God’s Perfect People
Let’s read from chapter five in Matthew beginning at the first verse.
Matthew 5:1-48: “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick" and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill" and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee" Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way" first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him" lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all" neither by heaven" for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth" for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem" for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea" Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
This is the Lord Jesus, Himself, saying these things to you as I read them from the Bible. This is when the Pharisees and Scribes confronted Him, and through the confrontation, He told them how He felt. He expounded to them the way of life and He tore everything apart they trusted in, in that they were not trusting in the commandments of the Lord. They were trusting in the ordinances of men. Jesus said, “You lay aside the commandments of God and you trust in the ordinances of men.” He said to the others, “You do the things that you know that I punished men for, in the days of Moses. How can you escape the damnation of hell knowing that you do this when I gave you the warning?” All the things of the Old Testament happened for our admonition and example. We are the ones upon whom the ends of the world have come.
So we see that Jesus is straight to the point with His preaching. He never flattered anybody. He had no respect of persons. It didn’t matter what a person looked like, or how much wealth they had, or what kind of position in life they achieved. He was very thorough, very straight, and very much to the point. He told them their future. He told them what would happen to them. He told them what He was there for. He said, “You have not sought Me, but I have come to seek and to save that which was lost.” We find Him saying here, “Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the righteous. And they that hunger after the things of God,” and on and on He goes speaking of the blessings, and how that when we are persecuted, we should rejoice for this is proof that God is in our life, because the devil doesn’t like us. The Bible says that the children of this world are taken into captivity at the will of the devil to persecute the children of God. As it was in the days of Abraham, the Bible speaks of the freechild Isaac and the bondchild Ishmael, and we get an understanding as to those that belong to God, that are filled with God’s Spirit, and are children of light, which means understanding.
When we speak of the bondchild, we can see the difference there, if we differentiate, by knowing that that child was a child of darkness, which means intellectual ignorance as to the things of God. The Bible says that in the latter times, in the last days, that the whole generation would be filled with darkness. Gross darkness, which means spiritual ignorance, shall cover the people. They’ll have great diplomas of education. They’ll be dignitaries. They’ll have money. They’ll have position. They’ll have all these things, and they’ll be very religious. Very religious. A Laodicean generation, but they will be ignorant. When the grace of God is lifted and the light of God is gone (the children of God, as to the church, are the light of the world, so let your light shine that men may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven), the Bible says that the beast (they that are not born of God they are beasts, if they are not elect), and the mark of the beast and the leader, as to the headship of it, will come to those beasts just like Jesus does to the church.
The Bible says that the beast’s kingdom will be filled with darkness and they will gnaw their tongues for pain. They’ll curse God because of the blistering heat that shall come down upon them" whereas, that’s moving right on in. The ozone is being depleted, and now scientists speculate that the polar ice caps are going to melt and the waters will rise several feet. I said that the ice will melt, because that ice is what tilted the world on its axis. God allowed it to tilt the world and that ice to hold it in that position, and God is getting it ready for the tribulation period, which is approaching us now. When this happens, it isn’t just going to raise the waters, it’s going to shift the water that God put here to over there. When it does, it’s going to be balanced again, as it was in the beginning, before this water was shifted in the days of Noah, when the great flood came. With that shifting, the world is going to go into a great convulsion. The mountains that are now down on the ocean bed are going to come up. They were one time up, and they are going to come back up. These mountains that we see were at one time on the ocean bed, and they are going to go down.
This is why John said, “I saw the mountains move out of their places.” He said, “I saw the cities of the nation crumble to the ground.” He actually saw the sky scrapers in the cities like London, New York, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago and other great cities, the great cathedrals, these towering buildings, he saw them crumble to the ground from this great earthquake and this great convulsion. There was such an earthquake, so great as has never been upon the face of the earth before, even to the extent that the stars of heaven fell.
The Bible speaks of wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever. Those stars are made out of nickel and rock. They are up there, but these great tremors are going to shake them out of their orbit, and they will fall, as to a third part of the heaven being cast down, to represent Satan and his followers being cast out. As grace is lifted from the earth, they are cast out of the presence of God. No more grace in the earth. No more help for them. They’ll gnaw their tongues for pain. When these things fall, whirling down through space, the friction will melt them to such an extent that the potentials will be eaten out of them and they will be brimmed like coral, and they will be nothing but stone, and they’ll break all to pieces. Hot stone, metal coming down upon them, the Bible says, that have done wrong and them that are cursing God. The heat will be so fierce that the wicked shall utterly be burned up. He shall leave them neither root nor branch and we shall tread the ashes of the wicked under our feet. The Bible says, “God is not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance,” in that God is love. But the Bible also tells us that though God is love and compassion, the wicked won’t repent. It’s not God’s will that the wicked should perish, but that they should repent. “Repent,” the writer said. “Repent or ye shall all likewise perish.”
So then, we find Jesus preaching here and telling us some great things. When John comes with the revelation, he tells us some great things. We know that when the polar cap melts, the world is going to come back upright. Why will it come upright? For this reason. When Adam and Eve were made in the garden, they were made upright. Everything was perfect. Their environment was perfect. Their health was perfect. Their spirit was perfect. There was no sin. There was no wrong until Eve lusted after the tree of knowledge. The Bible says that sin is now in the world today because of lust, in that she lusted. The Bible talks about the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. She lusted, for the Bible says she saw the fruit that it was good for meat, good to eat, and she partook thereof and she gave to her companion, Adam, and he partook thereof. The Bible says God that came on the scene calling, “Adam, where art thou?” God had been in fellowship with Adam, and in the cool of the evening, He came to fellowship Adam and Eve. But, the Bible says He couldn’t find them. They were hid, because God cannot look upon iniquity. He found them hid among the trees, and their iniquity had hidden them from God, for the Bible says thine iniquity has separated between thee and thy God and held thee back from good things. The Bible says, “He that walketh upright before Me shall lack no good thing. I will give him the desires of his heart. I will make him to ride upon the high places of the earth. I will feed him with the heritage of Jacob. My blessing shall make him rich and add no sorrow, and whatsoever he does shall prosper.”
We see that in the garden, when the fall came, it started with intellectual reasoning. That’s the very first thing. The Bible says the carnal mind is enmity with God. It’s not subject to God. It will not subject itself to God. It intellectually tries to reason God out. It tries to scientifically tell us that from a little form of mass matter back yonder, billions of years ago, here came the world and here came you and I. They reason God out. Like the song says, I’m reminded of it so much, “Their program is so well planned, they left God’s part out.” Because they left God’s part out, then they died, for to be carnally minded is death. The Bible says the day that you became intellectual, Eve, as eating of that tree, you will die, because your mind will not listen to the Word of God. It will not try to understand the Word of God.
You know, when you try to understanding, to try and learn something, then understanding is good. The Bible says call it your kinsmen" whereas, the Bible says that all that are of God are of a good understanding. A lot of times, we think that we’re real great and mighty in our achievements of life, and we think the people of Egypt were very ignorant, but strangely enough, all of your education and understanding came from those ignorant people, as you say. Civilization began with the hieroglyphics in Egypt and was brought out through things like the discovery of the Rosetta stone and other kinds of things, and you’re nothing but Egyptians. The Bible speaks about the difference between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. The Bible says he that is a Jew outwardly is not a Jew, but he that is a Jew inwardly, he is the true Jew. You and I, as children of God, are the true Jew. Therefore, the contest is between the children of the world and the true Jew, just like it is, allegorically speaking, between the natural Jew and the natural Egyptian. So we see that civilization has continued from Egypt, and today, the world is the great Egypt. We were over in Egypt not too long ago and it’s quite a place. We gave out a lot of literature there. I want to go there for a crusade.
“Science, falsely so called,” Paul said. Or that is, knowledge, falsely so called, ever learning and never being able to come to the truth, which is the Word of God. Let every man be a liar and the Word of God be true. This wonderful Word of enlightenment, given to children of light and understanding. The Bible says that we know that the coming of the Lord is at hand, and we know when it is nigh even at the door. The children of this world shall not know, for Satan (Lucifer), the god of this world, hath blinded their eyes, even their eyes of understanding, that they cannot see the light. They are children of darkness and creatures of darkness and they’ll not know when it’s coming for they cannot see when good comes. They are blinded to it. The intellectual mind won’t accept it. The Bible says that it shall come upon them as a snare, all of them that dwell upon the face of earth. They shall not see when good cometh, in that the Bible says there is none good but God. They cannot see God nor His works" whereas, Jesus said, “I do always the things I see My Father do.” God is the invisible power, the invisible force, the Spirit of holiness, and no man shall see God without holiness. Paul said, “I serve the God of the Spirit, which is the Spirit of holiness.”
The Pope his call “His holiness”, but that’s foolishness. There is but one “His Holiness”, and that is God the great eternal Spirit. The Bible says that He’s the great light unto which no man could approach, whom no man has seen, nor can see, and Jesus Christ alone, dwelling in that light, hath immortality, and He shared that immortality with us. Jesus Christ alone was made heir to the promises and glory of God. The word was to Abraham, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed,” as to the promised son, Isaac. The Bible says not seeds as of many, but seed as of one, and that in Christ Jesus. If you don’t have Christ in you, you don’t have the hope of that glory of God. You don’t have the hope of eternal life.
When the great calamities begin to befall the people, you won’t have any life, because Christ in you is the hope of glory and He is the only one that was made heir to the glory. The Bible says that God wants us to have His glory. Some people say God will not give His glory to another. But, we are not another. The Bible says we’re bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. It’s not us living but Christ. Jesus said, “Father, glorify these with the same glory that I had with Thee before the world ever was.” That is, give them Your glory, Father. So, inwardly from glory to glory, we’re changed into this wonderful, glory of God, this great image of God, to be made perfect by the same lovely Spirit that was overshadowing Eve, and overshadowing Adam, that overshadowed Mary for the divine conception of Christ. Paul said, “I travail until Christ be formed within your heart.” When you conceive of this Word of God, as Christ within you, then the seed of God remaineth in you to keep you from sin, even Christ Jesus. So seeing that they were illuminated with this great wonderful Spirit, all was well until the day of the expulsion, and when they became carnal minded, they separated themselves from that great illumination.
God has pursued us down through the generations, until He found us at Calvary. He pursued us to bring forth perfection. Until that time, it was death, and all of them that died back under the law. The Bible says that before Jesus came, they rested in their lot. They could not be made perfect without us. The Bible says that they rested in their lot and when the time came, Jesus went down into the heart of the earth to preach to the souls in prison. The revelation of John records it where He gave white robes to them that were in the earth. When they cried out, “How long?”, He said, “Just a little while until your brethren also die as you.” That is to say, the Jews went through those things like the holocaust. He said, “Just a little while,” and the Bible says He gave them white robes. We also know that these all died under the law, not having received the promise of eternal life, for without us they could not be made perfect. But in the day when Jesus came, who was the perfect one, then that which was in part was done away with, for the Bible says that when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away with.
He said, “I came not to destroy, but to fulfill the law. Not one jot nor tittle shall pass from the law until all be fulfilled.” He fulfilled every jot and every tittle of the law that you and I may have the righteousness of the law, for we are saved by the righteousness of the law. The Bible says the law is spiritual, but we are carnal, sold unto sin. The Bible teaches that the law came to magnify sin, that we might see how sinful the flesh really is, and that we might repent and see our need for a Savior and go to the Lord that He might give us the righteousness of the law. The Bible says that no flesh shall be justified by the law. Even though He kept every jot and tittle of it, He could not be justified by it because He was our example. He was made a quickening Spirit at resurrection when He came forth. He was delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification, came up in a new form. As He walked on the way to Emmaus with them, they said, “Did not our hearts burn within us as He opened the Scriptures to us by the way?”
We find that until Calvary, we were shut up under the law unto the faith which afterward should be revealed. Today, we have that faith. Today, that shield of faith that we have quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked. He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, and sanctified them once and for all by the offering up of the body of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. He wiped away sin. The Bible says that since sin came by one man, Adam, then righteousness came by one man, Jesus Christ. All are under sin because Adam had sinned, so today all are under righteousness because Jesus led a perfect life and lived righteously. As God accepted Adam, as to sin and death upon all, so He accepted Jesus, as righteousness and life upon all" that is, all that will believe in Him, for if you believe not, the Bible says the wrath of God abideth upon you and your faith is made manifest by your works, for the child is known by his doings. Faith in what you hear, faith by the hearing of the Word, and what you do proves whether or not you believe it.
I look at Calvary and see the veil rent in twain. He made in Himself two, twain, both Lord and Christ. He rent the veil in twain, or He separated the Lord from the Christ that He might separate your spirit from your body, and by His body, kill your body because it is a bastard child image, born of Adam, and in Adam all die. The firstborn of Egypt were all smitten when the darkness came. So, my spirit, at death, went back to God who gave it. I’m dead in the sight of God, and Paul said, “This body of death,” this body with the infiltration of uncleanness, it’s dead and it’s buried in a watery grave in the lovely name of Jesus. Being identified with Christ Jesus in death, now are we identified with Him in the resurrection, for if we are planted in His likeness, then we’re raised in His likeness. We’re dead to sin and God never looks upon that bastard child image again. It’s buried. It’s gone. The body will be changed at the sounding of the trumpet, the last trumpet, the Thessalonian change and this body will be changed into an eternal body. From corruptible to incorruptible, from mortal to immortal, from the terrestrial to the celestial, all at the sounding of the last trumpet" but in God’s sight, it all happened at Calvary. He already sees us as His lovely sons. We are the sons of God, for John said, “Now beloved are ye the sons of God.”
When I say that ye are gods, people draw back because they haven’t been taught that. They don’t understand that, but nevertheless, if a dog brings forth pups, they are dogs. If an elephant brings forth the little ones, they are elephants. When the lion brings forth, they are lions. When man brings forth, they are men. When God brings forth, they are gods. He that is born of God is a god, and this is why they tried to stone Jesus. He said, “I am the Son of God"” yet the Bible says that Adam was the son of God. They wanted to stone Him, and He said, “For what good works?” He opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the deaf ears, made the cripple to walk. They said, “For a good work we don’t stone You, but You, being a man, make Yourself God, for this we stone You.” He said, “Is it not written in the Scriptures that I have called ye gods?” Go back and check the Scriptures in the book of Psalms, and you’ll find it there in the writings concerning David, where the Spirit called us gods. He asked, “Why then do You say I blaspheme because I say that I am the Son of God? When He said He was a Son of God, those Bible scholars had enough understanding to know that which is born of God is a god. So when He said, “I’m a Son of God,” they said, “You are saying that you are a god.” The Bible teaches that Jesus was the manifestation of God. It teaches that He is the express image of God, and that we are bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. That means, membership wise, we are God and that we are members in particular, making you gods, according to the measure you receive. The difference between you and Jesus is that the Bible says God giveth not the Spirit unto Jesus by measure, but the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in Jesus. But to you, it’s according to your measure. Every man is dealt a measure. He resurrected from the dead, gave gifts unto men and the Bible says He gave a measure of faith to each one according to their several ability, as to whatever they could receive.
We see that the expulsion brought death, but we see a new tree, even the tree of life, which they were not allowed to partake of. If they would have ever partaken of the tree of life in the garden, Satan would have had humanity forever and God could not have done anything, because they would have lived forever. At that point, man was innocent in that he did not know right and wrong, and God was indebted to take care of the innocent. That’s why the blood is on the seat of atonement today. God is indebted to take care of the innocent because He made man and subjected the creature to vanity. Today, God is responsible if the innocent die. He won’t let them die. He said, “When the gospel has been preached in all the world for a witness, then shall the end come.” Every man, every boy, every girl who are old enough to understand has to hear the gospel, and if they are not old enough to understand, it’s not required of them, for the Bible teaches that to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is a sin, and the soul that sinneth shall surely die. So then, sin is not imputed unto the children. The Bible says for of such their angel beholds the face of the Father always and they are innocent. God could not let them eat of the tree of life. He said, “Now man has become as one of us and lest he put forth his hand and partake of the tree of life to live forever,” then he had to be put out of the garden.
Folks, we’re back into the garden today. We’re back in the presence of God, and today the veil has been rent in twain. We don’t have to have a high priest to go in to confess our sins. We come boldly before the throne of grace, going right into the very presence of God, in that the blood’s on the seat of atonement as it was when Aaron placed the blood there and the blessings of the Lord came down. Now the blessings of the Lord come down and the rain is upon the just and the unjust. Jesus has not just taken away the sins of the church, but He’s taken away the sins of the world. The world now has opportunity to call upon the Lord Jesus, because the atmosphere is created where the demon powers are pushed back if they want to go in the right direction or come to the house of God. But if they reject it, once they come to the truth, the Bible says there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but only the fearful looking forward to of the fiery indignation of God that shall devour His adversaries.
So then, it is impossible, the Bible says, after you have once come to the enlightenment, if you fall away, to ever renew you again unto repentance, seeing that you would crucify Christ afresh and put Him to an open shame. There would have to be another Calvary. When you come to the Lord and you know the truth and you reject it, after that the curtains are closed, the shade is pulled down and you’re blind from then on. But the whole world right now has the blood on the seat of atonement, and grace is there to give the church a chance to come out, as to the elect, and perfect their ways before God in that God is angry with the wicked every day. The Bible says He would pursue the wicked until they perish from off the face of the earth. He said their offerings are an abomination in His sight. Their prayers are an abomination in His sight. He’s angry with them every day. But He has to allow that grace to be there to bring the elect out.
The Bible says that we will know the time of the coming of the Lord, when it’s nigh even at the door. That’s very close. That means all He has to do is turn the knob and come in. But it said the wicked shall not know. As a snare shall it come upon all of them that dwell upon the face of the earth. The Bible says, though we know when it’s night, even at the door, it says no man shall know the day or the hour. No man shall know the day or the hour of His coming. Why is it that God would not let me know the hour of His coming? Someone would say, “He wants to catch you off guard, because if you knew the day of His coming, you’d get right with God.” That’s foolishness to think like that, because the Bible says He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He’s made them perfect. There’s no way to catch them off guard. It’s not going to come on the righteous as a snare, but on the wicked. Why is it then He doesn’t let me know? He could easily let me know. It’s no problem. He and I are friends. He is my Heavenly Father. I’m His son. But there is one thing God knows, and that is if He told you or me, or if He told a Christian the very day and hour of His coming, then if you had a daughter, a son, a wife, or a husband, you would tell them. God is not going to let the wicked know anything about it. He knows that you would tell them and He doesn’t want to put you in a precarious place. So then, He just doesn’t let you know. That way you can’t tell them. When the time comes for the wrath of God, He’s going to catch them off guard because, most assuredly, the Bible says, all that a man’s got he’ll give for his life. Even Satan told the Lord, when he went before Him in the days of Job, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, all that a man’s got he’ll give for his life. A man will give his wealth to save his life. They give it to doctors every day.
We see that God has so fixed everything just perfect for you and me. No problems for you and me. He hath brought Calvary and brought us back to this wonderful perfection of the mind of God. We’re not seeing through a glass darkly, as it was in the days of Moses when that veil was placed between them and the Shekinah, but seeing face to face, for the veil of death has now been rent in twain. Or that is, the entrance in. He hath made a new way, and has given a more sure word of prophecy. Today we’re beholding the glory of God, and we’re changed into His glorious image, to the glory of His unveiled face. So, we see the veil of death is gone to the believer.
They that have fallen from grace are still under the law. That is to say, if you are not serving God, you are still under the law. No flesh is justified by the law, and you’ll be condemned in the day of judgment, as to the judgment of the law. But we have the righteousness of the law. He fulfilled every jot and tittle for our sake, folded it up and laid it away, and now that which is perfect has come. Christ within you the hope of glory, the one that fulfilled the law. Paul said, concerning this veil of death, the intellectual veil of death that fell over the mind and spirit of Adam in the garden, that this veil is still there today. All humanity is still under that veil and they cannot see when good comes. The eyes of their understanding cannot be enlightened. Lucifer is their god and they run and whore after the things of the world. and they are the bondchild, in that they’re in bondage to the beggarly elements of the world by the mind of Satan that gullibly desires worldly things and worldly positions. He said, speaking of His day, that veil remaineth over the face of the people untaken away, but in Christ, the veil has been rent, and it’s taken away. You and I don’t have that veil, for the Bible says that we comprehend the height, we comprehend the depth, we comprehend the width, and we comprehend the length of this great, wonderful mind of God that’s given to us. The Bible says to let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who being made in the form of God, thought it not robbery to make Himself equal with God. He didn’t try to make Himself a reputation, but He humbled Himself to the washing of the feet of those that were His comrades.
We see that there is something He hath done for us, and that is He hath protected our soul from sin. Today, you cannot, as a Christian, sin the sin of the soul, for the Bible says the soul that sinneth shall surely die. You cannot sin the sin of the soul, but you can stumble as to the body. You can still stagger. You can still stumble. You can make mistakes, but the Bible says that where these things are, there is no conscience of sin. There is no will nor desire to do wrong. You will not take your body, your presence, to places of evil. That is wrong. You will try your very best to live a perfect life in His sight, if that nature of Christ is in there, because it’s perfect and it’s ever pulling you toward perfection. The spirit of error, as to Satan, is ever pulling you toward the love of the world and the things of the world, which is the diminishing part. Christ must increase, but the other must decrease. The veil is gone for your sake, that intellectual veil of death, for the Bible says to be carnally minded is death, and the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die.
To be spiritually minded is life, and that mind is the mind of Christ. You should let this mind be in you. That mind is eternal life, having passed from death into life, to never come into condemnation, and no one laying anything to your charge. So we can see that we are God’s perfect people. We cannot sin the sin of the soul. As to your stumblings and staggerings in the body, the Bible says happy is he that doth not condemn himself over that thing which he allowed when he’s trying to do his very best to stay filled with the Spirit, to honor God. The Bible says happy is he that does not condemn himself over that thing which he alloweth, in that he stumbled. Don’t put a breach in your faith, don’t tear yourself down. Repent, be remorseful, be sorry in the sight of God. Go to your high priest, tell Him all of your problems for He has already forgiven them. God has already forgiven them in Christ. They are already covered by the blood. As it was for Israel, their sins were already forgiven by the high priest, as to the covering of the blood each time that he went in, as long it wasn’t a willful thing. We cannot have a will to sin because we have no conscience of sin. We are conscience of life, not of death. So then, you cannot sin the sin of the soul. The seed of God remaineth in you and you cannot sin because you are born of God.
You cannot die because the Bible teaches that transgression of the law is sin, and the law is folded up and laid away. The Bible says where there is no law, there is no transgression. Transgression of the law is sin and sin is the sting of death, and where there is no transgression, there is no sin. Where there is no sin, there is no death. Since you are not under the law, there is no sting of death to you. There is no transgression of the law. You are made perfect. He hath fulfilled the law in Christ and given you the righteousness of the law as to perfectness. You cannot sin the sin of the soul. You can rejoice forever more. Rejoice in the Lord! Have a wonderful time and tell your Savior how much you love Him and He’s your friend. He’s with you. He said, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you. Lo! I am with you always even until the end of the world!”
We can truthfully say that God is our helper, a helper in the time of need. So, you do stumble in the body, but God doesn’t see the body because He killed the body by the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bible says to reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, for God hath done away with the body of this death. Paul said that which has the infiltration, sinful flesh. The Bible says you are to reckon yourself to be dead to the world. Come out from among the world and be a separate people. Touch not the unclean things and I will receive you, saith the Lord. The body is now dead. It is now buried. It is now gone, because when the Heavenly Father turned His back on the Lord Jesus, He smote that body and He satisfied His wrath. The heavens turned as dark as sack cloth of hair and the image was smitten, and He cried out, “My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” He cried out, as to say, “My God! My God! Thou are forsaking Me because of Brother Pike, because of you brethren, because of you sisters! Thou hast forsaken Me and Thou hast made Me to be made sin that they might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. I’m dying out of Your presence that they might forever live in Your presence.” God so loved the world, having given His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We are His workmanship in Christ. That means that you may stumble and stagger, but God never sees your body. He never sees it. He looks over the chasm all the way from Calvary, all the way over to that great mountain top that’s called the coming of Christ, the Thessalonian change, the sounding of the last trumpet. He sees you already perfect in the body. Now, your spirit at death has gone back to God who gave it. Your body is buried in a watery grave and your spirit entered into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the foreknowledge of God, because He sees you over here as bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh, as a finished product in Christ.
We are complete in Him, the Bible says, and we see what God has done. We patiently wait, not for the redemption of the body, but to wit the redemption of the body. We have the Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance, but the Bible says the body is the purchased possession. He purchased the body for His possession. We are waiting to wit that, or come to the knowledge of this, that the body will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, from mortality to immortality, caught up to be with Him, so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The body has to go through a change, but it has already been redeemed by the blood. The song writer said, “I’m redeemed by love divine. Glory, glory Christ is mine. All to Him I now resign, for I have been redeemed.” So then, we’re waiting for the change. Job said, “I’ll wait for my change. Though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. He will stand upon the earth in the latter days, and I shall see Him with mine own eyes, not as with another, but I, myself, shall see Him, for my redeemer liveth.” Though you go to the grave, and skin worms devour your body, you are going to be brought forth and you’re going to see Him in the latter times stand upon this earth.
I tell you this again, we don’t have to die. There is going to be a generation that’s going to discover these understandings. They will come to this great, wonderful knowledge and never be put in the ground or put in a casket. Paul said, “Behold, I show you a mystery.” Being the overseer of the Gentile church, he said, “I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep.” Sleep is the separation of your spirit from your body, at what you call death. It’s not death, but death is when you are cast into the lake of fire. That’s called the second death, the only death. We’ve passed from that death and can never come into condemnation. Death is when your spirit is separated from God’s Spirit.
Sleep is when your spirit is separated from your body. Your spirit will re-enter your body and pick it up from that sleep. Jesus said, “I go to awake Lazarus.” He sleepeth. We’re coming to the mystery of understanding that we will not sleep. Great is the mystery of godliness. Paul said, “I am made a steward of the mysteries.” We’re coming to the understanding. A generation is going to come to the understanding that they do not have to sleep. They do not have to die. It says in the Bible that the mystery of God will bring forth a translation, and Paul said, “You which remain and are alive at His coming shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump.” You’ll be changed into your immortality without going by the way of the grave. David said, “I can’t praise Thee in the grave.” What’s the grave got to do with it? What does going into a grave do to perfect you? What does that do in making you a saint? What does that do in helping you to praise God, when you lay there and the worms eat you? Folks, let’s not be ignorant. God wants you to be a living sacrifice to Him. God’s work is to you and death is the enemy of God. It’s not a friend. It’s not part of the plan of salvation and it didn’t come by God. The Bible says it came by man and Jesus Christ, the man, conquered it for us.
The last enemy to be conquered, to the wicked, will be after the millennium. But to you and I, blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, over which the second death hath no part or power. We are passed from death unto life, and our spirit can never die. Your body will go to sleep if the spirit departs from it, but the wicked will die. Their spirit and their body will die. “I will help thee, thou worm Jacob,” it is said in the Bible, and it also says, “Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.” We see then that we cannot die, but the Bible says that ye shall die like men from the lack of knowledge. That is, some generations have never come to this. All down through the years, they’ve never come to this. But they will. A whole generation will come to it.
Has anyone ever come to that? Enoch did. Enoch lived three hundred years and had plenty of time to learn. The Bible says the heavens declare His handiwork. Before the Scriptures were ever scribed, as to the writing, they appeared unto Abraham and the others and taught them. The Holy Spirit, the word that came to the prophets, which was God. The Holy Spirit is now here today. It’s not you speaking but the Heavenly Father speaking from within you, and judgment begins in the house of God as to your faith in what the minister says. The Bible says that the minister remits your sins or he retains your sins. “As My Father sent Me, so send I you.” Jesus said, “Whosoever sin you retain shall be retained, whosoever sins you remit shall be remitted.”
So we see that we die because of a lack of understanding. Enoch was translated by faith. Before his translation, he had this testimony, that he did always the things that pleased the Father. Jesus said, “I do always the things that please the Father.” Without faith in Him, it’s impossible to please Him. He that cometh to God must believe that there is a God, or that He is, and believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
We are free from sin and transgression of the law. We are free from death. We’re going to grasp that and come to understand that. We’re going to get that imbedded in our heart after awhile and it’s not just going to be an intellectual concept, as from a minister preaching or a word that you’ve heard, but it’s going to sink down into your heart and turn into spirit and into life and it’s going to fulfill a vision that I had where we all were standing in the millennium. All of the believers, standing there in the millennium in the most beautiful white garments after everything else had been burned. There wasn’t anything left but the ashes, and we were standing in the millennium. It was so beautiful. In the vision, I said to you, “Folks, you can do anything you want to now. No more death, no more sorrow, no more problems, no more heartaches. You made it! You made it! Glory to God you made it!” All because of Christ Jesus. This was given to us in Christ before the world ever was, and today you are children of God in Christ Jesus. He loves you. He gave Himself for you and you’re His precious wonderful children.
Go thy way and rejoice forever more, enjoy perfect health, enjoy prosperity, for He has that three-fold blessing for you. He would, above all things, that you prosper. Number one: the needs of the flesh, as to eating and drinking, buying and selling and whatever you need. Number two: He would above all things that you be in health, that you might be able to enjoy that prosperity. And number three: that you prosper even as your soul prospers. That is, a soul prosperity, as to an eternal seal so Satan can never take your health again or your natural prosperity as he did when he took it from Adam in the garden. That means that you are complete in Him and everything is so wonderful to be His child.
By Rev. George Leon Pike Sr.
Founder and first President of Jesus Christ’s Eternal Kingdom of Abundant Life, Inc.
Holiness Unto The Lord