The Real Truth About Christ's Death, Pt. 7

Ron Weinland

August 5, 2017

Today we're going to continue with the series and this will be the last portion of that series, of the sermon series entitled, The Real Truth About Christ's Death. So this is Part 7 today.

I’m going to do a little bit of a review because it's been a while and it's good to go back through a few things here before we continue on. From all that we've covered we know that Jesus Christ died around 3:00 in the afternoon, 3 pm in the afternoon on what we would call a Wednesday, which was the 4th day of the week. From there we've talked about the real timing of some of those events that led up to his death on Passover day. That's not an annual high day but it is a commanded assembly for God's people, that particular day is. It's the first period of time in a year on God's holy calendar that He tells people to come together to observe it.

So this is something that Jesus Christ fulfilled on the day of Passover because he is the Passover for all mankind. It's an incredible thing to understand, and yet the world of traditional Christianity doesn't understand these things. They don't comprehend the importance of him being Passover and dying on Passover day, and more importantly, when that Passover day occurred in 31 A.D. On the contrary, I was reminded here recently, because I don't tend to think as much about what the world things in the sense of traditional Christianity and what they teach, but they don't believe it happened in 31 A.D. They have to pick a day when Passover fell on a Friday because they have to get that Friday in there because their belief is he died on a Friday. That doesn't fit. It doesn't fit at all into things Christ said about the only sign he was going to leave that he was indeed the Messiah. There was only one great sign he left mankind and traditional Christianity doesn't believe it. That's incredible, that so many millions of people don't believe that! They don't even know about it! They have been taught something totally different. They have been for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. Almost, well, not too far from 2,000 years, actually; closer to that in actuality as far as time is concerned.

Again here, just to reiterate some of this, and some had talked about on our website of the timing and a chart that people can print off from this period of time, but I have mentioned in times past it's good, especially for new people, people who haven't really understood these things, to try to write down some of these things, to try to just chart it out themselves, because when you do that yourself then you're helping to etch something into your mind that becomes clearer and more absolute because you have to think it through in order to do it correctly. So I think of this period of time that I want to just go over quickly here again.

The Passover, God says, is to be observed on the 14th day of the 1st month, the 1st month on His calendar. So we understand that time and counting of time during that period and for hundreds and hundreds and thousands of years mankind kept it basically as a period of time from sunset on a particular day; that after the sun went down over the horizon a new day began. The day begins at sunset, not at 12:00 at night. So in this particular case Passover began on a Tuesday after sunset and ended on a Wednesday at sunset, what we would call Wednesday, which was actually just the 4th day of the week to them. They had no such thing exist as far as a set up of counting of time. But again, on the 4th day of the week from this Tuesday at sunset to Wednesday at sunset, we understand then that he died at right close to 3:00 in the afternoon. That is the period of time when the soldier came up and rammed the spear into his side and out came water and blood, and because of that he died.

We've gone through all that to explain that the two thieves beside him hadn't died yet, and it was a surprise to everyone and to Pilate when they found out, different ones there, that he had already died and the other two hadn't because they had to go around and break the legs then, and that's what they were going to do before sunset because they had a high day coming, an annual Sabbath, a yearly Sabbath that follows the Passover day. Something that Christianity is absolutely ignorant of. They have no knowledge of such a thing because they haven't been taught it by their teachers and by scholars, supposed Bible scholars who should know better. There are many today who do know better, but they still don't teach the right thing.

So it was that they went and asked for the body of Jesus Christ to bury him, and Joseph of Arimathea desired to place him in a tomb that he had dug out of the rock for himself, and he wanted to place Jesus Christ there and went to ask for the body, and they gave him the body. He and Nicodemus prepared the body, placed it in the tomb just at the point before sunset because they wanted to have all this finished and completed by sunset, by the high day, by the holy day, when it would begin at sunset on that particular Wednesday afternoon, or Wednesday evening, toward evening. So just before the sun set he was in the tomb.

So as soon as the sun went down now they had an annual high day, the Jewish people, that they observed. All understood that. They all understood indeed that that was a high day. That's why they wanted the bodies down off of the poles so that there was no work to be done on the high day and so that they could focus on the events of that particular high day that would begin at sunset having to do with the sacrificial system and so forth. So that whole day then, from Wednesday after sunset, which is the 5th day of the week, the beginning of the 5th day of the week, all the way through till Thursday in the afternoon then at sunset, by the time the sun set was one day; one day that he was in the tomb.

Then from that Thursday at sunset began a new day. It was the 6th day of the week and what we need to understand, too, is that the women went and prepared spices that they wanted to bring to the tomb for Jesus Christ. They couldn't go on the high day to buy them because that's an annual Sabbath. So it was on the weekly preparation day of a Friday, the 6th day of the week, that they went out and purchased the spices and prepared them. By the time they had done all that work, for the amount of what they had gathered together to place by his body (which was a lot and a lot of work) it was coming on sunset to the weekly Sabbath. So they weren't going to bring the spices and do that work on the Sabbath day so they waited. They waited till the weekly Sabbath was over. They didn't come at night because it's not like we have today with all the streetlights and everything you can do at night time that we can do in this modern age. At that time the custom was for people to stay around where they lived. They had to do quite a bit of walking to get where they were going – at least two miles if they were in the area we believe they were. So they came Sunday morning, Sunday morning to bring the spices.

It's an incredible story. But again, the world of traditional Christianity is ignorant of it. They don't know what it all means and why it's so important to understand when they prepared the spices and when they were planning on bringing them to the tomb, because they don't understand how the Jewish people kept God's annual Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread, let alone the weekly Sabbath.

So again, incredible story here. So the 3rd day was what? Finally the sun went down on that Friday, on the 6th day of the week, and the weekly Sabbath began. So we go through another period of time just before sunset on the weekly Sabbath, the 7th day of the week, and the truth about the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection is that he was resurrected at the end of the weekly Sabbath before the first day of the week ever began because it begins at sunset, after sunset on the Sabbath day, the 7th day of the week. Then the 1st day of the week starts all over again, the cycle begins of another week. It’s easy to understand.

The reason I'm going through this is for people who watch this later. The world of traditional Christianity believes he was resurrected at a period of sunrise on Sunday morning. They're so many hours off, nearly an entire half a day off. Incredible! And they have no idea of why that's important. They don't believe the words of Jesus Christ. They don't. Actually, what they believe disproves, would disprove, actually, that he was the Messiah. They're ignorant of that, but they can't change it. They've been doing it for hundreds and hundreds of years and they have to accept their traditions and their beliefs because if they were to address that one they have to address everything else and make drastic changes in almost everything they believe, especially about Jesus Christ, like the fact that he died on a pole, not on a cross. That would be hard for them to get rid of, to change. The reality is they can't until God gives them that opportunity.

So again here, it’s important to go through some of that timing and address it once again. That's why I mentioned that those who are watching this for the first time probably need to back up a little bit, go through this again, and put it on paper. Put it on paper exactly as it's been stated and you'll begin to understand why those three days, those three nights and those three days are so important because it's an awesome, awesome story.

So Christ had already risen long before Sunday morning because the fulfillment of three days and three nights was at the end of the weekly Sabbath at sunset. Incredible story.

Matthew 12. Let's go back and read where we ended off last time in Part 6. Matthew 12. It fulfills exactly what Jesus Christ said about himself, something that traditional Christianity and the Catholic Church does not believe. They do not teach this. Instead they call something a "Good Friday," because they think that's when Jesus Christ died. I'm not sure why you'd call that "Good Friday." I like the word "Passover" just like God gave it to mankind, that someone's going to die, that someone has to die for the sins of mankind. Someone's blood has to be spilled out to the earth for mankind, and that is good for mankind because of what it produces, but that day was not a good day.

Matthew 12:38—Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we wish to see a sign from you. It was always about the same thing: "We want to know. We want a sign from you that you are of God, that you are the Messiah!" That's what they wanted to know over and over again. They didn't have to say it in those exact words, but by the context it's always very clear that's exactly what they wanted him to do, that if you are the Messiah prove it to us, give us a sign. You're of God; you can do this. Sure he could have, but it wasn't God's purpose, except for what Christ said. But he answered and said to them, An evil and an adulterous generation seeks after a sign. That was in the time of the Jewish people nearly 2,000 years ago, "an evil and an adulterous generation." He could say the same thing today because it's still an evil and an adulterous generation in this earth and how people think and how people live, and especially when it has to do with a relationship of what they think is toward God.

An evil and an adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonah. Now, they understood that. They understood what the sign of the prophet Jonah was. They understood exactly what he was talking about, not like some people today, "Jonah? Let's see, now, which one was he? What did he do? Did he build the ark?" That's about how stupid some people are when it comes to stories and things that are in the Bible. They don't understand those stories. They don't care. People today don't even, as a whole, unless you get farther south, they don't even like to mention things about God. They don't like to get in conversations. You go to Europe, Australia, and different places like that, you don't get in those conversations with people. It just isn't done. It really isn't. You start talking about God and people get nervous; it stops every conversation quickly. "Are you some kind of a nut?" They don't say it that way, but anyway.

…no sign will be given it but that of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the great fish's stomach, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Beautiful story. He said, "This will be the sign that I leave you that I am the Messiah, that I am who I say that I am, that I am the Son of God," because he was questioned about those things from Pilate and from different ones there toward the end, the high priest who wanted answers for various things, and he didn't answer them, but he taught the disciples. He taught those who would listen, and they believed that he was indeed the Messiah.

So "the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." That's why the timing is so important because you cannot in any fashion or form get three days and three nights, though they try to say that they can do that because of whatever reasons that they come up with that somehow you can squeeze the interpretation, the meaning of three days and three nights into Friday sunset to Sunday morning. It bewilders me a tad because I can see Friday night, and I can grasp Saturday night, but where's that third night? Oh, don't ask them that because they don't like that. That's a toughie. They can lie and cheat and finagle things about the three days and get some timing in there and say, "Well, see, it was two minutes before sunset so it was that part of that day. That's the one day. That one minute, two minutes, whatever it was, that was the first day." Give me a break! "Then when the sun was coming up on Sunday morning. That was the third day. And then all day Saturday." See? Where's that other night? So stupid! I mean, truly, the scholars are disgusting because they lie. There are plenty of them now days that know that they lie. People in the world, they've never heard these things so they don't know. They're just deceived because they've been lied to for so long they just accept what they've been taught. They grow up in believing something. They finally get smart about this thing about Easter bunnies and Santa Claus in time, but they can't get smart about the rest because that's all they're taught as they grow up and they continue to get older and believe in a certain religion and that's in their mind. They can't get rid of it.

Then the matter of Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, to understand (just recapping some of the story we've already gone through) that they started toward the tomb while it was still dark. It says very explicitly so it was still dark on that Sunday morning. That's when they started. Then they arrived at the tomb, it talks about, right as the sun was beginning to come up. And something else I want to mention because it's a little confusing to some, you need to understand that they went to the tomb twice because they went back to the disciples twice with a message – once from the angels and once from Jesus Christ himself. So we'll go through that as we go through the story, because, again, that can be a little bit confusing even if you know the story.

So we're going to pick up from the last couple of verses that we were reading at the close of Part 6 there last time, and it's in the book of Mark. We'll be picking that up in Mark 16. A couple of things I want to mention just before that, but this portion here is Mark's account and it's a very condensed version. You read one thing from one individual, John will write a whole lot about one section, and then there's hardly a word about some of the others, what they had to say about it. God worked that way with the different ones there, the four individuals who wrote what are called the gospels, the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They all have different accounts of what they had to say and how they had to say it, and so forth, and they have different witness of what they saw and what they heard. Some things they didn't see; they wrote what they heard.

So again, this is Mark's account, very condensed, of when Christ began to reveal himself, but before reading these verses, again, a couple of things here that are good to recount. Again, the women with spices at the tomb, they were at the tomb at sunrise, the angels gave them a message to go back and tell the disciples that he's risen. Then we know the story of how John and Peter ran to the tomb. It’s kind of a bit of humor there when John doesn't identify himself totally, we know its John, but he's telling the story and it talks about how the one disciple outran Peter. It was him. Anyway, I enjoy that when I go through some of those things, especially how John wrote about some of those things at different times, but John and Peter ran to the tomb and then they returned home. They went back to their home afterwards because he wasn't there, and so they went back and told the others he wasn't there; indeed what they had to say was right, he's not there. But they didn't believe that he had risen. They didn't believe that. They still didn't believe, not a one of them! Even though they were told, even though they went back and saw it. They didn't know what happened to the body, but they didn't believe he was resurrected, that he'd been resurrected from the dead, not at all.

So after Peter and John left the women had remained behind. Now, you have to understand that when they went back and told them the first time, Peter and John ran to the tomb, but the women weren't running, and so we don't even know exactly the time of arrival on some of this in the criss-crossing here of paths. It doesn't mention some of these things. So as soon as John and Peter realized he's not there they started back. Then it talks about the women being at the tomb again and Jesus Christ himself appearing to Mary Magdalene. So this is the second time now back at the tomb. The first time it was the angels that talked, spoke to them, and said, "He's risen. Go back and tell the disciples." Now Christ gives them instruction, "Go back and tell them I have risen. I am not dead. I go to see my God and your God." Incredible!

So on both occasions of the women going to the disciples – important to understand – on both occasions when they got back the disciples didn't believe them. They didn't believe them when Mary Magdalene says, "He spoke to me. He told met to tell you this." They didn't believe them. They didn't believe her.

Mark 16 now, picking up the story, verse 9. This is corrected from Greek into English. The most common Bible known as far as the English language is concerned began with the King James Version and that which was compiled and put together. Now, you have to understand something here very basic about people when they translate. If you have a belief that Jesus Christ died on a Friday your interpretations of things when you read it out of here and what you write and what you translate are going to be based on your thinking. "He died on Friday. I've got to make that fit." So things in here sometimes are all messed up in the way that tenses are used and so forth because they have to make it fit and they have a belief this is from God, these individuals were inspired by God, they witnessed these things, and so with the limited ability to understand what they did they had to write accordingly, and they did, and it's messed up. They believe that he was resurrected Sunday morning? Well, things are going to kind of be written with that bit of a slant. That's exactly how things are written, and so in this instance here, basically they translate, "When Jesus was risen," and talking about the 1st day of the week. Well, it makes it sound like it fits into their scenario: "He rose in the morning; he rose on the 1st day of the week. And when they came to the tomb, that's when he was resurrected, right there at that moment in time." They don't understand, no, it was before that day ever began, at the end of the Sabbath day. Awesome!

What it's saying then, the way it should be translated is, Now, having already risen… It's just making a statement, Now, because he has already risen, then early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. He'd already risen many hours before. Then it talks about him appearing first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven demons. Incredible stories of things Jesus Christ did in the lives of some of these people and how God began to work with them and draw them with His holy spirit to see and understand things in a limited way, not fully yet by any measure, only to a portion to where they followed him and believed that he was the Messiah. But again, it was very limited how deeply they could believe and see what he was saying.

So it says here, And she went and told them who had been with him, as they mourned and cried. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, she came back and told them, and had been seen of her, did not believe. They didn't believe her. How would you like to go with a story of something of this magnitude, "He spoke to me. This is what he said. This is what he said, directed to you, that I was told to tell you," and they don't believe you? Well, we have that experience because they didn't have the impregnation of God's spirit yet. God's spirit wasn't working with them in the way that it was going to later. They had been drawn and worked with to a point but it wasn't there and they couldn't see certain things. They were only seeing things on a very physical plane and for them to believe that somebody was resurrected from the dead, well, it happened to Lazarus, but Jesus is the one that resurrected him. But for him to be resurrected after being in the tomb for three days and three nights? It's just too unreal, too far out. It’s like things people hear when they hear the truth. He died on a pole! Get over the cross! Because it didn't happen on a cross. It's too much. They can't believe it. It's too much. Think how much more it was for something like this.

But there's more to this account as we already started to see, as we read about this in Matthew 28, one more thing that we need to be reminded of in the account of Christ speaking to Mary the second time. Matthew 28:9. This is speaking of Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James: And as they were on their way to tell the disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Greeting! And they came and held, and the Greek word means "seized; to hold fast to," him by the feet and worshiped him. Because you remember the account before he said, "Don't touch me"? He said, "First I must go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." So we know very clearly in that short period of time then he'd become our Wave Sheaf. The Wave Sheaf was waved up before God. Whatever was involved in that, it doesn't say more, but we know that he was received as our Wave Sheaf that was to take place in the morning hours of the 1st day of the week. That's when it happened. So that's when Jesus Christ fulfilled it.

Again here, just a reminder of some of those things because they're important in the story flow of things that took place. So the events that Sunday after Jesus Christ had risen from the dead can be, again, very confusing to people as they try to piece together the story out of four different accounts. It can be rather difficult even when you know the truth, because a lot of it, because of how it's written, and a lot of it because it's not written well because it's not translated properly out of Greek into English and it gives a bit of a slant. So it makes it difficult sometimes, understandably so. That's why we've gone through this series. Yet when you know the truth and the more you know it the clearer it gets. It's a beautiful, beautiful story of how God, everything is so perfect in how He does things, His timing, the meaning, everything that's there. Just like this Wave Sheaf matter, He makes it so very clear what took place, but only if you know the truth about the Wave Sheaf and how the priests took it and waved it before God at a specific moment in time, and then to realize he wasn't to be touched and then later on it was okay to be touched – just a little bit later, not very long, because they only had to walk two miles. And in that, somewhere along that line, of them walking back he appeared again and now they could touch him because he'd fulfilled the Wave Sheaf. Awesome and beautiful in every way the way that God gives things.

And there's even more here today, to me, of things that are absolutely beautiful and awesome, something that God has only now revealed to His Church. Awesome! That He's kept secret, held back until this time. Again, it's beautiful when you understand it and He's done it for a great reason, to drive home some lessons, and one very important lesson – that He is the one who has to reveal things. He is the one who has to reveal truth and you can't know it until He gives it. Everything is in His timing and by His power. Awesome to understand!

Let's turn over to Luke 24. So, indeed, Jesus Christ spoke to her twice, Mary Magdalene, once at the tomb and then once on the way back as they were on their way back to give his message to the disciples.

So the next account of an encounter with Jesus Christ took place in the afternoon of that particular Sunday. [Luke 24:13] It says, And behold, two went that same day to a village called Emmaus. Now, it says here it was 60 furlongs, which is about seven miles from Jerusalem. So anyway, that afternoon they were walking there. Now, it's very interesting how some of this is written because it's a little here and a little there and then God reveals the fullness of the story that no one has ever understood. Never. Incredible! And they talked to each other about all these things that had happened. So these two individuals, it doesn't identify the second one until today, but it identifies one. It goes on to say, And it came to pass that while they were talking and reasoning Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were held back… their eyes were held back from knowing him. That's an amazing thing. Their ability to recognize him, in essence, was restrained, held back so that they could not know him. Incredible! That's hard to understand, but God has the power to do that. So his looks, his voice, everything was held back from them and it was just someone speaking to them, a stranger to them. What an awesome thing!

And he said to them, What manner of discussion is this that you are having with each other as you are walking and being so saddened? He could tell they were sad in how they were talking with each other, obviously. So he's addressing them about this. And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, it's the only one it identifies here, the only one, answering said unto him, Are you only a stranger, "Are you new in Jerusalem? Are you a stranger in Jerusalem? Have you just gotten here? Did you just arrive?" type of thing. That's what they're saying, "and you don't know what's been going on?" Are you a stranger in Jerusalem and have not know the things which have come to pass in these days? "Don't you know what's been going on?"

And he said to them, What things? And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have nailed him to a pole. But we trusted that he was the one… We trusted, we believed that he was the one who would redeem Israel. What they're saying is, "We believe that he was the Messiah! This is what we trusted in. This is what we believed, but it didn't happen." That's why when he came into Jerusalem the palms and the branches and different things put out before Christ and the things they cried out about Hosanna and about the lineage of David and so forth, the one who comes in the name of David, in the lineage of David, if you will. Incredible! It was about the Messiah! This is what they believed. This is what they were led to believe. And beside all this, today is the third day since these things happened. So, again, say, "Oh, what do you mean the third day? This is Sunday afternoon." Well, three days had passed since these things had happened. Three days had passed, not four yet, but three days had passed and these things happened in that period of time. It's telling when these things took place and what was happening then.

Because they go on and tell the story: Yes, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, in other words, shook us up. "We were shaken by what they had to say." …who were early at the sepulchre. So, "They came back and told us his body was not there so they shook us up and it wasn't there." And when they did not find his body they, so they're telling this story here about what the women did, then they came and told the story, when they shook us up, saying that they had seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive, and they didn't believe. And certain of them who were with us went to the sepulchre, or "among us" is what it's really talking about, and found it. But he didn't go into who or what or the rest of the story here. It's just how it's stated for a purpose because it was inspired to be written this way, and found it even so as the women had said; but they did not see him. He was gone. He wasn't there. They still didn't believe that he'd been resurrected.

Then he said to them, O, without understanding and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Can you imagine? Here they are, they don't know who he is. They don't recognize him and all of a sudden he starts speaking like this and chastising them, in essence, saying, "You slow of heart to believe what the prophets have said!" He's going to give them guidance and direction in this whole matter of what took place and they thought he was just a stranger because he didn't know what was happening. What an event! What a moment in time if you were there!

And so again here, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Shouldn't Christ (shouldn't the Messiah) have suffered these things? Can you imagine? That's what he's telling them. "Don't you think its right because of what the prophets have said that the Messiah should suffer these things?" They were taken back by that one. "What do you mean?" …and to enter into his glory? Because it's written of in the prophets, you slow of heart to believe what's written there. That's what he told them. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And undoubtedly he went through Isaiah that describes very powerfully and very succinctly the kind of suffering he was going to go through that we read so often then on Passover night, of the things that were going to happen all written by the prophets, because it's quite a story of what's written in the Old Testament, about what he was going to suffer, and then to be glorified. So Jesus Christ is telling them exactly what was written there and how powerful this is of what was being spoken.

And they drew near unto the village where they were going, and he made out as though he was going farther. So this is kind of how he spoke to them, as thought he was going to continue on. Even so, they urged him, saying, Remain with us, because there was something special in what he was saying and how he was saying it and their response to that, and they wanted to hear more. So they said, Remain with us, for it is toward evening, "It's going on toward evening now and no need to continue on here. Just come in with us; stay here," as the day is nearly over. And he went in to remain with them. At least that's what they believed at this point.

Verse 30—And it came to pass, as he sat at dinner with them he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, at that moment; finally, whatever it was God did in their mind all of a sudden they knew it was Christ. Awesome story! It’s incredible story to live something like that, that God has the power to keep certain things hidden from mankind. Much of the Bible is written that way for that purpose because it's not their time to know and understand many things. Jesus Christ said that's why he spoke in parables, so that people would not understand fully what he was saying, the spirit of things that can only be understood by the spirit of God. People think they understand those things and they don't grasp because it's about God's plan and God's purpose for mankind. Incredible!

And they said to each another, Didn't our heart burn within us? "Our heart was burning! It was like a fire inside when he spoke to us these words," and while he talked to us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? That doesn't mean that they went in and had scrolls that they opened up and started going through scrolls. He talked about it on the road with them; he spoke to them along the way. It's talking about their minds were opened up to the scriptures he gave to them. "Of the things he spoke to us," he opened up understanding to them by the things written in scripture about the Messiah and how he should suffer and how he would be glorified. "Shouldn't the Messiah indeed have suffered these things?" as he started out when he talked to them. Then he proved it to them by those things that he quoted out of scripture. So their minds were opened up to understand those things.

And they rose up the same hour, meaning they got up right away. You know why? They're going to hightail it back over to the disciples. They're going to tell them this story of what just took place. They saw Jesus Christ! They spoke to Jesus Christ, Cleopas and this other man, whoever he was. And they rose up that hour and returned to Jerusalem. So they hightailed it back. They didn't walk slowly; they hightailed it back. It didn't mean they ran all the way, but they were on the move because they wanted to tell the story that evening to the disciples.

They rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem and found eleven gathered together, It's very interesting how it's written here. Thomas wasn't there. This puts another crunch in things. So people can understand and know because that Thomas wasn't there because he didn't show up until quite a bit later in the story when he finally did what he did in putting his hand in, or being told by Christ, "Thrust in your hand in my side and see where the spikes were that ran through my hand." So it tells in the story (we'll come to those verses later on), but it doesn't happen for a while. Some seem to think it happened quite early on, it happened at this point in time. No, it didn't. What happened with Thomas (doubting Thomas) was quite a bit later. You'll see that in the story as we go along.

So eleven were there. Judas wasn't there; he was already dead. Thomas wasn't there. So how are there eleven? What eleven is it talking about? Two of twelve we know weren't there and there's a third one that wasn't there too. Peter. Peter is the second individual along with Cleopas. They were walking together. It is Peter that was spoken to by Jesus Christ, and Cleopas, but Peter was the only one that was of the original twelve, see. Important to understand what took place there.

So it goes on to say he found the eleven gathered there, of those who were with them, saying, The Lord indeed has risen and has appeared to Simon! To Simon Peter! You bet he did because he was with Cleopas and they spoke, and Christ spoke to them, but he was one of the twelve, the original. So when they came there they found eleven together. Who were the eleven? Well, you have to understand when they're writing what they're doing. They're not writing this that night. They're writing this many years later in some cases (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and they're looking back in time and they're talking about what had transpired and what had taken place in time and they're telling this incredible story. Luke is in this particular case in what he's writing here and he's talking about eleven were there.

We all should know the story. Matter of fact let's just turn over to Acts, the book of Acts, chapter 1, written by Luke. It begins to tell a story here in verse 15. [Acts 1:15]—And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said… so it's talking about all those who were with them at this point in time, of those that were being spoken to. And he said, Men and brethren, this scripture had to be fulfilled, which the holy spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, Judas Iscariot, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all of his entrails gushed out. His stomach ripped open after being there for a time and his body decaying. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let his dwelling place be desolate and let no man live in it; let another take his office.

There is no way on earth anyone could understand what that was all about in Psalms except God gave it. God gave it to them to understand this is what this is about, this is what this means. When God gives something in a particular matter, when He reveals something, it doesn't matter how many times people read it no one is going to understand what it is until God says, "This is what it is," and then God gives it to be given, to be spoken. It’s beautiful to understand this, and in this particular case this had been given to Peter, and he spoke it because it was time to do something that was very important for the disciples to do and to address before the day of Pentecost.

Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time—all the time—that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. It required twelve. God made it very clear to them there had to be twelve. Judas was dead. One more has to be added. And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. Two more that could be considered. And they prayed and said, You, O LORD, who know the hearts of all, show us which of these two you have chosen, because it's of these two. "Show us which one you have chosen," because it wasn't for them to choose. It was something for God to make clear who He wanted to be the one who would fulfill this to take the place of Judas, to take part in the ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they cast their lots, a practice at that particular time still in force. Before the day of Pentecost they cast lots. Which one? …cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

So the reality is in this particular story as you're looking back in time, and he's writing back in time what took place, he's picturing something here about those who were gathered together of a unique period in time when it wasn't yet known who the other one would be that would replace Judas. There were eleven who were there. Thomas was gone. Judas was dead. Peter was with Cleopas, and Jesus Christ revealed himself to them. So to the nine you add two and you have eleven who were still there amongst those individuals in that home in that house. They were together from the very beginning of the time of John the Baptist and they saw the things of Christ and they went on those trips with them. They were together with them the whole time, but to that point in time there had only been twelve up to the time of Judas Iscariot, and then things began to change. It’s quite a story.

See, God can keep something back from anyone knowing, from an entire Church from knowing until it's time to say, "This is what it is. This is what it's about." It should be very clear what it's all about and how all these things fit together, but we can't until God gives it. No more than Peter and Cleopas walking together side by side could not see, could not recognize, did not know Jesus Christ who was speaking to them until he revealed himself. It's a beautiful story and it's an awesome thing by the power of God that He gives for great purpose.

Because we're at a time of some of those things that have been happening again, and they cannot be known, just like that which is going to take place when Jesus Christ returns that has already begun in the Church concerning things that God has already given to the Church that comes by no other source but by what God has revealed because you can't read any scriptures about it that you know of, period. The curse upon women being removed. Awesome! Beautiful! Exciting to understand, but when it's time God gives it and He gives us the ability to see it, the ability for us to see it.

So verse 35, going back here, continuing on in Luke 24. I want to read that again in verse 33. [Luke 24:33]—And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem, Cleopas and Simon Peter, and found the eleven gathered together, nine plus the two who had not yet been chosen as to who would replace Judas, and those who were with them, the women and others who were still gathered together, saying, The Lord has indeed risen, and has appeared to Simon! Who do you think was speaking? Cleopas. He said he spoke to Simon. "He spoke to one of you. He's alive. He's been resurrected, just like Mary Magdalene said." Incredible. And they told about the things that were done along the way, and how he was made known to them at the breaking of bread. And as they told this, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, Peace be to you. It scared the tar out of them. They'd never experienced anything like this. It shook them up! Here they are in a closed building, doors shut because they're afraid of being taken, they were afraid for their lives, and all of a sudden someone is right in the midst of them and says, "Peace be to you." It'd shake you up a little bit. It shook them up. It did, as we'll find out as we go along with the story.

Good to pick up another part of the story here that I've already told the answer to, but it's good to see how it's written in other places. This is in 1 Corinthians. We're going to come back to Luke 24 in a moment, so you might want to hold your place there, but 1 Corinthians 15, notice what Paul was inspired to write to the Corinthian Church.

1 Corinthians 15:1—Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand. The gospel. The good news, yes, about Jesus Christ, about God's purpose in him, about him being our Passover, as he told them throughout 1 Corinthians 15 because it's in 1 Corinthians 15 where he discusses Jesus Christ being the Passover, where he talks about, you know, that which is unleavened and talks about unleavening their homes and he goes on and talks about, "Therefore, let us keep the Feast," as he was talking about sin that was in their midst and so forth, that they need to get rid of the leaven. Then he goes on in chapter 10 and 11 and some of the things we read on Passover night, again, and especially in chapter 11 there where it talks about that we're going to keep Passover just as it was given to the apostles on the night they observed Passover, when it talks about taking of the bread and taking of the wine and those things are explained in 1 Corinthians there.

So here, later on in chapter 15, he's going through and telling these things and he said, so this is in the gospel wherein you stand, the truth that God gives to us wherein you stand. That's what we stand in. That's how we stand. We are able to make a stand and stand for God's way of life because of the truth that God has given to us, just as we heard last week when Wayne Matthews went through and just picked up a few of the truths that have been given to God's Church. All of them, profound what God has given to us, but that's where we stand. That's what separates us from everyone else. That's what makes us God's people – because we believe it and because we stand firm in the truth of what God has given. Incredible! Just like the truth that God gave to us in 2005; it's far more profound and greater than so many of us really comprehend, especially if we're newer, because it's hard for us to relate to what it was like before when we believed that there were two who had eternally existed. Yet to know now that is so wrong, that is so foreign, yet that's where we were for a time because we hadn't come out of all that was false that that Catholic Church had polluted the world with. God hadn't yet brought the Church fully out of all that garbage that had polluted His Church through Sardis and nearly destroyed the Church of God, but He didn't let that happen. Instead He raised up a man to head up a powerful work at the end of an age, to tell mankind we're at the end of an age, we're at the end, and if God didn't intervene we would annihilate ourselves. The message began through Mr. Armstrong.

So he went on to say, by which you also are saved, that truth, the gospel, the truth that God gives throughout His word to His people. It’s all good news, every truth that God gives to us, especially about our Passover and about our High Priest and those things that we have as a matter of salvation and the ability to be forgiven of sin, the ability to have our minds transformed and when we fall on our face and repeat something in our lives, something comes out of our mouth or we do something that pulls at us in this world and we give in to something that we know better than, as Paul talks about in chapter 7 and 8 in Romans, we repent of that because we want God. We choose God's way of life, and we did from the time we were baptised! We keep fighting and we keep repenting when we're wrong. God keeps forgiving us and He keeps transforming this mind. Every time we repent we agree with Almighty God; we esteem Almighty God. We grow in character every time we repent because, you see, everyone who has left, everyone who has gone by the wayside, at some point they quit repenting, they quit fighting the fight. It's about the fight. It's about never stopping the fight. It's about keeping on moving forward in God's way of life and esteeming and upholding and standing in the truths that God gives to us. We don't pick and choose. We can't decide, "Well, I don't like this thing about women. I don't agree with this thing about women, that all of a sudden things are changing." Some have left over that. Tough cookie. You've got some tough lessons to learn in the hundred-year period, if you haven't gone too far in polluting your mind and going against God, especially a second time when you are awakened out of sleep.

…by which/through which you are also saved if… If you keep in memory, if you remember and don't forget. That's why I speak out as loud as I do sometimes about the 57 Truths. They are your strength! They are your power, by the power of God's spirit that brings them alive in your mind to know they're of God and to know they are true. Therein you stand and are made strong in God's truth and God's way of life. …if you keep in memory, you remember what I preached unto you. "So how did you receive the good news? How did you receive the truth of these things, Corinthians?" God used me to teach you, to tell you. This is what you're able to stand in if you keep it in mind, if you don't forget it, if you don't put it aside, if you hold on to it as precious, as a pearl of great price.

…by which you are also saved if you keep in memory (remember) what I preached unto you unless (except, otherwise) you have believed in vain. It's all been for nothing. When I read something like that I can't help but think about people who have gone by the wayside, that it's all been in vain what they were given, all the truths, some 57. 57; more truth than any age of mankind. People have not known. It has not been given. But now it's the time we're in before Christ returns as he's preparing a Church for his return, as he's preparing the message that's going to continue on far more powerfully as soon as he returns, which I think of the next series that's going to begin soon about marriage and how lacking people have been in understanding of how important that institution is that God ordained at creation when He made man and woman. Incredible!

So he goes on to say, For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. So especially in the beginning this was the focal point of the message over and over again, about Jesus Christ, about him dying and what it means for us, him being our Passover.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, you know, in the third day, right at the end of the third day, or the three periods of time there—three days and three nights—and that he was seen of Peter, Cephas. It's about Peter. After Mary Magdalene it points out the importance of Jesus Christ appearing to Peter, then to the twelve. "Then to the twelve." Think about these things, how they're written and why they're written this way and why Paul wrote this way later on. And that he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some have fallen asleep. Some have died by the time Paul was writing. So he's talking about these individuals that saw Jesus Christ after the resurrection that were a part of the Church that received what they did on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. It’s etched into their being, into their minds powerfully so by what they witnessed.

Going back to Luke 24 now. Luke 24:36—And as they told this, it's about Peter and Cleopas telling the story about Christ being with them, Jesus himself stood in their midst, and said to them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and afraid, and thought that they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled? Why is there such thinking that's arisen in your hearts? Why are you thinking this way? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Feel me and see for yourself, because a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Awesome, what took place. We can relate some of this to why they might have felt this way in stories that exist even to this day about things of people thinking maybe they had seen a spirit or these things that are out there and people have seen things because there are people who have seen things, but they've never seen flesh and blood because a demon can't manifest themself that way. Satan can't manifest himself that way. God doesn't allow it. He doesn't allow it. They can't manifest themselves in a physical form. They can play with things of nature to a certain degree like a mist and an apparition. That's why they call it that, because it's kind of a form of something, but that's as far as they can go when they've done things. There are things they can mess with as far as science, as far as physics is concerned out here, and messing with things in the elements, but to appear, they can't do it. That's what Jesus Christ told them. He said, "A spirit can't do this; no flesh and bones, as I have. They can't do this."

Verse 41—And when they still doubted in joy and in amazement, he said to them, so there was this excitement, doubt of things of what were taking place because it's a shock. I mean, they were shocked. That's about the only way you can put it, of what was taking place there. Peter and Cleopas, it wasn't as bad, but you have someone pop in the midst of you all of a sudden and say something to you. It can shake you up. He said to them, Do you have anything here to eat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb. And he took it and did eat before them.

Let's pick this up now in John, John 20. They all write about this a little bit differently, in a little bit different fashion as they tell the story from their own vantage point.

He just starts in, verse 19 [John 20:19]—Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be to you. This shook them up big time. And after he had said that he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord, when they recognized who it was. Can you imagine all the emotion? Here they'd been mourning and crying, gathered together there lamenting what had taken place and the fact that what they had trusted in didn't come to pass, that the Messiah that they had believed would rise up and free them from the Roman government and free them from the things of Judaism and so forth didn't happen. Then all of a sudden for that to change and to see he's alive? He is of God. He is Elohim. Awesome! Because that's what they recognized. Then Jesus said to them again, Peace be to you! As my Father has sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, or breathed into them. It's not speaking of that as a matter of breath; it's not what he did, but from his presence he breathed. It's a form of speaking of that which is of the holy spirit, and gave them of the holy spirit – not the impregnation of the holy spirit, because that didn't happen until Pentecost. When they were impregnated with the holy spirit, that's a totally different matter, but now they were given an ability and a power of strength in a stronger degree than they'd ever experienced as a matter of being drawn and seeing a little bit here and there. Now their minds were more fully opened up to different things. So this is what this is about. And he said to them, Receive you the holy spirit. So they did. He gave it to them. Awesome! Please understand, again, not the impregnation, but of the holy spirit which enables those to see things of the spirit in the mind, the only way they can be seen.

So this was a very powerful thing that happened, more powerful than anything they'd ever experienced, that would lead them on up to the day of Pentecost. We experience this in part in some varying degrees depending on what things have happened in our life as we are called. As God draws us He begins to give us of His spirit to see things that we otherwise could not understand nor know. We begin to see things at some point that God reveals to us about the Sabbath, that the Sabbath day is correct; we see something wrong with Sunday. No matter how that process begins in our life as God works with us. We don’t do it. It's God that does it if it's something that remains in here and it can be seen. Then on holy days often there are different things we begin to see and understand that are so clear to us.

I remember the very first evening around 10:00 in an evening one night and my dad began to speak about things having to do with the Sabbath and the holy days and the migrations of the people of the children of Israel into Europe and into the United States. I didn't have to open a Bible. I didn't have to open a book. I didn't have to open anything and I knew it was true. I believed it from that moment in a way that we all experience in varying degrees. You just know it. It's an awesome thing. That's what happens when God gives you His holy spirit to know. It’s not just to hear something and think, "You know, that's interesting." People are sometimes perk up a little bit and think, "That's interesting. He didn't die on a cross? Well, that makes some sense." We're not talking about that. I'm talking about when you know it, when all of a sudden your eyes see it and its there. It's an awesome thing.

So he said, Receive you the holy spirit. Whosoever sins, powerful, powerful, powerful what he went on to tell them, something that many in the Church still do not grasp and comprehend because this is about government. This is about authority that God gives in His Church and it is powerful, brethren, it truly is. Whosoever sins you remit, means to let go. Some places it's translated as forgive, but we understand that we don't have a right to hold things as far as sin against someone else. He's speaking of something a little bit different here in a little bit different vein. Whosoever sins you remit (let go), I'll explain that as we go along here, they are remitted to them; and whosoever sins you retain, the word means "hold fast," they are held fast, they are retained.

Now, this is a powerful thing, what Jesus Christ said and the authority he began to give to the Church and what he began to establish, especially through the apostle Peter who was the head of the disciples, who was the head of the apostles of the Church in the beginning. Then Paul was added later on who was a head over the gentiles and its how God works as far as a matter of government is concerned. There are times when individuals are worked with and it comes to a matter of something that has to do with a unity of spirit with God and how God's spirit works to lead and guide and direct His Church, that there are some things that God gives grace and mercy to individuals to be worked with in certain ways. There are also situations and times when someone is told, "You have crossed the line. You are no longer in fellowship with God's Church." In essence, "Your sins are going to be held fast. You are not repenting. You believe something different. You have no part with us," and they are separated from the body and God, obviously. That's in unity and oneness with His spirit, and that is upheld. It's about authority He gives to the Church to do these things. Again, it's not a small thing. It's so awesomely important, something that has been misused in times past by some. But as a whole here, especially when you talk about those primary ones with through whom God works, it is an incredible thing that God has given. Sometimes we don't recognize all that God has given with authority and power. It goes far beyond that, it truly does, and maybe we'll talk about that in another sermon. I don't want to go into that so much today, but I just think of things that continue to happen.

See, there comes a time when you have to discern and judge. You have to ask God for help and ask various kinds of questions and then make a decision and a choice, and it’s a matter of looking to God and saying, "Reveal to me, give to me what I need to see." Sometimes it happens quickly, and sometimes it may go on for months and then all of a sudden God will show it, what needs to be done because He gives people time. I'm talking about when people get on the edge, see, a place none of us should ever be, but sometimes that happens in life. Then we have to make choices, "What are we going to do? Are we going to listen to how God is working with us, to how God taught us and teaches us in the first place? Are we going to listen then when guidance and direction and correction is given to us and are we going to pay heed to it and make the changes we need to make when we need to make them?

Because, you see, this thing still goes on to this day. Every Feast of Tabernacles I'm reminded of it. Every Feast of Tabernacles there are fewer than what were before, unless God is at a point in time where He's drawing people and it's grown because He's drawn some. But always in God's Church, every year that I've been in God's Church since 1969, every year some go by the wayside. It still happens to this day. People still go by the wayside, no longer with us. It boggles my mind in one respect, and then in another it doesn't. We have to stand fast in what God gives to us, and it's our choice. No one else can make it for us. It's up to us.

So it's very powerful what he had to say here. This would be a sermon in itself in putting other sermon scriptures together and things that are said here. Whosoever sins you remit (let go) they are let go. God allows mercy to be given. If He doesn't want it to be given He'll take care of that too. But if there is mercy to be given, if mercy is given God gives mercy. He upholds it. He backs it.

Going on. I could tell you some things that would probably blow your mind, but I'm not going to yet.

Verse 24—But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. See, I mentioned that earlier. He wasn't there. Judas was dead, yet it speaks of eleven. Incredible. The other disciples, therefore, said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I should see his hands and the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. "You want me to believe something like this and I haven't seen it? I saw the soldier ram the spear up through his side and out came water and blood, and they took him down and they put him in a tomb. He's been there for over three days and you're telling me he's resurrected, he's not dead anymore? I don't believe it!" Now, we can read a story like this and think, "Well, man, he was a tough cookie, wasn't he?" Well, he didn't have the holy spirit like you have. He wasn't impregnated with God's holy spirit like you are. He's just a man addressing it truthfully from his vantage point. "This is too much to believe. I can't believe it unless I see it myself. Then if I see it, okay. But if not? This is just too much!" Sometimes it's hard for us to place our self in that kind of a position.

Going on, verse 26—And after eight days his disciples were together inside again, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, so here we go again, Peace be to you. Then he said to Thomas, because Thomas is now here. You see the days that have passed? You see how long this was? This wasn't on Sunday, okay? Then he said to Thomas, Reach in here your finger, and behold my hands; and reach your hand in here and thrust it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Powerful! He recognized who he was. "You are the Son of God. You are in Elohim."

Verse 29—And Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. And truly, many other signs Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. So there are a lot of things that happened in that forty days after Christ had been resurrected that we don't know about, that haven't been written. Awesome! Awesome to understand. So many things that took place, of signs and things that he did to strengthen them, to encourage them with the job that was in front of them. Because they had it really, really, really tough. They didn't have it easy like we do. We have it easy in this world where we can flip on switches and we can turn on the air and we can speak to some people out here now over, you know, a video telecast, and they can hear a sermon anywhere around the world as I imagine some got up early this morning in Australia, as their custom is, to listen. Incredible! They lived at a time when people were out to kill them, put them to death. And in time, for all that we understand and know, they ended up doing just that. Except for one that we know of, John, who went and was put in prison for a time on the Isle of Patmos, and from all we understand, lived out his life before he died. All the rest killed (one means or another), by people in government of their time. Incredible stories.

So many in the Church as well suffered greatly, not just them. They went after everyone they could. Paul, when he was Saul, was going after different ones and throwing them in prison wherever he could, and consenting some should be put to death. Because that's when Stephen, when he confronted Stephen there in Acts, as you read the story, he was the one who gave the approval and the nod, "Stone him; put him to death." He gave approval to kill Stephen. Then Jesus Christ worked with him and called him and converted him and from that moment forward the rest of his life he always remembered how he persecuted the Church. It was always in his mind and because of that he had a zeal toward God, toward Jesus Christ to fulfill and to do whatever he had to fulfill, whatever hardship he had to go through, ever how much bobbing around he had to do in the Mediterranean when ships would crash, or, you know, break apart as they did, and some of the things he had to go through before he was put to death. Incredible!

Sometimes we think we have it pretty tough. We have it easy. We really do. As far as the physical life and things we have to go through, we have it pretty easy. It's good to think back on these people and what they went through. I oftentimes do, especially if I go through any kind of suffering whatsoever, because I realize what I'm going through is peanuts compared to what they went through, not suffering at all. I don't care if it's right at the point of death and not knowing whether you are or aren't, and whether or not they're going to be able to fix you or not; they put you on a nice soft bed, a nice cool place, and they're taking really good care of you. Not like what they had to suffer. It's not like what they had to go through. Awesome, to understand and put things in perspective about the Great God of the universe and how blessed we are.

And the fact that we have more truth than they all had? How blessed are you? How rich are you? They didn't have all that we have today. They didn't even come close, in some cases, to what we have today, of things that God gave to Mr. Armstrong, of seeing the world at the end of an age. Can you image when people are resurrected, these individuals, and they see these things running up and down the highway, and on rails, and things going flying through the air? It's going to take a little while just to get adjusted to some of that, to realize what God gave to mankind at the end of around 200 year period of time.

I think of what we've seen in a short period of time. I think, you know, thinking today about just computers alone. You talk about sending people up to the moon and some of the things that have been done, and so forth, and you think about the systems they had and they worked with then – and then today? Look at the computer systems we have today. They could probably do it on an iPad today, send a man to the moon and back, compared to what they had back then. Anyway, the power, and the power that man misuses. Awesome to understand these things and how blessed we really are.

I think of this statement here, when Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed. That's us. That's all those from that time forward that God called and they believed. They never saw Christ because he didn't come back again. He didn't come back to this world. He didn't come back to the Church. He came in the spirit. He came through the power of the holy spirit, and he comes into our lives through the power of holy spirit, but that's something we learn in time, but as far as to come back and to teach face to face? It never happened again. We live by faith. It's a great power. Now, they started that process, and more so once they were impregnated with God's holy spirit, but to this, at this point in time here he's just making a point, "Blessed are those that are going to follow who've never seen, and yet they believe." Awesome that we have that ability through God's holy spirit to believe, to know, because we know.

Truly, many other signs did Jesus do in the presence of them, not all written in this book. But these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through his name.

Matthew 28:16—Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. Now it's very specific here, writing in a different way, very clear who they are. The one hadn't been added yet so he's making something very explicit here in what he's saying. Judas was dead.

Verse 17—And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, All power has been given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go you, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the holy spirit. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And, behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. It’s beautiful because he's with us. He's with his Church. He's with His body, the Body of Christ, the Church of God to the very end until he does return, until he does come back to this earth in the Kingdom of God and establish that Kingdom on earth. Beautiful, beautiful verses and what it's speaking of here and understanding what it means to be able to be baptized, to have your sins forgiven, to be immersed in water and to come out of it and walk in newness of life, to become a new person, a new creation of God, or an ongoing creation of God, if you will. I love that! To realize that the creation process didn't just happen when Adam and Eve were made and all the things that happened back then, that God has a greater purpose of a creation, a far greater level of His creation in bringing many sons, many children, if you will, into His Family, the God Family, into Elohim. Beautiful!

Luke 24:44—And he said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their mind, it says to "understanding," but it's about their mind, because he gave them the holy spirit. This is what it's talking about: "He breathed upon them the holy spirit." It says receive the holy spirit, and receive this understanding of things they could grasp and comprehend. Then he opened their mind, which is what it means in the Greek language, so that they might understand the scriptures, to understand what was being stated that was about him, about his purpose, about what he'd fulfilled and about things to come.

And said to them, Thus it is written, and thus it is expedient for Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, again, the third day, at the very end of it when it was all said and done, to fulfill three full days. And that repentance and remission… So it's stating it over and over again about the importance of those days, not a day and a half. That is really so despicable, so disgusting that so much of the world that calls itself Christian upholds that when Jesus made it so clear, "The only sign I'm leaving you is that I'll be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights." If you believe it's a day and a half can you imagine what he would say to them, what he would say to people? "You want to hold onto a day and a half that disproves I'm the Messiah? Where is he then? What do you believe? What are you holding on to? By your very belief you disprove everything you seem to think you uphold." Incredible!

So he tells them here what had to be accomplished. Going on, And that repentance and remission (or release or forgiveness) of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. So from that part of the world, indeed, that's where it began. The very thing that the Jews should have embraced, should have recognized on the very day that it happened, on the very Passover day that's so far from their minds. The one they killed, the one they put to death fulfilled the meaning of Passover. He was the Passover! Incredible!

And you are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father unto you. So he's showing about all power in heaven and earth had been given to him. That's a powerful thing he's stated, "All power." "Until all enemies are put under his feet, and then all will have been put under God Almighty," and in essence, "returned to God Almighty." All peace, finally, for mankind, who will no longer be because there comes a time when mankind no longer exists. Only Elohim. Beautiful.

God gave 7,100 years to accomplish that, 7,000 years just to have those who could potentially become a part of that. Because there will be no births in life after/during that Hundred-years. No new life given.

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father unto you, speaking of the holy spirit that mankind was to be able to receive in a larger scale, in the form of that which would give that which is referred to as the Body of Christ, the Church of God – not where God Almighty is just working specifically with different individuals over a period of 4,000 years, but now in a body, in a spiritual body where more can be worked with. And that's about to be multiplied in ways that we can't even begin to fathom. Can you imagine hundreds of millions in the Church of God, in the Body of Christ? And God Almighty and Jesus Christ on a spiritual plane working within them to accomplish such a great purpose to bring them into the Family, a spiritual family?

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father unto you, but remain you in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued, and the word in the Greek here, this means literally "to sink into," till it sinks into you. We refer to it as being immersed into, if you will. That's the terminology, "being immersed into the holy spirit." We are baptized with water and we are baptized into the holy spirit. That's what it means. We are immersed into it, to sink in to it. That's what our lives are to reflect, that indeed we receive of that and that great power.

So, again here, remain you in the city of Jerusalem, which they did till Pentecost, when this was accomplished, until you are endued with/in power from on high. What a beautiful thing! That power that we have once we become impregnated with God's holy spirit – baptized, hands layed upon us, and then receive the impregnation of God's spirit all made possible because of the real story about Jesus Christ's life, death, and life.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1