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I would like to share an old Scripture with you tonight. God just gave it to me in the middle of this study. [?He?It?] doesn't really belong there, but I feel if the Lord gives me something, then I would like to share it with you. He showed me today 1 Thessalonians 4:14. Most of us have med- -- read this Scripture and studied it many times. And He just gave it to me today. I think the hour is very late. I'd just like to go over it with you briefly. Verse 14 through verse 17.
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again" -- and please let me point out to you that the Scripture says Jesus. It does not say Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It does not say Christ. It does not say Christ Jesus. It says Jesus. Jesus the sole man died. And He rose again because the Father raised Him from the dead.
If you believe that -- "even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." Well, how could you sleep in Jesus? It's not -- the Scripture doesn't say sleeping in Christ. Now we know that Christ died at the beginning of time. Christ is the mind that's in the creation.
I want to suggest to you that those who sleep in Jesus are the entire human race, Lord -- the entire human race. Because those who sleep in Jesus -- Jesus is the man who was raised from the dead, who has now been glorified, who is now being poured out of His Spirit upon all humanity. And He is the seed of God that when He enters into our heart, causes a new mind to be born in us. And He was the -- He is the first begotten of the what? Anybody? Of the what?
[INAUDIBLE]
No. Well, that's true. But -- OK, that's not fair. That's true. I'll say He's the first begotten of the dead. He's the first human being to be raised up out of the death of this world system, and the name of this world system is? Hell. This is it right here; you don't have to die to get there. You're in it right now. He is the first man to be delivered out of hell.
That's why we can't see him in the condition -- in His glorified condition right now. He's in another realm; He's in another plane. You want to get Star Trekky [sic] on me, He's in another dimension, OK? And we see Him today through human beings who are not yet perfect.
OK, so He was the first man -- now there's only one living soul, and we liken this living soul to a houseplant that has one root and many leaves. So He was the first leaf that made it into another realm, but the whole plant is going to go. Because when the Father raised Him from the dead, He raised the root of the plant. And what happens to the root of the plant must eventually happen to the entire plant. If the root dies, do not the leaves die? If the root is fertilized, do not the leaves prosper? Do you fertilize the leaves? No, you fertilize the roots. The root is the controlling factor of the leaves.
So all those who sleep in Jesus, I suggest to you, are the rest of the human race, who must manifest the resurrected life of the Lord Jesus Christ because the root of the plant has been saved. Any questions? I'll take questions as we go on this issue.
It's got to show. It's got to show. The root has been saved. It's got to work its way out to the human race that we -- as we know it. It has to; it must. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." He'll take all the other leaves also.
Verse 15, "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" -- "we which are alive and remain" -- I want to suggest to you the correct translation is that part of us which is alive and remains after the chastening. What part of us is the only part of us that contains true life? The spirit, our human spirit. That part of us, which is alive -- why is it alive? Because what? Anybody remember? Why is our spirit alive? Because Christ has been formed in us and is that part of us which remains. Because when Christ is formed in you, what does He do to your carnal mind?
Kills it.
He kills it. So that part of us which is alive and remains after the fire burns down the whole house, we "shall not prevent them which are asleep." We shall not go before those who are asleep.
Well, what does that mean? It means that we're not going to be glorified before those who have not yet been raised from the dead. Because you may recall the teaching here that we shall each stand up in full stature, each man in his own order as each of us has been reconciled unto God. And as each of us has received the Holy Ghost individually as an individual, personal experience, we shall stand up in full statute, which means -- what is full stature? Anybody would -- would anybody like to define full stature? Would anybody like to try? OK.
The mature mind of Christ.
The mature mind of Christ, which has taken such a dominion over the carnal mind that we have now become incapable of sin. [?Now?] you can have a mature mind of Christ, but if you remember the teachings that came forth on the temptation, it's not enough to have a mature mind of Christ. He doesn't count until He takes over and crushes your carnal mind. Maybe that's not a good way to say it: He doesn't count. But He cannot be counted unto perfection until that maturity has totally overcome the carnal mind. Let's put it that way.
OK, so -- but the glorification shall be as one man. When every human being on the face of the earth is in full statue at the given time when the Lord says, the whole creation shall be caught up into glorification. And I want to suggest to you that we're not really fully born again until we're [?even?] glorified.
The resurrection is in three stages. Now when you res- -- when you enter into the first stage of the resurrection, you are God because He's living through you, and He is living His life through you, and your carnal life has been completely crushed. But you're not fully born again until you're glorified.
So what Paul is saying here is that -- don't worry that some of us are in full stature and some of us aren't. We're entering in -- the whole creation is entering into the final stage as one man. Why? Because we are, in fact, one man. That's what he's saying.
Verse 16, "For the Lord himself" -- now that's the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, who is now pure Spirit -- "shall descend from heaven with a shout" -- He's coming down from heaven, into where? If He's coming down from the spiritual realm, which is known as heaven, where would He be coming down to?
Hell.
The soul realm?
The soul realm. Well, hell, yes. Hell is the soul realm. That's true; hell is the soul realm. That's where He's coming down to exactly. He's coming down with a shout. He's coming down, and that shout is a shout of war.
And what that suggests is that there is now power in the church to fight the carnal mind and Satan. The Scripture clearly states that without Christ we have no power against -- and He does anything He wants with us. You think you're your own man. You're not your own man. You're not your own man. He does anything He wants through you. But when Christ comes down with a shout, it's a shout of war.
And if you think -- that in this hour anyway -- that things are going to change overnight, you're mistaken because it's just not the way, not right now anyway. It's a war, and you've got to wage it. And you've been given power and authority in Christ, but you must fight. You must overcome; you must take the victory. And if you mess up once, you stand up, and you try again. Because if you fight, you must overcome. If you fight, you cannot be defeated in the long run. You can wi- -- you can lose a battle, but you cannot lose the war. But you must fight.
"[?For?So?] the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout." He's coming down into hell, and He's yelling, watch out, Satan; here I come. And He's coming down "with the voice of the archangel" -- and the archangel is Christ -- "and with the trump of God" -- and the trumpet is the m- -- is the doctrine. The trumpet is the doctrine. Can't leave out the doctrine because the truth is going to set you free, but neither are you saved by doctrine alone. You must have Christ, and you must have the Lord Jesus Christ. I should say, you must have the Lord Jesus Christ, and you must have Christ, and you must have the doctrine.
"And the dead in Christ shall rise first." Now I want to tell you what the Lord told me here. I can't prove it to you. You pray about it. You say yea or nay. I checked this out in both of my Greek lexicons. And both of my Greek lexicons say, dead in Christ, that Greek word translated [UNINTELLIGIBLE] is there. But I want to tell you what God told me. God told me that that Scripture should read, and the dead Christ shall rise. And the dead Christ shall rise. Christ, who died at the beginning of time when the creation fell, He's dead. And in His dead form in you, He's called?
The carnal mind.
No, the dead Christ is the human spirit. And He's going to be raised from the dead when a drop of water touches Him, when the rain touches Him. And the name of the rain is?
The Holy Spirit.
OK, the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, the same thing. OK, he's going to -- that [?scent?] of water is going to touch that human spirit, and the dead Christ shall rise. Hallelujah.
And then the next word says first -- the dead Christ shall rise first. And what the Lord told me that -- as I looked it up in the Greek, the Lord told me what it's saying is: And the dead Christ shall rise and become or be born -- or -- and the first -- and be the firstborn. The dead Christ shall rise and be the firstborn.
Now the firstborn is the one that has the authority. Who's in charge of this creation right now? The firstborn or the second-born? The second-born. The second-born is in charge right now. He's ascending. He's arising. He's going past the authority of this world. He's going above it, and He's taking over it. The firstbo- -- well, and He's going above it. Amen.
And the dead Christ shall rise. And that Greek word translated rise means to be born again. It means to be born -- it means to be revived. The implication is that somebody who died was being born again, and He's being born again as the firstborn. He's coming into His position of authority.
And I remind you that in the Scripture, the firstborn inherits all things, all things. The second-born has no inheritance. For years Europeans -- I don't know whether they did it in America or not, but for years Europeans followed this Scriptural example. If there were five sons, the first son inherited everything, and the other four sons were at the mercy of their brother. If he was a good man, if he was a Christian man, he gave his brothers some land. And a lot of people tear down the Christian religion. They say this isn't fair; this isn't right. And maybe down here in this fallen place, it isn't right or it doesn't seem right to us.
But everything in this book is an example for us to understand how spiritual things work. And I want to tell you something: I'm real glad that this creation is not getting any inheritance. I'm real glad that Jesus Christ of Nazareth and Christ in us, as He appears through us, is the firstborn and that He's got full control and authority over everything. That makes me real happy and peaceful. Because we've got a firstborn in power right now that hates us. Our carnal mind hates us. The Scripture clearly states that you'll hear it tonight. He hates us.
So the dead Christ shall rise again and be the fir- -- and rise and appear as the firstborn, take His position of preeminence as the firstborn. And then that part of us which is alive and remains after the burning of our soul -- God help us -- and who's going to burn our soul? Christ. The fire is Christ. When the mind of Christ enters into you, a consuming fire has entered into your mind, and He will burn that wicked carnal mind and the entire city that he dwells in.
There's only one problem: We're in it when He's burning it. So if you think you're dancing your way up to those pearly gates, you've received a lie. You're probably screaming your way up to those pearly gates. But the only thing that matters, brethren, is that you enter into the life of the ages, arm-in-arm with Christ.
"Then we which are alive and remain after the chastening shall be caught up together with them" -- with all the others -- "in the Spirit, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air" -- which is the realm of the spirit -- "and so shall we ever be with the Lord." That's the glorification. We're all going to be glorified together. So that really blessed me. And the dead Christ shall rise and be the firstborn. Hallelujah.
Any comments and questions on that before we go on? Anybody? OK.
Sheila, in the 16th verse, it's talking about the dead Christ, you know, shall rise. Then in the 17th -- it seems like that's separate from the 17th. It says, then we which -- that that's a different group. The then before -- or is that not supposed to be there in the Greek.
I'm sorry. I don't know what you're saying.
OK. 16 was talking about -- you said the Lord revealed that that was the dead Christ that was dead from the foundation of the world -- was raised in our human spirit.
Right.
That would be the we. Well, who is this next we -- then it says, then we which.
Now, that's not the way -- Christ -- we are the soul man.
Right, in 16, right?
No, we are the soul man, the soul man. Christ is Spirit. Verse 16 says, and the dead Christ. You're not the dead Christ; you're the soul. The mind in you is Christ.
I see.
The mind in you is Christ. You're the we. You're the soul, but your mind is Christ. And the reason you're confused is that the two are really one. It's like separating your heart from your lungs.
OK.
OK? Did I answer your question?
Thank you.
OK. Anybody else? Mary?
You said we could comment also. Just this morning, at the [UNINTELLIGIBLE] meeting, we spoke about the same things. And this one girl came up, and she even gave the same Scripture.
Really?
Talked about being born again, because one girl just lost her husband and another one -- is the fas- -- her father is dying, and she was tormented by it. And I thought of telling them about this. So I've got to take about five of these messages and pass them out to them.
OK. Praise the Lord. It's very close, brethren. There's not a doubt in my mind it's going to be in our lifetime. And it's upon us.
What's confusing is that it's not going to be an event that's going to happen with the snap of your fingers, like it's taught. It's happening slowly. And those in whom Christ is already being formed, those who are called to this firstfruits company, Christ is ascending in them like the sun rises in the East. It's slowly -- He is slowly ascending to full noon or to high noon in the sky.
It's already happened. The Sons are in the earth. Christ is engrafted. They're being formed. They're waging the warfare, and they're overcoming their carnal mind. And it's just a matter of time. It's just a matter of time. Everything's being brought into place.
But for people that don't have spiritual eyes, one day they'll open their eyes, and they'll say, where did this come from? It must have happened in a moment's time, in the twinkling of an eye. And the Sons have been in preparation for their entire lives. Those who are called to this have been in preparation for their entire lifetimes. They've been f- -- before they knew the Lord, whatever their background is, whatever has happened to them, it was part of a plan that would be used to make them what they are.
Because God is raising up a company of people that are not only going to have spiritual power -- you see, it's real easy for God to give you spiritual power. We see that in the old-order churches. He can give anybody he wants power. But what takes time is the experiences and the accumulated knowledge that you get from experiences with different kinds of people, different aspects of life, different problems and overcoming all of those things not by the ways of the world -- [AUDIO CUTS OUT]
We see that in the old-order churches. He can give anybody he wants power. But what takes time is the experiences and the accumulated knowledge that you get from experiences with different kinds of people, different aspects of life, different problems and overcoming all of those things not by the ways of the world, but by learning how to use the righteous power of God to overcome the evil in this world.
We have a lot of people making it in this world. They've overcome the evil in this world by the carnal ways of man. It's just one sin against another sin. But to overcome unrighteousness with good, to overcome evil with good, takes the miracle-working power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we are about to see, appearing on the face of the earth, a group of people who not only have spiritual power, but who will have wisdom and mercy and compassion because they will be able to relate to the suffering of the people in the world. And the Scripture clearly states very few rich, very few educated, very few, very few -- and I want to say it again that when this company arises, the church -- the American church today, which is filled with intellectualism and humanism, which glorifies secular-type education -- is going to be very surprised at upon whom the power is resting.
09/11/14 Transcribed by VerbalFusion
10/01/14 1st Edit CAS/BP
