This World’s Passover – Pt. 6

Ron Weinland

April 17, 2010

We are now deep into the sermon series entitled; This World’s Passover. Today is Part 6 of that series.  May be a few more series coming because this is something that we’re to go into at this particular time and God’s having us go into this, looking at this in a little bit of a different manner in the sense of how we’re addressing Passover season this year even though we’re well past it now.  But again, there is that count between Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost...Jesus Christ being our wave sheaf offering and that’s the focus this year even more so,  upon Jesus Christ and those things He went through for us.  And so it’s good to go through some of the instruction and teaching He gave toward the very end and also to understand in a deeper way with greater conviction in our lives of those things that our Passover did for us.

So with that we’ll want to pick it up exactly where we left off last week and that’s back over here in John 13.  And again, a reminder here that I know a lot of you in taking Passover service...we went through John 13 and some of 14 and those things that we’re still going to go through in this series, but we have a lot of people out there who are new who didn’t take the Passover with us who are not yet baptized, (because Passover is for baptized members) and also for younger people in the Church who aren’t at that point in their time yet.  So it’s good for them and it’s good for a review because we’re looking at this in a little bit deeper way than what we did on Passover night.

John 13:14 - Jesus Christ at this point in time had washed their feet and He said - If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord; neither He that is sent greater than He that sent Him.  And so again here, it’s putting things into perspective of how we should look upon one another within the Body, within the Church and how we should understand this attitude of humility that Jesus Christ was willing to show to every one of His disciples.  Here He is the Passover; here He is the Son of God and yet He’s willing to do this.  And I think of things we’ve gone through in times past within the Church where some of this got turned upside down, this idea of serving and what it’s all about and attitudes we should have of service toward one another and giving toward one another; and I think of the ministry, again, that was raised upon a pedestal in a wrong way and people enjoyed that and people in leadership in the Church that enjoyed that, that enjoyed being looked up to and served rather than doing the serving.  And I remember as a minister it got to the point back in a particular area we were in, I won’t mention the area because I don’t want people to feel bad because it didn’t involve them in that respect, but it still happened back there; where I almost felt apologetic as a pastor asking deacons to help out in the Church, people who were ordained to serve, because the attitude wasn’t one of service.  And here, striving to pastor a Church and a lot of times having to take care of certain matters ourselves rather than asking those who were ordained to serve in those areas to take care of those matters; because the attitude wasn’t one of service within the Church; and that still, yet, ought to be our primary attitude toward one another – love, care, concern, and a willingness to serve in humility towards each other, to sacrifice for each other if need be, whatever is needed as a Family.

We are a Family and the point is no one is above anyone else.  We’re a Family.  Yes, there’s order in the Family, but it’s not one that’s being misused – there’s order.  We understand there’s government; but it’s not one to be misused like in families oftentimes in the world.  That’s why we’re addressing something in a very powerful way concerning a husband and wife, concerning mother and father in a marriage now, in a family, showing the way that God desires we be toward one another.  And yet society, the world, has not been like that for 6,000 years – the way God wanted it to be, desired it to be from the beginning.  Man went off and did his own thing and as a result of that things got turned upside down because a man was made stronger physically and there is that attitude of mind when you’re stronger sometimes, on a physical plane like that, there’s the attitude of mind that goes with it that somehow that’s better, or whatever.  I don’t want to spend time going into a sermon on that.  Hopefully we understand that that’s been in society for so, so long.  And generally that which is stronger in life, that which is more powerful in life oppresses that which is weaker, physically.  Not talking about the mind and life or anything else.  Nations have been that way, governments have been that way, and families are that way.  It’s the way the world is, it’s the way mankind is because of his selfish human nature.

So again here, Jesus Christ at an appropriate time, Passover, before you go into the Days of Unleavened Bread coming out of sin, which picture being unleavened, having no leavening within you, having no pride...the opposite of humility.  Humility is the desire God has for us to have a right spirit and a right mind of humility toward Him and toward one another.  He says, If you do these things, blessed, it’s not just ‘happy’ as it is in my translation.  It has to do with being blessed, it has to do with the blessings that God can give to us, wants to give to us for living right, for doing His will.  ...blessed are you if you do them. Live them, live this way: not just during Passover once a year.  I am in awe, going through this this year, thinking about what Jesus Christ gave on the final night of His life as a physical human being.  This was the final day of His life and yet His primary concern for the Church, the primary focus He had and that God had working through Him was to teach us the importance of Family, and of loving each other, of caring for each other, of yielding ourselves to His spirit dwelling within us.  And so He says it over and over again in so many ways.

Going on in verse 18 - I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture might be fulfilled, he who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.  Talking about betrayal that’s going to take place here and there’s a lot to be learned about betrayal.  I have learned a lot about betrayal and of what it’s like.  That’s why I mention that song every once in a while – we walk to God’s house side by side and council blended sweet.  And of a desire we have if your mind is right toward God, a desire we have toward one another; but sometimes there has been that which has been a matter of betrayal in people’s lives and in their hearts because they’re not genuine, or they’re not true or they go off on sin or different tangents and they get pulled away.  And there are important lessons to learn from being betrayed, that you have to examine certain things in your life of friendships, of relationships, of God’s plan and God’s purpose for the next 1,000 years and the 100 years beyond that that puts things in perspective of what God is doing.  And so we learn from that – it’s an awesome thing, it truly is.  And yet we learn what it’s like, we learn in a very powerful way what human natures like, that this is the way it’s been for 6,000 years for God; betrayal after betrayal after betrayal – human beings who have not wanted to receive Him, receive the very Creator, and yield to His way of life.  And so it has been within the Church and through time.

He says, Now I tell you before it come, that, when it comes to pass, you may believe that I am He. So just more evidence that’s out there that these things are true and what He says is true. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He who receives whomsoever I send receives Me; that’s powerful; that’s how we’re able to discern things very quickly within the Church that God has given us a very powerful tool that we... you can talk to somebody and very quickly tell whether they’re on the same wavelength, if they’re being drawn by God’s spirit or not, because there’s going to be an attitude that’s there.  They may be being drawn and they may be resisting but if they’re being drawn and they’re yielding to that there are things that you can pick up on very quickly and there is that oneness; even before baptism there is that oneness that is there because they’re able to speak things and speak of things that they otherwise couldn’t do.  It’s a matter of God’s spirit; and so we’re able to know where there’s time to be spent and whether it’s time to tell people...whatever... you need more time, you haven’t read this, you haven’t read that, you’re not following what the FAQ says...if you want the help the help is there but you’ve got to be willing to help yourself.  And if people aren’t willing to do that you can’t give this to anybody.  You can’t give it to anyone.  That’s why God has taken us through this process in the last couple of years here to prepare us for what’s coming because we don’t have time to waste from people who don’t want to yield themselves to God.  If they want to waste time, if they’re not of the same mind – why waste time?  Give your time, give your service, give your help to those who want help, to those whom God is calling and drawing that are responding to that calling.

So it says, He who receives whomsoever I send receives Me and he that receives Me receives Him that sent Me.  So it goes back to God; it always goes back to God.  When Jesus had said this, He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me. That hurts.  Betrayal hurts!  A lot of us have gone through that.  A lot of us have been stabbed in the back and stabbed in the heart and it hurts.  But you grow from that if you yield yourself to God – you can learn from that.  Our attitude is tried and tested in how we respond to people who do the betraying.  It’s a matter of a desire we have for them, but again, a frustration that you can’t give this to them, you can’t make people live this way and stay loyal to this way.  You can’t do that.  So, betrayal hurts.  So, we see the suffering Jesus Christ went through and this is a part of the suffering sometimes we must go through because this is how we learn in a greater way about God and about God’s plan and purpose and how to treat people and how to think about people – this will try you in those things.

Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom He spoke. Can you imagine 12 of them there, after eating the Passover lamb and they’re wondering, looking amongst themselves, “Who is He talking about?  What’s He talking about?” Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of the disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom He spoke. He then lying on Jesus' breast said unto Him, Lord, who is it?  That was a moment of  sorrow, of wondering what is taking place? Why is this happening?  Jesus answered, it is he of whom I gave a sop when I dipped it. And when He had dipped the sop He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.  Now this wasn’t something that followed immediately when He said that.  He said this is who it is, but they didn’t know who it was still. And going on here it says, And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That you do, do quickly. So he had already decided, as we read last Sabbath, he’d already determined, he’d already gone to the high priest and so forth, to the Pharisees there and set up a deal with them to receive money for secretly betraying Jesus Christ.  And so this was the moment in time now that Satan’s influence came fully upon him with the attitude of mind.

Sometimes people don’t understand how some of these things work.  It wasn’t that Satan did this; it wasn’t that Satan made him do this, it’s just that Satan stirred him up more to do more quickly, speedily, with a greater purpose in his mind of betrayal than what he normally would have been like. It just intensifies the emotion and feelings.  So if you’re tuned into that, if your mind is wrong, if your attitude is wrong, demons that broadcast... that’s what happens in the world.  Sometimes there’s a matter of what we would call ‘possession’, something of ‘possession’ but all things aren’t a matter of ‘possession’, it’s a matter of influence, it’s a matter of broadcasting and how they can enter into your life then to stir you up more to do something that’s already in your heart!  But it’s our heart that’s wrong.  It’s the mind that’s wrong if those things take place in the vast majority, overwhelming majority of cases like this and it’s something wrong in the persons mind anyway when these things happen.  Certainly someone who doesn’t want to follow God, in this case here what Judas was planning in his heart and spirit already...for money.  He was a thief.  His spirit and his attitude was to betray someone just to get money.  That’s incredible!  There’s always some motivation, whatever it might be, to betray someone else, something that someone gets out of it in some perverted manner – doesn’t even have to be physical like that; it can just be something in the mind that lifts someone up.

Verse 28 - Now no man at the table knew for what intent He spoke this unto him. And so here all they heard was, “What you do, do quickly.”  That’s what He said to Judas and they didn’t know what He was talking about and so it goes on to say, For some thought, because Judas had the bag, he was the treasurer, he was the one that held the money, that Jesus had said to him, Buy some of those things that we have need of against/or for the feast; while it’s still the Passover period here when you can still buy and maybe there was something last minute here that needed to be done; so this is what they’re thinking...maybe He told him to go out and get something and this is what he’s doing... or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.  Therefore when He was gone out Jesus said, now is the Son of man glorified and God is glorified in Him.  So now we only have the 11 left and Jesus Christ then continues with His teaching for that night.  Powerful things that He teaches, that He gives... If God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You shall seek Me: and as I said unto the Jews, Where I go, you cannot come; so now I say to you. So again here, over and over again this night, some of the things He continues to zero in on has to do with love, it has to do with relationships, it has to do with how we think about one another...and He started it out with the Passover washing their feet; showing the spirit of humility that one must have in order to love someone else.  To love others you have to have an attitude of humility because as soon as pride enters in God’s love can’t be there, God’s love will not work there, love cannot work there...if we can understand that.  Pride gets in the way and it stops the flow of love.  It stops the work of love that love can do in someone’s life.

Every disagreement in life...I don’t care where it is, it can be in marriage, whatever it is, at the place where of all places it should be minimized – I’m using the example that Mr. Armstrong used regarding a mother toward a child.  I’m using it as a marriage of something of two people that God has given to each other – that those should be the two closest people in life sharing!  But that’s not what we see in the world is it?  And it’s always because of selfishness.  Love can’t flow there if just one doesn’t do what they need to do in humbling themselves.  Every time pride gets in the way means something of selfishness has gotten in the way – my way, my way of seeing it, my way of doing it... and then there’s problems and love can’t flow.  So you can take that example and put it in every example in life in human relationships...it’s always pride that gets in the way.  If you can humble yourself you have the potential to love, you have the ability to love when filled with God’s spirit, when led by God’s spirit.

So He says, A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; He says this is the way you are to live.  This way of life is not about how much you know about Jesus Christ returning May 27, 2012.  It’s not about that!  It’s not about Thunders that are going to continue on, that are escalating mightily, and have been for the last couple of months here.  If you have ears to hear – they’re out there.  That’s not what it’s all about!  That’s nice to know!  That’s nice to have knowledge of, to give us focus, to help us to have focus, to help us to be stirred up in spirit, to help us to be humbled and want to draw closer to God – to realize the seriousness of the times.  But that’s not what this way is all about.  It’s not about prophecy; it’s not about all the knowledge you might be able to gain.  Everyone who comes in the Church who is new is able to grow in knowledge today in a way no one has ever in 6,000 years been able to grow in knowledge; in the sense of what you have available to you – books that are written, sermons, material on the internet, things that Mr. Armstrong had, all the things that are written out there...and so you can learn about God’s plan so quickly and have so much knowledge...and sometimes people have a battle in getting lifted up a little bit by that knowledge.  You have to be careful of that; don’t let that happen in your life.

Don’t let it happen; because it’s not about knowledge.  There are a lot of people through time who have had a small portion of the knowledge you have today; those of you who are brand new; who have had a small portion...Abraham as an example.  He had a very, very, very small portion of the knowledge you have today and he is one of the more important people in the 144,000 that God has moulded and fashioned in government.  He is one of the most important that God is going to use in the future; but he didn’t have the knowledge of things you know about.  He didn’t know about the Seals of Revelation, he didn’t know about the life of Jesus Christ, he didn’t know about the life of the apostles, he didn’t know about what was written in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Acts... all the things that are written by Paul and John.  He didn’t have any of that knowledge.  He didn’t understand the things of God concerning all the things we understand today.  Think about it.  Think of how much you know about God’s plan.  You think he understood about all the time period of how much time was allotted and set aside and all the things that were going to happen throughout time and the coming of different kingdoms?  That wasn’t even given until the time of Daniel...a lot farther down the road.  He didn’t know about Israel!  He believed what God said...what would come out of him, but he didn’t grasp it, no more than we grasped in Philadelphia the apostasy.  We didn’t grasp it; we had no idea.

Abraham didn’t know much when it comes to what we see written in the Bible.  As a matter of fact you can go to the place in Genesis there in the Bible – that’s the maximum of what is written that he had knowledge of because everything else was revealed in a progressive revelation about God’s plan and purpose in the rest of this book.  And when you understand that that’s an awesome thing to understand.  What was he judged by?  The law: relationships; how you treat one another; how you treat people; how you respond to God; whether you love God and if you love God how do you respond to God.  It’s by what you live.  It’s by what Jesus Christ is giving here about loving one another.  That’s how you’re judged more than anything else...it’s what you live.  It’s not by how much you know.  It’s by what you live.  And through time in the Church we have lacked a lot in understanding that and grasping the depth of that and the magnitude of that.  It’s about love.

Our Passover, on the last night of His life, repeated this over and over and over again to the disciples for the Church, for us to understand what this way is all about.  It’s about our relationships because if our heart isn’t right toward one another, what does all the knowledge... isn’t that what it says in 1st Corinthians 13?  That’s exactly what it talks about!  Whether you have all knowledge, whether you give everything you possess away to others who need it, you understand all mysteries...that’s what God is talking about.  That’s what Paul was revealing and showing back there in 1st Corinthians 13.  It’s called ‘The Love Chapter’.  Talks about charity; if you don’t have charity.  It’s the word agape.  If we don’t have that we don’t have anything; everything else is meaningless.  This is what’s important.

So He says, That you love one another AS I have loved you, that you also love one another. And you can’t love that way on your own.  You can’t work it up.  You can’t get up in the morning and decide that’s what I’m going to do today.  Can’t do it!  It’s something that God has to give through the inspiration, through the blessings of His holy spirit, through growth and maturity through time.

Ephesians 5... because He said, ‘AS I have loved you’.  Verse 1 – Be you therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in agape, God’s love, as Christ also has loved us, How? ...and has given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.  That’s what’s pleasing to God.  When you humble yourself and sacrifice in order to give to others.  That’s the kind of love we’re talking about.  For human beings, that’s the kind of love we’re talking about; because whenever you love with God’s love you have to sacrifice something about yourself, your will, your mind, your spirit that goes against the grain of your nature when you live God’s way toward one another.  It’s an awesome thing to understand.  It’s a great thing to know, but it’s an awesome thing to understand because many people have known this, know the scriptures, know what it says, but don’t understand it.  I’m talking about many people in God’s Church who’ve attended Sabbath services through time.

Going back here to John 13:35 - By this shall all know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another.  Something to be learned, it’s something to be understood through time.  That’s a sermon in itself.

Verse 36 - Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, where are you going?  So they were concerned about what He was saying here as He told the Jews, that ‘where I go you can’t come’ and so that’s what they’re concerned about.  What do you mean?  It’s like, “Where are You going to be going now that we can’t be with You;” because they’ve been with Him now for the past three years and throughout Christ’s ministry and now something’s going to take place and You’re going to go... where is this?  So he says, where are you going?  And Jesus said unto him, Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow Me afterwards. Now see...even this.  He’s not talking about going to heaven.  There are people who read into things.  We understand that He’s going to be resurrected, He’s going to heaven and it’s not talking about following Him up there.  He’s talking about something else that’s the more important part of this.  “You’re not going to be able to be with Me now, you’re not going to be able to go with Me where I’m going now, you can’t follow Me there, but you are going to be able to follow Me after this.”  What is this?  Doublespeak?  No, we understand what that means.  It’s a spiritual thing.  Says, where I am, there you may be also.  Today, we’re following Him – see?  This is what He’s talking about in the Church.  As soon as the Church begins, 31 A.D. Pentecost, they’re going to be following Him; from that day forward when they were impregnated with His holy spirit they’re going to continue following Him wherever He is, that’s where they will be because those who are being led by Him and the disciples themselves being led by God the Father through Jesus Christ...and those things that Jesus Christ is giving to His apostles at that time and they were giving to the Church and feeding to the Church...then they were following Him wherever He was going, whatever God was giving.  This is what He’s talking about.  So He’s showing something now that’s going to literally happen to Him and something that’s spiritually going to happen in their lives to them.

And Peter said unto Him, Lord, why cannot I follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake. I’m willing to die for You.  That’s what he said, “I’m willing to die for you!”  We can have things that we think we’ll do sometimes, things we believe we can do and then the proof is in the pudding later on when we’re really hit with it.  But the attitude, the desire was there and God knew the spirit and the heart.  Jesus knew it and Jesus said unto him, Will you lay down your life for My sake? Verily, verily, I say unto you, The cock shall not crow, till you have denied Me three times.  So, “Peter you’re going to deny Me three times before this is over with.”  That had to have stuck in his mind and his heart and he was even more determined then that nothing was going to keep him from doing what he said.  You imagine the spirit and the attitude that Peter had?  “I’m going to be there!  He said this to me... I’m ...”  Isn’t that the way human nature is?  “I’m more determined I’m going to be there – whatever happens!  And if I have to die, I’m willing to die. If I have to go out and buy a sword.  I’m going to get a sword and I’m going to swing it if I have to...whatever it takes!  I’m going to protect Him, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to lay down my life.”  Well, that was his spirit and his attitude.  Sometimes situations and circumstances in life put us to the test of what we can do and what we really can’t do and we learn from that too if God’s working with us.

John 14 – and again I’ll say it over and over and over and over again, my favourite chapter in the Bible.  Most inspiring scriptures God could ever give to mankind are right here.  The most awesome scriptures...the greatest revelation.  This is the greatest revelation ever given to mankind, truly is, it’s the most profound revelation that God ever gave to man.  It’s the most inspiring.  That’s why I don’t get tired of it and never will get tired of it.  It’s very awesome; it’s exciting. Verse 1 - Let not your heart be troubled:  He’s just told them, because they were troubled; they were talking about betrayal, He’s saying about a betrayal, so what does this mean – someone’s going to betray Him – one of us?  And then talking about how He is going to go someplace and we can’t be with Him and yet we are going to follow Him...they didn’t understand what all of this meant.  Neither do people who read these verses today.  So, don’t let your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. You believe in God; now something is changing in a big way, believe also in Me.

In My Father's house are many mansions: I’m amazed by this because when we read through something like this it’s amazing how the mind can think sometimes and our journey...and when I say our journey, I’m talking about the time going back to Mr. Armstrong when God brought Him into the Church in the respect of what happened back in the late 20’s and early 30’s – to set the Church on a right track; to lift up the Church once again.  Because the Church had come to a point of dying out and the doctrines that were there were dead as a whole, except for three that were left.  It was the tail end of Sardis and God desired to revive the Church, to give the truth back into the Church so the Church could continue on to do a great work before Jesus Christ came back.  And so our journey, Mr. Armstrong’s journey, to be more specific, and the Church’s journey during Philadelphia, was to come out of the Protestant world because that’s why the Church was at a point of death.  The Protestant world had had such an effect upon God’s Church with people coming over in the early 1600’s with the way that the Protestant world was beginning to grow at that particular point in time... the impact it had upon God’s people to pull away, to distort the truth and the things that took place wore away at the Church and because of the scattering and the smallness of the Church at that time and what was taking place as well.  They were losing truths right and left; so when Mr. Armstrong came along He was very much filled with that Protestant life, Quaker background, and He had to address some difficult things.  It was hard.  It wasn’t an easy process because God had to teach him a little bit at a time to draw him out of that.  And so his journey was one of coming out of the Protestant world, and finding as God revealed things to him... the first big one of course was the Sabbath for him, and he had to prove those things to himself and then after that God began to reveal the Holy Days to him and so much so that it wasn’t even given to the rest of the Church at that time.  He and his wife held this to themselves for a time until God cemented it into his life.  And so this incredible journey out of Protestantism took place.

Here’s another one...a part of that as we have learned through time here was the trinity – that we came part way out but not all the way out; and this thing about ‘mansions’.  It’s very much a Protestant teaching about things that God has in store for us, to give us certain things and so forth in the future...in heaven according to the Protestant world.  And that changed a little bit with the Church in the sense of it was going to be ‘offices’ and this had to do with rewards and blessings of certain things that people were going to receive and all these riches that we were  going to receive and so forth and that’s not what it’s about at all.  It’s not the word for ‘mansions’, it’s not a word for anything like that.  It has nothing to do with those kinds of things that we kind of thought at one time.  And so that’s still a part of the process of God bringing us out – because it didn’t stop with Mr. Armstrong.  We continued on.  The Church continued to grow – at a point in time...took us a while to get there.  At a point in time God began to help us to grow then and continue on then out of the world of Protestantism, of those things that still had a grip on us...and blessed us in shaking a lot of those things off.  And God has to do that.  You can’t get to that point until God gives it to you – see?  It’s something that just comes only when God gives it to you and you can’t have it until God gives it to you.  It wasn’t a fault of Mr. Armstrong; it was God’s responsibility and timing and giving.  God gives when He will and we’re judged by what we’re given, just like Abraham was.  And the greater things are how we treat one another, how we live God’s way of life, and how we love what God has given to us in loving His plan and His purpose.

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places – many places to dwell.  It’s an awesome thing to understand; what He’s really talking about here is dwelling in human beings and how that the Family of God is not restricted.  It’s not three, it’s not two...billions... billions and billions and billions; and that God is not limited to the numbers of people He can dwell in, that He can beget with His spirit, that can be begotten and be growing.  Through the last 6,000 years with the vast majority of people who are called and worked with having been in the last 2,000 years; and there have been a lot that have been worked with then during Philadelphia and that period of time there... until those who lived and died, they were the blessed ones in the sense of being worked with and moulded and fashioned.  Others were blessed too that received the truth; but if they fell asleep and different things happened to them they’re still awesomely blessed but they made bad mistakes as we all did because we all fell asleep and so they’re still awesomely blessed because when they’re resurrected in the Great White Throne, they are quantum leap years ahead of everyone else that’s resurrected at that time because they’ve had the opportunity to have lived this way of life for so many years; if they haven’t thrown it all away, if they haven’t given it up.  If there is just that that’s a matter of falling asleep that’s one thing, but if they have turned against God – that’s another.

So He says, In My Father’s house are many dwelling places – places to dwell.  Places for God the Father and Jesus Christ to dwell; and in the Millennium... we’re getting ready – God’s going to be dwelling in billions of lives.  In the Great White Throne billions more.  He says, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.   And so the first phase of God’s plan as far as Jesus Christ and what He’s giving is, “I’m going to prepare a place for you.”  He’s preparing them for the Church getting started on Pentecost and what’s going to happen in the next 2,000 years.  That’s His focus.  His focus is on that next great resurrection that’s going to take place and those that are going to be drawn into the Church, the Body of Christ.  And so that’s what He’s focusing upon, although we understand those things go beyond that into the Millennium and into the Great White Throne; but He’s very much focused upon what’s coming first.  And the scriptures that God gave through Paul and things written in Thessalonians and other places...the focus is still upon the Church primarily in the following 2,000 years until Christ’s return.

And so He says here, I go to prepare a place for you. I think it’s one of the most awesome things when we go into the Day of Atonement and we go back into Leviticus 16 where you have the two goats and it goes through this story here talking about God’s plan, the azazel which is the one that represents Satan and then the one that represents Christ.  Leviticus 16 - it’s an awesome story.  Everything is here about what’s going to take place through time; but in part here when it talks about Aaron...because Aaron fulfilled different things about the High Priest and what the High Priest was to do, picturing Jesus Christ and what He had to do.  That’s why it says in verse 11 - And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and so there are things that Jesus Christ was doing in preparing, as far as what He was getting ready to do as the Passover and preparing for His House; the Body of Christ, the Church of God that was going to follow.  And so it’s a matter of making an atonement for them, making it possible so that they could all be atoned; so the whole house can be atoned.  And then it talks about the prayers, the example of the prayers here, the coal, the incense being beaten small; in verse 12...and talking about how that covers the mercy seat and then dropping on down here a little bit...

Verse 15 – then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring the blood within the veil, and do with the blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:  representing the work of Jesus Christ.  What is that work?  It’s something that’s been going on for 2,000 years now, in essence, in our lives; it’s actively at work in our life.  How?  Through the process of repentance.  It’s that’s life’s blood that He gave, that He died for to make it possible that we could come before God’s mercy seat, ask for forgiveness of sin...it’s through the blood of Jesus Christ, by the blood of Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ actively working for us as our High Priest that we’re able to be forgiven of sin and continue to grow, and can continue to grow.  And this is what it’s talking about here.  It’s condensing the story of something Jesus Christ is going to do for 2,000 years now and bring the blood within the veil.  We do that every time we go before the mercy seat of God.  We bring that blood back into the veil!  Because my sin, your sin, every time we sin, it’s about the blood of Jesus Christ who died for us that we can be forgiven...every time.  And so continually that’s being used in our lives.  We use it!  Thank God we can use it, that it’s not just a one time thing – otherwise we couldn’t make it, because we sin.  This battle that goes on...

Verse 16 - And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins:  That’s us!  Because of our transgressions and all of our sins.  The blood is continually there; that’s the covenant, the blessing of the covenant we entered into with God at baptism.  ...and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and has made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for the congregation of Israel.  You know what that pictures?  Second coming of Christ; it’s the return of Jesus Christ.  Until He’s finished with His work He doesn’t come back out...until the first great phase, in other words, of what God is doing in the sense of the Church.  Because far more have been called in the Church and been worked with – thousands more that are going to make up the 144,000; until He returns; and then with those of His household then that are resurrected with Him...and that which has been going on for literally 6,000 years.  And so this is what it’s talking about; when He returns.  So there was not to be anyone around there until this took place.  It shows what the high priest was doing inside then, what Jesus Christ has been doing inside the throne of God for 2,000 years.

Anyway, beautiful pictures when you see the whole plan of God and what God is doing and why it’s being done.

So that’s what He’s saying back here in John 14:2- And I go to prepare a place for you.  He’s about to enter into the Holy Place for us, to do a work for 2,000 years, speaking primarily again of the 144,000.  Obviously that continues on through the thousand years and the hundred years to follow that.  And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, love that!  God began to reveal some things about this back in 1982, 1983, through those years while in Lubbock, Texas; by the context.  Didn’t even know at that point the Greek words and what they were, didn’t know tenses in Greek at that point in time; but by God’s spirit and by context and so forth I came to understand, God gave it, that this was talking about that by Him living in us and dwelling within us is how these things are accomplished. And that’s what it means by I will come again, in other words, it’s talking about something that’s going to happen in our lives on a spiritual plane, not something about His second coming.  That’s not what this is about.  This isn’t a future tense verb – I will come again, that’s how the world reads it and that’s how we in the Church as a whole did until God began to give understanding that this is not what this is about.

I remember the time period where we lived in Erie, PA.  Had a minister friend down in Pittsburgh and we were visiting with them and I was talking to him about some of these things and he said, “I’ve got a book that talks about the tenses in the Greek language that’s excellent; and it’ll tell you what these different tenses are and how they’re used in the Greek language.”  And it was the book by Zodhiates and so I got it and started going through it and I was amazed that this is a present progressive type of verb.  It means when it starts happening, it starts happening and it continues to happen – it doesn’t stop.  It’s progressive.  It’s not an event in the future.  It’s not a future tense verb; it’s present... the closest we have in English is present progressive.  I will come again...and what it’s talking about, again here, for those of you who are newer.  Those of you who are older have heard this a lot; but it ought to be inspiring to you because I’ve preached this a lot.  It’s always inspiring to me every time I read it because it’s talking about His spirit that can begin to come into our lives and continues to come into our lives.  God’s will is to continue...even the words as they’re translated into English from this same Greek word – to abide, to remain, to continue, to dwell in, they’re all the same Greek word, over and over again; to remain in, continue in, to dwell in, to abide in that we’re going to be reading about: it has to do with this.  I will come again.  I’m coming again into your life.

So He says, if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming, again, and receive you unto Myself; That’s how He receives us to Himself.  Once we’re baptized, receive the impregnation of God’s holy spirit we’re in the Body of Christ, we’re in the Church of God and we can’t stay there and remain there unless God’s spirit continues to dwell in us.  And if we fall asleep and we become stagnant, or because of sin in our life that God puts us out of the Body that flow is cut off and no longer comes into our life.  God will not dwell in sin until sin can be repented of and I think of thousands of people, tens of thousands of people that that time can’t come for them until the Great White Throne when they’re going to be awakened.  Two ways... one to physical life again, and one to spiritual life when they’re going to be able to see what they’ve done and there’s going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth when they look back and see what they’ve done because of their stubbornness and because of their pride...and that’s the way every one of us who lived back then before the apostasy, what we all would have done if God hadn’t had mercy upon us and brought us to where we are today.  Because God has a purpose in doing these things...that’s why we’re here; otherwise we wouldn’t be here... because we’re no better than what they are.

...that where I am, there you may be also.  That’s how we can be where He is – by His spirit.  It’s a spiritual thing; it’s a spiritual relationship, And where I go you know, and the way you know. I love this because this is a common human reaction.  We think physically...and so Thomas said to Him, Lord, we don’t know where You’re going; and so how can we know the way?   He didn’t get it.  He didn’t understand it and He couldn’t understand these things and He didn’t understand these things until after Pentecost.  That’s when they began to understand the things that Jesus Christ had been teaching them.  Before that, they didn’t get it.  They didn’t understand it.  They still didn’t understand He was getting ready to die...after all the things He told them.  When He said that, ‘the oil Mary poured upon Him was for His burial.’  No clicking.  Nothing went off.  They didn’t understand.

Verse 6 - Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but through Me.  That’s what it says in the Greek.  It has to be through Jesus Christ.  First of all, we can’t have a relationship with God; God’s not going to be dwelling in us, we’re not going to be able to receive the holy spirit unless sin is able to be taken care of; and it’s taken care of through our Passover.  So it has to be through Him.

If you had known Me, you should have known My Father also: and from henceforth you know Him, and have seen Him.  So again, this physical response.  That’s why I love these, because this is our normal first reaction in life, it’s a physical one until God turns on the light.  You can’t turn on the light.  God has to turn on the light through the power of His spirit in your mind and your spirit that lets you see.  That’s why all of these things we’ve been talking about – the word ‘mansions’...the light wasn’t there because God hadn’t turned it on yet and until God turns it on you have no power to see and to know unless God has a purpose.  And if God has a purpose He’ll turn it on and let you see; and that’s what He gives to us.  The 50th Truth; you can’t know it, you can’t see it until its God’s time.  All these things that we’ve gone through in time; you can’t know it until God turns on the switch.  You can’t know it about Jesus Christ not having eternally existed until God turns on the switch and lets you see it.  So, If you had known Me, you should have known My Father also: and henceforth you have known Him and have seen Him. And Philip said unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and that’ll satisfy us. “Just let us see Him.”  They didn’t get it.  You can’t see God the Father.  No human being can see God.

I used to hear these things and I used to wonder.  We used to battle with some of these things, like with Moses and how he saw this light, this brightness and different things he saw and it talks about seeing...and they NEVER SAW GOD!  You can’t see spirit.  God let them see something that was a glory, just like when Moses came down from the mountain; his face was shining and not normal.  But that was something manifested physically picturing something that was taking place spiritually.  You can only see what is physical.  You can’t see spiritual; you can’t see anything that is spirit unless God manifests something physical to the physical eye.  And this is what has happened in times past.  No one has ever been able to see anything spiritually as a human being.

And so again here, it wasn’t a matter of literally seeing the Father and that’s what Jesus Christ was not saying to them but that’s what Philip came back with.

Verse 9 - Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; it’s not something physical.  It’s not what you see with your eyes; it’s what’s up here.  And the reality is they didn’t see it, and they couldn’t until Pentecost.  And Jesus Christ knew that.  This is for us. This was for them after Pentecost and this is for everyone who’s ever read it whom God has given understanding of it; to be able to see it when God gives it.  Have I been so long time with you, and have you not known Me?  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; and how do you say then, Show us the Father?   Believe you not...and this is the marvel, this is the excitement, this is when Jesus Christ reveals something so powerful to them.  Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father’s in Me? Not only was He the Son of God, born of a physical human being, but God was dwelling in Him.  Awesome!  The mind of Jesus Christ, the being of Jesus Christ.  He says, Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father’s in Me?  God the Father dwelt in Him.  He had no sin in Him.  God the Father lived fully in Him in ways that we can’t begin to comprehend.  We get a little bit of a taste of it, sometimes, when we see something for the first time and we say, “Oh, that’s exciting!  Now I see it!”  When God reveals something to you and all of a sudden you see it and it clicks, the light goes on.  It’s because God the Father’s turned the light on for you.  We can see something spiritually that we couldn’t see before.  Before that – before the Feast of 2005 there were things about God we didn’t see and things about Jesus Christ we couldn’t see until God turned on the light and gave it to us and brought us all into unity and oneness at that time; because God had to do that.  It’s a spiritual thing.

So He said, Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I speak not of Myself:  that’s why even within the Church, even within the ministry...if someone gets up and gives what they believe the Church should learn, something that they have studied themselves and come to see, or worked up themselves...in other words, if it doesn’t come from God because God gave it to them they might as well never open their mouth; because if it doesn’t come from God what point is there for a Sabbath service?  If it doesn’t come from God what point is there in going back and forth from Sabbath services and listening?  And that’s what Jesus Christ is showing here.  He said, the words that I speak to you, they’re not Mine, they’re from the Father.  If they were His and they were different from God’s what would be the point?  What would be the purpose of it?  So again here; the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself, “they’re not My words, they don’t come out of Me, they’re not something I have planned out and decided Myself that you should do or how you should do it or when you should do it.  It’s from God.”  And everything that Jesus Christ gave was fully from God the Father...but the Father that dwells in Me, that word that is used over and over again; remains in me, abides in me, continues in me... He does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me:  He wanted them to believe this; this is the beginning of your understanding.  “If you will believe and understand how these things are given to you and the words that are given to you – they’re not Mine, I didn’t come up with these – they come from your Father, My Father; they come from God because He dwells in Me and I dwell in Him.”  They didn’t understand this yet; they couldn’t understand it yet because they hadn’t experienced the holy spirit yet; but they’re getting ready to.  And on that day it began to click for them.  Awesome! Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the very works' sake.  “At least because you’ve seen these miracles; you’ve seen Lazarus; you’ve seen the blind receive sight; you’ve seen those who are crippled walk; you’ve seen these different things take place; you were there, you saw the water turned to wine.”  The very first miracle.

Verse 12 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, He who believes on Me, believes Me in other words, not just about Him, it’s about believing what He said, the works that I do shall he do; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to My Father. The things that are going to be able to be accomplished by more through time.  I think of the work that was done through Philadelphia in an awesome way in the world as God drew many more into the Church in a powerful way because of media and technology that began to come and the power then of God’s word that goes out and when it gets in your mind, it’s in your mind.  Today things that have happened in time and people can see an advertisement or whatever and they click onto a book and they start reading something and something starts clicking in their mind.  God does those things.

Verse 13 - And whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  And I’ve spent much time in things like this saying it’s not about just anything you ask for; it’s not whatever your heart desires and wants.  It’s about that which is a matter of God’s will that you can pray for and God wants you to pray for and He’ll bless you: and most of that has to do with our growing, conquering, overcoming, being forgiven of sin because of repentance and so forth.  If you shall ask any of this in My name, I will do it.

If you love Me, keep My commandments.  It’s easy to say, “I love God.  I love Jesus Christ.”  The world says it all the time, “We love Jesus.”  And they don’t do what He says.  They don’t even try.  They go to Sunday services sometimes to appease their conscience or whatever and go right back out and live in whatever kind of life they’re living in.  Used to boggle my mind; I had a close friend that was a Catholic as I grew up during my teenage years, and he’d go off to these things on Sunday (and I didn’t go anywhere on Sunday - but he did), and I’d ask him a couple questions a couple times and basically knowing what kind of life he was living and basically he was like, “go there and sometimes have a confession or whatever and you’re okay.”  You can go back and live the way you are.  God just accepts you the way you are type of thing...that attitude in the Protestant world.  I can’t remember the exact way He said it; he said it differently than that, but that’s the kind of the attitude of the ‘Christian” world.  It’s like if he would just go there and he could say something and roll some beads he’s okay and he could leave and do the exact same sins and live the exact same life that he did prior, not wanting to change... it had nothing to do with wanting to change, it had nothing to do with being motivated to change.  It was just a matter of taking care of something every week; that if you just keep doing this, then you’re okay.  I never understood that.

If you love Me keep My commandments. You’ll keep the Sabbath; you’ll do the things in the first four that it talks about in having a relationship with God...and the rest of them as well.  It’s about love, it’s about God’s way of life; of how you treat one another, how you treat God.  Its one thing to say you love Him, it’s another thing to live it isn’t it?

Verse 16 – If you love Me keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He’ll give you another comforter, that it may abide with you forever; Even the spirit of truth; it’s a spirit of truth – that’s an exciting thing when we understand that.  We are sanctified by the truth.  That’s what sets us apart from the world.  The truth comes into our mind, we see it, we respond to it, we start living it and that’s what sets us apart from the world.  As soon as you choose, those of you who are brand new, those of you just baptized last week, week before that... what happened?  You started telling your family and different ones about the Sabbath and what’d your boss have to say about it?  They’re not real keen on it, but this is what you do.  This is what takes place in your life; spirit of truth that opens up your mind.  You start living by the Sabbath, you start talking about and you believe in things about the Holy Days and you start changing your life and it all has to do with the truth in your mind.  The spirit of truth; which the world cannot receive, because it sees it not, the world can’t see it, but you do; neither knows it: but you know it; for it dwells with you, and shall be in you.  The spirit of God, the truth of God – it’s saying the same thing because they go together. It’s the spirit of God that He gives to us, that conveys into the mind what is right and what is true about God and the knowledge of God and the way of God.  And so that’s given to us and it can live in us.  That’s what’s an awesome thing to understand.

You know, when we first had the apostasy starting to take place and we started trying to organize you saw different groups very quickly that started doing their own thing...and that’s why I resisted and did not want to be like others.  I wanted to be where I thought God had to be.  He had to be with the largest out there or nearly the largest out there surely, or a large organized group of ministers that were coming together and striving to do the right thing and I didn’t want to be one of these weirdo groups going off, these little groups going off and doing their own thing because every one of them, as soon as they started going away from some of the basic things, they went nuts; they did nutty things, fruitcake things that you’d look at and you’d say, “How can this have happened so fast.”  There were certain minsters there that at one point in time you’d think, “Man, they’re right down the line.”  Then another time they’d mention one thing that’s a little off track and they’d begin to teach that and all of a sudden they’re going off on all kinds of tangents.  Its like, “What happened?!”  The light went out.  They’re cut off from God and the spirit wasn’t dwelling in them any longer and sometimes it takes a while to put all of this together to realize that you start straying away from the trunk of the tree, you start straying away from any of the truth of God and you can no longer dwell in the truth and the truth will no longer dwell in you.  You’ll start losing it.  And that’s what we started witnessing moment after moment, group after group out here.  That’s why we didn’t want to have the Feast; I didn’t want to have a Feast site.  I didn’t want to be so presumptuous that we would have our own Feast site.  I didn’t want to be so presumptuous that we wouldn’t be with some organized group.  But it came to a point in time where there wasn’t really any other choice and God blessed us in time; not because of how great we are, not because of how smart we were.  Just because God was doing something in us.  Awesome to understand that.

So again here, the truth abides in you because God’s spirit abides in you and if you get cut off from this spirit you will stray away from the truth, you cannot hold on to it.  You can’t keep it!  You can’t!  The evidence...I’ve seen it in the hundreds, maybe even into the thousands of people’s lives, personally; personally knowing them.  The world can’t see it, you can see it; because God’s not dealing with the world.  He’s not calling the world.

Verse 18 - I will not leave you comfortless: I, it’s that word again...not a future tense word.  It’s about God’s spirit dwelling in you; I am coming to you. He’s going to dwell in us and that was the good news of what Jesus Christ was giving the disciples.  That’s why I mention this over and over again...there is no greater revelation in this Bible than this right here about our Passover; because if He can’t dwell in you, and God the Father can’t dwell in you, you have no hope, you have no power to be saved.  Starting with the Passover, because you’re able to have your sins forgiven you, it makes it possible that God the Father and Jesus Christ can dwell in you.  That’s why it was so exciting to read what He said earlier to His disciples: believe Me that I dwell in the Father and the Father dwells in Me.  He was telling them that’s why they were able to hear what they heard – because it comes from the Father, not from Him.  They were not His words.

So He says, I’ll not leave you comfortless: in other words, the holy spirit’s going to be given...  Yet a little while, the world sees Me no more; but you see Me: and this was totally confusing to them.  Can you imagine sitting there and hearing this and all you can think of is physical things?  You get to a point where you say “I’m not going to ask another question.”  You know how sometimes you put your hand up and ask a question and that’s kind of what you get to here and it’s like I don’t want to be made to look stupid.  And that’s kind of how they were feeling.  You can understand that.

So He says, yet a little while and the world sees Me no more but you see Me; because I live, you shall live also.  They didn’t understand what this meant.  They were confused.  At that day, there’s coming a time, in other words, At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. And what was that day for them?  The Day of Pentecost.  That was the day God’s spirit came to them.  That’s the day the light went on; that’s the day they began to understand the things that Christ had taught them.  Can you imagine being with Him for that long a time, being taught so many things and only grasping it on the surface?  Not seeing the spirit of it?  And yet that’s the way it was.  They believed who He was; they believed He was the Messiah; but they didn’t understand the things spiritually until the Day of Pentecost and all of a sudden these things were flooding into their lives and into their minds.  Had to be awesomely exciting!  Far more exciting than any truth we’ve ever come to at any point in time; when you come to a certain truth and it’s exciting what you see...  Here their minds were flooded with things that all of a sudden they could see that Jesus Christ had told them. At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me and I in you.  And so again, for us, when is that day?  That’s the day we’re baptized and had hands layed upon us.  That’s when it begins for us.  God draws us; we begin to see certain things because He draws us and He allows us to begin seeing things in a way that is different in that sense of the disciples, because He does give us the ability to see some things; but it’s not dwelling in us yet until we have hands layed upon us and we receive the impregnation of God’s spirit.  And then from that point on...God dwells in us.

He who has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and so if we don’t do these things we really don’t love God and we really don’t love Jesus Christ.  Words are cheap! In the South especially...words are cheap; because people in the North don’t worry about saying those words because they don’t tend to be religious at all.  They go through the motions of some things but in the South they tend to be more religious and outspoken about those things.  “Have you given your heart to the Lord?  Have you accepted Jesus Christ?”  In the South you could be asked those things.  In the North they don’t want to talk about it.  In Europe they definitely don’t talk about God.  You don’t want to get into a conversation with anyone in Europe, basically, about God...or in Australia as a whole.  People don’t talk about God.  But in the South it’s kind of unique.  In some areas you can bump into people and they’ll talk about God and they’ll talk about... “Have you given your heart to the Lord?  Do you believe?  Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal saviour?”  Some of you are shaking your head yes, you’ve had those experiences.  It’s kind of a different thing if you haven’t grown up or lived in that part of the world.  But if you’ve lived down there, you know it’s true.  But they don’t understand about loving Jesus; because that’s the kind of terminology they use.  They don’t keep His commandments.

He that has My commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves Me: and he that loves Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest/reveal/show Myself to him. Not a physical thing. A spiritual thing. And Judas said unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not the world?  So they picked up on that.  “You saying the world can’t see it?  Can’t see You, but we can see You?  What does this mean?  How is it that we’re going to be able?”  It’s like...wouldn’t that be a little strange?  “You’re going to be out here, we’re going to see You, but they can’t?!  What’s going on?”  And Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My logos/My word: talking about the word of God, He was the word of God; and My Father will love him, and We will come, it’s that progressive thing again, it’s talking about dwelling in them, unto him, and make Our abode, same word as mansions up above; we’ll make Our dwelling place; it’s the only two places this word is used in the Bible – verse 2 and verse 23; and We will make Our dwelling place with him. So “in My Father’s house, in the Church of God, are many dwelling places,” that’s what Jesus Christ was telling them...and through time it’s going to become greater and greater and greater.

He who loves Me not keeps not My sayings/My logos/My words: and the word which you hear is not Mine, it’s from the Father,  but the Father's who sent Me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the comforter, which is the holy spirit, which the Father will send in My name, it shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Otherwise... see it’s going to bring all these things back here and that’s exactly what happened on Pentecost.  All of a sudden they started seeing all these things.  And there are scriptures that talk about this as we go through some of this and it talks about finally they understood; some of the words began to come back and they understood then what Jesus Christ had said and they began to understood the spirit of it.

He said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. In other words the peace of the world is not a peace you want to have; because their kind of peace is perverted and distorted – it comes with stipulations, there are different things that go along with it.  There’s always a price. Let not your heart be troubled, let it not neither be afraid. You have heard how I’ve said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you’ve loved Me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go to the Father: for My Father’s greater than I. So again, He’s saying things they didn’t comprehend.  We can read it now and comprehend what He was talking about and be in awe.

And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it does come to pass, you might believe. So that when you see it and experience it, this is going to enhance and magnify your belief, your faith. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from hence.  This was again at that period of time of the night after they’d had the supper and Judas was sent away to do his thing, to betray Christ, and he was going to bring them to the Mount of Olives. This is where they were going and Judas knew what Jesus Christ’s plans were and what He was going to be doing.  Judas had this knowledge so he knew where to take them and where to betray Him and so he was off doing his thing.

Here the disciples are receiving some instruction from Christ after Judas was sent away, after the foot washing and everything.  And He went on then to teach here in John 15:1 – He said, I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that bears not fruit He takes away: and every branch in Me that bears fruit, He purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. That’s an awesome thing.  I’ve seen this over and over again in God’s Church.  We either yield to God’s way, we either want this way of life and we desire it and we fight the fight or time goes on, depending too on God’s purpose and what He’s doing sometimes in our lives and the like...but again, we’re to bear fruit; which means you have to yield yourself to God’s spirit because if God’s spirit is in you, as I’ve said, it’s guaranteed fruit has to be produced.  God’s spirit can’t go someplace without fruit being produced.  It grows!  It produces!  If God’s spirit begins to wane, begins to be cut off and begins to become sluggish in a person’s life something has to give.  And this is what it’s talking about here.  Lukewarm?  It can’t be that way.  Something’s got to give.  You either become hot or cold; either stay in or stay out – that’s what it comes to in life; get in or get out; be zealous or be human.  It’s choices.  Everyone has a choice when they’re called and have that opportunity.

Jesus Christ is talking about Himself being the vine, My Father’s the husbandman, He does the work of things that are taking place within the Church and the things that Jesus Christ is working with in our lives as well; and makes it very clear here that certain things that take place God will take care of in our lives.  Either we’ll respond to certain things or we won’t.  That’s why sometimes within the ministry and certain ones I’ve tried to convey there are certain things I’ve learned in a very powerful way – you lead, guide and direct, you work with people’s lives, you point them to where and how you’ve been told how to do so, how to point people to God and the Church and how things are to be done and so forth and yet you can’t regulate that, you can’t control that, you can’t make people do it, you can’t give this to people in people’s lives.  That’s up to us to make that choice, isn’t it?  And that’s what God wants; by what’s inside; and by if you want it and if you desire it.  Sometimes in life, if we’re not careful, we want to get involved in other people’s lives when we see something they’re doing wrong and correct it.  God works with those things in our lives.  We’re going to make mistakes.  God allows us to make mistakes.  He’s allowed me to make a lot of mistakes. I’ve learned from those because He continues to work with us, because there’s a desire and if you’re desiring and your heart is right and you continue to want God’s way of life and are able to learn through your mistakes – then good.  But you’ve got to want that with all your being.

Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.  So again, it’s the word of God that cleanses us, that purifies us if we receive it, if we’ll yield to it.  Abide in Me; in the early stages of learning some of these things here in the Church, when I read this one here I understood that He was to abide in us, but I didn’t really get some of this, what it meant to abide in Him in its fullest way.  And this has to do with your choice, of what you do, because God gives us a choice to abide in Him and it has to do with our desire – how much is it burning within you?  That’s why I cry out to new people in the Church and to people who’ve been around a long time – if you want this way of life – you’ve got to fight for it!  Those of you who are young, if you want what’s beyond this, if you see what is good that God is offering and you realize what’s going to come on this world, if you believe a little bit of that then hold on and ask God for help –that you want it.  Let Him know you want it; that you desire that.  But it’s something you’ve got to fight for and if you want this way of life, you’ve got to fight for it because abiding in Him is not easy.  You’ve got to fight against your own human nature.  You’ve got to fight against family sometimes, or against the pulls of things that happen on the job or in society in the world.  You’ve got to go against the grain in other words.  It’s easy to go downstream, but to go upstream which is what we do...with God’s help we can do it; but you’ve got to cry out to God for it and seek to do it right.

Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; you’ve got to dwell in the vine, you can’t do it on your own... no more can you, except you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches: He who abides in Me, and I in Him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing.  God makes it very clear here, you can’t do this on your own.  You can’t change on your own; you can’t live love on your own.  You have to have God in your life.  And to have God in your life you’d better be repenting of sin and fighting for it and not letting down.  And what does our human nature do?  It wants to let down.  That’s my nature; that’s your nature as a human being when it comes to God’s way of life.  You’ve got to keep at the fight.

If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.  Well, we know what that’s talking about.  But again here, working up to some of the things He gave that are so important that we understand.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, because they have to be both.  We don’t abide in Him if His words don’t abide in us; if we’re not living it; if it’s not living in us – and that has to do with His way of life that’s very basic, summed up in love and how we think about each other and how we treat each other.  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. And so herein is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be My disciples.  As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you: continue/abide in/dwell in/remain you in My agape.  That’s what He’s saying.  It’s about the holy spirit, but it goes way beyond that.  It’s not a matter of just receiving it, it’s a matter of living what it gives to you and those are things you have to choose to do, to yield to that spirit, to fight against your own nature, to sometimes just have the ability to say, “I’m sorry.”  Human beings have a hard time saying, “I’m sorry.”  And you have to have God’s spirit in you to say it with sincerity and truth to where there’s no bitterness, no anger, no harbouring of anything – where it’s pure.  You have to cry out to God for help to do those things; not just to say, “I’m sorry.”  But to say it with the right spirit.  A lot said in, “I’m sorry.” ...and the change you’re going to make in your life  towards how you’ve said something or treated someone else... see – just that alone would solve so much; not just in the world but even in the Church so often in our lives and things we live through.  It’s about our relationships.  Over and over and over again Jesus Christ focused on that on this night.

If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love; because if we don’t keep His commandments we’re definitely not abiding in His love.  Easy.  ...even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His agape/His love. It comes from God the Father. These things I have spoken unto you, that My joy... that’s what He desires, God desires; that we be filled with happiness, of fullness of life and happiness of life, joy of life.  People in the world don’t have that kind of joy; it’s not long lived.  It doesn’t continue on.  It’s really pathetic compared to what God offers us; a fullness and a joy of life and a fullness of life – to understand and value relationships – that’s what it’s all about. That’s what you have that God offers when being at one with Him. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. Because by living God’s way of life you’re able to receive a fullness and a joy of life that you can’t in this physical world; that you only can in limited  physical ways in this world.

That’s what people want, that’s what people want in marriage and can’t have in this world.  They desire to have something and then they become frustrated because it’s not there after a time because of  what?  Well, so often betrayal, lies, things that take place in life.  They don’t understand what they’re doing.  They think some joy and happiness and fullness is going to come in some other way, a perverted way, a distorted way, some other way than what God says joy comes from.  It doesn’t, it just brings you a lot of sorrow, a lot of heartache.  People go out here and they want things and they lust after it and they get it...and later on they learn what they got and it doesn’t feel good, and they pay a huge price because they desired and went against God’s laws and God’s ways.  Happens in the world day in and day out and it happens in the Church of God; but God’s working with us.  That’s what makes us different.  God’s working with us and if we’ll respond and learn and grow and repent and grow and learn and respond and repent and repent...then we can grow and change because God’s working with us.  He’s not working with the world; and that’s the only thing that makes us different – God working with us.  And He lets us taste of those things that are right. Too bad we can’t constantly taste of it... and we can’t because of what?  Selfish human nature.

Verse 12 - This is My commandment, That you love one another, AS I have loved you.  If you’re not willing to sacrifice for others you’re not going to have that joy in your life, you’re not going to learn what He’s talking about.  Because until we learn to love like this we can’t grasp the greater things of a relationship with God and God’s Family.  Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  How much are you willing to lay down of your life?  Who are your friends?  And that’s what it comes down to.  How much are you willing to sacrifice for your friends?  How much of self ...because that’s what it really gets down to; how much of self are you willing to sacrifice for your friends?  If you want them to be your friends...how much are you willing to sacrifice for them?  How much are you willing to give up, to give away?  How much are you willing to throw away in the sense of not holding something against someone?  This is where the trials and the tests come from.

Had a conversation with someone recently where I told them, “I know you’ve said things about me.  I know you haven’t agreed with everything that’s been taught, but I love you.  I never held anything of that against you.”  That’s what it’s about.  Because if you hold something against someone, no matter what they’ve done to you, and they’re in the Church... and I hope and pray they continue to grow in the Church and become stronger in the Church.  That’s what our heart should be toward each other.  Isn’t that what you want?  For everybody to be in the Church?  Sometimes we don’t always feel that way about each other and we don’t understand the magnitude of what we’re doing because your actions and your thoughts can affect other people and whether or not they even have a desire to continue in the Church; how we treat them, how you treat someone else, how you might affect a young person’s life...or an older person’s life, age doesn’t matter - see.  But that’s something you have to do because if you hold something against somebody else, well, you just hurt yourself and you can hurt them.

So this is what it’s talking about here.  You have to fight your own nature.  Sometimes if you have a battle against someone else, something someone has said behind your back, not to your face...and different ones tell you.  How do you respond to that?  I’ll tell you how most people respond, and it’s not good.  My history in the Church of God has taught me a lot because I’ve seen the result in people’s lives and what it does to people’s lives.  I don’t want that in my life and I don’t want it in your life.  If you see the suffering that goes on because people won’t let go; because they continue to hold something against someone else and won’t let go...such a damaging thing when all you’ve got to do is just let go and to understand to hold onto it is sin anyway.

So why did Jesus Christ over and over and over again here on the night, His last night, not too many hours before He’s going to have to die, before He’s going to have to be beaten so badly, say these things?  He knows that people aren’t even going to recognize Him!  He knows that is what He’s getting ready to do.  But He knows the purpose of it.  He’s willing to suffer so that every human being, every one of us, could be forgiven of sin, so that we can have what He had as the Son of God – the Father dwelling in them on a continuing basis. What an awesome thing to understand!  So He’s willing to do whatever it takes in order to give that and He wants us to understand the point then.  God wanted us to understand the point by giving this instruction over and over and over again here of what it means to love someone else, to give to someone else; that you’re willing to lay down your life.

And how much are you willing to lay down?  Because since Passover I have known of so many situations out here where people aren’t getting along and it BLOWS MY MIND sometimes, to think we’re this far along and the earth is so stirred up.  I am dumbfounded by the shaking I see going on with the earth and yet it doesn’t shake the tar out of us sometimes when we’ve been told...and it’s just going to get worse and worse and worse.  How serious do we take it then?  How much do we want to conquer and overcome?  How much do we want to love each other and forgive one another and not hold anything against anyone else and swallow our pride, because our desire is for the other person more than it is for our self.  Understanding by having that desire that we’re blessed anyway.  That’s what it’s all about.  That’s how we grow.  That’s how we conquer.  That’s how we overcome.

But I think of the very reason Jesus Christ died... so we could live this toward one another, so you could have His spirit, so I can have His spirit.  That’s why He’s getting ready to do what He did.  That’s why He talks so much about this on that night.  Love! Sacrifice!  ‘AS I have loved you!’  And they don’t know that yet, but they’re getting ready to see it.  He’s willing to be put to death.  And then they saw it.  That’s why when it came down to Pentecost in the book of Acts, Peter was able to speak so powerfully and it talks about all those people who were pricked in their hearts because they finally got it, in the world, because God was working with them and drawing them to baptism that day, 3,000 plus that were being drawn at that point in time; and it says they were pricked in the heart because they understood something for the first time; as everyone has to come to understand it at some point in time: I killed Jesus Christ.  MY sins killed Jesus Christ!  Incredible!

You are My friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. That’s His desire toward us, and that should be our desire toward each other.  There should be no closer relationship in life, in physical life, than what we’re able to have within the Church with one another.  But we fight with carnal human nature,  don’t we?  And we either enhance that, or we get in the way and restrict it from becoming a greater reality.  That’s our battle!  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant doesn’t know what his Lord does: but I’ve called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I’ve made known to you.  He wants to give us everything that will help us, everything that will bring about change, that we can learn from and grow from and profit from.

You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go forth and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain/continue/abide: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I’ve command you, that you love one another.  It’s amazing here!  We read this every Passover night over and over again, these things here that are said from year from year and yet I will tell you that we don’t grasp it to the depth and the degree that God wants us to because of our human nature. And the more you can grow, the more you can grasp.  And the more you yield yourself to God and apply these things to your life and fight against your own nature and your own selfishness and your own pride the more you can experience the fullness of what Jesus Christ is giving here, this kind of joy, this kind of fullness in life that comes from something that God gives – that’s beyond human life, that’s beyond human experience.  It’s an experience with God because God has to be in it, God has to be a part of it.  And so we grow through these things until a time comes when we can have it for eternity, pure all the time, complete all the time.

Going on here, If the world hate you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  Oh, we know that one.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own: We see that.  That’s what the world as a whole...the world loves its own, those who will do what it wants to do, but if you do something, or you do this...and if God... they don’t want it.  People can talk about God, they can talk about Jesus Christ, “Have you accepted Jesus Christ?”  And you start talking about some of this stuff here and before long you’re going to find out where you stand real quick like with the world.  If you were of the world the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. No mystery!  We know that – we learn it.  So everyone that’s new that comes into the Church; it doesn’t take very long and you begin learning this.  That people really don’t want to hear what you have to say.  As a whole, your family is not excited like you are about the truth; but we all have to experience that, don’t we?  And this is how we learn what Jesus Christ said and what God said is true...and we become more deeply convicted of what we’re learning.  “Oh, they’re not excited!”

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; hate you, say bad things about you, whatever... if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him who sent Me.  They don’t know God.  Awesome thing!

Let’s turn over to Luke 22.  There are a lot of things that continue to follow that night that Jesus Christ continued to teach there in John and we read a lot of it on Passover night. In chapters 16, 17, 18 – over and over again about love, over and over again about God’s spirit and how it dwells in our life.  We need to go on here with some of the story flow of what took place.  Luke 22, backing up just a little bit here in the story.  Luke 22:20 - Likewise also the cup after supper, He took the cup, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you. This was after the supper and washing of feet and so forth and they had this period of time here all these things were instituted.

Verse 21 - But, behold, the hand of him that betrays Me is with Me at the table. And truly the Son of man goes, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom He is betrayed! And they began to inquire among themselves, again, we read part of this in the other example there in John, which of them that it would be that should do this thing.

Verse 24 – And there was also strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest. Can you believe this?  Passover night!  So it shouldn’t surprise us; doesn’t take us too long after Passover, maybe even on the drive home… I hope not but we’re so carnal!  We’re so selfish, our nature is so selfish, but I’ll tell you what, some of the greatest growth you can make in your life is when you come to understand your own spirit; to understand how selfish we are by nature – that’s just the way we are.  So selfishly motivated; my way, our way.  And when you’re displeased, when you’re unhappy... it’s not because of what someone else has done to you.  We can blame that on someone else – other people don’t make you unhappy – YOU make yourself unhappy!!  It’s YOUR choice to let someone else affect you that way.  Do you realize that?  IT’S YOUR CHOICE to let someone get under your skin.  And if you do that... you’re just yielding yourself to the process of what demons like anyway and what Satan loves in this world – to bug you; to get you to do and think things that are wrong; to be unhappy with someone else...because it’s the opposite of what God says you should be with them.  Isn’t that amazing?  That’s the way it works.

Do we understand that?  Please understand it!  Please think about it the next time you’re unhappy and you’re tempted to say and think, so and so did this and this is why you’re unhappy. Please use that as an opportunity to understand your own brain and what’s going on inside that grey matter that’s not of God because it’s selfishness and it’s pride.  You have chosen to let them upset you.  You have chosen to let them have some kind of a control in your life, of your reactions and response that are not Godly.  Okay?  It’s a choice and we have grown up with, we learn to respond in a wrong way.  It’s not your boss that makes you unhappy.  It’s not your mate  who says anything that can make you unhappy; it may not be full of joy and happiness sometimes when it happens, but how you respond to it is what says a lot about you and where you are in your life spiritually and how you think about God’s way of life.  How quickly you can overcome that; how quickly you can come to a point where you can deal with that and maybe make atonement even and work to try to make atonement and work to try to make things right because you don’t like that kind of an atmosphere.

And sometimes you know that there’s nothing you can say that would make it right depending on  different people and different situations.  You have to judge those.  But how it affects you and to what degree, whether you become angry; whether you become upset at someone else, on the job, or whatever, or in the Church...  That’s putting you to the test of what’s inside your heart and what’s inside your mind and it’s powerful because it’s spiritual.  And that’s why it’s so hard sometimes to see these things; because they’re spiritual things and it’s hard for us to deal with spiritual things.  Why?  Because we’re physical.

What a point of growth if we can come to see some of these things, spiritually, in our minds and in our being and deal with them that way.

Verse 25 – there was a strife among them which of them should be accounted the greatest... this one just blows my mind and yet it doesn’t blow my mind because it’s just human nature.  Right after Jesus Christ has washed their feet.  And they talked about the attitude of mind that they should have and now  it’s about which of us is greater... isn’t that what we want to know? And He said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But you shall not be so: If only the ministry had known this; if we had known this to the deepest core of our being so that congregations weren’t taught this.  Because you see, congregations learned it by the structure of things that were in place by the ministry because we didn’t grasp the fullness of what’s being said here.  He says, you shall not be so.  It’s not about authority; it’s not about power.  Mankind misuses those things.  It’s not about lifting up self; man misuses those things.  It’s the wrong mind, it’s the wrong spirit.  He says, But you shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger;  it’s how you act, it’s how you respond to people, it’s what you’re willing to take.  It’s how you’re able to respond to people and talk to people and so forth.  ...and he that is chief, as he that does serve.  That’s what it’s about.  It’s not about being chief in the sense of being lifted up; it’s not about being important.  Sometimes people just have the wrong ideas about things even within the Church.

Verse 27 - For wither is greater, he that sits at meat, or he that serves? Is not he that sits at meat? But I am among you as one that serves. So what can you learn from that?  That’s what He’s asking us.  What should you be doing?  What should our attitude of mind be? You are they which have continued with Me in My temptations, in the testing’s and so forth, things that have gone on; hardships, the difficulties, the things that they have seen.  And I appoint unto you a Kingdom, as My Father has appointed unto Me; That you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  Awesome!  The disciples and that which is already predetermined before time for them.  That’s how He knew all this.  God gave it to Him.  All this was predetermined before time – there’d be 12 apostles; there’d be 12 – not 10, not 14, not 21.  12; because that’s God’s structure and it’s the structure of His temple.  You read about those things in Revelation later on.  144,000, four sides, 12 times 12,000 – that’s the beginning of God’s Kingdom, that’s the beginning of God’s Government to rule on the earth for a thousand years.  And everything else will fit into that process.

Verse 31 - And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan desires to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not: and when you are converted, strengthen your brethren. What an awesome thing – He’s saying here to Peter and telling him that Satan himself would love to have you.  Why?  Because there was that which was already out there, that which was already a part of something that was taking place in his life and Satan saw the importance of Peter and so Satan wanted to have him and yet it wasn’t God’s purpose for that, to take place that way and Jesus prayed according to God’s purpose and God’s will that certain things be accomplished and done in Peter’s life because there was that which was greater.  It was for Peter’s good that these things were said so that Peter would be moved and motivated to do exactly what God gave him to do – strengthen your brethren.  He was going to be the chief apostle, the primary apostle to the Jewish people.

And he said unto Him, Lord, I am ready to go with you, both into prison, and to death. So we went through that in part, remember, “I’m ready to lay down my life for You.” And He said, I tell you, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, so He made it real specific in this example given in Luke.  In other words, this is going to happen this day, before you shall deny Me three times that you don’t know Me.  Amazing!  It had to be baffling to Peter when he meant what he said because Peter really did mean what he said. “I am willing to lay down my life; I’m ready to fight for you.  Whatever it takes!”  Just like anyone in a military operation is going off to war and is ready to die; but certain situations, circumstances happen in a unique way in a different sort of way than Peter could ever begin to imagine and when He was tried in it – human nature came in.  Amazing!  And he didn’t have God’s spirit dwelling in him yet.  He still had things he was going to learn that were going to motivate him in the job he had ahead for him.

And He said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and script, and shoes, did you lack anything? And they said, Nothing. Then He said to them, But now, he that has a purse, let him take it, and likewise his script: and he that has no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in Me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors:  so in other words here there’s something being said.  They didn’t understand all this being said right now – all they got was the physical part of this and there was need for this to take place because they had to fulfill some prophecies yet and so they didn’t understand it and Jesus Christ didn’t explain it all to them; for the things concerning Me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords.  So, we have two swords, but they didn’t grasp what this was all about yet. And He said unto them, that’s enough.  What was He talking about?  He was talking about what’s getting ready to take place, when they come to take Him and what one’s going to do in swinging a sword and that way they can look upon them and say, “Hey!  Look at what kind of people these are.  They’re armed; they’re ready to revolt.  This is what kind of people they are.”  We’re kind of used to that type of thing; things that people say about you in a perverted, distorted way and they’ll twist anything they can and this is exactly what they did – they twisted what they could get a hold of, to distort it for other people, to say, “this is what they do, this is what they’ve said....” blah, blah, blah – whatever.  Such is the world.  Isn’t it a joy sometimes.

Mark 14 – human nature hasn’t changed; the mind of people hasn’t changed.  That’s why Jesus Christ said, “What they’ve done to Me, they’ll do to you.”  So when you expect that and you understand that then you can understand that it’s not about you, it’s about God.  It’s about God’s purpose, it’s about God’s plan and whatever God’s will is, and God’s will will be done, will be accomplished indeed.

Mark 14:26 - And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. So here’s that point in time that at the end of the Passover service when everything is done they sang.  This is why we sing a song.  This is where that part of this comes from.  We do the same things.  So we have the washing of the feet, we have the bread and the wine, and then we have that which was taught by Jesus Christ on that night and then the singing of a song and then it’s over with; the Passover.  It’s the exact format that God has inspired to be followed.  And so they went out to the Mount of Olives.  This is what I mentioned earlier when they went to the Mount of Olives and Jesus Christ continued to teach and the things He did in praying and so forth that night and again, Judas Iscariot knowing this was where He was going to be, was already gone betraying Him; to bring the soldiers and the others up there.

And Jesus said unto them, All you shall be offended because of Me this night: that’s tough.  “You’re going to be offended at Me this night, because of Me...” for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. Things happen sometimes in life that test us and try us at how we’re going to respond and what we’re going to do under different kinds of circumstances and different kinds of situations and we’ve all been tried in those things and we’ll continue to be tried in them until this is over with because God’s still moulding and fashioning us, working with us.

But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. They didn’t understand.  Can you imagine listening to what He’s saying and still not getting what He’s talking about... ‘after I have risen?’ Risen from what?  Sleep?  They didn’t get yet that He was going to die, that’s for sure. You read these things sometimes and it’s astounding to think about being in their shoes and what they were listening to.

He says, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto Him, Although all shall offend, yet, I’ll not offend/ won’t offend/I will not.  And this is when Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto you, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, you’ll deny Me three times.  But he spoke the more vehemently, If I should die with You, I will not deny You in any wise. Likewise also they all said the same thing.  Of course Peter was the first to speak up; he was always the first one on the spot in that respect – that was his attitude of mind; a fighter – pushing forward.  And that’s why God was using, moulding, and fashioning him, preparing him to be the one who was going to lead them and working with them in that regard.  And so again, they all said yeah, we’re right with you.  “DITTO what Peter said!”

Verse 32 - And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and He said to His disciples, Sit here, while I shall pray.  I think this would be a good spot to stop at today.  We’re going to continue on with this because it’s an incredible story flow of things that Jesus Christ went through and if we can grasp why God gave the things He did, inspired through Jesus Christ on that night, it’s very powerful.  We’re getting to see things about Peter and so forth.  It’s all very inspiring to see how God works with us.

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