Only One, Pt. 1

Wayne Matthews

October 1, 2015

Feast of Tabernacles-2015

Welcome, brethren, to another day of the Feast of Tabernacles. We find ourselves here today together, like-minded people rejoicing in fellowship with God, rejoicing in fellowship with one another. God the Father, the creator of the universe, has called us out of this world for a great spiritual purpose. We are here to learn about the One True God of the universe. We are here to learn of God, God's way of thinking. We are here in unity of spirit with one another because God is with us, God is dwelling in us. We have God's spirit. And because of this, this enables us to have this relationship with God, a true relationship with God, to know God, to truly know God, who He really is, and to have this relationship with one another.

One of the beauties of coming together in unity is the fact that we have the same thinking, the same spiritual thinking. Now, that thinking is the very thinking of God, the way that God thinks about a matter.

The title of today's sermon is Only One, and this will be Part 1. So during this Feast we hopefully will cover two particular sermons, and the same title is Only One, because it's about the oneness of God.

The purpose of this sermon is to explore God's word about the change of thinking that will take place during the Millennium because we've been called into the Body of Christ, the Church of God now for the purpose of having our thinking transformed, having this change of thinking. Well, during the Millennium, because of the power of God's holy spirit that is being made available to mankind, those that live into the Millennium, and those that live during the Millennium will have to go through this very same process that we are going through. They are going to be attending the Feast of Tabernacles just as we are. They're going to have to come together in fellowship with God and fellowship with one another. They're going to have to come to a Feast and rejoice, rejoice before God with thanksgiving. During the Millennium people will come to see that there is only one way of thinking that is true righteousness. Now, this is an incredible thing that mankind cannot "see" now. But we, brethren, can "see" it. We can see that there is only one way of thinking, and it's God's way of thinking, it's God's righteousness, it's God's way of thinking. It's His love, the way that He is. It's the way that He thinks because love is a way of thinking. It's a way God thinks. Well, we are to take on this mind, this way of thinking, which is love. They will start to see on a spiritual level God's thinking because God's going to make it available to them.

Now, mankind cannot "see" God's thinking at this very point, but we can, brethren. During the Millennium mankind will come to understand the reality of one God, one true government, one religion, one faith. Now, this is something that mankind cannot "see," with all the religions of the world, with all the various "gods" that have been set up, the idols that they have set up, all the different governments, the styles and thinking behind all the various governments and the religions of the world and their so-called) faith that they have, what they believe. And they are living what they think they believe. Well, that is their faith; it's what they believe. And they will die in their faith, what they believe.

Well, mankind will come to see that they need to be in unity with God, with God's way of thinking. So to have a relationship with God, we have to be at one with Him or start this process of coming into unity, coming into a way of thinking that brings us at-one with God. They will come to "see" (powered by God's holy spirit) their own selfish human nature, because they can't "see" it at this point in time. To be at-one with God is to believe the truth, which God has placed into the Church. Now, mankind can't do that, but during the Millennium God will give them the power (His holy spirit) so that they can believe the truth. And the truth will no longer be strange or weird to them, because powered by God's holy spirit, the truth makes sense to the mind. Whereas, now, the mind can't "see" it. It just won't accept it. It can't accept it.

Now, God places truth into the Church and God places truth for us to believe. So the truth that God has given to the Church is there for a purpose. It's to test to see whether we will come to be at-one with God, to be in unity with God's way of thinking. We have been called to walk in the truth, to walk in unity of spirit. We have been called at this time to live our lives yielding to God's spirit.

So we'll start this sermon series with the scripture that covers this very aspect, which is Ephesians 4:1-4—I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you (encourage you) to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. So, brethren, Paul is writing to the Ephesians here and he is encouraging them to walk worthy, because they have been called, they've been invited by God the Father to a relationship with Him. So God the Father is the one who has invited them. God the Father has thought about them and He has decided in His knowledge, in His wisdom, in His purity, in His righteousness, for a purpose, which is not fully understood when a person is called. They are invited into a relationship with Him. Paul is saying, he is encouraging them, to walk worthy, to walk according to the word of God, to walk worthy of the calling, of the invitation "which you were called." There is a way that this can be demonstrated and verse 2 covers that. How is it demonstrated, this "walking worthy of the invitation, walking in a worthy manner?" Well, it's about the way we think. It's about our conduct.

So here at the Feast, brethren, we are to do the same. We have been called by God into a relationship with Him and into a relationship with one another to rejoice and have true fellowship, which is powered by God's holy spirit. How is that demonstrated? Well, it's demonstrated in a person's thinking, and then the actions that follow.

Verse 2—with all lowliness, which is talking about an attitude of mind or the way we think. We know, we understand that we are not better than anybody else. We're not worthy of a calling. We're simply not because we didn't earn it. We couldn't earn it. It's only by the mercy of God or the grace of God that we have actually been given this opportunity to walk according to a calling. And how is that done? Through this lowliness, through this humility of mind. Now, when we are humble we actually are seeing ourselves in our true condition. And we see ourselves, we see our selfishness... we see our selfishness. And because we see this selfishness of ourselves, what we want, the way we want it, our attitudes, our moods, all of those things, we see that compared to God, well, they're terrible things. They are sin to have these attitudes of pride or lifting ourselves up. When we see ourselves as those things and we then begin to think differently and say, "Well, that's sin," we don't want to be that way. Well, that creates this humility, that we "see" that we're not worthy of anything. It's only by the mercy of God.

So we, then, have to set our minds to walk in lowliness, to walk in humility, and gentleness. So we are to be gentle. We are to be patient, which is connected to humility. Because a person cannot be gentle if they are not humble because it is a way of thinking. ...with longsuffering, with this patience that is required of us because this journey we are on takes longsuffering, which is suffering long, for a long period of time, which is to be patient, to be kind, to be gentle, to be humble in all of this while we are being transformed, having our thinking changed.

...bearing with one another in love, which is God's spirit. So we don't accept the praises of others. We do not lift ourselves up. We're being patient with one another because we're all sinners. No one is better than anybody else. God has a purpose for every individual. And because we are walking in this lowliness, we're teachable, we have a teachable spirit, we desire to learn, we have an attitude of mind that is that we're not better than anybody else because it's God living and dwelling in us. So the way that we live our life is important before God and important before others because we need to be reflecting this invitation, this invitation to change the way we think. Well, that's important with God, that we are reflecting it in the way we walk. And Paul is encouraging the brethren here to walk worthy, which is to live this way of life, to live our faith, to live what we believe, but to do it in humility, not to exalt ourselves in pride.

Continuing on in verse 3—endeavoring, which is striving or putting effort into, to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Because this unity of spirit is about an attitude. Now, when people become in disunity they no longer believe the truth, they no longer believe what God has placed into the Church. So to have unity we have to believe what God has placed in the Church. And it's a unity of spirit. Well, what's that really saying? Well, this is talking about a oneness. It's about this one mind, which creates a bond of unity, and this bond of unity creates or brings peace. It's about a oneness. It's about a way of thinking. Brethren, we have been called by God to think the same way, which is to think love. And thinking love is spiritual in nature. It's about an attitude. It's about taking on a way of thinking, which is God's thinking about a matter.

Now, we have to have unity of spirit here at the Feast. It's so important to have a unity of spirit. We're not to lift ourselves up. We're not to force our opinions on others. We shouldn't be getting into strong debate. We should be patient with one another, which is this "bearing with one another in love," having concern.

Now, if something is obviously wrong and open, that it's really being said wrong, well, we don't have to get into major debate to prove God's way. We can just simply say, "Well, we don't believe that's what is taught by God and God's word about it." So we can handle it a particular way, but it's got to be done in this bond of peace with lowness, with gentleness, with longsuffering, and we have to do it in love. And we're endeavoring, we're doing everything we can with this right attitude, the same way of thinking that is needed to have this unity of spirit, which is this bond that will be joining us together, pulling us together, and it binds us with God and with one another. And what does it produce? It produces peace because we're not trying to elevate ourselves above another person. This unity of thinking, this same thinking, thinking like God, thinking righteousness, it produces peace. Unity is to be at-one in all things. Because if we're in unity there will be no disagreement, therefore, there will be harmony, therefore, it will create peace. One and the same thinking, one and the same attitudes, and they are important during this time of these seven days and then the Last Great Day that we, brethren, have this same thinking. We're taking on the mind of God. That's why we're here. And more importantly, we develop the same attitude towards things.

Because everyone can have an attitude. It's something that we can choose. Because attitudes are a choice. We can choose to be moody. We can choose to reflect our selfishness by what they call, it's like "throwing a moody," or having a negative approach towards something. So there are certain activities that are organized, there are certain things that are done at the Feast or meals. Well, how we think about those when we're there — and we may not be getting, necessarily, the service that we feel that we should be getting or we may not be getting the meal that we thought we were getting — well, now it's important to reflect a right attitude about it, how we handle it. Well, how should we handle it, brethren? When things go wrong in our life, how should we handle it? Now, we were called for a purpose now to reflect something – how we should walk! So if something's going wrong with a meal or with the activity, or whatever it may be here at the Feast, we are to handle it with all lowliness with humility! Not forcing our opinion or exaggerating the situation or being very negative about the situation. We are to do it with lowliness, with humility, knowing who we really are and knowing what mankind is at the moment. They don't have access to God's holy spirit because God hasn't given it to them, therefore, they are what they are (selfish) and things go wrong, and yes, they may have some ill will to us, and yes, things may not go well for us at the Feast with meals or activities or whatever it is, the room we may have or the service we may get. We are to reflect all lowliness, humility, gentleness. Now, gentleness is an attitude of mind, it's a way of thinking. With longsuffering, so we're to be patient in it, bearing (forbearing) with one another. How? In love! So it's done with the thinking of God. We're endeavoring, which is requiring effort, to keep the unity of spirit. So we're to have the same thinking of God and Jesus Christ, and that will create this peace that is there.

So when situations come up, how are we to handle it? Well, just here as Paul has written to the Ephesians, we're to live a way of life. We're to live our faith, what we believe. We are of the same mind. Well, we're to create this bond of peace within God's Church by being in unity of spirit with one another. But when we're dealing with the world we also need to be careful what we reflect. We must reflect Jesus Christ, the way that Jesus Christ lived. And Jesus Christ lived the way God thought.

Verse 4—There is one body, so there is one Church, because that's what it's really saying. There is one Body, there is one spiritual Body, and it's joined, it's one Church that has God's holy spirit. So there is one Body of Christ, and that Body is where God dwells and Jesus Christ is. Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, the one Body. ...and one spirit, and that one spirit is the mind of God, it's God's holy spirit. It's one attitude and it's all driven by this one spirit. ...just as you were called in one hope, because there is one hope. Now, we only have that one hope, which is salvation, which is the hope of the gift of eternal life which God can give. There is one hope of your calling. Now, we understand God the Father has called us, as outlined in John 6:44, that we've been called by God the Father and we've been called into this one Body, into this one spiritual Body which is headed by Jesus Christ. And there is one holy spirit. There is one spirit from God. There is one way of thinking from God, there's not two. There's not other spirits that God generates. God generates, God produces His thinking within His people, within His Body, those that are the temple of the holy spirit.

"Just as you were called," which we were, "in one hope," and that hope is that at some point in time the transformation will have been completed according to what God has established for each individual because it is different for each individual. But God knows that the person has been set or sealed, therefore, the person will not go back. They have been established that God knows what they will do no matter what. God will be first no matter what. Well, the hope is that one day we will be established before God, that God can say, "Now I know them. Now I know what they will do. I know what they will be like." Therefore, no matter what is fronted to a person, they will always choose God as first.

Well, we have this one hope. Now, this hope only exists within the Body of Christ, the Church of God. Others have hope in their faith, in their false religion, in their false beliefs. And they have a different spirit – it's called the natural carnal mind. So there is only one spirit from God that is holy. There is not another spirit that is holy. And we have been called by God for the purpose of salvation, the one hope. Now, this hope can only be developed within the Body of Christ, the Church of God. It requires God's holy spirit to develop this hope of salvation, true salvation.

Now, mankind has hope for certain things, and one of them is that they will be saved. They might go, for example, to heaven. Well, that's their hope. Well, we know, we understand because of the power of God's holy spirit and because we're part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God, we understand from God that there is only one true hope of salvation, and that is to be given spirit life in Elohim in a time order. And that is going to take place with 144,000 first. Well, that's our hope. That is our hope, that this will be fulfilled. Our hope, the one hope is salvation, and it's all reliant on, of course, the return of Jesus Christ to this earth and a resurrection. So this one hope is about a resurrection.

Verse 5—one Lord, referring to Jesus Christ. So there's only one master, Jesus Christ. There's only one way a person can be saved. It's through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It's through the acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There is only one faith, there's only one belief system, because it's about believing the truth. We believe the truth—that is faith—and therefore, we live it. So what is faith? Faith is living what we believe, what God has given us to believe. Now, we believe certain things. Well, we have to implement those into our life, and then we're living our faith. And we do. For example, the Sabbath, the seventh-day Sabbath, we live our faith. Because? We demonstrate it, we live it, we do it, we keep the Sabbath. We are here at the Feast living our faith. Our faith is, our belief system is that the seven annual holy days are required for God's people because they point to the plan of salvation. Well, we're living our faith. And whether we're here or whether we're at home, we're still living our faith. We're living what we believe, what we trust in. We believe and trust in God, therefore, we believe these things, we live them, we implement them into our life. We do them! Well, that's living our faith. That's faith, living what we believe.

...One baptism. Now, there is only one baptism. Now, through the history of mankind there have been many, many types of baptisms. Many. The vast, vast, vast, vast majority have been done from the natural carnal mind, where people have been immersed. Now, all of the religions have different things. For example, the Catholics have the sprinkling of the water on the forehead of a child that doesn't know anything, can't think, really, about anything, can't make a choice. Because this one baptism is about maturity. It's about a maturity of thinking, the ability to make a choice, a free choice. Now, that, normally the Church has made a ruling on that of around 18 years of age to 20 years of age, sometimes a little bit older depending on various aspects, depending on how a person has been educated, an environment a person may be brought up in. Well, all of these things impact a person's thinking. But it is all about the ability to understand the decision they are making. So some can be 17 at times, depending. Well, some can be older, can be 21. There's no set age, per se. In the future maybe that will change because the education system will be a little bit different, and people may be a little maturer on a spiritual level in the sense of having spiritual knowledge. Because to have understanding requires God's holy spirit, but they'll have this knowledge, and therefore, they'll be able to make a mature decision. So this one baptism is powered by God's holy spirit because it's about repentance. Now, baptism without repentance is pointless, absolutely pointless. It's just getting wet. Now, there's millions and millions and millions of people that have got wet for no reason at all. They have done it all for selfishness. And the people that are doing it, it's all done for selfishness, the natural carnal mind.

Well, God is saying here through Paul that there is only one baptism. There's only one immersion. How can that take place? By a true minister of God. And the person has been granted repentance first, because it's about repentance. Baptism is about repentance. Without baptism a person cannot have access to God because they're still dwelling in their sins. So it's the same principle. Without repentance there's no point in baptism; there's no point in baptism without repentance. So they go together; they cannot be separated. Well, once a person has been baptised they then have their sins covered. They then need the power to walk anew, which is talking about God's holy spirit.

Verse 6—There is one God, there is only one God and Father of all. Now, this is an incredible scripture that has not always been understood by God's people over the history of God's Church. At various times they had this knowledge, and then it was lost. Well, in 2005 God provided this knowledge again. Now, this knowledge was the separation from the Churches of God that are scattered to God's true Church, the Church of God—PKG where God is, where God's spirit it. So there is only one God and Father of all. It includes the Father of Jesus Christ, who is above all, one, above all and through all, and in you all, in our thinking powered by God's holy spirit if we have gone through this process before, we're part of the one Body, we have God's holy spirit. And this creates our one faith, and because of that there is this one repentance, there's this one baptism, and we come to understand and see that there is one God and Father of all. God created every single thing that lives. He created all spirit life. He created all physical life. And God is above all of it! He is number one. He is one! He is one. His way of thinking is right. It is righteousness. And because of that, in God's great mercy, He is giving us the ability to be in unity of spirit so that God is through all and in you all.

Now, as we cover some of these points about only one, we can look at this in different ways. One Body means one Church under God and Christ. One Body is the Church in unity with the thinking of God and Christ. And that's done (powered) by the holy spirit from God. This means there is only one true Church of God that has God's holy spirit. Now, others may call their names "Church of God," but that does not mean they have God's holy spirit. Because to be a Church of God, it means that God's spirit is active, it's where God's working, and there has to be growth. God's spirit demands growth, therefore, there has to be truth coming to the Church through an apostle, and that truth is inspired from God the Father through Jesus Christ. This means there is only one true Church of God, and we, brethren, are here celebrating this Feast this year because we are that only one true Church of God. We're part of the Body of Christ because we have God's holy spirit active in our life. This means that there is only one location where God is dwelling, where God is working. Now, people cannot understand these things.

I was only reflecting the other day about the different religions of the world. Well, when you look at it, and we'll look at some of them, the Catholic Church, it's called the Roman Catholic (which is "Universal") Church. So it's a group together and they're called "Roman" and they're "Universal" and they call themselves a body, a church, which is group of people together. But scripture clearly says one of the keys to identifying where God is, is His name, that God's name would be connected to it. So when you take the Roman, which is "Latin" church, Universal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, it doesn't really have "Church of God," Yahweh Elohim in it at all. There's nothing to do with it. So therefore, very clearly, very quickly you can see this is not God's true Church.

Now, we can identify all of these things, when we take, for example, the Muslim religion. Now, they, when they started, because it was started through a man, which they call a prophet, which was not, it requires God's holy spirit, and the person that started that religion and people have followed, well, we know that it's not God's true Church. It cannot be! And one of the identifying signs is it does not carry God's name. It's not "The Church of God," because God is not there and it doesn't carry God's name. So we can identify those very quickly. And we can get rid of the Protestant churches and all the various names of those churches because they don't carry "Church of God," God's Church, where God is.

Now, other aspects of that, we can get down, there are groups that are called "Church of God." Well, from that we can then narrow it even further down because they have to have the truth. They have to have the truth. They have to follow God's word and it has to be powered by God's holy spirit. So it's where God's spirit is. So, we, brethren, should have come to realize that God's Church keeps God's law, the 10 Commandments, God's Church has to be a Sabbath-keeper. So anyone that has God's name, "Church of God," and does not keep the Sabbath in spirit and truth, does not keep the seven annual Holy Days in spirit and truth, they are not of God. They might have various things that they think they are, but they're not because God's spirit is not there, God's spirit is not working there.

Now, we should be able to establish, through these truths, and through other things that are said, that this is God's true Church. We should understand, for example, about government. We understand about government. It's a spiritual matter, it's not a physical thing. It's not about somebody being in charge and telling everybody what to do. No, this is about God's spirit. It's about the individual yielding to God's spirit within their life and then, of course, within the structure of the Church that God has set up. This really means that there is only one location, one, only one location where God is actually dwelling, where God is actually working, and it's in the Church of God—PKG. That's where God is working.

Now, the word "church," of course, is not a building. We make up the Church. We are the Body. We are God's people and God is working with us. Therefore, God is dwelling with us and working with us. Now, we're here at this Feast for this very purpose. Being at this Feast, keeping this Feast, whether we're here, whether we're at home, keeping this Feast before God in spirit and truth, the location where God is, is where His people are. Whether we're by ourselves, God is there because God is working with our thinking. God is working in us. God dwells and works with and in His called out ones. God called us out of this world so that we can make up the Body of Christ, the Church of God, and now administratively it operates under "The Church of God—PKG, Preparing for the Kingdom of God," because that's what we're doing. We're preparing for the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

So how are we preparing for the Kingdom of God? Well, we can go back to verse 2, "with all lowliness, with humility, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace." That's how we're preparing. It's the way we live. It's the change of thinking that is taking place. Because our thinking has to be changed. We have to be transformed so that we do walk in humility. Now, if we're walking in humility, if we're learning to walk in humility, if we are demonstrating gentleness (which is an attitude or a way of thinking), and longsuffering, and we're living love, well, therefore, we are preparing for the Kingdom of God. Now, if we're not doing those things, if we're not working on ourselves, overcoming our selfishness, we are not preparing for the Kingdom of God. Now, to be part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God is about preparing for the Kingdom of God, because at some point in time, whether we're part of the 144,000 or not, we're still preparing for the Kingdom of God. It's just the time order. It's just a time order.

Now, the people that are living into the Millennium, they, within themselves, will still be preparing for the Kingdom of God, even if administratively the Church is not called "The Church of God—PKG," it's "The Church of God," or "God's Church," but within the individual they will still be preparing for the Kingdom of God, the day they enter Elohim. Now, this preparation is covered in Ephesians 4:2, which is about this walking worthy of the calling, because people are going to be given that calling, and then taking on the very thinking of God. And that thinking of God will create unity and it will bring peace. And that's what the Millennium is about, a change of thinking, about a unity of spirit, about this Body, this way of thinking, God's spirit poured out on people, and it is going to produce peace.

Now, we read in previous scriptures that they won't learn war anymore, but they will live peace. They're going to learn peace. Because how do you learn peace? By taking on God's holy spirit and having humility... having humility. Because humility does not fight back, pride fights back. Pride gets even. Pride does all those things. When people learn humility, powered by God's holy spirit, it creates peace. And there is going to be peace on the earth during the Millennium. Maybe at the beginning there's going to be a lot of difficulties, but as time goes on every person will come to see that they are to prepare, prepare themselves for the Kingdom, for entering Elohim at some point in time, to enter the Kingdom of God.

During the Millennium it's the same thing. There will be one Church of God on this earth. There will be one body; one Church will be found on the earth. Well, that's the same today, brethren. There is one Body, there is one Church on the earth today with God's name.

John 17:1-26. Now, John 17, of course, is in the middle of a discussion that Jesus Christ is having with the disciples on the night that He is betrayed. And, of course, He is now going to fulfill the Passover. He's taken the Passover service, but He will die on this day. Well, this is Jesus Christ talking to the disciples (and there's eleven of them here at this point in time), and they are now being instructed on spiritual matters, but they cannot understand them. But we can understand aspects of these things now, brethren. We have been given the gift of God's holy spirit now to understand this. Well, during the Millennium this will be expounded and this will be discussed in more detail and greater spiritual understanding will come from these particular scriptures. We're going to look at John 17 and we're going to read through John 17 all for the purpose of coming to understand that there is only one God and there's only one faith, that there's only one way of belief, there's only one hope, and there's only one Lord, which is one Jesus Christ. So all of these things are about the one, and there's only one way of thinking that is righteousness. There's only one way of thinking that is righteousness. There's only one true humility, and it's powered by God's holy spirit. It's not human humility, which is selfishness, this is godly humility. So to have godly humility a person must have the thinking of God, has to be powered by God's holy spirit. So as we read through all of these particular scriptures, we have to look at it from the point of view that it's Jesus Christ expounding the truth, the reality of one God, one spirit, one faith. All of these things are being spoken of here for the purpose of us. And for those that live in the Millennium and those that live in the Hundred-years this will be explained in greater detail than today.

John 17:1—Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. "The time has come now." Glorify Your Son, which is about God glorifying Jesus Christ, that Your (God the Father's) Son (Jesus Christ) also may glorify You. Now, how is this done? Well, all the glory of what is taking place and what is going to happen to Jesus Christ through the suffering and His death is to the glory and the praise of God, because it's God providing a sacrifice for sin for us. And God is going to resurrect Jesus Christ, which will then enable the resurrection of those in the future, which is the 144,000 and those that will follow in time. So all the glory goes to God the Father as it is His plan of salvation. All the glory goes to God. So Jesus Christ is saying, "Glorify Your Son that Your Son may also glorify You," because all glory goes to God the Father for what He is achieving through Jesus Christ. ...as You (God the Father) have given Him (Jesus Christ) authority over all flesh. Now, this is an incredible scripture, that Jesus Christ has now got authority over all flesh, everything to do with this earth, Jesus Christ is the King of kings. And when God establishes Him as King of kings on this earth, He will have all authority over the flesh and it will be so obvious. Well, now it's not as obvious, but He has all authority over all flesh now, but God is allowing things to continue on until His plan where He will intervene into the life of humans for the purpose of salvation. But all authority has been given over to Jesus Christ over all flesh, that He (Jesus Christ) should give eternal life to as many as You (God the Father) have given Him. So the purpose of all of this is about this hope of salvation. This one hope that we have, well, what's it about? This one hope is what Jesus Christ is saying here, "that He should give eternal life to as many as God the Father has given to Him." God the Father would have to call the individual first. Now, that's what's been taking place since 31 AD, and now it continues today, this very day, where people are being called out of the world. We've been through this, various years of time that we've been called to transform our thinking, well, we've been given over to Jesus Christ. We've been placed into the one Body, the Body of Christ, the one Church, the Church of God. And it's all done through the one God, Yahweh Elohim, who has done this and given it over to the one Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. All of this is taking place for the purpose that eternal life should be given to as many as God the Father has called for that purpose. Absolutely amazing what God is doing for mankind!

And this is eternal life, "this is spirit live in Elohim," that they may know You (God the Father), so we have to come to know the one true God, Yahweh Elohim. Why are we here at the Feast? To learn more about God, to come to know God. And what's the outcome if we do and we stay in this relationship with God? We will be given eternal life, life in Elohim.

So verse 3 again, And this is eternal life, that they may know You (God the Father), the only true God. There's only one true God. Well, we have to come to know Him. The world can't come to know Him. But since 2005 God made a distinction between the Churches that are scattered and His true Church, and that is through the only true God. We've come to know God, the only true God, the one true God. We've come to know that. Now, this is an incredible thing that we should not underestimate. Because this is a distinction. This is something that separates us from every other Church that exists on this earth. They do not know the true God.

Now, the Muslim religion, they do believe in one God, but they don't know the only true God. They don't. Often on the TV you'll see as they send a rocket off, they'll yell out "Allah Akbar!" "God is Great!" Well, that's not God's way. God's way is not about death and destruction, to destroy, to fight, to have no humility. There's no humility in all of those things. It's not powered by God's holy spirit.

Well, brethren, we've been called to have God's holy spirit, to come to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ who has the thinking of God. So we're to come to know Jesus Christ. We've come to know Him through the Church. Nobody can come to know the true God or Jesus Christ without being in a relationship with God, without having God's holy spirit. Absolutely impossible! So there are no religions on earth that know the only true God. There are no religions on this earth that know Jesus Christ. None! Because they don't have God's holy spirit. Life can only come from God the Father through Jesus Christ, and it's only through the power of God's holy spirit that we can have a relationship with God the Father.

Continuing on in verse 3... whom You (God the Father) have sent. Jesus Christ was created, born from Mary, for a purpose, for the purpose of having life, to live a life, to be a sacrifice for sin, to be our Passover, all for the purpose of enabling the gift of eternal life for mankind.

Verse 4—So verse 4 is now Jesus Christ saying, I have glorified You (God the Father) on this earth. Well, how did He do that? Well, He did it by the way He lived, what He did. He magnified the law. He magnified and revealed more of God's thinking, even though they couldn't understand it and didn't know it and it required God's holy spirit to "see" these things. But Jesus Christ did glorify God on the earth. He magnified God's thinking. He revealed God's thinking to mankind. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. Which was? To magnify the law, which was to live God's way of life as a man on this earth. Well, He did all those things. And, of course, He will finish it when He actually is put to death as the Passover sacrifice, as the Lamb of God. He would finish that work when it was fully fulfilled.

Verse 5—And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world existed (before the world was). Now, this scripture in times past has been used to say that Jesus Christ pre-existed. But it doesn't say that. It doesn't say that at all! It's simply saying that God predetermined in His plan that Jesus Christ would exist for a purpose. Christ is saying there's one way of thinking, "with the glory," which is, what is the glory? The glory that had been promised to Jesus Christ in God's plan, which is going back to this verse up here that He would be given authority over all flesh. So He's going to enter Elohim and He's going to have authority over all flesh and He's going to be coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. Well, that is the glory, the glory of entering Elohim with the thinking of God. That is the glory. So here He is saying, "Glorify Me with the glory," which is in God's plan, what God had always planned, "which I had with you," which is true because it was in God's plan, "before the world existed," because Jesus Christ as our Passover was planned by God. The covering of sin was planned by God, therefore, He had this glory and God's will is achieved.

Now, we have read previously in other scriptures where it says that "what is now has already been," which is all talking about the same thing, which is about this pre-determination in God's plan that it will be achieved. Now, we understand the return of Jesus Christ is soon. This is something that has been planned, and therefore, that glory that Jesus Christ has been now given, well, He's going to be given more glory as King of kings and Lord of lords on this earth through a return to this earth. God the Father returns through Jesus Christ, because it's the same thinking, and therefore, He will be magnified, He'll have more glory on this earth. And it was all done because it was in God's plan, and it is in God's plan. There's much we still don't know, brethren, about God's plan. We only see through a glass dimly, very, very dimly. How can a human begin to even think or realize that they know anything compared to God who has existed forever? We are only temporary. We have a physical mind. We understand things on a physical level. And without God's spirit we can't see anything spiritually. We can't comprehend it or understand it. What are we? We are nothing! We have nothing, brethren, to lift ourselves up about, because the reality is we don't even know what the next plan of God is. What happens after 7,100 years when there's a family? Well, what then? How does it operate? Where does it go? What happens? It's going to last forever?! Our minds cannot comprehend any of these things.

To be given the gift of eternal life we must take on the thinking of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We must come to know God. And what does that really mean? To know God is to know how He thinks. We can only know how He thinks if He, God the Father, reveals Himself to us on a spiritual level. We can only come to know God via a relationship with Jesus Christ  (our Passover and High Priest) and God's Church. Because this is God's Church! This is where God is operating.

So can anybody come and have a relationship with God outside of God's Church? Absolutely impossible because this is where God is working. God set up a structure. God set up a way of operation where He would pour out His holy spirit, and it's done through those that He calls out of the world into unity of thinking, His way of thinking, and He places them in the Body under Jesus Christ. Because all authority has been given to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our High Priest, He is the Head of the Church. So we have a relationship with God the Father because of what Jesus Christ has achieved, because it was in God's plan, and therefore, we can come to know God because He reveals His thinking to us. And it's all about something on a spiritual level. So to know God is to know how He thinks. Now, we understand how He thinks because God enabled it. We understand the 10 Commandments and the spirit of the law, the intent behind the 10 Commandments. We keep the seven annual Holy Days because we know how God thinks; it's about God's plan for mankind. Now, the purpose of man, we know! We understand! How incredible is that? Well, that's a blessing from God. We've been called to know! We've been called to have a relationship with God. We've been called here to rejoice before God. We've been called to have fellowship with God and with one another. We've been called to be thankful. We've been called to have humility, to have lowliness of mind, to live love. That's why we've been called. We've been called with the end result of, Jesus Christ says, to give us eternal life with God, life-everlasting with God, to live forever in Elohim. That's why we're in the Body of Christ. We're in the Body of Christ to change the way we think. And once that transformation has taken place to a level that is acceptable to God, where God can say, "Now I know you," well, then that transformation is complete. We then have the opportunity to enter Elohim, which is the purpose of life.

Hold your place in John 17. We may or may not get time to get back to that, but we'll get you to hold your place in John 17 and we're going to go now to John 14:1. John 14:1—This is Jesus Christ revealing that He will dwell in us and that God the Father will dwell in us, and therefore, this dwelling in us is about love. It's about the way God thinks. Verse 1—Let not your heart (your mind, your inner thinking) be troubled, not worry about things, you believe in God, Yahweh Elohim, the one true God, believe also in Me. Believe what Jesus Christ is saying, what Jesus Christ has said.

Verse 2—In My Father's house are many dwelling places (places of abode). Now, this is referring to God's House, which is the Temple of God, which is the Church of God, and therefore, from that Jesus Christ is saying that God the Father will dwell in, He will live in His people, those, the one true Church, the Church of God, from that one spirit. In My Father's house, in the temple, the Church, are many dwelling places, which is places of abode, many locations where God will dwell. Well, we are those, brethren. We are fulfilling this scripture. "In My Father's house," in the Church of God, "are many places of abode," many places of dwelling. ...if it were not so, I (Jesus Christ) would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, which is Jesus Christ would suffer. He would atone or cover sin for us, and He would go to heaven where God the Father is for a period of time, and during that time He would prepare a place, which is the Church of God. He will prepare a place for us. And if I go, I prepare a place for you, I will come again, or "I am coming again," because Jesus Christ comes and lives His life in us, and that's why we can take on this humility of thinking. That is why we can be longsuffering, we can be patient. That is why we can live love, because we live the life of Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is living and dwelling in us. ....and receive you to Myself; that where I am, which is in the Church, there you may be also. So this is a progressive thing that takes place. This is the pouring out of God's holy spirit so that we can think differently.

Verse 4—And where I go you know, and the way you know. Well, this, of course, is about faith, whether or not we believe. It goes back to the previous verse, "Don't worry, because if you believe God the Father, believe also in what I'm saying," believe also what Jesus Christ is saying, "and where I go you know, and the way you know." Well, the way we do know, brethren. We do know the way because it's spiritual. The way is through the one baptism. It's one repentance, one baptism, one spirit, the spirit of God living and dwelling in us, the one Church, all given powered by God, the one true God. And there is only one way to enter Elohim, and there's only one Elohim.

Now, there's other gods but there's only one true Elohim, one true God. There's Yahweh Elohim and His family. So Jesus Christ is saying here, "Where I go you know." It's they didn't really understand. They're still thinking physically. "And the way you know." We do, brethren. We know where Jesus Christ has gone. We know the way that He has gone there. It's powered by God's holy spirit. "And the way you know." There is only one way and it's spiritual in nature. Well, we've been called, brethren, for this very purpose. We've been called to come to know the way more fully. Now, we understand it to a level, but as we go longer in God's Church and God provides more of His spirit, God grants us the gift to know the way more and more and more, to understand it more and more and more, which is living love, which is living the way of thinking of God. The way God thinks towards other, well, that's what we have to take on, which is what we covered in Ephesians, this humility of thinking. That's the way. So we do know the way, brethren. We know that it has to be through that one baptism, it has to be through the Body, the one Church of God, and we have to be preparing within ourselves for the Kingdom of God. It's all spiritual in nature.

Now, we do all of this by faith. We believe God! We believe! So Jesus Christ is saying, "Don't be troubled. Believe Me!" Well, we believe God. We believe Jesus Christ. We believe there is only one way. That's why we're here. That's why we're celebrating this Feast because God's called us to learn to come to understand this one way. And we do know it. And we understand that it's spiritual in nature. This is not a physical thing. Because if we're at this Feast and it's just all physical, well, it's really all just a waste of time and we're actually declaring that we don't know the way because it's spiritual. But we do know the way. The way is being taught to us at this Feast. The way is spiritual, and it's about taking on the very thinking of God, the holy spirit living and dwelling in us.

Thomas said to Him (to Jesus Christ), Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way? Which is the question. So how can we know these things? Because he didn't know what was happening, and "How do we know which way to go once You've gone? How are we going to do it? We don't know the way!" Well, brethren, we can say we do know where Jesus Christ went, and we do know the way to walk, and it's all provided by God's holy spirit. It's all provided by God's plan. That's why we're here celebrating this Feast and the Last Great Day because we do know the way.

Verse 6—Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. So God the Father will call us, but there still is this need to accept Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin. Now, if we won't do that, if an individual won't do that, they cannot come to God the Father. It's absolutely impossible. Because God the Father provided Jesus Christ as the means to provide the way for us to enter Elohim. And Jesus Christ is saying, "I am the way." This is the only way. There's only one way to enter Elohim and it's through believing what Jesus Christ has taught. And there's only the truth. There's only one truth that has been placed in the Church. That is the truth! "And the life," because there's only one life, which is spirit life. So there's only one true life which can be given to us by God through Jesus Christ. No one comes to the Father, no one will enter Elohim except through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and it's all powered by God's holy spirit.

Verse 7—If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. Now, this is something that was stated on a spiritual level. So, “If you had known Me," the way Jesus Christ was, the way Jesus Christ thought, "You would have known My Father," you would have known God the Father, because Jesus Christ had the thinking of God. So everything that He thought, everything He did, all the attitudes He had were reflecting the thinking of God. ...and from now on you know Him, so we know the way, which is through God, we know the way of love, we know God's thinking, and have seen Him. We see Him on a spiritual level. We don't see Him physically, but we do "see" God. We know God the Father's thinking. We know God the Father's mind, the way He thinks. How does He think? Love. If we go through 1st Corinthians 13, we "see" the way God thinks, and therefore, it was the way Jesus Christ thought. So from now on you know Him, God the Father, and have seen Him, because powered by God's holy spirit we can do this. Now, without God's holy spirit we cannot know or "see" God the Father. Absolutely impossible because it's spiritual in design.

Verse 8—Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Philip was thinking physically. "Just show us God the Father physically now and that'll be enough. We'd be happy with that." Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? This is all spiritual in nature, and therefore, if a person had seen Jesus Christ in the sense of seeing what He was like, seeing His attitudes, seeing the way He lived His life – which was the Word of God made flesh – if He'd lived His life that way, the way He lived, well, it's the same as seeing God the Father because it's the same thinking. There's only one way of thinking that is righteousness. There's only one way of thinking that is righteousness! It's God's way of thinking. And Jesus Christ lived that one way of thinking. He thought like God did about every single matter. He had the thinking of God, the thoughts or the thinking of God, the Word of God made flesh, the mind of God, the Logos, the same mind, the same thinking. Therefore, if someone had seen the way He lived His life and His attitudes and the way He talked about things and the things He said, if they could see it, they have seen the Father.

Now, they couldn't "see" the Father because they couldn't really "see" Jesus Christ. They couldn't because they never had God's holy spirit living and dwelling in them permanently. Now, they had access to certain things on a spiritual level in a minute way because it's like someone who's given access to God's spirit before they are baptized. Because the gift of repentance is a spiritual gift and it requires God's spirit, but it's not living and dwelling in them permanently, but they have access to "see" things because God opens the mind through repentance. Now, they would have seen little things, but they wouldn't understand them. You might know certain things, but do not understand them on a spiritual level. This takes God's holy spirit.

Verse 10—Do you not believe that I am in the Father, now, this is "in," which is total unity, one mind, one way of thinking, which is to be in the Father and the Father in Me? Because it's the one way of thinking. It's the Logos. It's the Word of God. It's God's mind living and dwelling in Him. So Jesus Christ is saying, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father," total unity, total oneness of thinking, "and the Father's mind in Me?" The one thinking. The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own, "They don't come from Me." There's no selfishness in Jesus Christ. They were the thinking of God. They were the words of God. They were the attitudes of God. ...but the Father who dwells in Me, because of the mind of God, the Logos of God does the works. So it was God the Father in Jesus Christ. It's that same mind, the same thinking.

So this is all about God. All the glory's been given to God the Father. Jesus Christ is taking nothing to Himself. He's giving all credit and all glory to God the Father, where it belongs, because it is God's plan of salvation and Jesus Christ is part of that plan of salvation. Jesus Christ was established before the world was, that Jesus Christ would come as the Savior. Therefore, Jesus Christ knew this, that He was who He was because He was in God's plan as the Savior, the Word of God made flesh, and that everything that He did, everything that He said was planned and purposed by God the Father before the foundations of the world.

Verse 11—Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. The words that are spoken, the evidence that is provided, that should be enough to be able to prove the fact that God the Father is doing it all. So here he's saying, "Believe Me." Jesus Christ is saying, "Believe Me that I am in the Father," there is a oneness, there is a unity, there's only one God, there's only one Jesus Christ, and there's only one holy spirit, "and the Father in Me." It was God the Father in Jesus Christ. It was the power of God in Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word in Jesus Christ. And He's saying, "Well, believe that or," and now He's saying, "or else." Another way, "believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." The evidence has been provided, therefore, we should be able to believe the evidence. "What you have seen even on a physical level. The words that I am speaking, everything that is done and said, surely you could believe who I really am!" God is doing it in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is saying here to Philip, "Well, you need to believe Me, what I'm saying, but just even the words that I'm saying, you should be able to believe it, and all the evidence that I have provided through the miracles and other things like that, through words spoken and actions. Well, you should be able to believe just because of that."

Verse 12—Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me... Well, we do, brethren. We believe in Jesus Christ. We believe who Jesus Christ was. We believe in the one true God. We believe what the one true God did for us through Jesus Christ. We believe the words of Jesus Christ because we know they are the words of God. Well, we believe in Jesus Christ. ...the works, which are the words, that I do, which are the words and actions the He does, he will also do, which is we believe God. We believe God. We think like God. So He's saying here, "Most assuredly I say to you, he," which is us, "who believe in Me," which we do, "the works," the words that are spoken, "that I do, he will do also," and greater than these he will do, because I go to My Father. So we're going to be here on this earth to be able to fulfill God's thinking. By the power of God's holy spirit we're going to be able to take on the very mind of God.

Now, this is conversion, this is the conversion that is going to take place. The work in mankind, the works that we can do, the words that we can do are all about conversion. The work is the conversion of the mind, God working in and through us, this transformation of the mind that must take place. Now, that transformation did not take place in Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ was the Word made flesh, He was the Logos. He was the thinking of God from birth. That's the way He was, that's the way He thought. He thought like God at all times. That's just the way He was. It's the way He thought. Now, He could fight against sin when testing came on Him by Satan, by saying certain things. He could refute that because He did not think selfishly. He did not think another way. Whereas, we do. We're different. Therefore, these "greater works" that we can do is this conversion, this transformation of the mind by choosing to yield to God's holy spirit so that we can be transformed.

Verse 13—And whatever you ask in My name, in the name of Jesus Christ, that I will do, so this is about repentance. This is about spiritual thinking. ...and that the Father may be glorified in the Son. How? By this transformation of the thinking. So we're to ask for spiritual things, which are the mind of God. We're to ask for God's love to be in us. We're to ask for the truth to be revealed to us. We're to ask for the transformation of the thinking. We're to ask for unity. We're to ask for peace. We're to ask for humility. We're to ask for longsuffering. We're to ask for this patience – spiritual patience, godly patience in matters. Well, they're the things that we will ask for. Well, God desires to give it to us because God desires to transform our thinking. He desires us to yield to that transformation. God desires us to live humility. So if we ask for humility, this transformation of the thinking that must take place, from pride to humility, God says He will do it. So we ask for it from God through Jesus Christ because of the authority we have through Jesus Christ. And Christ is saying, "And whatever you ask in My name," so we ask for humility in the name of Jesus Christ or through the name of Jesus Christ because we have that access to God because of Jesus Christ, "that I will do." It'll be granted to us, "that the Father, God the Father may be glorified," because it's the glory of God. So if we take on humility the glory goes to God because it's not us, it's God's thinking living and dwelling in us. So this true humility, this only one way of thinking, which is humility, which is God's way of thinking, is only available from one source. There's only one source that true humility can come from, and that is from God, the one and only true God. There's only one spirit, one holy spirit that can achieve humility in a human, and it's from the one true God.

Verse 14—If you ask anything (anything spiritual) in My name, which is anything spiritual about being part of Elohim, which is taking on the spiritual thinking of God or the fruits of the spirit, God's will and purpose in our life, I will do it. So we desire to live love. We desire to take on the mind of God. So we, brethren, should turn to God and ask for these things, and then we are to desire to take on the very thinking of God, and that means sacrificing self, that means disciplining self, that means fighting. Now, it's pointless asking for the fruits of God's holy spirit and then not fighting against our own selfishness, or it's just a thing that's going to happen. No, it just won't happen. It requires effort on our part, and that's the difference. That's the greater works that have to take place within us, because we have to yield, we have to choose to yield to God. So we are to ask God to help us to be more like Him. We desire to be more like Him. We desire holy, righteous character. We desire this one way of thinking that brings peace, true peace, spiritual peace.

Verse 15—If you love Me, "if you agape Me," which is spiritual love, keep My commandments. So we, brethren, demonstrate love by obedience to God's will and purpose. "If you love Me," well, we'd like to say we love God and Jesus Christ. Well, how do we demonstrate it? Through obedience to God's will and purpose. Now, there's only one set of righteous Commandments, called the 10 Commandments. Now, that is the 10 Commandments. They are righteous and there's only one set. Now, the Catholic church has a different set of commandments because they drop out the seventh-day Sabbath. They have 10 (I don't know how they break it up now, I can't remember all those things,) but we know that God's word is true and there's only one set – only one – of 10 Commandments that are a guide for mankind, how to live his life in spirit and truth.

Now, mankind can't keep the 10 Commandments in spirit and truth because he's not powered to do it. We've been powered to do it, therefore, we can look at the intent behind our actions, the intent behind the Commandments. And Jesus Christ, through Matthew 5 and 6, goes through those to explain about the spirit of a matter. The Commandment can say, "Thou shalt not kill." Well, we understand that the intent of it is an attitude or a way of thinking. That's where it all starts, in the thinking. It's not just about not killing someone, physically killing them, this is about the way we think, the very thought process that we have, that that's where it is. It's about the intent of heart, that we don't desire any ill will at all towards anybody. Now, that's keeping the Commandment. So if we love God we'll be fighting against our selfishness and we'll be keeping the spirit of the law...the spirit of the law.

And I will pray the Father... So if we're doing those things Jesus Christ is saying here that He would pray to God the Father, and He will give you another helper (another comforter) that it may abide with you forever. Now, this is the purpose of life, that we have God's holy spirit, that we transform our thinking through this helper, which is God's holy spirit, this comfort that comes to our minds because of the transformation. Because the natural carnal mind is not at peace and it's not comforted. It's absolutely impossible. To be comforted, to provide a comforter, to provide a help is to have our thinking transformed. And it, the power of God, will dwell or abide in us forever? Well, that's our desire. We want to be transformed. We want to have our thinking changed.

Well, brethren, there's only one way that this can happen, and that is powered by God's holy spirit. There's only one helper, one comforter, and it has to come from God. And it can dwell in us forever if we're yielding, and at some point of time God will allow it to dwell in us forever.

Verse 17—even the spirit of truth, which is the word of God, which the world cannot receive. Why can't they receive it? Because they're not called into the one Church, they're not called into the one Body. So this one spirit of truth, this one word of God cannot be received by the world because they've not been called with true repentance. So they can't receive it. ...because it (the world) neither sees it nor knows it; but you know it, for it dwells with you and will be in you, which is God's thinking in us. So this one spirit, the spirit of truth which is truth, the word of God, can dwell in us, but it can't dwell in the world. They can't "see" it, they can't even understand it, they can't know it, but we can, and it can dwell in us because it's God's spirit in us. It's God's holy spirit, the power of God, which leads to life, eternal life or life-everlasting. So that is the promise to us.

I will not leave you orphans, "I will not leave you comfortless," I am coming to you, which is spiritual in design, God's spirit in us. We are the temple of God. We are God's dwelling place. There is one way of life and Jesus Christ is saying that He wouldn't leave us alone where we wouldn't have comfort on a spiritual level, but He would come to us to live His life in us through the power of God's holy spirit, because He had the same thinking of God. This is an ongoing process that is taking place within members of the Body of Christ that are under Jesus Christ in the Church of God.

Verse 19—A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. Which is something on a spiritual level. So they would no longer see Him on a physical level, but they will see Him on a spiritual level because He is alive spiritually. He has life in Elohim and He would have His life in us, and therefore, with His life in us we will live also, we will have God's holy spirit. We'll be able to think spiritually. We'll have the one mind, the one faith, the one belief, the one hope. We'll have all those things and we'll have the one spirit, the spirit of God living and dwelling in us.

Verse 20—At that day, which is talking about Pentecost 31 AD, you will know that I am in My Father, in total unity, in total unity. They're at one, and you in Me, because we agree with God, we have God living and dwelling in us, therefore, we're in unity with God. Because Jesus Christ is in unity with the Father, "and you in Me," which is we're at one with Him, we're in unity with Him, and I in you, which is God's Word will live and dwell in us, just like it lived and dwelled in Jesus Christ, just like it lives and dwells in God. God's Word is in God. The Logos, it's God's Word. It was in Jesus Christ. Well, it can be in us, which is, "I in you." The truth, God's Word, God's mind, God's thinking living and dwelling in us. God's spirit, God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us.

Verse 21—He who has My commandments and keeps them or obeys them. So if we have the truth, we have the instructions from God and we obey them, we observe them, it is he who loves Me. So this is the outward sign that we love God, that we are of God, because it's spiritual in nature. We are keeping the spirit of the law. So, "He who has My commandments (My instructions, the truth), and observes them and keeps the truth, it is he who loves Jesus Christ." We're demonstrating it by the way we live. We're living humility, we're living patience, we're living love to others. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, because they're at one, and I love him and manifest Myself to him, which is this spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding that is given. So this revealing, this showing of Jesus Christ to a person is that we see spiritually powered by God's holy spirit.

Verse 22—Judas, the brother of James, (not Iscariot), so Judas Iscariot, of course, at this point is not there. He has left to betray Jesus Christ. So, Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world? Still thinking physically, that, "If we can see You, well then, therefore, obviously others will see You." Well, this is spiritual, and therefore, we "see" God now, we "see" Jesus Christ now, but the world cannot. So we understand what this is actually saying.

Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, which is something on a spiritual level, he will keep My word, they will be obedient to the spirit of the law, and My Father will love him, because it's the same spirit, it's God's spirit living and dwelling in a person, and We will come to him and make Our home (our abode) with him. Because that's why Jesus Christ was saying, "I in the Father and the Father in Me; you in Me and I in you," because it's one spirit! It's one spirit. Now, where does God dwell? "Our home with Him." Well, it's about the Church, the temple of God, which we are. We are the temple of God. We are the dwelling place of God. This is where God's spirit, the one holy spirit dwells, in the one home, the Church! And the members of the Body, the called out ones make up this household of God. It's in the Church. It's God's dwelling place. Now, we only make up the Church because we have God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us. Collectively we make up the Church of God, the Body of Christ where God the Father lives, where He dwells. He lives in His Church, the dwelling place, the temple of God, which we are. So we have God's Word, God's thinking living and dwelling in us.

So, brethren, we know there is only one true Church. There's only one Church of God that has God's holy spirit living and dwelling in them. Now, there's only one Church with God's people that can truly keep the Feast of Tabernacles and the Last Great Day in spirit and truth. There may be hundreds of others, if not thousands of others that are taking time off to celebrate this particular time that God has set aside, but they cannot, it's absolutely impossible, for them to keep the spirit of this event, because it's spiritual in nature. And to be able to celebrate this spiritually requires the gift of God's holy spirit living and dwelling in a person. So there is only one way to worship God at this Feast and it is in spirit and truth, and it requires God's holy spirit.

Jesus Christ is saying, if anyone loves Him, what He has done for mankind, the way He is, what He has done for us, "he will keep My word," which is the words of God. They'll be obedient to God. And it's powered by God's holy spirit. And if we are obedient to God, His Father, God the Father, the one and only true God, "will love him and We will come to him and make our home (our abode, our dwelling place) with/in him," which is in the individual, which comprises the Church, which makes up the Church.

He who does not love Me does not keep My words, so anybody that says they love God and are not obedient to the Word, the Logos of God, the sayings of God, the truth of God, the thinking of God – if they don't think that way – they don't love God at all, and the Word (the Logos) which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. So the one true God sent Jesus Christ for a purpose, which was to reveal the Logos, the words, the thinking of God to mankind for our benefit. Because even though it's written about, mankind cannot understand it. It's been revealed to him, but he can't understand it, he doesn't know because he doesn't have access to God's holy spirit because he's not being called to have access to God's holy spirit.

The Millennium is different, brethren. The one and only true God is going to pour out His spirit during that 1,000-year period so that mankind can keep the words of God, can keep the truth, can start to obey God in spirit and truth. So there is only one spirit that is going to be provided for mankind. It is God's holy spirit that is going to be provided for mankind.

The broadcasting of Satan and his demons will be stopped, which is another spirit, because it's the spirit of selfishness. Mankind will still have the spirit of man, which is selfish, but now God in His love will pour out His holy spirit to mankind, they'll have access to God's way of thinking, and now they can take on the very mind of God and they can fulfill this scripture in the Millennium and the Hundred-years, which is verse 23, "If anyone loves Me," if anyone desires to have this relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father, "he will keep My words," he will keep the words of Jesus Christ, as we've gone through, about one truth, one baptism, one repentance, one faith, one hope. All of those things, which is "My word," which is the thinking of God. "And My Father," God the Father, the one and only true God, "will love him and we will come to him and make our abode (our dwelling) with him." This is an incredible event that is going to take place during the Millennium, and mankind will have the opportunity to come into a relationship with God, to learn to rejoice before God with thanksgiving, and learn to come into true fellowship with God and fellowship with one another, the Church, the abode, the home where God is. Because it's God's spirit in us that gives us the capacity and the ability to have true fellowship with one another.

Verse 24—He who does not love Me, "who does not obey Me because He's not keeping My word," because it says, "He who loves me will keep My word," keep the Logos, the thinking of God. Well, he who does not love Me, he does not obey Me, He does not keep My words, because he can't, he's physical and he's carnal. And the Word (the Logos) which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. Because all truth comes from God the Father to Jesus Christ. It's all powered by God's holy spirit. It all comes from God the Father. So Jesus Christ was speaking, well, it was God the Father living and dwelling in Him and it was Jesus Christ revealed to this earth, revealed to us powered by God's holy spirit. God revealed Jesus Christ to us. We know the one true Jesus Christ. We know the one Messiah. We know the one Savior. And it's all done because of God's great mercy and a calling. And He's granted us the sight to see powered by His holy spirit, but it all comes from God the Father. It's God's word. It's God's plan. It's God's thinking. It came from God the Father through Jesus Christ.

Verse 25—These things I have spoken to you while I am present with you (being present with you).

Verse 26—But the helper (the comforter), the holy spirit, so Jesus Christ reveals what it is here, but the comforter, the holy spirit (the helper), But the helper (the comforter, the holy spirit), so it explains it very clearly what it is. It's the spirit from God. It's God's thinking coming to mankind, which the Father will send in My name, it will teach you all things, spiritual, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said. So it will bring to life on a spiritual level. So things that are said that we have read, people can read them, but they don't come to life because they don't have God's holy spirit. So this needs to come to life. It's spiritual; we see spiritually. The comforter, which is the holy spirit, the power of God, the thinking of God which God the Father would send in the name of Jesus Christ, it would reveal spiritual things to them. It would give them spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding, and the ability to implement wisdom, to live wisdom, because it requires God's holy spirit to live wisdom. God says that that spirit will bring to life the scriptures. God's thinking will be made available to them.

Verse 27—Peace... Now, what's this peace? Peace comes from this way of thinking. It's a way of life. It's a way of living the truth. It's about living love. And it produces, God's spirit produces peace, which is peace of thinking, peace of mind, which is spiritual in nature – not physical, spiritual in nature. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives it do I give it to you. Because the world gives it to take it back. There's a condition applied. So peace in the world is, "If you do this, I'll do that," and there's a condition or a stipulation that is applied to peace. Well, if you don't live this particular way of peace on a physical level, we're going to drop bombs on you and blow you up. And if you don't do this we're not going to pay you or we're not going to send you aid. So there's conditions for peace. And peace in the world, of course, is an absence of fighting. The hate exists, the desire to kill exists, but peace is the absence of physical war, basically. Jesus Christ is saying here, well, "My peace," which is the thinking of God, "I will give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you." Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So not to worry or be stressed about it.

Verse 28—You have heard Me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father, for My Father is greater than I. To rejoice, here we would be thankful. So if we understood on a spiritual level, which they couldn't, that if we really loved Jesus Christ, they would have rejoiced, because they would have been so thankful that Jesus Christ was actually going to the Father, was entering Elohim, because from that we would then go to the Day of Pentecost where God would provide the comforter. "For My Father is greater than I." Jesus Christ was created by God the Father for a purpose, and God the Father, the One and only true God will always be greater than everything that He has created. He is greater than everything that He has created. And Jesus Christ was created for a purpose. Jesus Christ has the authority and the power over life, over death, because God the Father granted it to Him. God the Father's handed all things over to Jesus Christ to bring everything into subjection, into subjection to Jesus Christ so that at the end Jesus Christ will hand all things back to God the Father. And Jesus Christ is clearly saying here that His Father was greater than He.

Verse 29—And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. They might have faith because faith is believing God. So when things happen it's much easier to have faith because we see it, therefore, we can believe it. But having true faith is believing something without seeing it. So we have faith in Jesus Christ. We have faith in God. We believe God's word. That is faith. Believing God is faith. And then implementing what we believe is living faith.

Verse 30—I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world (Satan) is coming, so Satan and his influence was coming, and he has nothing in Me, there is no connection, there is no influence on Jesus Christ's thinking. Whereas, we're influenced by satanic thinking. We have our selfishness. Jesus Christ never had any selfishness. He had the thinking of God. He always thought like God did. He always thought like God did. He's saying that Satan is coming, but he has no influence on Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ thought differently. He was the Logos, the Word of God. He thought differently. Well, that's our hope; one day we will think differently when we enter Elohim and we won't be able to think sin, we won't be able to think selfishness, because we will be thinking like God.

Verse 31—But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, these instructions, so I do. It was in His mind. He just knew. He thought like God. Arise, let us go from here. So these were the instructions that were given on the Passover night. Now, they couldn't understand all of that, but Jesus Christ was revealing a way to live, and it's all about something on a spiritual level, that God would provide them the way to think differently, the way to think peace, the way to think humility, this one way of thinking to come into unity of spirit with God.

John 17:6—I have manifested Your name to men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were called out of the world. So Jesus Christ is saying, "I have revealed Your name," the name of God the Father, "to the men," which were the disciples, "whom You have given Me," because they were called for a purpose and given over to Jesus Christ to come under the authority of Jesus Christ, and they were called out of the world, exactly the same as us, brethren. We have been called by God the Father. God the Father has revealed His name to us, what He really is, who He really is – it's all in part on a spiritual level. We know who Jesus Christ is, the one true Savior of mankind. And we've been given under the rule of Jesus Christ, under the Church of God authority, God's Church on this earth and that authority, spiritual authority, and we've been called out of the world. We're coming out of the world. Our thinking is being changed by this transformation of the mind.

The Feast here that we are at is about the continuation of this transformation of the way we think. We're learning more about God. We're learning more about God's way of life. We're learning about the one true God. We're learning about the one faith. We're learning about the one truth. We're learning about the one spirit, the holy spirit of God that we have access to because of God's great mercy.

Continuing on... They were Yours (God the Father's), You gave them to Me, because God's the creator, He owns everything, and He has given them over to Jesus Christ for the purpose of developing holy righteous character, to fulfill the word of God, to live a life yielding to God to have their minds transformed so that one day they can enter Elohim and they can do a work as part of the 144,000. ...and they have kept Your word. They have kept the truth.

Verse 7—Now they have known that all things which You have given Me (Jesus Christ) are from You. So everything that has come out from Jesus Christ, they've come to see the truth. They've come to see the mind of God. They actually believe now that what Jesus Christ was giving was actually from God.

Verse 8—For I have given to them the words, which is the words spoken, which are God the Father's words, which You have given Me, which is the same thinking, the words of God, the mind of God, the thinking of God being revealed through Jesus Christ, and they have received them, so this is about us, too, brethren. We have been given the words of Jesus Christ, which are the words of God, and we have received them. That's why we're part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God—PKG, because we've received the truth, we've received the thinking of God. And we're here at the Feast because we have received the words of God. Us being here at this Feast is a demonstration of our faith. It's a demonstration of this very scripture, that we have been given over to Jesus Christ and placed in the Body of Christ and we are receiving the words from God the Father through Jesus Christ through an apostle to the Church, to us, and we have received them and we are having our minds transformed. ...and have known surely that I came forth from You; well, we believe that, brethren. We know that Jesus Christ came from God the Father because it was God as His father, but He also came from God because it was from God's thinking. He came from God because He came from God the Father's thinking. ...and they have believed that You sent Me. They believed that God had placed Jesus Christ on the earth and it was from God's thinking that achieved it.

God was His father. Well, we have a father. It's different. We're not begotten by God in the sense from a woman, but we are begotten of God's spirit because of a calling and because we're placed in the Church because of repentance and baptism and receiving of God's holy spirit. We have a Father. God is our Father. We are begotten sons of God. Now, we're only begotten sons of God because of God's great mercy. So we are from God's thinking, really, because God has thought about us, and therefore, we are having our minds transformed because God's thinking is assisting us in transforming our mind. We can't do it by ourselves, it's impossible, but we can have our minds transformed because of God's great mercy to us. So we exist because of God. We believe God because of God, because of what He is doing for us, and His holy spirit, the one and only holy spirit, which is the thinking of God is coming to us so that we may believe God. And we believe that Jesus Christ was sent by God. We believe that Jesus Christ was the Word made flesh.

Verse 9—I (Jesus Christ) pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. Which goes back to John 6, which is a calling from God and then to be placed into the hands of Jesus Christ. And they've been given over because God has given us over to Jesus Christ, so we're in the Church, the one true Church, we're receiving the truth, the Word of God, the one true Word of God, and we have God's holy spirit, the one holy spirit which enables us to have the one faith and the one hope. We believe the "Father of us all," which is God the Father, the one true God. And we've been given over to Jesus Christ, the only one true Jesus Christ, the only one true Passover.

Verse 10—And all Mine are Yours, so we belong to God. We belong to Jesus Christ, we're part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God, but we belong to God too, because God and Jesus Christ are at one. They have the same mind, the same thinking. They are at-one. They are totally at unity. They are at-one. And all Mind are Yours, and all Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. So how, how are they glorified? Because we carry the same spirit. We are glorified together, we're glorified because we have God living and dwelling in us. Now, this covers the truth about the name of the Church of God, which mankind cannot understand. And all the other names of all the various churches in the world, whether their Buddhist or Hindu's or the Jewish religions, all of them, all of these different names they have to identify their organization, the one problem is they have is they do not have the name associated to God, which God has made very clear here through Jesus Christ. So there is only one true Church, brethren, that has God's holy spirit, and we have to come to see this on a spiritual level. We have to come to understand it on a spiritual level, and it is all about government, spiritual government within our life. And spiritual government within our life is God's holy spirit governing our life as God governs the Church through Jesus Christ, which is all about God's holy spirit.

Verse 11—Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, because they're physical and they're going to have to stay behind, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, so all of them that God has called will be placed under God's name – so to be "kept through Your name," Church of God, "those whom You," God the Father, have given to Jesus Christ, that they may be one, which is total unity, same mind, same thinking. So there's only one Word. There's only one way of having true unity with God and it's powered by God's holy spirit. So that they may be one as We are, or "as We are one." So it's the same Word. It's the same Logos. It's the same way of thinking. It's those that are called out by God, given to Jesus Christ to form the Body of Christ, the one Body of Christ where God works, the one Church of God where God works. So there is only one true Church, brethren. There is only one God, Yahweh Elohim, one true God. There is only one Jesus Christ. And from that we can come to the conclusion there is only one faith because there's only one way of thinking – God's way of thinking. There's only one truth. There's only one baptism, one baptism which is true and genuine because it's based on one repentance, spiritual repentance. Now, this spiritual repentance has to come from God, motivated by God's holy spirit, the one baptism, there's only one way. God has to be in it. Now, there's lots of other baptisms, but if God's not in it, it's not the one true baptism. And there's only one holy spirit, and there's only one way to receive God's holy spirit. There's only one Word, one Logos, and to be able to receive that, to think like God. God doesn't think two different ways. God's not divided. There's only one way to think like God, and the only way we can think like God is to yield to God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us.

So during this Feast we are here to learn of this one way of thinking. We're here to learn about this one true God. We're here to learn about the way of salvation, which is the only way to be saved. And we understand the only way to be saved is through believing God, which is believing Jesus Christ.

Verse 12—While I was with them in the world, which is physical and He was with them and spending time with them, I kept them in Your name. So He pointed them to God the Father. Now, we understand that Satan was out to destroy them the whole time, but it was Jesus Christ that "kept them in Your name." Those whom You gave Me I have kept, which was the eleven. And one, of course, rebelled and he was assigned to that task because without that betrayal Jesus Christ would not have been put to death.  I have kept them, and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. So it had to be exact. So there had to be a Judas, just like there had to be a Mr. Tkach. There had to be a son of perdition. There have to be these "types" that were going to betray Jesus Christ just like Satan was the son of perdition. He was going to betray God. Satan betrayed God, Judas betrayed Jesus Christ, and Mr. Tkach betrayed God and Jesus Christ.

Verse 13—Now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in them, which is only possible through the power of God's holy spirit. I have given them (the disciples) Your word, which is the truth, which is this way of thinking, which is peace of mind. It's about knowing about God's plan. ...and the world has hated them, the world has hated the words that have been spoken. The world has hated the thinking of God. The world has hated God's way of thinking. Plus they have hated the disciples, because the disciples are taking on the mind of God, therefore, the world will hate them. It's the same for us, brethren. The world won't agree with us. They can't. Because what we are doing is following the Logos, the Word, the thinking of God. We are going to have peace of mind because of this, because we know the truth. There is only one way to have true peace and it's through God's holy spirit.

Continuing on, verse 14... but they, the disciples, are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. So both is being applied here. "They" can be the sojourners, the disciples, but also the words, "but because they," the words, "are not of the world, "just as I am not of the world," just as Jesus Christ wasn't. So Jesus Christ's standards, the words, the truth, they're not of the world, therefore, they'll be rejected. Well, the disciples are the same, where they are not of the world because they were taking on the mind of God and they were taking on the standards of God, they were taking on the truth, therefore, they would be hated, they would be rejected. I do not pray that You should take them (the disciples) out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil, which is Satan's way of thinking, these attitudes. Now, we understand, brethren, there is only two ways here. There is God's way, the true way, the only true righteous way of thinking, or there's selfishness, which involves Satan's thinking because Satan's thinking is selfishness. It is his way.

Well, Jesus Christ is saying that we shouldn't be taken out of the world completely but we need to be left in the world for the purpose of spiritual growth. The only way we can grow is to have these tests and trials, these battles within the mind. So the way that we grow is through warring against our selfishness, warring against evil. And Christ is saying here that we would be protected, that God would protect us from this dominance. How are we protected? By a calling, by the power of God's holy spirit. Now, mankind can't be protected from evil because his mind is evil, he's subject to evil. But we can be protected from evil because the more we yield to God's holy spirit, to God's thinking, we're rejecting evil, we're rejecting our selfishness. So this is all about spiritual attitudes that we must take on. We can be protected from spiritual attitudes, from selfish thinking. We can be protected by taking on the attitudes or the thinking of God, spiritual thinking powered by God's holy spirit. The only way to overcome evil is with God's thinking. There is no other way.

Verse 16—They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. So we should be able to see this within the Church of God. We're not of the world. We do things differently, and we could rejoice in the fact that we think differently. We're not of the world. We have nothing to do with it. We don't think like the world, which is a wonderful sign that we are called by God to be separate, to come out of this world.

Verse 17—Sanctify (set) them (aside), Sanctify them by Your truth, by God's truth! Your word, Your Logos, is truth. So we are set aside because we believe God, we believe the truth, we believe Jesus Christ. Set them aside, sanctify them, those that God has called and placed in the Church of God under Jesus Christ within the structure of the Church who have God's holy spirit. We're set aside by the truth, by what God has given us, because we believe God. So we're only set aside by the truth if we believe God. "Your word," what God has outlined, what God has established in His Church, what God gives us to "see", "Your word is truth." So we're set aside by God's word because we believe God. We are yielding to God, we're keeping the Commandments in spirit and truth, therefore, we're set aside for holy use and purpose.

Well, what does that really mean? To be set aside for holy use and purpose is to have God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us. Because the only righteousness, the only good that we can do has to be powered by God's holy spirit, because of and by ourselves we can't do it. So we are set aside by God's word, we're set aside by God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us. We're different. We are members of the Body of Christ. We're members of the Church of God. We are preparing for the Kingdom of God within our minds because we're fighting selfishness and we believe God, therefore, we are separate. And God has called us and separated us for that very purpose, to be separate, to believe God, to believe the truth.

Verse 18—As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. This is referring to the disciples, that they would go out and preach the truth. They would preach God's word. We have to stand out as different. So we're in the world, we've been sent out in the world, and many of us interact with all different types of people. Well, God has allowed that for a purpose of spiritual growth, to be a witness of God's way of life, to be a witness to the truth. And how are we a witness to the truth? By living the truth, by believing God, by disciplining the self. And God does all of this through the power of His holy spirit.

Verse 19—And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they may also be sanctified by the truth, so they can be set aside. That's us, brethren. We can be set aside for the truth, for God to live and dwell in us, because we're set aside by God living and dwelling in us.

Verse 20—I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, which is talking about the disciples going out and living the truth and preaching the truth, preaching about the gospel of the Kingdom of God, that others that God would call into a relationship with Him, place them into the Body of Christ under Jesus Christ, in the Church, that they would believe. And they would believe because they believed the truth. It has to be done powered by God's holy spirit. It's the only way. So God is saying here that in the future God would continue to work to call people into a relationship with Him and place them into the Body of Christ.

Verse 21—that they all may be one… Isn't this a beautiful scripture? That they all may be one, in total unity having the thinking of God, because there's only one righteousness, there's only one way of thinking. So all of this is taking place, this calling we are given, placed in the Body of Christ that we would be at-one. That all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us. So it's total unity. It's the one spirit that we looked at previously in Ephesians. There is only one spirit; it's the spirit of God that can transform our thinking. It's only God's spirit that can enable us to all be at-one, to be at unity with one another. And as Jesus Christ was in unity with the Father and the Father in Jesus Christ, created that unity, the same thinking, and "I in You," which He agreed with God, He believed God, "that they," that's us, brethren, "also may be one," that we may be in unity with God and Jesus Christ. ...that the world may believe that You sent Me. How's that achieved? By the way we live. By the way we live. Now, people in the future will see that we are different, and as they see we are different at some point in time they'll come to see that it was God doing it through the power of His holy spirit, that we all coming into unity of spirit, the one spirit, that God was in us, we were in God, Jesus Christ was in us, and we were in Jesus Christ, which is all talking about the one spirit, the one mind, the one truth. We all think the same... we all think the same powered by the thinking of God.

Well, we'll end this Part 1 here, brethren, and we'll pick up Part 2 during the Feast.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1