Everyone Must Work – Pt. 1

Wayne Matthews

May 10, 2014

Well welcome, everybody! A special Sabbath, which is very exciting. We have guests all the way from all around Australia, and I know people had different plans on travel and some took up to six or seven hours at the airports trying to get here, which was unusual for Australia in some ways, and from the USA, a special welcome, and from the Netherlands, which is very exciting. And we've had a prodigal son return from India and Nepal, which is also exciting.

The title of today's sermon – and it's the beginning of a new series, and it will be actually recorded today, but it probably will be a few weeks before it actually appears on the website – but it's Part 1 of the title Everyone Must Work. And this will be Part 1.

Many people today in today's society believe that they would be happy or happier or content if they no longer had to work on a physical level, because that's society. It's about working and thinking, "Well, if I didn't have to work, I'd be happy." People look forward to the day they no longer have to work or to even earn a living. That's what they strive to. But what does God say about work?

The purpose of this sermon series is to explore what God states about physical and spiritual work, and we can start to explore that by clarifying the title. The title is Everyone Must Work, but it's not about a physical work that I'm referring to. Everybody must work on a spiritual level. That's what the intent is, so it doesn't cause any confusion up front.

Now, there is a particular principle that God uses about work, and that principle that I'm going to refer to is, in the world, if you're going to build anything, you would set up what is called a "project plan" or a "time schedule." There are jobs advertised on the internet where some are… a company would look for someone as a "project manager." Because what it is, they have a task to be achieved but it's not that simple. It's not as simple as just saying, "Well, we're just going to build a house." To build a house requires a "project plan." And that "project plan," which if you're appointed as a "project manager" requires certain information, and it will require things like: What is the action that is going to be achieved? When is it required? Who's going to carry out the action? When will it be completed? Will it be completed on site or off site? Why is it necessary to be done? What's the start date? And when will it finish by? So it's quite complex.

I know in different roles that I've had in different companies where we've had "project plans" to do things. I was in one particular company where they had six or seven different computer systems that had been built over many years and they all worked independent of each other, and they were trying to integrate them. Well, it's a massive job where you've got different codes for a start, and then you have different things or different information. So we had to go to these particular meetings and try to develop a "project plan" or a "time management schedule" to try to integrate them, and the biggest problem we had was, what was the highest priority. Because you had six departments that had computers and they all considered themselves the most important, and therefore, they should be the highest priority. Well, it was a nightmare for the "project manager" because it required so much detailed planning and the only way that you could scope out the work was to sit down and plan it out and have independent meetings with people to work out what they required and how you would integrate all the information.

So God has a "project plan," and He has all of this mapped out and it works on a "time schedule." And we're going to look at some aspects of that. For example, one thing is that God on His "project plan" created spirit first and then He created the universe on a physical level before He created man. Now, that was all done of when, who, what, and why. So "project plans" have, often, who, the what, the when, and the why. And that's basically God's plan. And we're going to look at some aspects of that today about God's work, because the scripture (which we'll look at) says God is working and Jesus Christ is working. And we're going to look in detail about what is that work and how exciting it really is, because, brethren, we are that work! Isn't that exciting?! The Creator of the universe is working with and in us – an incredible thing when we understand that we are so blessed to have been called because we are actually God's work at this time. But God's been working for a long period of time and we don't know how long.

Now, when you look at a "project plan" many actions can start and another one won't start until one is finished. Another time is that they work parallel, so you need to have two bodies of work going at the same time to achieve an outcome.

Now, I'm not sure whether you're aware, but the car industry, because of trying to get more efficient over time, they developed a  "timeline schedule" and they had all these different suppliers that would supply parts to a car to a manufacturing line and they were trying to get it down to within minutes or hours of delivery. For example, there is no point delivering the windscreen to a car if the rubber around the outside is not in stock. So they set out a "timeline schedule." So they then send out to companies saying, "You have to deliver the rubber at this time, 2:00 on this particular day, and we need so many." And they contacted the windscreen maker and said, "We need so many windscreens, this shape and size, at this particular time." And therefore, they tried to manage it. And that's, basically, part of "timeline scheduling" or working out how to do it, because it's no use having the windscreen if the car hasn't been made, because you have a warehouse and it's full of windscreens and everyone's waiting around. And of course, as we know, that didn't work that well in Australia – they're all leaving. But it does require planning. Someone had to sit there and plan it.

Well, God has an incredible plan, really, and He has priorities. And God's plan started with the highest priority of all, which was to have a Savior, Jesus Christ. So God's plan starts with Jesus Christ. That's the very start of the plan. Then from that we can see that God then has a schedule and He's working to a schedule. God is building a spiritual family and He has a project plan with a "timeline schedule," and we're part of that schedule. We're actually in that plan! I find that incredible! We're actually in that plan because we're in God's thoughts because He's working with us and He has an outcome (which He has in a certain timeline) and we're just one part of that plan. What point of the priority we are, we don't know, because there's been lots in the schedule. We know king David, and many others were all in that plan, all for a purpose. Moses, etcetera.

We understand God's plan, His "timeline schedule," based on His holy spirit, His word, and understanding of the Holy Days. God's plan is to create a family, and we're part of God's plan. And that is God's plan. He is creating a spirit family, and therefore, He had to set up a plan. Of course it was based on Jesus Christ, and then from that there is that "timeline schedule" that God has, and we're in the middle of that "timeline schedule."

Without God's holy spirit we cannot begin to "see" God's "project plan." It's not possible. The world can't "see" what we're talking about today. We know some of “what” and some of “how” and some of the “when,” but we don't know it all. We know aspects of God's plan.

So God's schedule or plan, first, it started with Jesus Christ, the need for a Savior to be able to enter Elohim. It starts with that. Then God created the spirit realm for the purpose of creating spirit beings. Now, when you look at it as a "project schedule" there is no point in creating spirit beings first and then trying to create somewhere for them to live. Everything has to have an order. Well, it's the same in our life. There has to be an order in our life. Then the universe, which included the earth, was created. And then we know about Satan's rebellion, which caused the destruction of the earth's environment so physical life could no longer be sustained on the earth; the earth was in a state of confusion. And God knew this would happen. And then from that point, God in Genesis 1 began to refashion the earth as part of a plan, because the refashioning the earth had to take place so that mankind could exist on the earth – part of a schedule – and we know that the timeline that God used was six days of creation to complete that task, and then on the seventh day (which we are honoring today) God rested for a purpose, for a great spiritual purpose.

Then we know that God created Adam and Eve, the first human beings. We know God's timeline from that point, which is we have 6,000 years of mankind. We know there is a 1,000 year period for mankind without Satan, without Satan and the demons. We know that in that timeline at the end of 6,000 years there is going to be 144,000 that are resurrected to join Jesus Christ. We know there is a Government in that period as kings and priests for that 1,000 years. Then there is a second resurrection to spirit and to physical life, and then there is a hundred-year-period. So that is actually God's "timeline schedule." And God is not going to alter that. It has been scheduled, and it will happen exactly as God has planned, because God is all mighty, all powerful, so it will be exact.

Now, the joy that we can take from God's plan is that we're part of it! At this particular time, we are part of it. And in that, we have a choice, and many have choices. Over the history of 6,000 years of mankind most people actually haven't had a choice. Most people have not had a choice. They've been left to themselves, left to the natural carnal mind, which is that human reasoning. And their human reasoning is, "We'll work out what's right and wrong for ourselves, what's best for us," based on selfishness. And of course, they can't see that. They don't know it. Well, we've been called out of the world in God's plan for a purpose. So we are in the Body of Christ, the Church of God, for a purpose that God has, and we are the size we are because God desires it this way. This is the way it's meant to be. It's no different than what God has said in His schedule – this is what happened. People do have choices, but God knows that in time He will work with everybody to get an outcome, which is at the end of 7,100 years. So it's exciting to know where we are. We're at the end of a 6,000-year-period.

Now, God has not revealed the rest of His action plan, the rest of His "timeline schedule" which will follow the creation of Elohim. So we know about a last day, which is that hundred-year-period, and then we know at the end of it that there is a group of people that will enter Elohim, but we also know that there are others that won't enter Elohim. But from that point, when everything is spirit, plan has been completed, what is God's plan from that point? We actually don't really know. We know little. Well, we don't even know “point 1,” really. You know, I own a schedule, and I don't know if you've ever seen a schedule; it goes on and on and on. There's big priorities. So what is God's schedule or plan for His family at the end of 7,100 years? What will we all be doing? We know we're all going to be at-one, but do you know how exciting it is? We see this little glimpse of this plan now, we know what God's doing, but can you imagine what it's like to be from everlasting on? What it's going to be like? ...and we're in unity in a spiritual of cooperation and we can't sin? Isn't that incredible?! But that God has a plan! And God's actually planned that out. It's all scheduled and it will happen. So that's exciting to understand as well.

Now, we can ask, what is God? Well, we know God is love, but God is the "Master Planner" and He is the "Master Project Manager." And the reason He's the "Master" is He can't make a mistake.

Because I've actually done project management, and boy, it isn't easy! And the reason it's not easy is you're dealing with humans.... you're dealing with humans. You can have a plan – look, I'm pretty thorough in "timeline schedules" – and you get everything exact, you know, like this is it, and this is going to be completed, then you get a phone call, "By the way..."

The reason I did a little project planning was to do with manufacturing of fashion garments. So when you look at a fashion garment you go into a shop and you see a garment hanging up and you think, "There's the garment. It's hanging up."  Well, the work that went into making that garment is actually quite horrendous, because somebody had to have a thought first to design it – had to be a thought – then that person had to sit down and shape it and draw it out the way that they saw it. Then somebody else comes along who's called a "pattern maker" and then looks at it and now has to understand what the designer wanted to have built. Then they go away and cut the pattern out (normally a size 10 for lots of reasons which we won't go into), but they cut it to a certain size, then they bring that pattern back to the planner (the designer), and they say, "Well, it's too wide at the shoulder. I didn't mean it..." and there's alterations. So then there's a pattern. Then you have the fabric to be overlaid, because when you have a printed fabric... If you've ever bought a printed garment it is quite detailed to how you join prints together. It's not as if you can just get a print, lay a pattern on it and cut it out, because the two roses or two pebbles won't join perfectly. So then you've got another person who's skilled at having the fabric laid down and laying the pattern over the top to make sure that all the seams work, but there's only so much meterage, and therefore, they have to do it in the most efficient way, because if they use 2.3 meters on the dress or 2.2, that can mean the difference between the dress retailing at $100 or $180. Then, of course, you have people turn up who then choose the thread, the color of the thread. And then you have the buttons that have to be added to it. Then the pattern has to be cut, then it goes off to another person who grades it from the size 10 back to a size 6 or an 8, then goes up to size 16 or 18, whatever. But someone has to grade the dimensions because the waist size on a size 10 is this. Well, what's the 12 going to be? And now, no two garments are exactly the same because of the fabric, the give in the fabric.

So you can see the detail in planning. Now, it's no use having all that done and sending it off to the manufacturer if the buttons don't turn up on time, because he makes a thousand dresses and there's no buttons. So you can see the detail in planning.

Well, that's how God is. That's how God works. He is the Master Creator and everything is exact! God works now and continues to work. God works now and continues to work. He has been working, and we're part of that work.

If you'd like to now turn to John 5. The point is: God is the Creator. He is working at creating a spirit family. That is God's work. That is God's focus, and that, of course, means we are God's focus.

John 5:1 – After this, and it's there were healings that had taken place. So, After this (after these things) there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there was in Jerusalem a Sheep's Gate, now, the word "Gate" is added there. It's actually a sheep market where they were actually selling sheep. They buy and sell sheep. ...a pool, so next to this "Sheep Gate" or this sheep market there is a pool, and this pool was for bathing, which is in the Hebrew called, Bethesda, House of Mercy, having five porches. Now, these "porches" were areas where people would stand to be in the shade. Basically, you know what a "porch" or an "arch" is, so they used to stand there in the shade. In these, in these covered areas, lay a great multitude, which is a large number of sick people; they were blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. And that is the ripples or the agitation of the water. Now, what they're doing, they're laying there. Some are laying there and they're sick and they're looking to be healed, because what was happening. Verse 4 says, For an angel (messenger, one sent from God) went down at a certain time into (by/in) the pool and stirred up the water; when therefore, anyone/whoever stepped in first, with/after the stirring, which is the "disturbance or the commotion" of the water, was made well of whatever disease they had. So everyone is there. You can understand how exciting that would be. So there are people there that are sick, and of course, knowing human nature, people would be – you don't want to stay in the sun, but you want to be close to the water, because if you're paralyzed you want to be first in the water – so there would be a competition of spirit here, just by nature. You want to be first, and if you've been there lots of time and this has happened and someone else is healed and you're still not healed, you can imagine the thoughts. So you're set up. You're trying to be first into the water.

Verse 5 – Now a certain man was there, and had an infirmity (sickness) for thirty-eight years. So he's had this infirmity for thirty-eight years and he's laying down on a stretcher.

Verse 6 – When Jesus saw him lying there, and he was laying on his bed, and knew that he already had been a long time, those words were added, "the condition," but he'd been there for a long time and he'd been sick for a long time, He said to him, Do you want to be made well? "Do you want to be made physically well? Do you desire to be healed?" Well, if we look at that, brethren, for ourselves this should be our desire. Once we are called and we begin our path of conversion, the depth of how much we "see" we are sick depends on our conversion. Because, brethren, we all here are sick. We are all sick. And we are here desiring to be healed. So we can take a parallel here. On a physical level, he's laying there wanting to be healed because it's something physical, well, we're here because we admit (or hope we all do) that we're all sick. We're sick because of sin.... we're sick because of sin. We have a mental illness, which is called the natural carnal mind of selfishness. Because by nature that's what we are. And conversion is healing! It's healing! It's healing from one state to another. So we're here today before God desiring to be healed. We want God's word to wash over us, to heal our thinking, to change us, because we acknowledge... we acknowledge that we are sick because of sin. And that's part of conversion.

Now, people of the world will hear things like that and would agree, we're all sick, because the natural carnal mind can't understand what we're really talking about. But we acknowledge it, you know, we acknowledge it, that we are not well because of our selfishness. We acknowledge we are selfish. That's our base nature and we want to be healed, we don't want to be selfish. We want to choose to sacrifice ourselves to the benefit of others. That's our desire. Well, that's God's desire. That's God's desire as well. God desires to heal us on a spiritual level.

So the healing on the spiritual level is far more important than the physical. And in life over time, one of the things that happens to humans (and including members of the Body of Christ) is that sometimes because of physical things that go on in our life, we can lose the priority of what is happening in our life, and that we can have a sickness or an illness for a long period of time and we say, "God, why don't You intervene? Why aren't I healed of this?" But God is working on a spiritual level and the best thing for us is maybe we're not healed on a physical level because this is a big advantage on a spiritual level for us.

Now, it's hard for us to grasp that sometimes, especially when you suffer. When you suffer long periods of time... and this man, you know, has suffered for thirty-eight years. You can imagine his desire. He wants to be in that pool. And I think over a long period of time, you know, you think, "I'll never... It's never going to happen!" Well, that same thing can happen to us on a physical level. Well, on a spiritual level our path is one of being healed, of being changed spiritually. That's the most important thing. So it is about a priority, to understand the priority.

So our healing is of the mind; it's of our selfishness. We desire to be healed.

Verse 7 – The sick man, who was weak and feeble, answered Him (Christ), said, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, so he's got no support there to be able to put him into the water to be healed, but while I am coming, so he's trying to get there, another steps down before me. So someone else is ahead of him, and they go into the water and they are healed.

So these people would wait patiently for the physical healing. They looked and watched at the water. Now, can you imagine this on a physical level, what you would do if it was you and you had this illness and you've had it for thirty-eight years? Like someone talking to you… do you think you'd maintain eye-contact with them? I think you'd be going... because you know you have to be first, so there is no way you're going to be looking. You're going to be concentrating on the water because you know that's the answer to your problem (perceived answer to your problem). So they were all watching and looking at the water. As soon as it starts to move, there is a swirling going on everyone is trying to get to it first.

Now, God created this physical event for a spiritual purpose, and that is pointing to Jesus Christ. Because who is it that heals? Who is it that heals? The water doesn't heal spiritually. That water doesn't heal. It might heal physically, but it's pointing to Christ. It's the Messiah who is going to heal spiritually. That's what it's about. It's about healing spiritually. They don't know this, of course, that it's pointing to Christ.

God had established this event, of the troubling of the waters, for the purpose of revealing His Son through whom He would now heal spiritually. God, through Jesus Christ healed on the Sabbath. Now, we know this very event. This is actually what takes place. Today, God, through Christ, heals our minds spiritually on the Sabbath. We are here today being healed! Isn't that incredible to understand? That the physical is all pointing to the spiritual, that on the Sabbath day (which this was - it was a Sabbath they were on), that God was going to reveal that Jesus Christ is how we get healed. And Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, IF we are in unity with God, we have the potential of our minds being healed today. And it's a wonderful thing. It's a great blessing! And the world doesn't have access to this healing. We do. We have access to this healing.

Verse 8 – Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. This is going to be an issue because of the Jewish community. You understand it.

Now, if you can just think back. IF somebody that you knew, even on a physical level or here within the congregation, was healed on a Sabbath or whenever, surely we would rejoice. Surely! Even on a physical level to some degree you'd say, "Wow! Isn't that fantastic! That person's been healed!" There should be a level of rejoicing even on a natural carnal mind rejoicing, you would think. We would think that they would rejoice in seeing someone else receive something from God.

Now, that's the same for us, brethren. Whether or not we rejoice when somebody else receives something from God is something that's in our spirit, in our thinking. It's an attitude that we can choose. Here we see God working through Jesus Christ. Physical healings and spiritual healings are proof of God working. So we are proof of God working. And I think within ourselves we know that. I know, I look at my life and I look at what's happened to me and certain events that have happened. I know God has been working with me for some time for certain reasons, and I'm sure that you should be able to see that if you look at it. And it's exciting! It's very motivating to realize it. It's not a matter of pride. You don't take it to yourself and think, "Oh, well, I'm better because God's working with me." No, it's actually more difficult. This is a difficult time to be in God's Church. Satan is still loose. We're at the end-time. The Church is being persecuted. We're all being persecuted. The world is starting to implode on itself. This is a difficult time to be in God's Church. It's a great time, exciting time, but it's difficult...difficult. It's a tough time in God's Church. And the reason is because we are growing spiritually and the world is going in the opposite direction. They are in decay and it's decaying. It's crumbling. We're not! We're standing and growing spiritually. It's exciting because we are God's work. That's what God's doing in His Church. And one day in the future what has happened to the Church in this particular timeline, it will be known to God's people, to the Church, to the Millennium, to the hundred years, and we are part of that. And you know, people will be amazed at what we have been through, the things we have been through, and the fighting that goes on within our mind, the work that we are doing.

Now, one of the things you realize within the world is the work we are doing is up here, brethren. Everyone must work, because the only way to enter Elohim is that you and me have to be working. The moment we stop working, we're in big trouble... we're in big trouble, because the work is "up here." It's about the fighting in the mind! If we are not battling the thoughts, that attitude, that spirit, if we're not fighting it, we are not working – hence the title of the sermon Everyone Must Work, and if you don't work, you can't enter Elohim. It's very simple.

Anybody who refuses to work, they end up leaving God's Church. That's the problem. They've stopped working! Because if we're working – God's spirit – and we choose and we work, we fight, we fight, we fight – it's hard – we fight, we fight, and then we fight some more. That's what it's about. We're working! Now, if we work, we will live. And we're going to look at some physical, what we look at scriptures about physical in probably Part 2 or 3. We look at physical things, where we can look at them, where there is a scripture that says, "Unless you work you can't eat." Now, we look at that physically. True? "Unless you work, you shouldn't eat! You lazy person, get on and do some work!" Same spiritually! Unless we work, we cannot eat spiritually! It's impossible... it's impossible! Because we're lazy, the selfishness will creep in, and when selfishness creeps in, sin creeps in, and if we have unrepentant sin, God cannot feed us spiritual food. Spiritual principle.

So, brethren, we at this time can look at ourselves: Are we working? That's the question. I've had to ask myself this, and I realize some days I work harder than others... some days I work harder than others. Because I understand and I've learned there is a temporary pleasure in sin. Temporary, because it only lasts for a while. But there is a pleasure in sin because of pride, because pride gets in the way and we take it to ourselves and there is a pleasure, and there is a pleasure in putting someone else down. There is actually a physical pleasure in putting someone else down, belittling them, because of this pride that lifts the self up, because "I'm better." Lift, lift, lift. So there's that pleasure. Well, it's a matter of whether I work or not. As soon as the thought comes in, if I am working and aware that I need to be working, I'll get a hold of that and get rid of it straight away, deal with it straight away and say, "That's wrong thinking! I'm not going down that path! I'm going to look to something positive." So that's the work, and that's the work we have to do.

Verse 10 – The Jews, therefore, said to who was cured (restored to health), It is the Sabbath. So they've gone up to him and said, "It's the Sabbath!" It is not lawful for you to carry your bed. This is incredible, isn't it, really! Now, you'd think, "Wow! We're excited! You've been healed after thirty-eight years! This is great news!" No. "You are breaking the law." Now, this is not the law of God that he's breaking; this is a condemnation by the Jews of breaking their law. Because there is nothing in scripture saying you can't carry your bed. Nothing in scripture. This is a pharisaical law of control, saying, "It's not lawful to carry your bed on the Sabbath." In their view, he has now broken the Sabbath. So he has made a decision and he's picked up his bed, but of course, the Jews look at it differently. They're not happy about it.

Verse 11 – He answered them (which is the man who was healed), He (Christ) who made me well said to me, Take up my bed and walk. Now, does that sound familiar? What do you think that is? That's justification. So, "It's not me! I don't know where He's gone, but it was Him! He told me to do it! He made me do it!"

Now, we're going to look at Genesis 3... we're going to look at Genesis 3, because this attitude within human minds, brethren. This is us. And if we ever think we are not this way, we don't "see" ourselves. Because this is the natural human mind, which is to blame somebody else for something. He doesn't want to be seen to be bad in front of the Jews. He wants to conform to them. He wants to be liked by them, so now he turns around and "does an Adam."

Genesis 3:12 – Then the man said, (which is Adam) the woman whom You (God) gave me to be with me, she gave me the tree and I did eat. So this is a justification. Now, Eve goes on and says the same, and we won't read verse 13, but it's exactly the same. It's that same attitude. He's not going to take personal responsibility.

The healed man justified why he was carrying his bed. He blamed somebody else for what happened. He did not accept personal responsibility for the fact that he was carrying the bed. Nobody can make us do anything. Now, we can never turn around and say somebody made us sin. We can choose to sin.

I remember a radio program once and there was somebody on there talking about road rage, that no one can make you have road rage. And it's true. We have to choose it. No one can make us angry. No one makes us angry. We can choose to get angry. So it is a personal choice, as to whether we have self-control, but no one makes us do anything. True? We're free moral agents. We can choose any attitude we desire based on our thinking, of course, but we can choose attitudes.

So no one can make him carry his bed. He's just saying, "Well, it wasn't me. Blame somebody else! I am just doing what I was told. Don't blame me. Blame the one who healed me," is another way of saying it. "Don't blame me." [John 5:12] Then they asked him, Who is this Man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk?

Verse 13 – But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. So rather than being thankful, they then turned to now criticize the one that was healed. Now, this healing is actually a threat to their authority. So if you look at the natural carnal mind (which we all know because we all have one), what's really going on within the Jewish community? Well, there's two things. Firstly, they believed that the man has broken the law and now they're trying to find out, "Well, who told you this?" Because in actual fact, He was breaking the law, too, by telling you this. He is breaking the "rabbitical law," not to carry your bed. So, "He's told you to do it, so He's wrong in telling you to do it!" But also, it's a threat to their authority, because when somebody sees somebody else receive something that is so incredible, a miracle from God, a work of God (because that's what it was, really, a work of God), they now are threatened because their authority is being undermined and it's a big problem to the natural carnal mind. People no longer will look at them as the authority. Surely, you'd look to the person who healed the man on the Sabbath. Surely he's more powerful than the Jews who couldn't do this. So they feel quite threatened about this. So the people are worried here, the Jewish community there, they're worried. The Jews are worried about what people will think about this healed man, because the natural carnal mind (as much as we struggle sometimes to acknowledge it) – this is an encouraging sermon, by the way – the natural carnal mind loves the process of men. That is the natural carnal mind. We. All. Do. That. We like to think others think well of us. That's just a natural thing! And that's how society runs its society. People like to be liked. That's the way it is.

Well, in God's Church over time we come to realize that it doesn't matter what people think. Being liked is not relevant. And what people call you is not relevant. This is about pleasing God. "Do we please God?" is what our focus is. Now, because we're natural, when somebody criticizes us or calls us a name, it still hurts... it still hurts. Then we should say, "Why does it hurt?" Pride. It's our pride being hurt, if it hurts. So if someone ever says anything to us or criticizes or calls us a name, you know, all the ones we get called, and it hurts or we dislike that criticism, what's this a sign of? A sign that pride is still active in our thinking, because we should be concerned about what God thinks of us, not what men think. But that's a natural thing and it takes years – and I'm not too sure within a human being that we ever overcome that fully – it takes God's spirit fully and we don't have God's spirit fully. It's one of those things.

Verse 14 – Afterwards Jesus found him (the healed man) in the temple, and said to him, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. Now, what was Jesus really saying there? Well, Christ was saying, "You have been healed physically, but it is now time to stop sinning on a spiritual level because sin brings a worse penalty." Now, we don't see the penalty of sin. We know the penalty of sin. We know "the wages of sin are death," but we don't realize when we're dealing with other people that if we are in a wrong attitude or have a wrong spirit, we're hurting ourselves... we're hurting ourselves, but we're hurting others. Now, we just don't always comprehend how sin hurts. We think we can get away with sin in our private life and no one knows about that sin, but in actual fact it's hurting us. And because of our conduct or our attitude or what we do, it hurts others. But we don't see it that way because we're justified in our sin. We don't see it.

But God is saying here through Jesus Christ, "Well, there's a worse thing that can come upon you, and it's ‘the wages of sin is death’!" So there's a much worse thing than physical sickness, much worse. Now that he's been healed, Christ is pointing to him and saying, "You need to stop sinning. You need to change on a spiritual level," not that he's capable of and by himself.

The man would not have understood what Christ was saying because the words are spiritual in nature. So we can learn from this account. Whether we are physically healed or not is not important. Something to rejoice in if it happens, but it's not that important. I know when we're in the illness it's always nice to be healed. If we are physically healed and then continue in sin, what good is the physical healing? And that's the point. So if there's a physical healing and we continue on breaking the Sabbath or in sin, what's the good of the physical healing? It's of no value to us! And maybe it's a greater value if we're not healed because we have more tendency that we'll call out to God and be relying on Him more because we see what's happening to our bodies.

It would be better to remain sick (on a physical level) and to repent. Because the point is, it's about repentance. Life is about repentance. We should strive to sin no more, and if we don't strive to overcome sin in our life a worse spiritual thing will come upon us. And that is, the first thing is, our own hurt... our own hurt. But of course, the hurt to others. And if it's unrepentant of, it does lead to death.

Firstly, we will suffer the results of sin in our life, which is suffering emotionally. Now, sin has an emotional attachment to it, that if we do sin there is something happening. We can't always "see" it. We can't see it in ourselves, but there is an emotional attachment. Relationships will suffer because of what we are, the way we're treating others. We don't often see it, but we do affect others. Others suffer because of our pride, but we don't always "see" it. We just don't see that happening in people's lives. We will hurt others by our attitudes and the human reasoning that controls us. Now, we are controlled by human reasoning.

We were having a discussion, I think it might have been last Sabbath or the last Sabbath before in Melbourne about the difference of being in the world and what's happening in the world and what's happening within God's Church. And it's very difficult for the world to come to understand how somebody in God's Church operates, and someone listening to the sermons over the last two weeks about government would see it as a highly controlled group where one or two people make all the decisions and you're to shut up and say nothing. If you look at it naturally that's the way it could be seen. Well, we "see" it's a matter of the spirit. We don't "see" it that way. And I must make the point: There is nothing wrong in asking a question. It's about the motive behind the question. There is nothing wrong with anyone in the Body of Christ asking anybody a question, but before the question is asked we should individually examine the motive of why we are asking the question because that's the point. It's a matter of the spirit... it's a matter of the spirit.

So when it comes to God's Church, if you look at what's happening in the world, generally similar things happen in the world that happen in the Church, but one thing that's happening in the world now that Satan is causing to be rampant is that all the TV programs, all the radio programs are asking for your opinion. You notice that? Like the TV program says, "Ah, yes, send us your opinion on Facebook. Send us your opinion on this." And everyone wants your opinion, and they read out your opinion. Well, that's the world, and we know the world is Satan's system, so it's got to be the opposite in God's Church. True? Can't be the same as the world! So the reality is that our opinion is just our opinion and in some things it's not relevant... it's not relevant. Now, it's hard for the world to understand that we could say that, but it's not relevant, because we're not interested in a person's opinion from human reasoning. We're only interested in God's opinion. And unless a person's opinion matches Gods, what's the point of listening to it? What's the point of listening to someone's opinion about something if it doesn't match God's Word?

Like they say now, they want an opinion about gay marriage, for example, just for an example. And everyone's got an opinion. Everyone thinks we should vote. We should do this. We do not care in God's Church what people's opinions are. We don't. I don't listen to their opinions. I don't care. I turn the radio off. I do not care, nor do you. True? We don't care! We worry about what God says about that matter.

Now, that'll apply to any topic that's going on in the world. Any topic. We don't worry about what people think. Now, that's very hard for the natural carnal mind to say, "What do you mean I can't express my view to you?" Well, you can express the view, but it doesn't mean I'm going to listen to it, or do anything with it. Because it's not about our opinion because our opinion often comes from our natural carnal mind of human reasoning. It's about the way God sees it, so we study God's word to see the way God sees it and then we choose to fight ourselves to transform to God's way... to transform to God's way of thinking. Which is what the God spirit's about, changing the way we think.

Verse 15 – The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who made him well. Now, he feared the Jewish authorities, because why would you go back? You think, someone's asked you a question and you didn't know. Now you've run into Him and then you go back and tell them? Because he actually fears them. He actually acted out his justification that "someone made me do it and now I'm going to tell you who it was, and I found Him and this is where He is."

For this reason, the healing on the Sabbath and advising the man to carry his bed on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him. That's a great outcome, isn't it? "This person is going against us," the way they saw it. "He's actually taking authority from us. Our image is being damaged. He's working against our rules so we're going to seek to kill Him because He had done these things on the Sabbath." So there is a combination here. Jesus had undermined their authority over the people. He had challenged what they thought to be right in their own eyes, which is the Jewish or pharisaical law and they were not open to any correction or open to being taught anything spiritual. That's actually the truth! They were not open to anything. They were right in their own eyes. They don't want anyone else's anything. They just want "they're right." That's it. In fact, they disagreed with God in the way God is working. That's what they did. They disagreed with the way God is working.

Now, we can do the same, brethren. We can disagree with God. And we covered that in one of the sermons in relation to spiritual government, that without knowing it, we actually can stand up and raise ourselves up and disagree with administrative decisions that are made in the Church. But we don't see it as disagreeing with God. We just don't see it that way, but in fact that is what it is.

Verse 17 – But Jesus answered and said to them, My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. This is incredible. It's a beautiful statement when we understand it. Now, we have the capacity to understand this in great detail compared to the world. The world would say, "What do you mean, 'My Father has been working till now,' to that point, 'and I have been working?'" So what's that really about? Well, Christ was working and doing His Father's will. That's the first point. God was doing spiritual works in and through Christ. So this picking up the bed, the healing without having to go into the water, whose work was it? It was God the Father.... God the Father. Because God the Father is the one who heals. But He was healing through Jesus Christ. Now, the same is what Christ is saying, is that "God the Father is the one doing the works," in and through Christ. It's God the Father that heals.

So God was working spiritually in and through Jesus Christ. God was working to bring many sons to glory. Now, I find that when we get to this scripture in Hebrews (which we'll turn there), it's so exciting when we understand what God is really doing, what God has set out to do in His work. From the beginning, He had that thought of creating a Family and having Jesus Christ as the pinnacle. God the Father has never stopped working... never stopped working. And today He is working in you and me! He's working! It's incredible to understand. So God's work is "to bring many sons to glory." God was and still is working in creating Elohim in and through mankind. That is God's work, and we're a part of it.

Let's look at Hebrews 2 (if you'd like to hold your place in John 5). We're going to look at God's work. Hebrews 2:9. Now, we don't know exactly how long God has been working. It's more than likely millions, but potentially could be billions of years that He's been working at this, on this plan, this "time schedule." It's amazing, really, when you think about it. And it's in God's mind. It's the way God is. He's a creator. God's work is creating. He's a creator, that's what He does. When we get past the 7,100 years, do we think that God's personality will change? God's a creator. That's what He does. He is the Creator, so God will continue to create. What? We do not know. But God will not change. He is the God of love and He is a creator. He will continue to create.

Hebrews 2:9 – But we see Jesus, who was made, and that is "created," a little lower than the angels. Now, the angels were made spirit, of spirit life, now Christ is made as a human. So He's a human being. He's like us, but the difference is He wasn't created with a natural carnal mind of selfishness. We were. He wasn't. He was given the mind of God. So that's the difference. So He was created lower than the angels, because humans are lower in the sense we're physical and perish, angels are spirit and can perish, but there is a difference in the dimensions. Why was Christ created lower than the angels? ...for the suffering of death because He was appointed as the Passover sacrifice for us, crowned with glory, and this glory is spiritual. He has been glorified. He's been given honor and authority. So that is the glory that Jesus Christ has been given. He's been crowned with it.  ...that He, by the grace (mercy) of God, might taste death for everyone. So Christ was part of God's plan of salvation, and God in His plan knew the timing of when Jesus Christ would need to be placed on the earth to be our Passover, to go through that process of suffering and death, to be resurrected, to take us to the Day of Pentecost 31 AD. God knew it all, planned out to the minute detail. And we know part of that detail is there was going to be twelve? True? The detail is amazing. When you look at God's plan, the detail is rather amazing.

Jesus Christ is the first, and the scripture say "firstfruits," but He's the first. He is God's work. Jesus Christ is the work of God. It's amazing!  It's amazing to understand it.

God is doing all things, this creation of Elohim, in and through Jesus Christ. And that was the pinnacle of God's plan.

Verse 10 – For it was fitting for Him (for God), for (through) whom all things and by (through) whom all things, in bringing many sons to glory. So now we see God's "action plan." This is God's plan. So, in an "action plan" you have, "What are you doing?" I'm building a house. Well, here is God is building a Family. "I am bringing many sons to glory," and it's going to be a process. And part of that process was to create them as physical human beings on the earth over a period of 7,000 years, where they would reproduce for that period. In the last hundred they wouldn't reproduce, but in that time God would then create Elohim in humans IF they yielded... IF they yielded. And that was a free moral choice that we have – IF we yield. So this is God's purpose, "to bring many sons to glory." Now, to be part of that plan, to be part of that process is amazing, that we, here in Australia, small group that we are, we're part of that process! It should be exciting for us, brethren, to realize, to comprehend that, that God loves us so much that He's called us at this time and we're part of that process. What an honor when you think of all of the mankind that exists that haven't had that potential yet, but they will have that.

...to make the Captain of their salvation, or "the Author of their salvation," which is Jesus Christ, perfect through sufferings. This is what God's work is. He is creating a family. He's creating Elohim.

The process of saving mankind from himself, from physical to spirit is an incredible process. Now, that's the process we have taken on. We have taken on the very process. So here we are, natural carnal mind going about its own business in its own righteousness, it's own selfishness. Then God intervenes. And it's difficult to explain to people, these things. I actually have tried once in my life to explain to somebody what had happened to me, but it didn't go well. You soon learned it's a waste of time. You can't speak anything spiritual to someone who is physical unless God is there, because it's God's spirit that does it. So it's all a waste of time, no point.

But anyway, you go through that, you realize, yes, you had this mind, but the thing about the natural carnal mind is it doesn't "see" itself, because when we're first called – I know, I'm going to talk about myself here – when I was first called (because it's better to refer to myself) – when I was first called I thought I knew a fair bit. Being a Catholic, I think I knew most things. And then you realize once God calls you that you don't know anything, but you still don't realize the nothing that you know is actually nothing, because deep down you still think you know something. And even after five years in God's Church, or ten years in God's Church, surprise, surprise, we think we know something. But the reality is we know little compared to God. Little! The longer we go in God's Church, God reveals ourselves to ourselves. We "see" more about ourselves. Now, I've learned certain things in the last two years about myself that I've been horrified that I never "saw" them. But you might have "seen" them. You might have seen them and you might know them. There’s probably still more there that I can't "see" that you "see." But that's the way it is.

And then you realize, well, you think you know certain things and then all of a sudden after thirty years God revealed something to me and I was dumbstruck when I saw it. It was about myself! That that's what I'm really like! And yet, in mercy, certain particular people had pointed it out to me, but I still didn't "see" it. Because someone can tell you something. True? "You're an arrogant pig!" You don't go, "Oh! Thanks!" You don't agree with it. You don't "see" it. You think there could be something there, "I don't know I'm arrogant....." You just don't "see" it! It's God's spirit that does the convicting.

So God in His plan has a different plan for all of us to be in different locations in God's Family for all of us. There is no competition in God's Family. Isn't that exciting?! There is no competition in God's Family. There is unity. There is oneness, agreement. So this whole process of conversion is a marvelous thing because everybody is on a different level on different topics. So one person can be perceived – I know Chris and myself had this discussion – because we can often look at things on a physical level. By disposition, by nature, people would consider I'm patient. By human reasoning. But the reality is that I'm not... I'm not. But the world would see, "Oh, Wayne's quite a patient person." But deep down on a spiritual level I am so impatient... I'm so impatient! I've come to see it more and more and I'm still learning it, that I am really impatient, because my disposition is to solve things. I've been criticized by my own family because I'm solution orientated. There's a problem, the natural Wayne will give you the solution. "All the bits in the middle are just rubbish. Don't worry about it, just wake up to yourself and do this!" It's easy, to me. People can only come to solutions, to "see" things, if they go through the process, and often you've got to go through it yourself to learn it. That's the process. To me, "Just don't do that and you'll be fine!" "Don't run on the road and you won't get run over! That's the solution! Easy!" But there's more to it.

Well, that's the same in our spiritual life – there is more to it! So how is it that we become more loving and have no ill will to somebody? It takes a process. This is not going to happen in the first year or the first five years in God's Church. It takes years! And I've got a feeling, I've been in God's Church about thirty, and if time went on and I have to be in it for another thirty, I still think that I'm still going to have to keep fighting those ill will thoughts, because I'm natural. I've got selfishness.

So the process is different for all of us and we're all going to end up in a different location, in the sense of in God's Family, but we'll all be happy. That's exciting! So that's why we should also never expect anything particularly from somebody else, because they've got to go through the process.

I must say, there is one particular lesson that I've learned, that has been burned into my brain, and I had to learn it. It came from Ron. One day he said to me, "Sometimes you just don't insert yourself. You just leave things alone. Don't do anything is the best action." Now, doing nothing is actually doing something. Deep down, see what I mean? For me it is! For me, that's work! Doing nothing is actually doing something, because certain things go on in people's lives and you feel you want to do “this,” or even in your own life, you want to do “this,” but by doing nothing and letting the person go through that process, even though you can see it in your own family, you know the end result. You can see it. "You are heading down this path! Here we go!" You know the outcome. The best thing is not to get involved. Don't insert myself with my (so-called) solution. But it's hard! And I've learned it, that there's a great lesson in this. Sometimes it's best to do nothing and let God do it. That's what Ron said to me. He said, "Wayne, don't insert yourself into it. Just let it go. Let God fix it." Now, God's "action plan" is not Wayne's "action plan" and God's timeline is not Wayne's timeline. And can you understand what I'm relaying here? That it's something that's within us, and we have to trust God and wait on God. And look at how long God's been working. God knows us and He knows the work that's ahead of Him still for the next thousand years and the next hundred years – the work that God is going to do. And we know that God has created Jesus Christ and handed all authority onto Jesus Christ, to do the work on His behalf. Isn't that exciting?! And the 144,000 have been developed for the purpose of supporting Jesus Christ in the work of creating Elohim, "bringing many sons to glory." So it's not a selfish thing at all. It's actually work! Because as a spirit being, we'll be working, and as physical human beings we must work. And if we don't work now on a spiritual level we won't be working in the future as a spirit being. It's quite straight forward.

Now, I've reflected on this particular topic within myself about what it is... and people have left God's Church. In time, in history, people leave God's Church. What is the big issue? Well, we know it's about God's spirit. True? And we know it's about yielding, being under government (which is yielding to God's spirit), remaining under God's spirit, the way God thinks, submitting to it. So why do people really leave God's Church? That part? Because they stop working... they stop working. At some point they made a choice to no longer work on their attitude or their thoughts and let them go, and therefore, they stopped working. And the end result of not working is you can't have a relationship with God. It's not possible! If we don't work, we can't eat. Physically. If you don't work spiritually, you can't eat spiritually. Same spiritual principle.

So we know that Jesus Christ is the evidence of God working, and that's exciting! When you realize all the work that Jesus Christ was doing, it was because of God the Father working to create Elohim.

Now, the world knows nothing about this creation of Elohim, and they would see it as arrogance. The fact that we, as lowly as we are, could say to people that we are going to enter the God Family. Doesn't that sound, well... it sounds exciting to me, but others think it's nuts! They think it's nuts: "You're just nuts!" But I know it and I'm so blessed! I feel so blessed, the fact that we're here today and we're still part of the Body of Christ! It's so humbling! It's so exciting! And the greatest fear is that God, like David said, "Do not remove Your holy spirit from me." That is scary! The difficult thing is that when God does remove His holy spirit from you, you don't know that God has removed His holy spirit from you, because you go back to the human reasoning, and therefore, you're right in your own eyes and you justify. You justify why you do what you do, what you say.

So God's work is "bringing many sons to glory" and we are part of that process. We are the sons to glory.

John 5:18 – Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He (Christ) not only broke the Sabbath, and that was because of their view, the way that they saw it, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal to God. Well, that's not what He said. That was only their opinion that that's what He said. But Christ never said that He was equal to God at all. That's only what they are saying. But Christ never said He was equal to God at all.

Now Christ made it clear that He was not doing the works of and by Himself, but that He was in unity with the Father's will and purpose. It was God doing the works in Him. Verse 19 – Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do. Now, they can't understand this either. Because you just look at this physically, you say, well, Jesus Christ is only doing what He sees the Father do. Now, on a physical level you think, well, to see the Father do something means you have to be there. True? To see Him you're going to have to be there. That means Jesus Christ pre-existed, because He had to be with the Father to see the Father doing it, and now Christ is now doing it because He saw the Father do it. Physical! But you look at it spiritually. This "seeing" we have all experienced. We "see" in the mind. So we can actually relate to what Christ is saying here because we "see" things in the mind. We "see" the Sabbath in the mind; it's in the thinking. Now, we haven't seen God the Father create the Sabbath – we weren't there – but we "see" it on a spiritual level because it's all in the mind. It's about the spirit.

Now, the power of God's holy spirit enables us to "see"! It's God's holy spirit that enables us to "see." What do we "see"? Ourselves! That's what we "see." "Uh-oh, selfishness!" That's what we "see." How do we "see" it? God's spirit. Christ is saying, "I'm doing what I "see" My Father do." It's a spiritual matter. It's in the mind. It's the way God thinks. So, we "see" the way God thinks. So we "see" just like Jesus Christ "saw." His is different because it was God's mind – ours isn't. But God's holy spirit, the portion that we have, that we've been granted, we do "see" spiritually. Now, this experience has happened to all of us, God willing, which is you're reading something and you "see." It's exciting, isn't it? If it's happened to you where you're reading something and you "see," you go, "OH!" You "SEE" it! No one else can.

Now, I remember this experience when we were first being called, and there was a particularly young man. My wife and myself had the two children at that point and we were in Albany (I think) in Western Australia, and I "saw" the Sabbath, and I "saw" a particular scripture in 1st John, which is, "If you don't keep the commandments, you're a liar." Now, I "saw" it. I actually "saw" it spiritually, that "if you don't keep the commandments, you're a liar and God is not with you." Now, I "saw" it. Now, I was so excited that I had this young guy come over to my house and I've got my Bible out and I said, "Look! ‘See!’" And he went, "What?" I said, "Can't you "see" it? If you don't keep the commandments, all ten – which includes the Sabbath – you're a liar!" He couldn't "see" it! Well, that's experience of "seeing." That's God's spirit.

Well, Christ is actually saying, He "sees" it in the mind. It's in His mind, so that's how He "sees" it. So it's not physical, it's spiritual! We "see" spiritual things in God's word and we do them! Well, this is what Christ is doing. We come into unity of mind. We also can do nothing of ourselves spiritually because we have to "see" it. God has to give it to us to "see" it.

So that's why we should never take credit to ourselves, or think we have elevated ourselves on a spiritual level, because it wasn't us. Any "seeing" that we may have experienced or any "seeing" that we "see" on a spiritual level, we shouldn't take credit to us. God, in His mercy, has allowed us to "see," because God's the Great Creator, He's the planner, and for some blessing He lets us "see."

Now, I will relate to you – not all the detail of a particular event that happened to me, because it was something that I learned, and hopefully by my expressing what I've learned it will help you. There was a particular thing that I "saw" when I was going through a sermon, and I "saw" it and I was so excited by it. And the lesson that I learned from it, that it was not my duty, it was not my accountability or responsibility to actually tell others that I "saw" it. And I learned that. But I failed. I failed because I did. And then after time, I realized how stupid I was. And a lot of that goes back to the pride. Because there is an excitement in "seeing" something spiritual, and then I had to look at why did I do that? Why did I communicate what I "saw" when I had no right to do it? And then I learned the lesson, that I shouldn't have said anything at all. It was not my responsibility or accountability to say it. I should have checked something out, and I didn't. So I failed miserably. I sinned. I sinned because I didn't follow the right process of God's spirit. I took it to myself and I spoke about it. And when I examined myself deeply, which was... why did I do that? Why did I do it? There's only one reason, isn't there? We all know; it's pride. Pride drives it. Although you can't "see" it in the self, that's what it was about. So I learned that lesson, that sometimes we "see" things and it's not about going out and telling others. Because there is a tendency of saying to someone, "Look, can you ‘see’ this?" And someone will turn around and say, "No, I don't." What do you think happens to the natural mind when that happens? Puffs up big, bigger head. "Well, obviously I'm more spiritually stronger and better than you because I ‘see’ this and you don't." And that's taking credit to self. No credit can be taken to self, like Jesus Christ said, because anything we "see" individually in scripture, from this sermon, from past sermons, whenever, no credit can be taken to self because it was God that granted it, and that's where the glory goes back.

And if we ever do "see" something we should just give the glory to God. "Thank you, God." And you know what happens when you "see" something spiritually? Maybe it's something from this sermon, or a future one, or whatever, you know what it really is? A greater responsibility on the individual because "seeing" carries accountability and a responsibility.

A conversation that I had with different people. Sometimes within God's Church we can look at where the dangers are. Scripture talks about watching – true? Like you've got to watch and be aware. And we strive to watch and be aware. Where do you think that the most dangerous things can happen in your life are going to come from? They're going to come from within God's Church. What can the world do to you? If we're spiritually minded, the danger is when somebody in the Body, who starts not to fight (they give up of the fight), says something to you (and it's wrong), whether we stand. What will we do then? Cause that's where the danger is. That's the slippery slope.

The world, "the lusts of the flesh" in the world, we know those things. What can tempt us in the world? Well they can, of course, but there's a bigger danger within God's Church where somebody begins to not fight and goes to sleep and it starts to become antichrist (working against Christ). Because who's the fodder? Who's the fray? We are, brethren. So that's why we have to be on guard.

If you go through what Paul said, you know, the dangers were within the Church, where ministers rose up and said certain things. Why did the Apostasy happen? Was it the world? Was it the world saying, "You and other Sabbath keepers, you don't have to keep the Sabbath anymore!" Was it the world saying that? Well, they've always said that. We go, "Oh yeah... You don't ‘see.’ We ‘see.’" Where did this problem come from? Within God's Church! That's where the danger lies, because people begin to not fight. They've stopped working, and then it's a danger.

So the issue comes down to, are we working or aren't we? And this sermon series is, Everyone Must Work, if we're going to continue this journey that God is working through with us to bring us to Elohim, "many sons to glory," and He is working hard, working with us individually. It's an individual thing. It's not mass. It's individual. And what is our responsibility? To work.... to work. So when we see those negative thoughts, let's choose to work, brethren. Let's just choose to work.

Now, I'll guarantee one thing, you're going to have negative thoughts. Cause the natural carnal mind, that's what the mind is. You're going to have negative thoughts about me, about my wife, about Ron, about Laura, about everyone in the ministry, about every member of the Body. At some point a thought comes into the mind. Where does it come from? It's about someone trying to control the mind, to destroy the mind, because that's what's precious to God. Because those things are natural. They're natural. So when those thoughts come in, if we can just remember they're natural.

I will reveal something that I've used, I believe reasonably successfully most times. Whenever something starts to come into my mind and I'm starting to fight it and I'm failing, I've had to try to look at a plan, "How do I get out of this?" I don't know whether this has happened to you. You get a thought, right? And you think you've dealt with it and then you drive along and you're still thinking about it, but you thought you dealt with it. How do you get through this? And it can be a lot of different types of things, all different types of sin can come through your mind. So what was a way to do it? Well, I actually manage to learn the Passover song, "In Thy Loving Kindness, Lord." So whenever I know – you've got to be aware you're struggling (that's another point in itself) – if you're aware you're struggling with a sin or a thought, I've found that switching my thinking, that, "In Thy loving kindness, Lord, be merciful to me," to turn to God and to sing that song in my mind, I was able to conquer the thought because I redirected my thought process. "In God's mercy, be merciful to me." Who am I? I sin every day! Who am I? But God, be merciful to me! Help me in this." And before you know it, you've even forgotten what the battle was sometimes. It works for me. And other times...? It doesn't always work for me because I just can't get a grip on that particular thought. That's part of life. That's that working business.

The main point is never give up working.

So here we have where the Jews now are wanting to kill Christ because, "He's saying that He's equal to the Father," and Christ is saying, "Well, of Myself I can do nothing," because He "sees." He "sees" and He "sees" on a spiritual level.

And continuing on that verse... for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. Christ was fully yielded to God, at-one-with God. He was filled with God's spirit.

If you'd like to turn to 1 Corinthians 15. (You won't hold your place there because I don't think we have time to get back there.) 1 Corinthians 15:19. Because this work of God, Paul actually outlines, because people were saying things that were against God's work.

1 Corinthians 15:19 – Now, this was about groups saying there was no resurrection, and this is Paul now advising them and trying to explain to them about a resurrection, how life works and looking at it on a physical and a spiritual level – If in this life only we have hope in Christ, in other words, Christ existed on a physical level and if that's all it was and He lives and He died and He wasn't resurrected, well, what's the point? Like, what's the point? If that's the only hope, that He lived and did that and He wasn't resurrected, well, what's the point? There's no point. ...we are of all men most pitiful. So physical existence means nothing just by itself. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first, and that is "the first to be resurrected from mankind to spirit." "Many sons to glory." So here is Christ, proof of God's work, the creation of Elohim. ...of those who have fallen asleep, those who have died.

For since by man came death, so our natural man, nature, death is in us, by Man (referring to Christ) also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam (in humans) all die, now, we all die because of sin. We're natural and we're all going to die, but we also die because of sin. We earn the death penalty because we are natural. ...even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Now, this is the hope. Our hope is in Christ because of Christ's resurrection. Now, if our hope is only in Christ and He wasn't resurrected, what's our hope? What good is it? It's no good. It's because of God the Father fulfilling His promise in and through Jesus Christ that we have this hope.

But each in his own order: Christ the first, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. It's referring to the 144,000. Then comes the end, and it's skipping two resurrections there, where there is two resurrections. There's a second resurrection and a third one to spirit at the end of 7,100 years ... then He delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, when He (Christ) puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. So here it is, this is Christ working. Now, God the Father has given Jesus Christ the authority to work as God the Father works, and Christ is working with us. So Jesus Christ is working.

Now, for each one of us it's different. I know from experience in business that some people are more work than others. Well, it's exactly the same on a spiritual level, because it depends on our background. But God's not limited. God's not limited. We have no righteousness in and of ourselves, but God's work is different for all of us, and some of us are harder work. Some of us take longer to learn a lesson on a spiritual level. But God won't give up on us. He will continue to work, and Jesus Christ will continue to work as long as we continue to work. And that's the point. We have to choose to continue to work.

For He must reign till He (Christ) has put all enemies under His feet. So all rule, all authority, spiritually and physically, will be put under Jesus Christ. And at that point, The last enemy that will be destroyed (abolished) is death. And we know "the wages of sin is death," so sin will be got rid of because there'll be no more humans. For He (God) put all things under His (Christ's) feet. But when He (God) says all things are put under Him (referring to Christ), it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted, or "outside" of this particular point. Now, when all things are made subject to Him (to Christ), then the Son Himself (Jesus Christ) will also be subject to Him (to God the Father) who put all things under Him (who put all things under Christ). So Jesus Christ is working hard now with us, and the work ahead is huge! The rest of mankind! The Millennium, then the rest of mankind. This is work and this is hard work on a spiritual level. ...that God may be all in all. And that's the outcome. The end result is that God will be "all in all." God will be in all His creation from mankind into Elohim.

Verse 29 – Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead... Now, what was happening here, people (and it still goes on today), that people believe that people have died, and of course, in certain religions people pray for them, and if you pray and give enough money (or spin enough wheels and all those different things) you can move them from one location to another. So the power is with the human, because if you've prayed more and you've paid more to the church, you know, we'd be moving souls (as they say) to another location. Well, Paul is correcting this. ...if the dead do not rise at all? "Well, if there is no resurrection and you're praying for the dead so that they can be moved, well, that doesn't make any sense, does it?" Why then are they baptized for the dead? So people, what they would do, is they'd go out and get baptized on behalf of somebody else. Someone else is dead and wasn't baptized, so you volunteer and go and get baptized on their behalf so now they can be saved. We know that's all rubbish, but hey, that's what they were doing. So Paul's saying, "Well, why are those people going out there getting baptized if there is no resurrection?" Because that's what they were saying. "If there is no resurrection, all those people are running around getting baptized for no reason, because there is no resurrection. So what's the point?!"

And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? So if there is no resurrection, he's saying, "Well, why are we risking death? Why are we in danger? Why are we being persecuted? What's the point? Let's go somewhere else and not worry about it. Let's just go and conform with the world!" I affirm, by the boasting in you, so he is saying that he has praises in them, in what they are, that he can say, "These are God's people," which I have in Christ Jesus, the Lord, I die daily. So he sacrifices himself every day for God and for the benefit of others, because that's what it takes. It requires us working! Now, if we don't work, we're not sacrificing. That's another point. If we don't work, we're not sacrificing, brethren, we're not sacrificing to the benefit of others. In other words, we're not putting ourselves out to advantage somebody else, which means we're not working, we're drifting.

Verse 32 – If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? So what's the point of doing all this if there is no resurrection? If the dead do not rise, Let's eat, drink, and tomorrow we'll die! "What's the point? Let's all go back and not keep the Sabbath anymore. Let's just go and have a good time because when it's all over, it's finished, you're dead. It's over."

Verse 33 – Do not be deceived, Evil company corrupts good habits. Now, when we first look at that we can think, well, we would see it as a worldly thing where you'd say, well, you'd tell your daughter or your son, "Don't hang around with that person," because they're considered evil in your eyes, or bad, "because they'll corrupt you." What it's really saying, though, on a spiritual level is, "Be careful what you allow into your minds. Because see, if you allow this ‘no resurrection’ into the mind, if we were to do that and say, ‘Well, Christ isn't risen and He's not our High Priest,’ what will it do? Corrupt the mind!" Because then you start to reason. You go, "Well, if there's none of that.... I'm going!" Paul, that's what he's saying. So this "evil company" is about a spiritual matter. It's not just a physical thing. So be careful what we allow into our minds because sin corrupts. And that's a fact, brethren! That's a fact! Sin corrupts our thinking! So we have to be very careful about what we allow into our mind, because if evil comes in, if someone in the Body of Christ says something that's wrong and we don't deal with it, it will corrupt our thinking! And I say that from experience, because that's the history of God's Church if you go back to Acts! What was Paul saying? Ministers saying things, corrupting the minds of the brethren!

Same for us, brethren. We need to be careful that "evil company doesn't corrupt good habits," the things we've established, the things we've believed, the truth. We've got to be very careful that things aren't said to us and we do nothing about it... we do nothing about it. That is not good! Because guess what? Paul goes on about "seeds." It's exactly right! It's called a "seed." It's planted! Well, it's going to yield something! This "evil company will corrupt good habits." Whatever goes into the mind, what we allow into the mind, will corrupt our thinking unless we fight, unless we yank that seed out and crush it! That wrong thing – speaking against God's Church or God's truth!

So we know the truth. We know God's plan. And therefore, we must be very careful that nothing tries to corrupt our thinking, our minds.

Verse 35 – But ever who will say, How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? So they're now looking at a physical thing, saying, "Well, if there is a resurrection, well, how does it all happen? How does it happen?" Foolish one! Because that's what we are! The moment we go against truth, we're being very foolish. What are we using? Human reasoning. What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. So brethren, the same with us –because I'm trying to work on a point here, which is everyone must work. If something is sown, God's righteousness in us, if it's sown, what will happen? What dies? The natural carnal mind. So when it dies, what's left? God has the potential to change us to Elohim. So what we are going through as a process, nothing will be made alive unless it dies. Nothing! The spirit in us cannot be given life unless it dies on a spiritual level.

So if we're not fighting – sacrifice it, destroy it, kill it – what's that all about? Well, that's about this mind, these selfish desires, we've got to kill them! They have to die! And if they die, there is a chance of life on a spiritual level. Paul's referring to something physical, that you plant a seed. It's dead, give it the water (God's holy spirit), it grows up and it yields fruit. True? It's fantastic! Spiritually, it's exactly the same! We are who we are (natural carnal mind), we've got to kill it, God's spirit (water) washes over us, and we come into life, we come into the fruit. We bear fruit, God's holy spirit.

Verse 37 – And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain, so you don't sow the end result, you just sow a little portion of it (which is like God's spirit)—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body – and this is great! This is God working! It's God that gives us a spirit body. God's given us a physical one, God's given us a mind, but it's a spiritual body that we yearn for. ...as He pleases, so we have God's spirit according to God's will. It's as God pleases. It's God's work. It's God's work. We're just yielding to God's work in us. ...to each seed its own body. So wheat goes into wheat. Oats goes to oats. Barley to barley.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies (heavenly) and terrestrial bodies (earthly); but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. So we have a glory at the moment being physical. But the one we look for, which is greater, is God in us, the glory of being spirit with God's mind. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and there is a glory of the stars, and one star differs from another. Same for us in the Body. We're all different. Thankfully! Thankfully, you're not all Wayne Matthews, because things would not go well! We'd be all making the same mistake! So you can see we're all different. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption (perishable), but it is raised incorruption. It's not perishable... it's not perishable. It's going to be life-everlasting! It can't die! Can't sin, can't die! Isn't that fantastic?

It is sown in dishonor (human and selfish), it is raised in glory, spirit and God's thinking. It is sown in weakness and raised in power. That is exciting! Now, this is God working! This is God working! This is what He's doing! It is sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body into a spirit realm. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (human). And the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit. How? Because it's through Christ that life can come. It's only through Christ. If a person does not have Christ in their life (Christ in them), they cannot have life. It's only through Christ that life can be given.

We'll work just on the conclusion here, brethren. Verse 46 – However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterwards the spiritual. So we have to go through this process. This is God's plan! This is God's schedule. We're going to have to live this life. We're going to have to have the battles. Everyone's going to have different battles, different things happen to them, all for a spiritual good. So everyone is going to be different. Some people are going to have (what I would consider) horrendous trials – horrendous trials – compared to my life... horrendous. Others are going to have it easier, but different, because it is all about the mind. It's about working with the mind.

Verse 47 – The first man was of the earth (the dust), of the dust; the second Man, the Lord from heaven. Now, it wasn't that He came from heaven, it was that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, had God's mind. He was created a man, but He had God's mind. He came out from God because it was God's mind in Him. All life comes from God, which is a point that we understand. All life comes from God, physical or spirit.

Verse 48 – As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of the dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. So we're going to take on the same potential as Jesus Christ. We have exactly the same potential as Jesus Christ, which is to enter Elohim, to complete God's work in us.

Verse 49 – And as we have borne (carry) the image of the (dust), the man of the dust, so also shall we bear (carry) the image of the heavenly Man. The same as Jesus Christ, to be spirit in composition. Now, that's our potential.

Verse 50 – Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, as we are. It's not possible, nor does corruption inherit incorruption (decay), because life is a gift from God and that is God's work in us. Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, and here it is, Paul referring to, of course, those that had died at that particular time (he's referring to) and it's taking in the 144,000 here as in the statement, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last Trump – the Seventh Trump – for the Trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

That is God's plan. That is God's work. It's in His plan and it will happen soon... it will happen soon. Nothing can change it. Nothing can change God's "timeline schedule."□