Abide In Me

Wayne Matthews

July 17, 2021

Welcome, brethren, to this seventh-day Sabbath.

This is one of the most exciting topics that we could look at as the called-out ones. This is something that we can meditate on because it is an exciting topic, in my opinion, as they would say. Because this is something that is unique to this time, to this period of time within God’s Church.

We’re going to start by looking at John 14:20. John 14:20—At that day… This is Joshua speaking, At that day, which is referring to Pentecost 31 A.D. when the gift of God’s holy spirit would be given, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

Now, we understand something here that it’s important to understand. The first point is, it is without God’s spirit a person cannot be in God. That’s not possible. So, when this talks about “I am in my Father,” well, that means that Joshua had the same thinking as God. He was in the Father. He was in full agreement with the Father and we’re going to cover a lot more of this in a bit more detail as we go on.

“…and you in me,” which is believing in and being with Christ.

“…and I in you.” Now, that’s the aspect that we don’t talk about much because what does it really mean to be “in Christ.” Now, we understand quite clearly what it’s about God the Father and Joshua the Messiah being in us through the power of God’s holy spirit. We understand that. But what does it really mean to say, “I in you,” which is Christ in us?

So, the title of this sermon is Abide In Me.

Now, we’re going to look at this in the sense of what does it really mean to “abide in me.” We understand what Christ meant when he said, “I in you.” We understand that. Christ in us. We understand that. We understand what it means when it is stated, “God and Christ dwell in us.” Now, we understand that process.

So, we’re going to look at truth #9 which explains God’s holy spirit:

9 (6) The human spirit in man. The difference between the human mind and animal brain is that there is a human spirit within a human being [which we all have], that gives the ability of free thought [which we have], creativity, and memory [which we have. And as we get older, we lose that memory]. This human spirit must be united with the spirit of God [God’s holy spirit] for man to be able to come to know the true ways of God.

So, that’s very clear as a truth. Now, we often dwell on the first part of that truth, which is about the difference between an animal and a human. But this topic that we’re going to look at today about “abide in me,” which is about abiding in Christ, or dwelling in Christ, comes about by the power of God’s holy spirit because then we can come to know and see the true ways of God. Now, that’s the important part. We need God’s holy spirit to be able to understand, to be able to see spiritually.

So, what does it mean “you in me,” which is talking about us dwelling in Christ? Now, we’ve never really gone into that in a lot of detail, but we understand what it means. But we’re going to talk about that topic today.

What does it mean to dwell or abide in me? What does it mean, “I am in my Father”? We’re going to look at all those particular topics. So, the purpose of this sermon is to look at what it means for a person called by God (which is the important part), they have to be called by God, and receive God’s holy spirit (the next key part), to be able to abide in Christ or dwell in God. Which is the reverse to what we talk about often, which is about God and Christ dwelling in us. Well, we’re going to talk about today what does it mean when it says we abide in God and abide in Christ.

I’m going to give the short answer here so that we’ve covered this early on because we’re going to get into a lot of scriptures and I tend to lose myself a little bit in scriptures. The short answer is we need God’s holy spirit dwelling in us to see spiritually. We can’t see anything spiritual without God’s holy spirit.

Now, just taking that very topic and that very point: Therefore (because of that very statement), we understand that nobody in the world can see spiritually unless they are being drawn, which is God not dwelling in them permanently but being drawn by God. Because it’s God that gives the gift or the ability to see something spiritually. Because without God’s spirit we cannot see spiritually. Therefore, no one in the world other than those being drawn may begin to see something spiritual. But you can’t unless you have God’s holy spirit.

The other point of that is those that are in the Church that are scattered that once could see, once they had God’s holy spirit at one point in time, and because they fell asleep (like I did). And fortunately, I, like many of you, were awakened along with my wife, that we were awakened to see spiritually again. Other than that, I wouldn’t be here. Unless God had given me that opportunity to have the gift of His holy spirit once again to be able to see something spiritual.

So, all the Church that is scattered, unless they are being drawn again by God, the beginning of an awakening with the gift of God’s holy spirit is once again available to them, they cannot see God’s word. They can’t see God’s word. We need God’s holy spirit in us to see spiritually, see God’s word, the truth, and then if we choose to live by God’s word, we choose to live the truth, we abide in Christ.

So, what it really is saying is that if we abide in Christ and if we abide in God, we have God’s holy spirit, and we have chosen to live the truth. Because we see the truth, we look at it, we understand it, we see it, but living it is the key. So, to “abide in Christ” really means we’re living by the very word of God.

If we live by God and Christ’s word, we are the same word, we’re of the same word. Christ was the Word of God made flesh. We dwell in, abide in Christ and God because we’re living the very word that God the Father has given us and that Joshua the Messiah has given us, because he was in God. It’s the same word.

We’re going to go through John 14. Now, this is something that the world doesn’t understand, and the Church that’s scattered doesn’t really understand this because it takes God’s holy spirit to be able to understand it. Now, we’ve been so blessed that God has given this truth, this understanding to His apostle, and therefore, we have it because it was given to us by God through Christ through an apostle, that we understand it. The gift of God’s holy spirit enables us to see this. Therefore, without God’s holy spirit we can’t see this on a spiritual level.

John 14:1—Let not your heart (mind) be troubled, which is the word “agitate; to agitate something” which is be a bit nervy about it. …you believe in me, which is “You commit to me, you trust in me, you trust in God.” So, you believe in God, believe (trust) also in me. Because it’s the same thinking. It’s the same mind. It’s the word of God.

Verse 2—In my Father’s house (household) which we are, are many dwelling places (places of abode). God’s holy spirit dwells in His believers, those that are called to believe. It’s a gift that we have given to us by God. It’s not from us.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I (Joshua, the Messiah) go to prepare a place for you. This is about Christ in heaven as our High Priest, as the head of the Church working with those God the Father has called to be atoned to God.

It’s a beautiful thing that we understand that Joshua the Messiah is with God the Father working with us, creating something in us. Which is, creating a family of spirit beings from humans. And the creation is up here; it’s the word taking place in our minds that we have the ability to see the word, see the truth, to understand it, and the choice that we have is will we implement that into our life and live it so we’re living the word of God. That’s how we abide in Christ, we abide in God. Because we see something, we believe it, then we implement it, therefore, we’re living the very word of God.

Verse 3—And if I go to prepare (make ready) a place for you, which now is a place in the Church and in time a place in Elohim, in God’s Family. Both are spiritual not physical. So, this calling is spiritual. It’s not something physical. Being in the Body of Christ is a spiritual matter. It’s not a physical thing. So, our relationship with God is spiritual in nature.

I will come (am coming) again (anew) and receive you to myself; that where I am, which is in the Church (the spirit of the matter), there you may be also. In the Church of God and Christ living in us, and in time in Elohim.

So, whether we are alone or whether we’re together in a group, God and Christ can dwell in us, therefore, He is here. If we’re by ourselves? He is here because God is in us.

Verse 4—And where I go, which is to the Father in heaven as a spirit being, you know, and the way you know. Now, remembering that the disciples at this point in time were still physically motivated. Their thinking was physical, which is what the world is. It’s just all about a physical thing. And how do you understand this?

So, Thomas says, which is something that we would ask and say, “Well, what do you mean? What are you talking about?” Because if we were to say this to somebody, they wouldn’t understand it. “When Christ returns many are going to be changed.” “What do you mean, Christ returns?” let alone “many will be changed.”

Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going; and how can we know the way? It’s a good question, really, because you say, “Well, where are you going and how will we know where to go? How do we know to follow if you don’t tell us where you’re going? If we don’t know where you’re going, how do we know how to get there?”

We know there is only one way to get there. That’s something interesting on a spiritual level. We understand that it’s through obedience to the word of God is the way to get there. Which is about battling self, overcoming self through the power of God’s holy spirit, living the word of God. That’s how a person gets there. That “get there” is not to heaven but to Elohim, to be a spirit being

Hold your place in John 14:5 there. We’ll be going on to verse 6 but hold your place there and turn to Matthew 7:13.

Now, this should have a great meaning to us as well because of the battle that we are in and we’re fighting self. Which, the world doesn’t know about fighting self. The Church that’s scattered doesn’t understand about fighting self. Because it can’t. Without the gift of God’s holy spirit, a person cannot be transformed. They can conform, but they can’t be transformed, new way of thinking, the word of God in us.

Matthew 7:13. So, this is about entering Elohim. How? Enter by the narrow gate. Now, why is it narrow? Often, we would think just a little weeny narrow gate and we’ve just got to squeeze through. Well, that’s not what the spirit of this is really talking about. It’s narrow because there are obstacles standing close by. So, this is a difficult way to get through this gate. You might see the gate but it’s difficult because of all the obstacles.

It’s about a big obstacle. And what’s that big obstacle that’s in the way? Self! The biggest obstacle we have about entering Elohim is self, because we have to fight self, we’ve got to overcome those three main points. They’re overview points about desires or lusts that dwell in us.

So, we have to battle self to enter. And the reason is: for wide, which means there’s a big wide gate which is easy to get through because there’s no obstacles. Why are there no obstacles? Because we’re not fighting self. Because self is the big obstacle. It’s those lusts. Well, if we don’t recognize them and we don’t do anything about them, well, it’s wide, it’s easy, just stroll on in. Well, that’s not the way to enter Elohim. It can’t be done. It’s not possible. So, there is no battling of self going on in this wide gate.

…for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. Because it can’t be changed. It cannot be changed to a spirit being because there’s been no battle, there’s been no obstacles placed in our way or the awareness of the obstacle, and therefore, there’s been no fight. Therefore, it leads to destruction. It’s called a second death. …and there are many who go in by it.

Verse 14—Because narrow is the gate and difficult… And that word “difficult” is “trouble; afflict; narrow; suffer tribulation.” Well, we’re all in tribulation. We should be because we are aware of self and what self does and how self looks after self, our selfishness.

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, to spirit life, it’s talking about. …and there are few who find it. Now, “Many are called, and few are chosen.” Well, here we see few that enter because few that have been called take up the fight and endure to the end, which is what life is about, enduring to the end. Because we will stumble and fall.

We’ll go back to John 14:6. So, this way that we have to follow, we have to enter through this gate, enter into spirit life, is difficult. It’s difficult because once we have had ourselves revealed to our self, we see our self and our selfishness and how we respond and how we act, we know when it’s wrong and we can repent and we fall again, that this is a difficult path. This is just not an easy stroll in through a big, wide gate. This is a difficult way.

John 14:6—Joshua said to him, Thomas, who had asked the question, I am the way. Now, why to say, “I am the way?” “I am the word of God. I am God’s thinking here, so you follow this word, this word that I am, the word of God made flesh.” He’s not saying it this way but he’s saying, “This is the way. You follow me.” So, “The instructions I have given you, that’s what you follow. The word of God revealed to you. That’s what you follow.”

I am the way, the truth, and the life. So, God’s holy spirit in Christ is that life. Now, we understand that the holy spirit, the word of God made flesh, that if we follow that then we can enter life ourselves.

No one comes to the Father, except through me. So, even though it’s the Father’s word we have to believe and implement into our life the word of God that God gave Christ. It’s Christ’s word. It’s God the Father’s word. They’re one and the same. So, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” It’s identical. It’s through Passover.

Once called by God the Father we must choose to believe the truth, live the truth, live the very word of God that is being revealed to us. We must choose to believe and accept our Passover, Joshua the Messiah, Joshua the Christ. We must choose to believe God’s plan of salvation which is covered in the seven annual Holy Days.

So, these are the things that we choose to believe. We believe the word of God. The seven annual Holy Days are the word of God revealed to us. We see them. The world doesn’t see them. We see them. We understand their spiritual intent of those; therefore, we see them. Well, now if we are to abide in God or abide (dwell) in Christ we have to implement that word into our life. Therefore, we have to live it. And if we don’t live it, we’re not dwelling or living, abiding in Christ. Straightforward, really.

If we don’t choose to believe these truths (the 57 Truths that we’ve been given), if we do not believe them and if we haven’t implemented them into our life, we cannot enter Elohim because we’re not of the same word, we’re not of the same thinking.

Now, we understand that by the power of God’s holy spirit and the word of God in us that we have, that we’re only small in embryo in comparison to Christ and Yahweh Elohim. We know it takes time. We’re going to develop and once made spirit much more will be given to us about the word of God.

Verse 7—If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. Why? Because they are the same word, the same thinking. …and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. So, Christ is speaking spiritually, of course, that if we’d seen Christ and seen his actions, seen his words, we’ve seen the Father because it’s the same word, it’s the same thinking.

Now, we in part see this, but the reality is that God’s mind and thinking and nature (is a way we’ll put it), is completely the opposite to what we are. We’re self-centered, selfish, and look after self. We nurture self. We guard self. We justify self. We do everything for self, our image in our mind. God’s mind is totally different. God is a God of love and giving. Well, we’re not. We are prejudice and we take to self to please self, to satisfy. Well, God doesn’t. God sacrifices to benefit us. So, they’re completely different.

Now, we don’t really see the truth of what God’s mind is really like. We can see aspects of God’s mind in nature. The beauty of the creation and everything that is formed is from God’s mind. It’s amazing because, you know, compared to us. Just, yeah, difficult to speak about, God’s mind compared to ours because there is no comparison, really. We’re just terrible compared to how great God really is, and we underestimate the beauty and the mercy and the love of God in our life. We just do.

Verse 7—If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. Why? Because they’re of the same word, the same thinking. …and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. They would still be thinking physically. God’s way of thinking and action is sacrificing love, so Christ’s way of thinking and action was sacrificing love.

Christ had the mind of God, the word of God dwelling in him. When he said, “I am in the Father and the Father in me,” it’s really saying, “I am the word, the word of God. I am the thinking of God made flesh.”

Verse 8—Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. In other words, “I’d be content. That would be enough if you’d just show me the Father.” They’re still looking physical. “Just show us the Father so that we can see Him.”

Joshua said to him, to Philip, Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? So, if they had of known him and what he was like – which they would have known on the sense of the physical. They would have seen all the physical and they saw his behaviors and would have thought about it. Well, if they’ve seen that they’ve seen how the Father would have been.

He who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, Show us the Father? Well, we really know it’s the same word.

So, hold your place there in John 14:9 and we’ll turn to John 1:1. Now, we have been over this and this was explained in greater detail once we understood the fact that there was one God, one true God, Yahweh Elohim, and no other.

So, in John 1:1—In the beginning was the Word, which is the logos. Now, this really is saying, “In the beginning there was this thinking, this mind, the word of God, the thinking of God.” …and the Word was unto God. It was God’s thinking. There is nothing else. There is nothing else thinking. There’s just this one way of thinking, one mind that thinks. And the Word was God. So, that’s what God is. That’s who God is. It’s His thinking. The same was in the beginning unto God. So, it’s always been there, and God has always existed, and this thinking has always existed. Something our minds, with our capacity, can’t go there.

All things were made by it, the Word. “All things were made by the thinking of God.” Came from God, from God’s Word, from God’s thinking. All things were made by God, really, it’s saying. And without it, the Word, nothing was made that was made. So, everything that has been created, everything that exists in the universe, everything that exists in the world, all the beauty of the creation, the flowers, the animals, all of the planets, all came from the Word, the thinking of God. That’s where everything has come from. The creation comes from the mind of God.

Now, if we were to pause and stop, and often just to look at the beauty of God, just looking at different types of animals and the fact that that came from the word of God, from the mind of God. He had to think about that. And just the creation of something physical that exists and how humans have studied for years and years and years and can’t even work out really some of the basics of a mind and how brain cells exist and die. They just don’t understand it. This all came from the mind of God. How the body works all came from the mind of God, the Word of God.

All things were made by it, the word, and without it nothing was made that was made. In it (verse 4) (the Word) was life. Because we know that Yahweh Elohim existed forever. He is life. He has just existed. And life (the Word) was the light. So, we know that from God’s mind, truth comes from God’s mind and it came to men. It came to men one way through Christ. The word of God in the Old Testament (as we call it), well, that was often revealed. But here we have now the thinking of God made flesh, Joshua the Messiah.

And the light (the truth) shines. And why does it do it? Well, it shows the way. We understand the word of God, once we are called and given God’s holy spirit, shows us the way. We have to choose to live by that word. That’s how we abide in God and abide in Christ.

So, the light shines in the darkness, which is this world, and the darkness (the world), did not comprehend it. So, Christ was the Word of God made flesh. The same thinking. Christ was the mind of God dwelling in a human.

The disciples could not understand what was being said because a person must have God’s holy spirit dwelling in them to be able to begin to understand what is being said, the truth, which is spiritual. So, everything we’re talking about is spiritual.

When we talk about God and God’s way of life, we understand each other, we’re excited by it. Well, what we’re doing is we’re sharing the word of God with each other. We’re just talking about things, talk about our calling. Well, that is the mind of God. We understand what God is doing with each one of us. Each one of us has been called for the purpose of entering Elohim at a point in time. We can be excited by that. What an enormous blessing a calling is, if we fully grasp the word of God and what He’s doing and what His thinking is about. Christ is there the same, working toward something, which is the will of God that we enter Elohim at a point in time.

Back to John 14:9—Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Which is this complete unity. There’s no separation. It’s the very same word that existed in God the Father existed in Christ. It’s the same mind, same thinking, which is love.

…the words (the sayings) that I say to you I do not speak of my own, or of myself. So, it’s not anything to do with the natural carnal mind. It is the mind of God. So, it’s not coming from within him, it’s God’s word coming out. There’s no choice about what he is choosing to say. They’re not coming from himself (“not from myself”), but the Father who dwells (abides/lives) in me does the works.

If we understand that the same principle applies to us when any good is done. Of and by ourselves we can do nothing good that is spiritual. Anything we would do, might be perceived as good on a physical level, it’s still selfish if it’s coming from us, if it’s coming from our nature. Because our nature is selfish. Our nature cannot do good. Only God can do good. Therefore, anything that is righteous comes from God by the power of God’s holy spirit, which is the word going out to benefit others.

…in me does the works. So, it’s God the Father that dwells/abides in Christ. Well, the same principle applies to us. If God and Christ dwell in us any good that is done that is considered righteous spiritually, is of God, it comes from God. It’s God’s word being lived out to others. It’s not something we do.

All credit for good comes from Christ and is given by it’s author Yahweh Elohim. So, God has created Christ, the Word made flesh, and any good, Christ gave all the credit to God the Father because that’s where it came from. Same for us. Any credit that comes from us or any credit came to us, we should refuse that credit because that credit belongs to God. If any good came from us it was God in us that did the works.

God does the works in us. There is no credit to self. Any good that comes through us has to come from God. Now, I’m talking about spiritually, something righteous. Because there is a human good, but it’s selfish only. Our human nature doesn’t recognize it as that. So, all good comes from God.

John 14:11—Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. Or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. Which is saying, “Well, what you’ve witnessed, the evidence, the loving miracles, it wasn’t from me, it’s God, it was God’s thinking. It’s God that did the works.” So, all the miracles that Christ did, all the credit goes to Yahweh Elohim who created those miracles or achieved those miracles. Because humans can’t work miracles. Humans can’t work miracles of and by themselves. It’s God that does the work.

It’s like when a person is sick, and they’re healed – the credit goes to God. It’s not the oil. It’s not the minister. It’s not those things that does it. It’s God and it’s God’s decision to heal.

So, he’s saying, “Well, believe me that God the Father has done these things. When you saw the miracles and the evidence there, well, you should believe God, that it’s God that did the works.”

You should be able to say or we should be able to say that we are in the Father and the Father in us. We should be able to say that because we’ve implemented it into our life. The evidence is the fact that we believe the truth; so, if we believe the truth and we’ve implemented the truth in our life.

Now, one of the truths that we understand is the seventh-day Sabbath. Well, if we’re keeping that in the spirit of the matter and we’ve implemented that into our life and we’re set in that, well, we are now abiding in God and abiding in Christ. Because the Sabbath was created by God. It’s His word. It’s what He’s told us. So, we believe it. Now, we’ve implemented it. Now we’re transforming our mind and that appointing time we will be set in that various matter, the seventh-day Sabbath.

The same principle applies to any of the truths. Tithing. There’s a lot of truths. Ordination of women. All of these types of truths that we understand is God’s word. We see it because we have God’s holy spirit, we implement it into our life, and then because of that (we implement it), we abide in God and we abide in Christ.

Verse 12—Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believeth in me, which is as the Messiah, as the Passover sacrifice, believes what he states, what Christ states, the works (the deeds) that I do shall he will also do; and greater than these he will do; because I go to my Father. So, what are the greater deeds than the miracles? Well, we understand Christ died to cover our sin. We have access to God’s holy spirit, therefore, the power to know the word of God dwells with us. We have that access. We have access to that very power, to believe the word of God and then to choose to implement it.

This power from God enables conversion and the transformation of the mind. That’s the greater work. The greater work is spiritual, and it is God’s transforming our mind, transforming out thinking, which is God dwelling in us to transform our thinking. It’s an incredible work. It’s a greater work than a miracle. Because a miracle is a physical thing that God could do if God chose. It’s God’s will, whatever He wants to do. He can do miracles any time He wished. He desired to change something or make something or to heal something that’s God, that’s God’s power.

But this transformation of the mind is a greater work because of what we are, in a stubborn, blockheaded people, and we resist God by nature. Therefore, this is an incredible work! The greater work is spiritual, and it is God’s transforming of our mind. God working in us is greater than the miracles Christ did. Isn’t that incredible?

So, we look at a miracle of the loaves and the fishes and think, “Wow! That’s incredible!” That is incredible, but what is more incredible is this transformation of the mind that is taking place with us. It’s taking place with us. We know that the end result at Christ’s return, there’ll be 144,000 that will have their minds transformed. The rest of us will be in this work, progressive work that takes place. The thing that can go wrong there, of course, is us. It’s not God.

God desires to give us something and the choice of whether or not it’s given to us, well, God has already chosen He wants to give it, but we’re the problem because we choose something different.

So, this greater work is a spiritual transformation of the mind. There’s something that these lusts that we have to fight against, and God will transform our thinking. And of course, it often starts with just the basics. If we can’t keep the Sabbath holy and we can’t do 1st and 2nd tithe and honor God and not rob Him, well, we don’t have much hope. Because we’ve already made our minds up that we’re not going to do those things, all the rest don’t really matter. Because they’re just the basic things of life.

Verse 13—And whatever you ask in my name… Now, this is something about asking something spiritual, something that we want. We want greater faith. We want greater love. We want greater things on a spiritual level. We want to fight against our selfishness. Well, these spiritual things, that’s what God wants to give us because that’s God’s will and purpose, to transform our minds so that He can give us Elohim.

And you ask in my name, which is a spiritual matter, we can ask for His love, for example, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. So, all the credit will always go back to God the Father who wants to give us life. If you ask anything in my name, Joshua the Messiah, I will do it. Anything that supports a spiritual creation, the spiritual creation of Elohim. Christ is there. Not about physical things. Christ is there to support God’s desire, God the Father’s desire to have a family. It’s spiritual in nature. He says that “I will do everything toward helping you enter Elohim.”

So, what more could we want? We have an elder brother, Joshua the Messiah, who wants to give us life just like Yahweh Elohim does, the same, and he’s there to support it, to support the creation of Elohim. So, what else could a person want, really? What else could we want?

But it’s all spiritual. It’s not physical. So, if a person may ask for more physical wealth. Well, Christ is not there to help us to have more physical wealth unless it was a benefit to our spiritual creation, our spiritual development.

Verse 15—If you love me, keep my commands. All of Christ’s instructions were from the Father. Everything in the New Testament that Christ said, these commands were instructions, were really from God the Father. It’s the one word that is in existence. So, if we love God, we love Christ. If we love Christ, we love God and we will keep the one word, the same word. “In the beginning was the Word,” the mind of God, the thinking of God. So, it’s the way God thinks about a matter.

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, which is a comforter, that it may abide (dwell) with you forever. Now, that’s something that we want. We have been given the gift of God’s holy spirit and we have a portion of it. Well, there is a point in time, that’s what we desire, is that it will dwell with us forever, it will never leave us. Because that’s God’s promise, that once we’re changed to spirit, to being Elohim, we will just have the mind of God. We will be the word. We will be the word. We will be the mind of God. It’s an incredible thing!

Now, what we’re talking about here today, of course, is spiritual in nature and the world cannot comprehend what we’re talking about.

Verse 17—the spirit of truth, which is the word of God, which the world cannot receive, because it neither see’s it… Why doesn’t it see it? Because it doesn’t have the gift of God’s holy spirit dwelling in them. They can’t see; can’t see spiritually. They might have an odd doctrine here that’s partially right, like immersion and things like that, but they don’t understand the intent behind the immersion and all of the spiritual components about what we have to do after we are immersed and been baptized, our sins are forgiven, then God’s holy spirit, then what? The choice to live by the word of God, the choice to abide in Christ, the choice to abide in God, which is obey the word, obey the instructions.

The world doesn’t see it, it doesn’t know it, it doesn’t understand what’s going on in our life. But you know it for it dwells with you and will be in you because it’s the word in us, and therefore, we make this choice.

Verse 18—I will not leave you orphans (comfortless), I will come to you or I am coming to you because of this flow of the word of God that we see spiritual things and then we can make a choice, what are we going to do. So, this is an ongoing process, “I am coming to you”; this ongoing process that’s going to take place for the rest of our life if…if we repent of sin. Because sin does cut us off from the flow of God’s spirit.

We are the temple of God. We are the temple of God. God is working with us here on this physical earth as we exist physically for the purpose that one day we will enter the temple of God on a spiritual level. God dwells in His temple, which we are. We are the temple. So, we have God dwelling in us. We are a place for God to dwell in and that’s what John 14 was about. We are that place and it’s all up here. It’s a spiritual matter.

Verse 19—A little while longer, and the world will see me no more. So, this is something physical. The world won’t see Christ anymore. But you will see me. Well, you can understand how confused they would be. “Hang on a minute! You’re saying that no one is going to see you anymore, but we will? How is that going to be possible?” …because I live (because this is a spiritual matter, he has spirit life) you will live also. Because of what Christ did as our Passover sacrifice we have that potential now to have our sins forgiven and then receive the gift of God’s holy spirit so we can now see spiritually.

We’re going to look at John 14:20 again. At that day, Pentecost 31 A.D. when the spirit was poured out You will know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you. Isn’t that a beautiful scripture? That’s what it’s all about. This is about God’s holy spirit and how the word of God can dwell in us so that we can choose to live by that word, to implement it into our life, and therefore, we will be abiding in Christ.

Verse 21—He who has my commandments (instructions) and keeps them, which is to live them, because if we’re keeping them, we’re living them, it is he who loves me. We demonstrate love by our actions. …and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. So, we will see the word of God, we will see Christ.

When it says, “I will manifest myself to him,” Christ has manifested himself to us. God the Father has manifested Himself to us. We see them. How do we see them? Through the word of God. Through the word of God.

It’s an amazing thing that we understand that the world doesn’t. So, this revelation of spiritual knowledge about the mind of Christ, the revealing of the truth that we have had, and we’ve to choose then to believe it, to implement it into our life, we’ve had Christ and God the Father revealed to us (the world can’t see it, but we can; we can see it), therefore, this transformation is taking place. Because we’ve been called towards this transformation of the mind.

So, the truth has been revealed to us, which is us transforming. This is the ability that we have to enter Elohim because of we’ve chosen to be transformed. We want to transform. We don’t want to be the way we are with those lusts.

Verse 22—Judas, the brother of James, it is, not Iscariot, said to him (to Joshua), Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world? Well, we know the answer. The answer simply is by the power of God’s holy spirit that we see the word of God. The world does not have God’s holy spirit, therefore, they cannot see the word of God, and if you don’t see the word of God you can’t live it, which we can. That’s the choice we have, to live it, and if we’re living it we’re now dwelling or abiding in Christ.

Verse 23—Joshua answered and said to him, If anyone loves me and keeps my word. So, if we keep what Christ’s word is. Now, if you look at it, I think it’s Matthew 5, about murder, and Christ made it very clear that it’s about the spirit of the law which is the intent. So, it wasn’t about the physical murder or physical adultery, it’s about the mind. Therefore, we see the word of God that says that if our minds start to wander off in a way of ill will or hate towards another person or desiring something that is unlawful in a way of a relationship, that we have the opportunity by the power of God’s holy sprit to choose to stop, to choose to stop thinking that way. Because it’s up here. It’s about the mind. It’s the spirit of the matter. It’s the way we think.

So, if we love God, we will keep His word, we will keep Christ’s word, which is the same word, the word of God made flesh. …he will keep my (Christ’s) word, which is the Father’s word. And if my Father will love him… Not if. And my Father will love him, and we will come, it’s not “I,” we will come, continue to come to him and make our home/abode with him. So, this is a requirement of obedience, this desire to fight, to enter the narrow gate. There’s going to be obstacles – self. Self is the obstacle, our desires, what we want to do. Well, God’s saying, well, the word of God and Christ, which is the same, the word made flesh, the same thinking, God and Christ’s thinking, the word dwelling in us, living in us, that is when we dwell in God.

He who does not love me does not keep my word. So, if we have our own selfishness, we’re not showing love to others, well, we’re not dwelling in Christ, we’re not dwelling in God.

Verse 24 again: He who does not love me (Christ) does not keep my words. So, if we love God, we would keep God’s word. If we loved Christ, we would keep what he said, his words, the logos, my logos.

…and the word (the logos) which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. So, it’s the same as we read. It’s the word of God. That’s what we have to hear. Because we have God’s spirit, we can hear it, we can see it, we can say, “Ah, I choose to live it.” We’ll implement that in our life. Well, that is the evidence. That is the evidence that Christ dwells in us—that’s the evidence—and that we dwell in Christ.

Drop down to John 14:28—You have heard me say to you, I am going away, and coming back to you. Well, most people will think, “Ah, that’s about Christ’s return.” Well, it’s really talking about that Christ is going away and then on 31 A.D. we have the ability of the flow of God’s holy spirit, which is the spirit of Christ, which is the word of God (the same thing), coming into our life.

If you loved me, you would rejoice, we’d be thankful if we understood it spiritually. But people look at it physically. …because I said I am going to the Father, for my Father is greater than I. So, we should be thankful because now God’s holy spirit will be given to us. That’s what that’s about.

Verse 29—And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, on Pentecost 31 A.D., and for us, of course, it was after baptism when we had been called by God, we had repented, we started to see spiritually. We started to see the word of God, what was required of us. Then we’ve chosen to go through that process of that baptism, because at baptism we understand all our past sins to that point are covered and washed away, don’t have to be regurgitated. They’re forgiven. Now we can walk anew.

Well, if we’re going to walk anew we need the power to walk anew, which is this transformation of the mind, therefore, God says “Now I will give you the holy spirit, the spirit which can see and understand the word of God,” which is a spiritual matter. We cannot believe the word of God and Christ without God’s holy spirit, hence the world and the Church that’s scattered cannot believe and see the word of God, the spiritual intent of the word of God.

Verse 30—I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world, which is Satan, prince and power of the air, the ruler of this world who has deceived mankind, whose motivation is deception. Why? What’s that deception about? So that we, mankind, once called do not enter Elohim. Satan would hate us because what has been promised to us as humans, weak, physical humans with an evil nature, what has been promised us is incredible, that we can enter Elohim. Well, he would despise and hate that.

The deception that has gone out to mankind, well, we’re coming out of deception. We can be in the Church for years and years, but we’re still coming out of prejudices and deception because that’s what we are. So, once we have gone through this process of baptism and receive God’s holy spirit we then begin to see the word of God.

Verse 30—I will no longer talk much more with you, for the ruler of this world, Satan and his deception, is coming, and he (Satan) has nothing in me. So, Satan doesn’t have anything to do with the word of God. He despises anything about the word of God. Satan cannot influence God or Christ so there’s nothing, there’s nothing of Satan in God or Christ. Nothing at all, because it’s the Word of God, and Satan has rebelled against any of the instructions that he was given.

Verse 31—But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment (instructions), so I do. Arise, let us go. We understand what was going on there.

John 15:1. Now, we understand this about the vine, but it covers a little bit more than we may first think about what this is really saying. John 15:1—I am the true vine, this is Christ. So, he is the vine. …and my Father is the vine dresser. The Father is going to do the pruning.

Now, we have to be connected to the vine, as we understand. So, Christ is the vine. He is the word of God, so we have to look to be attached to this very word of God, the logos of God, which he was, the Word of God made flesh. So, we understand we have to be connected, which means we have to obey that word, and it will be the Father that comes along and will prune off the deception that we have, the prejudices that we have. It’ll be pruned off as long as we’re connected to the vine.

Because when you see a vine, you’ll see a growth go out. I used to do pruning a long time ago in grapes and you look at two buds and you prune all the rest off so that those buds would shoot and produce, produce fruit.

Every branch in me, they will have to be connected. There has to be a relationship with Christ, which means we have to abide in the vine, we have to abide in Christ, we have to abide in the word of God. That’s how it is, it’s this obedience. This choice to obey is this connection. There is this relationship because we’re showing love to God and Christ. How? Through obedience.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, which is spiritual change of thinking, this transformation of the mind, He takes away. It’ll be pruned. And every branch that bears fruit, He will prune. So, what will happen is if we’re not connected the branch is taken away, it’s dead, it’s useless, it produces no fruit. As you know (you may or may not), there can be dead branches on a tree. Well, they’re useless, they produce nothing. There is no sap running through them. Well, that sap is through the vine and goes out to the branches, comes up through the roots.

Which is the word of God. Which is God’s holy spirit in us produces something. So, we understand now that we have to bear fruit. I’m just going to refer to it, which is Galatians 5:22-23 which is the fruit of the spirit, which lists what we have to produce, which is, Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against this there is no law, because it’s God’s word, it’s righteousness. There is no law there. So, if we were doing those things, which is God’s holy spirit, that’s what we must produce.

Now, all of us are in different stages of growth with regards to this producing of fruit, and over time we’re all pruned so that we produce more fruit. Well, we shouldn’t react when we get pruned, which is sometimes it can be painful when we’re either corrected. For example, if we’re corrected on a spiritual level, that’s a wonderful thing. If we are corrected on a spiritual level through a sermon or maybe it’s physically done in the sense of a minister may do it, or there’s something that we see through the word of God, we’re looking, “Oh, that’s me.” Well, that’s a pruning that’s taking place.

Now we can produce much fruit, more fruit. How? Because we change, the desire to change. We don’t want to do that anymore. We don’t want to be like that anymore. Therefore, we can produce something. We’re producing fruit. What is that fruit? It’s the word of God. We’re becoming more like God. It’s our thinking transforming. It’s just an incredible thing! We’re producing. We’re producing a different behavior. This natural carnal mind over here, we don’t want it anymore, we want this mind. As we get pruned, we move further and further to this mind so that at a point in time, it’s not as physical. We’ll never make it as physical in the sense of transforming completely. But in time as we progress God says, “Now I know you,” and therefore, that can be given, spirit life in Elohim with this mind, and no desires, no pulls, no lusts, no wrong thinking. It’s an incredible thing, what’s been offered to us.

In (don’t turn there) Luke 3:8 it says, Therefore, bear fruits worth of repentance. Think differently than we did before. Well, we have the evidence, brethren, we know. If we’re part of the Body of Christ now we have been transforming. The evidence is we’re still here. It’s a gradual transformation. It doesn’t happen overnight.

John 15:3—You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. So, that’s how we are pruned, in a way. God the Father reveals things, which is His word is revealed to us, and we see and go, “Ah, that’s what I’m really like. I want to be more like God.”

Verse 4—Abide, which is continue in (dwell in, stay in) me (Christ), and I in you. So, we have to stay connected. It’s through repentance that we stay connected. As the branch (us) cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. Which we understand is spiritual. We have to abide in Christ. We have to choose to obey the word of God.

Neither can you unless you abide in me. So, we have to be attached. We understand that is about obedience to the word of God. That’s what it’s about. How we abide in Christ is because we choose to obey the truth. We see the truth because of God’s spirit. We see the word of God. Now we have to make a choice. What will we do?

Neither can you produce any fruit unless you abide in me. We understand that. We cannot live God’s way of life unless we have His holy spirit. So, once we have God’s holy spirit we have to choose to live the truth.

Verse 5—I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, which is what we want to do, and I in him, which we understand, bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. We can do nothing spiritual, brethren, unless we are obedient to the word of God.

Verse 6—If anyone does not abide in me… That’s what the topic is about, about “abiding in me.” If anyone doesn’t abide in Christ, which is connected, which is listening to the word of God, looking at it, believing it, believing the truth and then implementing it, trying to change in the sense of effort. We need effort to overcome self, fight self in the mind. All this is in the mind.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch, and is withered. It dries up spiritually. So, we’ll wither up spiritually because we refuse to obey the word of God. …and they gather them, and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. So, if a person willfully and willingly refuses to abide in Christ they face a second death.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you… Now, we understand what that means. “The words,” which is God’s word, which is the words of Christ. Christ came to reveal God’s word in the sense of magnifying it spiritually so that we would see it. Prior to that, a lot of physical instructions. But now we can see, ah, with the gift of God’s holy spirit we can see about intent and motive, we understand this. It’s incredible, what we see. Anyone without God’s spirit listening to this just think we’re a mob of crazies. But this is a wonderful and amazing thing that we understand; that we can abide in Christ if we choose to listen to his words, we see it, and we choose to implement it into our life. So, the evidence, the evidence of a person abiding in Christ is obedience to the word of God.

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, the words, the words of God. The words of God are the words of Christ, you will ask what you desire, on a spiritual level, and it shall be done for you. So, here we see it makes it clear that Christ’s words dwelling in us and the choice to obey is abiding in Christ. Christ’s words are the Father’s words.

We understand also, of course, that God’s word is truth, therefore, it’s the truth dwelling in us; therefore, we should believe the 57 Truths and implement it into our life. For example, the role of women in the world. Now, it’s all people just can say these things and say, “Ah, yes, the rightful place of a woman in the world and in family,” etcetera. That’s easily said. But if we believe it, we have to implement it. What does that mean? Men have to change the way they think towards females.

Now, that’s easy said when you’ve had a mind of prejudice before. Well, that’s what the transformation is. That’s about abiding by God’s word, living it. Well, living it means implementing it and changing, change our behaviors towards women, talking about men to women.

It’s a wonderful thing if we understand what God is really telling us. So, it’s not a matter of about just reading 57 Truths, it’s choosing to obey the word of God and implementing it, which is changing the way we think, which will change the way we act towards various situations, including women.

Verse 8—By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit. That we change! We’re connected to Christ, we believe he is the word of God; therefore, we implement it into our life and we change. That’s the evidence we’re abiding in Christ, when we change, we want to change. …that you bear much fruit; so that you are my disciples.

Verse 9—As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. Which is we are to continue in Christ’s ways. What are Christ’s ways? Sacrificing. This narrow gate is about sacrificing. We have to sacrifice self. There’s going to be obstacles. The obstacle, self, well, we’ve got to sacrifice it. Get rid of that obstacle, get rid of it out of the way, which is what we want, our selfish nature. So, we have to sacrifice our ways. To love God and to show that love, the evidence of it, is that we are willing to sacrifice ourselves.

Verse 10—If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. So, if we keep Christ’s instructions, and God the Father’s instructions, we will demonstrate that we abide in him and we abide in God. “You abide in my love.” God is love. We abide in God. We abide in Christ.

Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. So, it’s the evidence. Obedience to God’s word and living it is the evidence that we abide in Christ and we abide in God the Father.

Psalm 15. We’re going to look at Psalm 15. There are some questions in here that are answered in the sense of this particular topic.

Psalm 15:1—LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? Now, we understand this is spiritual. He (She) who walks uprightly. So, this is about a choice. We see the word of God, we have to make a decision of the way we walk, which is the way we live, how we live out to others. It’s the way we walk. It’s our actions. It’s our thinking. And speaks the truth in his heart. So, it’s all about in our thinking. It’s about our motive and intent.

So, who is going to enter Elohim? Well, it’s the person who works according to God’s word, who works righteousness. God’s commandments are righteousness so it’s about intent. “And speaks the truth in his heart.” So, it’s his motive.

He who does not backbite with the tongue. So, it’s somebody who’s now changing the thinking, realizing that all humans are the same, have selfish human nature, and it’s no point in responding back to defend self. We should build another person up. No matter what they do to us we should build them up knowing what their potential is. Their potential is that one day they may have the same opportunity we have, which is to enter Elohim.

…nor does evil to his neighbor. So, his intent is to benefit others.

…nor does he take up, which is a rebuke. Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend, which is a rebuke or a disagreement. You don’t take it up, you just let it go and leave it be. Because one day they will see. They will see the word of God as we see the word of God.

In whose eyes a vile person is despised; but he honors those who fear the Eternal. So, we are to love one another. We’re to love the brethren, those who fear the Eternal. Who is it that fears the Eternal? The brethren. It’s those that God has called to His Body for the purpose of fearing the Eternal. To fear the Eternal is to love God and keep His commandments.

He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. So, he keeps his word. So, if we say something that we’re going to do, well, it may hurt us in the sense of the hurt can be of self that’s getting hurt. Well, that’s a good thing, and we don’t change because we’re willing to sacrifice, is another way to put it.

He who does not put out his money at usury, which is take advantage of others. …nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. So, this goes back to the spirit of the law. It’s about a person working on themselves with the gift of God’s holy spirit, and they see the word of God and they implement it into their life, and they desire to change. That’s what that’s all about.

Psalm 91:1—He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We, brethren, this is talking about us. This is talking about us. We, brethren, are in a state of protection. Because if we are seeing the word of God and we’re implementing what Christ and God the Father have revealed to us through the power of His holy spirit, well, we’re in this protection. Because God is working to develop something, develop a family, to transform our minds so that one day we’ll be changed. Well, we’re under this protection. We’re “under the shadow of the Almighty.” What greater protection can you want than that?

I will say to the Eternal, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him I will trust. Well, God has desired a relationship with us. He called us, and therefore, we should respond to that calling. We should respond to that relationship.

Surely He (God) shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the perilous pestilence. So, there is a protection that if we choose to obey the word of God when we see it and we desire this change, God says we’re in His care. Therefore, whatever happens to us doesn’t matter. So, if something does happen to us, it doesn’t really matter because we’re still under the protection of the Almighty because God knows what’s best for us and that’s what we believe. We just know that God knows what’s best for us, therefore, it doesn’t really matter. If it happens, it happens. Not fun to go through but we live with it and knowing our destiny, what God has called us to.

I’ll just move to the back end here and work on winding up. We’ll turn to John 12:44—Then Joshua cried out and said, He who believes in me… Now, that is “he who believes my words.” Remember, it’s the word of God. Same thing. He who believes this word, believes not in me but in Him who sent me. God the Father and Joshua the Messiah, the same word, comes to us. We see it. So, if we believe it and implement it into our life, the words that we see, it says we come to God the Father. We believe Christ. We believe God the Father.

Verse 45—And he who sees me, sees Him who sent me. We understand what that means. The world wouldn’t. It’s exactly what we read before. Because if we see what Christ wrote and said, we see it on a spiritual level, we see what God the Father said. It’s the same. Same spirit, same mind. We should see the Father by the way Christ lived because they are the same, the same logos.

Verse 46—I have come as a light. Now, we understand what that light does. It shows the truth and it shows us how to live. We live as Christ lived, sacrificing love. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me… Now, this is not about believing that Christ just came. This believes the very words that he spoke and implements them into their life, should not abide in the darkness. So, we won’t continue to dwell in sin. We won’t dwell in darkness because we believe Christ and we see the word of God; therefore, we know we have to change. And our desire is to change.

So, we will not abide in the darkness. We won’t abide in sin. God, through Christ, has revealed what sin is, therefore, by Christ revealing what sin is we should not continue in it. Now, this is where our calling comes into it. We’re not to abide in the darkness or continue in sin. We’re to change by the word of God because we want to change, we want to implement it into our life so that we through a free will choice dwell in Christ. We abide in Christ because we believe his words, which are the words of God, and we live them. We implement them into our life, and we change. We start keeping the word of God. We keep it. We live it.

Hence, when we look at the Holy Days, we live them. We look forward to them because we’re implementing them into our life and we’re changing, we’re transforming, we live, we believe what Christ said.

Verse 47—And if anyone hears my words (my logos), it’s Christ speaking, and does not believe… So, they don’t live the truth. If a person doesn’t implement the truth into their life by changing the way they think (by the power of God’s spirit), I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. So, if a person sees it on a physical level and they go, “Ah,” well, we’re not under judgment at that time, the person, because their judgment will come when they can see as we see.

So, we’re under judgment. We’re under judgment now because we do see the word of truth, we see God’s word.

Verse 47—And if anyone hears my words and does not believe, doesn’t believe the truth, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. Being our Passover.

Verse 48—He who rejects me and does not receive my word, my logos… Now, we have the opportunity to see the logos, see the word of God. Now, if we reject it, if we reject Christ (this is talking on a spiritual level not a physical one), a spiritual level that which judges him, which is the word, the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day, that last hundred years.

So, we have to be very careful now because judgment is with us. But the world can look at it and reject Christ. That’s what they do. They don’t receive the logos, the words of God. People don’t want to hear what Christ said and implement it and change the way they think on a physical level. They’re not called to do that. Therefore, their judgment is coming. It’s called the Last Day, hundred years.

For I have not spoken on my own; but the Father who sent me gave me what I should say and what I should speak. Christ was the word of God made flesh, as we’ve covered. Christ was in the Father because the truth lived in him, and the Father was in him.

Verse 50—And I (Christ) know that His (the Father’s) word is everlasting life. Because that’s what’s going to be given to us if we accept the word of God and implement it into our life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak. Because Christ spoke the word of God.

1 John 2:3—Now, by this we know that we know Him, talking about God the Father, if we keep His commandments, if we keep His instructions. We can know who God is and how He thinks by knowing and understanding the spirit of the law, which is love. So, we can say, “Yes, I know God the Father. I know Joshua the Messiah because I know God’s word and I’ve implemented it into my life.” Therefore, we can live according to the very word of God, therefore, we can say amongst us (we wouldn’t tell people this), we can say, “I abide in Christ.”

“Abide in me.” That’s what we can say, the evidence is, yes, that’s what we’re doing. We’re abiding in God. We’re abiding in Christ now because of the way we’re living. Now, if we’re not living according to the word of God we’re not connected to the vine and we don’t abide in Christ, we don’t abide in God.

Verse 4—He who says, I know him, and does not keep His commandments, does not keep the spirit of the law, does not keep the word of God, the instructions of how to live, is a liar and the truth is not in him, is not in us. Because if we say, “Oh, yes, I know God,” and we know about how Christ lived and all those things, yet we do not follow those instructions, we don’t implement it into our life and change the way we think, well, we’re liars and we don’t know God and the truth, the word of God—the word of God, the truth—is not in us. It’s not dwelling in us. It’s not being lived. We’re not transforming; you’re not changing.

If a person is not fighting selfishness within their thinking they do not know or understand God’s purpose for mankind. They do not know the truth; therefore, they do not know the word. They do not know the word of God.

Verse 5—But whoever keeps (obeys) His word, God’s word, the logos—we need God’s holy spirit to achieve this—truly, the love of God is being perfected in him (her). By this we know that we are in him, because of obedience. We’re transforming. We’re changing. We see something spiritually. It can be years later, we see something spiritually and go, “Ah, look at that. Isn’t that incredible?” Well, once we see it (it’s not just a matter of seeing it), what do we have to do? We actually have to take it and implement it into our life. That’s the key – implementing it into our life. Then we can say we are dwelling or abiding in him, in God and in Christ, because we’re living the word of God.

So, by this we know that we are in Him, if we keep His instructions, we keep the logos, the word of God, and we put it into our life, and we, therefore, are living love, we’re sacrificing.

Verse 6—He who says he abides (dwells) in him, ought himself also to walk just as he (Joshua) walked. The way he lived is sacrificing love to all. Our intent has to be love.

I think that’s a beautiful scripture because it really clears up everything we need to know about abiding in Christ and abiding in God.

He who says he abides (dwells) in him, ought himself also to walk as he walked. We have to do the same. We have to live what Christ lived. We have to walk. We have to change the way we think. We have to change the way we look towards others in the sense of the way we think about others. So, we have to walk the same as Christ. And if we do, if we’re implementing that change, we are dwelling in him, we abide in him.

So, what does it mean to abide in Christ and dwell in God? We need God’s holy spirit dwelling in us to see spiritually, see God’s word, the truth, and then if we choose to live by God’s word, which is to walk as Christ walked, we choose to live the truth, we abide in Christ. If we live by God and Christ’s word, which are the same word, we dwell in (abide in) Christ and in God. So, we have to choose to walk as Christ walked. And by that, there’s the evidence that we can honestly say to ourselves (not to others), to ourselves that yes, I abide in Christ, we abide in God.