TRUTH OF HIS WORD – 4

[4.1] "It is the spirit that quickens [gives life]; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are SPIRIT, and they are life" (John 6:63).
[4.2] "But this spoke He of the SPIRIT…" (John 7:39).
[4.3] "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the SPIRIT which IS the word of God" ( Eph. 6:17).

Everything from Genesis to Revelation pertains to a higher SPIRITUAL meaning than the physical examples, parables, metaphors, allegories, stories and symbols in which they are written. "Let us make man in Our Image" (Gen. 1:26) are words of SPIRIT: "…Surely I come quickly…" (Rev. 22:20) are words of SPIRIT.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… and the Word was MADE FLESH… grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:1, 14 & 17).

God is not "flesh." Jesus had to be "made flesh." And then AS flesh, Jesus had to "grow and wax strong" (Luke 2:40). God does not "grow or wax strong," but Jesus "made flesh" had to grow and wax strong. Jesus also had to "overcome" (John 16:33). God does not need to overcome anything. Jesus had to "suffer" and "learn obedience" (Heb. 5:8). God does not suffer: God does not learn anything, seeing that God is all knowing (Isa. 46:10).

Jesus was "troubled in His soul" (John 12:27). God is never troubled in HIS soul. Jesus got "weary" (John 4 6). God never gets weary (Isa. 40:28). Jesus became "exceeding sorrowful" (Matt. 26:38). God never sorrows. Jesus was famished after fasting for 40 days and nights. He was so "hungry" that he was ready to die (Matt. 4:2). God never gets hungry. God can never die of hunger. Jesus got very "thirsty" (John 19:28). God never gets thirsty. Jesus "wept" (John 11:35). God never weeps. Jesus was acquainted with "sickness" (Isa. 53:3). God never gets sick.

How sad that many Christians believe that nothing bad ever happened to Jesus before His crucifixion. If it were not for God IN Jesus, Jesus would have been as helpless as a newborn baby. In fact, Jesus said with all humility and truth: "I can of Mine Own Self do nothing…" (John 5:30). Jesus Christ is our Example of just how man (mankind) is to "be made into the Image of God." Jesus is our example, our way, and our destiny:

"For whom He did foreknow, [that’s US, and eventually all humanity, I Cor. 15:28], He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29).

Jesus was made a physical man so that He could show us the way to the spirit God. And so it was that this Jesus, in the flesh, who became human, became a man of flesh, was conformed into the spiritual "Image of God," and spoke to us through His "words of spirit." It is Jesus Who "was the word of God" back in Genesis, Who did the speaking when "…God [the Word] said, Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3). It was "the word" in Genesis 1:26 Who said: "Make will We humanity in Our Image…"

What kind of words were those words, which The Word spoke back there in the garden? Why they were the words of Jesus, and Jesus plainly tells us that His words "ARE SPIRIT" (John 6:63). "And creating is God humanity in His [spiritual] Image. In the Image of God He creates it. Male and female He [spiritually] creates them" Gen. 1:27). Why of course, that is why Paul teaches us that we are, "…to be conformed to the Image of His Son." Jesus now is in the very spiritual image of God, just as He was prior to being emptied into human flesh, in the form of a servant:

"God is not a MAN…" (Num. 23:19), God is not in our image: neither are we yet in His Image. Obviously the words that Jesus spoke were "spirit," seeing that His very words came from GOD, Who IS SPIRIT: "For He [Jesus] Whom God has sent speaks the WORDS OF God, for God gives not the SPIRIT by measure unto Him" (John 3:34). Did Jesus give His Apostles the power to speak words of SPIRIT? Yes, He did:

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of the SPIRIT and of power" (I Cor. 2:4).
"The spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was in my tongue" (II Sam. 23:2).
"According to the word that I did covenant with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My spirit remains among you; fear ye not" (Haggai 2:5).
"For to one is given by the spirit the word of wisdom: to another the word of knowledge by the same spirit" (I Cor. 12:8).
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17).
And we too are to speak with these same "words of SPIRIT"
"For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father which speaks [words of spirit] in you" (Matt. 10:20).
And of course the same thing was true for Christ:
"…the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s [God is spirit] which sent me" (John 14:24).
Now then, how did Jesus teach the multitudes, ALWAYS? In parables:
"All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitudes in parable; and without a parable spoke He not unto them" (Matt. 13:34; Mark 4:33-34; John 10:6; 16:25).

Parables are "words of spirit."
The day that we fail to believe Jesus when He tells us that His words "are SPIRIT," is the day that we will fail to understand anything spiritual. The words of Jesus are not to be taken literally, physically, materially, carnally. All of Jesus’ teachings are SPIRITUAL. I will keep this section short, as this principle overlaps with all of the rest of the principles.

TRUTH OF HIS WORD – 3b

Surely the question will arise: If at the end of Christ’s ministry, "they understood none of these things…," of what value were those three and one half years that Jesus taught them? This true that they did not understand Christ’s gospel and message during His ministry, and during this mentoring, but it was not for naught. Three things were to happen:

[3b.1] "But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, you will REMEMBER that I told you of them" (John 16:4). This is how the gospel accounts could be written 30-40 years later, because God caused them to "remember" all these things. "These things understood NOT His disciples at that time: but when Jesus was glorified, then REMEMBERED they that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things unto Him" (John 12:16).
"Then REMEMBERED I the word of the Lord, how that He said…" (Acts 11:16).

[3b.2] "And He said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you… Then opened he their understanding, that they might UNDERSTAND the Scriptures" (John 24:44-45).

[3b.3] "I have yet MANY THINGS to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them NOW" (John 16:13).

And so the disciples understood many things [1] after they came to pass, [2] again when Jesus opened their understanding, and [3] many more things as they progressed and grew in their faith and ministry.

Peter learned to not call the Gentiles common or unclean. He preached to them the gospel, and they received God’s Holy Spirit. Paul learned the truth about being baptized by God’s Spirit rather than by water. The whole Church learned that Circumcision and the Law of Moses was not required for salvation at the Acts 15 Jerusalem Conference. And many more such things.
But primarily in this Truth, we are dealing with Christ’s opening of their understanding of the Scriptures after His resurrection.

Before Jesus opened their understanding of the Scriptures on the evening of His resurrection, no New Testament writer could have quoted Scriptures from the Old Testament and applied them to Christ as we find in our Bibles today. And why is that? Because many times the Scriptures that they quote in reference to Jesus Christ are taken completely out of their context, where they did not have reference to Jesus at all. Notice Matt. 1:23, "Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel." Now go back to Isa. 7:14 and you will see that this verse has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, if we insist that it be IN CONTEXT.

In Acts 1:20 we see Peter putting into practice the "Scriptural understanding" that Jesus gave him the evening of His resurrection. Let’s notice what Peter says: "For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let His habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take."

Peter took half his statement from Psalm 69:25, but changed the word "their" to "his," and the other half of his statement is from Psalm 109:8, and neither Psalm appears to have anything to do with selecting a new Apostle to replace Judas. What is going on? "Then opened He [Jesus] their [the eleven Apostles] understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45).

But what was it about the Scriptures that caused them to understand the Scriptures? Just what did Jesus teach them that they didn’t already know? Back up a few verses for the answer.
Earlier that same day Jesus met with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus. For the next seven miles Jesus explained to them the Scriptures. What did He teach them that in a few hours they were able to understand the Scriptures? "Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, , and to enter into His glory. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF" (Luke 24:25-27).

Are we to believe that in a few hours Jesus read to them the entire 39 books, 929 chapters, 23,145 verses of the Old Testament, with commentary and explanations? No, of course not. He taught them a principle, a spiritual truth, whereby they could understand all the Scriptures that pertained to Him.

The spiritual resurrected Jesus Christ does not represent the physical house of David, or the physical Tribe of Judah, or the physical nation of Israel. Jesus Christ is Spirit and His words are spirit. "As Jesus is, so are we" means that those who are spiritually (composed of almost exclusively Gentiles in this Church era) are the true Jews—not national Israel and Judah. National Israel and Judah are going into the Great White Throne of Judgment in the second resurrection during the period of the Lake of Fire. They will NOT be grafted into Jesus, the Tree of Life, before then. Jesus fulfilled all that is written in the Law of Moses and all the prophets—it ALL pertains to Jesus, and thus it all pertains to us (‘upon whom the ends of the ages are come,’ I Cor. 10:11).

TRUTH OF HIS WORD – 3a

[3a.1] "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My BRETHREN, ye have done it unto ME… Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to ME" (Matt. 26:40b & 45b).

[3a.2] "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF" (Luke 24:27).

[3a.3] "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to FULFILL" (Matt. 5:17).

[3a.4] "I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took Me not: but the Scriptures MUST BE FULFILLED" (mark 14:49).

[3a.5] "After this, Jesus knowing that ALL THINGS were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be FULFILLED, said, I thirst" (John 19:28).

[3a.6] "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… I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ LIVES IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Rom. 6:4 & Gal. 2:20).

[3a.7] "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also… Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He IS, SO ARE WE IN THE WORLD…" (John 15:20 & I John 4:17).

Contained in these few Scriptures is the reason why the Church has not a clue as to what the plan and purpose of God is, or how the Scriptures are applied to the working out of that purpose. How did Jesus "fulfill" the Scriptures? What Christ did could not be put into books—the whole world could not contain it.

Jesus did not fulfill the sacrificed sin offering only. Jesus was not merely one offering, but the many offerings, burnt offerings, the meat offering, the peace offerings, the trespass offering, and the sin offering. Jesus also prefigured the priest doing the offering, the meaning of each offering, the compartments and furniture of the tabernacle, the bread, the candles, the curtain, the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle itself, and the whole nation of Israel—Jesus prefigures all and FULFILLED ALL.

No one could comprehend every verse in the Old Testament Scriptures that represented Jesus, but they could learn the PRINCIPLE by which Jesus fulfilled all the law and all the prophets. And that is how the apostles and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had their understanding of the Scriptures opened in just a very short time. When the Scriptures speak of Israel they speak of Jesus, and when they speak of Jesus they speak of us, for "…as Jesus is, so are we in the world" (I John 4:17).

And that is the simple explanation of this marvelous truth. The Scriptures speak of far more than just the prophesies of Jesus coming as the Messiah. We are all in Adam. We do all that Adam did. We believe in the Spirit what Israel lived in the flesh. All Israel was baptized in the Red Sea. We are all baptized into Christ’s death. And now the last Adam lives His life in us (Gal. 2:20), but not until we repent of the first Adam of the flesh living his life in us.
"Then opened He their UNDERSTANDING, that they might UNDERSTAND the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45);

"Consider what I say: and the Lord give you UNDERSTANDING in all things" (II Tim. 2:7).
"And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an UNDERSTANDING, that we may know Him that is True…" (I John 5:20).

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make [future] you free" (John 8:32)
For three and one-half years Jesus promised that some day His apostles would know the truth. But clear to the end of three and one-half years of learning at the feet of Jesus, the Apostles did not yet understand His teaching, purpose or plan. One day they were blind to these truths, and the next they understood. How is that possible?

We have clearly seen that Jesus kept the real meaning and truths of His teaching from the masses, the church leaders, His disciples and even His apostles. Late in Christ’s ministry, we are told that:

"And they understood NONE OF THESE THINGS: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the THINGS WHICH WERE SPOKEN" (Luke 18:34).
"THEN opened He their understanding, that they might understand THE SCRIPTURES: (Luke 24:45).

Maybe, TODAY, will be the day that God begins to "open your understanding of the Scriptures." Jesus said to His disciples:
"…ALL THINGS must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, CONCERNING ME. Then opened He their understanding…" (Luke 24:44-45).

In the first section, the Law of Moses, gives four entries of things Jesus fulfilled from these five books:
"…her Seed" (Gen. 3:15);
"In you [Abraham] all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 12:3);
"…with him [Isaac] for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him" (Gen. 17:19);

"…a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel…" (Num. 24:17). And that’s it.
Why they don’t even mention the fact that there was to come a Prophet like unto Moses:
"The Lord thy God will raise up unto you a Prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like unto me unto Him ye shall hearken" (Deut. 18:15 & Acts 7:22).

If they missed that one, just imagine how many of hundreds of smaller prophecies regarding Christ they missed. Understand that what is recorded for us in the gospels is but a very tiny portion of what actually was taught and happened in Christ’s life and ministry:
"And with MANY such parables spoke He the word unto them…" (Mark 4:33; Matt. 13:3; Mark 4:2).

"And MANY other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciple, which are not written in this book" (John 20:30).
"And there were also MANY other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written everyone, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen" (John 21:25).

It wasn’t that Jesus was "holding back" on His disciples, so that they didn’t quite "get it," but rather they just didn’t have the spiritual mind to "get it," until Jesus gave them His very Own mind in the form of His Holy Spirit. Notice Jesus’ words:

"But take heed, behold, I have foretold you ALL things" (Mark 13:23). Yes, Jesus told them "ALL things," but, "they understood NONE OF THESE THINGS" (Luke 18:34)!

TRUTH OF HIS WORD - 2

[2.1] "Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing SEE NOT: and hearing they HEAR NOT, NEITHER DO THEY UNDERSTAND" (Matt. 13:13).
[2.2] "How is it that you DO NOT UNDERSTAND…" (Matt. 16:11).
[2.3] "But they UNDERSTOOD NOT this saying, and it was HID from them…" (Luke 9:45).

What was it that Christ’s disciples and apostles understood not? Surely they understood His spiritual teachings, did they not? What is it that they "…understood NOT" about Jesus’ sayings? Truth number 3 will reveal this shocking truth to us. That Jesus hid the meaning of his teachings from the masses, we have clearly been told already in Truth # 2. But now I am going to show you something even more profound. Most in fact, will not believe the Scriptures before their own eyes.

This is really childish that I should even have to explain to Christians that a "parables" really is a "FICTITIOUS narrative, and therefore is not a literal story at all. Oh what religion has done to otherwise perfectly sane minds. How many of you will now believe and concede that parables are not literally true stories? Virtually none. As I have said for a long time now: " Some Christian is a religion of contradictions and square circles." And they love to have it so.

That Jesus taught the multitudes including the Scribes and Pharisees in "parables" which means: "FICTITIOUS narratives," is stated numerous times in the Scriptures. And clearly the multitudes along with the Scribes and Pharisees did not understand any of it. Actually the Bible as a whole is one giant parable. This true, but I don’t have time to go into that right now.

And now for the shocker of shockers: Ask any Christian and he will tell you: "Jesus taught His disciples in "plain, literal, simple language." Maybe the multitudes, the masses, the Scribes and the Pharisees, didn’t understand Christ’s teachings, but surely the Apostles understood His teachings. Oh really? And do we have chapter and verse on that? Do we have two witnesses on that? No we don’t because it isn’t true.

Here’s how Jesus taught His own disciples, even in private:
"These things have I spoken unto you in PROVERBS: but the time comes when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall show you PLAINLY of the Father" (John 16:25).
By Jesus’ own admission, He didn’t teach or speak to even His Own apostles "plainly."

Now for a little humor: After Jesus spoke these words to His apostles He explains how He came out from the Father into the world and that He would again leave this world and that He would then plainly make known to them the Father. Not wanting to admit to their total ignorance of what Jesus was saying:

"His disciples said unto Him, Lo NOW SPEAK YOU PLAINLY, AND SPEAK NO PROVERB. Now ARE WE SURE THAT You know all things, and need not that any man should ask You: by this we believe that You came forth from God" (John 16:29-30).

Jesus responded: "DO you NOW believe?" (Verse 31). Of course they didn’t. They had not a clue as to what Jesus was spiritually saying.

So Jesus promised that at some time in the future He would speak to them no longer in proverbs, but "plainly"—frankness, bluntness, assurance, confidently, freely, openly. Hence His "proverbs" were NOT, frank, blunt, assured, confident, free, open, and plain! No wonder the disciples and even the Apostles "understood not" the teachings of Jesus Christ. Do we have any "witnesses" or "spiritual matches" to that effect? Many:

"And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the twelve asked of Him the parable… And he said unto them, Know you NOT this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?" (Mark 4:10 & 13).

To know "all parables," they needed to know "this parable." But since they clearly and admittedly did not know "this parable," neither did they know any of the parables. The Apostles of Jesus Christ followed Jesus for three and one half years, and never understood the parables, even though they understood certain principles contained in a few parables.

The multitudes did not understand Jesus’ parables; the Scribes and Pharisees did not understand Jesus’ parables; the hundreds of disciples did not understand Jesus’ parables, and as unbelievable as it may sound, not even the APOSTLES understood Jesus’ parables. Now get ready for another shock:

Not only did none of the above including the Apostles themselves, understand any of Jesus’ parables, but they did not understand the parables after Jesus EXPLAINED the parables! And how is such a thing even possible? Well, get ready for an even greater shock:

The reason they didn’t understand the parables even after Jesus explained them, is because Jesus explained His parables WITH ANOTHER PARABLE! That’s right, Jesus explained the parables that the Apostles themselves didn’t understand, by another parable, which they also did not understand. – Next…. issue