The Mystery of God
By G.T. Haywood
All things are delivered to me of my Father; and NO MAN knoweth who the SON IS, but the Father, and who the FATHER is, but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. (Luke 10:22).
According to these words of Jesus no man can know who the Father nor the Son is, except it be revealed. The Jews declared that they knew God the Father, but Jesus did they did not. (John 8:19,54,55). Even to this day they claim to know God, but Jesus said He alone can reveal the Father to those who rejected Him.
The Mohammedans claim to know God, the Father, even in the same sense in which the Jews know Him. Can it be said that Jesus is revealing the Father to those ungodly Moslems who look upon his sacrificial death with unspeakable hatred ?
Modern theological institutes, seminaries and colleges, the majority of which are destitute of the Spirit of God, claim the same knowledge of God that the Jews maintain. Is Jesus revealing this mystery to them contrary to His own words that these things are hidden from the “wise and prudent” but are revealed to babes?
Almost any one that is able to read at all can take up the Bible and see what is apparently “Three Persons,” the common view held by the Catholic and all other denomination, but is Jesus revealing this to them? I tell you “Nay.” God has taken the wise in their own craftiness. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” (Isa.. 29:11-14; Matt. 11:25).
That Jesus Christ is the MIGHTY GOD was declared by the prophet Isaiah (Isa.. 9:6); acknowledged by the apostle Thomas and accepted by Christ (John 20: 28,29); revealed by the Spirit
(Rev. 1:1); and spoken by the glorified Christ himself, saying, “I am Alpha and Omega … the First and the Last . . . I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for everyone. Amen.” (Rev. 1 :8-18). “l am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son.” (Rev. 21:6,7).
To acknowledge Jesus Christ as the only true God does no more detract from His Sonship than does acknowledging Him as our High Priest detract from His sacrificial office as a Lamb slain for our many sins. lt is the “veil of flesh” assumed by the Mighty God that is causing men to stumble at the word. In the flesh He was the Son of man and Son of God. As a man he walked, wept and prayed, suffered and died. As God He raised Himself from the dead (John 2:19-21) and shined forth in the radiance of eternal glory. “Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet, now know we him no more.” (2 Cor. 5:16). When He came in the flesh He was beheld in the Glory as the Son (John 7:14), but when He comes again He will come in the glory of the father. (Matt. 16:27 with Matt 25:31). Compare Isaiah 6:1-9 with John 12:39-41, also verses 44 and 45.
Our Lord and His Christ
And the seventh Angel sounded : and there were great voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15). These sayings are faithful and true. They are the true things of God, and he said unto me, “Write; for these words are true and faithful.” (Rev. 19:9; 2:15; 22:6). But since the revelation of Jesus Christ has come and has oven Him to be “our Lord” who then is “his Christ?” That Jesus Christ is the LORD must be acknowledged f all. Whether in heaven, or in earth. (Phil. 2:10, 11). To say that there is more than “one Lord” is to flatly intradict the Word of God which saith, “Hear, 0 Israel; the Lord our God is ONE LORD.” (Deut. 6:4, Mark 12:29; Eph. 4:5). Jesus has been proven to be “Lord of all” and in His own time he will show who is that blessed ld only Potentate King of Kings, and “LORD of Lords.” Tim. 6:15, 15).
The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof. All things were made by him and for him, and without him as not anything made that was made. He (Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (Psa. 24:1; John 1 :1,2,10; Col. 1:16,17). The God that created the heavens and earth (Gen. 1), is our Lord Jesus who made them all by himself. (Isa.. 44:24). Jesus Christ our Lord is LORD of all creation. He eated it for his glory and his own pleasure, but Satan has usurped the authority and made himself the god and prince of this world. (See Rev. 4:11; and 2 Cor. 4:4; John 14:30). The world is now being ruled by Satan and his people, but thank God, the kingdoms of this world shall soon become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ, or anointed.
Since Jesus is our Lord, we then, are his anointed. The church anointed with the Holy Ghost is the body of Christ. (1 Cor. 12:12-14). As God called all the children of Israel in Egypt His son, saying, When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my SON out Egypt (Hos.11:1 ), even so does he call the body of baptized believers “his Christ, or anointed,” We shall reign here with him, if we suffer here with him. We are his sons (Rev. 21:7), being overcomers. lt is Christ Jesus who has anointed us (Matt. 3:11; John 15:26; 16:7) and he who has anointed us is GOD. (2 Cor. 1:21, 22).
The kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and his saints, the body of Christ. By reading Dan. 7:18,22,27, these words will be verified. “For the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve him.” (Dan. 7:27) If you will notice this passage closely you will see that the “people of the saints of the most High” are spoken of as “him” (singularly); that is, as all nations and kingdoms must “serve” Israel (Isa.. 60:12), even so they must “serve” our Lord and his Christ. This is not that we are “his Christ” separately, or individually, but collectively as one body.
And they sang a new song, saying, Thou are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou hast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people and nation. And hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we SHALL REIGN ON EARTH. The fact that it is said we “shall reign on earth” confirms the words Christ, shall have a part in his dominion, that the Church, which is the body of for the kingdoms of this word shall become the kingdom of “our Lord and His Christ.” (See Rev. 5:9, 10).
Dangers of Denying The Father
There are many honest souls who are anxious to obey the Voice of God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ but they are intimidated by persons misconstruing the Scriptures which says, “He is anti-Christ that denieth the Father and the Son.” (John 2:22).
There is no one who know’s the word of God, and has been baptized in Jesus’ name, that denies the Father and the Son. Acknowledging the Father and the Son does not necessarily mean to believe in “three persons in the Godhead.”
The Fatherhood of God is found only in the Son, who was God manifested in the flesh. The following portions of this article will be sufficient to convince any Godfearing person that they cannot deny the Father by being baptized in Jesus’ name.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father ALSO. (1 John 2:23).
We desire to call the attention of the reader to the above quotation for prayerful consideration. While reading the above passage the words, “the Father also” drew my particular attention. And 1 believe it will help many to see God’s purpose in these last days.
The thought before us is that he that denieth the Son (Jesus Christ) the same has denied the Father ALSO. Why is this? Is it not because Jesus and the Father are one? (John 10:30). There is no Scripture that says, “He that denieth the Father, the same hath not the son,” but to the contrary, all scriptures seem to be the opposite. By this I mean that all scripture identifies the Father in the Son. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. (2 Cor. 5:19). God was manifest in the flesh. (1 Tim. 3:15). Therefore when one turns from Christ, he turns from God.
He that believeth not on the Son, the same believeth lot on the Father ALSO. Compare John 12:44; 14:1. The Jews believed that God would take their sins away (Jer. 31:31-34); but theydid not believe Jesus had anything to do with it; and Jesus said, “If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24).
He that knoweth not the Son, the same knoweth not he Father, but he hath knoweth the Son, knoweth the Father ALSO. See John 8:19; 14:7. To know Christ is to know God, the Father, for the mystery of God the Father ; Christ. (Col. 2:2,9).
He that seeth not the Son, the same seeth not the Father, but he that seeth the Son seeth the Father ALSO John 12:45; 14:9).
He that loveth not the Son, the same loveth not the Father; but he that loveth the Son loveth the Father also. John 15:23, 24). To love God one must love Jesus. For Jesus and God are one and inseparable. If the Father and on were two separate persons, then we could love one and hate the other (as the Jews sought to do). If you do not love Jesus you cannot love God, but you cannot love Jesus without loving God, for Jesus is God (manifest in the flesh, in a visible form).
If the above scriptures are true (and no one could honestly say they are not), why does not the same hold with the NAME used in baptism? Let us look at it from a scriptural standpoint.
He that baptizeth not in the name of the Son (Jesus), the same baptizeth not in the name of the Father; but he that baptizeth (or is baptized) in the name of the Son (Jesus) baptizeth (or is baptized) in the name of the Father ALSO.
By the scriptures this is clearly proven, from the fact that the Commission is given (recorded by Matthew), to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:18,19) but on the day of Pentecost, and thereafter, according to the book of Acts, all the disciples baptized in the name of Jesus (the Son) proving that they recognized it to be the name of the Father ALSO. See Acts, 2:38, 8:12-16; 9:18 with Acts 22:16; Acts 10:47,48; Acts 19:5.
All who are baptized in the name of Jesus are baptized in the name of the Father ALSO, but those who have not been baptized in the name of Jesus, have never been baptized in the name of the Father. The only way to fulfill the command of Jesus in Matt. 28:19, is to do as the Holy host authorized on the day of Pentecost and carried out by the Apostles according to the book of Acts.
The only way that a person can really “deny the Father” is to fail to acknowledge that Jesus is the true and living God. (1 John 5:20; Jude 25). When you are baptized in Jesus’ name, you thereby acknowledge that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost “are one” (1 John 5:7) and that in Christ Jesus dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead in a bodily form. (Col. 2:9). Be not faithless, but believe. (John 12:44,45; 20:26-8).
ARTICLE #2
MAN’S IMPOSSIBILITIES ARE GOD’S POSSIBILITIES
BY ANDREW D. URSHAN
Often some ask how Jesus Christ can be the only begotten of God and yet the very God Himself. The puzzling part of this question is the reconciliation of two seemingly separate and distinct persons into one Divine Being or in one person -God,
Such a oneness with man is indeed impossible; but God would be no more “The Almighty” if this would be impossible with Him. Yea, with Him with whom all things are possible it is an easy matter to be the three-in-one person, and one being having different manifestations of Himself. Some may argue that God, being a God of harmony, could not be one thing and then another, no more than a son can be his own father. Very well; let us see what the Scriptures say.
The Bible declares Jesus Christ to be the Lamb of God,” yet he is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” With man it is impossible to make a lamb a lion. With man, a lamb cannot dwell with a lion very long before the lion will eat the lamb. With God, the Lamb is the Lion; the two distinct and separate and unlike animals, yet one with the same person.
The wise scientist will mock the very thought that the little morning star is the great big sun. With man, these are two distinct, separate and unlike heavenly bodies. With God, Jesus is both “The Morning Star” and “The Son of Righteousness.” Son as one continues studying the Word of God he cannot help seeing that Jesus Christ is “All in All” the Son, yet the Everlasting Father; the man of Galilee, yet, the mighty God. (See Isa. 9:6.)
For further examples – Christ calls Himself the good Shepherd, yet the door of the sheepfold, (John 16: 14). With man, a door is an object, and a shepherd is a human being; but with God the human is the object and object is the human. A thing impossible with man, but with God it is the very fact. Christ calls Himself “the root”, and yet, “the offspring of David.” Man cannot call the root of the tree the trunk of the tree, but with God, Christ is both the Father and Son of David in one person (Rev..22:16). Again, Christ is called the Judge”, and yet, “The Advocate.” He is the Lord of the Battles” (Hosts), a fighting God, yet, “The Prince of Peace” (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10-11; Rev. 20:11-12; I Tim. 2:5; Psa. 24:8 and Isa. 9:6).
Again, Jesus Christ is called “The Rock,” and yet, the very gushing water of life (I Cor. 10:4; John 7:37 38). He calls Himself the “Alpha,” yet the very last letter, “Omega” (Rev. 21:6-7). He calls Himself the Son of God,” yet, the very God – the Father of the overcomers for the eternity to come. See Rev. 21:6,7. He is called “The Servant of the Jehovah, I am,” yet, He calls Himself the “very Jehovah, I am,” (Isa. 43:10 and John 8:57). a precious stone to some, yet, at the same time, a stone of offense to others. The corner foundation stone of the Temple, yet, the whole Temple and the sacrifice on the altar in then Temple. He is the Lily, yea the Rose of Sharon. All these, contrary to each other, with man are impossible to be one and the same; but you see, reader, with God in Christ, they are not contrary; they are not two separate, but one and the same, only manifested differently. For with God all things are possible.
Now, if I am prepared to believe all the above facts, why should it be hard for me to believe that Jesus Christ the Lord can be, and is, in His humanity the only Son of God, and in His absolute Deity the very God the Father. Why not? Can He not be seemingly distinct and separate, yet the very united three in one? Well, He is, and that is why He said, “I and my Father are one.” And, “…he that seeth me, seeth the Father.” “For the Father is in me.”
Let is be remembered that God, as the Creator, is absolutely divine; but as the Saviour, He is both God and man, or the Father and the son. And, as the Comforter, He is the Holy Spirit, not three distinct, separate, divine persons, but a God of might, love and comfort, manifesting the above three graces in three different and distinct divine offices and operations. This is a holy oneness.
God, in Himself, is infinite and invisible and unapproachable. In His Word (the Son) He is both finite and infinite, visible and invisible, and tangible and approachable. In the Holy Ghost, He is active, operative and powerful; but the one and same person – God. As the Father, God is the one that begets; as the Son, He is the seed of life eternal, and as the Holy Ghost, He is Emmanuel-or God in and with His Spirit-filled church, but one and the same. In short, God is one being, one person, and therefore one God, the “I am,” and not the Holy three, as some try to teach. This great and holy one of Israel can be seen, felt, and enjoyed only in and through Jesus Christ our Lord, for “In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” See Co.. 2:8-9. This does not explain the Godhead, but it reveals Him in His Son, Jesus Christ.
ARTICLE #3
THE OLD APOSTOLIC TEACHING
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
The primitive Christians believed that Jesus was the manifestation of Jehovah, – not another God “One with Jehovah” -but Jehovah manifested in Jesus. Stephen, the proto-martyr, when he was sealing his confession with his blood, prayed to Jesus-Jehovah, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and “Lord lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:59, 60). Paul asserts that-he baptized only in the name of the Messiah, (1 Cor. 1:13). Notice also his constant use of the name of Messiah in his invocations. There is also the well-known fact that the early believers were known as those who called on the name of Jesus. (Acts 9:14,21; I Cor. 1:2; II Tim. 2:22).
Pliny, a judge under Trajan, in the beginning of the second century took the confessions of some accused Christians, and says, “They declared that they were used to meet on a certain day before it was light, and among other parts of their worship, sing a hymn to Christ as their God.”
Almost everything else can be explained. but this idea of three gods being one is an absolute impossibility. It is an offense to the Jews who have given the world the teaching of One God; it is an offense to the Gentiles because they already have so many gods. To substitute the many gods by three gods would be ridiculous. What the Gentiles want is a One God religion , to do away with their many gods that have burdened their poor souls for so many centuries. And we have that One God. It is Jehovah, bless His Name forever, and He Jehovah, has come to us as Jesus, and when He left He told us He would come again in person to meet us, but until He would come, He would sweep down upon us and be with us in an unseen form, in the form of the Holy Ghost.
AN IMPOSSIBLE DOCTRINE
I will quote only one passage from Knapp, Christ, Theology, Paragraph 33-44, ” The conclusion is obvious that, while we are taught by the Scriptures to believe in three equal subjects, (not persons) in the Godhead, we are still unable to determine in what manner or in what sense these three have the divine nature so in common that there is only one God.” This is about the substance of things pertaining to an explanation of the so-called Trinity in bygone days, and it has never improved since, that is, no one today can offer any explanation as to the possibility of three separate gods being one god. A husband and his wife are one, So we are told by the ritual of the marriage ceremony. But even then, one is a man, a separate being. They may be, or should be one in purpose and in act, but actually they are two different persons. The Hebrew word, “ECHAD” (One) stands for a single unit, not for a united group of more than one. So for instance we read that God called the first day, being composed of morning and night, “yom echad” (one day) it is not a composition of two, namely one night and one day but one continuous uninterrupted rotation of the earth which to one part is day and the other-night. Day does not and has never ended since God said “Let there be Light.” That light has been shining without interruption ever since its creation. Night is the opposite of light. It says that Cod divided the first appearance of light-Yom Echad (one day). Please note that “Echad” here does not stand for “First” but for “one” because God created only one day. That day has been in existence ever since. When one half of the globe turns toward the sun that has been giving light since creation, then we, in our human words say, “It is day” (the first day or second day, etc). When the globe turns again, then the people on the other side say the same as we have said when we faced the light. And so on. But it is only one light-never changing, always shining and God created it, and God saw that the light was good. (Gen. 1:4).
One more thought. Jesus in the flesh was Jehovah in the flesh. In this visible being there was all of the divine and part of the human. I say part of the human because, as intimated above, He was not born as you and I, He had the woman’s seed in him, but not man’s. Eve, the woman, brought sin into the world, and Jehovah wished to take away the shame of sin from the woman and therefore honored her by permitting statements of worldly greats are high-sounding in content and meaning, they fall far short of an actual identification. We must not be deceived by men’s pious platitudes. Even while they praise Him, they plunder His person. They rob Him of His deity. We must not be deceived by men who deny the power of the Holy Spirit and by wresting the scriptures distort, misrepresent, and submit our Lord Jesus to a place of inferiority to suit the traditions and doctrines of men.
We must make our choice between the Christ of the scriptures and the Christ of the critics.
The angel made no mistake when he announced the birth of the Savior and called Him “Emmanuel,” God with us. Angels had an insight into God’s plan that we need to discover. The divine messenger made no exaggerated claims about the Babe of Bethelem when he called Him “God with us.” Certainly he did not subtract from or buffet His person with secondary and inferior phrases veiled by men’s phraseology. The angel announced “dead center” the great truth which has blessed the world: God Himself veiled in the form of a babe and in later development as a man, God in Christ, the Father in the Son, deity in a babe, God with us.
Who dares to gainsay the scriptures and disenfranchise our Lord from due tribute and honor. It has been the desire of Satan through the ages to minimize God, to lower Him in theimagination of men, and divide Him as to authority and prestige. Satan, however, is met by a barrage of truth which is enhanced by the eternality of the Word.
St. John described the divine person revealed to him as “the beginning and the ending.” This gives the person who John saw an eminence second to none. It gives Him priority and finality. But John’s revelation swelled its bounds and ran over with truth and enthusiasm when he called the One Whom he saw “the Almighty, which is, which was, and which is to come.” Who is this person who overwhelmed John with the pre-eminence of His person, the wisdom of His counsel, and His omnipotence over time? Let the scriptures answer.
The opening verse of the first chapter of Revelation calls the writing “the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him.” Then, my friend, the “beloved disciple,” smitten by the brilliance of the revelation, sought to know this Man. John wrote: “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” No scholar, determined as he might be, or if he be carnally stubborn, can deny the truth that comes screaming through the ages: This person, first and last, who was dead but now lives, who is Alpha and Omega, the Holder of the keys of death and of hell, is Jesus. He is not only the theme of the first chapter of Revelation; He is the central theme of the entire Bible. Notice how John ascribed this dominion to Him. He called Him “the Almighty, which is (present), which was (past), and which is to come (future).” In all instances this Jesus Christ is the superior force, the Almighty, the omnipotent God. Who is it that dares to call Him the second person of the trinity? Such is Babylonish scholarship.
Now Paul steps forward to give us a climatic observation of this gracious Savior: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. , For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:8-10). within the person and body of Christ dwells the Godhead; that is, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit indwell Christ Jesus our Lord. He is the express image of the person of God. When we make this statement we only affirm scriptural documents which give our Lord His due honor and tribute. To deny this is to allow traditions of men to overrule what saith the Word of the Lord.
Either Christ is Lord of life or Lord of liars. He is deity or deceiver. He is Master or maniac. We must crush or crown Him. We should give Him the lie or give Him our lives. We ought to spurn Him or serve Him. There is no middle ground, no neutrality, no other alternative.
Many of us can testify of Him, “My Lord, and my God!”
“And without-controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
ARTICLE #4
GREAT IS THE MYSTERY OF GODLINESS
BY: NATHANIEL A. URSHAN
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the world, received up into glory” (I Timothy 3:16). This is the writing of the God-ordained and anointed Apostle Paul. He also wrote to the church as Colosse, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him! rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:6-10).
In the book of Revelation, chapter one, we read the words of the Apostle John as he penned by divine anointing his revelation of Jesus Christ: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, with the Lord which is, which was and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
The angelic messenger who brought news of the birth of Christ identified the Babe of Bethelehem as more than another child when he declared, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
These statements from the Bible and a good many others like them give us a true and scriptural position of Christ our Savior. To submit our Lord to a position of inferirity as a second to another is both baseless in claim and ignorant of scriptural teaching. To subtract from His person and relegate Him to the second person of a trinity is both unscriptural and purely speculative tradition.
Countless questions might be asked of you and me, and the answers we might offer would make no difference in us or others either in this life or that which is to come. Not so with this One. Eternal issues hang upon your answer. This is no query about the church, the curate, or the choir; it is about the Christ. On true identity of Jesus Christ stands the faith of the individual and the continuance of the church. On this foundation rests the whole structure of sound Christianity. If the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ can be disproved and discredited, then Christianity topples like an arch without a keystone. Many ardently admire Jesus Christ but that is not enough. Many ominent unbelievers have endeavored to out do each other in speaking well of Him. Some of them have well nigh exhausted the human vocabulary in order to present verbal bouquets. Pilate found no fault in Christ. Napoleon called him “the Emperor of Love. ” Renan said of the Savior “He was the greatest among the sons of men.” They applauded Him, but they didn’t love Him and worship Him. Though these her to become a channel through which, He as the Saviour, might be revealed to humanity. This is why I say He had only part of the human in Him. It was this human part in God that always spoke to the people. And when He prayed, it was the human part in Him that prayed to the Divine. It is very simple. He considered Mary his mother, but the human part of Jesus considered His divine Being as His Father. He conceived Himself through His breath,-the Holy Ghost. Therefore when He spoke of the Father, He meant that which was Alpha and Omega in Him – His own Divinity. He, the human Jesus, was the Son of the Divine Jesus-Jehovah. It was the human in Him, which was subject to temptation and subject to pain and suffering. The flesh and blood in Him cried out to the Divine when it could stand the suffering no longer. It was the flesh that finally died as a result of the awful suffering on the cross, and it was Jehovah-Jesus who conquered death and the devil and rose from the dead, taking with Him the visible, yet glorified body of the human form. And when He comes again, it will again be the human form, the resurrected Christ, which we shall see descending from above with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Although one can identify “Steps” in the plan of salvation , it is proper to refer to salvation as a process having a continuous development from a beginning to completion.
The first work in man is faith in Jesus Christ which leads to the act of genuine repentance of sins, a type of death to the old nature. Repentance leads into water baptism in Jesus name, a type of burial. The regeneration process is consummated in being filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. Then the “New Born” convert can walk in the victorious spiritual life of service for Jesus Christ, for he has spiritually experienced the death,
burial , and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But just as Jesus left His tomb on that Resurrection morning, once for all, so should the born again man, once risen, be dead into sin. There can be no hovering about the sepulchre, no treasuring of the grave-clothes, no secret desire for the scent and atmosphere of the guilty past. Rather the new man must begin the glorious walk
up the pathway of holiness to higher heights and deeper depths in Christ Jesus.
ARTICLE #5
WHY DID JESUS PRAY IF HE WAS GOD?
BY: E. G. BASS
The question has been asked, “If the Lord Jesus Christ was God, why did he pray to the Father?” We teach by the word of God that there is ONE GOD, the creator of the heavens and the earth and all mankind, manifest to mankind as Father (Creator), Son (Saviour), and the Holy Spirit (Indwelling spirit). We believe and teach that there is but ONE GOD with three manifestations. “For there are three that bear record” in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are ONE” (I Jn. 5:7). It does not say that they agree or work as one but that they are ONE. The Name of the ONE TRUE GOD is Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19, Acts 2:38). Jesus is the Father, Jesus is the Son, Jesus is the Holy Ghost.
Now in asking the question, “Why did Jesus pray to the Father?” the Trinitarians try to prove that there is more than one in the Godhead. In this question they see Jesus, the Son, the second person, praying to the Father, the final person in the Godhead.
Briefly let me bring in at this point the doctrine of the Trinity. This doctrine was the result of the Council of Nicea which was called by Constantine , the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire. This council was called to settle the question of the Godhead , and the result was the doctrine of the Trinity. Briefly the doctrine is: “The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.” “And yet they are not three Gods but one God,” but “these three persons, being truly distinct one from another.”
Also in this “trinity” of persons the son is begotten of the Father by an eternal generation, and the Holy Spirit proceeds by an eternal pro-
cession from the Father and the Son, yet not withstanding they differ as to origin, the persons are co-eternal and co-equal, all alike are uncreated and omnipotent.”
This doctrine of the Trinity is nowhere to be found in the Bible. The Word of God plainly teaches THREE MANIFESTATIONS OF ONE GOD, not three persons or Gods. Nowhere in the Word of God can you find these words, “Trinity”, “three persons”, or “Holy Three.” These are terms used by men to turn the hearts of men from the truth of God and who He is. Basically the doctrine of the Trinity has not changed since the council of Nicea.
When we say that Jesus is the ONE TRUE GOD and beside Him there is no other the Trinitarian will ask this question, “Why did Jesus pray to the Father? They often say, “If Jesus is God then He prayed to himself.” I will do my best to answer these questions.
First, let me ask the Trinitarian a question. Their doctrine states that the Father and the Son are two persons and that they are separate and distinct one from the other, yet they are coeternal and co-equal. In simple language this means that the Father has no more power than the Son and likewise the Son has no more power than the Father. The Father was not before the Son or the Son was not before the Father. Now the question I will ask is this: “If the Father and Son are co-equal , why did the Son pray to the Father?” You pray to someone because you need help, If the Son is co-equal, with the Father he had no need to pray to Him for help because he has just as much power and might. Please think, Mr. Trinitarian, before you ask such a question.
It is accepted everywhere that Jesus is the Son (Matt. 1:23-25). But let us prove that Jesus is the Father as well as the Son. “For unto us a child is born , unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” (Isa. 9:6) Some say we are foolish to call Jesus both Father and Son, but this scripture calls him Father and Son in the same verse. A child would be born, a son given, but he would be called the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Jesus declared that He and the Father are one (Jn. 10:30). He does not say they work as one or agree as one, but He plainly states that they ARE one. Philip asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father in John 14:7-10. Jesus told Philip, “Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father ; and how sayest thou then shew us the Father?” Some will say then if Jesus is the Son and also the Father then He prayed to Himself. lt would not be unscriptural to say this. Before you go up in Holy Smoke let us look at the Word of God. There is nothing unscriptural about the statement for in Heb. 6:13 we find “when God made promise to Abraham because He could swear by no greater, He swore by himself?” Did not God swear by himself? In Eph. 5:25-27 we read where Jesus presents the church to himself.
Let us look at it in its true light. God is a spirit and we know by the word of God that a spirit has not flesh and bone. He created all things. This makes him Father. This same God manifested himself to the world as a Son. “But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal: 4:4) The Son was made. “Wherefore when He cometh unto the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body has thou prepared me.” God would come to redeem fallen man so He prepared a body in the virgin Mary and got into that body and came to us to be our Saviour. This manifestation of God in mankind was called the Son. Not another, but God himself manifested in flesh. (Isa. 7:14, Matt. 1:22,23). This son was Emmanuel. “God with us.”
This was the child to be born and the Son to be given, yet He was the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father (Isa. 9:6). The Son was the mystery of Godliness being revealed to mankind; God manifested in flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). This was God becoming flesh and dwelling among us(John l:l,14).
He prayed because as Son he took on himself the form of man and in taking on the form of man he took on himself a human nature (not a fallen nature!) Please read Phil. 2:5-8. In taking on this nature he
could hunger, thirst, become tired, could cry, and could even die. But one of the principle characteristics of the human nature is that it must pray. There is something within all men that cries out for them to pray whether they do or not. So Christ in his humanity prayed unto the eternal Spirit. Now even as God took these human characteristics on himself when He came into this world, even so He laid them aside in His resurrection, and we no longer know Him after the flesh (II Cor. 5:16). Paul said we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more. After His resurrection we know him as Thomas found Him, “My Lord, and my God” (Jn. 20:28). We know Him as John saw Him on the isle of Patmos, as the Almighty (Rev. 1:7,8). As the first and last (Rev. 1:17,18). If Jesus is the first and last there can be room for no other. We know Him now as King of Kings and LORD OF LORDS (Rev. 19:16).
ARTICLE #6
PLEASE EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF PSALMS 110:1
BY: REC. OLIVER F. FAUSS
Psalm 110: 1-5 reads: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. They people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at they right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.”
The Psalmist David here prophesies of the coming of Christ the Messiah to Israel, and also to all the people who will accept Him. When Jesus was in the world, He quoted Psalm 110:1 (see Matthew 22:44), when being questioned by the scribes concerning the authority by which He taught. After He had put them to silence, no man dared ask Him any question at all (Mark 12:34; Luke 20:39,40). Jesus said to His questioners, “David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?” (Luke 20:44).
In the Old Testament, David, as well as other prophets, foretold the Christ’s coming to the world. In Psalm 110 David even referred to the order of His priesthood. He declared, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” So He was of the order Melchizedek, rather than of the order of Aaron. This is brought out more fully in Hebrews 6:17 through 7:21.
The apostles used another prophecy of David’s in Hebrews 10:5,8,9, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.” Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first (covenant), that he may establish the second.” (This was a quotation from Psalm 40:6-8).
On the day of Pentecost the Apostle Peter also quoted Psalm 110:1 (see Acts 2:34,35), then added these words: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly. that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (verse 36).
The statement, “The Lord said unto my Lord” does not mean that there is a first and a second person in the Godhead, and that they are carrying on a conversation. We read another statement of God to David:
“The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne” (Psalm 132:11). As mentioned above, Paul quoted, “A body hast thou prepared me.”
All this refers to the prophecy of Isaiah: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). Again Isaiah said, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor. The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
This was fulfilled when “…the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The Word was made
flesh when Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:8-17).
QUESTION-
In the New Testament Jesus said He had been with the Father; He prayed to the Father; His Father spoke at His baptism. I believe Jesus is God, but I can’t understand these things.
ANSWER by: Rev. David F. Gray
It is important to realize that Jesus spoke from two distinct standpoints.
In His divine nature He was the Father, the eternal Spirit, who dwelt in the body of flesh called the Son which He had created through the virgin’s womb.
In His human nature He was the “Son of Man”, the human tabernacle for the Everlasting Father to dwell in among men.
Thus it could be said as was prophesied by Isaiah, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given . . . and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).
So you see the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father was identified in the child that was born at Bethlehem, and the Son that was given at Calvary. In Rev. 22:16 Jesus declared that He was both the “root” (Father) and “offspring” (Son) of David. He is BOTH the Father and the Son, both divinity and humanity, in ONE PERSON! Therefore He could speak from both standpoints.
As the Mighty God He was the Water of Life; as Son of Man He cried, “I thirst”. As the Mighty God He said, “I will give you rest”; as Son of Man He was weary. As the Mighty God He cast out devils; as Son of Man He was tempted of the devil.
When this is understood is becomes easy to grasp the reason why Jesus Prayed.
When God took flesh upon himself and became a man as we are, He voluntarily limited Himself to no more of the powers of divinity than is available to us. “He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren (that is, those who are His brethren through the New Birth)” Heb. 2:16,17.
When Jesus died on the cross, the Father did not die, for deity cannot die. It was the tabernacle of God, the flesh or Son in whom the Father dwelt which had been created through the virgin’s womb (Gal. 4:4) that died.
It was this flesh or Son that was with the Father (also the Father was IN the Son-John 14:10). It was this flesh or Son that prayed to the Father (He was the example for us, and we pray to God although He dwells IN us also in the Holy Ghost).
This revelation delivers us from the manifest absurdity of the trinity’ doctrine which would have us believe that one of a trio of divine persons prayed to another one of the divine persons; one God Praying to, another God! If Jesus were a separate God from the Father, why didn’t He avail Himself of His own divinity to help Him, instead of calling on another God’s divine power?
How wonderful is the truth! Jesus prayed because He was calling on His own divine nature, the Father. Thus Scripture harmonizes, and the truth sets us free from the traditions of men.
