Only One, Pt. 2

Wayne Matthews

October 2, 2015

Feast of Tabernacles 2015

Welcome, everybody. The title of today's sermon is Only One, and this will be Part 2.

In Part 1 we had looked at various scriptures in relation to how God has declared that there is only one faith, one spirit, and one way of life.

So we'll pick it up now in Ephesians 4:4—There is one body, which is one Church, one group of called out ones, and one spirit, there is one spirit from God, which is God's holy spirit that comes from God, just as you were called in one hope, which is this hope of salvation, the hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. So from that very scripture we can see God has focused in on a way of thinking. There's only one way of thinking that is Godly. There's not two ways. There is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, our Savior. Jesus Christ was the Word (the thinking of God, the Logos) made flesh.

There is only one way to be saved, which is that hope that lies within us. Because salvation is something that the world talks about, about being saved and just accept Jesus Christ and you're saved and just live your life as normal. Well, no, that's not true. That's not what God has said. God says there's only one way to be saved, and that one way of being saved requires true repentance, the one baptism, the one spirit (God's holy spirit) living and dwelling in a person, and then they are on that one path of salvation. There's only one way because they have to accept Jesus Christ, the one Savior, the one Passover sacrifice for sin that God has provided. We have to accept Jesus Christ as our Passover sacrifice for sin. That is the only way, the one way to have this salvation, which is the gift of life that God is guaranteeing to those that He has called into a relationship with Him, that He has promised to those that endure to the end, who set their minds not to sin, who set their minds to be like God, who set their minds to take on the thinking of God. Well, that all starts with this one calling from God the Father.

There is only one God and Father of all. There are not two God's. There are not other God's. Anything else is the thinking of mankind or it is inspiration from a demonic world. There is only one holy spirit that comes out from God the Father. It is God's holy spirit that enables us to "see" ourselves and to "see" God, to "see" His character. So we see from this that there is only one way of thinking that is acceptable before God, for God to work with an individual so that that individual will take on the thinking of God, and at some point in time God can honor His promise, which is the promise of salvation, the promise of a change, the promise of entering a family where sin will not exist.

Now we'll continue in the sermon in John 17:20—I do not pray for these alone, talking about the disciples, but those who will believe in Me through their word, talking about those that would follow in time, and that includes us, brethren, (verse 21) that they all may be one, this is talking about this oneness, this one spirit or this one way of thinking. And this one way of thinking is about unity of spirit, "that they all may be one," it's collective in the way that a person thinks. It's about one mind. It's the way God thinks. This calling that is required, then the gift of repentance, then the baptism, then the receiving of God's spirit, this enables this to happen, which is this "all be one," "all may be one." ...as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; and they also may be one in Us, so it's about a way of thinking. It's about a way of living life. It's a way of thinking. Now, Jesus Christ was born with this way of thinking, which is God's Word, God's Logos, His way of thinking in Jesus Christ. Well, we're born with a different way of thinking. We're born with selfish thinking. Selfishness exists in us. Now, we have to get rid of that selfishness over time and take on the very thinking of God that He provides powered by His holy spirit. ...that the world may believe that You sent Me, that God the Father provided Jesus Christ. So this is a progression in time that the world over time will come to see, that Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father for the purpose of covering sin. And for the revealing of the spirit of the matter, the spirit of the law, which can only be achieved, can only be seen through God's holy spirit. Now, this is what the Millennium and the Hundred-years is about, this coming to "see," coming to be at-one with God the Father and Jesus Christ. And in time this is God's will and this is God's purpose. And the end result of 7,100-years is that God will have a family that will be at-one.

Verse 22—And the glory which You gave Me I have given them—Well, what is that glory? Well, it's the way they think—that they may be one just as We are one. So this is talking about a unity of thinking. Now, previously we talked about different scriptures that said, "Two cannot walk together unless they agree," well, that is true, because this is about coming to agree with God, coming to agree with Jesus Christ, coming to agree with the very Word of God. Now, to agree with the Word of God takes God's holy spirit, it takes power from God to think like this. Because man, of and by himself, can't do it. It's absolutely impossible. So during the Millennium, mankind will be given this opportunity to be at-one with God, to come into unity of thinking with God. And that means that they will agree with God and agree with Jesus Christ. So the glory that a person may have is the very mind of God, which is God living and dwelling in a person. That is the glory. Well, we have that glory now. We have that potential now, which is to take on the very thinking, the mind of God. We agree with God. That's why we're here at this particular Feast at this particular time. That's why we're worshiping God in spirit and truth now (no matter what location we are in), because we agree with God's Word, we agree with the Logos, we agree with the thinking of God.

Verse 23—I in them, and You in Me, it's the same mind, the same thinking, that they may be made perfect in one, now, that's all achieved by the power of God's holy spirit, that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. So this is something about the future, that mankind will come to know what God has done through Jesus Christ. They will come to know what God is achieving through Jesus Christ and why Jesus Christ existed and why Jesus Christ went through the suffering and the death that He did. And it is all about the covering and then the forgiveness of sin, and the enabling of God to be able to transform the thinking of mankind. It's all done by the power of God. So there is only one God that can achieve all this, and that's what scripture clearly says. There is one true God. There are not many other God's. Any other god that exists is from the thinking of mankind or it's a spirit being that has raised itself up to believe it is a god. Well, God really is about a family. So, yes, there are other god's, there are other families, but they're not the one true God, they don't have the power that Yahweh Elohim has. They have some power, but it's all from their own thinking. But it's actually allowed by God the Father. So Satan is considered the god of this world. He is the family of this world, or he has a group of beings that are together for the purpose of destroying. He desires to destroy. Well, God desires a family. Satan desires to destroy that family.

Now, mankind has fallen into the trap and he is leaning towards, on a natural basis, that way of thinking – selfishness and destruction, because selfishness is a form of destruction. It's me first at any cost. And what that cost is, well, doesn't really matter. We'll just get rid of everything else as long as I am happy. Well, that attitude will be gotten rid of. That attitude has to be changed. And God, through Jesus Christ, is going to achieve that during the Millennium and the Hundred-years. So the end result will be that there will be a family, a family of spirit beings that think like God and they think love.

Now, they're not all identical in personality. There are different ways to do many-a-different thing. But the main point is that motive and intent behind the thinking...the motive and intent behind the thinking. Because we can think various things, but our motive and intent can be wrong. Well, God's motive and intent is never wrong. It is pure! His intent is pure! His intent is righteousness. Well, the natural carnal mind is not righteous. Its intent is selfish, even though it doesn't know it.

Verse 24—Father, I desire (I will) that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, well, now this can be achieved by the power of God's holy spirit, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. So all of this has happened in the sense of it is in God's plan. So it all happened before the foundation of the world because it was in God's thinking. This was God's plan. God planned all of this before the creation that He would provide a Savior for mankind. God desired a family. So the whole process is about having a Savior for mankind so that a family could be established, a spirit family, a spirit family within Elohim. The glory we have or can have now is the thinking of God living and dwelling in us, that we can have God's Logos living and dwelling in us.

Verse 25—O righteous Father! The world has not known You, and they still don't and they can't. They can't unless they are called. ...but I know You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me, which is a pure love, which is agape, which is genuine, sincere intent behind it (it's not selfish love), may be in them, and I in them. Now, this is what creates unity. The thinking of God within an individual will create unity. The mind of God, the Word of God – what does it achieve? It achieves unity. It achieves peace of mind. So this one spirit, which is the holy spirit of God, is what creates unity and it creates peace. Now, the world can't have it. The world cannot achieve it at this time. And we're heading into a time where there will not be peace. It's going to be absolutely impossible. It's going to be the opposite to peace. But we, brethren, during this time of tribulation that is coming ahead of us, we can have peace. We can have peace because we have access to the thinking of God.

Now, there's going to be many of situations ahead of us that it going to be difficult. But we can still be at peace because we can be in unity with God's way of thinking. So this peace of mind we have is that we know and we agree with the way that God thinks, the way God is doing something. The only way to have love, true love, agape, is to have God's spirit living and dwelling in us. So we, brethren, have God's holy spirit living and dwelling in us, therefore, we can have the thinking of God. And that's why God calls us into the Body of Christ, the Church of God (the one Body, the one Church), so that we will have one faith, we'll have one hope, because we have the one spirit and it comes from the one true God, Yahweh Elohim.

1 Corinthians 6:14, cutting into a thought process here: And God (Yahweh Elohim, the one true God) both raised up the Lord (Jesus Christ) and will also raise us up by His (by God's) power.

Verse 15—Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Which is we are part of the Church of God, we're members of the body, the Body of Christ, and it's all done through God's holy spirit. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Which is the question. Shall then I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! So we're not to have an unlawful relationship. And that's what it's about. We are members of the Body of Christ. We are members of Christ. We are joined to Christ, we think like Him, because we have God's holy spirit. And we cannot be joined to something that is not of God, so therefore, we can't have an unlawful relationship. Because anybody that has a relationship with a harlot (which is something that is unlawful), well, that would be sin. So we should not be associated or connected to things that are unlawful in God's word.

And here Paul is saying, well, we shouldn't be joined, we wouldn't be joined to something that is unlawful. Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For two, He says, shall become one, which is this joining together. So we are not to be joined to sin. We are not to be joined to sin. We are not to be joined with those things that are unlawful, that aren't Godly. Now, this applies to thinking, a way of thinking. We are not to be joined in thinking with the world. We're not to be joined with the thinking of selfishness. We're not to be joined because we've been called out and we are separate.

Verse 17—But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him, which is God's spirit, which is God's thinking living and dwelling in a person. So if we are joined to God, we have this one spirit. The only way that we can be joined to God is through a calling. It's through a calling and then the acceptance that God's word is true. Therefore, we are joined to God with this one spirit.

Flee sexual immorality. Flee these unlawful relationships. Flee sin. How do we do that? Powered by God's holy spirit because we're having our thinking changed. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. So we understand, brethren, that this is about relationships. We are to flee unlawful relationships. Well, it's not just talking physical relationships, this is talking spiritual relationships, things that we put before God. What's the one thing we put before God? Ourselves! Our selfishness! We are to flee our own selfishness. And how do we do that? By sacrificing ourselves. By denying ourselves. Powered by God's holy spirit we can come to understand the truth, and then we have a choice. Are we going to give into our selfishness, or are we going to give it up? Are we going to sacrifice it? Are we going to put it to death?

Sin cuts us off from God's holy spirit, so we need to make sure that we are fleeing sin, that we're examining ourselves, we're looking at our motive and intent so that we're getting rid of sin. Well, in the Millennium, it's exactly the same, the same process. That they are going to be asked to join into this one spirit. They're going to be given that opportunity to join to one spirit. How's it done? Being asked is being given a calling. Because a calling is God drawing us into the truth. But at some point we have to make a decision; it's not an automatic thing. A decision has to be made. Are we going to continue with an unlawful relationship, or are we going to flee it? Are we going to continue in our selfishness, or are we going to flee it? Well, that's the choice that mankind faces.

1 Corinthians 3:16—Do you not know that you are the temple of God, this is the place where God dwells, where God abides, and that the spirit of God dwells in you? Now, this only takes place, of course, because we are in this process of being called and in the process of transforming our thinking, which God does by the power of His holy spirit. If anyone defiles (pollutes)... How do we do that? Well, it's by unrepented sin. So if anybody doesn't repent of sin, if anyone defiles the temple of God, which we are, which is within our thinking, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. So we are God's dwelling place. In the future this same principle will apply, that people will come to know that they are the temple of the living God. This is where God dwells. This scripture is saying that if anyone defiles because they will not repent, that God will destroy them. Because we would deserve to be destroyed because of unrepented sin, because we're not in unity, we haven't taken on the thinking of God. "For the temple of God is holy." Because God's holy spirit lives and dwells in a person, that's what makes us separate. That's what makes us holy. That's what makes us pure, which is God's presence, "which temple you are," because God dwells in us. This is where God dwells; it's in His Church. There is one body. That body is the Body of Christ, the Church of God. There is only one true government on this earth under Jesus Christ now and in the future because the government of God is on this earth because it's about God's spirit. So to have true government, it requires God's holy spirit. So we have God's spirit. We are the temple of the living God. Therefore, we should be under government. Because if God's living and dwelling in us, we are under government. We have true government in our life because we're being governed. We're being governed by God's holy spirit. We're yielding to that thinking, that government that is over us. Well, there is a physical component to that government, which is outlined in Ephesians as well. So we have this one true government on the earth now, which is titled because of administrative reasons, "Preparing for the Kingdom of God," The Church of God—PKG, Preparing for the Kingdom of God, which is what we are doing individually. Individually, we're preparing for God's government.

Now, whether we're entering it part of the 144,000 or whether we're going to enter it at some other time, doesn't really make any difference. The point is we are preparing for the entry to the Government of God, which is spiritual. Now, we have that component of God's government in our life now because we're yielding to God's holy spirit.

Jesus Christ is going to rule this earth as the Government of God because it's powered by God's holy spirit. This government is established on law and the prophets. So the Government of God is about God's law and the prophets that He has sent to provide the truth. It is based on the spirit of the law. So Jesus Christ's return to this earth to set up the Government of God is about the spirit of the law. Now, Jesus Christ came the first time to reveal the spirit of the law, to magnify the law, to fulfill the law, to expand it so that people could have the understanding of what the spirit of the law really means.

Now, to understand the spirit of the law requires God's holy spirit because it's spiritual in nature. Mankind is going to be subject in the Millennium to the spirit of the law – not just the physical component, which is going to be placed on this earth and will be implemented on this earth, such as Sabbath keeping. Because people can keep the Sabbath on a physical level. Does that mean they're keeping the Sabbath? Well, it does on a physical level, but not the spirit of the Sabbath, what the intent of the Sabbath really is about. So the spirit of the law is going to be able to be lived by mankind during the Millennium and the Hundred-years because God is going to pour out His one holy spirit to mankind.

Now, because of this spirit component, the spirit of the law, which means there's only going to be one religion. There won't be all of these different religions. This means there's only going to be one true religion taught on this earth, which is connected to the truth, which is connected to the spirit of the law, which is connected to the government of God, the way a person is governed, or the way the person governs themselves, the way that Jesus Christ governs in spirit and truth. Well, all of these things are connected to God's holy spirit. So it all originates from the only one true God. Everything originates from the true God of the universe, the creator of all things. Well, God has created all of this for the purpose of having a family.

So why is there so much confusion in the world today? Well, we understand that Satan has deceived the whole world! And the deception is Satan's way of thinking. Now, the Millennium is about the removal of Satan, which is the removal of this spiritual deception that Satan has placed into mankind's thinking. Because Satan transmits falsehood. Satan deceives. His whole way of thinking is deception of the natural carnal mind. Now, the natural carnal mind of and by itself sins and it cannot know God. With Satan and his broadcasting and his continual deception mankind is held in bondage, bondage of his own thinking. He cannot think outside of what he is, which is outside of his own selfishness, outside of what he thinks is best for him.

Now, we understand that Satan started with this deception when he entered the Garden of Eden, when he was allowed to be there. Because he was already on the earth and God had left him here for a purpose, and that purpose was to create a spirit family, to have something to resist other than selfishness.

So we understand from Genesis 3:12—Then the man (Adam) said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me the tree, and I ate.

Verse 13—And the LORD God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. Now, the word "deceived" here means "to lead astray mentally, to delude." So mankind has been deceived. They have been led astray by Satan, and Satan's broadcasting is about deception, to hold the thinking of mankind in this delusion. Now, mankind really is quite deluded to think that he is right in his own eyes and that he can work out the best way to live, what is right and wrong, to work it out. Well, that's actually a delusion. That's being led astray. That's being deceived. Because God's way of life and God's thinking is the only way to live a happy life. But mankind has rejected that, and since the sin of Adam and Eve, mankind has been led astray and mentally deluded. They have been deceived. And until this very day they are deceived. Well, we look forward to this change. We look forward to this change.

Revelation 12:7—This scripture just confirms this very fact of Satan's deception and his existence on this earth. And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, so there is this spirit realm and there is a war taking place. And we don't understand how two spirit beings can war, but obviously they can. There is this war taking place. There is this battle and it's all about what God's will and purpose is. Because Satan cannot win a war if God does not allow him to win a war. Now, Satan is left on this earth for the purpose of deceiving and holding mankind in deception for 6,000 years. And of course, then we're going to see Satan removed, and therefore, that deception will stop.

Verse 8—but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. Which means that Satan and his demons were cast out and they were placed on this earth. Now, this battle that took place would have been quite a fierce battle, and God has banished them down to the earth for a purpose.

Verse 9—So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; and he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him, which are the demons. So here we see Satan on this earth now and mankind does not understand it. We, brethren, understand it. We understand that there is one Satan. There's only one Satan. There's only one Lucifer who's had his name changed to be Satan and the Devil. Now, we understand these things, brethren, but mankind can read some of this and get some sort of idea, but they don't believe that there is a spirit realm that is on this earth that is actually evil and that is broadcasting to a receptor called the natural mind. It's being broadcast to, and mankind is accepting the broadcasting, because man is right in his own eyes and he is deluded, he is deceived, and he is mentally not stable. He's not. A person with God's holy spirit can become mentally stable, which is to think like God, to have purity of intent, which is what we are desiring to do, to have purity of intent.

Satan must be removed from the presence of mankind for peace to be developed in the thinking of mankind. Because without the removal of Satan, we will never have peace. We will never have peace with the fact that Satan is around broadcasting to mankind.

Revelation 20:1—Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, which is a place of restraint, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. So this is on the Day of the Lord, at the end of the Day of the Lord, that Satan is going to be bound for a period of time. But he will be released again for a short season. Well, this binding of Satan is important, because this is the establishment or the beginning of the Millennium. So Satan is placed in an area of restraint. He can no longer deceive the nations that he has done before.

Verse 3—and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand-years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while, or a short season. So now we see, brethren, that the key here is "that he should not deceive the nations no more." There is no more deception that is going to take place during the 1,100-years.

Once Satan is removed, the one way of governing in truth, mercy, and love will cover the whole earth. This one righteous way of government will fill the earth. Justice, mercy, and peace will now prevail...will now prevail. Whereas today, during the 6,000 years of man's rule, deception is involved in every component of life. And the problem with the nations is that deception has taken hold of their thinking. They already have selfishness and they have what they think is their right government, because when you look at all the different governments that are in the world, they're all different and they all have different ways of controlling those people that they believe that they are governing.

Now, within government people say they're in there to serve others. But the reality is that mankind and mankind's intent, his selfishness, that even though he may be serving others (through government, through other things), there is a component of selfishness. His intent, even though he doesn't know it, is selfishness. He is getting something out of it. So the religions of the world are deceived, and this is the problem, the fact that they are deceived, that God is not involved in the nations of the world in their governments, and God is not involved in the religions of this world. Because to be of God requires God's holy spirit, and God says there's only one Body, and that body must carry His name and have His holy spirit.

So no matter where people live on this earth now, they have been lied to about everything. And I mean everything. Everything is a lie. Now, if they're ever taught the truth, if it is an aspect of the truth, there's still a deception behind it, because Satan is the deceiver of mankind. He is about deceiving. And mankind in his selfishness, well, when you join the two together, it's complete selfishness. So even though a truth may be said, there's a manipulation going on. The intent is not pure. The intent is not pure.

Lies dominate the way of thinking in every component of this world. It's in politics, it's in governments, it's in families, it's in communities, and it's also in every aspect of religion... every aspect of religion. If we just take an example: God says to call no man "Father" on a spiritual title. "Call no one Father." It's not talking about something on a physical level where we do have fathers. But we only have one spiritual Father, the Father of us all, Yahweh Elohim, the one and only true God, the one and only Father of us all on a spiritual level. Well, God says through Jesus Christ that mankind should not use the title as a religious title of calling anybody "Father." So what happens? One of the biggest religions in the world has done the complete opposite to God's word. Now, that is a deception. That is a lie. And it's dominating that religion, where people think that they call themselves, "Father," and that they have the authority to forgive sin. Now, how presumptuous is this thinking? That somebody can take on a title that only God has, "Father of us all," on a spiritual level, and that they could then forgive sin? When the reality is only God the Father can forgive sin, and sin is only forgiven through a process that God has established, and it's called "repentance." And the only way sin can be forgiven is through baptism, immersion. But it requires God's spirit. It requires God's thinking to be achieved in the individual (to be in the individual) for true baptism to take place, for true repentance to take place. But people go before their (so-called) religious titled person, "Father," and ask for forgiveness of sin. And he will dish out various penalties or repentance things that he would do, and he would say you've got to say so many "Hail Mary's" or "Our Father's," etcetera. Well, that is all lies. It's all deception.

Well, in other religions it's the same. There are many things that are done. For example, the way people wear their robes, when God makes it very clear that we should not be involved in those things, that it's all about pride, being seen. In actual fact, you should de-robe and not be seen as (so-called) a religious person. But, of course, mankind doesn't do that. And often on the TV's you see all these different processions they have and the religious titles, and it just is incredible what man does, how he rejects God's word. Mankind rejects God's word. He is s deceived and He is willingly deceived in this matters. He's willing deceived because of selfishness, because he's getting something back out of it.

The problem within mankind is that everybody, man or woman, believes they are right; they are right in their own eyes. If anyone is religious they believe they are right and they believe someone else is wrong. If they believe somebody else was right, well, that means they were wrong, therefore, they'd give up their religion and join that religion. They would believe something different than what they do. But they don't see themselves as wrong. They believe they're right.

Truth is the key in what God is going to establish in the future. Truth is the key to establishing where God is. Because God is where the truth is, therefore, God's government is based on God's way of thinking. It's based on the truth. Now, the example (very easy to follow), which is, for example, God's government. Well, God says what His government is, so let's look at what God says about His government. Only one thing can be true when it comes to God and His way. There cannot be many different ideas about God and His word with all of them being right. Only one can be right, and only one can be true. Now, God states in (we're not going to turn there), John states in 1 John 2:21—No lie is of the truth. No lie is of the truth.

So let's look at Ephesians 4:4, again—Now, from all of this, brethren, we should come to see that there's only one truth, therefore, not everybody can be right. Therefore, if we are wrong, someone else must be right. And if someone else is wrong, someone else has to be right. Because God says in this that there is only one body, there's only one Church of God. Out of all of this we can come to the conclusion: If we're wrong (if we're wrong) someone else out there is right. And if we're right, they are all wrong. Well, the only way that we can prove it is through God's word, so we have to come to see that this is God's true Church. We have to believe it. We have to believe it to the core of our being. It's a spiritual matter. Well, we have to believe it unto death. We have to be willing to die for our beliefs, for our faith. Only one can be right, and only one can be true, and no lie is of the truth.

Ephesians 4:4—There is one body, so there's only one spiritual body that is joined together powered by God's holy spirit, and one spirit. There is only one holy spirit that enables a relationship with God and with one another, and it's God's holy spirit. It's a way of thinking. It's thinking like God. ...just as you were called in the one hope. So we have been called by God the Father and placed under Jesus Christ in the one Body, with the one spirit. And from that we have the one hope, the hope of salvation, that one hope that we will be changed to spirit to live in God's family in the future. There is one hope of your calling. Now, the most important part out of all of this really, is about the one, because there is only one calling from God the Father. A lot of people believe in various religions that they have "a calling." They say those things. "I have a calling to do this." "I have a calling to do that." Well, there's only one calling and it's a spiritual matter and it's from God the Father to achieve something. And what is that achieving? It's about coming into the one Body with the one spirit and having the one hope of salvation, and it comes from this one calling which starts with the gift of true repentance.

Continuing on in verse 5—one Lord, so there's one Savior, one Jesus Christ, one faith, there's one belief system. Now, this changes everything for all the various religions. They all can't be right, because there's only one faith, there's only one belief system. There's only one truth. Therefore, out of all of the religions of the world God says here there's only one faith. Everybody must come into unity of doctrine, unity of belief. Therefore, just a logical human reasoning calculation, if one is right all the others are wrong. Because God says here in His word there's only one faith, there's only one belief system. So if two people don't believe the same thing they can't walk together. "To cannot walk together," they don't believe the same thing. I'm talking something about on a spiritual level here. They don't believe the same thing. It's spiritual in nature. Therefore, God is clearly saying here through Jesus Christ, through Paul, saying there's only one faith.

...one baptism, that one baptism has to come from true repentance, this one calling which is about one way of repenting powered by God's holy spirit that enables sin to be covered through this one baptism. Now, there's many other baptisms out there, but there's only one where God intervenes to forgive sin. There's been thousands of people that have been fully immersed in water, but their sins have not been forgiven because it's not the one baptism. That one baptism has to take place by a true minister of God, because it's spiritual in nature, it's not physical. Just going underwater is just going underwater. This going underwater is an outward sign of something spiritual, therefore, if God is not in the baptism, if true repentance is not in the baptism, therefore, it is not the one baptism.

Now, as we go into the Millennium, brethren, we're going to see this scripture come alive, because there is going to be one body in the Millennium. There's going to be one spirit, God's holy spirit, poured out to mankind. There is going to be one calling, a spiritual calling to the truth, and this calling provides a one hope, the one hope of salvation, spiritual, to enter into Elohim. And people are going to come to know the one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Passover sacrifice, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, our High Priest, and our Savior, covering sin. And there's going to be one faith, there's going to be one belief system on this earth and it's going to come through Jesus Christ and the 144,000. And this preaching that's going to take place, this calling that's going to take place from God the Father is going to enable this one repentance and this one baptism...this one baptism. And from all of this, it's all powered by the one God and Father of all, the one God and Father of all because it's His plan, who is above all, and through all, and in you all, by the fact of having God's holy spirit in us, God living and dwelling in us.

Verse 7—But to each one of us grace (favor) was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. So this is about the gift of love, which is outlined in scripture, that we all have different measures of God's holy spirit enabling various fruits of the spirit to be lived. We're given the knowledge and understanding according to God's will. So we've been shown favor and mercy by the fact that we have been called. Now, we have this opportunity to love one another (to love God and one another) because of this calling. Well, God has various fruits of the spirit that can be lived in a person's life, but we don't all reveal those fruits at the same level. They are all at different levels, and it all depends on our spiritual maturity and it depends on what God is doing in a person's life.

Now, one person may be required to live a particular way to achieve something particular, which is a spiritual achievement within their life for the purpose of, "bringing many sons to glory," because that's God's plan. Everything is about bringing many sons to glory, and God enables gifts, spiritual gifts within a person's life for different reasons within different people.

Therefore, He (God) says: When He (Jesus Christ) ascended on high, He led captivity, which is what holds us, which is sin, captive. So we are now free from sin. We are now able to be forgiven. Because what held us captive has been taken away. It's held captive. So we've been freed, our sins can be covered. And gave gifts to men, spiritual gifts. Now, the most important one is the spiritual gift of forgiveness, the ability to be forgiven of sin. So at baptism we are forgiven of sin to that point in time. All our sins are covered. We're immersed, we rise up a new man. Now, powered by God's holy spirit we then are able to repent, to go before God, to have a relationship with God, and repent. And therefore, God says He is all merciful and He desires to forgive us our sins as long as we're willing to yield ourselves, yield to God, yield to God's holy spirit.

Now, mankind can't do this at this current time, and they don't have the gifts, the spiritual gifts from God. They are still held captive. Because until they are called and granted spiritual repentance they will be held captive, because the natural carnal mind is in captivity.

Verse 9—(Now this, He (Jesus Christ) ascended—what does it mean but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth? Which is talking about death. He was three days and three nights in the grave. So as a man, as a physical man with God's thinking, God's mind, He actually died. "He descended into the lower parts of the earth." He was dead for three days and three nights. And then, He who descended, who died, was put in the grave, is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fulfill all things.) Now, this was the purpose of Jesus Christ, which is the covering of sin and then Jesus Christ would be resurrected so that He would be able to provide life for mankind, spirit life, the creation of Elohim in the long term. Because the whole process is about man being born, having a natural carnal mind, and then God providing a calling, the gift of repentance, the forgiveness of sin, and then the ability to transform the thinking of mankind so that mankind could enter  Elohim.

Well, here we see that Jesus Christ has fulfilled all things that were set out for Him to achieve, "that He might fulfill all things," or He might fill all things. God is doing all of this through Jesus Christ.

Now we go on to the very structure that God has established on this earth now and will establish in the future. Because God says that this is the only way to "bring many sons to glory." Verse 11, talking about government, government structure on a physical level, but it has a spiritual component. Now, people only see, often, this physical human government, but they don't see God in it. They don't see that this is God's government on this earth because it's spiritual in design, it's spiritual in nature.

Verse 11. Now we're going to cover this one government, the one Church, the one Body powered by one spirit, which creates this one hope. Because there's only one government that is on this earth that has God's holy spirit. Verse 11—And He (God) Himself gave some, so this is from God, God creates these things, God does these things. He does it through Jesus Christ, but it's God's thinking, it's God's government on this earth. He himself gave some to apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and some teachers, some elders. So this is all about the process of God governing on this earth. This is Church government structure, but they're all spiritual offices. They all have a component of God's spirit and what God is doing through that individual and what God is doing for His Church, the one Body.

So what is this structure all about? It's spiritual. Verse 12. So this government structure that God has established, powered by His spirit is for the equipping of the saints, so it's for the building up, it's about a perfect structure, it's about conversion, it's about preaching God's word, it's about God's spirit, for the equipping of the saints, members of the Body of Christ. The called out ones are part of the one Body, for the work of ministry, for the service of the ministry. So this structure exists for the ministry to serve the saints, to serve one another, to serve God first, because we have to be in unity with God's word and serving God by yielding to God, and the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, the Church of God, the called out ones. "There is one Body, there is one spirit, there is one Lord, there is one faith, there is one God and Father of us all." So this is what it's all about; it's spiritual in nature.

So the ministry exists, the spiritual structure on this earth exists and will exist in the Millennium for the edifying, the building up of the Body of Christ, which is the Church of God. We are members of the Body of Christ. We are the Temple of God, the temple of the holy spirit; we are begotten sons of God. Now, all of this, brethren, is exciting, to know these things, to understand these things, that we belong to God. We have a personal relationship with God, the one true God, the Father of us all. So this structure exists for the purpose of the building up of the Body on a spiritual level. It's not physical. It's the work of service, spiritual service within the Body.

And then verse 13—till we all, that's everybody, comes to the unity of the faith, the same belief system, the one belief system. There's only one belief system. There's only one faith. So the ministry is there for the edifying of the Body until everybody comes into unity of doctrine, unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, to understand Passover, to understand why Jesus Christ was placed on this earth having God's mind, which was about the revealing of the intent of the law and for the Passover sacrifice. Well, we come to that knowledge to know God's purpose through Jesus Christ, to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And then what will that produce? ...to a mature (perfect) man, which is about pure thinking, a pure way of thinking, which is about our motive and intent. So the ministry exists, this structure exists, the spiritual structure exists all for the edifying of the body, for members of the Body, the begotten sons of God, so that they will be spiritually mature, so that they will come to see their motive and intent, to have a pure motive and intent.

...to the measure and the stature of the fullness of/in Christ, to be like Christ, is another way to put it. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Jesus Christ." So the measurement that we have to use is God's Word, which is the thinking of God, which is (the measurement is) Jesus Christ. Because He had the Word of God. He was the Logos. He was the thinking of God. So if we ever want to compare anything, we should compare ourselves to the thinking of Jesus Christ, which is to compare ourselves with God's word. Do we do all the things that God's word outlines? Do we do all of the things that God says in His word? Well, the answer is no. The answer is, no, we don't. So we should be measuring ourselves against God's word and we should be looking at our intent, looking at our intent, why are we doing what we're doing, knowing that God's intent is love. God's intent is pure, pure thinking. His motive is pure, pure thinking. Well, ours isn't. But this is why we are to measure ourselves. We are to examine ourselves all the time to see what is our motive and intent.

Well, during the Millennium this very same process is going to take place. During the Millennium there will be government structure, a spiritual government structure on this earth. Now, we know that it's Jesus Christ as King of kings, and the 144,000 as kings and priests of God, and they are there to serve. They are doing a work of service. And what's their work of service? The edifying of the Body, the Church, until everybody comes into unity of faith, because there's only going to be one faith, one belief system on the earth during the Millennium and the Hundred-years. Because Satan has been removed, deception has been removed, and God is going to pour out His holy spirit so that people can have unity of the faith. And the 144,000 and Jesus Christ are going to teach that knowledge of the Son of God.

Now, what we know about the Son of God now through God's word, I'm sure there's much that's going to be "seen" about the knowledge of the Son of God. When Jesus Christ is on this earth as a spirit being with 144,000 our knowledge and the knowledge during the Millennium and the Hundred-years is going to be magnified mightily...mightily. And it's about coming to this pure motive and intent, until we come to the thinking of Jesus Christ, the thinking of God.

During the Millennium we're going to have that opportunity because Satan has been removed, therefore, we're now going to have access to God's holy spirit. So this is going to be an exciting time. What we're celebrating here at this Feast is the Millennium, what is going to take place in the Millennium where mankind is not going to learn war anymore, but they're going to learn the truth.

The education system will change and there'll only be one way of education, and the most important part of that education is the spirit of a matter. Now, there's all these physical things that are needed. For example, there's still going to be engineers, there's still going to be weights and measures. All of those things are necessary. There's still going to be numerical systems. There's still going to be language. All of these things are going to exist. They are physical. The more important part is to learn of God, the one true God, to learn the truth, what God places in the Church on the earth. That will be the key focus of mankind. But all of the other things of an education system, many of them will be gotten rid of because they're rubbish and garbage, like evolution and many other things. They're not necessary. They're not necessary to know those things. What is necessary is to come to know God's word, to know the way God thinks about a matter.

Now, we can learn from history – true history, not manmade history – not from wars and battles, but from those things that God has outlined in His word. Now, there are wars and battles in the Bible from God's word as a form of history, but they're there for our learning. They'll be there for the learning of mankind during the Millennium and the Hundred-years because it's God's word. But the most important part of understanding these things, of understanding these battles and wars, like Israel did in the Old Testament, is the spirit behind it, what it was really all about was lessons to be learned on a spiritual level. But they did not have God's holy spirit, therefore, they went into these things and God was using that and allowing that to happen for His purpose of "bringing many sons to glory."

Well, during the thousand-years and the Hundred-years there's going to be a new education system that is going to teach the one faith. It's going to teach the one way of life, the spiritual component within a person's life. That's the most important part, the spirit of the law, the spiritual component of every single thing in life.

Verse 14, now, all of this exists for the purpose of, that we should no longer be children, which is immature, thinking immaturely, because a child is easily persuaded. That we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness which they lie in wait to deceive, which takes us back to Satan. The trickery of men and the deception of men is from the natural carnal mind, influenced and persuaded or swayed by Satan's thinking, the deceiver of mankind. So the Church exists, and God's holy spirit in the Church exists, the structure exists so that the Church can be protected from deception because the truth is taught in God's Church. Now, if we're immature and we're children, we will be tossed around by every wind of doctrine, all the thinking, all the ideas of mankind, because mankind desires to gain a following, so they do these things to get a following. And it's all done through trickery and deception.

Now, if we look at politics, what's politics? Trickery and deception. What's the purpose of it? To gain a following. "Vote for me!" Well, we, brethren, on a spiritual level, we should now yield to God's holy spirit, yield to what God is doing within His Church, that we become a mature person, we become mature in thinking, we have pure motives, we think the way God thinks about a matter. And then we won't be tossed to and fro or carried about by false doctrine, which is there to deceive, this cunning craftiness, which is in the world, which is in the Churches that are scattered. The Churches that are scattered have their cunning craftiness which is about deception because they're deceived. The Churches that are scattered are deceived because of their sin, their unrepented sin. They're deceived. Therefore, we shouldn't be drawn away or tossed about by these strange doctrines or these strange ideas that they may have.

So, brethren, we can be protected if we stay close to the Body of Christ, if we stay close to God the Father in a relationship with Him.

Verse 15—but, speaking the truth in love, so there's the key, brethren, "speaking," which is thinking, which is speaking it, "the truth in love." So verse 15's talking about what the ministry should be doing. But, speaking the truth in love, out of concern for one another, concern for the Body. So speaking, or thinking the truth in love, in agape, having the mind of God, using God's word as our guide. That if this is done, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— so into the maturity of Jesus Christ. "Let this mind be in you which is in Jesus Christ." ...from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, so each one of us is needed. We all supply something to the Body. We are all needed. Every part of the Body is needed as long as it is spiritual in design, it's spiritual in intent, that it's working on a spiritual level.

Now, we can be part of the Body and then disconnect from the Body by the loss of God's holy spirit. We're only part of the Body, the whole Body, and we're only joined together, knit together, and we only supply something to the Body if God's holy spirit lives and dwells in us. The moment we have unrepented sin and God is not living and dwelling in us, we are not part of the Body. Now, we might be associated with it and we might think we are and we may act out a role, but on a spiritual level we are not part of the Body, we are not joined and knit together in unity of spirit. It's not possible because it requires God's holy spirit to achieve all this.

...according to the effective working by which every part does its share, so everybody has a role to play within the Body of Christ. Now, often people don't see their role, but God says that He is working with the individual for a purpose, and it's not us, brethren. It's God in us that's doing the work. Now, we don't always see what God is doing with us and why we are in various locations or why we are here or what's actually happening. We don't see it. But there is a part for us to play, and that part is to yield to God's holy spirit.

The Millennium will be no different, that people will be part of a Body that is joined together, and that joining together is powered by God's holy spirit. And every part, every person that has God's holy spirit will do it's share because it's God doing it in and through the person.

...causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. So this love of God, God's holy spirit, it's living and dwelling within a person, well, therefore, when they pray (and they pray) they build up, they edify the Body, the whole Body, the Body of Christ, the Church of God. So we, brethren, can have outgoing concern for the welfare of others. We can pray for one another in the sense of spiritual outcomes. Because if we pray on just physical outcomes, well, we don't know that we're praying against God's very will. So we have to be very careful when we pray that we are edifying one another, because it's all about spiritual things, it's about spiritual intent. We desire the best spiritual outcome for each and every member of the Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:1. Spiritual gifts are to benefit the Church, not to benefit self. Now, this is something that is difficult for mankind to understand because if they don't have God's holy spirit people will take it to self. So any gifts that they may have on a physical level, they always take it to themselves, they raise themselves up. Well, the reality is that all spiritual gifts are to benefit the Church, the Body of Christ. So this is about government, this is about allowing God's spirit to work in our life. Now, the moment any spiritual gift is taken to self it becomes sin, because the benefit that God has said, has outlined in Ephesians (that we just went through), is the fact that it's not about selfishness. We're not to take it to ourselves. Therefore, all gifts given by God to an individual are to benefit others, not to benefit self.

1 Corinthians 12:1—Now concerning spiritual, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant, Now, to be ignorant means we just don't understand, we don't know, and we'd be left in our selfishness.

Verse 2—You know that you were gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. I make known to you that no one speaking by the spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the holy spirit. So let's just go back over that. Here is Paul writing to the Corinthians, which were gentiles, and he is saying to them that previously they had been carried away in their ignorance, that they'd been carried away by mute/dumb idols. They were worshipping something that was false. "However, you were led." They had followed that because of their ignorance, because of their natural carnal mind, and because of false religion. So they had followed the natural carnal mind. Now he's saying, well, he didn't want them to be ignorant, that there is something that is different. "Therefore, I make known to you that no one speaking by the spirit of God," now, here is the key. This is talking about speaking in tongues, but we can also apply it to our lives, brethren. That nobody speaking in tongues, using the spirit of God, calls Jesus Christ accursed. So if we have God's holy spirit we will come to see that God's words are true. They're not going to be contrary to God. So the words of Jesus Christ are not going to be contrary to God, they're not going to be different. So anybody that has God's holy spirit cannot call Jesus Christ accursed, which is an anathema. We can see that if we have God's holy spirit we will "see," we won't be ignorant, we will "see" that Jesus Christ was the Word of God. He was the thinking of God made flesh. "And no one can say that Jesus is Lord," that Jesus Christ is the Master, that He is the Passover sacrifice except by the holy spirit. It's about God in us. It's about agreement. We have to come into agreement. We have to be at-one. Because there's only one faith. There's only one God. There's only one religion. There's only one faith system that is of God.

So to be in agreement with God is the key. Here it is saying that if somebody has God's holy spirit, they won't be separating God and Jesus Christ, and they wouldn't be able to say that Jesus Christ is who He is except they have God's holy spirit. And they would be in full agreement with God's word, as Jesus Christ was in full agreement with God's word. There's no separation.

Now, from this we can see that if anybody comes along and says something different to the doctrine that is placed in the Church by Jesus Christ through an apostle, if anybody comes along and says something different, they are not speaking from God's holy spirit. They are not speaking from inspiration of God. It's not possible because they're not in agreement. Now, we remember that Jesus Christ said, "I in you, you in Me. I in the Father, the Father in Me." Well, it's talking about being in agreement. It's talking about being of one spirit, of one mind, because there's only one mind and it's the mind of God. Anybody that comes along and says anything contrary to doctrine, anybody that says anything contrary to being what God has said in His word, the truth, they are not of God and they're not using God's holy spirit because they're not in full agreement with God, they're not in full agreement with Jesus Christ.

Now, for somebody to believe the truth, all 57 Truths, they are of the spirit of God. Because we can only agree with God if we have the holy spirit. Because here it says, "No one can say that Jesus is the Lord and Master," that He is the Head of the Church, placing truth in the Church through an apostle, "except by the holy spirit." Now, this is a spiritual matter and it's about being in full agreement. Because somebody can say, "Ah, yes, Jesus Christ is the Lord." Well, what does that mean? If they were to say that they would have to say, "Jesus Christ is the Head of the one and only true Church, and the structure that we just went through that's powered by God's holy spirit, that is all true. This is God's Church and God's spirit is in it. And therefore, if God's Church is true and God's spirit's in it, I want to be in full agreement with every component of God's truth, of God's Church." So for somebody to say that Jesus is the Lord, they have to be part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God, because it has to be powered by God's holy spirit. It's not just throw-away words, and it's not just saying things. It's about unity of doctrine, full agreement with God and Jesus Christ.

Verse 4—Now, there are diversities of gifts, which is diversities of the way that God is dealing with a person, but the same spirit, the same spirit of God. Because there's one true Church, there's one spirit. There are not two spirits. It's the same spirit. It's the spirit of God. It's God's holy spirit. But from that there are differing gifts. There are different levels of understanding and there are different levels of what God is doing in a person. Now, the key here is not to take anything to self because it's God doing the works in a person. So, yes, there are different or varying or various kinds of spiritual gifts or spiritual fruit that will be borne within a person.

Verse 5—There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. So there's different administrations. There's different ways of doing things. One person may have a form to show something, another person may try to get the same result using a different form with different words on it. Well, there's different administrations. There's different ministry's. There's different ways of doing things, but the outcome is the same spiritual intent is desired. The same spiritual intent is desired. So there's different ways of doing things, but the key to it is this one spirit, the same spirit and the same Lord, the same God, God the Father, Yahweh Elohim. So it is God that is doing all of these things. God the Father is driving these things. It's His Church, it's the Church of God. There are different administrations but it's all driven by the same spirit, the spirit of God, and it's driven by the one true God, the only God of the universe, the creator of all things.

There are diversities of activities, or operations, different ways of doing things, but it is the same God, it is the same God, God does it all, who works all in all. So it's God doing the work. It's God's Church. It's God's structure. It was God that wrote Ephesians 4 through Jesus Christ through Paul. It's God that does the works. So we can see, brethren, there are different structures and people have different spiritual abilities, but they're not to be taken to self and we shouldn't look at people that way, as if it's from them. No, it's God working through the person. How blessed are they if that is the case? How blessed is the person! That's the way we should see it. God is doing the work. So all the glory goes back to God.

If somebody has a spiritual gift, we don't look at the individual. We look at God because it's God that does it all. It's God who works all in all. All of these various levels of spiritual understanding, spiritual knowledge, spiritual fruits that are borne, are all from God because it's God doing it all.

But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. So why does a person have a spiritual fruit? Why does a person have a spiritual ability, maybe, of understanding, maybe of mercy, maybe of gentleness, maybe more of humility? Well, what's that all about? Well, the manifestation within a person is the manifestation of God's spirit in a person, and it's for the profit of others, it's to benefit others. It's nothing about the individual. It's not to be taken to self. It's not selfishness. Any spiritual fruit that is borne by anybody in the Body of Christ, the one true Church of God, is to benefit others. It's to benefit all. It's to profit all. Because that's why God is working within His Church.

Remember it said previously about each individual was to add to the Body, each individual has a special part or a component to the Body? That's true. Now, we don't always see it. But key to all of this, that all spiritual fruits that are borne from any individual in the Body of Christ is to the benefit of others; it's not to benefit self.

...for to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, because it's God's thinking. It's all from God. So if a person has wisdom, which is the implementation of the knowledge and understanding of a matter, well, if they live it and they do it, it's through the same spirit, the one spirit, God's spirit, the thinking of God. ...for to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same spirit. It's all coming from God the Father, the one true God, and it's all to profit the Body. It's to profit all people, all other people. It's to benefit others. So God does it to benefit the Body, for the edification, the building up of the Body of Christ, the Church of God. Others have spiritual fruits. They bear these fruits to the benefit of the Body, the Church of God, because the Body as a whole is those that God has called out and placed His spirit in, and they make up the Body. And we can't do without one component. We can't lose the eye. Which is, if a person is living wisdom by the power of God's holy spirit it adds to the Body. If another person has great spiritual knowledge or great spiritual understanding, powered by God's holy spirit because God's given it, it adds to the Body. But it's not to be taken to self. We're not to compare each other, one another, because if we do what are we really doing, brethren? If we turn around and give credit to one person and say, "Oooo, they have this gift," and, "Oooo, that person has that gift," we're dividing God, we're losing the plot, we're losing the picture of what God is doing. God is building a Body. God is building a family! And they're all not going to be the same! We're all going to be different in the Body. We're all going to be different in God's family. We'll have the same spirit. We will have the same spirit. We'll have the same thinking of God. We'll have God's thinking, but we will all be different. We'll all have different levels within the Body of Christ, within the Church, within the family of God. And when we enter Elohim, it's the same. It's the same spirit. It's the same thinking of God, but we'll all be different.

Verse 9—to another faith, to another the ability to live what they believe, to believe God, but the same spirit, so it's the thinking of God that is giving this. It's the thinking of God for the Body. So a person that has more faith, has more faith than another person, well, it's not to be taken to self, it's to be for the Body, because it's all coming from God the Father, the same spirit, the holy spirit. ...to another gifts for healing by the same spirit. So if somebody is able to pray and a person is healed, well, that is God that is doing the healing. It is not the person doing it. It is not the person doing it. It is God healing through the power of His holy spirit. But a person has been given gifts for healing, well, it's from God, it's from God's thinking, it's from God's holy spirit because there is only one spirit. It's the same spirit achieving all of these things.

...to another the working of miracles, now, this "working of miracles," we've seen through the Bible. There are many miracles that have been achieved by God, by Jesus Christ, but they took no credit to self. It was God that was given the credit, because it's the same spirit. It's the one God doing it all.

...to another prophecy, or inspired speaking, which requires God's holy spirit, to another discerning of spirit, which is the ability to discern intents, to be able to see or understand attitudes. Even though the person that may be saying something or doing something may not see their own intent or may not see their own attitude behind what they're doing, well, God, because of God's holy spirit and because of God's great power, well, He can discern all intents. He can discern all spirits. So the discerning of spirits, the coming to see a person's intent is a gift from God, and it should not be taken to self. The credit goes back to God, the glory that should be given back to God, because He has given this person the opportunity to discern someone else's intent or someone else's motive, or someone else's attitude. They can see it. They can see it on a spiritual level.

...to another different kinds of languages, to another the interpretation of those languages, because this is referring back to the speaking of tongues, which was the speaking of a language. Well, it needed an interpreter, otherwise, it was just a vanity. If somebody gets up and starts speaking in a different language to a group of people and the people cannot hear it or understand it, what's the point of it? It's all a vanity. It's just pride. It's all a waste of time. It's not helping, it's not edifying, it's not building up, it's not benefiting others. And that's what this is about. This is about spiritual fruits that a person may be given by God. Well, if a person gets up and speaks a language that no one can understand, well, what's the benefit? None. Zero. If that happens there needs to be an interpreter. Well, there's no use having an interpreter if there's nobody speaking inspired language, which is this spiritual component of God's word is inspired speaking. It's God doing the works. It's God inspiring what is being said, and therefore, the inspiration of the interpretation is needed. The inspiration of the interpretation is needed. So we need both. We need somebody that can speak of God's word, the intent, the spirit of the law, and we need the understanding. If there's people that don't understand it has to be transcribed or it has to be given over to those people to understand in that particular language.

So the important part of this is about the intent behind the words...the intent behind the words spoken and the intent of the interpretation, because it's God that does it. It's God that does all of these things. The key here is to take no credit to self. But we should come into agreement that all of these spiritual components in a person's life, that these things are from the same spirit.

Verse 11—But one and the same spirit, God's holy spirit, works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills, as God wills. It's God's Church, the one true Church. There is one spirit. There's not all these different spirit's, there's one spirit. It's God doing the works in His people. Now, this should change the way we think about the Body of Christ. In our fellowship here at the Feast, brethren, we should take this on board to realize it's about one spirit. It's not about the individual or lifting another individual up or pulling another individual down, it's about what God is doing within the Body of Christ, the Church of God. We are to come into agreement with God. We are to be at-one with God, because there's only one spirit, there's only one Church, there is only one faith, there is only one way of thinking, and it's God's way of thinking.

Verse 12—For as the Body is one, it's united together. It's in unity. It's in unity of spirit. It's the same thinking. The Body, the Church of God—PKG is at-one. We have God's spirit; we agree with God. We're in full agreement with God. And all of these spiritual gifts exist within the Body of Christ, the Church of God because God is pulling the Body together. When called, a person doesn't know what they're walking into, but they're walking into a body. But God calls individuals for a purpose. Now, no two individuals are the same; we're all different. We are all different. We all have different backgrounds. We all have different aspects in our life. We are all different. But God requires us all to come into unity, to all think the same. But we're still different. We're still who we are. But we, as individuals, have been called to make up one Body.

For as the Body is one, because of this one spirit, we have unity, we believe God, we believe what God has placed in the Church, and has many members, which we are, we're members of the Body, but all the members of the one Body, being many, there's hundreds of us, brethren, are one body, it's called The Church of God—PKG, so also is Christ. So we are one body, we are one, we're in oneness, we're in total unity with God and Jesus Christ. Well, it's saying here that the Body of Christ, the Church of God is in unity with Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ is in unity with God the Father. So we are one body and we're at one because of this same spirit, the spirit of God.

Now, we should not, brethren, compare ourselves with one another. That is absolutely spiritual insanity! Because how can we compare ourselves with one another when we understand and we know that all spiritual fruit comes from God? All of it! Nobody has generated anything of and by themselves; it's God that does it according to God's will, each individual as God wills. So a person is in a role of service because it's God's will. So let's not look up or look down. Let's just accept this is God's Church and it's God doing the work and we should be striving in every possible way to be at one with God, to be in true fellowship with God and with one another.

Verse 13—For by one spirit, which comes from God the Father, the one spirit, the holy spirit, we were all baptized into one Body. So this immersion, followed by the laying of hands, gives us this one spirit if God honors that commitment to the laying of hands. It is God that provides His holy spirit to a person. And therefore, because of that, because of this baptism, this repentance, then the baptism, then the laying of hands of a true minister of God, we are then placed by God the Father under the authority of Jesus Christ and we're placed into the one body, the Church of God, the Church of God—PKG as it's known today administratively. Because we understand, brethren, that there is only one spirit from God the Father and it's God's holy spirit, this same spirit that enables all of these various fruits to be borne within an individual's life that make up the Body, the Church of God, whether Greeks or Jews, so it makes no difference what nationality a person is. It doesn't matter what color they are. It doesn't matter where they were born. It doesn't matter how tall they are, how short they are, how thin they are, how big they are. All irrelevant. So whether we are Greeks or Jews, which is this distinction, it's just a difference, whether slaves or free, it makes no difference who we are, and have all been made to drink, which is to take in, the one spirit. So we've all been made to take on the very mind of God, the spirit of God, because it's all done by this one spirit, the power of God's holy spirit living in a person's life. So the mind of God, this one mind creates unity, it creates peace. So we've been baptized into one spirit, brethren. We have this one spirit. Therefore, this one spirit, if we're yielding to it, it will create unity! It'll create unity of doctrine. It will create peace. It's a way of thinking. For in fact the Body, the Church, is not one member but many. We make up many parts of the Body. The Church is the Church of God. It has a structure, which we went through before; the ministry has a structure. But we make up the Body, all different parts. Different roles of service make up the Body. And the ministry is there to serve the Body, to benefit it, to edify it, to build it up all based on one spirit, which is the key, one spirit from the one true God.

If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it, therefore, not of the body? Well, that's the question. So if we're wanting to be something else other than what God has placed us into the Body to achieve on a spiritual level, we're resisting God, we're fighting God. So if we're the foot and we say, "Well, because I'm not the hand, I'm not part of the body," well, that's just wrong thinking. That is not the way God works. God created the body. God created the foot. God created the hand, and it has a purpose and it has a role to fulfill. Now, anybody who has lost a hand knows what it's like to not have a hand. Life is very difficult. The body does not function that well without one hand. It really doesn't. Things are very difficult for the body. Same for the foot. If a person's ever lost a foot how does the body work? It's difficult. Life is difficult. For example, you can't run like other people run. If you've lost a hand, well, life's difficult, eating's difficult. Eating with one hand is difficult.

We should not desire to be something else, brethren, within the Body. We should not desire to be something else. We should desire to fulfill the role where God has placed us in the Body. Now, if we're placed in the Body as a role of service, we should fulfill that role of service. If we're removed from that role of service, we should fulfill the role of not being in service in the ministry. The role of service will vary.

Verse 16—And if the ear should say, Because I am not the eye (I'm not an eye), I am not of the body, is it, therefore, not of the body? That's the question. Well, of course it's part of the body! If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? So if we're all the same, if everyone's identical, if everyone just had the one fruit of the spirit that we were yielding, well, what good's that? Because we need to take on the thinking of God. We need to be all of the fruits of God. Now, we all have those fruits of God that are different. We all have them at different levels and some have them more than others. Now we are to take on what God is giving us and we're to grow according to what God is giving us, but we're not to compare ourselves with one another. We make up the Body of Christ and we're not all the same, and we're never going to be all the same in the way we think as humans. We're just not. We are all here for a different purpose. We make up the Body.

If the whole Body, talking about the Church, were hearing, where would the smelling? But now God (Yahweh Elohim, the one true God, the only true God) has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleases. Now, we've been placed in the Body. We didn't choose the Body! Now, this is the key to understanding God's Church. We did not choose the Body of Christ. It was God the Father that chose us. He called us and He placed us in the Body under Jesus Christ, and He places us in the Body depending on the needs of the Body as He (God the Father) pleases. God has placed us in the Body for a purpose, as He pleases. Not everybody is an apostle. Not everybody's a prophet. Not everybody is an evangelist. Not everybody is an elder. Not everybody has great humility. Not everybody has great love. Not everybody has great mercy. Not everybody has great patience. We're all different. We've been placed in the Body to support one another, to be at-one. So we have these differences of the fruits of the spirit, but we make up the Body; we are complete when we are together. When we're together, brethren, yielding to that same spirit, the spirit of God, we make up the Body of Christ. We are complete. We complete the Body as God wills, as God pleases.

Now, knowing this, we should stand back and stop judging, stop condemning, stop pulling down, and start to build up the Body of Christ! Now, I'm talking this on a spiritual level. This is all spiritual in design. This is not a physical component, this is the Body of Christ, the same one spirit. It's the spirit of God. It's the way we think.

Well, during the Millennium the Body of Christ with the same spirit, the one spirit, the Body will exist, but everyone in the body will be different. Everyone will bear different spiritual fruits. Everybody will have different roles to fulfill within the Body of Christ. But now as God has set members, each one of us, each one of them, in the Body of Christ just as He pleases. That's what's taking place today and that's what's going to take place in the future.

And if they were all one member, where would the body be? So if they're all the same, where would they be? Well, there's no body. So we're all different for God's will and purpose, to bear different fruits for the edification, for the building up of the body, building up of one another.

But now indeed there are many members, there are hundreds of us, brethren, yet one body, only one Church, only one Body of Christ where God's spirit is, the Body of Christ, which is spiritual in nature. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, because if that is the case, it's lifting self up. It's the "eye" saying, "I'm better than you! I have no need of you!" Well, that is a lie. That is deception. And that is sin because it's lifting self up. ...Nor again can the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Because the head can't turn around and say, "Well, I don't need the feet." Well, let's just take that on a physical level. If the head says, "I don't need the feet," well, the head's standing still. It's not going anywhere. It's not walking anywhere. It needs the feet! It needs the feet. And the eye can't say to the hand, "I don't need you," because having no hands, well, the eye can look at the food...well, it's going to be very difficult to consume. It's going to be very difficult. We need each other, brethren.

If we ever have this way of thinking that we don't need one another in the Body of Christ, there is a lifting up of self, there is pride involved. Now, human nature always desires to be more important than others. That is natural. Well, when I'm saying, "That is natural," that's sin. That is sin. That is pride. Because if we think we are more important than any other member of the Body of Christ, we are deluded, we are in pride, we are deceived, brethren. Human nature wants recognition. It wants to lift up. It wants to look down on others. It believes that it doesn't need others. But God is saying here that it's His Church, it's His spirit that makes up the Church, and we need one another, to edify one another, to build one another up, to make a complete Body. But it's all based on the one spirit, the spirit of God.

No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. Now, this "seems to be," which is the way we view it. If we don't value another part of the Body, it'll seem to be weaker because we don't value it because we have wrong thinking about this other component. Well, in the Millennium it's exactly the same, brethren. Each member of the Body will have to struggle against their own pride, because if they seem to think that another part of the Body is not necessary, it's pride and they're going to have to fight against it. Now, members of the Body of Christ have to come to see that each and every one of us are unique, we are individuals, and that it is God doing the work in the individual. It's not the individual, it's God doing it in the individual as He pleases. And He places people into the Body of Christ through the same spirit which is the same way of thinking. It's the same way of thinking. It's the Word of God, the Logos of God, it's the word of God, God's holy spirit, God's thinking in a person. That's what makes us different, but it makes us part of the Body. We are complete when we are together.

And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, (verse 24) but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, so we are part of the Body of Christ because God has placed us in the Body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it. So this is God's Church and God is the one who has structured the Body the way that it is, that there should be no schism (no division) in the body. Now, if there is division in the body, we know there is deception, that a person is deceived, because they're lifting themselves up in pride, thinking they’re better. Well, God has structured the Body so that there is no division, and there is no division in the Body if we are of the one spirit and the same spirit, God's holy spirit. If we're thinking like God, there will be no division in the Body. There'll be no pulling down of another. Because that's pride! That is pride! Because we are in the Body as God has placed us in the Body. ...but that the members should have the same care for one another. Now, this is God's spirit at work, having the same care, the same respect towards every individual as members of the Body of Christ, the same care, the same love. We look after each other. We build each other up. We have fellowship with one another. Now, this Feast is a great opportunity to have the same care for one another, to have true spiritual fellowship using the same spirit, the one spirit, the spirit of God.

Verse 26—And if one member suffers, if one member is disadvantaged, all the members suffer with it, because we're one Body, we're of the same spirit. ...and if one member is honored, if one person is elevated or recognized, all the members rejoice with it. We are here at the Feast, brethren, to rejoice. How do we rejoice? By being thankful to God. Well, here is the same thing. If another member is honored, all the members rejoice. They all express appreciation and thanks to God. They rejoice before God for what God is doing in His Church, what God is doing in His Church. Now, that's why we can rejoice in one another and for one another. We should desire no ill will to another person. We desire the best spiritual outcome for them, and we can rejoice that this is God's Church.

Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the Church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after these, miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administration, varieties of languages. So God has done it. It's God's Church. That's why God has set it up this way. And then Paul asks: Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles? No.

Verse 30—Do all have gifts of healing? No. Do all speak with languages, different languages? No. Do all do interpretations of those languages? No. But earnestly desire the greater gifts, the greater fruits of God's spirit. And yet I show you a more excellent way. Having any component of the fruit of God's holy spirit is a great blessing.

1 Corinthians 13:1—Though I speak with the tongues of men, so all these different languages, and of angels, if we have the language of an angel and be able to communicate with an angel and speak that language, but do not have love, do not have the spirit of God, the thinking of God, the holy spirit of God living and dwelling in us, the very way God thinks, if we don't have that, and yet we could do all these other things, I have become a sounding brass and a clanging cymbal, just a lot of noise. It's a vanity. It's all a waste of time. And though I have inspired speaking, and understand/see all mysteries, the mysteries of God, and all knowledge, the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, and though I have all faith, I believe God, so that I could remove mountains, but don't have love, don't have the motivation, don't have the intent of God, I am nothing. But if we don't have the right intent behind what we do, if we don't have the right intent and motive behind what we think, it's all a vanity. It's all a waste of time. If it's all an outward sign and our motive and intent is wrong; it's all a vanity. We are part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God. We belong to God, the one true God. We have God's holy spirit, the one spirit, the same spirit. And if we have that, we will have the same love for one another. And if we don't have that thinking, as is outlined in 1 Corinthians 12, if we don't understand that, if we're not in unity, if we're not in agreement with God and we're not expressing  our desire towards one another as part of the Body, it's all a waste of time. Being part of the Church is just a waste of time if we're not living love. We have to live love. We have to have this spiritual concern for the welfare of one another.

Verse 3—And though I bestow all my goods to feed, and though I give my body to be burned, to be sacrificed, but I have not love, it profits me nothing. It's just all physical. It's all just a waste of time. We have to have the right motive and intent. We must learn to live love. We are to be forgiving. We are to bear the fruits of the spirit as outlined in Galatians 5. We are to live them. We're to think them. And therefore, if we think them we will live them.

Verse 4—Love suffers long, love is patient on a spiritual level, and is kind, on a spiritual level, love does not envy. There's no jealousy. There's no competition going on within the Body of Christ about being elevated or pulled up or pulled down. No matter what it is we don't envy one another because it's God's Church. It's God doing the work. It's God in His people! We've been placed in the Body as God pleases, therefore, why would we envy anybody? Well, if we're envying somebody, we're disagreeing with God. If we're disagreeing with God, we're not in unity with God. Love, which is God's thinking, how God thinks, the same spirit, this same spirit, the one spirit, love does not parade itself, it doesn't exalt itself, its image. It doesn't magnify itself to be seen to be something else. So it does not parade itself, is not puffed up. It's not arrogant. It's not opinionated. It doesn't see itself as better, and it doesn't see itself as right in its own eyes. It yields to God's holy spirit.

Verse 5—does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil. So we don't justify and we don't think evil about others. ...does not rejoice in sin, it doesn't find fault in others, it doesn't lift itself up, but rejoices in the truth. Well, we are here, brethren, to rejoice, to thank God for the truth. So we, brethren, as part of the Body of Christ, the Church of God, we, brethren can rejoice in the truth.

Well, brethren, I hope you enjoy the rest of your Feast and enjoy this Feast by rejoicing in fellowship with God and with one another.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1