the Heavenlies in Christ

"God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace" (Eph 2:6,7).

IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS: A present situation -- having access with God (cp Eph 2:4,5,7,18). Our heavenly calling (Heb 3:1), by a heavenly Father (Mat 18:35), through a heavenly word (Joh 3:12), presents to us a heavenly status (Eph 2:6), as we await a heavenly image (1Co 15:48,49), to be a heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22), in a heavenly country (Heb 11:16), within a heavenly kingdom (2Ti 4:18). All this constitutes Christ's brethren as a heavenly people of God!

the Heavenlies in Christ are not luoghi, heux, or places, but STATES

There are 2 types of Heavenlies when he speaks of the heavenlies in which "the spirituals of wickedness" are found he omits the phrase "in Christ Hence, the two kinds of supernal states are characterized by being "in Christ" or not in Christ; which is equivalent to being out of Christ - outside,

Paul tells the saints in Ephesus, that he with them were "blessed with all spiritual blessings" in these heavenlies; in which they and Christ, though the latter is at the Right Hand of the Divine Majesty, and they in Ephesus and elsewhere, were regarded as sitting together (Eph. 1:20; 2:6). A heavenly is a constituted supernal state. It may be Divinely constituted, or constituted by human authority. We have these two kinds of heaven-ies in Paul's letter to the saints in Ephesus. In ch. 6:12, he alludes to the heavenlies constituted by human authority.

The heavenlies in Christ are 3 states answering to the 3 places of the tabernacle of Moses, the  outer court, holy place and the most holy place these 3 places in the tabernacle correspond to the 3 spiritual realm of Olam/Aeon

These apocalyptic temple states answer to the Altar-Court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy within the Vail of the Mosaic Building. The apocalyptic Altar-Court and the Holy Place are what Paul styles in Eph. i. 3, "the Heavenlies in Christ." They are constituted of "the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus," who are partakers with the Altar, and worshippers therein (1 Cor. ix. 13; x. 18; Heb. xiii. 10; Apoc. xi. 1).

yet the saints, not sinners, who are quickened with him, and raised with him, sit together in both with him, and He with them. Now the solution of this mystery turns wholly upon the meaning of the phrase "in him."

 in Deity the Father, and the Lord Jesus Anointed. The saints are all in this manifestation of Deity. Being in Jesus and the Father, they must be, in a certain sense, where Jesus and the Father are. Alluding to this fact, Paul says in Heb. 12:23, "22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.",

But Paul says that Jesus is at the Father's own Right Hand. True; but he also says, that "being justified by faith, we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." In other words, we have admission to the Father in heaven by faith; and when a person is permitted access to a place, and avails himself of the permission, he is in some sense certainly there; and when there in this certain sense, he is "dwelling in the heaven" in the presence of "the Judge of all."

 entrance into the tabernacle gate is by faith For it is the domain of faith,

How, then, does a sinner come to "dwell in the heaven?" By being "transformed in the renewing of his mind" "by knowledge" (Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10); that he may discern and do "that good and acceptable and Perfect will of the Deity." In other words, by believing the gospel of the Kingdom and Name; and being immersed into and upon that Name. In so doing, he enters into the Holy Heavenly State. By faith in "the truth as it is in Jesus," and obedience, he puts on Christ, and is therefore, "in Him;" and being in him, he is constitutionally holy or a saint; and sitting together with him in the Most Holy, not personally, or corporeally rather; but by faith. This is his present adoption through Jesus Christ, by which he becomes a son of Deity, of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, and a brother of Christ himself (Gal. 3:26-29); and a "dweller in the heaven.

An Ecclesia of Christ is, apocalyptically speaking, "the Altar and them that worship therein." They who constitute it have all been "cleansed in the Laver of the Water with doctrine;" and in passing through the water have passed into the Christ-Altar, and become one with it. When they die, they lie under the Altar, or "sleep in Jesus;" when they are slain for the word of the Deity and for their testimony, they are blood-souls under the Altar, crying for vengeance. But while they are living in the present state of tribulation and patience waiting for Christ, they are Altar-worshippers "having access by faith into" the heavenlies where Christ sits at the right hand of Power (Eph. i. 20; Rom. v.

It is synonymous with "the Name," and "them dwelling in the heaven;" for all the constituents of the tabernacle are constituents of the Name, having been all immersed into the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and they "dwell in the heaven," in the sense that "the Deity hath made them to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii. 6).


But Christ and the Saints are not only the Name and Tabernacle of the Deity, but they are also, "those who dwell in the heaven."

Paul wrote, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is aeonian (2 Cor 4: 18). The word aeonian describes those things human eyes have not seen, and ears have not heard, because they belong to the unseen realm of the kingdom of God.

They will receive you into aeonian dwellings (Luke 16: 9  And I to you say: Make you to yourselves friends out of the mammon of the unjust; that, when you may fail, they may receive you into the age-lasting tabernacles.). We have a building from God, an aeonian house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Cor 5: 1 ¶  For we know that if our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.). I am going to prepare a place for you, so that you also may be where I am (John 14: 3).

The natural mind thinks about living in a physical house made of brick or stone. Solomon even built a physical house of stone where God could live. Jesus did not go to prepare a mansion in the sky for his followers to enjoy after they died. Rather he prepared an invisible, spiritual place for them and us to inhabit immediately here and now.

This was and is life on a totally new and higher plane. Physical life is visible and temporary and destructible. Spiritual life is unseen and permanent and indestructible. All this is implied in the word aeonian.

Whoever believes in the Son has aeonian life (John 3: 36) In this and many other verses, we find not the future tense, but the present. Not will have aeonian life, but has aeonian life. Aeonian life is not an infinitely prolonged extension of this life after we die. It is a new, spiritual life which we receive from Jesus when we receive him.

 "The Man Christ Jesus" is a real man. When on earth he was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and sinless," as to character; yet imperfect as to his material nature. He is now perfect - a perfect man "justified by spirit," and therefore incorruptible and immortal - a perfect character or moral nature, developed by Divine power, or spirit, into a perfect material nature. But Christ is also an allegorical man, as Hagar and Sarah were two allegorical women; the former representing the Mosaic Covenant; the latter, the New, or Abrahamic, Covenant. From the days of Moses until the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 34, the whole twelve tribes were constitutionally in their mother Hagar, or the Jerusalem system then in existence, and in bondage with her children. But on that celebrated day a new system was initiatorily developed, the Sarah Covenant, styled "the Jerusalem above the Mother of us all." Isaac was Sarah's son, and allegorically slain, and allegorically raised. The saints are all in Isaac; for "in Isaac shall thy seed be called." This seed is Christ; not Jesus only; but that great multitude also which no man can number. This "One Body" of people headed up in Deity is the allegorical or figurative Christ. They are the children of the promise as Isaac was; the free-born sons of Sarah the free woman. This is their state, without regard to the place or country of earth or heaven, where they might be supposed to be. But, if there had been no literal or personal Christ, there could have been no such Christ-State for Jews and Gentiles. Jesus of Nazareth was allegorically "a number which no man could number." He himself taught this, saying, "he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:" and, "Father, I pray for them who shall believe into me (eis eme) through the apostles' word: that they all may be one in us" (John 10:5; 17:20,21). Though few compared with the whole race of man, it is a great company absolutely - a people taken out from all the generations and the nations for the Divine Name. "He shall increase," said John the Immerser; "but I must decrease." Jesus increased, or grew, into a Divine and "chosen generation;" while John has dwindled down into a mere Baptist Denomination, which is either ignorant of, or opposed to "the truth as it is in Jesus."



Now the two places of the Mosaic tabernacle were the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, which were divided the one from the other by the Vail. Even so it is with "the holies", the true tabernacle which the Lord pitches, and not man (Heb. 8:2). There are the Holy Heavenly State and the Most Holy Heavenly State, divided by the Flesh. The Holy must be entered before the Most Holy can be reached; and to pass corporeally from one into the other, the individual must put on incorruptibility and become immortal; for, so long as he is in mortal flesh he is outside, or rather, an element of the Vail which must be rent; though by faith and constitution in Christ, he is within it.

How, then, does a sinner come to "dwell in the heaven?" By being "transformed in the renewing of his mind" "by knowledge" (Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10); that he may discern and do "that good and acceptable and Perfect will of the Deity." In other words, by believing the gospel of the Kingdom and Name; and being immersed into and upon that Name. In so doing, he enters into the Holy Heavenly State. By faith in "the truth as it is in Jesus," and obedience, he puts on Christ, and is therefore, "in Him;" and being in him, he is constitutionally holy or a saint; and sitting together with him in the Most Holy, not personally, or corporeally rather; but by faith. This is his present adoption through Jesus Christ, by which he becomes a son of Deity, of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, and a brother of Christ himself (Gal. 3:26-29); and a "dweller in the heaven."

But there are heavenlies beyond the pale of the Christ-Body. These are Supernal States in which Paul locates principalities, powers, world-rulers of the darkness of the times of the Gentiles, which he styles "this aeon," and the spirituals of the wickedness enthroned throughout the earth. These heavenlies are constituted providentially or instrumentally by human authority and power after "the course of this world;" and are the tabernacle of "the Prince of the power of the Air, the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). This Prince-power and Spirit of the Air is Sin's Flesh; whose spirit pervades all sublunary human constitutions, styled "thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers,'' which Paul specifies as ''things in the heaven" or "the Air'' (Col. 1:16). In such an unclean heaven as this, are found the Ten-Horned, and Two-Horned, Beasts, the Name of Blasphemy, the Lion-Mouth, and the Image of the Beast, or False Prophet, the God of the Earth - all things of power, in short, emanating from falsehood and superstition. The dwellers in this Air, or Heaven, are not the Saints. In their days of Apocalyptic prophecy the two witnessing prophets had power to shut this heaven that there should be no rain from it; and as often as they willed during 1260 years, to turn the popular waters into blood, and to smite the earth with all war-plagues (ch. 11:6). The dwellers in this Aerial are the civil and ecclesiastical orders of society; such as, emperors, kings, diplomatists, nobles spiritual and racial, legislators, magistrates, priests, clergymen, parsons, and all of that class, styled by the apostle "spirituals of the wickedness" which reigns in "the Court of the Gentiles without the temple." Between this heaven and "the Heavenlies in Christ" there is implacable and uncompromising hostility. No peace can be permanently established in the earth till one or other of these heavens be suppressed or subjugated: and who can doubt which of these heavens shall be shaken, be rolled up as a scroll, and be made to pass away with the great tumult of war? The heavenlies, or high places, of this world are decreed to Yahweh and his Anointed Body; who, by the thunders and lightnings issuing from the throne newly set in the heaven, shall take the dominion under the whole heaven, and possess it during the Olahm and beyond (ch. 11:15; 4:1-5; Dan. 7:18,22,27). This is the fiat of Eternal Wisdom and Power. The Seventh Vial, the last blast of the Seventh Trumpet, is to pour out its fury upon the Air, the secular and spiritual constitution of which will thereby be thoroughly and radically changed. The things now in the Air will be transferred to "them who dwell in the heaven" in Christ; who, having passed through the Vail of the Flesh which divides the Heavenlies, in the putting on of immortality, will be manifested as the Most Holy Heavenly in Christ; and the Air, filled with their glory, will become the New Heavens, in which righteousness will dwell forever. The Air will then no longer be malarious with the pestiferousness of secular and spiritual demagogues, who "with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." The Prince of the Power of the Air will then be the Spirit that works in the children of obedience - the truth incarnated gloriously in Jesus and his Brethren; who, in the highest sense, will be those who dwell in the heaven.

These apocalyptic temple states answer to the Altar-Court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy within the Vail of the Mosaic Building. The apocalyptic Altar-Court and the Holy Place are what Paul styles in Eph. i. 3, "the Heavenlies in Christ." They are constituted of "the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus," who are partakers with the Altar, and worshippers therein (1 Cor. ix. 13; x. 18; Heb. xiii. 10; Apoc. xi. 1). An Ecclesia of Christ is, apocalyptically speaking, "the Altar and them that worship therein." They who constitute it have all been "cleansed in the Laver of the Water with doctrine;" and in passing through the water have passed into the Christ-Altar, and become one with it. When they die, they lie under the Altar, or "sleep in Jesus;" when they are slain for the word of the Deity and for their testimony, they are blood-souls under the Altar, crying for vengeance. But while they are living in the present state of tribulation and patience waiting for Christ, they are Altar-worshippers "having access by faith into" the heavenlies where Christ sits at the right hand of Power (Eph. i. 20; Rom. v. 2).

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But the Heavenlies in Christ are not luoghi, heux, or places, but STATES, the foundation of which is laid in Jesus Christ - Deity manifested in the Flesh. "The Man Christ Jesus" is a real man. When on earth he was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and sinless," as to character; yet imperfect as to his material nature. He is now perfect - a perfect man "justified by spirit," and therefore incorruptible and immortal - a perfect character or moral nature, developed by Divine power, or spirit, into a perfect material nature. But Christ is also an allegorical man, as Hagar and Sarah were two allegorical women; the former representing the Mosaic Covenant; the latter, the New, or Abrahamic, Covenant. From the days of Moses until the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 34, the whole twelve tribes were constitutionally in their mother Hagar, or the Jerusalem system then in existence, and in bondage with her children. But on that celebrated day a new system was initiatorily developed, the Sarah Covenant, styled "the Jerusalem above the Mother of us all." Isaac was Sarah's son, and allegorically slain, and allegorically raised. The saints are all in Isaac; for "in Isaac shall thy seed be called." This seed is Christ; not Jesus only; but that great multitude also which no man can number. This "One Body" of people headed up in Deity is the allegorical or figurative Christ. They are the children of the promise as Isaac was; the free-born sons of Sarah the free woman. This is their state, without regard to the place or country of earth or heaven, where they might be supposed to be. But, if there had been no literal or personal Christ, there could have been no such Christ-State for Jews and Gentiles. Jesus of Nazareth was allegorically "a number which no man could number." He himself taught this, saying, "he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:" and, "Father, I pray for them who shall believe into me (eis eme) through the apostles' word: that they all may be one in us" (John 10:5; 17:20,21). Though few compared with the whole race of man, it is a great company absolutely - a people taken out from all the generations and the nations for the Divine Name. "He shall increase," said John the Immerser; "but I must decrease." Jesus increased, or grew, into a Divine and "chosen generation;" while John has dwindled down into a mere Baptist Denomination, which is either ignorant of, or opposed to "the truth as it is in Jesus."

The heavenlies in Christ are two states answering to the two places of the tabernacle of Moses. One of these states is not yet manifested on earth; the other is. Hence, one may be said to be visible, and the other invisible; yet the saints, not sinners, who are quickened with him, and raised with him, sit together in both with him, and He with them. Now the solution of this mystery turns wholly upon the meaning of the phrase "in him." What is it then, to be in him? It is to be where Paul places the saints in Thessalonica, namely, en Theo patri, kai Kuno Iesou Christo, in Deity the Father, and the Lord Jesus Anointed. The saints are all in this manifestation of Deity. Being in Jesus and the Father, they must be, in a certain sense, where Jesus and the Father are. Alluding to this fact, Paul says in Heb. 12:23, "We are come to the Deity the Judge of all, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant", and so forth. But Paul says that Jesus is at the Father's own Right Hand. True; but he also says, that "being justified by faith, we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." In other words, we have admission to the Father in heaven by faith; and when a person is permitted access to a place, and avails himself of the permission, he is in some sense certainly there; and when there in this certain sense, he is "dwelling in the heaven" in the presence of "the Judge of all."

Now the two places of the Mosaic tabernacle were the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, which were divided the one from the other by the Vail. Even so it is with "the holies", the true tabernacle which the Lord pitches, and not man (Heb. 8:2). There are the Holy Heavenly State and the Most Holy Heavenly State, divided by the Flesh. The Holy must be entered before the Most Holy can be reached; and to pass corporeally from one into the other, the individual must put on incorruptibility and become immortal; for, so long as he is in mortal flesh he is outside, or rather, an element of the Vail which must be rent; though by faith and constitution in Christ, he is within it.

How, then, does a sinner come to "dwell in the heaven?" By being "transformed in the renewing of his mind" "by knowledge" (Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10); that he may discern and do "that good and acceptable and Perfect will of the Deity." In other words, by believing the gospel of the Kingdom and Name; and being immersed into and upon that Name. In so doing, he enters into the Holy Heavenly State. By faith in "the truth as it is in Jesus," and obedience, he puts on Christ, and is therefore, "in Him;" and being in him, he is constitutionally holy or a saint; and sitting together with him in the Most Holy, not personally, or corporeally rather; but by faith. This is his present adoption through Jesus Christ, by which he becomes a son of Deity, of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac, and a brother of Christ himself (Gal. 3:26-29); and a "dweller in the heaven."

But there are heavenlies beyond the pale of the Christ-Body. These are Supernal States in which Paul locates principalities, powers, world-rulers of the darkness of the times of the Gentiles, which he styles "this aeon," and the spirituals of the wickedness enthroned throughout the earth. These heavenlies are constituted providentially or instrumentally by human authority and power after "the course of this world;" and are the tabernacle of "the Prince of the power of the Air, the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). This Prince-power and Spirit of the Air is Sin's Flesh; whose spirit pervades all sublunary human constitutions, styled "thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers,'' which Paul specifies as ''things in the heaven" or "the Air'' (Col. 1:16). In such an unclean heaven as this, are found the Ten-Horned, and Two-Horned, Beasts, the Name of Blasphemy, the Lion-Mouth, and the Image of the Beast, or False Prophet, the God of the Earth - all things of power, in short, emanating from falsehood and superstition. The dwellers in this Air, or Heaven, are not the Saints. In their days of Apocalyptic prophecy the two witnessing prophets had power to shut this heaven that there should be no rain from it; and as often as they willed during 1260 years, to turn the popular waters into blood, and to smite the earth with all war-plagues (ch. 11:6). The dwellers in this Aerial are the civil and ecclesiastical orders of society; such as, emperors, kings, diplomatists, nobles spiritual and racial, legislators, magistrates, priests, clergymen, parsons, and all of that class, styled by the apostle "spirituals of the wickedness" which reigns in "the Court of the Gentiles without the temple." Between this heaven and "the Heavenlies in Christ" there is implacable and uncompromising hostility. No peace can be permanently established in the earth till one or other of these heavens be suppressed or subjugated: and who can doubt which of these heavens shall be shaken, be rolled up as a scroll, and be made to pass away with the great tumult of war? The heavenlies, or high places, of this world are decreed to Yahweh and his Anointed Body; who, by the thunders and lightnings issuing from the throne newly set in the heaven, shall take the dominion under the whole heaven, and possess it during the Olahm and beyond (ch. 11:15; 4:1-5; Dan. 7:18,22,27). This is the fiat of Eternal Wisdom and Power. The Seventh Vial, the last blast of the Seventh Trumpet, is to pour out its fury upon the Air, the secular and spiritual constitution of which will thereby be thoroughly and radically changed. The things now in the Air will be transferred to "them who dwell in the heaven" in Christ; who, having passed through the Vail of the Flesh which divides the Heavenlies, in the putting on of immortality, will be manifested as the Most Holy Heavenly in Christ; and the Air, filled with their glory, will become the New Heavens, in which righteousness will dwell forever. The Air will then no longer be malarious with the pestiferousness of secular and spiritual demagogues, who "with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." The Prince of the Power of the Air will then be the Spirit that works in the children of obedience - the truth incarnated gloriously in Jesus and his Brethren; who, in the highest sense, will be those who dwell in the heaven.

It was against the Saints, who, in the times of the Gentiles, constitute the Name, the Tabernacle, and them who dwelt in the Heaven in Christ, that the Ten-Horned Beast opens his Leo-Babylonian Mouth in blasphemy; and makes war, till the end of the Forty and Two Months of Years. In blaspheming Jesus and his Brethren, he blasphemes the Deity, on the principle laid down by Christ, that what is done to, for, or against, his brethren, is done to, for, or against him. The Lion-Mouth of the Apocalyptic Babylon spoke evil of them in words of the most acrid bitterness. He denounced them as heretics, accursed, the children of the Devil, the spawn of hell - not a blasphemous epithet was there that the pope and his agents did not heap upon them. The prophetic writings, though set aside for the purposes of truth and edification, were resorted to for names of infamy by which to make them odious to those who worship the beast and his image; and the evil symbols and appellations therein employed by the Spirit to prefigure the Apostasy and its "spirituals of the wickedness," this Mouth of Blasphemy applied to the Saints. In this it blasphemed the Deity himself. This principle is well illustrated in Ezek. 35, where a statement made by Edom concerning Israel and their country is styled blasphemy against the mountains of Israel, because it was false. Edom said, as he also says to this day, "these two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it, though Yahweh were there." Now, He had promised the land to Jacob, and to him he will give it for an everlasting inheritance. Hence, every saying subversive of this purpose is blasphemy against the country, and blasphemy and boasting against the Eternal Spirit: for, if Edom's purpose of possession could possibly be established, the Deity's veracity would be destroyed, and his character for faithfulness overthrown. "Thus," in making false statements concerning the destiny of Israel, Judah, and their country, O Edom, saith Yahweh, "with your mouth ye have boasted against Me, and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard: so that when the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate." By Edom is here represented what John symbolizes by the Beast and his Image, etc. Hence, to blaspheme or speak evil and injuriously of God's people, and promises, is regarded by Him as blasphemy against Himself.

The Nave, or Most Holy Place, of the Mosaic Tabernacle, which was "the figure of the true," "which the Lord pitches, and not man" (Heb. 9:24; 8:2), was the enclosure containing the Ark of the Testimony, the Cherubim, and the smoking and flaming Glory of the Deity. In the true Holies which the Lord pitches, similar arrangements obtain. The tabernacle Moses erected was built of wood, curtains, gold, and so forth; but the building the Lord erects is raised up of living and enlightened beings, created in his own image, and after his own intellectual and moral likeness (1 Cor. 3:9,16; Eph .2:20,22; Heb. 3:2). These are the heavenlies in Christ" (Eph. 1:3)). The first is the heavenly, or the holy body, consisting of "the faithful in Christ Jesus," in the times preceding the advent of the Ancient of Days. The second is the most holy heavenly body, constituted of all who shall be accounted worthy to pass through the Vail, into incorruptibility and deathlessness; by being clothed upon with the "fine linen pure and bright;" and girded around the breast with the "golden girdle". Thus, we have the ONE BOD in two states - as it is before the Ancient of Days comes; and as it will be after that appearing.

Paul wrote, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is aeonian (2 Cor 4: 18). The word aeonian describes those things human eyes have not seen, and ears have not heard, because they belong to the unseen realm of the kingdom of God.

They will receive you into aeonian dwellings (Luke 16: 9  And I to you say: Make you to yourselves friends out of the mammon of the unjust; that, when you may fail, they may receive you into the age-lasting tabernacles.). We have a building from God, an aeonian house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Cor 5: 1 ¶  For we know that if our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.). I am going to prepare a place for you, so that you also may be where I am (John 14: 3).

The natural mind thinks about living in a physical house made of brick or stone. Solomon even built a physical house of stone where God could live. Jesus did not go to prepare a mansion in the sky for his followers to enjoy after they died. Rather he prepared an invisible, spiritual place for them and us to inhabit immediately here and now.

This was and is life on a totally new and higher plane. Physical life is visible and temporary and destructible. Spiritual life is unseen and permanent and indestructible. All this is implied in the word aeonian.

Whoever believes in the Son has auonian life (John 3: 36) In this and many other verses, we find not the future tense, but the present. Not will have aeonian life, but has aeonian life. Aeonian life is not an infinitely prolonged extension of this life after we die. It is a new, spiritual life which we receive from Jesus when we receive him.


The dwellings, tabernacles, and mansions are built upon a foundation. The foundation of which is laid in Jesus Christ - Deity manifested in the Flesh. "The Man Christ Jesus" is a real man. When on earth he was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and sinless," as to character; yet imperfect as to his material nature. He is now perfect - a perfect man "justified by spirit," and therefore incorruptible and immortal - a perfect character or moral nature, developed by Divine power, or spirit, into a perfect material nature. But Christ is also an allegorical man, as Hagar and Sarah were two allegorical women; the former representing the Mosaic Covenant; the latter, the New, or Abrahamic, Covenant. From the days of Moses until the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 34, the whole twelve tribes were constitutionally in their mother Hagar, or the Jerusalem system then in existence, and in bondage with her children. But on that celebrated day a new system was initiatorily developed, the Sarah Covenant, styled "the Jerusalem above the Mother of us all." Isaac was Sarah's son, and allegorically slain, and allegorically raised. The saints are all in Isaac; for "in Isaac shall thy seed be called." This seed is Christ; not Jesus only; but that great multitude also which no man can number. This "One Body" of people headed up in Deity is the allegorical or figurative Christ.

But, if there had been no literal or personal Christ, there could have been no such Christ-State for Jews and Gentiles. Jesus of Nazareth was allegorically "a number which no man could number." He himself taught this, saying, "he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:" and, "Father, I pray for them who shall believe into me (eis eme) through the apostles' word: that they all may be one in us" (John 10:5; 17:20,21).

The Existing One Exodus 3:14

The Existing One Exodus 3:14

The one who truly knows himself can say I am that I am and he will know the One who is the existing one

 Hebrew אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה‬ (´Ehyeh´ ´Asher´ ´Ehyeh´), ; Leeser, “I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE”; Rotherham, “I Will Become whatsoever I please.

Greek., Ego´ eimi ho on, “I am The Being,” or, “I am The Existing One”;

Latin., ego sum qui sum, “I am Who I am.”

God’s own self-designation. ” The reference here is not only to God’s self-existence but to what he has in mind to become toward others. The name not only proclaims YHWH is the “Existing One,” it also proclaims YHWH is the “One Who Will Be.” Actually, YHWH can signify any being, whether angel or human, as long as the being manifests divine authority and/or power.

(Job 23:13) And he is in one [mind], and who can resist him? And his own soul has a desire, and he will do [it].

Moses says in Exod. 3:14, 15 that Yahweh told him that His name means in the Greek "I am HE WHO IS. I am The Being,” or, “I am The Existing One" the ever living male-and-female principle.

Creation originates and exists in the Divine logos, the outward manifestation of the inward thought, of the Deity. In the creative process the Divine logos first conceive universe with itself than emanates it from its own substance . In the Scripture this ideal is named Yahweh, meaning I am The Being the ever living--He who is the uncreated and eternal spirit . The creation is first an emanation of the uncreated and eternal spirit through the activity of the Holy Spirit or active force than carried forward through the Elohim who are agents/instruments of the physical creation

Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I am HE WHO IS (ho ōn): and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, HE WHO IS (ho ōn) hath sent me unto you.

Exodus 3:14  And God spoke to Moses, saying, I am THE BEING; and he said, Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING has sent me to you.

Philo : And God said, "At first say unto them, 'I am THE BEING', that, they may be further taught that there is no name whatever that can properly be assigned to Me, to whom only belongs the existence.

Ego eimi ho on, “I am The Being,” or, “I am The Existing One

I think, therefore I am

"As he thinketh within himself, so is he" (Prov. 23:7)

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7

I am The Being  or, “I am The Existing One is God's name manifested in the mind of the true believer; it is Yahweh the logos the divine mind it is the indwelling Christ, the true inner spiritual man whom God made in His image and likeness. By use of I am The Being we link ourselves and make conscious union with the Father, by Spirit, with timeless rebirth, wisdom,love, peace, strength, power, Truth, the kingdom of the heavens within us.

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

The I am The Being can also be explained as the spiritual name of the true inner self, as distinguished from the outward senses or our natural self. One is governed by God; the other, by self-will or ego, the carnal mind or sin in the flesh. Christ is the Scriptural name for the true inner spiritual self or the Christ consciousness. Paul called it the inner man. It is the divine logos manifested in the life of the believer, and a conscious unity or fellowship between the natural self and the Father. That is what is meant by the phrase, "he that doeth the will of my Father." We must do the very will of God in our whole being, which is virtually to surrender the whole self to God

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

The word AIL (EL)

The word AIL (El) means “power,” “force,” or plain old “energy.” The Hebrews used the same word to denote their Deity. They USED AIL (El) because that’s what the Deity of the Bible is. He is Desire, Direction, and Drive. There's no fire-flinging, brimstone-breathing behemoth. There's no gray- headed old geezer. There are no three different “Persons” who think they are one.

The Deity of the Bible is not an entity in the common sense of the word at all. The Deity of the Bible is Desire, Direction, and Drive. The power becomes personal when it is manifest by a being. The beings who manifest the power OF AIL (El) can be (and often are) taken for God. That may be how the misunderstandings began. That, as well as the blindness of Bible translators (together with the naivety of their readers) might be why such an obvious Truth has eluded so many.

article taken from the book The Final Testament (Christadelphian)

Christ's Equality With God

Christ's Equality With God

Well, then, Moses and Jesus both taught a plurality of Eloahhs. Jesus said: I am Eloahh, and my Father is Eloahh, and the children of God by resurrection, each one is Eloahh; and all together we are thy Elohim, O Israel, and yet but one Yahweh. But the Jews repudiate such a God-Name as this. It is incomprehensible to them; and in their opinion, nothing short of blasphemy. It was so repugnant to their notions of things that when Jesus taught it "they took up stones to stone him"; and declared that they did so because that he, being a man, made himself Eloahh in saying: I am the Son of All (John 10:33-36). Like Dr. de Lara, they objected to the idea of Yahweh having a son; and that son being a man; and that man consequently EIoahh or God. Hence, when Jesus asked them: "What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?" They did not answer: "He is the Son of God" -- to have done so would have been to admit that he would be equal to God, which they considered blasphemy. They, therefore, adhered to the fleshly view of the matter, and replied: "He is the Son of David." This was equivalent to saying that he was equal with David only; and consequently, not equal with Deity. But this position was pregnable, and easily turned. Jesus saw their weakness, and immediately exposed it by inquiring: "How then doth David in spirit call him Adon (lord, superior, ruler, &c.,) saying: Yahweh said unto my Adon, Sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Adon, how is he his son?" They could not answer this; "no man," says Matthew, "was able to answer him a word" (Chapter 22:41- 46).

The point in this argument is a question of equality; and therefore of Deity, or of mere humanity. If Messiah were to have been simply son of David, then he would be equal in natural descent, and inferior in rank. If equal in natural descent he would have been no more than a son of Jesse; and if simply David's son, he would have been socially inferior, inasmuch as in society, and especially in Hebrew society, fathers take precedence of sons. This being admitted as contained in their premiss, upon what known principle could David speak of such a Messiah as his Adon or Sovereign Lord? Here is a notably weak point in the Jewish understanding of the doctrine concerning the Messiah. As in the days of their fathers, so to the present time, "They judge after the flesh." They can only see in Christ a son of David, having no higher origin than blood, or the impulse of the flesh, or the will of man. They have no conception of a Christ, who should be formed by the Eternal Spirit from the substance descended from David, as Adam was formed by the same Spirit from the dust; and therefore generated by the will and power of Ail, still less did they see that such a Son of Power should become a son of a spirit-generation from among the dead. The Jewish mind cannot penetrate "the veil of the covering"; so that all his reasonings begin and end in flesh, "which profits nothing." It is not to be wondered at, then, that the Jews, as Dr. de Lara says, "reject with scorn and ridicule the idea of God having a son; of coming down from heaven and enacting with the Virgin Mary the scene related by Luke." Their minds are so sensual and earthly that they cannot ascend to the contemplation of "heavenly things." What they know naturally, as brute beasts, of these things they can speak; but higher than flesh they cannot rise until the Lord shall come and take away the veil.

Dr. Thomas writes of the equality of Christ with God, quoting from John 10:33-36. The equality of Christ with God or Yahweh is inferred in Phillippians 2:6. But what is meant by it? Not an equality of status (see 1 Cor. 15:28), but of nature; and to that equality all can attain (Rom. 5:2; 2 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 3:12).

This is made clear on p.69 of Phanerosis. The point of the argument which Jesus had with the Jews was whether Messiah was to be of God or only of David; whether he was to be "of Deity, or of mere humanity." If he were to have been simply son of David, "then he would be equal in natural descent, and inferior in rank" inasmuch as "fathers take precedence of sons."

Jesus was begotten from above; so must all those ,who would be sons of God (Jhn. 3:3 mg.); he submitted to his flesh being, crucified, and in doing so denied it to serve His God; and so must all those who would attain unto an equality with Christ by attaining unto Divine nature. They become "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that they suffer with him; that they may be also glorified together" (Rom. 8:17).

Dr. Thomas is very careful to disclaim any connection with Trinitarian error, when writing of the "equality of Christ with God."

The pre-Adamic Earth

The pre-Adamic Earth

The earth is much older than 6000 years but our creation started about 6000 years ago with a literal 6 days creation

Before the six days’ work began, genesis, chapter 1 verse 2, shows us “darkness on the face of the deep;” the earth without order, and void. The very first incident described is the movement of the spirit of God “on the face of the waters” (same verse), from which it follows the earth and the waters existed before the re-organising work of 6,000 years ago began.

The earth had a history before the six days’ work, as further evident from the words addressed to Adam: “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

Both the Bible and geological records show it was a history marked by upheaval and ending in catastrophe. The Bible shows us the recovery from that state by the six days’ work ending in the appearance of Adam on the scene.

the earth existed for million of years before the Adamic Era

Fragments, however, of the pre-Adamic world have been brought to light by geological research organic remains, coal fields, and oil, belong to the ages before the formation of man, rather than to the time of the creation, or the flood.

If it be suggested that the fossil remains of the past include human remains, as well as remains of other races, the answer has to be made that there is a lack of scientific evidence that these remains are identical with the human race.

The animal and vegetable remains are those of species now largely extinct, belonging to pre-Adamic ages; and analogy would require that what are considered human remains, if they are human remains (which is by no means certain from the evidence) are the remains of an anterior race, existing at a remote time, when as yet the earth had not been overtaken by the convulsion which brought it to the state (developed in darkness and submerged in the deep) depicted to us in Genesis 1: 2.

that the earth existed prior to the literal six days of Adamic creation. That there was life on earth prior to a catastrophe which left the earth covered with water according to Yahweh's will.

In his discussion of the theory held by brother Roberts, brother Jardine and brother Simons that explained the geological and fossil record in terms of previous creations separated from the Adamic creation by a gap during which all life on earth was destroyed, brother Walker noted that there was actually sufficient scientific evidence to contradict this view. First he observed that the available evidence could not be reconciled with a 6,000 year old creation.

‘As with fishes, so with birds, many remains are found in the rocks, of a kind not now found upon earth. Our museums contain footprints of gigantic birds impressed in sand now turned to rock, and remains actually embedded in rock. If we understand Moses as teaching that the earth and all that therein is came into existence some 6,000 years ago, we shall scarcely be able to account for these evidently very ancient remains of creatures that do not now exist.’[4]

Brother Walker then demonstrated how the ‘gap between creations’ theory also lacked support from the available evidence. He noted that if such a gap had existed the fossil record would show this, when in fact the fossil record showed a continuity of earlier extinct life forms with later forms.

‘If we suppose a sudden and absolute break some 6,000 years ago, or before, resulting in the destruction of all life, and that the creation account of Genesis describes a new creation following, we ought to find some evidence of the break, and we cannot well account for the apparently close relationship that obtains between extinct and existing forms.

There are forms becoming extinct in our own day from slow and natural causes. May it not have been so in pre-Adamic times? The professors tell us for instance that some of these ancient birds, whose strides we can see for ourselves from their footprints were from four to six feet long, were like gigantic ostriches.’[5]

Supposing that it were ever established that they were the actual progenitors of our smaller forms (“There were giants in the earth in those days” might apply to birds and beasts), would the credibility of the Mosaic narrative suffer? Not at all, in our estimation. We should indeed have to revise somewhat our interpretation of the brief cosmogony of Gen. 1.; but should not waver as concerning its divinity, nor await with less faith and patience the reappearance of Moses in the land of the living.’[6]


Most of what is known of the Sabians comes from ibn Wahshiyya's The Nabatean Agriculture, translated in 904 CE from Syriac sources. The text discusses beliefs attributed to the Sabians, in particular that they were people who lived in Pre-Adamite times,

What is the Blood of Christ? The Gospel of Philip

What is the Blood of Christ? The Gospel of Philip

Gospel of Philip "Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Co 15:50). What is this which will not inherit? This which is on us. But what is this, too, which will inherit? It is that which belongs to Jesus and his blood. Because of this he said "He who shall not eat my flesh and drink my blood has not life in him" (Jn 6:53). What is it? His flesh is the word, and his blood is the Holy Spirit.

Literally, the blood of Christ which was shed on Calvary would be of no use to them. It trickled down his side; it oozed from his hands and feet; it gushed from the spear gash; and fell on the ground and dried away like any other blood, and nobody could find it if they tried, and if they could, it would not be of any spiritual value.

Wisdom steers a middle course, and aims to get that nice equilibrium of facts which results from a comprehensive study of the scriptures.

The 'blood of Christ' refers to the essence, or life-giving properties, of Jesus' teachings.

1 John 4:8  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: And these three are one.

The spirit and the blood are one and the same:

Jesus shocked everyone by saying: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:53-54).

Jesus tried in vain to explain that he was not speaking about drinking the blood that flows in his natural body.  He was talking of the “blood” that flows in his spiritual body.  He said: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).

If, indeed, the flesh profits nothing, then the blood from Jesus’ natural body cannot provide atonement for sins.  If that is the blood we are required to drink, it would have run out a long time ago.  In any case, God is spirit: he has no physical blood.  The “blood” Jesus was referring to is his spiritual blood.  That spiritual blood is the Holy Spirit.

The soul of a man is in his blood Lev 17:10,11.  When the blood stops flowing, he dies.  The life of God is the Holy Spirit.  Without the Spirit, there can be no spiritual life.  Jesus says: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6).  This means the spiritual man cannot be quickened by natural blood.  He can only be quickened by the Holy Spirit; the equivalent in God of the natural blood in man.  Therefore, in the scriptures, it is the Holy Spirit that is “the blood of Christ.” (Hebrews 9:14).

Without the Holy Spirit, man cannot have eternal life.  When Jesus maintained we must drink his blood in order to obtain eternal life, he was not harking back to pagan mystery religions.  He was asking us to “drink” the Holy Spirit.  He said: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-38).  That living water is the Holy Spirit.

Remember blood water and spirit are one and the same

Jesus became “the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:24).  Again, the blood that is sprinkled on believers and the blood that speaks is none other than the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit speaks in our hearts the love and mercy of God.  Therefore, we are counseled: “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.” (Hebrews 12:25).

The Holy Spirit is the true blood of Christ which still is flowing and cleansing us from sin. (Revelation 1:5).  He is: “the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanses our consciences from acts that lead to death.” (Hebrews 9:14).  Anything washed in natural blood turns red.  However, John talks of those who “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14).  This white blood-washing is the work of the Holy Spirit.

John says furthermore: “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (John 1:7).  The Holy Spirit embarks on a life-long laundry process, whereby he purifies our hearts by feeding us with the true bread of life.  On a daily systematic basis, he brings to our remembrance the words of Jesus.

So doing, he teaches us the righteousness of God.  He also fulfils God’s promise of the new covenant: “I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you” (Ezekiel 36:25-26).  “I will put my law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33).

The Holy Spirit cleanses us of sin by writing God’s commandments with an indelible pen in our hearts and minds.

Providence Time and chance

Providence

God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and continuously upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not in any manner is the Deity the author of sin nor does he destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures. Hebrews 1:3; Daniel 4:34-35; Psalms 135:6; Proverbs 15:3 Matthew 10:29-31; Acts 17:25-28; Romans 1:24,26,28; James 1:13,14,17

It is common to speak of “providence,” but the common way of speaking of it shows it is not common to understand the subject. So many things are ascribed to “providence” that the reflecting mind, acting apart from the enlightenment of the Scriptures, would be liable either to doubt whether there is such a thing as providence at all, or to conclude that all things are “providence,” which would practically be the same thing, for in that case, the central idea of providence, as a special discrimination and influence in the shaping of circumstances in particular cases, would be lost.

First, God’s ability to foreknow and foreordain is clearly stated in the Bible. Jehovah himself sets forth as proof of his Godship this ability to foreknow and foreordain events of salvation and deliverance, as well as acts of judgment and punishment, and then to bring such events to fulfillment. His chosen people are witnesses of these facts. (Isa 44:6-9; 48:3-8) Such divine foreknowledge and foreordination form the basis for all true prophecy. (Isa 42:9; Jer 50:45; Am 3:7, 8) God challenges the nations opposing his people to furnish proof of the godship they claim for their mighty ones and their idol-gods, calling on them to do so by foretelling similar acts of salvation or judgment and then bringing them to pass. Their impotence in this respect demonstrates their idols to be ‘mere wind and unreality.’—Isa 41:1-10, 21-29; 43:9-15; 45:20, 21.

A second factor to be considered is the free moral agency of God’s intelligent creatures. The Scriptures show that God extends to such creatures the privilege and responsibility of free choice, of exercising free moral agency (De 30:19, 20; Jos 24:15), thereby making them accountable for their acts. (Ge 2:16, 17; 3:11-19; Ro 14:10-12; Heb 4:13) They are thus not mere automatons, or robots. Man could not truly have been created in “God’s image” if he were not a free moral agent. (Ge 1:26, 27; see FREEDOM.) Logically, there should be no conflict between God’s foreknowledge (as well as his foreordaining) and the free moral agency of his intelligent creatures.

Like Ruth the Book of Esther is an illustration. It records a slice of life out of the Exile period that illustrates a great revelation. While the Book of Ruth illustrates God's redemption, that of Esther illustrates God's providence.

Providence means foresight. Our word comes from Latin and means to see the affairs of life before they happen. The acquired meaning of providence, what it has come to mean through usage, is activity resulting from foresight. We can see at once that people can never exercise providence as God can. We have very limited powers of foresight. We do not know what a day will bring forth. God, on the other hand, foresees all things and can act because of that foreknowledge.

The doctrine of providence is that God both possesses and exercises absolute power over all the works of His hands. The Book of Esther illustrates God's providence. The writer did not speak of God directly, but God's acting as a result of His foresight is obvious in what he wrote. Even though God hid Himself in the Book as a whole, he was at work in the life of Esther.

Esther reveals three things about divine providence.

First, it reveals the method of providence.

It shows that even though people do not acknowledge God's presence He is always at work. His control becomes especially clear at the end of the book (Est 10:3). Events had turned around completely from the way they were at the beginning of the book. Instead of being in peril, the Jews were now at peace. God not only rules over the major issues in life, but He also uses the trivialities of life to accomplish His purposes. Some of these trivialities were:


the king's decision to summon Vashti after he got drunk,
Vashti's refusal,
Haman's hatred for Mordecai,
the king's insomnia, and
the passage his servant read to him.

God's providence is all-inclusive. That is part of its method. No person or detail of life escapes God's control: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28). "All things" includes all individuals and all events -- whether pleasant or unpleasant.

Second, Esther reveals the principles of providence.

God proceeds on the basis of perfect knowledge: intimate, accurate, absolute knowledge (Psa 11:4).

Another principle of His providence is His undeviating righteousness. God's providence works in harmony with man's freedom. It never coerces people. The king made his own decisions; God did not compel him to act as he did. Haman plotted his own intrigues, made his own arrangements, built his own gallows. The same was true of Mordecai and Esther. Yet the sphere in which they made their decisions was God's sovereignty (Acts 17:28: "In Him we live and move..."). Haman built his gallows for Mordecai, but God hanged Haman on it!

A third principle of God's providence is that of absolute power. God is great enough to give people genuine freedom and yet cause things to turn out the way He wants them to. God causes human freedom to contribute to His divine purpose.

Third, Esther reveals the results of providence.

On the human level there are two results:


Those who recognize divine providence receive great confidence and courage.
However, those who do not recognize it receive panic and punishment.

We can see these results most clearly in the characters of (1) Esther and Mordecai, and (2) Haman.

On the divine level the result of providence is that God progresses toward His ultimate goal: he is, of course, Yahweh -- The One who "will be", the One who is constantly "becoming"! Throughout all of Scripture we see this identical mighty movement toward the absolute fulfillment of His purpose.

The message of this book is that God exists, and God acts through history to accomplish His purposes regardless of whether humans acknowledge Him or not.

There are many arguments for the existence of God: the argument from providence is one of these. The fact that human events are harmonizing with God's ultimate purposes as He has revealed these in Scripture testifies to God's existence. When people forget God, He still molds history and governs life in harmony with His purposes. We cannot escape God's hand; we only change our destiny. We become His friends or His foes by our attitude toward Him (Dan 5:22,23).

How do we apply the message of this book? By taking God into account. Trust Him and cooperate with Him, or you will suffer destruction. God's providence may seem very impersonal and austere. However, William Cowper has reminded us that, "Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face." Rom 8:28 is perhaps the most concise word on the providence of God that the Scriptures contain. God will complete His plans. We determine our own destiny as we cooperate with His will or oppose it.

Our choice affects our destiny, but it does not frustrate His plan. Consequently it is very important that we know God's plans and make them known to others. He has revealed His plans in His promises in Scripture. Therefore we should pay very careful attention to the promises of God. The covenants of promise are His comprehensive formal undertakings. Even though many people in the world today ignore God, His plans will become reality eventually. This fact should make us confident and optimistic in the present.

Time and chance

11 I returned to see under the sun that the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones also have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all

There is such a thing as chance, as distinct from what God does. The Bible declares this (Eccles. 9:11) and the experience of every day teaches it. Every moment teems with the incidents of chance. God has control of all chance; but all chance is not controlled. It is controlled when His purpose requires it.

It is impossible that time and chance in the sense of events in our lives should happen by random to believers, without any control of God. Do "all things work together for good" to us, or only some things?

- "Time and chance" is probably a Hebraism for death- whether wise (spiritually) or strong or swift, the same thing, "time and chance", happens to all; i. e. death. Ecc. 9:12 backs this up: "For man also knoweth not his time (i. e. of death). . as the birds that are caught in the snare (i. e. killed); so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them". The context back in v. 4,5 is clearly talking about the universality of death.

- "Chance" does not mean 'random' or uncontrolled events. The Hebrew root by contrast implies something specifically ordained- often by God.

The Gospel of Philip and Judaism

Judaism and the The Gospel of Philip

The Gospel of Philip shows some close links with Judaism. Indeed the gospel begins with the introduction “A Hebrew makes another Hebrew” in 51.29-31. 5 There are several other references to Judaism as well. The next verses says, “A gentile does not die, for he has never lived in order that he may die."He said on that day in the prayer of thanksgiving (Passover), You who have united perfect light with holy spirit, unite the angels also with us, as images.

30. He said on that day in the Eucharistº: Oh Thou who have matedº the Perfect Light with the Sacred Spirit,¹ mate also our angels with the imagesº! (¹NB in Hebrew/Aramaic the word ‘light’ [rw)] is masculine, while ‘spirit’ [xwr] is feminine; hyperlinear)

Eucharist: Greek ΕΥΧΑΡΙΣΤΙΑ (well-joying, thanksgiving); the service of bread and wine or the last supper (Lk 22:14-20);

the Christian tradition of celebrating the Eucharist developed out of Passover traditions


This is a clear indication of some empathy toward Judaism. Also, there is reference to the Jewish Temple. In verses 69.14-24 there is discussion of the Temple and “the holy,” “the holy of the holy,” and the “holy of the holies." Each of these is compared with a Gnostic ritual service and so valued quite highly.

There is an association in The Gospel of Philip between Gnostic ritual service and the Temple in Jerusalem. It says in 69.14-25, “Baptism is ‘the holy’ building. Redemption is ‘the holy of the holy.’ ‘The holy of the holies’ is the bridal chamber."


The verses that follow these references to the Temple associate baptism with resurrection and redemption, redemption with bridal chamber, and makes note that bridal chamber is superior.

Lastly, in reference to the serpent from The Book of Genesis it says in 61.6-8, “First adultery came into being, afterward murder. And he was begotten in adultery, for he was the child of the serpent."


Many Gnostic works venerate the serpent figure of Genesis. The opinion of the serpent here may be an indication of the earliness of this gospel and of its close ties to Judaism. All of these elements combine to show that it is possible that this Gnostic sect may have grown out of a Judaic-Christian community. At any rate they show a deep respect for Judaism.

The seven spirits of God

Revelation 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

The "seven spirits of God" are mentioned in Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; and 5:6.

Revelation 1:4 mentions that the seven spirits are before God's throne.

Revelation 3:1 indicates that Jesus Christ "holds" the seven spirits of God.

Revelation 4:5 links the seven spirits of God with seven burning lamps that are before God's throne.

Revelation 5:6 identifies the seven spirits with the "seven eyes" of the Lamb and states that they are "sent out into all the earth."

the seven‑fold spirit in Isaiah 11:2 and also I Corinthians 12:29, 30.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,

seven spirits. If reference here to the Holy Spirit, then the context would require the Holy Spirit to be a person separate from the Father and Son, sending greeting. Rather: these seven spirits are seven archangels. Compare ch. 4:5 and 5:6; Zechariah 3:9 Zechariah 4:10; Ezekiel 1:18, 20; Micah 5:5 (Christ and his seven archangels); Luke 1:19. Note

Revelation 4:5 and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

so the seven spirits of God are the seven lamps of fire

Fire is used as a symbol for the consuming power of the Spirit as manifested through the Elohim (Gen. 3:24; Ps. 104:4). The declaration of the Psalmist: "He maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire" will then apply to them (Ps. 104:4).

The "seven spirits" represent the complete manifestation of the "one Spirit" through the angelic host

Prov 9:1 Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars.

Jer 15:9 she who has borne seven sons

The sons of God are described as archangels the chief of whom is Michael this chief archangel is also called Yahweh Elohim or Yahweh of armies the Lord of hosts

the seven days of creation can be interprted as an allegory on the creation of these seven archangels

Christ being the new creation corresponds to the eight day

the seven Archangels are the seven chief Elohim they are also the seven angels of evil see Isaiah 45:7 and compare Exodus 12:23 Psalm 78:49 Ezekiel 9 the prophet saw seven angels of destruction


The seven elohim are here to give man trials and tribulations to bring us back to the Father

the creator of the material cosmos or the physical heavens is by the chief Archangel with the other six pillars of creation when they start creating matter they fall into duality, good and evil the creator is the second logos from the Most High

The Teaching of Renunciation 2 Corinthians 4:2

The Doctrine of Renunciation

Early Christianity went through a great cycle of renunciation and it is still held in many conservative sects that the renunciation of worldly ambition, worldly appetites and worldly goods is indispensable to spiritual salvation

During the 3th century a Christian Gnostic sect arose called the Apotactics or Apotactites (from the Greek apotassomai, to renounce) and spread through the western and southern parts of Asia Minor (present Anatolia, Asian Turkey). Very little is known about them only that they places great importance of the doctrine of renunciation

The Apotactics believed that "a renunciation of property is necessary to salvation. It seems the Apotactics took there understanding from Luke 14:33

Lu 14:33 So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce<657> all that he possesseth cannot be my disciple.

Peter answered and said to him, "Lord, you have taught us to forsake the world and everything in it. We have renounced them for your sake. What we are concerned about (now) is the food for a single day. Where will we be able to find the needs that you ask us to provide for the poor?" The Lord answered and said, "O Peter, it was necessary that you understand the parable that I told you! Do you not understand that my name, which you teach, surpasses all riches, and the wisdom of God surpasses gold, and silver and precious stone(s)?" (The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles)

Say to them :Renounce the entire world and all matter within it and all its concerns [fear, worry, lack of faith] and all its sins, and in general all associations with it, that you may be deserving of the mysteries of Light and be delivered from all the chastisements which are in the judgments.” (The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles)

XLVII. The Word does not bid us renounce property; [12] but to manage property without inordinate affection; and on anything happening, not to be vexed or grieved; and not to desire to acquire. Divine Providence bids keep away from possession accompanied with passion, and from all inordinate affection, and from this turns back those still remaining [13] in the flesh. (Attributed to Theodotus, as collected by Clement of Alexandria)

Apotassomai and Apeipomen

Strong's #657: apotassomai (pronounced ap-ot-as'-som-ahee)

middle voice from 575 and 5021; literally, to say adieu (by departing or dismissing); figuratively, to renounce:--bid farewell, forsake, take leave, send away.

There is another Greek word apeipomen which can be translated Renounce

550. ἀπειπόμην apeipomen [ap-i-pom’-ane]; reflexive past of a compound of 575 and 2036; to say off for oneself, i.e. disown: — renounce.

To renounce, disown, forbid, refuse. Reflexive past of a compound of apo and epo; to say off for oneself, i.e. Disown.

It is used once in the New Testament 2Cor 4:2 and twice in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) see 1 Kings 11:2, and Job 10:3

2Cor 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth

The word apeipomen means, to speak out or off; to refuse or deny; to forbid. Here it means, to renounce, or disown; to give up, to disclaim, to cast off, to give up a belief or opinion by open confession.

New Testament Apocrypha

The doctrine of Renunciation is found in early christian text like the Acts of Paul, the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles, and Pistis Sophia. See also Gospel of Thomas saying 27 on fasting from (or, abstaining from) the world."

(Gospel of Thomas 27) <Jesus> said: If you do not fast to the world, you will not find the kingdom; if you do not keep the Sabbath as Sabbath, you will not see the Father.

The Acts of Paul Chapter 2:16: Blessed are they that have renounced this world, for they shall be well-pleasing unto God.

No one knows the God of truth except solely the man who will forsake all of the things of the world, having renounced the whole place, (and) having grasped the fringe of his garment. He has set himself up as a power; he has subdued desire in every way within himself. (The Testimony of Truth)


But the baptism of truth is something else; it is by renunciation of the world that it is found. But those who say only with the tongue that they are renouncing it are lying, and they are coming to the place of fear. Moreover, they are humbled within it. Just as those to whom it was given to have been condemned, they shall get something! (The Testimony of Truth)

The Gospel of Thomas Saying 81 Jesus said, "The one who has become rich should reign. And the one who has power should renounce it

The Gospel of Thomas Saying (110) Jesus said, "The one who had found the world and become rich should renounce the world."

The wealthy ones are they having knowledge, understanding and wisdom as a crown on their heads a Jewelled crown of light, which is the Christ-consciousness. One who is wealthy in this way shall become a king in the age to come. But those who are powerful or have power should give it up and become poor to become rich.


To be 'children of the living Father' is to be free from the society and not to be bound to the world and its values. 'Blessedness' does not depend upon the marks of success in this world. One's identity should not be determined by whatever is valuable for personal status in the social fabric of the world.


What is made clear is that man must renounce the world and transform his mind if he hopes to receive the mysteries that will open for him the inheritance of the Light when the individual feels alone and abandoned by all and sundry, sinking into a period of depression that might lead to despair, until he is able to renounce his last remaining attachments to the world—namely, his feeling of being a separate "I"—prior to final and permanent union with God or the Light.

Spiritual meaning of renunciation 

renunciation--A letting go of old thoughts in order that new thoughts may find place in consciousness. A healthy state of mind is attained when the thinker willingly lets go the old thoughts and takes on the new. This is illustrated by the inlet and outlet of a pool of water.
The center of renunciation, sometimes called elimination, in the lower part of the abdomen, carries forward the work of elimination of error thoughts from the mind and waste from the body.


Renouncing is the mental process of erasing from the mind the false beliefs of the outward senses or the consciousness of sin. Renouncing clears away false beliefs and attitude and thus makes room for the establishing of the Gospel.

The consciousness of sin is made up of a multitude of false individual beliefs and cultural attitudes. Through Renouncing we get rid of these shadows of reality. We cleanse the temple of the mind of these false ideas. In so doing, we make way for the planting of the seeds of the Gospel.

Renouncing may be made in many ways. The conscious acknowledgement that you have been mistaken in your conclusion is Renouncing. Refusing to longer enterain thoughts of the carnal mind is Renouncing.

The ability to Renounce is twofold in action: it eliminates the error, and it expands the good. When the ego consciously lets go and willingly gives up its personal ideas and loves, it has fulfilled the law of denial and is restored to the Father's house.

But all disciples know it is easier to denounce sin than to renounce it.

The admission of sin and the prayer for forgiveness is Renouncing.

A list of things to be Renounced

The list of things to be Renounced which is found in Pistis Sophia chapter 102 this should be seen as a moral code of behavior



Pistis Sophia chapter 102
JESUS continued again in the discourse and said unto his disciples: "When I shall have gone into the Light, then herald it unto the whole world and say unto them: Cease not to seek day and night and remit not yourselves until ye find the mysteries of the Light-kingdom, which will purify you and make you into refined light and lead you into the Light-kingdom.

What men should renounce."Say unto them: Renounce the whole world and the whole matter therein and all its care and all its sins, in a word all its associations which are in it, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from all the chastisements which are in the judgments.

"Say unto them: Renounce murmuring, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire of the dog-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce eavesdropping [?], that ye may [be worthy of the mysteries of the Light] and be saved from the judgments of the dog-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce litigiousness [?], that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the chastisements of Ariēl.

"Say unto them: Renounce false slander, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-rivers of the dog-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce false witness, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and that ye may escape and be saved from the fire-rivers of the dog-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce pride and haughtiness, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-pits of Ariēl.

"Say unto them: Renounce belly-love, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the judgments of Amente.

"Say unto them: Renounce babbling, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fires of Amente.

"Say unto them: |256. Renounce craftiness, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the chastisements which are in Amente.

"Say unto them: Renounce avarice, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-rivers of the dog-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce love of the world, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the pitch- and fire-coats of the dog-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce pillage, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-rivers of Ariēl.

"Say unto them: Renounce evil conversation, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the chastisements of the fire-rivers . . . .

"Say unto them: Renounce wickedness, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-seas of Ariēl.

"Say unto them: Renounce pitilessness, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the judgments of the dragon-faced [ones].

"Say unto them: Renounce wrath, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-rivers of the dragon-faced [ones.]

"Say unto them: Renounce cursing, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-seas of the dragon-faced [ones].

"Say unto them: Renounce thieving, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the bubbling seas of the dragon-faced [ones]. |257.

"Say unto them: Renounce robbery, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from Yaldabaōth.

"Say unto them: Renounce slandering, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the fire-rivers of the lion-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce fighting and strife, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the seething rivers of Yaldabaōth.

"Say unto them: Renounce all unknowing, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the servitors of Yaldabaōth and the fire-seas.

"Say unto them: Renounce evil doing, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from all the demons of Yaldabaōth and all his judgments.

"Say unto them: Renounce sloth, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the seething pitch-seas of Yaldabaōth.

"Say unto them: Renounce adultery, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light-kingdom and be saved from the sulphur- and pitch-seas of the lion-faced [one].

"Say unto them: Renounce murder, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the crocodile-faced ruler,--this one who is in the cold, |258. is the first chamber of the outer darkness.

"Say unto them: Renounce pitilessness and impiety, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the rulers of the outer darkness.

"Say unto them: Renounce atheism, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the howling and grinding of teeth.

"Say unto them: Renounce [magic] potions, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the great cold and the hail of the outer darkness.

"Say unto them: Renounce blasphemy, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from the great dragon of the outer darkness.

"Say unto them: Renounce the doctrines of error, that ye may be worthy of the mysteries of the Light and be saved from all the chastisements of the great dragon of the outer darkness.

WHO TOLD THE FIRST LIE?

WHO TOLD THE FIRST LIE?

In the Holy Bible, the second and third chapters of Genesis give the order of events leading us to find out who told the first lie. We find them in the story of the garden of Eden. Many Bible students have been led to believe the first lie was told to Eve by the serpent: "Ye shall not surely die." That was NOT the first lie.

By comparing THE WORDS OF GOD SPOKEN TO THE MAN (Adam) with THE "WORDS OF GOD" WHICH WERE REPEATED BY THE WOMAN (who was later to be named Eve), this study will attempt to reveal the FIRST LIE by pointing out THE FIRST LIAR.

THE ORDER OF EVENTS RELATING TO THIS SUBJECT IN THE GENESIS STORY:
GOD MADE MAN: "And Yahweh Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).

GOD PLANTED THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND PUT THE MAN THERE: "And Yahweh Elohim planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed" (Genesis 2:8).
GOD MADE TREES GROW OUT OF THE GROUND (OUTSIDE and INSIDE the garden of Eden): "And out of the ground made Yahweh Elohim to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the TREE OF LIFE also IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN, and THE TREE of KNOWLEDGE of GOOD and EVIL" (Genesis 2:9).

GOD PUT THE MAN IN THE GARDEN: "And Yahweh Elohim took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15).

GOD GAVE THE MAN THE LAWS: "And Yahweh Elohim commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, THOU SHALT NOT EAT OF IT; For in the day that thou EATEST THEREOF thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17).

GOD MADE THE WOMAN AND GAVE HER TO ADAM:  "And Yahweh Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which Yahweh Elohim had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man" (Genesis 2:21-22).

THE SERPENT QUESTIONED THE WOMAN: "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" (Genesis 3:1).

THE WOMAN QUOTED THE LAW TO THE SERPENT (AS SHE KNEW IT): "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, BUT OF THE FRUIT OF THE TREE WHICH IS IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN, God hath said, YE SHALL NOT EAT OF IT, NEITHER SHALL YE TOUCH IT, lest ye die" (Genesis 3:2-3).

THE SERPENT'S FIRST STATEMENT: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:4).

The first lie has often been taught to be this first statement by the serpent to the woman: "Ye shall not surely die." But, that was NOT the first lie. You can discover the first lie in the scriptures for yourself:

FIRST, consider God's commandment given to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17, which must be noted, is AFTER God put the man in the garden, and BEFORE God made the woman for Adam, with verses 21-22 showing us that THE WOMAN COULD NOT HAVE OVERHEARD GOD TELLING THE MAN THE COMMANDMENT.

SECOND, compare what you found in 2:16-17 with the woman's quote in 3:2-3 where she spoke WHAT SHE BELIEVED God had said. (Notice this is BEFORE any statement by the serpent, who had only questioned the woman about God's rule regarding the trees of the garden in 3:1.)

THIRD, it is important to state: IT WAS NOT the woman who was the liar. (For proof, consider 1 Timothy 2:13-14: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." This statement would also seem to say that the woman was not the one to change the law when she repeated what she believed it to be.)
This comparison reveals that God's commandment to the man HAD BEEN ADDED UNTO, AND DIMINISHED FROM:

THE WORDS OF GOD WERE ADDED UNTO: "...neither shall ye touch it..." Note: Adam was told to dress and keep the garden. That would mean all the trees would need to be touched (Genesis 2:15).

THE WORDS OF GOD WERE DIMINISHED FROM: The woman wasn't told that the tree with the forbidden fruit was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She was told not to eat of the "tree in the midst of the garden."
(To see which tree is in the midst of the garden see Genesis 2:9.)

THE COMMANDMENT SEEMS VAGUE. Could she have been unsure which tree contained the forbidden fruit?
Adam was the one given the commandment directly from God. Had Adam passed the law to the woman wrongly? The first lie, as mentioned in John 8:44, isn't recorded as such, but the woman's quote of it INFERS that ADAM, as the first false teacher, TOLD THE FIRST LIE.

Jesus Christ, Moses and Jeremiah warn all people who study God's word to keep it pure, whether they are hearing it or speaking it. (See: Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Matthew, chapters 23 and 24; Revelation 22:18-19; Jeremiah 23:9-40).

All of us who share the scriptures with others must be aware of this warning. It is a big responsibility to keep ourselves out of that family of false teachers (serpents) by preserving TRUTH to our best ability.

The Serpent or the Heart of Man True or False

The Serpent or the Heart of Man

True or False

A. “The DEVIL placed and prompted the serpent in the Garden of Eden for the purpose of defeating God’s plan.”

 (There are others who claim that:)
B. “God placed the serpent in Eden and gave him an understanding of the Elohim’s language, in order to deceive and tempt Eve.”

 (Both of these present a Personal Devil, regardless of his origin.)

 (The Word of God testifies that:)
C. “ALL evil originates from the Heart of MAN.”


The following seven testimonies rule out all claims of a so-called personal devil, other than the ONE MAN:

1. “For out of the abundance of the HEART, the mouth speaketh”
(Matthew 12:34).

2. “For out of the HEART proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, FALSE WITNESSES, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:20-23; compare Galatians 5:17-21).

3. “Every imagination of the thoughts of his [Man’s] HEART was only evil continually” (Genesis 5:5).

4. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?”
(Jeremiah 17:9).

5. “For the imagination of man’s HEART is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21).

6. “EVERY man is tempted when he is drawn away by his OWN lust [imagination] and enticed” (James 1:14).

7. “By ONE MAN sin entered into the world” (Romans 5:12).


Of the three foregoing statements, is not “C” the only PROVEN true fact?