The Work of Pentecost – Pt. 2

Wayne Matthews

June 14, 2014

Welcome to the Sabbath, everybody! The title of today's sermon is The Work of Pentecost and this will be Part 2.

The purpose of this sermon series is to continue to examine how God has achieved His work of Pentecost. That started at the creation of mankind and was completed on the Day of Pentecost 2012. God has been working in developing the first part of His spiritual government that will rule under Jesus Christ in the Millennium. That spiritual government will consist of 144,000 that have been redeemed from the earth, and that "redeeming from the earth" is the work of Pentecost. But also, this work of God continues, this transforming of the mind continues, because now that the sealing of the 144,000 has taken place, God is now working towards developing another group of people that will be transformed and resurrected in the future at the end of the Millennium. So this work continues, of God. But the first work, the work of developing the first part to be with Jesus Christ at Jesus Christ's return has actually been completed.

If you'd like to look back and think about the aspect, we have been through Leviticus 23 and we looked at the wave sheaf and the purpose of the wave sheaf, which, it actually reflected the very first to enter Elohim, which was Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the wave sheaf offering. Then we looked at the two loaves which represented those from the Old Testament and New Testament that were going to be part of the Family of God, the firstfruits, the 144,000.

We also looked at other scriptures that outlined the process of the development of holy righteous character, the need for a transformation that is to take place.

If you'd like to look back now, we're going to look back at Exodus 20. And this is the Ten Commandments, given on a Day of Pentecost, where Israel had now been taken out of Egypt (which was symbolic of us coming out of sin) and the 10 Commandments were delivered to them on a physical level. Although the 10 Commandments are spiritual in nature, they are actually delivered to Israel (physical Israel) who did not have God's spirit, therefore, they could not keep the spirit of the 10 Commandments.

So here we see the giving of the Commandments on this day of Pentecost in Exodus 20:1 (we'll start reading), because this is the work of God, the establishment of God's law, God's way of thinking that was to regulate mankind in the future. So here we have physical Israel who could not keep God's law. All they could do was hear what was said (and they would have had a broad understanding of the physical aspect of the law), but this was actually a work of God in developing 144,000. This is actually the foundation of the development of those that would be redeemed from the earth.

Exodus 20:1—And God spoke (Elohim spoke) all these words, saying: I am the LORD (Yahweh Elohim), your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. So it was God that delivered Israel, as it is God delivers us by a calling and the gift of repentance.

And the first command that God gives, because of this process of calling us out of the world for the purpose of transforming (changing) our thinking by the power of God's holy spirit, this is the first command that we should follow. You, talking about us, brethren, that have been called out of this world, You shall have no other god before Me. So there is only one true God and we shouldn't put anything (whether it's physical or spiritual) before God. So these are the choices that we have every day, of what we will put first as a priority in our life. Now, by nature, mankind puts itself first. It puts itself before God because that's our natural carnal mind of selfishness; we come first. Everything is about us as individuals, the way we want it, what makes us happy, what makes us comfortable.

Well, this commandment, really, on a spiritual level talks about us having now to change the way we think so that we don't put anything before God. We'll have nothing before God. We'll put nothing else as a god before God, nothing before the God Family that God is creating. Because this whole process that we have to undertake is about coming into a family, into the God Family. So we will have no other family—we'll put no other relationship—ahead of God.

You shall not make for yourself any graven image. So we will not have anything that we're going to "set up," that we will put before God as a priority in life. Now, that's our natural tendency. So Israel would have heard this, and of course, they would have thought about it on a physical level, about, "You'll have no other god before me," and they'll go, "Oh! We'll have no other god." "You shall not have any idol or carved image” or any likeness that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. They would say, well, in their mind they'd go, "Yeah, well, we won't have that," because it sounds quite straight forward and simple.  ...you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I am the LORD your God, am a jealous/zealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those that hate Me, and that word really is about showing a priority. God shows that if we do not love (if we don't love), we hate. There's only black and white, really. It's choice. We either love something or we hate it; there is no grey area.

So, if we put anything before God, God is saying that we are actually showing a dislike to Him, which is manifested in "hate," in the sense of ill-will towards God. We don't put God as our priority. Now, Israel, this foundation that was established, is actually part of the work of Pentecost, because this establishment of God's law, God's way of thinking through all of the 10 Commandments is about how man has to transform his thinking, from the way he is to think like God. And God outlines by the 10 Commandments, this is the way to think, this is the way to think. So God shows what you shouldn't do and what you should do in giving the 10 Commandments. Because it says, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy," that's what we should do. Therefore, what we shouldn't do is forget the Sabbath day and not keep it holy, don't keep it separate. So this is about a priority in life, a priority of thinking.

But the 10 Commandments are a foundation of the work of Pentecost, the establishment of the way God thinks and the way that man should think towards God and towards His neighbor, which is a work that would take place from 31 AD mainly. Now, there were some before 31 AD that had established aspects of God's way of thinking into their life. Now, God has revealed more and more over time so that those now that make up the 144,000 have progressively had God revealed TO them. So it was a progression.

Because when we go back to the beginning, those that God worked with (the few that He worked with) for the purpose of creating Elohim, the work of Pentecost, being part of the 144,000, God only revealed aspects of Himself. He did not reveal everything of Himself. So by the time you get to the book of John, which is after 31 AD, you see, God is revealing much more to John about who God is and the way God thinks. Well, since then, of course, we've come up to this time, the end-time, that God has revealed much more about Himself and the way He thinks—greater spiritual understanding of who God is and what God's plan is.

Now that the work of Pentecost has been completed (the 10 Commandments were the foundation), then we move through time to get to a transition in time. Now, let's just look at a couple of these things to understand what it's really all about. This "work of Pentecost," what was it really all about? Well, the establishment of the 10 Commandments, then we get to 31 AD and something changes...something changes in the sense of God is now magnifying (broadening) the view of Himself and of the way we need to be. So, let's look at John 4.

John 4:19—The woman said to Him (Christ), Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem, this the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. So it wasn't about a physical location. It was going to change to be something on a spiritual location, which is about the mind. So it was no longer about the physical temple which was built. It was going to be about a spiritual temple, which we are.

Verse 22—You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

Verse 23—But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father seeks such to worship Him. So now this is that change that is taking place. "The hour is coming," and it did arrive in 31 AD, because the only way to worship God the Father in spirit and truth is by the power of God's holy spirit. We have to worship God the way God says we are to worship Him. We can't go off and use our natural carnal mind to develop thought processes which will conflict with the way that God says we are to worship Him.

So let's look at the religions of the world. They worship Him based on their own thinking, and it's not done by spirit and truth. So the first aspect of it is "in spirit." It says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when true worshippers..." Now, to be a "true worshipper," what does that really mean? It means that we have been called, have been called by God into a relationship with Him, called to worship Him, to worship Him in a correct way or in a right way, which is "in spirit." So what does it mean to be "in spirit," to worship someone "in spirit"? Well, the first thing is it's about attitude and intent. Now it's to be powered by God's holy spirit to be able to, or which enables us to worship God in spirit. So we require God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us. So it requires a calling. Then it requires the laying on of hands so that we can receive God's holy spirit. This flow of God's thinking into our mind, which will then enable us to be able to have the right motive, the right attitude toward worshipping God.

Continuing on in verse 23...and truth. So the way that we are to worship God is according to God's word. There is only one way, which is in the truth, to worship God. So, anybody that tries to worship God that is outside of the truth, outside of the truth that God has placed in His Church, they are not true worshippers of God. They are worshipping a false god, hence, the false religions of the world, the confusion of this world, because they haven't been given access to God because God hasn't called them into this role.

For us, brethren, we are to worship God in spirit (which requires God's spirit) and it takes us back to our motive and intent, the choice that we make. And we make the choice to worship God in spirit and truth according to the way that God states we are to worship Him. Now, aspects of that are, of course, to put God first in our life. In everything we do we rely on God's approach, God's thinking, the way He thinks. We implement that into our choices. Sabbath keeping is part of that. Holy Day keeping is part of that, which is all about the truth. So we look at that. If somebody does not keep the Sabbath holy, separate, separate as a point of separating the day for the purpose of worshipping God, thinking about Godly things, having God's spirit work in our life... if somebody doesn't do that, set aside from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, they are not worshipping God in spirit and truth. It's impossible.

So the beginning of it all is reliant on obedience to God, because we have to be obedient to be able to worship God in truth. ...for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. Now, this was the process that all of them went through. All 144,000 have been through this process. Now there were degrees of truth that were revealed to them because God reveals truth progressively. Now, they would have understood aspects of the truth and they obeyed God and submitted to that (which is "in spirit"), to what God revealed to them. They were obedient servants. "For the Father is seeking such to worship Him." That is what God requires of us. We have been called to worship God in spirit and truth, and if we do anything other than that, we are not true worshippers of God.

Verse 24—God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. Now, all 144,000 have achieved this very aspect of life. They understood that God was a spirit. They understood that God is a spirit...He is a spirit and all that worship Him, anyone who must come into a relationship with Him must worship Him with the right attitude (having God's spirit living and dwelling in them to transform their thinking), and based on truth (what God has revealed to them at that time).

If you'd like to turn to Philippians 3:3— For we are of the circumcision. Now, this is not talking about something physical. Physical Israel was of the circumcision but the circumcision was of the flesh, because it was part of the agreement that God had set up with Abraham, that Abraham and then the descendents of Abraham would fulfill or have the circumcision of the flesh. All males were to be circumcised. And that was an outward sign of a relationship they had with God because of the promises of Abraham and because God's relationship with Abraham, that to be part of the family was (the family of Israel, which was the descendants of that) was to be part of the circumcision.

Well, we are part of the circumcision of the heart, because in the New Testament the circumcision is of the heart. So we're going to have our "fleshly minds cut away," removed. ...who worship God in spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. So this is the complete difference that is taking place. There is no confidence in the natural carnal mind because we understand (because God's holy spirit has revealed it to us) through the ministry (the way that God works), which is through a structure, one Church, one Body, one faith... there can only be one, one spirit from God that reveals to us who we are, why we are the way we are. We say, well, we don't want it. We have "no confidence in the flesh," no confidence in the way that we think naturally because it has been revealed to us what we really are. So we have "no confidence," we have this circumcision, and therefore, because of it we are now able or enabled to worship God in spirit and in truth.

Isn't it a wonderful picture? Well, all 144,000 have been through this aspect of conversion. They are of the circumcision of the heart and they have no confidence in the flesh. That was something they learned. This is the role of the Church going forward, which is, we are to be of the circumcision of the heart. It's about the inner thinking; it's the way we think. And we "worship God in spirit," we "rejoice in Jesus Christ," (Passover), and all that Jesus Christ has fulfilled on our behalf, and we "have no confidence in the flesh," because we know our natural carnal mind is against God.

So the work of Pentecost in one way is complete in the sense of, up to the year 2012 it was complete, but there is now a work that continues. Now, this next work has started and it will continue to the next resurrection, which is the transformation of the mind of humans, those that are going to be redeemed in the next portion of the harvest that God has talked about, so that there is another spiritual resurrection at the end of the thousand years. Now, that in itself is great excitement! Because God is adding to His Family! First, Jesus Christ, then the 144,000, and then (in about a thousand years time) there is going to be another resurrection where God will add to His Family once again. Isn't that exciting?!

Just looking back now, what has actually happened? If we look back and look at all the things that have happened to God's Church up until that time...and it really is talking about the 144,000 so we will continue to discuss this aspect of God's Church and the development of Elohim, the 144,000 that will return with Jesus Christ.

I'm reading from one of the posts that has just come out because it clarifies much of what we have been through, and yet when we were going through some of that we never understood it to the degree we understand it today. Reading from the post [“True Fellowship – Pt 13” under the heading, "The 144,000"]: "...in order to be able to grasp and understand God's purpose in those whom He has been calling into the environs of the Church from its beginning. Foremost, God has been calling those whom He has chosen to teach, train, fashion, and transform into a creation of the 144,000 who are to be resurrected into His Family." So that is the most important thing that has been really taking place. And we understand now that there have been many called but only a few have been chosen to fulfill this very role of 144,000. "They will fulfill a complete and perfect number of spirit beings who form God's government to serve with Christ at his return." So there were these "many called." So over the history of the Church many have been called, but not for the purpose of being with Christ at Christ's return. They have another purpose that God had established in their life.

"Presently, the strongest evidence of this is contained in the recent history of the Church. Of the many tens and thousands ‘called’ during Philadelphia and Laodicea, God only purposed that an extremely small remnant would be awakened spiritually following the Apostasy. Then that small remnant," was to be awakened, "only a fraction was to be sealed in order to fulfill a very small remaining number that would complete the final total of the 144,000." So there have been many called and there have been some given the opportunity for an awakening, but only a fraction of those have actually been sealed. Only a fraction of those have been sealed. From those that had the potential, only a fraction have actually made the number of 144,000.

"Incredibly, God's purpose has always been that a vast majority (63,000) of those called during Philadelphia and Laodicea and still alive toward the very end of this age (shortly before Christ’s actual coming) would be awakened spiritually from the sleep that followed the Apostasy." Because all went to sleep. Everyone went to sleep. All baptized members of the Body of Christ at that point of time in 1994 were asleep. And since that Apostasy, God has awakened and given the opportunity to some, but only a few have come through that potential.  "The purpose for this is so that they would be part of the beginning foundation of the Church at the start of the Millennium." So out of the 63,000 they are going to be given the opportunity to live into the Millennium, the start of the Church in the Millennium.

"God also predetermined that 7,000 (ten percent of a total of 70,000) would not live into that new age, but would die and be resurrected in the final 100 years. Many of these include the ministry, other leadership, and influential individuals from those two eras. The reason for this is that many of these individuals were held in higher accountability for their actions in the time period just preceding and following the Apostasy. These individuals are not being allowed to immediately enter a greater ‘promised land,’ but will have to wait until the Great White Throne to experience it."

"All of this clearly reveals that 70,000 of the approximate 96,000 baptized members at the time of the Apostasy were never called for the purpose of becoming part of the 144,000. For the most part, they had been called to be among those who would live (physical lives) on into the reigning age of Christ’s rule in order to be starting the foundation of the Millennial Church at that time. However, there was a portion of those who experienced trial and testing (especially just preceding and following the Apostasy) to reveal their response (free individual choices) in order to determine if they might be among some of those who would be ‘chosen’ ...to be among the firstfruits."

"This group of 63,000 comprises those who fit in the categorized groups outlined in previous posts, which is, “‘those who have been called.’" So there is a group, that "those who've been called," but "only a few have been chosen."

"These are those who became scattered after the Apostasy, but had not been formally disfellowshipped from God’s true Church.” Because there was no formal disfellowshipment that took place when the Apostasy happened. Now, there were some from Worldwide once the church continued, the church split apart and everyone was scattered, there were those that remained with, then called the Worldwide Church of God, but God's spirit wasn't there. God's spirit wasn't with them. They remained with them. Well, they weren't formally disfellowshipped because they were part of what they thought was the true Church. But the reality is that God's true Church restructured and reorganized itself and was established in 1998. So none of those people have been "formally disfellowshipped" from God's true Church because there was no need. They had no real association with God's true Church at this point in time. “These have been called and ‘chosen’ to live on into the beginning of the millennial age, the reign of Jesus Christ." So it really comes down to the point about: “‘What about all the others (approximately 26,000) who had once been part of the Worldwide Church of God?’" That answer will follow after further understanding of what God is giving concerning ‘how and why’ He has called various ones into the environs of the Church."

"The first phase of God’s plan of salvation has always been to make ready His firstfruits to reign in His Kingdom with Christ, at his coming." And that's what the Day of Pentecost was about. "During this first 4,000 years, God called and worked more directly and meticulously with those who would comprise some of the major portions of the structure, the organization of His future ruling Family of the 144,000. In nearly 2,000 years following this, a far greater number of people began to be called into His Church in order to fully fill and prepare a larger remaining structure of that government, which would be finished being built just before Jesus Christ would come as King of all kings within that ruling body. To accomplish this, God began drawing and calling ‘many’ of whom ‘few would be chosen,’ the few He would ‘select’ to complete the 144,000."

"Ever since the Church had been established on Pentecost of 31 AD," which we looked at briefly on the Day of Pentecost, "there are ‘many’ who have been called, of which ‘few’ became part of the 144,000." Now, this is great understanding to have! Because previously we had never really fully understood this aspect of what God was doing, why the "many" were called, and only the "few chosen"? Well, God's purpose is to establish a Family, but it does take a period of time. And this establishment of the family covers a period of 7,100-years. Now, we're near the end of this 6,000 years, and that is the development of the 144,000.

Now, the next part of the harvest (which is a major part of the harvest), will take place during the next 1,000 years, and that harvest will be completed at the end of the thousand years. "Although called, most were not meant to become part of this governing body." They weren't meant to rule under Jesus Christ in the Millennium. "There are a lot of reasons why ‘many’ have been called. The overall, predominant reason was to provide an environment in which some parts were to be good and a lot would be bad, in order to better teach, try, and test a ‘select group’ through actual experiences in life that would work to mold and prepare them for God’s ruling Kingdom.

"The mind does not become convicted and transformed by simply receiving instruction and then growing in knowledge. Knowledge given from God, along with the ability to understand it, is more firmly established in the mind because of choices and judgments one must make through personal convictions that are formed as a result of difficult experiences in life. Such experiences are designed to produce responses (whether right or wrong – a matter of free choice)..." Now, we all go through these different things. We're put in environments and there are times when we feel we should say something and we do, and it wasn't necessarily right, because of these choices that we make. Often we choose to defend the self, to justify the self to protect our image, to protect our pride. So they're the wrong responses. The right responses are Godly responses, the way that God would respond to a matter. So these responses in the end "... define an individual." So that's how we're defined, by the way we respond, the way we think, the way we choose to control ourselves powered by God's holy spirit...that gives us the choice. "This is the way I should do it," or this other way, which is the selfish way. And if we choose God's way, that develops holy righteous character.

"These are experiences that require judgment and response, which cannot be simply ignored (as even that is a choice)." Because ignoring the thought process, that's a choice. If we ignore the thought, well, we've chosen to ignore it. It's still a choice. "When yielding to God’s holy spirit, this process of ‘actually experiencing’ the knowledge and truth God has given, enhances conviction of God’s ways, and works to indeed transform the mind." Which is the work of God.

The work of Pentecost is complete because He has worked to transform the thinking of 144,000. Now, brethren, we can look at what God is doing from that point. So let's look at John 6:25, because this work continues. It's not called the work of Pentecost, but it is still the work of God in developing Elohim. And we've been through this in the previous sermons about Everyone Must Work. Well, this whole process is the work of God that we have to continue to work. To be part of God's family requires work.

John 6:25—And when they (the people) found Him (Christ) on the other side of the sea they said to Him, Rabbi, when did You come over here? Now, this was because Christ had not entered the boat on the other side when the disciples did, when they crossed over the sea. Because Christ didn't enter the boat, therefore, they couldn't understand how He got over to the other side. Jesus answered them and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, and that was God's working miracles through Christ and in Christ, to reveal who Christ really was. They were spiritual signs. ...but because you ate loaves and were filled. So they were still dwelling on the physical because that's all they could do. Just like when the 10 Commandments were given, it would have been perceived as physical, because that's the only way the natural mind can see it. They couldn't "see" it on a spiritual level. Well, here they are, they had been given loaves, they had eaten, and they were filled, and what they were doing was following Christ because there was more physical things that they could get out of it. It wasn't about something spiritual. But what Christ was doing was something spiritual, in reality. The physical revealed something spiritual.

Verse 27—Do not labor for food which perishes, so this is something physical, but for food which endures to everlasting life. Now, that's our role, brethren, that we need to labor for physical food in balance, in moderation, but we should work hard based on the principles that God has established in His word. But the focus is, the most important thing is a priority. It's about the first four Commandments. "But for food which endures to everlasting life," so this requires work. We are to work and fight for and struggle for a sound mind, so it is transformed to think like God. We're to fight for, struggle for, spiritual food, the word of God, the truth.

Continuing on... which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal upon Him. Because God the Father has put a "seal" on Jesus Christ. God was working in Christ. So this whole work of Pentecost, the next foundation after the 10 Commandments were given, which were given spiritual commands but understood on a physical level – now we see Jesus Christ, the work of God, because now Jesus Christ is going to enable the spiritual understanding of the 10 Commandments. Because the 10 Commandments were given, now we've got a 2,000-year period, and now we "see" Christ coming to reveal "the weightier matter of the law," the intent of the law, the spirit of the law.

God had set a "seal" on Jesus Christ, which is the protection on Christ. So Christ would fulfil His role as Passover. Nothing could stop God's work in Christ as our Passover, because this work of Pentecost was going to be completed. And as we saw previously, on the Day of Pentecost the foundation was Jesus Christ, who would die for the sins of all mankind, but would be resurrected, which we saw in the wave sheaf, all for the purpose of 31 AD, to enable the giving of God's holy spirit, the pouring out of God's holy spirit. So sin could be forgiven now because of the death of Jesus Christ. And we see, on Pentecost 31 AD, we see now the power of God's holy spirit poured out into the thinking of mankind. So the two go together, one follows the other. What a beautiful picture. And it's all about God working to establish a family.

Verse 28—Then they said to Him (they said to Christ), What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? So now they're saying, "Well, we've seen this physical things, and God is saying you should be working for 'food that endures to everlasting life?'" And then they say, "Well, what should we do then? Because if we're not going to have this physical focus, what is the focus? What is it we actually have to do to 'work the works of God'”? And Jesus answered and said to them, He gives them the answer, This is the work of God, that you believe in Me, you believe in Jesus Christ, whom He (God) sent. Now, this is our work also, brethren, because this is the reason that people leave the Body of Christ, the Church of God. They leave God's Church. Why? Because they no longer do the works of God. They don't "work the works of God," which is they no longer believe Jesus Christ, whom God had sent.

So, Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, and Jesus Christ provides the truth to the Church through an apostle. So if we fail to believe what is written (what is given to us) at any point in time (the present truth), we do not do the works of God, because Jesus Christ has clearly said here, "This is the work of God." What is it? "That you believe Jesus Christ." We believe Jesus Christ. We believe God's word. We believe what Jesus Christ spoke. We believe what Jesus Christ did. We believe Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. We believe Jesus Christ is our High Priest, and we believe what God places in the Church through Jesus Christ, through an apostle.

If we are to do the work of God, we are to believe Christ. And if we believe Christ, we obey His voice and live as Christ lived. The words of God were revealed in Christ. So that's the same for us, brethren. The works we are to do are the works of God himself, but it's all done in and through Jesus Christ.

To have the work of God in us we will yield to God, we will yield to (submit to) God's government in and over our life. Now, there's a lot said there, and we have had a sermon series about God's government because it is about a spiritual matter.

Many people look at government as about, someone tells you what to do and you just do it. Man's governments are, in the world, there are times when you wouldn't follow a particular government. Now, when you look at the Apostasy, when the man of sin got up and he represented God's government, and told people to no longer keep the Sabbath and give tithes. Well, that's something we wouldn't submit to because it's not according to God's word. Now, that is the only time in the history of the Church where God has allowed something to happen, where a leader of God's Church (someone in charge) who was appointed as a person over God's Church would communicate such a thought which was totally contrary to God's way of being.

So today, brethren, we are to follow the lead of Jesus Christ, which comes through His Church. Now, if we are ever told to do something that is totally and obviously sin, well, we wouldn't do it, because we follow God's law in spirit and truth. And if we have God's spirit, we can soon "see" whether something is sin or whether it's not in our life. We are to follow God's government in our life, which is about a personal matter. It's not about somebody telling us what to do, it's about God's spirit convicting us in the truth and then us choosing to implement it into our life.

Verse 30—Therefore, they said to Him, (said to Christ), What sign (what miracle) will You perform then? So they're looking for something physical as evidence and proof. They'll only believe God if they see for their own eyes, and then they'll believe it. Continuing on... that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? They wanted proof. They wanted evidence. They wanted something physical. Now, we know for sure that physical things don't prove much... physical things don't prove much. Because you can have magicians and trickery, sleight of hand that deceive the eye very clearly, deceive the ear very clearly. Well, what does that prove? Well, it just proves that humans are weak and that we can be tricked and deceived very easily.

Look at the Israelites. They crossed the Red Sea. The waters piled up on both sides (which is not normal), they walked through on dry ground, coming up the other side, they looked back and they see Pharaoh and his army following them, they see the chariot wheels starting to wobble and come off, and then they see the water collapse back down on the Egyptians and destroy them all. And they see the chariots and the bodies washed up on the shore. Now, what did that do for them? Did that physical thing, that miracle, that sign that God performed for them, did it make them believe God? No, it didn't. It only took two or three days later and there was problems. And what happens? They start whining, they start complaining, and they end up creating an idol. They disobey God openly. They turned to something else for safety and protection. They desired something to worship, to give it credit, and they couldn't be patient enough to wait on God.

So, what will a physical work do? Will it actually help us believe? Well, no, not necessarily...not necessarily. There have been many people in God's Church where God has actually intervened on a physical level and they have been healed, and it's been very obvious, and they've given the glory and the credit to God. But that has not stopped them leaving God. That has not stopped them leaving God's true Church. Because? They have stopped believing God. They've stopped believing God because they don't believe Jesus Christ anymore. That's what happens. They stop the work of God. The very work of God, they stop it in their life.

Verse 30 at the end of that verse... what work will You do? They're saying, "Prove Yourself to us. Give us a physical sign. Do a miracle right now in front of us! Do something to prove you are from God!" That's what people want. People want proof. They want evidence of God. Yet it's something in spirit, spirit and truth, and therefore, it's not physical. It's not physical in any shape or form. It's spiritual in nature.

Verse 31—This is what they say...Our fathers ate manna in the desert, physical food from God, as it is written, He (God) gave them bread from heaven to eat. And now the point here is they could see the manna. They could see this was from God. They could see this manna. Well, that's another miracle. They saw it—that's what their father's saw—but did they actually believe God? No, it didn't make any difference in the end. They still went on their natural carnal mind and disobeyed God.

Verse 32—Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. And that "true bread" is talking about Christ, because He is "the bread of life." He is the true bread. Because this spiritual food that will be given to us will be given through Jesus Christ.

Verse 33—For the bread of God is which comes down from heaven, in other words, it's from God, and gives life to the world. God's Word, the Logos, the mind of God was manifested in Jesus Christ. So this is the life of the world, which is powered by God's holy spirit. The bread of God is the Word of God, and we can consume it. We can consume it because we've been called to consume it. The world have not been called to consume the bread of life. They have not been called to eat the true bread from God, the true bread from heaven, which is the Logos, the mind of God, God's holy spirit. They cannot absorb it because they haven't been called to it.

Verse 34—Then they said to Him, Lord, give us this bread always. So they're thinking physically still.

Verse 35—And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. Now, Christ is speaking on a spiritual level here. The bread is the very Word of God, because Jesus Christ was the Word made flesh. And "never thirst" is referring to God's holy spirit, because it requires God's spirit to understand the truth. So when Christ is saying, "I am the bread of life," He is saying that this is the only way to have life, true spirit life, is to consume the bread, which is the Word of God. We have to consume it by the power of God's holy spirit, and then we have to choose it, to consume it in our minds, to be transformed, to transform our mind.

And it says, "he who comes to Me," he who comes to Christ, "shall never hunger," so if we stay with the Body of Christ, the Church of God, Jesus Christ as our High Priest, Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church, we will never hunger. So this work that God is doing, we are going to be working. We are working, God is working with us, and we will never hunger because the food, the bread of life powered by God's holy spirit, God's Word, the Logos, His mind living and dwelling in us will enable us to consume spiritual matters, spiritual food. We will have the knowledge, the understanding, and the wisdom (which is the implementation, the living) of God's Word in our life.

"And he who believes in Me," so this very work that Jesus Christ had outlined to them (which is the work of God), it's saying "the work of God is to believe in Me." So Christ is now saying, "He who believes in Me will never thirst," so we will never have the lack of the flow of God's holy spirit if we believe God.

So when we don't believe God we are going to become thirsty. So, it is important that we always yield our spirit to God, yield our spirit to God's thinking so that we never thirst, we'll always have food (spiritual food) and we'll always have the flow of God's holy spirit living in our life so that we can think like God.

But I say to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. So here it is, they're saying, "Well, you've seen Me, you've seen how I think. You've seen Me in action, yet you do not believe Me." If they had "seen" the work in Christ they would have "seen" the work of the Father, because it was God working in Jesus Christ.

Verse 37—All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, so it's those called by God and then placed under Jesus Christ are in the Church, the true Church of God, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. So this is not about Jesus Christ rejecting anybody that God calls. God calls a person, places them in the Body, and places them in the care of Jesus Christ to nurture them, to grow them to be part of Elohim.

Verse 38—For I have come down from heaven, and that really is "out from God," because it was God that created Jesus Christ for a purpose, and we understand that this purpose is about the work of Pentecost and a future work till the completion of God's holy Family. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. God created Jesus Christ for a purpose. God appointed Christ to the role of Savior, High Priest, and soon coming King. They were things that God was achieving and working in and through Jesus Christ.

Verse 39—This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. God will, in the creation of Elohim, achieve it by a resurrection, a resurrection from physical to spirit.

Verse 40—And this is the will of Him (God the Father) who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son... So how do we see the Son? Well, it's talking about something on a spiritual level and it has to be in our minds, in our understanding. ...and believes in Me, believes the words which are the words of God the Father, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. So to believe God is the work of God. To believe Jesus Christ is the work of God. So if we believe Jesus Christ, we believe God. If we believe God, we believe Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ was the Logos, the Word, the thinking of God in the flesh.

So, to believe Christ is to obey His voice. Faith is living what we believe. So we are required to do the work of God the Father, and that work is to believe in Jesus Christ, whom He sent. And if we believe Jesus Christ we will stay with the Body of Christ, the Church of God. And if we believe Jesus Christ, we'll believe the truth and we will worship God the Father in spirit (which is from our attitude) and in truth (it'll be based on what Jesus Christ has revealed to the Church, the way to worship God the Father).

Now, there are physical and spiritual works. The physical works are for a spiritual purpose. Let's look at Psalms 74:12—For God, my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. This is God's plan. The work of Pentecost has been completed, but the next phase of God's work continues. And, brethren, we are part of that work, the continuation of God's Church on this earth for the purpose of developing a family. It's exciting to understand this and to know it, because the world has no understanding of the purpose of what God is actually doing.

Now, they don't understand the scripture that says, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Me," or "believe Me," because they just have no understanding. They have no understanding about the true Jesus Christ or the true purpose of Jesus Christ. They are confused. The Catholic church has brought out a doctrine of a trinity, which gives no credit to God, no credit to the true Jesus Christ and the role of what He really fulfilled, and they give credit to "another being" called "a ghost," "a holy ghost," or "holy spirit." And yet they give no credit to Yahweh Elohim and the power of His great plan and the work of God in transforming the mind of man. They don't understand the mind of man. "The natural carnal mind is hostile against God, and not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." They cannot be part of the work of Pentecost and they cannot be part of the work or the establishment of the law that God has established on Mount Sinai on the Day of Pentecost. They can't be any part of that because they've not been called to it at this point in time. They have not been called to understand it.

The world is like physical Israel. They just see them as mainly "don't," mainly "don'ts," not many “do's,” but mainly "don'ts." "Don't do 'this.'" "Don't do 'that,'" and "Don't do 'this.'" And that's the way it's seen. So they see the law as restrictions, restrictions against what they are. And the majority of mankind has chosen to ignore it and to "lean on his own understanding," to work out for himself what is right and wrong. Yet, God gave the law on the Day of Pentecost for a purpose, and that purpose was the establishment of a foundation of something that when Jesus Christ come, would be revealed about it's true purpose, which is about the spirit of the law, the intent behind the law, why it is that the law is so beautiful, because it reflects the very nature and the mannerisms of God. The very character of God is revealed in the law.

Galatians 6:3—For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. This reflects the very nature, the way that we have been made.... is that we do think we're "something." Even people that think they are "nothing" really think that they are "something." Because in thinking they're "nothing" they always think that they're better than somebody! There is always someone they are "better than," and if they go into the point of being depressed or go into deep depression... depression really is a thought process of selfishness, because the only one they're thinking about is themselves, hence, they go into this state of depression. Now, depression can be something that is caused by physical things that are around them, but some people choose to go into depression because of their selfishness. Now, by nature God never meant us to be in states of depression, but we can go into them. But there's also chemical imbalances in the mind—today's foods and many other pollutions—which cause things to go wrong in a human mind so that the thought process is negative.

So our biggest problem, by nature, is that we have pride. By nature we all have pride! Every single human being born (other than Jesus Christ) has been born with pride, this ability to think ourselves better than somebody else, this ability to defend ourselves no matter what, to justify ourselves, to justify our thoughts, words, or actions, to defend the self. By nature we all have an image that we protect and we project it out to others as being "better"... as being "better." The true self is really ever revealed!

Self-deception is something we are all guilty of. So how can we overcome this thinking, this wrong thinking, this pride? How can we overcome it? Well, let's look at verse 4—But let each one examine, and that is "compare against God's word," because when we examine ourselves we shouldn't examine ourselves against any other human. That's not the standard. That's not the measure. The measure is God's word, so let's compare ourselves compared to what God says we should be, the way we should be transforming. Because God tells us very clearly what we are by nature. He shows us, quite clearly, what our attitudes are and our spirit are. By the power of His holy spirit we can "see" it. So we are now to examine ourselves on that context, of the spirit of the matter. So we can compare ourselves against God's word, which means we can compare ourselves against the law, the 10 Commandments given, and the magnification of that law. So we can now examine ourselves against that.

Now, this is that transforming process, and this has been the work of Pentecost, of what has happened for 144,000, which they have had to examine themselves (compare themselves against God's standard). So verse 4 says, But let each one, and this is for us going forward, let each one examine his own work. So what is that "work" that we have to examine? Well, we have to examine our words. Words that come out of our mouth are actually works. They're things that we do. They're things we accomplish. Actions – things that we do. Attitudes (which is one of the biggest things), our attitudes towards God and our attitudes towards other human beings. Do we really believe Jesus Christ? Do we really believe Jesus Christ? Well, they're things that we should examine.

So when truth enters the Church, we should examine ourselves, to "see" what spirit we are in when truth is revealed to us. Because this very work of God, the work of God, is to believe in Jesus Christ, whom God sent. Well, do we? Well, if we believe in Jesus Christ (whom God sent) we'll believe what Jesus Christ allows to enter the Church through an apostle.

Continuing on verse 4... and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone... So if we examine ourselves about our own work and have a standard that we have against God's word, we can rejoice when we have made right choices. We can rejoice when we've made right choices, and not in another. Because it's not another person's work we have to worry about; it's our own work. We can rejoice in the fact of our calling. We can rejoice in that, brethren, that God in His mercy called us and has given us this opportunity to be part of a Body at this particular time.

The fact we "see" the truth! How incredible is that? The fact that we see it and others can't. Hence, there is no point in talking to others about it. Now, there is an article (which has been covered) about (on the website) which is about "when to answer a question when asked, and how far to go." The key to that, of course, is "not to answer a fool according to his folly," and then to "answer a fool according to his folly." To understand that spiritual principle about when to answer and how much to answer, being the point of there is no point in answering anything of the truth to somebody who's asking for contentious reasons, somebody who really isn't genuine, are not really desiring to know the truth, but is asking because of sarcasm or asking for the point of stirring up – what's the point of answering? What's the point of saying anything at all? And Jesus Christ, "When He was reviled," it says, "He reviled not." There's no point in answering. There are other times when He was asked questions and He gave an answer, often by asking another question.

So we can rejoice in many things. We can rejoice in our calling. We can rejoice that we are part of the Body. We can rejoice that we "see" the truth. We can rejoice in the truth when we "see" it on a spiritual level. We can rejoice in the knowledge. We can rejoice in the fact that we believe in Jesus Christ and His purpose in life, in the fact that we believe God. And then we can rejoice in the fact that we have chosen to obey Him. And there are so many other things we can rejoice in, but we in the main can rejoice on a spiritual level about spiritual matters, about spiritual things.

Verse 5—For each one shall bear his own load. So we have to accept personal responsibility for everything we think, speak, or for the attitudes we choose. Now, often we often hear in the news, people have a tendency to blame somebody else for their action. They will be speeding in a car and they'll say, "Well, it wasn't my fault, it was 'somebody else's' fault!" Just simply won't take personal responsibility. People will say, "Well, if that person hadn't of done this, I wouldn't have done that!" "If this person hadn't of abused me, I wouldn't have retaliated." Well, that's just a justification for personal action. The reality is we have to accept personal responsibility for everything, for everything we think. We can't turn around and say, "Satan made me do it," because Satan doesn't make us do anything. Yes, he tempts us. Yes, he tests us. And we put ourselves in environments where our thinking can go wrong, but we still have to be making personal choices and have to take personal responsibility for the choice we make.

So whatever we think, whatever we speak, and for the attitudes we choose, we have to take personal responsibility for them. No one can make us angry; we have to choose to be angry. Nobody can make us moody; we have to choose to be moody. No one can make us do anything; it's about a personal choice. Now, often that is about a way of thinking from our childhood and the way we've been educated, that we tend to get into "ruts of thinking," the way we think on a natural carnal mind, the way we think. I know in times past trying to explain the way that we think and looking at my own life, the way I think, it's often like a record where there's a groove in the record and the needle goes into it, and therefore, it plays the same song. So when we're put in an environment where we're tested, or a situation that affects us, the needle tends to stay in the groove, so the response is always the same because of the natural carnal mind. So when we are called, God calls us to jump the needle out of the groove.

Now, I'm not too sure this analogy is going to go well with today's society because most people don't have records, they have USB's and all the other things for recording devices, or hard discs or hard drives. But it's the same principle. There's a little groove that picks up the signal and it's stuck in it, and when you put the light over the top of the groove it repeats it back. So the needle in the record is the same as the laser beam in the little groove on the hard drive and it goes around and it picks it up, and therefore, the response is always the same. Just like you type in a word search in a computer, the response is going to be identical unless somebody changes it. Well, this is the beauty of a conversion. This is the beauty of a transformation. God, by the power of His holy spirit convicts us of the way we should walk, then we have to choose the way to walk. Well, this is the opportunity to jump the needle (or the laser beam) out of the groove, the normal natural response that we would have, the normal natural attitudes we would have. And we jump the needle out (or the laser beam out) all for the purpose of now going into another groove, which is the way God would respond, the way God would think about a matter, the attitude God would have towards a situation. Isn't that wonderful?!

Well, this scripture is virtually saying, "Each one must bear his own load." We have to carry our own load within our life. We have to take personal responsibility for everything we do and everything we say and every attitude we choose.

Verse 6—Let him who is taught the word, which is us. We have been taught God's word via an apostle in God's Church. That's how we have been taught the word. The truth is in God's Church and we've had the opportunity to hear the truth. And yet the world hasn't. That's something to rejoice in, brethren, just that very fact that we have this opportunity each Sabbath to hear God's word expounded. Isn't that incredible? I know that I get a lot personally out of going through these sermons, and quite amazed at what I go back and listen to after I've done a recording and what I pick up personally from it. Because I require God's holy spirit to give the sermon. It's not Wayne Matthews giving the sermon. I rely on God to inspire me. Now, if God isn't inspiring me, there is no point. It's just words. If God's spirit's not in it, there is no point. And it's the same for the hearer. If God's spirit's not in it, there is going to be no point. They're just going to be a heap of words and nothing is going to change. The needle is not going to jump out of the record. It's just the same old record going around and around. Well, personally, I require God's holy spirit to be able to empower the understanding of God's very word, otherwise, it can't be, it's just me giving my opinion. Whereas, I require God's spirit to be able to transfer what I "see" by the power of God's spirit.

Now, that's only one aspect. The other aspect, of course, is in the hearer. And that's why, often, in an opening prayer it will be said that, "God, will you please inspire the speaking and the hearing," because it requires both, inspiration about what needs to be said at what time, relying that this is God's Church...this is God's Church and that God will feed His people in a timely manner. So what is given is from God. That's what I believe, personally. And the hearer, that they require God's holy spirit to be able to hear what God is giving to the Church. For them individually as a person, to take on board to begin to live it, and to take personal responsibility for every action and every thought from that point forward.

So, let him who is taught the word, which is us, share in all good things with Him who teaches. So we share the same spirit. That's the very point, brethren. We share the same spirit. We share in God's ways. We share in His word! And how do we do that? By living it! By believing in Jesus Christ! So, I share it, you share it, we share God's way. We share the very word of God through the inspiration and the power of God's holy spirit, and we do it by implementing it into our life, jumping that needle out of the human nature groove into another way of thinking, which is the transformation of the mind.

Words by themselves are not enough. Because people can say lots of things. Doesn't mean to say that they're genuine. Doesn't mean to say they really believe them. They maybe just be trying to please the hearer and they're just saying them for vanity, really, which is virtually just another means of "a respecter of persons." So the words themselves are not enough. We must choose to live God's way in our thoughts—that's where it starts—and in our words (what comes out from our mind through words) and more importantly, above all things, is this spirit, this attitude, because it's the intent, the intent of why we spoke those words, why we chose this attitude, why we left the needle in the groove. That's what we have to examine. So every time we go back and have the same situation happen to us and we have the same response, something is wrong, unless it is actually a Godly response.

James 2:14. Now, this very work is going to continue. This work of God is going to continue to the very end, until there is a Family of God under Jesus Christ. James 2:14-26—What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, which is to believe God (if we have faith we believe God), but does not have works? In other words, doesn't implement it into their life. They can't live what they believe. Can faith save him? So, of and by itself, just say we believe God. Let's say, we believe God, we believe the 10 Commandments. We say we believe that, "but then does not do them," in other words, we don't implement it into our life, we don't jump that needle out of the groove, out of that way of thinking, "can faith," can this just believing God, "save us?" Can it do it? Well, the answer is, no.

If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, talking about spiritual food, the truth, they don't have it, and one of you says to him, "Depart in peace," these are just words, "be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things that are needed for the body, what does it profit? So you can look at that physically and could say, well, if there is somebody in the Body of Christ that is in need and we just say, "Oh, well, depart in peace." In other words, we don't put any effort in trying to support them—and that support doesn't necessarily have to be actually physical. It can be about supporting, directing them in the right direction to get the physical help they may need, and the needs of the body, "what does it profit?" Well, there is no works involved. So we can have faith, we believe God, but we're not doing anything. We're not living God's way of life to the benefit of others. We're not allowing God's holy spirit in us to live to the benefit of others—what does it profit? Because this is about living God's way of life. This is about implementing and living the truth to others, others in the Body and others in the world.

Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. So the two go together. They cannot be separated. So works and faith are required because if we believe God we will implement it into our life and we will show that we believe God. We will demonstrate it by the way we live, the deeds. So faith without works is dead because there's no actions. It's just say, "We believe," and we don't do anything about it. But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, so, "Show me your faith without your deeds," and I will show you my faith by my works. So these are the works of God. So if we believe God, we will demonstrate our faith (our belief in God) and it has to be powered by God's holy spirit. These aren't physical things. These are spiritual things. We believe God in spirit and truth, and we demonstrate our faith by our works in spirit and truth. We obey the 10 Commandments in spirit and truth. So they are the works of God. Now, the works of God is to believe Jesus Christ, whom God has sent.

You believe that there is one God. Well, yes, we believe there is one God, Yahweh Elohim. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! So just believing there is one God, what good is that? The demons know it and they believe it! They've seen it, there's one God! And they live in fear. They shudder at God because God is all-mighty and all-powerful.

Verse 20—But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? It's useless. So faith and works are connected. If we have faith we will demonstrate our faith by our works.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, so this is justification, because of what he did. So he was justified by works, by actions when he offered Isaac his son on the altar. So just believing God wasn't enough. He actually had to go ahead and do what God had said. So we can believe God and say, "This is what God is. Yes, there is one true God. Yes, Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father as our Passover," but then we don't keep the New Testament Passover, so there is no works involved. So what good is our faith? Because faith, without demonstrating our faith that we actually believe in God, believe in Jesus Christ...we have to demonstrate it. We have to live it. So he offered "his son on the altar?" Which was a question. Do you see that faith was working together with his works (his actions, his deeds) and by works (his actions, his deed) faith was made perfect (it was made complete)? So here we have the fact that Abraham showed his faith by his works, by what he did. He showed that he believed God by implementing it into his life.

And the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Now, that's the same for us, brethren. If we believe God, this is the work of God. We believe God, we believe in Jesus Christ, we believe Jesus Christ was the Logos, the Word of God, the Word made flesh, well, it will be accounted to us for righteousness. So we are to believe God and it will be accounted to us for righteousness, and we are then to implement it, implement it into our life in the sense of living righteousness out to others. Not just saying, "I believe God," but obedience is required. Because that's what Abraham did. Abraham believed God and then he did something, he did a deed of obedience. And that's what will be accounted to us as righteousness. So believing and implementing what God has said into our life. And he was called a friend of God.

You see then that a man is justified by works, by actions, not by the law, it's by our actions, and not by faith only. Because the two have to go together. We have to believe God and then implement the truth into our life in spirit and truth.

Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works? She believed what she heard and then she acted, when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body, which is the "type" of the Church, without the spirit is dead, so if we say we're part of the Body of Christ and we don't have God's holy spirit, we're actually deceived—we're dead. So the physical body without the spirit in man is dead—it's dead. It's just not alive. There's no life, so faith without works is dead also. So we, brethren, as part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God, are only alive if God's spirit lives and dwells in us, if God's spirit flows in our life out to the benefit of others. So it is that faith, this believing in God, believing in Jesus Christ, without works, without deeds, without actions of implementing, without changing the needle in the groove, is dead. There is no point. We're just operating in the natural carnal mind. So we have to choose to transform. God will empower it, but we have to choose to transform our thinking.

Back to Galatians 6:7—Our work (words and deeds) must reflect God in everything we say and do. And that is our work. That is our deeds. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, and that word there "mocked" is "to turn the nose up at." So when we mock somebody, you turn your nose, you have that head action going back and you just turn away, you turn your head away. So, "God is not mocked," in this. So we're not to deceive ourselves thinking that we can just have faith and no works. That's just deception. ...for whatever a man sows, so what we "plant," what we do, he will also reap. So another way is, "Don't deceive yourselves to think that you can get away with sin." So, not to deceive ourselves thinking that we can just say, "Oh, I believe God," and not have works, not have this transforming going on. Because God's not mocked in all of this. We can't turn away from God! God is the one doing the transforming, and we have to have our part in it in the sense we have to choose to desire to be transformed. We don't want this selfish natural carnal mind. We understand "the wages of sin is death" and no matter what we think, it is a law of God and it cannot be changed! It cannot be changed! "The wages of sin," if we sin, the sin penalty is death! So we understand "the wages of sin is death," so this willful sinning that is unrepented of will earn a penalty of death. But sin, repented of, does not earn the death penalty, because of the sacrifice and the mercy of God.

So, no matter what we think, God's law is God's law as it was given on the Day of Pentecost on Mount Sinai, and it was given for a purpose. And no matter what we think about God's law, it cannot be changed, because God has come along through Jesus Christ and established the spiritual intent of the law and revealed and magnified its true meaning, which is all part of that work that He is doing in transforming the thinking. Isn't that a glorious picture to see?! How God is meticulously and patiently been working and planting various aspects of the development of Elohim through Jesus Christ right up until the point of the firstfruits.

The point here is: If we sow sin, we reap death. If we sow sin in our life through our thoughts, words, or actions, we reap death. We reap the penalty of sin. If we sow righteousness, God's choice in our thinking, we reap life! That's glorious to understand, that when we have this power of God's holy spirit in our mind and we choose righteousness (which is choose God's way), we reap life, life-everlasting! We are alive on a spiritual level to the point of being able to be transformed to spirit at some point in time. But this process is a continual one. If we sow sin, we're going to die. If we sow righteousness, we have the potential of life... of life.

If you go down to verse 8—now our work is actually outlined. For he who sows to his flesh, which is the natural carnal mind, this natural thinking, the needle in the groove (if we just keep that going) will of the flesh reap corruption (decay and death). So if we're going to keep going down this way we're going to reap what is the outcome. Decay and death. ...but he who sows to the spirit, which is about God's way of thinking, jump that needle out the groove by a choice, will of the spirit reap everlasting life. So there's only two choices; it's life or death. And in the Old Testament God says, "Choose life!" Choose life! Why wouldn't we choose life? Why would we choose death? Why would we choose not to believe Jesus Christ? Why would we choose that? Well, we choose that because the natural carnal mind. The natural carnal mind decides for itself what is right and wrong and no longer believes Jesus Christ, therefore, no longer believes the truth that is placed in the Church.

Verse 9—And let us not grow weary while doing good, which is living God's ways to others, sacrificing ourselves to the benefit of others. That is the work that we are undertaking. So we're not to "grow weary while doing good." Now, this can happen to us, brethren. This "growing weary" is an easy thing, because we have a tendency to lean back on our own natural thinking. So we're not to become weary, and the way we become weary is because we keep sacrificing and we don't see anything in return. But that's not God's spirit! God's spirit requires nothing in return from somebody else. We should give and give and give. And there's scriptures talk about how God gives to the good and the evil. God provides the sun everyday for the good and the evil. It's not expecting something to be given back to Him because He creates the sun every day, or the light, or the rain in due season. No, this is about living God's way of life no matter what. So we're not to "grow weary" in sacrificing ourselves to the benefit of others.

And that is our work, brethren. Our work is to believe Jesus Christ, believe in Jesus Christ, believe the truth that He places into the Church, but in spirit we are to sacrifice ourselves to the benefit of others. And that is our work. So, let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. So let's not give up! Let's not give up on the battle within the mind. Don't give up the battle which we must fight in the mind. Fight the fight. It is all worth it! It is all worth it, because it leads to life, spirit life. Everyone called must work, must fight the selfishness of our inner human nature. To work is to fight against the self in the mind. To fight is life, and not to fight is death. So God is going to continue His work right through the Millennium and the hundred-years. And the conclusion is those that are not willing to fight, those not willing to sacrifice will face death. And that is called "the second death." Now, that's their choice. Those that face the second death have made a choice in their mind. In their minds they have chosen a way of life that is contrary to God's way.

Verse 10—Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all. Now, this is about having a right attitude, the right spirit, the right intent towards others, having no ill will to anybody no matter what they say, no matter what they do to us; it makes no difference. It shouldn't! I know that it does, because that's our natural carnal mind reacting. Because if anyone offends us, we're the problem because we're not supposed to take offence. We should not take offence at anybody or anything. So the problem is us. Therefore, as we have opportunity, which is powered by God's holy spirit to make this choice, to make this right choice, to jump the needle out of the groove, the laser beam out of that little groove on that hard drive, let us do good to all, so we're to have the right attitude towards them, especially to those who are of the household of faith. We should have no ill will within the Body, the Body of Christ, the brethren.

Have you ever heard the statement (you probably have, I'm sure you have) of the statement I've heard many of times. And I often cringe because I know they lack understanding because of the syrupy nature of it and the Protestant approach to it, that it's so "pious." People say, "Oh, he or she is so spiritual." Or they've had such an experience that, "Oh, I've just had this spiritual experience," this spiritual experience of going to this service or this memorial, "was so uplifting and so spiritual in nature!" Well, it's just a load of garbage. It's just all emotion! It's just sensations of the natural carnal mind. Because to "be spiritual" requires God's holy spirit. So to be spiritual requires God's holy spirit. So anyone who says he or she is so spiritual, well, they're not, because it is God that does the works in humans. It's God that puts His power of His spirit into a mind, and then we have this choice. And this is only available from a calling and receiving of God's holy spirit, which is not in the world. So anyone in the world that says they've had this "spiritual experience" or "he/she is so spiritual," is actually deceived about what is spiritual.

Spiritual works are actions based on righteous intents. Spiritual works are actions based on righteous intent, which is powered by God's holy spirit, which is righteous and holy. Spiritual works of righteousness are actions motivated by God's holy spirit. So if we are to have something spiritual we are to demonstrate God's love, God's thinking to others. That's what's spiritual. To be spiritual a person must have God's spirit leading, guiding, and directing them. To have a "spiritual experience" is to have the mind of God, God's spirit living out from us to the benefit of others. So it requires an action. So faith and works together produce this spiritual experience, or this spiritual benefit to others. It's the way we think towards others.

So, someone who is spiritual, he/she is so spiritual, requires God's spirit and it requires a choice by the individual to live God's way, to sacrifice to the benefit of others. Other than that, it's not spiritual, there is no spiritual experience. It's just carnal selfishness and it's just an emotion. It's like "speaking in tongues" in the world out in these churches where they go into chants and jibber on. It's just an experience! And often it's a demonic one from a spirit world. But it's just an emotion. It's just an experience. It's a sensation. It's a feeling, but it's not spiritual at all. God is not involved at all.

So we can "see," brethren, that this work of Pentecost has been completed, but there is a work of God continuing, and that work of God is to believe in Jesus Christ and to believe the truth that God places in the Church. So over the history of the Church we see that many have failed to continue to believe in Jesus Christ, which is fail to believe God, what God has placed in the Church.

We'll start the concluding here, brethren, by looking at 2 Corinthians 4:7—So what is actually working in us? But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so we "have this treasure," this precious gift "in earthen vessels," in us. We're just "earthen vessels," we're just physical. ...that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. So all the credit and all the glory is going to go to God who empowers change within us, this transformation in the creation of Elohim. So it's not about us. All the glory must be given to God! All credit must be given to God because it's His treasure. This gift of the holy spirit, the truth that lies in us, everything we have on a spiritual level all comes from God. But we have it in an "earthen vessel," which is in us in our minds, "that the excellent power may be of God and not of us." So all the glory goes to God. It is His power in us.

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, so we're not at a point where anything around us will destroy what God has given us.

Verse 9—persecuted, and we're persecuted because of Satan and the demons, and because of mankind, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—why? Because God is always with us, brethren. If we stay close to God, if we stay close to the truth, if we believe in God and we believe in Jesus Christ and we believe what Jesus Christ has placed into the Church, none of these things can affect us, we'll never be in despair. We might be persecuted, but we're not forsaken. We're not going to be struck down, we're not going to be destroyed, because we believe God. Same as Abraham. He believed God and did something. Well, that's what's required of us. We're to believe God and do something, which is to live love to others, allow God's spirit to live in us.

...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. So this is that Godly character living out to the benefit of others. We're putting to death our natural carnal mind. Why? "...that the life of Jesus Christ," the spirit life of Jesus Christ, the mind of God, "may be manifested in our body." We're living it out to the benefit of others. We are developing Godly character and we develop it by suffering. So all this persecution and all these problems that are around us, we're not despaired, we're not forsaken, we're not struck down, we're not destroyed because we're always carrying around God's holy spirit in our minds...because we're choosing to, because we're choosing to sacrifice to the benefit of others.

Verse 11—For we who lived are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal bodies (in our mortal flesh). So it is about how we live. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He (God the Father) who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. And it's talking about the 144,000. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. So we can give the thanks and the glory to God for what He has done, knowing that God raised up Jesus Christ, He will also raise us up at some point in time to be with Jesus Christ forever. And the purpose of life is to enter Elohim.

So this work of Pentecost is completed, but the work of God continues right though the next period of 1,100 years, and then comes the end when all will be in all, which is, everyone will be in Elohim and at some point those that are against God will be destroyed.

Verse 16—Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. And that's our purpose, brethren, that renewing of the mind day by day, all powered by God's holy spirit.

Verse 17—For our light affliction, which it is, which is but for a moment, so it's only a time-period, and life moves very quickly, and before we know it we are close to a point of a transformation, a complete transformation from physical to spirit, and it may mean before that time, death, but which is for a moment is working for us a far more exceedingly and eternal weight of glory...

And finally, verse 18—while we do not look at the things which are seen, what's around us that's physical, but at the things which are not seen, the promises of God, the truth, the spirit of the matter, the weightier things of God. For the things which are seen are temporary, all this physical around us, whether we have something or not, it's all temporary, it's all passing, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The treasures that we have, the truth that we have, all these things that God has given us are eternal. They're things that will not pass.

So, brethren, with that we'll end the series and we'll start a new series in the near future, God willing.□