The Lord God and The Most High #4

God the Father and Jesus Christ and what They are doing under the New Covenant

Fred R. Coulter—September 22, 2018

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services! This is the Sabbath before the Feast of Tabernacles, and it's very interesting, because there's a ten-year space of time—this is year #9—where there is no Wednesday Passover. That happens every once in a while that way. So, next year it will be like a repeat of what we have this year, only it will be later. This year, starting with the Feast of Trumpets is a leap year. That pushes it out about 20 days.

Also, I've been watching the moon and it's getting closer to a full moon. Tonight the moon will turn full when it's just past what you would say is the middle of the horizon. It's turning full at that time. That's important, because that will be the full moon for New Zealand, because they're a day ahead of us.

In order to have the full moon for the whole earth, you need two days of full moon. For us, Sunday night will be a full moon, but we're close to the end of the two days of full moon. It happens that way on the Passover, too.

So, beginning in 2020, within five years we will have three Passover's in the middle of the week. A little thought on the timing of the return of Christ. A lot of people think it should be in a Jubilee year. But if it's in the beginning of a Jubilee year, there's no storage of food. When the Millennium begins, what's the earth like? It's in chaos and confusion!

Speculation: Suppose the Jubilee is the year of Jesus' return, and when the saints and Christ come to the earth and Satan is put away, that ends the Jubilee. The Jubilee runs from Atonement to Atonement. Do you think that might sound plausible? Could be!

But since everything is renewing and rebuilding, He cannot come to the earth at the beginning of a Jubilee, because where are you going to eat the food?

Just something to think on!

Have you ever gone along and have been studying and you finally notice something that you have never noticed before in all the years of studying the Bible? Well, that happened to me last week!

The first verses in Psa. 50 are quite significant, so, let's think about it and see an example of why you need to read, study, compare and put it together.

We were having a good discussion on how it's best that everyone have a regular Bible, because if the Internet fails you're not going to get it. If your batteries go dead and there's no electricity for charging… And if you have an electric car and you don't solar panel to charge up the battery, you aren't going anywhere.

Sidebar on electric cars: How does all of the magnetism—plus and minus—contained in the storage batteries in the car affect the driver? Don't know! I suppose it will be kind of like gasoline. It took them 70 years how to keep all the toxins down.

Comment: Electric blankets have been shown to tend to—not absolutely proven—cause pregnant women to lose their babies. Electric blankets will affect you in addition to making you more warm than you ought to be. What does that do?

Psalm 50:1: "The mighty God, God, the LORD, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion… [in heaven above] …the perfection of beauty, God has shined forth. Our God shall come, and He shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, so that He may judge His people: 'Gather My saints unto Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.' And the heavens shall declare His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. Selah" (vs 1-6).

• What does this picture? The return of Christ!
• What else does this picture?

Remember that the coming of Christ is not just instantaneous in one day. What else does it tell us? Judgment!

Verse 5: "'Gather My saints unto Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.'"

• How and when does He gather them? The resurrection!'
• What is the sacrifice of the covenant that we have? Baptism! That's your sacrifice!

Whenever you have a covenant the two parties enter into sacrificial dedication of their covenant pledge to guarantee they will do it. That guarantee is that if you don't do it you're going to die!

Christ gave His life; that's His sacrificial guarantee. When we are baptized, what's one of the things that we are counseled on? Count the cost, which is a pledge that you will always put God first in your life through Jesus Christ!

Let's see how this is done. This makes it legal; God is the Author of laws. Is God interested that things are legal and right.

Sidebar on legal and testifying: I did not know until it was reported on television that during the Inquisitions, the accused always was required to testify first. So, with this little thing going on with Judge Kavanaugh, that shows very clearly that they don't know anything about it. If it were true, the accuser must speak first.

Christ died for us, paid for our sins and that's His covenant pledge to all those whom God the Father calls.

• Can you get any greater covenant pledge than that? No!
• What was the foretype of His crucifixion?
• Where is that found in the book of Genesis? Abraham, Gen. 15!

When those animals for sacrifice were split down the middle, there was a pathway for God to walk through. The whole thing there is symbolic of the Passover and the suffering that He would go through. God pledged to keep that covenant, and if that covenant were changed—concerning Abraham—He would die. That was done so that He could initiate the New Covenant.

This is where we come in; Romans 6:1: What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? MAY IT NEVER BE!…." (vs 1-2).

Always remember that nothing can replace the sacrifice of Christ, because nothing is greater than that! Which means that works of law, inheritance, family, whatever, can do nothing spiritually for you! They may do a lot of things physically for you, because of other promises that God gave to the physical descendants that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

But when you look at it, nothing you can do can equal the sacrifice of Christ! How does God handle that? Repentance! That's the important thing! Then God promises to forgive your sins. When your sins are forgiven, and you're answering the call to salvation, you must be baptized for your part of the covenant sacrifice!

Like it says in Psalm 50:5: "Gather My saints unto Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." If you offer a bullock or a lamb

I remember that when I was an assistant with Dale Hampton up in Oregon, there's a Smith River that comes down pretty steep. We baptized this woman and instead of baptizing her head going upstream into the current, we baptized her head going down and he almost lost her. I reached out and grabbed her from going downstream. We had hip-waders on and I filled up with water. We don't need that kind of sacrifice either.

Since your repentance represents a beginning, and you're following Christ and accepting His sacrifice is a beginning, your part of the sacrifice for the covenant is not death, but a symbolic death with the other proviso, which is being faithful unto the end!

Romans 6:2: "…We who died to sin… [because 'the wages of sin is death'] …how shall we live any longer therein?" You can't live in sin!

I just did some Church At Home on the report of pedophilia in Pennsylvania. How much did the Catholic Church have to pay? $26-million in the Brooklyn Diocese. They're going to have to sell some stock to pay that.

You can't live in sin! What's one of the first things we're to do when we pray? Repent! The longer you have the Holy Spirit and the more that you:

• study the Word of God
• grow in grace and knowledge
• overcome and fight the flesh

the more you realize that there is no good thing in the flesh! That's part of conversion. When your sins are forgiven, God erases them and He doesn't remember them, but you remember them as a reminder not to do it, not to sin!

Verse 3: "Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?"

What death was His death? A covenant death! Also, a death to end the covenant with Israel! Though all the promises that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the things concerning Israel, we know that it says that in the last days you will consider (Deut. 28). Those things still apply to the nation of Israel.

Why does God answer prayers to those whom He doesn't call? Because in answering the prayer they may repent so that they could be called! And to verify the fact that God answers prayer, and to prove that He does exist.

God deals with the whole world, and everyone is subject to whatever God desires. We have to exercise our free moral agency.

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him…" That's why it's full emersion in water, closest thing to death you can come to without dying.

"…through the baptism into the death…" (v 4). That's what it is in the Greek. Who's death is that?  Christ's death! As the Creator of man and woman, His death can be applied to anyone going clear back to the beginning and clear forward to the end human procreation and so forth. That's why there's a second resurrection.

God's plan is so fantastic, and put in a book so those to whom He wants to reveal His will can understand it, provided they:

• love Him
• keep His commandments
• grow in grace and knowledge

That's how God has worked it out. Wherever the people of God are today, the world doesn't know anything about us. Wait till the resurrection, that's going to be spectacular.

"…so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life" (v 4).

Did God accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Yes, of course! For the sins of the whole world! John the Baptist said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!' Not sins, but the sin! There is one sin that causes all sin. What is that one sin? The law of sin and death! Which came when? When Adam and Eve sinned! That is the sin: takes away the sin of the world! Did you ever wonder why it didn't say sins? Because there's one sin that causes all sin! Likewise with Satan the devil, the Day of Atonement, there's one rebellion.

We die symbolically in the watery grave by full immersion, and were raised out of the watery grave to walk in newness of life, because the perfection is a process is, over time, called conversion! It says that you are a new creature (1-Cor. 5), that is a prophecy of what you will be because it says that we are being created (Eph. 2:10) by God the Father!

One is a prophecy of completion. the other is of on-going growing and overcoming with the workmanship of God the Father. This is going to tie in closely with what we did with The Most High and the Lord God, and the Father and the Son. Here is how the covenant is made legally and spiritually between God the Father, Jesus Christ and everyone that He calls, and they repent and are baptized.

Verse 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection…. [a promise] …Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified…" (vs 5-6).

That baptism is a symbolic crucifixion, because in your mind you have counted the cost and you have repented and accepted the sacrifice of Christ; you are co-crucified!

• What's another thing with crucifixion that the Bible tells us? Jesus said that if you 'want to follow Me, pick up your cross and follow Me.'
• What did Paul say that we should do with the sin daily? We should crucify it!
• How? By rejecting it and repenting of it!

Like we already covered, and this is true especially for us, but also true for every human being in the world. No one, not even atheists can get along without God, because they must eat, sleep, drink and all of that sort of thing. God provides all of that! In Christ we live, more and have our being! Now, apply that spiritually! Everything about us, that's the way it is.

"…with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed…" (v 6). Why? Because the law of sin and death is only overcome through the Spirit of God! That's how we are delivered from it. We don't have to be ruled by it. He doesn't take away 'the law of sin and death' out of us.

• we have the Spirit of God to overcome
• we use the Word of God to overcome
• the way that we think
• the way that we live
• our daily life

We're going to have some great days and we're going to have some bloopers, and we're going to have some disasters.

Especially in going over that material that John Guenther has been working up for us concerning the history of the Church from 325A.D. to 1625A.D., our sufferings are entirely different than theirs. It is true that they did have the Word of God in their own vernacular during that time; they were not without it. They had it and they lived and died for it. But their trials were fighting against the Roman Catholic Church and the whole system.

Our trials are different living in America, Canada, and I don't know so much about Britain anymore. Steve can fill us in on that. He's watching the Islamization of the UK slowly but surely. We have discussions about that every once in a while.

Ours are different. We have to fight off false doctrine and hold fast to that which is good, and grow and grace and knowledge. We have to fight things that come into our lives automatically. Turn on the television. I bet within the first ten or twenty seconds you're going to come across some sin that takes place. Whatever it is!

Our overcomings are entirely different than waiting to be martyred! Our overcomings are a world of pleasure, comfort and everything that is here. Will we be faithful to God in everything? Regardless of what happens!

• some of us have troubles with our families
• some of us have troubles with husband/wife
• some of us have troubles with people dying

Everybody is going to die! God knows when it's going to be. Just like with Stephen in Acts 7, he was ready, and he was young. So, we have to fight against how we maintain our physical body. That's one of them.

• you know your own problems
• you know your own sins
• you know the things you are struggling against

That's how we're overcoming so that we can be in the likeness of His resurrection!

"…co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (v 6). It doesn't say the absence of it! It's still there, but you're not a slave to it!

• you can overcome it
• you can say no
• you can turn it down
• you can get away from it

Or in the case of your television, switch the channel or turn it off! So, our trials are entirely different, but they are there so that we can qualify through God the Father and Jesus Christ to be in the Kingdom of God!

Have you thought about Psa. 50. I'll tell you what dawned on me, when it's obvious and right there in big print:''

Psalm 50:5: "Gather My saints unto Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."

• Is that not the resurrection? Have to be!
• Won't that be the greatest grace bestowed upon us? Number 5 is the number of grace!

• Look at the numbering of the Psalm: 50
• When is the resurrection? Pentecost, 50th day!

Here in the 50th Psalm it talks about the first resurrection.

I was reading this not too long ago and I thought: Look at that, 50 in big print. This is a Pentecost—the first five verses—Psalm! It's the 50th day that we're resurrected, and we're saved by grace, which is #5!

See how the Bible fits together? It's an amazing, amazing thing! There are so many more things that we have to learn in it. That just blew me away. Isn't it true that sometimes you can go along and you can understand so many different things, then something is as obvious as this you miss!

Psalm 47:1: "Clap your hands, all you people; shout to God with the voice of triumph."

• What's going to happen on the Sea of Glass up there? Rev. 19!
• What do you hear? A multitude saying, 'Hallelujah!'

Verse 1: "Clap your hands, all you people; shout to God with the voice of triumph, for the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth" (vs 1-2).

When does that happen? The last trumpet! 'Now the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ' (Rev. 11)! The nations were so joyous and happy! NO! they were angry and gathering their armies!

Verse 3: "He shall subdue the people under us and nations under our feet." {note Isa. 2, Micah 4, Zech. 14—how God is going to bring the true world government to this earth}

You can only do it with righteous people. If there's any one thing that we're learning, there is no human government on this earth that isn't corrupt to whatever degree. Some may be more righteous than others. But look at them, look at the nations of the world! Just took a spin of the globe and ask yourself: Since you're living here in the United States, what other nation would you like to live in? You might say for a while Switzerland! But what's going to happen when the Hadron Collider brings in a new dimension and power? Where do you want to live?

Verse 4: "He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Selah." What are we going to receive on the Sea of Glass?

• new name
• assignment
• we'll be there for the marriage
• we're going to get our battle plans
• we're going to have the marriage supper of the Lamb

What's that going to be like? A great banquet! All the saints served by the angels! I wonder what spiritual wine will taste like? Remember that Christ made wine out of water? He took it to the master of the wedding, and He said, 'You save the best wine for the last.' What's that going to be like? Who knows! Then we're going to have to learn how to play a lyre. We're going to learn how to ride a white horse.

We're all going to get our assignments. We'll know who we report to. It's going to be the most magnificent plan and operation ever executed for war on the face of the earth.

When we come down, Christ is going to give the word, and all of those armies standing up there, we're going to fight them. Did you see the movie Raider's of the Lost Ark, and finally the guy got it and looked into it and all his flesh came off of him. That's what's going to happen to these armies. That's going to be something.

Verse 5: "God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a horn. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises, for God is King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations; God sits upon the throne of His Holiness. The rulers of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham for the shields of the earth are God's; He is greatly exalted" (vs 5-9).

Even though it mentions Jacob in v 4, it was Abraham, the people of the God of Abraham. What did Paul write concerning Abraham and those who are baptized? If you are Christ's you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise!

(go to the next track)

Let's follow this up with God the Father and Jesus Christ and the New Covenant!

If God the Father were the active One of the Old Testament, the Jews would have known that. But we find in Luke 10 that was one of the main missions of Jesus Christ:

• preach the Gospel
• call the disciples
• train them
• witness to the world
• heal the sick
• raise the dead
• He had to come to be the sacrifice to end the covenant with Israel and begin the covenant with the Church

His sacrifice was just multi-layered with many different things attached to it. But in His preaching, He had to do what was not known under the Old Covenant:

Luke 10:21: "In the same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, 'I praise You, O Father, Lord…'"—Greek: 'Kurios' Remember the Psa. 'My LORD said to My Lord—'Kurios' to 'Kurios.'

"…of heaven and earth… [yet, Jesus is the One Who made them] …that You did hide these things from the wise and intelligent, and did reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for it was well pleasing in Your sight to do so.'"

Verse 22 introduces something new that God was going to do including God the Father and the One Who was the Son.

Verse 22: " Then He turned to the disciples and said, 'All things were delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows Who the Son is, except the Father; and Who the Father is, except the Son, and the one to whom the Son personally chooses to reveal Him.'"

It's a joint operation! It was a joint operation in the Old Testament under the patriarchal covenant and under the covenant with Israel together: The Lord God and The Most High! Now we have Jesus Christ and God the Father!

God the Father is now going to act in an entirely different way than He did previous to the coming of Christ. This is because He has now reached the point with His plan that there must be the development of the sons and daughters of God. We also know that many are called and witnessed to, but few are chosen! Chosen means that you are chosen by God the Father!

Another thing that was different is that it was to all people beginning first with the Jews. There was a promise. What was the promise to Judah? He would save the tents of Judah first! When you read of the 144,000, what does that start out with? Judah! 12,000! That's of the 12 tribes.

So, God's Word is true all the time! The disciples, after the resurrection of Christ preached in the area of Jerusalem and Judea for 12 years. It wasn't until that time in Antioch that there were Gentiles who were called. Remember what happened, an angel revealed himself to Cornelius, and he sent his soldiers to get Peter, who was the leading apostle. Cornelius didn't go to Thomas or Bartholomew; he went to Peter!

You know what happened. God had to perform a miracle so that he would know that now God is going to deal with all the nations of the world beginning with Cornelius and his family. God did a miracle with them in the same manner that He did with the Jews at the temple.

• What was that? The Holy Spirit came and they spoke in other languages!
• For what purpose? To show that the Gospel was now going to be preached in every language to the whole world!

This is different than the covenant with Israel; that was just to the 12 tribes. This is the whole world. It is that the Father is revealed by Christ to those who are called!

Now we're going to learn quite a few things in the book of John. How many Jews today believe in God the Father and Jesus Christ? Virtually none! Messianic Jews go so far, but what is the big problem that they have? Though they recognize Christ, they keep too much of Judaism! What is the main problem that keeps them from understanding, though they have certain degree of belief? They observe the Passover on the 15th, because the Jews in the Diaspora could not keep the 14th ,because they would have to keep in within the geographical bounds of Israel.

Therefore, they made the Night to be Much Observed the Passover and have the Seder. They know they can't do the Passover so they do the Seder. Today, the Messianics still do the Seder.

We know that Jesus kept the Passover on the 14th. This spring I'm going to go through the last ten days of Jesus' life. I want everyone to get A Harmony of the Gospels, because we're going to go through covering the last ten days. Take it day by day.

The very last thing that Jesus commanded the apostles, and we also find this down through this history that John Guenther covers, the Piedmonts.

Matthew 28:18[transcriber's correction]: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit'" (vs 18-19).

That does not prove a trinity, that proves you need the Father, the Son and you have to have the Holy Spirit.

Verse 20: "Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…." Jesus said on Passover night, beginning with the foot-washing, 'You are obligated to do as I have done unto you.'

• What did Jesus say concerning the bread? This is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me!
• What about the wine? This is My blood, which is poured out for the remission of sins; this do in remembrance of Me!

So, all the Messianics, instead of trying to find out more about God—which they should—they try and bring in as much of their traditions as they can to show their superiority over other people. That's the bottom line of it. That's not the way that it should be.

Any authority that is within the Church is for service. There's authority to cast out demons. There's authority to discipline. But if everyone is taught to do the will and Truth of God, and taught how to repent and stay close to God, how much authority needs to be exercised?

Those of you have been with me for years, how much authority have I exercised? None, because the authority comes from God so that we teach you what God wants you to do. Therefore, you don't need the authority of a ministry to say, 'Do this, do that and do the other thing.' We show what God's commands all of us to do.

Remember all the Scriptures that we covered about God's plan before the ages of time? If you're going to have a plan it's got to be complete. How about if you said, 'Okay, let's create the Earth.' What if you left off 10% of the laws that are necessary to make it run properly? Hello, Venus!

This is to show Who Jesus was, and why His revelation of the Father was so profound! It wasn't just a man. Read Isa. 9:6, The Mighty God, to us a Son is born! He's going to live forever!

How is that going to be? You can't understand that unless you have the New Testament!

John 1:1: "1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Who do we find in the Old Testament? The Lord God and The Most High!

Verse 2: "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him. In Him was life, and the Life was the Light of men" (vs 2-4).

All human life comes from the creation that the Lord God did in creating Adam and Eve, all the genes and chromosomes coming down from there. Everything in the world to give life and sustenance and everything that God wants.

Verse 9: "The True Light was that which enlightens everyone who comes into the world." That's the giving of the spirit of man!

How did Christ define that? The eye is the light of the body. If the light in you be darkness, how great is that darkness? Isn't that true with the evil that people do. How terrible that is!

Verse 10: "He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, but the world did not know Him." He had to be revealed! The Jews should have known!

Verse 11: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him; but as many as received Him…" (vs 11-12).

This is a complete change from the Old Covenant/Old Testament; now things are on entirely different level. The laws are the same, the days of worship are the same, but the level of doing it is now on a spiritual level, rather than a physical level.

Sidebar: Steven Green wrote a nice little article on why Jesus said that we are to love each other as He love them. That's different from the second great commandment, which is 'love your neighbor as yourself.' That love comes from you. 'Love each other as I have loved you' comes from God! Quite a difference!

"…to them He gave authority…" (v 12). What is this authority based upon? Repentance and baptism, but first a calling! You have to answer the call! If you answer the call, that is the authority from God!

• IF you don't answer the call, you don't have authority
• IF you don't do what He says, then you'll never receive eternal life

Jesus said, 'Why do you call men Lord, Lord and do not the things that I tell you.'

They're going to say, 'Lord, we did this, that and the other thing.' All the fakes are going to come up and say, 'Lord, look at how we were blessed.' Well, why didn't you repent and keep My commandments, I don't know you!'

"…He gave authority to become the children of God… [Sons and daughters of God (2-Cor. 6:14-18)] …even to those who believe in His name" (v 12).

To believe means that He is the Savior, but also to believe what He says. Believe means you obey! Belief without obedience is worthless! What did James say about that? Do you believe there's one God? The demons do and tremble! You haven't done anything great, nothing greater than what the demons have already acknowledged. That's another way of putting it, and most people won't like that.

Verse 14: "And the Word became flesh…"—the greatest thing that God could do.

• to divest Himself of His glory and Divinity
• to become a pinprick of life
• to be born of the virgin Mary
• to grow up and be taught of God the Father
• to become the sacrificial Lamb of God
• to be baptized by John the Baptist
• to triumph over Satan the devil
• to triumph over the world
• to triumph over all of the opposing forces

In the flesh! Not as God! The greatest thing that God could do! It says that He took upon Him the form of a servant (Philip. 2)—Greek 'doulos'—slave! And He suffered unto death, the death of the cross.

• How much was Judas paid?
• How humble did Jesus make Himself?

A dead slave was worth 30 pieces of silver! That's what Judas was paid! Since God did all of that, what have we really done? God makes it easy for us today and we need to respond far more to God.

"…and tabernacled among us (and we ourselves beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father), full of grace and Truth" (v 14).

Let's see how God deals with us differently than at any other time in the history of the Bible. The Gospel of John reveals the Father more than any other of the Gospels, or any other part of the Bible.

On Pentecost God sent the Holy Spirit in a powerful way. Compare that to what it was at Mt. Sinai where He was at the top of the mountain. On Pentecost (in Acts) He was down here with men in His Spirit, totally different. Then Peter said, 'You killed Him, but repent and be baptized and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' Then Peter talked about 'as many as God would call.' That's the major change! How does God call? It's joint effort between the Father and Christ!It must be together.

John 6:44: "No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him…" Think about what great change this is under the New Covenant!

God the Father directly intervenes in a person's life. We have that! Get the sermons: Spirit of God, Spirit of Man, and the Seven Spirits of God #1 & 2 There are seven Spirits of God, which are the eyes of God going through the whole earth seeking those who are seeking God.

I remember my very first prayer and I remember where I was. I had a lot of things going on in my life and it really wasn't good. It was about nine or ten o'clock at night in Burlingame, California, and I was walking down from my little rental that I had. The fog moved back a bit and I saw a couple of stars, and I said, 'O God, You have said, 'Ask and you shall receive. I need some help.' That prayer was answered within two weeks. I'll tell you how that was answered.

I had a little Nash Rambler, and I would go to college in the daytime and worked swing shift—4-11 pm. I like classical music, so I had it on that station in my car. The only classical music I don't like is mostly Bach because it's a dirge! One day when I wasn't studying because I would go to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and go to work. On Tuesday and Thursday I would study all day and into the evening and go to bed.

One night I was out driving around and Bach was on, and I can't stand it, so I turned to KGO and what did I hear? Herbert W. Armstrong and the World Tomorrow! When I heard that, I said, 'That's it!'

God is the One Who caused all that to happen! He works in circumstances like that with people. How many times have you done things or experienced things that after a while you look back and see that that was something you prayed about and God answered? God does these things spiritually!

Verse 44: "No one can come to Me unless the Father, Who sent Me, draws him…" How does God do it? Through one of the seven Spirit of God!

"…and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…." (vs 44-45).

How much do you know about the Bible? Everything you know comes from God!

• He caused it to be written
• He caused it to be translated in whatever language it is
• He's the One Who has caused it to be distributed
• He's the One Who gave all the things necessary for preaching the Gospel

• God is the One!
• God is no respecter of persons!

"…Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father, and has learned, comes to Me" (v 45). Very important!

When you repent and receive the Holy Spirit of God, that is a begettal! There are two aspects to the Spirit of God that we receive, and it comes from God the Father and Jesus Christ.

That never happened in the Old Testament except the patriarchs and those who are going to be in the first resurrection. Think about that! Think about all the billions of people who have come and gone down through centuries even to our time. That God the Father and Jesus Christ would be the Ones Who would interact in our lives, give us of His Spirit. Now you know why every Epistle of Paul starts out this way, maybe a little different form from one epistle to the other.

As you know, in all of the introductions that the Apostle Paul wrote, he never acknowledges the Holy Spirit as a person or a god. If the Holy Spirit were, then Paul greatly affronted God! If he had greatly affronted God, why would any of his writings be preserved for us? Never happen!

Ephesians 1:1 "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God… [Paul didn't set himself up, he was knocked down] …to the saints who are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus… [to all the faithful down through all time; a prophecy] …Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (vs 1-2).

They both worked together with Christ doing the work that He does, and the Father doing the work that He does. That's an amazing thing! Look at who he calls. All of you great ones with all of your degrees sitting out there, let's pat ourselves on our backs and tell us how great we are, and we will…. You know, at the resurrection we're going to do that! We're not ready, yet!

Verse 3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things with Christ."

• IF you have the Holy Spirit of God, you have the heavenly blessing from God
• IF you understand the Bible, that's a heavenly blessing from God
• IF you know the Sabbath and Holy Days, that's a blessing from God

You wouldn't do it on your own, because 'the carnal mind is not subject to the Law of God and neither indeed can be!'

In doing this, God is doing so to confound the world. Remember, Jesus said that He does not reveal it to the wise and the intelligent. You all know how miserable we are as human beings if there isn't God to help us. Hello, Google, Amazon, and all banking systems, all educational institutions on earth, all of the smartest people in the world, this applies to you:

1-Corinthians 1:19: "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will nullify the understanding of those who understand.' Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world?…. [Yes, indeed!] …For since in the wisdom of God…" (vs 19-21).

'We don't need God, we're so smart, wonderful and great; we can figure it all out.' How come the world is ready to destroy itself if you're so good?

"…the world through its own wisdom did not know God, it pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching" (v 21). Isn't that what they have? Yes! There are more atheists today than ever before. They look at the Bible as foolishness. If you believe the Bible you're nothing!

Verse 22: For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we proclaim Christ crucified. To the Jews it is a cause of offense… [still is to this day] …and to the Greeks it is foolishness; but to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God's power and God's wisdom, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God… [if there be any] …is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh, not many who are powerful, not many who are highborn among you. Rather, God has chosen the foolish things of the world…" (vs 22-27). Doesn't the world think us foolish?

"…so that He might put to shame those who are wise…" (v 27). What are they going to say when all the resurrected saints are presented to the world?

• we're going to tell them about God
• we're going to tell them about the love of God
• we're going to tell them about the power of God
• we're going to tell them about Jesus Christ
• we're going tell them that we're here to help them and they're going rebuild what they have destroyed

Isn't that going to be something?

"…and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things. And the lowborn of the world, and the despised has God chosen—even the things that are counted as nothing—in order that He might bring to nothing the things that are; so that no flesh might glory in His presence" (vs 27-29).

Here's how we stand before God, v 30: "But you are of Him in Christ Jesus, Who was made to us wisdom from God, even righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; so that, as it is written, 'The one who glories, let him glory in the Lord'" (vs 30-31). Quite a thing! That's far different than anything that men would understand.

Romans 8:14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God…. [including daughters as well] …Now, you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit… [we have our part, our input, all that God wants us to have] …testifying that we are the children of God…. [here's what God holds out]: …Now, if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—…" (vs 14-17).

• What is the inheritance going to be in addition to eternal life?
• What are we going to partake of?
• What are we going to share in ownership with Christ?

Rev. 21 & 22 tells us a little bit about that!

"…if indeed we suffer together with Him… [there are things that are going to be difficult and very trying] …so that we may also be glorified together with Him. For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us" (vs 17-18).

Verse 10: "But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Now, if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you…" (vs 10-11). That defines two aspects of the Spirit of God:

• from Christ
• from the Father

"…He Who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit that dwells within you" (v 11).

John 14 will finish off what God the Father and Jesus Christ are doing. Obviously, you can't get it all at once at the same time. The Spirit of God is the thing that we need to look to for God to guide us and help us in everything.

John 14:15: "If you love Me…" All the conditions are on us! God is perfect, we're not. But if we're growing, overcoming, repenting and yielding to God, then God will perfect us! In that perfection, He's going to show us the things that we need to remove.

"…keep the commandments—namely, My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that it may be with you throughout the age: Even the Spirit of the Truth… [Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life] …which the world cannot receive…" (vs 15-17). Why can't the world receive it?

• they won't repent
• they really want to believe in Jesus the way they want to rather than the way God says to

"…because it perceives it not, nor knows it; but you know it because it dwells with you, and shall be within you" (v 17).

When you receive the Spirit of God when you are baptized, that is called the circumcision of the Spirit.

Verse 18: "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. Yet, a little while and the world shall see Me no longer; but you shall see Me. Because I live, you shall live, also" (vs 18-19). This was difficult for them to understand!

Verse 20: "In that day, you shall know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you." What is the whole purpose? Read John 17, that lays out the whole plan of God in that one chapter!

Verse 21: "The one who has My commandments and is keeping them… [that is a present tense participle meaning keeping them continuously] …that is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me shall be loved by My Father…" (v 21).

• the Father draws them
• Christ intervenes
• we repent and are baptized
• we receive the Spirit of God

because we love Jesus!

"…and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him" (v 21). How does God do that? By opening your mind to understand the Truth! That's how God has manifested Himself to you. Not to an image, but understanding spiritually!

Verse 22: "Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, 'Lord, what has happened that You are about to manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word…'" (vs 22-23). Teaching them to observe all things I've commanded you! (Matt. 28).

"…and My Father will love him, and We… [God the Father and Jesus Christ together; this is the greatest verse in the Bible] …will come to him and make Our abode with him" (v 23).

That means dwelling place, the earnest of the Spirit within us! That's different than anything that God did in the Old Testament, except for the patriarchs. Isn't that amazing? It's still God the Father and Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament it's The Most High and The Lord God! This is the greatest work that They are doing!

Many times we say, 'How can this be?' Well, that's the time to get out the book, From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? Remember, you were a speck of dust, less than a speck of dust and look at you now. There's probably much more of you than you'd like to see, but that's the way it is.

What's it going to be when the resurrection takes place? All the things of the flesh will be gone! That's why we have to be faithful to the end. Judas, not Iscariot, couldn't understand this.

Verse 24: "The one who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the Word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father's, Who sent Me." Think about that!

What we have with the Bible and the New Testament comes directly from The Most High, Who is the Father, and the Lord God, Who is Jesus Christ!We have it right in front of us! God wants to write it in our heart and mind, so that we live by every Word of God! That is our mind and heart is directing our lives according to the will and Spirit of God. That's what it's all about!

Scriptural References:

• Psalm 50:1-6
• Romans 6:1-2
• Psalm 50:5
• Romans 6:3-6
• Psalm 50:5
• Psalm 47:1-9
• Luke 10:21-22
• Matthew 28:18-20
• John 1:1-4, 9-12, 14
• John 6:44-45
• Ephesians 1:1-3
• 1 Corinthians 1:19-31
• Romans 8:14-18, 10-11
• John 14:15-24

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 15
• Deuteronomy 28
• 1 Corinthians 5
• Ephesians 2:10
• Acts 7
• Revelation 19; 11
• Isaiah 2
• Micah 4
• Zechariah 14
• Isaiah 9:6
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
• Philippians 2
• Revelation 21; 22
• John 17

Also referenced:
Books:

• A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
• From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? by Fred R. Coulter

Sermons: Spirit of God, Spirit of Man, and the Seven Spirits of God #1 & 2

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 10/16/18

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