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THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST
- First Chapter –
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Beloved brethren, our Lord Jesus Christ
proclaimed the Gospel or the Good News of the Kingdom
of Heaven, saying, FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN
SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD
NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. For God sent not His son into the world
to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in The Name of the only begotten Son of God (JOHN 3:16-18).
Yes, of a truth, this is one of the most, if not the most. Beautiful and Inspiring Passages in the Holy
Bible that many Christians today enjoy quoting and some even preach as their
main theme. Sad to say, however, my dear brethren, that this Good News that our
Lord has proclaimed has not been given the proper and sufficient explanation it
deserves, to the end that it may work effectually
unto the real believers. And so now, the Spirit of The Lord has inspired and
moved me, His lowly and unworthy servant and your brother in Christ, to write a
more expounding and comprehensive explanation regarding this much-endearing
proclamation of Jesus Christ about God's Love for Mankind. I shall so do
through the guidance of the Holy Spirit by paraphrasing the Whole Verse or
Passage by parts and give them their meaning and importance. . . |
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FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD,
THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. . . My brethren, WHY DOES |
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God SO LOVED, or Love the World SO MUCH? Have we ever
wondered why? And WHO is the World? Is it the Earth or the Planet that we live
upon? Is it not MANKIND itself, Which is the People and Nation and the World of
God in His Spirit? Yes, verily, my dear brethren, it is we. Mankind, who is considered as His Beloved World.
But WHAT is MAN that God loves and cares for him so much, to the extent of
GIVING His only Begotten Son to DIE FOR US? If His Firstborn and Eldest Son
Jesus the Christ is His MOST BELOVED SON in Whom He is WELL PLEASED (as He has
Testified in many places in the Scriptures), then tell me what think ye, How
MUCH LOVED are WE, MEN or HUMANS, of God also, HE, having been able to bear the
Grim thought of His Most Beloved Son bruised, pierced, and dying on the Cross?
Are we not then AS EQUALLY LOVED OF GOD THE FATHER AS HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
JESUS IS? Yes, indeed we truly are! Then What is Man that The Father was
willing to OFFER His Beloved Son Jesus Christ for our REDEMPTION and SALVATION,
to POUR OUT His Precious Blood, meaning to Give His Life for us? And Why, think
ye, did The Christ come in the FORM of Man in the Flesh, like you and me, and
not in the FORM of the Angels? Have we ever asked ourselves the question, WHO
am I? or WHAT am I? That my God and Creator has MANIFESTED so GREAT a LOVE for
me that READILY and WITHOUT ANY HESITATION OR MENTAL RESERVATION Allowed, in
fact, Willingly Offered His Son's Life for me? As the Scriptures saith, But He was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; |
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CREATOR and His CREATURE? Would not the MANIFESTATION of His GREAT LOVE for MAN, in offering His MOST BELOVED SON to DIE FOR him CLEARLY SUGGEST in our heart and understanding that a SIMILAR KIND of CLOSE RELATIONSHIP, that is of A FATHER TO A SON, EXISTS at least in God's HEART for us? For until we can find the hidden ANSWERS to these intriguing personal questions and the UNDERSTANDING of the TRUTH about Man's RELATIONSHIP to his GOD and CREATOR we can not fully appreciate nor believe with all our heart the LOVE OF GOD FOR THE WORLD IN CHRIST. But allow me, dear brethren, to take this holy matter up later as this comprises a great part in the TESTIMONY of our Lord Jesus Christ unto the TRUTH of GOD. So, let us continue with the Gospel Passages... ... THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH ... So God has DECREED that we must BELIEVE in His Son, that we may LIVE and not PERISH. But WHAT should we BELIEVE in Jesus Christ that we may live? Is it only that of His Person or Divine Role - that He is The Annointed One, The Redeemer, The Messiah or The Christ or The Son of God? Is it only by merely Calling and Accepting Him as our Lord that we easily partake of His Grace of Salvation and Redemption as many profess to say and preach? But WHAT saith The Lord Jesus about this? For He said, Not every one that saith unto Me Lord, Lord, shall ENTER into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that DOETH the Will of My father Which is in Heaven (MAT 7:21). So then, it is only he who DOES the Will of God can truly Enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; But What is The Will of The Father in Heaven that we may try to do it? Is not for Every One to BELIEVE IN HIS SON Jesus Christ, and that is in His Testimony or Witness unto The TRUTH of God, and to hear and obey His Commandments which The Father gave to us through Him? Allow me, again, brethren, to discuss further these important matters in the middle part of my epistles for the sake of good order and understanding. Meantime, let us go back and finish elaborating on the Passage . . . That Whosoever Believeth on Him SHOULD NOT PERISH... But WHY should we PERISH, if
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we CHOSE NOT to Believe in Him? Why, Because God HAS JUDGED that ALL have SINNED and COME SHORT of the Glory of God (ROMANS 3:23). And the Penalty for Sin is DEATH; for When He Commanded the First Man, ADAM the Forerunner of us all, NOT TO EAT of the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, He Emphatically added that "FOR IN THE DAYTHAT THOU EATEST THEREOF THOU SHALT SURELY DIE" (GENESIS 2:17). And so, when Adam did not HEARKEN UNTO THE WORDS OF GOD (having instead hearkened to the voice ofintreatment of his wife.Eve, who was in turn earlier deceived by the Serpent or the Devil), the First Sin, which was DISOBEDIENCE and DISBELIEF Entered into the WORLD or MAN and consequently the PENALTY or the WAGES thereof, that is DEATH (Both of the Earthy Body and the Soul) accompanying it (ROMANS 6:23); 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). And as the apostle Paul further wrote, saying. What then? are we BETTER than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both JEWS and GENTILES, that they are ALL UNDER SIN; As it is written, There is NONE Righteous, no, not ONE: There is NONE that UNDERSTAND, there is NONE that SEEKETH after GOD. They are ALL Gone Out of The WAY, they are ALL TOGETHER become UNPROFITABLE; there is NONE that Doeth GOOD, no NOT ONE . . . (ROMANS 3:9-18). And again, God looked down from heaven upon the children of MEN, to SEE if there were ANY that did UNDERSTAND, that did SEEK GOD. EVERY ONE of them is one Back: they are ALTOGETHER become FILTHY; there is NONE that Doeth GOOD, no, NOT ONE (PSALM 53:2-3). Therefore by this REALITY, my dear brothers and sisters, WE are ALL CONDEMNED to DIE because of SINS and UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, and are DOOMED for ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. This is the BAD and SAD NEWS, but then in the APPOINTED TIME God sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world with the GOOD NEWS, saying... FOR GOD SENT NOT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN THE WORLD; BUT THAT THE WORLD |
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THROUGH HIM MIGHT BE SAVED ... But how is this SALVATION possible? How? By God's own MIGHTY OPERATION and Divine WILL. For in His Great LOVE AND MERCY for all MANKIND, He gave His only Begotten Son, His Christ, to die for us and to suffer the punishment and penalty for all our sins and transgressions. By His Own Will, He sent His Most Beloved Son to be The LAMB of God, Pure and Without Blemish, being made as a Holy Offering for the REMISSION and ATONEMENT for the SINS of the WORLD. HE DIED IN OUR STEAD, the SINLESS for the SINNERS, that it might be an ACCEPTABLE OFFERING, that we may be PURGED from our Sins by the Precious BLOOD of Christ. As it is written, And almost All Things are by the Law Purged (or Cleansed) by BLOOD, and Without SHEDDING of BLOOD is NO REMISSION (HEBREWS 9:22). Whereupon neither the First Testament was Dedicated Without Blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of CALVES and of GOATS, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and Sprinkled both the Book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the Testament which God hath enjoined unto you. But IF the blood of BULLS and of GOATS, and the ashes of an HEIFER Sprinkling the UNCLEAN, Sanctifieth to the purifying of the FLESH: How MUCH MORE shall the BLOOD of CHRIST, who THROUGH the ETERNAL SPIRIT Offered Himself WITHOUT SPOT to GOD, PURGE your CONSCIENCE from DEAD WORKS to SERVE the LIVING GOD? And for this Cause He is the MEDIATOR of The NEW TESTAMENT, that by means of DEATH, for the REDEMPTION of the TRANSGRESSIONS that were under, the FIRST TESTAMENT, they which are called might RECEIVE the PROMISE of ETERNAL INHERITANCE (HEBREWS 9:1-28). But some may say, so it is by DYING alone that we were totally SAVED? Not so! FIRST, BY DYING but LIKEWISE (and much more glorious to say) BY HIS RESURRECTION From the DEAD. As Paul, according to the wisdom God gave him wrote. For in that He DIED, He Died for unto SIN ONCE: but in that He LIVETH, He Liveth unto GOD (ROMANS 6:10); And if Christ be not RISEN, then is our PREACHING vain, and your FAITH is also vain. And if Christ be not |
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RAISED, your FAITH is vain; ye are yet in your SINS, Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have HOPE in Christ, we are of all MEN most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become The FIRSTFRUITS of them that slept. For since by Man came DEATH, by Man came also the RESURRECTION of the DEAD. For as in ADAM all die, even so in CHRIST shall all be made alive (1 CORINTHIANS 15:14-22). Know ye not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His DEATH? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of The Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His DEATH, we shall also be in the LIKENESS OF His RESURRECTION: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is free from SIN. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; Death hath no more dominion over Him (ROMANS 6:3-9); But God, Who is rich in Mercy, for His Great Love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened (made us alive) together with Christ, (by GRACE ye are SAVED;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus (EPHESIANS 2:4-7). Remember then, my brethren, that this divine plan of Salvation designed by God of His Own Will according to His Own Counsel and Pleasure in and through Christ, is a Grace from God: As Paul again wrote, For by Grace ye are saved through Faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the Gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For WE are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (EPHESIANS 2:8-10). And so, my brethren, we all must forever thank and praise God for His great love and kindness toward us in giving unto us this wonderful Gift of Salvation in Christ Jesus. Yet, let no one deceive himself by thinking that since Christ died for all men, then are all saved. No, this is not so! For when God
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declared this Saving Grace, He together with it likewise gave the divine condition whereby any one can rightfully partake of its blessings. And What is This Condition or Requirement? Or What must we do in order to receive this Amazing Grace? Well, the Gospel continues.. . . . . THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN THE SON, SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE . . . Yes, Brethren, it is very plain and clear indeed (and there should be no doubt about it) that God wants, in fact requires, all of us to believe in His Son, whom He has sent, that we may rightfully partake of the blessings of His Saving Grace. For it is only through FAITH in Jesus Christ can one be justified and sanctified in God. But NOW comes the most challenging QUESTION to us all (which also makes the big difference among Christ-believers): HOW do (did) we believe in Jesus Christ? WHAT do (did) we believe in Jesus Christ? HOW do (did) we establish our Faith in Jesus Christ? And finally, HOW do (did) we achieve the FAITH that is OF JESUS CHRIST? For only when we have satisfied our heart and soul with the real answers to these trying questions of Faith, then and only then, can we have the true confidence and the peace to say, '1 am saved!". But now going back to the question. What did we believe in Jesus Christ? Most of us, brethren, will readily say, we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, right? Well, that is indeed good for it is true. In fact, it is the first basic thing that we must believed in! Yet Faith in Jesus Christ does not only mean believing in his being a Divine Person, not by merely accepting and saying that He is the Son of God; for such divinity of his person has already been proclaimed by the Scriptures before His Birth and confirmed by The Father Himself as witnessed by John the Baptist at the river of Jordan, and by the apostles Peter, James and John when they were with Him in the holy mount and was transfigured before them; as they all heard The Voice from Glory saying, 'This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him" (MAT 3:16-17/MARK 1:9-11/LUKE 3:21-22/ JOHN 1:32-34/MAT 17:1-5). And likewise, is it not already |
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emphasized in the beautiful verse that we have been discussing from the beginning of this epistle, that GOD SENT HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON INTO THE WORLD, that Believing in Him we might be Saved (JOHN 3:16-18). Thus it has been foreordained and proclaimed by God Himself through the prophets of old time and later confirmed unto His servants (John the Baptist and the three apostles), that this Man Jesus is His Messiah or Christ and the Son of God. What I am trying to point out, my dear brethren, is the fact that the substance of our Faith does not end with the belief about the person of Jesus Christ, for any Bible-reading Christian (and even them who are just hearing) has known and believed this open and plain truth. There is indeed more, much more, to what God meant when He required us to believe in His Son so as to fully receive the Blessing of this Saving Grace. So now, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, allow me to share with you the deeper and greater part of our FAITH in Jesus Christ. First, after knowing and believing in our heart that Jesus is The Christ, the Son of God, we equally have to leam the Whole PURPOSE of His Coming into the World, His Divine MISSION from God The Father. And having done so, we can obtain Faith in Him and through Him by hearing The Word of God; as it is written, Faith comes by Hearing, and Hearing, by The Word of God (ROMANS 10:17). Then finally, by living His Words through Faith that worketh unto Holiness and Love, we may receive the Promise of the Holy Spirit and thereby grow in Grace unto Perfection and the Fulness of Christ. THE DIVINE PURPOSE OF THE COMING OF CHRIST INTO THE WORLD: Why did the Son of God, Jesus Christ, come? Although we have taken this up briefly in the early part of this epistle, let me further expound on this important topic for herein lies the deeper foundation of our Faith in God and in Christ Jesus. Principally, the Messiah or Christ came TO DO THE WILL OF GOD. As it is written, Wherefore when He cometh into the World, He saith, Sacrifice and Offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared for me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for Sin Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written |
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of me) to do thy will, 0 God (HEBREWS 10:5-7). So, Christ came, not to do his own will, but the Will of Him (God, The Father) Who hast sent him; By the which Will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once and for all (HEBREWS 10:10). And this, as we've earlier discussed is the Free Gift of God, a Divine Grace, that came by Jesus Christ unto all who would believe. But then again. What do we behove in Christ Jesus to attain this Grace? Believe in all THE WORDS of God that comes out of the Mouth of Christ, for it is the WILL of God that His Christ speak all His WORDS to the People; as God foretold unto Moses, I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put My Words in his mouth; and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My Words which he shall speak in My Name, I will require it of him. (DEUT 18:18-19). And thus, in the appointed time when Jesus Christ began His preaching he cried, saying, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me. He that rejected me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judge him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but The Father Which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His Commandment is Life Everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as The Father said unto me, so I speak (JOHN 12:44-50). Again, our Lord Jesus saith, My Doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do His Will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh His Glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him (JOHN 7:16-18) We now, therefore, the more plainly see that the Son of God, the Christ who came in the flesh, did not preach of himself but of God, and the Words that proceedeth out of his mouth are God's Own Words, unto which we have to believe with all Faith. For aside from being annointed as the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world, Christ |
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Jesus, by the same glorious Will of God, was also sent to bear witness or testify unto The TRUTH. As the Lord Jesus declared before Pilate, saying, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I SHOULD BEAR WITNESS UNTO THE TRUTH. EVERY ONE that is of the Truth heareth My Voice (JOHN 18:37) Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and .ye shall know The TRUTH, and The Truth shall make you free (JOHN 8:31-32). And so the Christ, in the person of the Man Jesus, came to testify or to bear witness unto The Truth, Whereunto believing, we shall be made free. Free, from the bondage of Sin and the Lie that transgresseth against the Truth. And in the same token, the book of Revelations wrote of him. And from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness, and the First Begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the Earth, Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood (REV 1:5). Also, the apostle John declared that he was exiled in the island called Patmos for The Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ (REV 1:9). And when John, the beloved disciple, was about to worship the angel who showed him all the great and wonderful things that would soon come to pass, he was admonished by the angel, saying. See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the Testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the Testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophesy (REV 19:10). Thus, brethren, it is but truly needful and profitable for all believers to know and receive the Testimony of our Lord Jesus unto the Truth. But it is very sad to note that only a few has truly understood and thereby received the Testimony of Jesus or the Truth that came by Jesus Christ. WHY? Because the Truth is kept as the holy Mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven, given only unto them who are called of God out of a real Faith in Jesus Christ. CHRIST SPOKE IN PARABLES, IN PROVERBS; OF WORDS NOT EASILY UNDERSTOOD BY ANY CARNAL MAN: As it is written, All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the |
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prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world (MAT 13:34-35). So unto the multitude (or in public) the Lord Jesus spoke in parables; but privately unto His disciples He expounded the meaning thereof. And when asked by His disciples, saying, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered. Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given (MAT 13:10-11). Thus, my brethren, the KNOWLEDGE of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God is not given to the multitude, or to many, but only to the chosen few who have been blessed with the grace to know through Faith. And because Jesus Christ testified unto the Truth in parables or proverbs, many could not receive His words because they could not understand them; as the Scriptures saith, They stumble at the Rock of Offense: Christ became unto them a Stumbling Block (ROMANS 9:32-33/1 PETER 2:6-8). Yes, even the learned Jews, the scribes, the priests, and the teachers of the law, have all been confused and even offended by the Testimony of Jesus unto the Truth. As He said unto them, Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word . . . And because I tell you the Truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the Truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (JOHN 8:43-47). Truly, beloved brethren, no man by himself (not you, not me) can hear and receive the hard sayings of Christ, except it were given unto him by God Himself. Thus the Lord Jesus declared, saying, No man can come to me, except The Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the Last Day (JOHN 6:44, 65). And so, because of His hard sayings which could not easily be comprehended by the carnal mind many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with Jesus, save the chosen 12 apostles (JOHN 6:66-68). Hence, even the prophet John (the Baptist) testified of Christ, as saying, He that cometh from above is above all; He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from Heaven is above all. And what He hath seen and heard, that |
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He testified; and no man receiveth His Testimony hath set to his seal that God is True (JOHN 3:32-33
FOR THE WISDOM OF GOD IS SPOKEN IN A MYSTERY, AND THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD UNDER-STANDETH IT NOT: As the apostle Paul wrote. That their hearts might be comforted, being knit in love, and unto all riches of the full understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of The Father, and of Christ; In Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (COLOS-SIANS 2:2-3). And again, Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the Wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory (1 COR 2:6-8). For as it is written, God saith, 7 will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? For after that in the Wisdom of God the World by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed (1 COR 1:19-21). Therefore, by the wisdom of the world (by our human intellect and understanding), we can not know God; as God Himself testifieth, For My people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge (JEREMIAH 4:22). So in the same manner, Jesus testified against the Jews, saying. If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is The Father that honoreth me; of whom ye say, that He is your God: Yet ye have not known Him: and if I say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know Him, and keep His Sayings (JOHN 8:54-55). 0 Righteous Father, the world has not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent me (JOHN 17:25). And so, we now understand, dear brethren, that our Lord Jesus Christ testified not of himself, but of God, of The Father, Which is The TRUTH, not known |
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nor understood by a carnal man, a man of this world. For great is the Mystery of Godliness, and only unto those whom HE has called in Christ would HE be found and manifested. THE GREAT AND DIVINE MYSTERY OF GOD: WHO HATH KNOWN HIM? OR HATH KNOWN HIS SON? WHAT IS HIS HOLY AND INEFFABLE NAME? OR THE DIVINE NAME OF HIS SON? My dearly beloved of God, let us ponder for a while and meditate in our heart these pious thoughts: The Lord God Almighty, The Creator of Heaven and Earth and all things therein, The Father of all spirits, The Most High that dwelleth in the Infinite Light that no man can see. The Only True and Living God - Who is He? What is He? Who hath seen and known Him? Or What is His Holy and Divine Name? Who really can know God except HE Himself by His own will manifest Himself unto him? Thus, Solomon, the wise king, in the Spirit of The Lord spoke to us saying, Who hath ascended up into Heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in His Fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His Name, and What is His Son's Name, if thou canst tell? (PROVERBS 30:4). Verily, my beloved, I say to you, that God has a Divine and Secret Name, and so does His Son, the Christ who was manifested in the Man called Jesus, likewise bears a Divine and secret Name too, that no man can tell unless IT was given unto him of The Father through His Son - For IT is so sacred and holy, that cannot be uttered in the mouth of man. But allow me in The Lord to discuss this holy matter more vividly in the last part of this Gospel, for His Name is even The TRUTH and The MYSTERY of the Kingdom of Heaven. But now, out of His great love for Man, God manifested Himself to His people by the making of a New Covenant, established upon better promises and appointed His Christ as the Sole Mediator. As it is written. Behold the days come, saith The Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house ofJudah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;
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because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith The Lord. For this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith The Lord; I will put My Laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother saying. Know The Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more (HEBREWS 8:8-13). And in the earlier part of this writings we have known how God accomplished this, His Will, by sending His Son into the world to be the Sacrificial Lamb of God for the propitiation and remission of our Sins; and equally so as to make him (The Son) that True Prophet that will speak all the words that God has put into his mouth (DEUT 18:18-19). And moreover He has made him to be the Faithful Witness that will testify unto His Truth (JOHN 18:37). For as it is written, For the Law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ (JOHN 1:17). Now, as we have previously learned, Grace is the Gift of Remission and Redemption from Sins by the Precious Blood of Christ, which one can obtain when he has believed and received by Faith The Truth Which Jesus Christ came to Testify or Bear Witness of. But first, What meaneth this?: GOD CREATED ALL THINGS AND DID ALL HIS WORKS, FROM BEGINNING TO END, ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE IN CHRIST: As the apostle Paul wrote, And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (EPHESIANS 3:9-11). For being the Firstborn Son, Christ was with God The Father in the Beginning, as again Paul wrote of him, In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the Forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the Invisible God, the Firstborn of every Creature: For by him were all things, that are in |
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Heaven, and that are in Earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the Body, the Church: who is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased The Father that in him should all fulness dwell (COLOSSIANS 1:14-19). It is now certain, brethren, that all the works of God that He has made according to his own counsel and pleasure; that is from the Creation of Heaven and Earth, and all things therein. The Trial and Fall of Man, the Destruction of the First world by Flood, the making of the First Covenant and the giving of the Laws, the Coming of the Messiah and the Redemption through the Death at the Cross, the Dispensation of Grace and Sanc-tification in the Holy Spirit, to the End of this world and the Return of the Son of Man, the Restoration of all things, The Final Judgement, the Glorification and Eternal Life; that is, from the Beginning to the End, from Everlasting to Everlasting, all these divine Plans and Works have He accomplished by and through and for Christ. And thus Paul wrote of Christ, saying, But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a Stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks Foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God. And again, But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 COR 1:23, 24, 30). Being therefore the Image of God, the Wisdom and the Power of God, it now becomes very apparent, brethren, that whosoever hath known Christ would have known The Father also; as the Lord Jesus said. Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also (JOHN 8:19). And John also wrote, saying. No Man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of The Father, he hath declared Him (JOHN 1:18). And thus, when his disciple Philip requested him to show them The Father, Jesus said, Have I not been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that |
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hath seen me hath seen The Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us The Father? (JOHN 14:9). But wait a minute, and open thy understanding, my brethren! What do you really think our Lord Jesus meant when he testified that whosoever hath known him hath known God; and he that hath seen him hath seen God also? Would it mean only them who hath known or hath seen him personally in the flesh or physical being? Was Jesus speaking according to the flesh or in the Spirit? In the Spirit, of course, my beloved! This is always how the Messiah testified of God and His Word, according to the Spirit and in Truth; for The Spirit is Truth. Thus when the Jews and even His disciples were startled and confused by His statement, saying, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE; the Lord Jesus further said unto them, It is the spirit that quickeneth (or gives life); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (JOHN 6:48-63). And now as for seeing the face of Jesus in the flesh, as man, are we led to think or assume that they who have seen him in the flesh (when he came on earth in his time) has seen The Face of God too? And how about us, in this present modem time, who have not seen the Lord Jesus in the flesh (but are even made to acknowledge or believe the form of his face in the images or pictures created by man according to their designers who, are as supposed, to have known or seen the face of the Son of Man before) does it mean only they have seen the Face of God? God forbid, but no, this is not the real meaning of Jesus 'testimonies! For have we forgotten what God saith that no man hath seen the Face of God and still liveth! As God said unto Moses, Thou canst not see My Face: for there shall no man see Me and live (EXODUS 33:20-23). Therefore, being in the Image of God, Christ himself was not come in the flesh bearing the similitude of the Face of The Father; for so it cannot be, lest any man see His Face and die. For on the contrary, according to the unsearchable Wisdom of God that destroys the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent in this world. God sent His Son in the flesh not bearing the form of beauty or comeliness so as to test the wisdom and faith of men. As was spoken of Christ by the prophet Isaiah saying, Who hath believed our report? |
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and to whom is the Arm of The Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form of comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (ISAIAH 53:1-5). Therefore God in his divine Wisdom sent not His Son on earth with the beauty according to the flesh, to see who would believe him, not because of a goodly look or appearance, but because of the righteousness and truth of his words. For God knows that man looks at the outward appearance and judgeth by the sight of his eyes. For a natural or a carnal man can only believe in things that his eyes can see and is beholden by the beauty or ugliness that is judged by his fleshly heart. And this is not Faith at all, for Faith is for things that are not seen by the carnal eyes. As it is written, Now Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of thing not seen (HEBREWS 11:1). And further the apostle Paul wrote, While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 CORINTHIANS 4:18). And again, For we walk by Faith not by sight (2 COR 5:7). And moreso, did not our Lord Jesus admonish his disciple Thomas for not fully believing that he was risen from the dead, until he can see him physically; saying, Thomas, because thou hast seem me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (JOHN 20:29). For consider this, brethren: When the prophet Samuel was commanded by God to go to the house ofJesse to choose David from among his eight (8) sons, he was admonished by God; for upon seeing Eliab, the eldest, Samuel said, surely the Lord's annointed is before Him. But The Lord said unto |
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Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but The Lord looketh on the heart (1 SAMUEL 16:6-7). And because God, in Truth, is a Spirit and the Son of God is likewise a Spirit, thus the Christ who came into the body of flesh and became the man Jesus, commanded us to worship God in spirit and in truth; as it is written, But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship The Father in spirit and in truth: for The Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (JOHN 4:23-24). And so we must beware, my brethren, not to deceive ourselves as many have, by making a picture or an image of the face or stature of Jesus Christ according to our design, according to the imagination of our hearts, then beholding to worship or idolize the same, thinking that such kind of worship pleases Christ and God. For on the contrary, such will-worship dishonors the glory of God and of His Christ. As Paul in the spirit sayeth, But that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things... who changed the Truth of God into a Lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen (ROMANS 1:21-25). And as pertaining knowing Jesus Christ according to his stature or looks according to the flesh when he first came in the world, the apostle Paul further declared, as saying. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more (2 CORINTHIANS 5:16); Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 CORINTHIANS 3:17). And just to have an idea of the glory of the image of Christ, let us look into the book of Revelations how Christ appeared before the beloved apostle John, when he was in the |
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isle ofPatmos and in the spirit on the Lord's day: And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His Head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me. Fear not; I am the First and the Last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death (REVELATIONS 1:13-18). Yes, brethren, such is the glory of the image of Christ, which is the image of God; and unless we are in the spirit as John was and as blessed as he, no man can withstand to see such glory and still live; for John, even in the spirit, fell at this feet as dead too. And thus was given the commandment by God, saying, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I The Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments (EXODUS 20:4-6). And since Christ is the mystery of God, and the power and wisdom of God, no one can just know and understand Him, except they who are truly called of God. For when he said that whosoever hath |
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known him and hath seen him, he meant by faith, and not by sight, in the spirit, not in the flesh! THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST UNTO THE TRUTH (IN PARABLES OR PROVERBS): And Christ began his Testimony unto the Truth, saying, I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE (JOHN 10:30). Now, this is a hard saying which Jesus spoke, which impulsively out of misunderstanding, the Jews were about to stone him, saying. For a good |
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work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy;
and because that thou, being a man, makes thyself God (JOHN 10:33) (Of a
truth, if we use our carnal mind or understanding, what Christ was
testifying can not be a fact, because he was a man, and in the form of a mortal
flesh (like us) that dieth, while God is an
eternal Spirit. How then can the truth be in what Jesus Christ said?). But the Lord gave them an answer which the
more baffled and confused even the teachers of the Law, when Jesus answered
them, Is it not written in your Law, I said.
Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and
the Scriptures cannot be broken (JOHN 10:34-35). This second declaration of our
Lord Jesus, my brethren, has become harder and more difficult to accept;
because not only did he testify of himself as having onensss
with God, but also reminded the Jews who were contending with him that they
were gods too as already spoken by God, even in the old time. But then again,
it is crucial to remember that Godliness is a great Mystery, and His Truth is
also the Mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven. And for this Cause, The Father sent
His Begotten and Firstborn Son into the world — that he may teach and make
known the mystery of the Truth, unto them who have the pure heart and open mind
to know the true and living God. And this Mystery, being in itself sacred, was
revealed by the Son of God only unto them who are called of God according to
their Faith, thus to reverend its holiness. Verily, the knowledge of the
mystery of the Testimony of Jesus Christ was not declared to all or to many,
but to a chosen few as the Lord Jesus saith, For
many are called, but few are chosen (MATTHEW 22:14). Understandably
therefore, this is the reason why our Lord Jesus preached unto the multitudes
in parables, by words not easily understood. However, unto them that The Father
has given him, like the chosen apostles and disciples, hast he expounded and
revealed all things. Yes, dear brethren, only unto them who are given the
right to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, chosen by the will of
God, not of men, is the Grace and Truth bestowed through faith in Christ
Jesus. For whosoever hath, shall be given
more, that is to say, whosoever hath the holy fear of God, hath |
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faith, a contrite heart, an open understanding shall be given more knowledge and wisdom of The Lord; But he who hath not, meaning, who hath none of these attributes, even the very life that he has shall be taken away from him by God, Who is the Owner of Life. For sadly to say, many people, even the religious ones, have hardened their hearts and become stubborn in their own beliefs, philosophies, and vain imaginations according to the wisdom and righteousness of this world - thus the Light of Christ, which is the Mystery of God did not shine upon them; and Christ became unto them a stumbling block and a rock of offense. But unto you, my beloved brethren, I pray you be not counted as among those who are reprobates or destined to perdition; but as among them who have the faith and the knowledge of the Truth. And I pray more that God may number you among the chosen few who have been given the right to know of the mystery of Christ, as it was also granted unto me, His lowly servant, that I may share with you likewise in all clarity of understanding according to the measure of grace given me in Christ Jesus our Lord. THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST UNTO THE TRUTH OF GOD, AS REVEALED AND EXPLAINED PLAINLY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT: Beloved, when the Lord Jesus Christ sent His disciples to preach. He commanded them, saying, What I tell you in darkness, that ye speak in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops (MATTHEW 10:27). This means that what he has spoken in parables, they must now speak plainly; and what he has said in proverbs, they now must explain clearly; which meaneth further that the time for parables is now passed, for by means of these (parables and proverbs), has he already declared the hidden things or mysteries kept secret from the foundation of the world (MAT 13:34-35). For when the Lord Jesus finally met his crucifixion, and knowing that all things were now accomplished, he saith. It is finished (JOHN 19:28-30). Yes, truly Christ Jesus has faithfully and triumphantly accomplished his divine Mission, that is to do the Will of God - to redeem man from Sins, and to testify unto the Truth that we have to believe in. Hence from |
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thence His disciples began preaching the Gospel of Truth more plainly to the believers through the Spirit of Christ, which is the Holy Ghost that was given unto them (and to all who would be baptized in Christ according to the Truth); as the Lord Jesus told them, saying, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 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 he shall speak: and he will shew you things to come (JOHN 16:12-13). Yes, dear brethren, it is only through the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost who is the Third Person in the Divine Personalities of GODLINESS) when he is come into a man, who can teach us all the Truth about Christ's Testimonies in parables. For it is the Holy Ghost that is promised to be given unto us if we have believed in the Son, and which Christ came to baptize us with, that would renew our old spirit and mind, that we may beget the holy personality of The Father and of The Son, and that ultimately we may become part of the Godhead Family. As Jesus again saith, And I will pray The Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he (the Third Person) may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you (JOHN 14:16-17). And again the Lord Jesus said, These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom The Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (JOHN 14:25-26). Herein then is a divine wisdom, my brethren: God is a Divine and Eternal Spirit, and His Glorious Godliness, according to His own Wisdom and Will, is manifested through His Divine Personalities, Who are The Father (The Godhead Figure and the Creator), The Son (The Redeemer, Christ, The Son of Man and New Adam) and The Holy Ghost (The Sanctifier, The Bond between The Father and The Son, The Bond between God and Man, That Spirit or Ghost that is from The Father and Part of the Son, That shall be given unto all them who have been baptized unto the Truth in Christ Jesus, Which will make |
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us a new person in Crhist). And Jesus, the Son of God, spoke moreover concerning the Holy Ghost, The Holy Spirit or The Spirit of Truth, saying, He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that The Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he (the Holy Ghost) shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you (JOHN 16:13-15). And unless we have now received the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost when we believed in Jesus Christ by faith, we still cannot know the Truth and the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. As the apostle Paul wrote, saying. But as it is written. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. But who hath known the Mind of The Lord, that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of'Christ (1 CORINTHIANS 2:9-16). And now, my dearly beloved, by the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Ghost, let us continue our searching of the deep things of God spoken in a mystery or in parables through the Testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ unto the Truth of God. May the Lord open the eyes of your understanding: When Paul began to preach the Gospel, he wrote unto the brethren, saying, Withal praying for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds (COLOSSIANS 4:3). But WHAT |
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is this mystery of Christ, which is of a truth the mystery of God also? And Paul continued to declare, Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to this saints. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (COLOSSIANS 1:26-27). But what meaneth this, that the mystery is that Christ is in ms? For again, Paul saith in the spirit. 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? What further meaneth this, brethren, that if we truly examine and prove our own selves by Faith, we shall know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is in every one of us, unless we are already castaways? And if the Son of God be in us now, what are we also to Him? Why did the Lord Jesus say to the Jews contending with his being one with The Father, I said ye are gods? What is man? And Why did Christ come in the form of man? Brethren, we have now come to the core or the centerpiece of the whole Gospel of God's Love for mankind or the world. Why did God so love the world (MANKIND) that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die for the sake of man? What is the Truth in man that makes him real valuable and so loved of God? Why did God create man in the Beginning? and How does man relate to God? And so it is written, But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou uisitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of Thy hands (HEBREWS 2:6-7). Now, isn't this a real inspiring mind-opener and a great spiritual upliftment to us, mankind? For man apparently is really precious to God, making him just a little lower than the angels of Heaven, but was crowned with glory and honor, and was set over or above the works of His hand; and God cares for him, is mindful of him, and visitest him. Yet, the big question still remains, but Why?
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THE TRUTH (OF GOD) IS IN MAN; THE LIFE IN MAN IS THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: Beloved, following is the gracious revelation by the Holy Ghost of the hidden things or mysteries that our Lord Jesus Christ declared or testified through parables, that is, the things from the foundation of the world (MATTHEW 13:34-35)..... In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth. He first created the Kingdom of Heaven before the World. And since God hast loved man from the beginning did He labor six days (according to God's own Time or celestial Clock) to make him a paradise on earth; as the apostle John wrote, saying. We love Him because He first loved us (1 JOHN 4:19). And so, our loving God made the land, the seas, the trees, the herb-yielding seed, the fruit-bearing trees, the fishes and sea creatures, the animals and creeping creatures - all for man's need and use. Likewise, in the firmaments of the heavens, He created the sun and the moon, the planets and the stars to serve as lights, and to divide the night and day, and to be for signs, and seasons and for days and months and years; He also made the birds and all the fowls of the air - again, all for the use and benefit of mankind (GENESIS 1:1-25). And when He has completely prepared the Dwelling Place, God last made His most beloved Creature, His greatest and most precious Creation, unto whom was the world and all things therein made in the first place, in order to inherit the paradise He has prepared for him, and to govern the earth -which is no other than Man His self. Verily and truly, God loved man that for this reason He gave unto him His Own IMAGE and LIKENESS, as it is written, 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. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them (GENESIS 1:26-27). So now, it was God's will and pleasure that He had made man in His own image and likeness; and because of this image and likeness of God was man appointed to be ruler of the earth, as a god on earth. But before we proceed any further to |
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expound on this image and likeness of God in man, let us behold at this time another sacred mystery: When God said, let US make man in OUR own Image, after OUR Likeness ... (What do you think, my brother, was God alone?). For if God were Alone, He would have instead said, I will make man in My own Image, after My own Likeness ... (Don't you think so, dear brother?). Who then was or were His Companions when He created man? According to the revelations of the Holy Ghost through divine visions, When God The Father created the Kingdom of Heaven, he made the spiritual beings like the angels, archangels, cherubims, seraphims, and the rest of the heavenly hosts to be His helpers and also to minister unto men whom He would create on earth. But before and prior to making any of these Divine Beings, He first made, through His Own Spirit, after His Own Image and Likeness, His Divine Persons, even The Son and The Holy Ghost - and They composed the Three (3) Divine Personalities of the One and Omnipotent God, the Eternal Life and Light; The Father, being the Godhead of the Holy Trinity or First Family of Godliness. Of a truth, God The Father had with Him his Divine Persons, even The Son and The Holy Ghost, when He created man in their own image, after their own likeness. Thus Christ, in the divine person as The Son, was already with the Father from the beginning, but was manifested in the flesh only in the last times for our glory. This is what Paul wrote about him, saying, Christ was with The Father from the beginning, the Firstborn of every creature, he was before all things, and that all things consist of him, were created by him and for him (COLOS-SIANS 1:14-19). And so, when our Lord Jesus Christ was praying to The Father in the garden ofGethsamane, he said, And now, 0 Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own selfwith the glory which I had with Thee before the world was (JOHN 17:5). Verily, what the Lord Jesus was asking The Father was to give him the same glory he had with The Father already before the world was created, even the glory of The Son who is in the Right Hand of the Throne of God in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is for the same truth that Jesus, when contending with the Jews regarding Abraham, said. You father Abraham |
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rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then the Jews said unto him, Thou are not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you. Before Abraham was, I am (JOHN 8:56-58). And Christ also said, I have many things to say and to judge of you: but He that sent me is True; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father... But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the Truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham (JOHN 8:26, 38, 40). In likewise, the Existence andthree-getherness of the Three (3) Divine Persons in God is also manifested clearly in the holy Scriptures as was earlier discussed: John, the Baptist, testified, saying, I saw the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him (Jesus): and to a Voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (MATTHEW 3:16-17). Hearken, my brethren, and consider: The Voice is from The Father, the beloved Son is in the person of Jesus, and That which alighted upon him in the form of a dove is the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. And again, as we had read earlier, the Lord Jesus said, These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom The Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (JOHN 14:25-26). It is for this divine cause (whereas the mystery of the Great Works of God the Eternal Life and Spirit and Infinite Power and Light, the One and Omnipotent Lord have been fulfilled through His Divine Persons, Which are The Father as the Godhead and the Creator, The Son as the Redeemer or the Christ and the Bearer of The Word of God, being also the Prophet and the Mouth of God, and lastly, The Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier and Comforter who will be given into them that have believed and received the Testimony of Jesus Christ unto The Truth Which is The Word of God, that we may likewise bear witness of The Father and The Son; yes, it is for this
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divine cause that the Lord Jesus commanded his disciples, saying, Now Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Ghost (MATTHEW 28:19). And the apostle John likewise testified in the spirit, saying, For there are Three that bear record in Heaven, The Father, The Word (The Son), and The Holy Ghost: and these Three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one (1 JOHN 5:7-8). I now therefore pray, my brethren, that you will take care of this sacred mystery concering the 3 Divine Persons who were conversing in the day God created man. The same has been kept secret so as to safeguard its holiness from people who have no faith and love for God. THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD GIVEN TO MAN: THE I AM OF GOD; THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST: As it was written in Genesis 1:26, man was created in the image and likeness of God. But then what is the image of God? Is it the man that we see in the physical, of the flesh, of the earlthly body? God forbid, no! Because of this sad ignorance or misunderstanding of the true image of God, men had been persuaded to make unto themselves graven images of man and other creatures, made by the hands of men and to worship or pay homage to them; being convinced that such is the image of Godliness. And it was fulfilled unto them saying, Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things . . . Who changed the truth of God into a Lie, and worshipped the creature more than the Creator, Who is blessed for ever. Amen (ROMANS 1:21-25). Given this factual statement, let us now consider and understand the matter in all wisdom: What is God? Is not God a Spirit? And What is the image of the Spirit? Is it the material, or physical, or the flesh, or earthly thing? What is the image of the invisible? Is that which is visible? And what is the image of the Incorruptible and Immortal? Is that which is corruptible and temporal? No, my dearly beloved! Because the truth is that the image |
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of God is His own kind of being too, that of a spirit, invisible and infinite. Thus, herein is wisdom: The image of God is the part of His Spirit, of His Being, Which giveth breath and mind or understanding and heart or conscience, emotions and feelings and senses, which in whole is the life and light in man. While the likeness of God is His BodilyForm or Appearance, the body that contains the spirit, the spiritual body. Which is called the Soul. THE CREATION OF MAN: THE DIVINE MYSTERY OF THE LIFE IN MAN: As it is written in the book of Genesis, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life; and man became a living soul (GEN 2:7). My dear brethren, this particular verse may seem rather short, but it truly contains a wide dimension of knowledge concerning the hidden Truth in the beginning. For herein is revealed the wholeness of our parts and complete being: First Part: The Dust of the Ground - the Body of Flesh: The earthly part of man is the Body of Flesh, that physical and outer part, which, when a man dies, is buried into the ground, where it was taken, and eventually returns to dust. This outward part of man, the fleshly or physical body, being of the earth or ground has no Life of itself, for the earthly ground has no life of itself that even platn and tree cannot grow in it unless God giveth it energy or heat from the Sun and caused it to rain upon the earth, adn there be man to till the ground (GEN 2:5). And since man is taken from the ground, it shall return to the ground, as God hast spoken unto Adam, saying, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (GEN 3:19). But it was because of Sin that this Judgement of God unto condemnation of man came; and more particularly He was refering to the earthly body or physical being of the man or Adam which was taken out of the ground. And when Adam was formed, that is his earthly body, he had no life yet in himself thus, at this particular stage, he could be likened unto a molten clay or graven images and idols which have no life or |
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breath in them. This is not the image of Godliness as we have known by the word of the Gospel. Notwithstanding, God hath designed and formed the physical body or flesh of man for a greater glory, at it was built to be the earthly vessel or container or house of the spirit of God which shall come into him which will give him life, for it is the image of the Living God. Second Part: The Soul or the heavenly body: As the Flesh is the earthly body. The Soul is the heavenly or spiritual body which gives the form and appearance to the spirit of life within us. And as the body of flesh is the earthly vessel or house of the spirit and the soul, the Soul is also the ultimate heavenly vessel or house of the spirit or life or mind or whole consciousness of existence. Both the physical body and the spiritual body or soul have the same form, for the similitude of the fleshly body was patterned after its celestial counterpart body, the soul, differing only mainly in the kind of glory given to each one. And so, the apostle Paul wrote in this wise, saying, There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestial is another. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption (1 COR 15:40, 44, 49). Therefore, we are now certain that man has two kinds of body in himself. One the earthy or the flesh (which shall return to dust as it was), and the other the spiritual or celestial, the soul (which we bring in the life after this worldly life). In the same token, there is designed two manner of living for each body, one according to the flesh or carnal and the other according to the spirit or godliness (though these two bodies have only one life or spirit in both). And as having two kinds of bodies and manner of living for both God has decreed a particular Judgement and Punishment of Death for each, that is the First Death which is of the flesh wherein the earthy body will return to the |
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ground from whence it was taken (and unto which death all men are destined to die once because of Sin); and then there is that Second Death of which are all not familiar yet. What is the Second Death? It is the Death prepared for the Soul or Celestial Body of the man who did not overcome the world of sin by Faith in Jesus Christ. It is written in the book of Revelations that on that Judgement Day, Death and Hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire (REV 20:14-15). So thus, the first death is earthy, concerning the body that is seen or visible, the physical or the flesh; while the second death is spiritual, concerning that body which is not visible to us, the body according to the spirit, which is the soul. But how far more dreadful and terrible is the Second Death or the Final Death, for it would be the End of that body which has the Hope and Destiny to inherit the everlasting life, should the man thereof overcome by Faith. Hence Christ spoke in this manner, saying. Fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (MAT 10:28). Yes, dear brethren, let us not be truly afraid of our own fellowman who can kill the body of flesh but after that cannot harm the soul; but let us rather fear God who has the power over the life and death of both the earthly body and the spiritual body, the soul. But as for us, brethren, we must always remember that our goal or aim in our Faith in God through Jesus Christ is to save, not the physical body or flesh, but our souls. As the apostle Peter wrote, saying, |
Receiving the end of your Faith, even the salvation of your souls (1 PETER 1:9). Third Part: The Spirit, The Life: When Adam was formed out of the dust of the ground, he had no life in him yet. How then did he become a living being? Going back now to (GENESIS 2:7), we read. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life . . . Therefore, in order to give life to the body. God breathed into the man's (Adam) nostrils the Breath of Life. Herein then is wisdom: Who hast breathed? |
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Whose Breath? GOD breathed, and GOD'S Breath. Where was it breathed into? Into the Nostrils of Man. But What is God? Is not God a Spirit, a divine Spirit? If therefore God be a Spirit, is not all the part of His Being a spirit too? Now, the Breath of Life came from God and was taken out of His own Bowels, from deep inside of Him; thus the Breath that went into the nostrils of man Which gave him the life is that spirit of God in man. The SPIRIT giveth Life, for The SPIRIT is LIFE Itself. As the prophet Job saith. All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils. The Spirit of God hath made me, and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me Life (JOB 27:3/33:4). So then, the breath that is in our nostrils is the spirit of God in man, which maketh him live for as long as it dwells in his body. And why does the spirit of God giveth life? Because as we already know that God while being a Spirit is Life itself too. For let us ponder over this, brethren: The God that created the first man Adam thousands of generations ago, is the same God who made a covenant with Noah, then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and spake also unto the prophets that followed after and unto His Christ, Jesus in the New Testament time. He is the same God The Father that Jesus and his apostles were praying to. And up to this present modem time of ours, He is the same Almighty God, and besides Him there is no other. So how long is the Life of God? Is He not the Eternal or Everlasting Life? As was seen by John in the spirit at the Kingdom of Heaven, there were four heavenly beasts sor-rounding the Throne of God in the Kingdom, and they rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is to come. And when these beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the Throne, Who liveth for ever and ever, the twenty four Elders fall down before Him and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the Throne, saying Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created (REV 4:8-11). Foras God then is the Everlasting Life, the Great Life, |
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and Life itself, when He breathed into man a part of Himself did man beget life in himself. And thus the Lord Jesus saith. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him (LUKE 20:38). Again, our Lord Jesus said. For as the Father hath Life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in himself (JOHN 5:26). This is what the Lord Jesus was testifying unto all men, that the spirit or the life in man is the offspring or the seed, the sonship and that which relates man to his Source of life, God The Father of Life. As the Scripture further saith. And I shall put My spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I The Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith The Lord (EZEKIEL 37:14). And again, Jesus saith, It is the spirit that quickeneth (make alive); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (JOHN 6:63). For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (JAMES 2:26). |
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The TRUTH, therefore my brethren, is GOD HIMSELF, the ETERNAL SPIRIT and EVERLASTING LIFE; and this Truth or Spirit of the TRUTH has He given unto Man From the Beginning when He created him in His own image and likeness through His Breath of Life. For out of His great love for Man has he destined him for eternal life with Him when He created him; However, this eternal life would not come unto man through the First man, Adam, the earthy one but by and through His Firstborn Son in Heaven, Christ Jesus who was the beginning of His creation and unto whom and for whom He purposed all His wondrous and great Works from beginning to the end; Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. For it pleased The Father that in him should all fulness dwell (COL 1:13-19). And this spirit of Truth or the life that is destined by God which He has given into man from the beginning is the Testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ when he came into the world and was manifested in the flesh as a Son of man for our sake and glory. As the life in man is holy and precious, being a breath or spirit from God, thus we are taught and commanded by The Lord to love and respect our neighbor or fellowman, regardless of his stature in this world - having been created equal in the eyes of God. And that we may truly value life, He gave the commandment, Thou shalt not kill, for our life is not our own but His; and we have no power over life for it is lent unto us by The Father of life. As it is written, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto The Lord; and whether we die, we die unto The Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living (ROMANS 14:7-9). As God is holy, the spirit He gave unto the First man was holy; and as He is Power and Wisdom, that spirit which he gave unto man gave him the power and wisdom to rule and govern the whole earth. But tragically, the first man Adam through the woman Eve has sinned by disobeying |
God's commandment and believing the guile and deceit of the devil; and likewise their children that came after them have committed iniquities and wickedness before The Lord. Thus, the eternal life in the flesh was removed by God from man, as it is written. And The Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years (GENESIS 6:3). Because man has sinned and committed evil, did God confirm that the flesh, the earthy body, is weak and easily tempted; so He has decided, according as He has planned before, to limit or shorten the time of indwelling of His spirit in man, that its purity and holiness be not desecrated or profaned any longer. And because the wickedness of man abounded upon the earth, He shortened the length of life in man. For in the earlier times, when the world was still young and men's heart were not yet full of evil, the lifespan of our forefathers was a hundredfold longer than ours now; as it is written, And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died (GEN 5:5, 27). Behold therefore that the oldest man who ever lived, Methuselah, has reached the age of 969 years but today lasts a maximum of 120 years only, that the word of God may come to pass. And since God has limited the time of the dwelling of His spirit in man so as to shorten his days on earth, man now in this body of flesh cannot inherit eternal life. And because of sin even from the first man. God hath appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement (HEBREWS 9:27). If therefore it has been appointed unto men once to die (for Christ himself once has to die in the flesh for Sin), what is there left of man to be judged if he has returned to dust after death? The answer again, brethren, is that other body, the heavenly one which is the soul. It is the soul that shall be judged either unto the second death or unto life eternal with God and Christ. Those who have believed the Testimony that God hast given to His Son Jesus Christ shall not be judged of the second death but inherit the promise of eternal life; but unto them who believed not will suffer the second death, meaning the casting into the Lake
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of Fire of the soul and the ultimate removal of God's spirit of life from that soul. And the spirit shall return unto God and would be cleansed as it was, through the Eternal Light, and there shall be no more remembrance of the former life. (This, my brethren, is an inspiration or understanding given by the Holy Ghost, which consider for your own selves). But as pertaining the appointment unto men once to die, but after that the judgement: Have we not considered. my brethren, that this 'dying once' of men have we already 'met' in Christ Jesus when He died for the sins of the world? As the apostle Paul said. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again (2 COR 5:14-15). Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death9 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of The Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin (ROMANS 6:3-7). And so, brethren, if we have truly believed in Jesus Christ and by faith have died with him and likewise have been raised with him in the spirit. What judgement after this "dying once' or first death still awaits us? Is it a judgement unto condemnation or unto life? As Paul further saith. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (ROM 8:1-2). Blessed be God for this amazing grace He has given us in Christ Jesus! And finally, our Lord Jesus himself testified unto Martha when her brother Lazarus died, saying. Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I AM the Resurrection, |
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and the Life: He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? (JOHN 11:23-26). My brethren, let us now test our faith in Jesus Christ: Do we and can we really believe beyond the shadow of doubt, that we now, who profess to believe in him, shall no longer die according to his words? Is it not a hard saying, yes? But then it is faithful and true, only that Jesus was again speaking in the spirit and in truth; meaning, that he who has died with him by the operation of God through the baptism in his death, shall live again, and that in like wise, he who now lives in the spirit through baptism in his resurrection from the dead will not die anymore. Thus they who are in Christ and had died literally in the flesh, are no longer called 'dead' but only 'sleeping in Christ', as it is written. When Jesus knew that Lazarus died, He told his disciples. Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead (JOHN 11:11-14). And in another time and place, when Stephen was stoned unto death by the Jews who could not receive his testimony for Jesus Christ, it was written. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep (ACTS 7:59-60). And again the apostle Paul wrote, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the |
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Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words (1 THES 4:13-18). And as for the Lord Jesus Christ's Testimony, saying, I AM The Resurrection and The Life, he was not speaking of himself only as the Son of God or the Messiah, but above all he was testifying of God The Father Himself, Who hast sent him to testify of the Truth, and by Whose power and glory was he risen from the dead. For The Lord God Himself has declared of His being called 'The I AM THAT I AM or I AM THE LORD (EXODUS 3:13-15). For God is truly LIFE, the Eternal Life, and through His Spirit or Breath of Life did Men become Alive even as from the beginning; and This is the same I AM of God The Father which dwelleth in the Man Jesus, and unto Whom he testified, saying, If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him (JOHN 10:37-38). Again, Jesus cried and said. He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on Him that sent me. (JOHN 12:44). And then again, he said, He that rejected me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of myself; but The Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as The Father said unto me, so I speak (JOHN 12:48-50). Of a surety, my dear brethren, this Man Jesus, is the Faithful Witness and True Prophet, the Messiah or Christ and the Real Son to his Father, the Living and Almighty God. Amen. My dearly beloved, I shall now conclude the first chapter of this epistle to you concerning the glorious mystery of the Gospel of Christ. In the second chapter, I shall endeavor through the same inspiration of the Holy Ghost to continue expounding on the Testimony of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto the Truth and The Word of God. |
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We shall also touch on the Commandments and Righteousness of God which Jesus taught to his disciples that they may likewise abide in the Way and remain in His grace. And finally, God willing, I shall culminate our study of the Truth of the Gospel with the Revelation of the Holy and Ineffable Name of God The Almighty Father, which shall be thoroughly discussed in the third and final chapter of this epistle. Meanwhile, may the Love of God The Father, and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Comfort and Joy of the Holy Ghost be with you always. Blessed be His Name for ever and ever. Hosanna unto the Highest and peace on earth. Maranatha. Amen + |
IN CHRIST'S DIVINE NAME, ADONIS B. DONATO - PHILIPPINES - |
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