God MUST be the divine prerogative in His own creation. We cannot dictate to a Creator how He should create. It destroys the whole concept of a Creator. To say that man has a role in his own salvation is not a fact of Scripture. It is God’s DIVINE DECREE in His own creation. Which one of the stars or the planets could cry out to God, Why hast thou made me thus? This earth moans and groans because of sin. Does it have a right to cry out to God, and change God’s mind in His creative power?
   In the foreknowledge of God, He knows what He is doing. He knows what He wants to accomplish. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning, and the end, and He knows ALL within this circumference. He KNOWS the history of man. Why does man attempt to determine the will of God? There are two schools of thought: one is of God, and the other is of man. Mankind likes to believe that he has his own independent will from God. That man can do whatever he wants to do without any repercussions, and yet, mankind likes to also ignore his end, which is death.

   There is a reason the Bible informs us of the determinant counsels of God. The word ‘determinate’ is a permanent setting of the counsels of God.

Side Note: The Determinate Counsels of 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)
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Ephesians 1:11)
Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed [it] by an oath: (Hebrews 6:17)
The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:11)
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, (Isaiah 46:9) Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:10) ✦ End of Side Note.

   All is in God’s determinate counsels and foreknowledge of 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) All was determined BEFORE the creation. And ALL are being fulfilled each and every day as we live, and breathe, and die, but mankind shouts out his will, that he can determine his own salvation. This means that he can also deny his own salvation. The complexity of this thought brings about a salvation that can be willed and then unwilled, or lost where man who says that he has trusted God has no security in his heart, soul, and spirit. This is what the fallacy of man’s will brings. It also brings a lukewarm gospel that will not save. It has no power to save for it is NOT within God’s determinate counsels.
   Many believe that it was merely a man who died on Calvary’s cross, and only a man; yet, in God’s determinate counsels this Man was a divine Being, the Creator of all things, the fullness of the Godhead bodily who came to earth as a Holy Seed of God (that holy thing) to give liberty to the captives, and to bruise the head of the serpent, the master of sin. Man’s entire history was planned so that yesterday witnesses to today. Yesterday’s prophecies are fulfilled as future pages are turned. If God was not in control, how could prophecies be fulfilled exactly and to the letter? Every day we see a page turn in the history of mankind, and every day we see God’s evaluation of man . . . For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Every day brings us closer to the conclusion of the determinate counsels of God when ALL will be fulfilled because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.
   When man declares his self will, he is in the grips of Satan’s power. When Satan rebelled against God in heaven the record of Isaiah Chapter 14 shows that Satan used the phrase, ‘I will’ five times. In Chapter 4 of the gospel of Matthew, the devil proclaimed his power in tempting the Lord Jesus, and the only time that he addressed himself was with the letter ‘I.’ And this was for the purpose of tempting the Lord with the possessions that Satan claimed to have. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (Matthew 4:8) And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Matthew 4:8) The letter ‘I’ stands out and displays the self will of Satan. In this temptation, Satan is presenting his will over the will of God, or as in Isaiah 14, it is the same ‘I will’ as in his rebellion against God. In this section we have the same spirit, the spirit of antichrist in Satan declaring that he will be like the most high. This is insinuated by his desire that the Son of God would worship him, which is impossible. In Matthew 4:10, the Lord Jesus answered Satan as the most high of Isaiah 14:14. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:14)
   Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Matthew 4:10) This last rebuke to Satan by the Lord was an answer from the most high God possessor of heaven and earth. In using this commandment Christ was confirming that He Himself was to be worshiped as God. It is not just simply a quote from Scripture, but it was God’s divine decree to remind Satan that the One before him, is the One who made the decree. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. This also was the cause of Satan’s rebellion: he intensely craved the worship that only belonged to God.
   In Matthew 4:5 and 6, the devil revealed his knowledge that this One before him, was the Son of God. He stated that God’s holy angels were watching over Him, guiding Him, and protecting Him. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, (Matthew 4:5) And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Matthew 4:6)
   In verse 7, we have a personal rebuke against the devil, Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Matthew 4:7) Again, the Lord Jesus declaring His own deity. Again in Matthew Chapter 4, man only wants to see the man Jesus Christ with no power of God within Him, but just merely a man some how resisting the devil’s temptation. The delusion that man is under because of sin is so great that he remains blind to that which is spiritual, and to that which is true. The Scriptures declare that it was NOT by man’s will that sin entered into the world, it was by the disobedience of one man, Adam. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19) And to further this, the children of Adam are called ‘the children of disobedience’ three times in the New Testament.

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (Ephesians 2:2)
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. (Ephesians 5:6)
For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: (Colossians 3:6)

   Adam traded his position (Federal Head of creation) and his state (sinless) and his privileges (communication, interaction and fellowship with his Creator) for a position as head of nothing, and a state of sin removed from all goodness and blessings outside of all privileges with his Creator for a world of thorns, and thistles; therefore, through his disobedience to God Adam brought sin into the world, and through disobedience to God mankind became a slave to sin. He is in bondage, servitude and obedience to sin with no exceptions. When Satan expressed five times ‘I will’ in Isaiah Chapter 14, it ended up that it was God’s will that Satan was cast down. God’s judgment was (and is) for disobedience, there is no questioning God’s will for He is the Creator of all things. Just think if mankind could express his own will at the great white throne judgment, there would be none guilty, no not one. It is God who is (and who will be) the Supreme Judge of mankind. He alone will determine who goes into the lake of fire. It will be the children of disobedience.
   Mankind has been duped by Satan, but it is not only Satan that is man’s problem because the sin within man directs man to evil tendencies as in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was never a question that the creation of God was good, it was good as long as man was obedient to God. Satan deceived Eve and then Eve persuaded Adam bringing them both under the curse of sin. Why do I call sin a curse? Because it not only destroyed the lives of Adam and Eve and all of mankind, but sin disrupted the balance of the entire creation. Without the Word of God man would not be able to look into his own being, and find the root cause for all of his conditions. This root cause is sin. How many times have you met someone who is outwardly happy in their sin, and yet, inwardly they are in total turmoil: their heart, their mind, their body, their spirit and their soul. When you consider their inward turmoil, namely that it witnesses against their outward disobedience to God in sin. Sin has plagued the societies of the world. They try to balance, or rationalize sin by man’s intellectual powers: calling it psychology. The root cause of all of man’s problems and ills is sin; however, mankind has no mirror to show him his sin except for God’s Word. God’s Word reveals all that we need to know about mankind. Yet, mankind runs from the Word of God in their denial of a divine Being.
    Many years ago, mankind attacked the existence of God through the erroneous theory of evolution that man was once a beast, not the created image of God. Mankind apparently likes to debase himself because of his love for sin. The truth is that from that creation of the image of God, who was Adam, mankind has become as beasts. Consequently, mankind delights in killing his image throughout the world. There is no end to his heinous atrocities against himself and against others. There’s probably no beast in the wilderness that equates with the viciousness and the diabolical acts of mankind. His propensity for sin has developed an evil world of untold darkness. His bondage to sin opposes all that is of God. He denies God by declaring that his will (the will of man) is stronger or mightier than the will of God; yet, mankind (in the realm of creation) has no free will. It is a figment of his own imagination. He is a slave to sin at birth, and this slavery to sin will bring forth his death. The will of man is not free because it is an enslaved will under sin.
   When mankind declares that his will is stronger than the will of God, he is forgetting that he must die, and his supposed superior will cannot change that because the soul that sinneth shall die. It is the disobedience of Adam that brought sin into the world, and all of mankind has followed this disobedience in their own personal sin against God. When man declares that he is in charge of his own eternal destiny, he is mocking the Almighty God for man cannot even control one second of his present existence, neither his next second, nor his future. Study history, even human history books prove that mankind is not in charge of his future. In fact, many times it appears as if humanity has been on a three-day binge. His footsteps wander all over the place with no consistency of thought. He does not consider his own history, or what has befallen him.
    When God (through the Word of God) shows mankind the right path, a straight path, he rebels, and is disobedient to what God has declared in His Word. Mankind calls the disobedience of Adam the fall. Well, it was greater than a fall. The word fall does not describe the convulsion that came over Adam and Eve, and the creation. When we follow the footprints to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it was Adam’s choice to believe the woman. It was the woman’s choice to believe Satan, and as Satan has been a liar and a deceiver from the beginning, he trapped them with the lie, ye shall be as gods, and ye shall not surely die. This same inward deception resulted in Satan being kicked out of heaven, and his rogue angels with him, who are now bound with chains in hell. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. (2nd Peter 2:4) We must treat this verse as the present, and as prophecy of a future judgment upon these angels. You see prophecy has told us that Satan and his angels will be judged. That this is a sure word of prophecy. This already has been set by God Himself. It is a marvelous thing that in the study of prophecy, especially in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the study of the lake of fire, the final judgment seems to disappear from the pages of Scripture. Very little time is spent contemplating what is going to take place in the second death. Everyone wants to see something else besides their own judgment. In many cases their own delusion has taken away the fear of their own judgment. This can be attributed to the lack of the knowledge of the Word of God. You see, it is not Satan who is on trial. It is not his angels (who are bound) that are on trial. Their judgment has already been set. It is man (in Adam) who is on trial. It is man (in Adam) who will face the judgment of God at the great white throne. Scripture has shown that mankind is unworthy of any goodness.
   Man has been under judgment many times, and refused to repent. We have the judgment of Genesis Chapter 6, this judgment was against mankind, not Satan, not the angels who sinned, but against mankind. We have the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the five cities of the plains. This judgment was upon man. The judgment of Egypt was against man. The judgment of Canaan was against man. The judgment of Israel was against man. The judgment of Judah and Jerusalem was against man. The judgment of a Christ rejecting Jerusalem was against man. And the judgment yet to come against the false church will be against man for they will live and breathe in the spirit of Babylon the great, the spirit of antichrist. We have failed to see the judgment of God in the wars and turmoil that has come upon the earth since the days of Christ. These all prove the wicked and evil heart of mankind. It also proves that man is a destroyer of his own culture, of his own society, and of his own being. Through the prophetic writing in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, it is mankind who is under the judgment of God. For they dwell upon the earth, and the root of man’s wickedness (even in his last days) is still the sin of Adam. This will bring mankind so low that he will be judged as a beast.
   Today, according to Scripture, sin and evil abounds. Man is without excuse. He has no one to blame except himself. The verdict from the Word of God is that man is GUILTY . . . GUILTY . . . GUILTY. Face it Adam, you are one and all undone. You live in the midst of evil and darkness. The majority of the population of the world has cast off God because of their own sin. Have you ever considered that God has cast YOU off? As a world populace, we see the judgment of God every day. Death is not silenced. The world in such a dire state that there is only one refuge, and this is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit speaks to the individual, and He asks the question, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? All the churches in the world cannot answer this question for you. Your own heart, soul, and spirit MUST consider eternity, and your answer to this question will determine whether you spend eternity with the One who is Wonderful (the Lord Jesus Christ) or you will spend your eternity in the lake of fire with your sin with Satan, with the Beast, and the false prophet, and the countless hordes of souls who would NOT repent, and the Scriptures proclaim that they will be tormented forever and ever. Today, no matter how evil the day is, it is still the day of salvation. Once more, before I close this section. I speak to your conscience, your heart, your spirit, and your soul, Dost thou believe in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
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17. Who is he Lord that I might believe on him? (verse 36)
He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

Who is He?
The Beloved Son of God

   In this 17th question, there is something that we must see. This question in verse 35 received an immediate reply. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and belief in the Almighty God. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2nd Peter 3:9) The answer that the man who was born blind received from the Lord of glory revealed Christ as the Son of God. He declared that the image standing before this man (who was born blind) WAS and IS, and forever will be the Son of God. And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. (John 9:37) When God the Father revealed His Son to the world, when God’s voice announced the manifested image of God IN the Son, it was the pleasure of God to do this in the words, This is my beloved Son. Every word by the Son, every thought of the Son, every breath, every footprint, and every action pleased the Father. The divine representative of the Godhead would be the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the course of history, no one had ever received THIS introduction to the world. John the Baptist had proclaimed Him the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, and with authority, God the Father declared, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (Matthew 3:16) And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)

   The determinate counsels of God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit KNEW what was ahead, and what would be fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. They KNEW the eternal work of the Son of God, although He was veiled in the flesh, His purpose was to redeem a people from the earth for God through His death upon the cross of Calvary. No one had ever come from heaven to declare the will and purpose of God to mankind as a divine representative of the Godhead which was completely displayed in the Person of the Son of God. He displayed His own worth in fulfilling all righteousness which was outside of the realm of mankind. He declared this very purpose in Matthew Chapter 3, verse 15. And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer [it to be so] now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
   There is a divine sequence that we should behold in the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ which was not only a baptism of water, but it was also a baptism for the future judgment of God upon Himself. The sequence began by the Lord Himself stating that He was here to fulfil all righteousness, which He completed on the cross of Calvary. Secondly, the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God descended as a dove, and lighted upon Him as an anointing and in approval of the very words that the Lord Jesus had spoken. And lastly in this sequence, overshadowing the whole, was a voice from heaven which proclaimed, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The word ‘this’ is particular to the Son of God. No one else could hold this position. No one else could receive the announcement of not only His own declaration, but the descending Spirit and the Voice of God the Father. The image of God, the fullness of the Godhead bodily had come to reveal Himself to mankind as the Son of God. This was the divine decree to ALL of mankind that THIS WAS THE SON OF GOD. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: (Colossians 1:15) For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (Colossians 2:9)
   Earlier in Chapter 2 of the book of Colossians in verses 2 and 3, we read the mystery of God in His own manifestation before mankind. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; (Colossians 2:2) In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3) This manifestation was God the Son. The mystery is that before His manifestation He was the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of His Person. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:3)

Who is He?
The Creator and Heir of All Things

   That He was the Heir and Creator of all things. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2) He is not only the Heir of ALL things, but He is the Heir of the very things that He Himself created. Notice that in verse 2 of Hebrews Chapter 1, His creatorial power speaks of worlds (plural). The first world was the world that perished in the flood. The second world is the world that now is, and the third world is the world to come. (I will address this some day) in another message, however, I think that I have given you enough to chew on. The determinate counsels of God are filled with the total knowledge and wisdom of the Godhead which has been revealed IN the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2)

Who is He?
The Glory of God

   The manifestation of the Son of God upon earth was to display God’s glory, and the Lord Jesus did this on the holy mount. He also displayed a glory that cannot be seen by the eye of man. This is what pleased God the Father in the Son. The total deportment and sinless life of His Son pleased the Father for all the power and glory of the Godhead was contained in Christ given to Him by God the Father. When Christ was revealed in the brightness of His glory with a light brighter than the sun, once again, the Father’s Voice proclaimed that glory, that essence, and that manifestation as His beloved Son. Mankind was instructed to listen to the voice of the Son. They did not listen then, and they still refuse to listen today.

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2nd Peter 1:16)
For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (2nd Peter 1:17)
And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. (2nd Peter 1:18)

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, (Matthew 17:1) And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. (Matthew 17:2)

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. (Matthew 17:5)

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. (Mark 9:1)
And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. (Mark 9:2)
And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. (Mark 9:3)
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. (Mark 9:7)

But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:27)
And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. (Luke 9:28)
And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.(Luke 9:29)
And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias:(Luke 9:30)
Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:31)
But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. (Luke 9:32)

And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. (Luke 9:35)

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)

  All four gospels declare the revealing of God’s glory in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the manifest image of God. In the gospel of John, the Lord’s glory is in unison with His grace and His truth, and that grace and truth MUST be revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul takes us into the inner chamber of the Godhead when God the Father looked upon His Son, then and now, proclaiming the GLORY by the Spirit of God in 2nd Corinthians 4:6. 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. The revealing of God’s glory can be seen in the face of the Godhead: the manifestation of God’s glory in the image in the Lord Jesus Christ. The first man to see this image of God and the glory of this image of God the Son was Adam. For the Lord Jesus created Adam in the revealed image of the Son of God. This is the body that was prepared for Him, the very body revealed to Adam was the body prepared before the foundations of the world, and in the determinate counsels and foreknowledge of God. The Lord Jesus in His first act of creation set His foot and His path to the cross of Calvary.

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:25)
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)

   In verse 25 of Genesis Chapter 1, the Creator took in all that He had created and it was good. To this point the counsel and plan and the will of God was in step with eternity and was complete in Jesus Christ.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: (Ephesians 1:17)
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18)
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, (Ephesians 1:19)
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:20)
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: (Ephesians 1:21)
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:22)
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:23)

    When we read the book of Ephesians from the beginning to the end, we will see that we, as believers, will be transformed into the very image of Christ. We have the honor for being part of His body. This is the body that reconciled us unto Himself. This is HIS body that returned the glory of God to mankind in the new birth. We might not see its fullness now, but when we all come together in Jesus Christ, we will see the full radiance of the glory of 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) It is God in the fullness of the Godhead bodily who created Adam in His own image. In fact, we see in the creation of Adam: Father, Son and Holy Ghost IN the manifest image of Jesus Christ.
   This reference in John 14:9 informs us of an unbreakable union of the Son of God with the Father. 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) Some may dispute this union as being unbreakable, for on the cross the Lord Jesus said, My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1) This was God the Father turning away from sin because the Son of man must now bear the sin of the whole world. In the very root of the Son of God was His Spirit which at His death, He commended His Spirit unto God. For God is Spirit, and this Spirit was secure in the Godhead. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. In Luke 23:46, and in Romans 1:4; John10:17-18, we have the account of this declaration by the Son of God. Remember that the gospel of Luke is considered the gospel of the Son of man. The second Adam, or the second man, MUSTS be able to bare the sin of the whole world in the sacrifice of Himself. He must be able as the Son of man, to absorb ALL the judgments against His manifest image as MAN in the flesh. The Scriptures declare that the Son of man, the Lord Jesus Christ, was MADE sin for us. 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) The Scriptures also proclaim that the sin of the whole world was laid upon Him. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1st John 2:2)

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

   The total issue of sin, and sins, were absorbed by the Son of man on the cross of Calvary. If you desire to listen to the inner groanings of His heart, soul, and spirit while on the cross study, and absorb Psalm 22. The unique blending of the Son of God in all His deity, and the Son of man with His sojourn and walk through this world, could not be duplicated by any child of Adam. The perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ enabled Him to dismiss, to take away, the sin of the world, and as the Son of man, bares the individual sin of the whole world. God was IN Christ reconciling the WORLD unto Himself. He was the propitiation, the satisfaction, and the sweet savor for God Almighty. In His ONE sacrifice for sin, He satisfied ALL the judicial claims of God against mankind. And yet, mankind (as a whole) still rejects the sacrifice of the Son of God, the Son of man, for the individual sin, and the sin of the whole world.
   In Genesis Chapter 1, we have the privilege of hearing the divine counsel in the creation of mankind. 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) The words ‘Let us’ shows us the plurality of the Godhead in their oneness in agreement to make mankind in the revealed image of God: Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit reveals this in Hebrews Chapter 1, verse 3, that Christ, as the Son of God, IS the EXPRESS IMAGE of God. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3 uniquely binds Genesis Chapter 1, and the revealed image of God in the gospels to the SAME image of Genesis Chapter 1. The glory of God cannot be changed. The Spirit of God in Hebrews 1 states that Christ is the BRIGHTNESS of His glory, and this glory has never changed. The Son of God’s glory is past, present, and future; in fact, it is THIS brightness of God’s glory that lights eternity and refuses the darkness for it is THIS light that has divided the darkness, and it is THIS light that we find in Revelation, Chapter 22, verses 3 thru 5.

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:3)
And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (Revelation 22:4)
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. (Revelation 21:22)
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. (Revelation 21:23)
And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. (Revelation 21:24)

   In these verses from Revelation we see the fulfillment of the claim that the Lord Jesus made that HE was light of the world that IN Him dwells the light, the full radiance of the glory of God. In Hebrews Chapter 1, we have the mind of the Spirit of God stating that the Lord Jesus, the One who suffered on the cross, the One who purged our sins, and the One who is sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, is the full brightness of God’s radiant light. In fact, it is God’s PURE light that is within His Son, and which is displayed by the Son of God. As Peter, James, and John beheld His glory, which was brighter than the sun, also Isaiah (in the Old Testament), saw the express image of Christ and the brightness of God’s glory. In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1) Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (Isaiah 6:2) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)

Side Note: Revelation of the Son of God. In the book of Daniel, king Nebuchadnezzar was absorbed by his own personality, and by his own image. In Nebuchadnezzar we see a king who had swallowed the whole lie of Satan, that ye shall be as gods. The image that Nebuchadnezzar erected on the plain of Shinar was to honor himself, and to claim deity. Three Hebrew men, however, refused to bow down and where cast alive into the fiery furnace that was heated seven times hotter than previously. Nebuchadnezzar (in his wrath) was willing to sacrifice his own royal guards to cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into this blazing inferno. Although the royal guard perished, these three Hebrew men walked in the fire without hurt, only the ropes that bound them were destroyed: the garments and their beings suffered no harm for not even the odor of smoke was upon them. The king was amazed when he saw them walking in the midst of the flames. Through a personal revelation by the Holy Spirit of God, Nebuchadnezzar saw the Son of God walking in the fires with the three Hebrew men. This was declared from heaven to Nebuchadnezzar as it was declared to Peter, and Paul in their revelation of the Son of God.

Side Note of a Side Note: The Furnace. This word ‘furnace‘ is mentioned more times (ten) in the book of Daniel then in any other book of the Bible. Three times the words ‘furnace’ and ‘Egypt’ are connected to describe the trial and suffering that Israel endured before their exile from Egypt.
But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, [even] out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as [ye are] this day. (Deuteronomy 4:20)
For they [be] thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: (1st King 8:51)
Which I commanded your fathers in the day [that] I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: (Jeremiah 11:4)

  In this fiery furnace we also see the trials of Israel in the furnace. As they had also witnessed the trials and suffering from the iron furnace of Egypt, and had been led out in a similar manner when the Almighty hardened the heart of Pharaoh to deliver his own people. In the book of Daniel, we see the Son of God in the fiery furnace WITH the three Hebrew men delivering them from the flames of destruction. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. (Isaiah 43:2) For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. (Isaiah 43:3) We also see the eternal power of the Son of God to deliver those who believe in the Son of God from the lake of fire that will burn throughout all eternity.
   The furnace is Nebuchadnezzar’s judgment against those who are disobedient to his delusional self professed deity in his image on the plain of Shinar. However, a greater then Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Nebuchadnezzar: TRUE deity and the TRUE source of all deity revealed Himself in the fires of judgment The Spirit of God, through revelation and inspiration, quickened Nebuchadnezzar on this occasion, just as the Spirit of God had hardened the heart of Pharaoh. The Spirit of God revealed the true identity of the fourth Person walking in the flames. This was the same Person who bore the judgment of the Almighty God on the cross of Calvary. He endured the flames of judgment against His own heart, His own soul, and His own Spirit for the sin of man.
   Does God give revelation to day? Many have a problem with revelation today. Mankind loves to dictate to God, to reduce or to nullify the power of the Almighty God. There is no problem that Christ revealed Himself in the fiery furnace; there is no problem that the Lord was revealed to Peter; there is no problem that Christ revealed Himself to Paul on the Damascus road, and it is no problem today, at this present time, for the Son of God to reveal Himself in the heart, soul, and spirit to His elect. Does God give revelation today? Yes. The Bible states that those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ will receive revelations from God; however, revelation never is in conflict with past revelation, neither is revelation contrary to the written Word of God.

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:12)
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: (Ephesians 1:17)
   Those who deny that the revelation to Nebuchadnezzar, of the fourth Person in the fiery furnace was the Son of God, are the same ones who try to shut the Holy Scriptures to the children of God. You have God’s Word for a reason. The only truth you are going to receive in this world can only come from the Word of God. Through the Word of God He will give you revelations of Himself in your heart, soul, and spirit. The Man Christ Jesus will be made unto you wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and assurance of your redemption. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1st Corinthians 1:30) ✦ End of Side Note.

Who is He?
Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption

   But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1st Corinthians 1:30) Notice the word ‘made’ this is past tense, which also covers the present time that we now live in. If you want wisdom, you must seek it from the Spirit of God through the Word of God. Christ in your redemption is MADE unto us the righteousness of God. He is our sanctification, and the assurance of our redemption in Him. There are many ways that the devil and mankind try to shut the doors, the gates to eternity. One way is to attempt to silence the Spirit of God through the Word of God. Mankind has a theory regarding creation, and because of his vain imagination, and his superiority complex, he denies creation altogether. If this doesn’t work, then he will state that God created, and after creating He then sent everything adrift into the cosmos to figure out its own path, and its own end. Man loves to dictate to God, and he hates it when the Bible dictates to him. Man is a born liar, and a deceiver because he takes after his father the devil.
   Every child of God needs to understand his position before the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, and his position before the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. The child of God is on foreign soil, the soil of this earth. There is a great division between light and darkness, between good and evil, between the children of Satan who is the wicked one of 1st John Chapter 3, verse 12, and the children of God. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

   Cain was the first development of darkness, and he was the first conception of sin by Adam and Eve. Cain is the evidence that sin was transmitted from both Adam and Eve to Cain. But why not Abel? In Abel we see God’s divine election, God chose Abel to represent Him, and to worship Him by sacrifice which spoke of the Lord’s sacrifice on the cross of Calvary to come. Abel was the first ambassador of faith. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4) In Cain, we have a child of darkness, a child of that wicked one, the devil. In Abel we have the divine power of God choosing a representative for Himself from out of mankind. Abel was born into a world of sin, just as Cain. Yet, God showed His mercy to Abel, and Abel became the first elect of God. He was God’s choice for Abel was found righteous before God because he offered a true sacrifice that one day would be fulfilled by the true Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
   There are five things in Hebrews 11:4, that all should consider: Abel is the first one to offer unto God, and his offering was a more excellent sacrifice, and a witness that it pleased God. The Holy Spirit tells us that Abel obtained witness. He wasn’t witnessing before Adam and Eve, he wasn’t witnessing before Cain, He witnessed before God, and God counted Abel’s witness as righteous because his witness spoke of the One to come who would fulfill all righteousness in Himself. It was God who testified of Abel that his gifts in his sacrifices were accepted by God. Although Abel was slaughtered by his brother, and although his blood spoke from the ground, a greater blood would be the sacrifice of God Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, the blood of Christ would be a witness and a testimony through all eternity. And yes, even today, in Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 4, Abel is speaking as a child of the Almighty God.
   The Lord through Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 3, once again takes us to the beginning of creation, that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. In Genesis Chapter 1, concerning the creation (including the creation of man), God used the word ‘good’ seven times. In the number seven we see the COMPLETE goodness of what God had made. This included man created in the image of God. However, goodness would only last until Genesis Chapter 3. We have no idea how long, in time, that Adam walked with God before he brought sin into the world. What God had created was good, what Adam brought into the good world was evil, for now the world had to endure the presence of sin. I have mentioned many times that the convulsion of sin coming into the world by the one man not only changed Adam, but changed the entire creation, and placed it under the shroud of sin. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12 is Adam’s epitaph. It changed Adam and Eve’s outward appearance because they knew that they were naked, for their eyes had been opened by sin to sin. Did they see in each other the image of God? No . . . they saw the image of evil. They saw the image of sin, but sin was not only without, it was also within.
   The inner eye of the conscience, of the heart, of the spirit, and of the soul were changed to eyes of darkness, eyes that had no light within. Their deed was evil, and the revelation of evil caused them to hide themselves from God. God did not change. He was still the Creator; however, now, Adam and Eve, and the majority of mankind throughout their history will deny their Creator. They will live, act, and die in the realm of sin throughout their entire history.
   The fact that Adam and Eve hid themselves shows the present character of mankind continually seeking countless ways to hide from God. The human race has spent millenniums trying to appease his sinful conscience, his broken heart, his scarred spirit, and his empty soul. No matter where this fallen race of humanity travels searching for a place to hide, it is to no avail. The eye of the Creator still goes to and fro throughout the whole earth, God sees all of man’s deception, and man can never hide from the eyes of God.

<<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. (Psalm 139:1)
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. (Psalm 139:2)
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:3)
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. (Psalm 139:4)
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. (Psalm 139:5)
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. (Psalm 139:6)
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (Psalm 139:7)
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. (Psalm 139:8)
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; (Psalm 139:9)
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:10)
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. (Psalm 139:11)
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. (Psalm 139:12)
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13)
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139:14)
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (Psalm 139:15)
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:16)

  Both the godly and the ungodly are always seen by the God of heaven and earth. Darkness cannot veil His sight, for both darkness and light are the same, however, the darkness and the light has been divided both in the temporal world and in the spiritual world, and truly, this knowledge is too wonderful for me.
   When the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened, they realized the nakedness of sin. Adam’s image was no longer filled with the glory of God. Man had taken on an offensive image, and because of the sin of Adam mankind plummeted into a beastly world of his own unholy imagination led by his tormented sinful heart.

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)
And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (Genesis 6:6)
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)

   When we examine the images and the character of mankind in Genesis Chapter 6, we will see nothing that resembles the man who was created in the image of God. Man had become grotesque to God, and the only solution was to destroy mankind from the face of the earth because of sin’s blight over the entire creation under heaven. All flesh must be destroyed, for sin had perverted mankind in such a way that creation itself became corrupted. The whole earth was under God’s judgment. The greatest volcano, the fiercest tornado, the strongest hurricane, the deadliest disease, the broadest famine, and the deepest earthquake are only crying infants compared to sin. The images of Adam and Eve became offensive to each other. When they looked upon each other, they saw the result of sin, and they had to cover themselves not only from God, but from each other. Just think what God saw.
   We have gone from Genesis Chapter 1 (the goodness of God, and the greatest environment that mankind has ever known and experienced) to Genesis Chapter 2 where Adam walked with His Creator in perfect harmony. He looked upon his Creator. His Creator was not hidden from him, and yet, Adam would take the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As man brought sin into the garden, and into the world, so a heavenly Man would come to earth and would weep over sin in a garden, would sweat as it were, great drops of blood, over the sin of mankind. God in Jesus Christ had returned His image to earth to redeem mankind from sin. Once again, He was walking with man, this time not in a pristine garden, but in a land of thorns and thistle under the curse. This time, He walked with man not in harmony, but in sympathy of what man had become. The long suffering of God was now revealed to all mankind in God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ.

Who is He?
The Perfect Redeemer and Savior

   Only the Perfect Man from heaven could redeem His fallen creation, and be a Perfect Savior, and the Perfecter of mankind. The sin of the whole world would be laid upon this spotless Lamb of God. Christ (the Redeemer) would redeem the world back to Himself, for God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2nd Corinthians 5:19) So the image of God came to man (Hebrews 1:3) to weep in a garden over sin.

Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. (Matthew 26:36)

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. (John 18:1)

  He died on a cross and became sin for us, and He was buried in a garden. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. (John 19:41) Within this garden in the veil of darkness within the tomb, in the battle of light and darkness, He finished His battle with both sin and death. He arose victoriously over the evil of the world, over the prince of this world, the devil, and over the wickedness of mankind. He arose triumphantly and victoriously overcoming the world, sin and death.
   When the Lord Jesus was on the cross He spoke to the dying thief, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. This guaranteed the immediate ascension after the death of this thief to the paradise of God to dwell amongst the saints and to stand before the Almighty God.
   In Revelation 2:7, in the letter of the Lord Jesus Christ to the very first Church in the list of seven, the church at Ephesus, He proclaimed to the overcomer that He will eat of the tree of life which is 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)
   The garden in Genesis was God’s garden, but it was blocked by sin; however, in Christ taking away sin, the door to paradise was opened. Man was driven out of the garden of God into a world of dust, thorns and thistles wearing only coats of lambs slain because of transgression. The whole world came under the shadow of sin and death, trials and sufferings, and pain and sorrow. History exposes man as a murderer, a helpless thief, a helpless idolater, and a helpless slave to sin within and without unable to help himself; he must receive help from another. After sin came into the world, Adam and Eve covered themselves to hide their sin and guilt with a substitute covering for what they had lost, a covering of fig leaves, revealing the thought of a self righteous man when it was only God who could cover Adam’s sin. Even with the covering, they still had to hide themselves from the most high. And what did the Lord see first? The glory was gone. The glory had departed. Their eyes were dim, and another spirit had entered into both Adam and Eve. The light had gone out within Adam. However, God could see the guilty conscience in the covering of the fig leaves. They were hiding in the dense forest of the garden when God asked the question, Where art thou? He was waiting for the answer from their souls. He was waiting for their plea for mercy. Adam, however, blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, but they could not hide the naked results from the eyes of God. They could cover themselves with fig leaves, but they couldn’t cover their sin. This is the first time that we see the ‘fig leaves’ which of course, came from the fig tree. Follow both the fig and the fig tree through Scripture, and see that the Lord cursed the fig tree for not bearing fruit. (Matthew 21:19) Even the fig tree knew not its time of visitation. The fig tree became a symbol of a godless Israel covered in the garments of self righteousness. In the withering of the fig tree we see the dissolving of ALL of man’s self righteousness. As the tree withered and died, it proved that there is no righteousness within mankind. As the tree bore no fruit for God, Israel, as a nation, had no spiritual fruit for the Almighty God, and they too would perish from the land.
   Both the northern ten tribes and the two southern tribes of Benjamin and Judah had been dispersed among the Gentile nations because of their sin. When God allowed them to return to the land they quickly reverted to their old ways. Instead of casting themselves upon the Almighty they revised their old traditions, the traditions of men, and used selective Scriptures to appease their conscience, and to mask their disobedience to God. We see some of their evil described in 2nd Kings Chapter 17, and in Ezekiel Chapter 22. This was the word of the Lord against Judah and Jerusalem. In the days of Ezekiel the level of corruption was so immense that in the entire population, God could not find a man to stand for the truth. This is a never-ending theme in Scripture.
   From Adam to this very day, there are many preachers, but few servants. Babylon the Great has many priests, consequently, this abomination has polluted the whole world. We are living today in a spiritual Babylon, and believe me, it is alive and well. They have denied the blood of Christ, they have denied His sacrificial death and His deity, and have denied His resurrection. Look at our world today, examine its condition, examine the hordes of religious men and women who know not the grace of God. They are truly in the majority, so we ask, Can the majority be wrong? I’m sure that Noah was asked that same question. What did Noah stand on? He stood on the righteousness of God. Can the majority be wrong? Let’s ask Joshua and Caleb. The majority cost them thirty-eight more years of wandering in the desert. Can the majority be wrong? Let’s ask Elijah as he stood at the altar of God on mount Carmel alone, except for the presence of God. Or ask Micaiah when he was imprisoned about the majority, Ask the many prophets who were slain by Israel and by Judah. They will tell you about the majority. Ask the Son of God, as He hung between heaven and earth on the cross of Calvary, ask him what the majority is capable of. This is a theme throughout the history of man; we could ask Paul, John, Peter, James and Jude, and they would all answer that the religion of man can be popular, it can be even the majority, yet, as the fig tree, it has no fruit for God.

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)
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, (Luke 19:43)
And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. (Luke 19:44)

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. (Matthew 23:36) 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)

   Can the majority be wrong? They crucified my Lord, and today they trample His blood under their feet.

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29) For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. (Hebrews 10:30)

   In this message, hopefully we have given light to eternity, to the preexistence, the purity, the deity and to the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the man who was born blind asked the question, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? The answer from the Lord Jesus Christ is available for ALL, it is He through His Spirit that talketh with thee, And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. (John 9:37)

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Are we blind also?
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18. Are we blind also? (verse 40)
And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

   The Pharisees did not want to hear the answer to their question. Are we blind also? Even the thoughts within their own hearts had exposed their blindness to the things of God. This same question is asked by the professing church today, and they KNOW the answer in their own hearts, but they do not want to be questioned about their own blindness. Just as the Pharisees had shut their ears to the Lord Jesus Christ and His word, so also the church of Laodicea today does not want to hear the answer from the Spirit of Christ concerning their blindness.

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; (Revelation 3:14)
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (Revelation 3:15)
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:17)
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Revelation 3:18)

   As we come to the end of the Chapter 9 of the gospel of John, we are struck by the very same question, Are we blind also? When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he asked that each individual should examine themselves. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2nd Corinthians 13:5) Comparing Laodicea with the Corinthians can expose the error that we have today. In the hidden room of the heart, mankind has come to believe that mere profession of faith is the door of salvation without any internal proofs. If one has the Spirit of Christ within, they KNOW that the Spirit of God is there. If one examines themselves (according to the Scriptures) then they know whether they are IN Christ and have the true wedding garment of fine linen, or whether they are clothed with a forgery. I am not a suit person, every time that I put one on I feel uncomfortable. Why? Because that is not who I am. I have seen very expensive suits, and the name on the label proves the wealth of the suit. There are also, what the world calls knock-offs. These suits are copy cats, but when you look at the label, it, however, has a premium name. This is exactly where we are today in the Laodicean church. We have hordes walking around wearing knock-offs. If you use the word phony, you offend the majority, and yet, when they read the church of Laodicea in Revelation Chapter 3, they do not see themselves. From out of all of the churches, the Lord Jesus presents Himself to the Laodicean church as THE AMEN. This is THE END. This is THE FINALITY. IT IS OVER. And then He alone, Himself, takes the place of the faithful and true witness of God.
   As He witnessed to the Pharisees, He exposed their blindness. In John Chapter 9, we began with a man born blind, he had no input or choice with his condition. In fact, he was born blind for the glory of God so that the Spirit of God could convince us that spiritual blindness is upon ALL of mankind at birth. The man born blind had no choice or input into his condition. The Pharisees, however, claimed the words of Moses. They constantly used the name of Moses as their rationalization for calling themselves the disciples of Moses. Their blind condition to the things of God was self afflicted. They refused to believe on the heavenly Man who was sent to them to relieve them of the burden of their sin.
   When we examine ourselves there are certain conditions that faith requires: one is a genuine love for the Lord Jesus Christ; second, a genuine heart of obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as He is the faithful and true witness in these end times, He still has those He uses outside of the world to witness for Him. One cannot be a true witness for the Lord Jesus unless He has a true witness of Christ within. The Lord Jesus also presented Himself to Laodicea as the beginning of the creation of God. This, of course, takes us back to Genesis 1:1, that God, as the Lord Jesus Christ, called into existence the entire creation by the Word of His power. Many would try to use this little section of Scripture to prove their false doctrine that Christ was a created Being by God. He was not! Christ was ALWAYS GOD, as the Son of God. The body that was prepared for Him was prepared BEFORE the creation. It was not a created body, but a PREPARED body so that God could manifest Himself among His creation, and to the sons of man. 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) His body was one that was crafted in heaven above without faults, without blemishes, and without sin. Christ was NOT a descendant of Adam. He was GOD manifested in the flesh. His deity had preeminence over His total life here on earth, and STILL has total preeminence, as He has been placed higher than the heavens. Christ was NOT sent to be a greater Adam. Christ was NOT sent to be an improved Adam. He was sent to manifest the glory of God among His creation (which was the race of man).
   If one would examine their work, which the Bible tells us to do, they should see the outworking of the Spirit of God, and feel the separation from the world and all its works. In Revelation 3:15, the Lord Jesus describes the works of the Laodiceans as neither cold, nor hot. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. Whenever you boil water there is no doubt that the water is boiling. When you freeze water, it becomes a solid mass, and there is no doubt that it is freezing cold. This is an extreme example in temporal life. However, whenever you have lukewarm water it has no character, it has no distinctive properties, it is clearly neither cold nor hot. The taste of lukewarmness is unpalatable and unpleasant. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16) This takes us back to Matthew’s gospel. (Matthew 22:11) And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: (Matthew 22:11)

And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. (Matthew 22:12)
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 22:13)

   It is not only that which is within, but also that which is without that must bare witness for God. The child of God is always under the eyes and care of God. God can see the garment that you wear. However, today, the church boasts that it is rich in the many edifices that it has built. They enrich themselves on the backs of the poor, and they increase their own goods to furnish their great halls and buildings of men. In many cases, salvation takes second place to church membership. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:17) This is God’s estimation of the professing world of the so-called church of this day. Just as this wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked church continually pollutes the name of God and His Christ, so Israel also polluted the name of God.

Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. (Isaiah 48:1)
For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. (Isaiah 48:2)
I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. (Isaiah 48:3)
Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; (Isaiah 48:4)
I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. (Isaiah 48:5)
Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. (Isaiah 48:6)
They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. (Isaiah 48:7)
Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. (Isaiah 48:8)
For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. (Isaiah 48:9)
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)
For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. (Isaiah 48:11)

   Israel defiled His Law, His Person, His glory. He refused to give His glory to another. They had raised up other gods which they worshiped; consequently, God cast Israel out of the land. Is this not the history of all of mankind? Adam was driven out of the garden. Israel was sent into captivity, and those in the false church who pollutes the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be cast into utter darkness. The evaluation of the Lord of the church of this present age is that they are blind, as the Pharisees, and naked as in the fall of Adam and Eve before God. The Lord does not leave them there. In verse 18 of Chapter 3 of the book of the Revelation, He gives His counsel, this is the Lord’s counsel, not man’s, they are to buy of Him gold tried in the fire. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

   They are to place their faith and convictions of the truth in the righteousness of God. This will guarantee a barrage of fire from the world directed against all and any who place their trust and faith in the righteousness of God. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan’s seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [was] my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. (Revelation 2:13) Antipas was not placed in the church because he was a martyr; his martyrdom was more complex than his location. Antipas was a martyr because of his faithful testimony for Christ, and he refused to waiver from defending the righteousness of God. Notice, that his martyrdom came WITHIN the church, WITH the approval of the church, and BY the church, not the world. This reminds us of Stephen in Acts Chapter 7, he was a Jew testifying to the Jews concerning faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was stoned for his witness of the Almighty God in Jesus Christ.
   The church at Pergamos was one of the bloodiest churches out of the seven churches. This is why the Spirit of God introduces us to Antipas, he was slain AMONG them where Satan’s seat [is]. What a terrible testimony of those who outwardly testify of Christ, and inwardly have hearts of stone, and souls of darkness. The Lord presents Himself to Pergamos as He that hath the two edged sword. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; (Revelation 2:12) It is in Pergamos that we not only see Satan among them, but we also see his seat, Satan’s place of authority among them, he owned them. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. (Revelation 2:14) The Spirit of God presents Balaam as the false prophet, or in our age, the false clergy who have attempted to usurp the will of God and the Word of God. We also have political rule and their corruption brought into the church through the mention of Balak. These two depraved and perverse worlds of politics and religion in leadership roles within the church was a marriage created in hell. The church married the world. That is why we see idolatry within the church.
   Along with false doctrines, idolatry has become rooted within the church. The love of money, covetousness, and appeasing the world and Satan through the acceptance of articles such as the Christmas tree, the Easter egg, sun rise services, and many more traditions of men, as these being falsely used as articles of faith will all end up spued out of the mouth of the Lord. The Lord counsels them concerning the white raiment of the saints, it is the garment of God’s righteousness that must shield one from the wrath of God. In fulfilling all righteousness, the Lord Jesus endured the wrath of God upon Himself. His righteousness could not, and cannot, be broken. His righteousness could not be dissolved, and cannot be dissolved. His righteousness cannot fade away. We stand today, as born again Christians, in His eternal righteousness clothed in white raiment. The words ‘white raiment‘ is only mentioned three times in the entire Bible, and all in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. (Revelation 3:5)
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Revelation 3:18)
And round about the throne [were] four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (Revelation 4:4)

   His righteousness is our white raiment, as the man at the wedding in Matthew Chapter 22. The Lord tells the Laodicean church about the shame of their nakedness. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. God the Holy Spirit clearly provides the solution for the shame and for their blindness . . . anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Does this not remind you of the man who was born blind when God the Spirit used the same word ‘anointed’ when Christ placed the dust with His spittle upon his eyes? (John 9:6 and 11) All men born of Adam are naturally born blind to the things of God, and only God can open blind eyes to the mysteries that belongs to God alone. Applying the eye salve of the Word of God, and embracing God’s love through the Son of God empowers eyes to open.
   Our testimony is NOT just before mankind, our testimony as Abel’s testimony, is before God Himself. God cannot be fooled by a false heart full of enmity and full of sin. The Pharisees asked the Lord, Are we blind also? The Lord Jesus in verse 41 of Chapter 9, told them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth. (John 9:41) They had arrogantly proclaimed, however, that through Moses they had eyes to see; yet, according to the Lord, they were blind to the truth. They were deceiving and being deceived by their own sinful condition in Adam. It is the same blind condition of Laodicea. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2nd Corinthians 13:5) It is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ and NO ONE else that matters. Christ is the ONLY door and FAITH is the ONLY key that opens the door to eternal life.
    I have learned much from these eighteen questions. I have examined my own life, and the work of my life for the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many things that the Lord has exposed in me that I must change to be a more worthy servant to His mighty calling. One can probably find many more questions in John Chapter 9; however, these eighteen were for us at this particular time. May the Spirit of God reveal MORE of the glories of Christ to ALL of us who are called by His name. May WE, as believers in Jesus Christ, be more of a witness to a dying and darkened evil world. May the Lord fit us for the crown of righteousness which He will give to ALL those who love Him, and may we all be faithful unto death.

May God enrich you this day with His Word, and with His presence.
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)

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Revelation 3:21)

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:22)

© 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)