John chapter 01 - God comes to earth Part II

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The Spirit rested on Jesus the King and stayed on Him

JOHN 1:29   The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Notice, the Word (Jesus) comes to the prophet who was standing in the water. Water is symbolic of the Word of God. A true prophet is always found to be in the Scriptures.

Jesus begins His ministry which will end when He takes on the world’s sins at Calvary and then as the sin-bearer, He carries our sins down to hell and dumps them on the Devil who is the father of sin, the originator of sin.

EPHESIANS 5:26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Then the Blood of the Lord which was shed to pay the price for sin will cleanse us because about 33 prophecies concerning His death on the cross were fulfilled on the day when He was crucified. Thus His death perfectly fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Messiah. He died according to every Scripture that spoke of His death. Fulfilling all the verses of the Bible that referred to Calvary means that all these fulfilled verses are like water that simply wash our sins away if we place our faith in His sacrificial death.

JOHN 1:30   This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

John the Baptist again confirms Jesus as the Messiah. John points Him out so that everyone will know Who the Messiah is. John came first so that he could point out Jesus. But then he admits that Jesus is the real deal. He is the One that the Bible prophesied would destroy the hold of sin over the people.

John could point out Jesus but only Jesus could actually conquer sin and death.

Jesus was God in the flesh. So He had always been the Spirit Body that God dwelt in since the beginning.

JOHN 1:31   And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

John had never met Jesus. But John knew that because he was a prophet he could be sure that the Word would always come to a prophet.

When Elizabeth, John’s mother, was six months expecting him, Mary, who had just conceived Jesus, came to Elizabeth and stayed for three months. So Jesus the Word came to John the prophet when the prophet was in the waters of the womb. Just before John was born, three months later, Mary left. At birth, the water breaks and the Word only stayed with the prophet when he was in the water.

About thirty years later, when John was baptizing in the river Jordan, then this pattern was re-enacted. Once again it was Jesus (the Word) Who came to the prophet John when he was in the waters of Jordan. The Word of God always comes to a prophet.

JOHN 1:32   And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove,

and it abode upon him.

The apostle John introduces Jesus as the great Eagle, Who is God. Thus John's Gospel does not mention the physical baptism of the Man Jesus but goes straight to the supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit coming down like a Dove upon Jesus. This was the anointing of the Man so that He could begin His ministry.

ACTS 10:38   How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power:

The Holy Spirit did not go into Him.

It abode upon Him. This was an anointing and not a Holy Ghost baptism.

John the Baptist received the Holy Ghost when he was in his mother’s womb.

LUKE 1:15   For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

John kept emphasizing that Jesus was far superior to Him. So if Jesus, when he came into the water to be baptized, did not have the Holy Ghost in Him then John was superior to Him in that regard.

JOHN 1:30   This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me:

for he was before me.

The physical Body of Jesus was not born before John. John was six months older than Jesus. But Jesus received the fullness of the Holy Spirit at conception. The Holy Spirit of God has always existed from way back before the beginning. We humans cannot understand this concept of eternity.

JOHN 3:34   for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

COLOSSIANS 2:9   For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

If the fullness of the Godhead came down into Him on the banks of Jordan, then Jesus would have changed.

But Jesus does not change.

HEBREWS 13: 8   Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

So if Jesus ever at any time had the fulness of the Godhead in Him, then He always had the fullness of the Godhead in Him.

JOHN 1:33   And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending,

and remaining on him,

the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit descended on Him and remained on Him. It did not go into Him. Thus it was an anointing which always remained on Him, making Him the publicly “Anointed One”, the Christ. ('Christos' in Greek means 'anointed One').

John the Baptist went by faith. He trusted that if he fulfilled what Isaiah had prophesied about a voice in the wilderness, then Jesus would come to him, because he did not know Who Jesus was.

The apostle John again stresses that the Holy Spirit did not go into Jesus but remained upon Him. This is important as most people believe that the Holy Spirit came into Jesus at Jordan and thus He changed from being a Man to being a God-Man. This is a serious error, because Jesus never changes.

Jesus was just receiving a public anointing. Why?

David was anointed king of the Jews by the prophet Samuel. But he could not take over as king until his enemy Saul was dead.

Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit as King of the Jews on the banks of Jordan. This was the “crossing over” from a sinful world to a sinless world because His Body was the first handful of dust that was perfect.

A Dove, the symbol of peace, only rests on a Lamb, the symbol of innocence.

But Jesus, the Son of David, cannot take over His kingdom until His enemy the ‘Beast spirit of antichrist religion and politics and money power’ is killed at Armageddon. Then Jesus rules at first for 1000 years with a rod of iron. That is because He wants a sinless kingdom. But there are heathen who never heard the Gospel who will survive Armageddon. They will live in the Millennium kingdom but have to behave themselves.

The Millennium will be the first Heaven, the first taste of Heaven on earth with Jesus as the King.

The Devil is chained up by circumstances where he cannot operate because Jesus is ruling on earth.

But with Jesus are the resurrected saints from the 2000 years of church history. They are also in perfect, sinless glorified bodies.

After the Millennium there is the final revolt of Gog and Magog. Then the sea explodes and rips the surface off the world. Then there will be a new earth, which will be sinless.

Jesus will then be the eternal King.

Jesus was anointed as our High Priest

Jesus also had to be anointed as the High Priest of the Jews.

EXODUS 29:4    And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,

and shalt wash them with water.

EXODUS 29:5   And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat,……..

7     Then shalt thou

take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

The first High Priest was Aaron. He had to be washed by the prophet Moses and then anointed with oil. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the High Priest of the new covenant, God’s perfect plan. He had to be washed by the prophet John the Baptist and then He was anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Thus Christians, when they accept Jesus as their High Priest, King, and Sacrifice are actually obeying the Law of the Old Testament. Jesus actually magnifies the Law to a much higher level than what the Jews could achieve.

JOHN 1:34   And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

John the Baptist now gives the final stamp of approval to Jesus. This is the climax of his ministry. He has finally introduced the Messiah. He has done what God wanted him to do. John the Baptist has pointed out the real Messiah.

Adam was the first perfect son of God until he fell into sin. John now establishes the true record. For the first time since Adam a perfect Son of God has appeared on the scene.

JOHN 1:35   Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

Now we come to a key point of John the Baptist’s ministry.

John, thanks to his powerful ministry, had made disciples who followed him because he was such a great man. He was really impressive. His disciples clung to him and followed him, believing everything that he said.

John now had to show them what the correct path was for them to follow.

Once John had pointed out Jesus, the disciples were supposed to stop following the prophet John the Baptist and start following Jesus the Word.

JOHN 1:36   And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

But John, instead of pointing out his own Scriptural and incredible ministry, now began to point out Jesus to his disciples. Brother Branham’s quotes must point us to what is written in the Bible.

Then the two disciples, once they got the revelation from the prophet’s quotes, then they moved towards Jesus, the Word of God, as they established what the quotes of the prophet John had explained about the Word.

JOHN 1:37   And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

This is the crux of John the Baptist’s ministry. If his disciples had really understood what he was talking about, then they would follow Jesus rather than John the Baptist.

William Branham came to reveal the written mysteries in the Bible that the church had believed in the first church age and then lost in the Dark Ages. His powerful ministry attracted many disciples. As he revealed the written Word, his disciples were faced with two choices.

First, they could keep following and glorifying brother Branham. This was the wrong choice as they built up their unscriptural beliefs on interpreting his quotes that were promoted up to being the “Voice of God” instead of being the “voice of the seventh angel”.

Or, secondly, the true Bride realized that they had to be restored back to the written Bible beliefs of the early church. As such, they build up their beliefs by following the written verses through the Bible. Thus they follow the revelation of Jesus, which they got from the quotes, as He walks through the pages of the Bible.

John the Baptist had many disciples but only two of his disciples, at that time, ended up following Jesus.

This shows how easy it is to be blinded by a powerful ministry of a great prophet that ends up with the disciples following the prophet of God instead of following the God of the prophet.

Very few disciples of John the Baptist and very few disciples of William Branham realized this.

There is an interesting parallel with communism. The further the Communists got away from the actual teachings of Lenin, the more they glorified and deified Lenin. This is a kind of compensation mechanism. They distorted Lenin’s teachings but compensated for that by worshipping Lenin.

Brother Branham was to restore us to the written Word. The further his followers get away from proving their beliefs by the written Word, the more they elevate and worship brother Branham and his quotes.

Jesus dwells in the revealed mysteries of the Word

JOHN 1:38   Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

This is a deep question.

The disciples were thinking of the physical place where Jesus lived then.

But John’s Gospel introduces Jesus as God, the great Eagle Who sees the Big Picture, the  2 000 years of church history lying ahead. He sees the entire church of 2 000 years as His Body. Jesus naturally is the Head of the church.

There is no Scripture that says a pastor is the head of the church.

EPHESIANS 5:23   For the husband is the head of the wife,

even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

So where will Jesus be dwelling for  2 000 years in order to save the church, the body of believers?

Jesus dwells in His revealed Word.

Even in these early days He had no fixed dwelling place because He would have to move around to different places to fulfil the prophecies that were written of Him. Jesus was an Evangelist and Apostle, which required moving around. He performed all the ministries. His Scriptural place was to come to the Jews as their Messiah. That confined His ministry to the Promised Land of Israel.

Rejected by the Jews at Calvary, where would He then dwell?

In the hearts of born again men and women who formed the early church.

The apostles became the spiritual fathers of the church in His absence. Then there was a falling away from truth in the Dark Ages when the church turned to human leadership. Then would come a Reformation in 1520 as Martin Luther in Germany taught basic salvation by faith. Around 1750 John Wesley in England restored holiness and outreach that led to the great missionary age. In 1906 the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Ghost was restored. All that was then left was to restore the written mysteries in the Bible by correctly interpreting the Bible symbols so that we could understand and believe just like the early church.

This would only happen to two groups. William Branham would reveal the mysteries of the Bible that should enable us Christians to believe and act just like the early church. Then Moses and Elijah would reveal these same mysteries to the Jews in Israel during the Tribulation as they call out the 144000.

This is the Big Picture that Jesus always has in mind when He speaks.

Jesus also wants to know the motives of a disciple.

Do we follow Him for the benefits? They called Him Master showing that they regarded him as the supreme Boss.

These disciples of the prophet John the Baptist never tried to promote John up to the level of Jesus.

(Message pastors please take note).

They had left the greatest prophet of their age because they felt that Jesus was the true Master, the Absolute Truth, not John the Baptist.

Now they wanted to know where Jesus lived.

Today Jesus lives between the pages of the Bible. The Bible verses are the only true revelation that we will ever have as to Who Jesus is and where He can be found in our age.

Jesus is not living today in the memory of past events. He lives in the revelation of Scripture that is happening today to those who love truth and have a desire to learn.

"The God that you took from this Holy Book", determines your destiny.

You will only find Christ in the verses of the Bible. Seek Him there.

Following Jesus was not easy. It would change their lifestyle. He did not live where they lived. If we follow Jesus then He will change us.

JOHN 1:39   He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

“Come and see” is what is said when each of the four beasts around the throne of God speaks as the first four Seals are revealed.

REVELATION 6:3   And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

“Come”  means we have to move on from where we are. Following Jesus means you keep moving.

If a flying eagle stops, then he drops.

Revelations never stop if you catch the truth. They keep unfolding to a deeper level as the Bible verses become understood.

“and see”.  Following Jesus means we will gain a deeper insight into the written Word. We will be able to link Scriptures together to prove our beliefs. We will detect patterns that run through the Bible in the same way that deep currents are found in a flowing river. The Bible is the River of Life.

Jesus took them to where He stayed. Today Jesus stays in His Bible. If you want to know the mysteries of what is written in the Bible then you must take the quotes of brother Branham back to Scripture. If his quotes reflect in the Bible verses, then you know you have understood him properly.

Andrew followed the Word and not the prophet

JOHN 1:40   One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. He moved on from the prophet John’s quotes which pointed him to the Word, Jesus. Then he listened to and obeyed the Word that was Jesus. This is the key idea. The prophet’s quotes revealed the Word to Him so that He could follow the Word (Who is Jesus). Then he obeyed the Word, which is Jesus.

The prophet revealed the Word to him and then he followed the Word, not the prophet.

JOHN 1:41   He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

Andrew had been a disciple of the prophet John the Baptist but he did not lead his brother to the prophet John the Baptist.

Andrew led him to Jesus, the Word of God.

It is not our calling to lead people to the quotes of William Branham.

Those quotes revealed the Word of God to us and now we need to lead people to the revealed Word, the written Bible.

Andrew, who had personally known John the Baptist,  showed that he had understood the prophet John’s teachings by bringing his brother Peter to Jesus. But Peter would eclipse Andrew in terms of his Gospel achievements. Not personally knowing the prophet John the Baptist was no disadvantage to Peter.

Peter was not a close disciple of John the Baptist the way Andrew was. Peter was not even listening when John the Baptist pointed out Jesus. Nevertheless, Peter became a far more effective disciple of Jesus than Andrew became, although Andrew was a far more committed disciple of John the Baptist. Being close to the forerunner prophet of the first Coming did not make Andrew pre-eminent amongst the disciples of Jesus. One actually hears very little of Andrew. Peter had a far more dramatic ministry and also wrote two of the Books of the New Testament. Being devoted to the prophet John was no advantage.

So having known brother Branham personally is no real advantage as far as getting people to understand the written mysteries of the Bible is concerned. To obey and understand the Word of God does not mean that you had to know the prophet personally.

Andrew was probably the only disciple of John the Baptist who became an apostle of Jesus.

Being a disciple of William Branham thus implies that it is not very likely that you will be a leader of the true church of  Jesus, the Word.

We move from the quotes to getting an understanding of the Word. We do not stay with the quotes. Worse still, we do not interpret quotes so as to make them contradict Scripture.

Pastors have made a real mess of the Message

Looking at the mess that the mess-age believers have become thanks to the various pastors’ doctrines based on quotes, it seems that very few who focus on brother Branham will succeed in being able to reveal the mysteries of the written Word. There is such a modern-day emphasis on quotes that many, if not most, message believers are in danger of being Bible-illiterate.

Jeremiah prophesied of this shambles.

JEREMIAH 23:1   Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

2   Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

Message pastors are happy to get rid of opposition to their viewpoints.

The motto of a typical pastor is, “Everyone is entitled to my opinion”.

If we get a revelation (a picture) from the quotes of brother Branham then we must be able to follow that picture or doctrine through the written pages of the Bible. We can only follow Jesus through the verses of the Bible. That is where He dwells today. In the revealed mysteries of the written Word.

If we do not understand what is written in the Bible then we cannot really claim to be following Jesus.

ISAIAH 28:10   For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line,

line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

JOHN 1:42   And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

A stone is a small, rugged, individual object. It speaks of a personal revelation of Scripture. Something you see for yourself. You are not repeating another person’s opinion. You are not conforming to the herd. If you follow the herd, you eat dust. Just like the serpent in Genesis.

63-0728  CHRIST IS THE MYSTERY OF GOD REVEALED

Not say, "My church..." Now, "my church" has nothing to do with it.

It's an individual, one person!

All hell is against this Teaching. All hell is against this Truth, but it is the Truth.

Jesus never said, "Now, Peter, you and John, and all the rest the people, you've got the revelation, now the whole church is saved." No.

It was to him, personally.

"I say unto thee, thee," not to them, "to thee, thou art Peter; upon this rock I'll build My Church." And the word Peter, means "a stone." Stone means "the confessed one," or, "the separated one."

Upon a certain stone, upon a certain thing; see, a called-out, the Church called out; upon this stone, upon this "revelation." "Flesh and blood never revealed it to you. But upon this revelation, called-out group, I'll build My Church in them. And all the gates of hell will never be able to withstand it."

"Not one hair of your head shall perish. You are Mine! I'll raise you up in the last day, give unto him Eternal Life, and raise him up at the last days."

There it is, the revelation. Not them; but "him," an individual!

Not a group; an individual!       All hell is against it.

Jesus wanted disciples who could think for themselves and follow their beliefs through the Scripture, as they regard the Scripture as their absolute. Each stone is separate. Each believer must think for themselves from the Bible and not just embrace church ideas or human traditions or human leadership.

Churches would prefer conformity to some human leader’s opinion.

56-1207  GIFTS

….. churches get the pastor's spirit instead of God's Spirit.

That's right. We don't need one another's spirit; there's no need of that. We need God's Spirit. You go into a church and watch the way the pastor acts. Watch the congregation act the same way.

This is what wrecks the church. Human conformity.

Peter was always prepared to think for himself. He was not bound by group conformity. He could receive his revelation or understanding from God. He did not depend on opinions of other men.

Peter was part of the group but was separate from them in that he was never scared to think for himself.

Nicolaitanism is the elevation of a holy man by a group. No criticism is allowed in the group. No awkward questions about the Bible. People are not allowed to think for themselves but are confined to a holy huddle of people who are programmed to think the same way. They can only parrot the group consensus as all dissent is excluded from the group. No more personal revelation occurs where you see a doctrine for yourself just by using written Bible verses. The only acceptable conduct is blind subjection to the dictates of the church leader.

Jesus knew that this awful pastor-domination of churches would drive the written Word out of the church in the Laodicean age. So he commended Peter for his tough individuality. Peter was no devious pastor with a plastic smile that evaporates when faced by Scriptures that contradict his viewpoints.

God wants individuals who can disgree with a church

JOHN 1:43   The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.

When Jesus chose a disciple he wanted that man to follow Him (the Word). No one else.

JOHN 1:44   Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Bethsaida means “house of fishing”.  A pattern emerges. Jesus wants the apostles to be “fishers of men” so he goes to a city whose name means the ‘house of fishing’. The city of Bethsaida is on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee which is a fresh water lake that is teeming with fish.

This symbolized the New Testament where the whole world would eventually be fished by the Gospel, thanks to the amazing missionary age. The waters of the great lake are a symbol of the restless and turbulent masses of mankind as they rely on greed and selfishness to fill their empty minds.

REVELATION 17:15   And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

A fisherman will pull a fish out of the water until the fish “crosses over” into the world above the water where it dies. This symbolizes sinners who accept the Lord Jesus as Saviour and then are pulled up to a higher spiritual level where they die to themselves and allow God to control their lives.

John the Baptist operated just north of the Dead Sea that is too salty for fish. This symbolized the Jewish Law which could not save the Jewish people as they listened to their religious leaders who fooled them into killing their Messiah. Religious pastors today fool their people into forsaking the Scripture for quotes. The people then join the ranks of the foolish virgins who are destined for the Tribulation instead of the Wedding Supper.

Today message pastors fool their people into relying on quotes and rejecting the written Word of God. They actively destroy the reputations of people who stay with Scripture.  That is why Jesus stands outside the last age Laodicean church.

REVELATION 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;

20     Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice,

and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

No church will make it. Only individuals. Church conformity does not impress God.

JOHN 1:45   Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Philip was a Scriptural man. He knew the Old Testament Bible and was able to track down the prophecies that foretold of the Messiah. Philip was a great believer in leading people to Jesus, not to some man or some group. Thus Jesus wanted him as an apostle so that he could establish the future Christians by leading them to the Bible truths. That is how truth is established. We must follow the relevant Scriptures through the Bible. That is how Philip knew that Jesus was Messiah because He had fulfilled certain prophecies in the Law of Moses (the first five Books called the Torah) as well as other prophecies from the Old Testament prophets.

Philip knew the Old Testament. He could track down the Scriptures that spoke of the Messiah. He believed Jesus because he had found that the Old Testament spoke of Jesus.

“The son of Joseph” puts the emphasis on adoption. Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus.

LUKE 1:34   Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35   And the angel answered and said unto her,

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,

and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

The Holy Ghost was the Father of Jesus.

The Holy Ghost created a Body for Himself inside the womb of Mary. Mary was just the incubator. The Holy Spirit who indwelt Jesus was God the Father. The physical Man who grew from this conception was the Son.

HEBREWS 10:5   Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,

but a body hast thou prepared me:

HEBREWS 2:16    For verily he took not on him the nature of angels;

but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

The seed of human life is the male sperm cell. This gets a body from the female egg cell.

God created a human sperm cell and egg cell in the womb of Mary. Then God hid His Holy Spirit inside this Seed.
ISAIAH 45: 15   Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.

God was hidden away in a single cell.  The biggest Person in the universe, hidden in the smallest Foetus.  No wonder the Devil was fooled. God's endless ability to do the impossible.

54-1212  HE SWORE BY HIMSELF
When God condescend and overshadowed virgin Mary, He was a Life.

And a Life overshadowed and created a blood Cell around Itself.
Anybody knows now that the blood cell comes from what? The male. Is that right? The life lays in the blood cell, and the blood cell is coming from the male, not the female. There's where the life is, is in the male sperm.
Notice.

Then God Himself come into the womb of virgin Mary and wrapped Hisself in a created blood Cell.

God is not interested in human efforts even though they are sincere and involve sacrifice and offering. Mary had nothing to do with the conception or development of the foetus in her womb. She had just had the faith to be in submission to God’s Will which is His Word.

LUKE 1:38   And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

The parable of the ten virgins divides the Christians into two groups. Those with the oil of the Holy Spirit that can light their lamps and illuminate (or understand) the written Word of God  and the foolish virgin who cannot understand so many issues in the Bible because they have no oil to ignite and thus produce no light and thus cannot read the Bible with any real understanding. They are easy to recognize. When asked a question in the Bible, like  “Why did David, who was not a priest, eat the shewbread and not get punished? Yet a  good king Uzziah was punished with leprosy when he took the priest's censer to burn incense.”  Modern day Christians reply by spreading darkness. “It is not important”, “It is irrelevant”, “It does not affect my salvation”.  The problem is both their ignorance as well as their lack of interest. Their own pastors cannot explain it to them and they have thus long since given up thinking for themselves. They refuse to learn from someone outside their group because that would imply that their church does not have all the truth of the mysteries. In Laodicea they “have need of nothing”. They have no need of correction because they "know it all". They have no need of someone outside their church to teach them. They are secure in the darkness of their ignorance. Please do not disturb.  This is a symptom of being fast asleep.

So human efforts cannot build up the wise virgin. But God will prepare a body for Himself which is the true church that is built on Scripture.

The Jewish kings were cut off

John 5: 39     Search the scriptures;

Joseph adopted the Child that was forming in Mary. Thus Jesus legally became the adopted Son of Joseph. But Joseph was a descendant of king David. So by accepting God’s Will as it happened, very contrary to human opinion because of the virgin birth, Joseph enabled Jesus to fulfil His claim to be the King of the Jews. This was the main important role that Joseph had to play in God’s Big Picture. As a man he had to provide for Mary and the child Jesus. But after Jesus went to the Temple at the age of 12 we hear no more of Joseph. He had put a key piece of the jigsaw into its place although he probably did not, at that time, understand the significance of his adoption of the Child.

Coniah or Jeconiah or Jeconias in Greek (also called Jehoiachin) was a descendant of David but was so bad that God said no descendants of his would ever be king of the Jews. This wiped out David’s kingly line through his son Solomon. Thus Joseph could never be king as he was descended from Coniah.

JEREMIAH 22:28   Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure?

wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

:30   Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days:

for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

But David’s eldest son Nathan has a line that went down to Mary. This is why Mary spent three months with Elizabeth to return obviously three months pregnant when she married Joseph. This proved that Jesus was not the Son of Joseph. By adopting Jesus, Joseph then legally had a Son from Nathan’s line that was free of the curse on Coniah. Thus only Jesus can ever be King of the Jews as the natural kingly line ended with Coniah.

We learn an important lesson. Only by fulfilling Scripture do we serve God in His perfect Will. Usually, like Joseph, we do not realize the real significance of being Scriptural. But every time we fulfil a Scripture we help to move God’s perfect plan a little bit further forward. Believing or doing something that is unscriptural is just a spanner in the works. It is a disaster that ripples outwards.

JOHN 1:46   And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

Nazareth was a wicked city. Much crime and moral corruption existed there. Rather like modern day Las Vegas the city that depends on gambling. One would not expect anything good to come out of such a place. But here we learn another lesson. We must not pre-judge a person because of their background. Out of this bad city was coming the most perfect Man.

JOHN 1:47   Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Jesus reads the thoughts of Nathanael’s mind.

This is the sign of Messiah to the Jews.

In effect Jesus was saying, “I have never seen you before but I know all about you. You have no guile. You are not a schemer in any way”.

Jesus showed that He could reach across time to see a person’s past and He could also see into the invisible dimensions of the spirit-world to see a person’s thoughts and motives.

JOHN 1:48   Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

Nathanael is suitably shocked. How can someone that I have never met know me well? How could this be possible? What kind of Man was Jesus?

John’s Gospel introduces Jesus as God, the All-seeing Eagle.

Nathanael is an individual who represents all the people who will make up God’s church over the next 2000 years. So he learns, as all of us have to, that Jesus has a vision that far exceeds our human limits. Jesus created time and Jesus created the spirit world of the fifth dimension. So He has to be far beyond them in a much higher dimension. He can look forward and backwards in time. We humans can only see the brief present. Nathanael suddenly realizes that he is in an Awesome Presence.

But then comes another shock, another huge surprise when Jesus reveals that He can reach across space to see Nathanael when he is far away and out of sight to His human eye.

Jesus is thus master of space and time (our four-dimensional natural world) as well as our inner spiritual fifth dimension where thoughts take place and motives dominate in our minds. This realm of the spirit is home to a mixture of the knowledge of both good and evil. We humans endlessly have to make decisions between right and wrong.

JOHN 1:49   Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Only God knows the thoughts in people’s hearts and minds.

I KINGS 8:39   Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest;

(for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

A Man who can reveal the thoughts of the hearts must be Messiah. God the Father is the Holy Spirit. If all of God dwells in a Man then that Man is the Son of God.

Nathanael had just discovered something tremendous. All of God dwelled in Jesus Christ.

So where did Jesus dwell?

Jesus wanted to open his eyes to the Big Picture. God, by grace, gives a measure or portion of His Spirit to each born again Christian. These separate small portions of the Holy Spirit that would dwell in the hearts of every born again Christian over the 2000 years of human history would add up to the fulness of the Holy Spirit.

Where Jesus lived physically amongst the Jews as Messiah at that time was not the real issue because it was His intention to die when the Jews rejected Him.

That is why the wise men gave Him myrrh as a gift when He was two years old in a house. Myrrh is a spice that is used to embalm the dead as its perfume masks some of the stench of a decaying corpse. The wise men knew Jesus had come to earth with the intention of dying for our sins.

The Gold meant that they recognized that He was God in the flesh.

The frankincense was a gum or resin that gave a lovely perfume when burnt in fire. The scorched meat of a burnt sacrifice was not pleasant. The perfume of frankincense made it an acceptable sacrifice.

So the wise men’s gifts revealed Who they thought Jesus was.

He was God in the flesh coming down to perform an acceptable Sacrifice. He was going to die to save men from their sins. The wise men had seen the Bigger Picture. That is why they were wise.

Then, just as God poured all His Spirit into the Man Jesus, so Jesus was going to pour all of His Spirit into the millions of hearts of the worldwide church over the next 2 000 years.

II CHRONICLES 6:18   But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!

Nathanael is awestruck. The sixth dimension of the Spirit, Heaven, where only good will dwell (no evil) is so vast that Solomon calls it a heaven of heavens. It is way beyond humans to even grasp such an idea. Yet all of this vastness cannot contain God.

Yet this Man Jesus does contain the fullness of God!

Words simply cannot describe Him. Any words of praise offered to Him are correct but hopelessly insufficient. Jesus is simply beyond human imagination or powers of description.

So where does He dwell?

His real dwelling is in the hearts of the future Christian church, the believers that obey the written Word of God that is revealed to their specific church ages. He is the Head and all the world-wide believers combined over the seven church ages will be the mystical Body of Christ.

JOHN 1:50   Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

Seeing Nathanael far away showed the power that Jesus has over space. He can see everywhere both in space and in time. He also lives beyond the fifth dimension of the human spirit as that is a mixture of good and evil.

JOHN 1:51   And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Angels, plural. Two of them.

This is John’s Gospel that presents Jesus as God, the great Eagle that flies up into the heavenly dimensions with His all-seeing and incredible eye sight.

Just when we think we understand the first Chapter, Jesus throws a curve ball to remind us how little we know. This last verse really makes us scratch our heads.

The Son of man is His human ministry as a Kinsman Redeemer to save mankind. So now He looks beyond His physical Body, which He sees as a sacrifice, towards His mystical church body of all the future believers wherever they are in time, over the next 2 000 years, or wherever they are in space as the Gospel spreads over the earth.

REVELATION 5:3   And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth,

was able to open the book,

neither to look thereon.

God’s Bible is full of mysteries that humans, in their limited wisdom, are unable to understand.

Yet, in each church age the true Christians need to know certain Bible mysteries in order combat the Devil.

ISAIAH 55:8   For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

9     For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The first church age knew most of the written mysteries, but there were also some unknown mysteries that were never written in the Bible. There is always something that we cannot know and the Devil thus also cannot know. Not revealing all of God’s plan, leaves God room to outmanoeuvre the Devil.

The Bible never reveals the time of the Coming of Jesus to catch up His church to Heaven.

The seventh Seal in Revelation 8:1 is just silence.

What the seven Thunders utter in Revelation Chapter 10 are not written.

The new Name of Jesus in Revelation 19 is not permitted to be known by any man.

The first church never knew these mysteries.

But they had an angel, a messenger called Paul, who ascended up to the third Heaven.

II CORINTHIANS 12:2   I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

such an one caught up to the third heaven.

3    And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

4    How that he was caught up into paradise,

and heard unspeakable words,

which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

In the sixth dimension of Heaven, occupied by angels and saved souls, things are so far advanced beyond our limited human understanding, that Paul, the great messenger or angel of the first church age, could not tell us everything he heard.

But Paul never-the-less did learn much of the deeper mysteries which enabled him to write almost half of the New Testament Books.

Each church age would have a messenger or angel that would receive guidance from Heaven that would enable the true church, which is the physical Body of Jesus because He dwells in their hearts, to survive the hazards of the different onslaughts of the Devil.

There was no Cloud at Sunset Peak on 28 February 1963

The seventh angel or messenger would be caught up on 8 March 1963 at Sunset Peak near the city of Tucson in Arizona, America, into a constellation of seven angels. No cloud was visible. He was commissioned so that he could go back to Jeffersonville in Indiana and reveal the mysteries of six of the Seven Seals in Revelation Chapter 6.

The supernatural Cloud was photographed just north of the city of Flagstaff in Arizona. ctually, what nobody mentions, is that there were two clouds.  A supernatural Cloud from angel's wings and a smaller smoke cloud from an exploded rocket. Both were about 42 kilometers high where no natural clouds form.

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Each of these seven angels that came secretly to brother Branham had been the angel who came to a specific church age messenger to guide them through their specific church age. Only the first messenger Paul and the last messenger, brother Branham, were actually caught up into the heavenly realm.

The other five messengers were not aware of the presence of each angel that was guiding them in their ministry. These seven great men would be granted heavenly insights into the errors of their age and the revelation of certain Bible mysteries to guide that age. These revelations unfolded God’s plan for the survival of His church down on earth.

Jesus gives Nathanael an insight into the Big Picture. The seven church ages are the kingdom of Heaven. What happens on earth is a reflection of the titanic struggle between God and Satan.

Jesus, the written Word, is the mediator between heaven and earth. The messengers first gain heavenly inspiration to bring the revelation of the Word for their age down to the level of the true believers for that age. Each angel or messenger had to seek out where Jesus was dwelling, in the written Word for that age.

So that is where Jesus dwells today. In the revelation of the written Word for our internet dominated age.

If we can understand the written Word that the first church age understood then we have found our Bridegroom in the pages of the King James Bible.