Part 4 – The Reality of I AM

The Eternal One

Let’s continue in our search in The Reality of Christ: Christ revealing Himself to His Body as The I AM. Not "I was" or "I will be", but THE I AM – The Eternal One. We sing a song and quote the verse, "Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, to day and forever." (Hebrews 13:8), but most believers in the religion of Christianity don’t really believe that in their hearts. But He is THE I AM, The Eternal, the same, the never changing One!

Fulness

We’re going to be talking about Redemption: Redemption of the soul, and Redemption of the body as well; Full Adoption for the purpose of giving Christ full expression. I’m so glad that the Work of Salvation is not "in part". We’ve come beyond the ‘parts’: we’ve come beyond that which is ‘in part’ to that which is PERFECT. "Perfect" is described as ‘of full age, complete, grown up, that which is full, what which has fulness, that which is complete.’ This is the New Testament definition of the term "perfect". And that, as all other terms in the New Testament have to be brought right into the Person of Christ to understand. Our growing, Paul says is to be to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. That describes the word "perfect". Fully grown – complete. Not only are we to be complete in Spirit, but complete in Truth – fully grown in the comprehension of Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, "…but then shall I know even as I am known." To know Christ as we are known of God in Christ. Well, we are known of God in Christ from before the foundation of the world. We are to come to grow up, to come to that comprehending, that understanding that is given of God in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world. Think about that! Till we come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ… knowing as we are known… no more children… knowing as we are known.

1 Corinthians 13:10 – But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

Ephesians 4:13,14 – Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

Ephesians 1:4 – According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

Knowing As We Are Known

You know, it is the desire of every parent that their child comes to know, comes to understand as they are understood of their parents. And it takes a while for a child to do that. The parent looks at that child, and understands that child from the standpoint of purpose; from the standpoint of fulness; from the standpoint of relationship. No sooner is that child born, than the mother and father understand this child is mine. They understand before the child does the name of the child; because they understand all that is implied in that name. It is there in the child, and the child is all that the parents know the child to be; but the child does not know. And true growth is in that understanding, that comprehension. And certainly it is in Christ. The measure of the STATURE of the fulness of Christ. The word "stature" there has nothing to do with outward size. It has to do with inward age: to come to the age, to come to the maturity of Christ, to know as we are known. Sometimes I look at The Church, and I think, My God – children at play! I want to put a traffic sign out: Slow, caution – children at play! Of course, children can play, children have fun. There’s nothing wrong with that. But the parent watches that child, and the desire is that the child come to know as they are known. My heart’s desire for the Body of Christ is that we would come to know as we are known. Paul’s desire was stated that way: that we "may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." (Ephesians 4:15) Even to the measure of the stature of the fulness of CHRIST!

Come To Know Him

This is also why parents take responsibility from time to time. A child says, ‘I want to go out and play.’ The parent says, ‘No, you are going to do your homework.’ ‘But I’d rather play.’ ‘Yes, but I’d rather see you do your homework! We want you to grow – inwardly, as well as outwardly.’ That we would come to KNOW HIM – that’s what this is all about. That’s what this "I AM" is all about. I AM – you and I coming to know Him in the reality of that Name. We are looking at our coming unto Christ. We realize the complete condition to which the obedience of Christ had brought mankind – man is DEAD. And then to the dead Jesus said and says, "I am the Door, if any man will enter in…" The Work of Christ as to bringing mankind to death has no "if" to it. It is a Finished Work, it is a complete Work; the judgment has come, the sentence has passed. The execution has come – man is dead. NOW… IF any man will come unto Me. IF any man will by Me enter in… And that’s what we see on the "Life" side of The Cross. (see Diagrams 4 and 5) We read the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…" You don’t just walk along and one day trip and fall, and end up in Christ. No, there is a deliberate obedience to His Voice, there is a deliberate getting up, rising up, and entering in.

Matthew 16:15 – He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

2 Corinthians 5:14 – For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.

John 19:20 – When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Entering In

This is in your heart, but it’s a deliberate thing. Do you remember when in Pentecostal circles, especially in every service we had an altar call? If we didn’t have any sinners in the building, then we got all the saints, and we had an altar call. And I remember when I was 5 or 6 years old, and there was an altar call, and the Spirit of God dealt with my heart, concerning my condition – as far as I was able to understand my condition at that time. The Spirit of the Lord dealt with my heart. The minister was Blanche Trotter, a missionary in the Belgian Congo back in those days, and she was describing my condition as one of sin, but I wish that someone had described my condition as being absolutely, totally DEAD! So that when I would have come, I would have come more quickly to the TRUTH than I did. But the condition she described was true: it just wasn’t ALL of the Truth.

Accepting The Truth

But here’s my point: The Spirit of the Lord dealt with me according to the Truth that I heard, and according to the Truth that was spoken, because what was being spoken was a true thing. But I had to get up: I had to respond, and I had to respond to the Truth as I at that time received and accepted the Truth to be. And I came to the altar. That’s what I’m talking about. See, I was born again at that age. We who come to Christ and live in Christ and worship Christ must do so in Spirit AND Truth. And sometimes the birth comes before the Truth. It should not, but usually it does, because of what we hear preached. We respond to what we hear; we lay hold of what we hear if what we hear is a true thing. That’s the reason when you receive Christ, and Christ is in you, it is as real as He’s ever going to be. But The Truth in which you received Him didn’t let you know that. What you in truth have received is "forgiveness of sins", and that’s what you hold on to. Jesus is much more than that, but to you at that time – that’s what He is. And there came a time when not only this reality of The Spirit was presented to me: that I'm in sin and I need to be born again; but there came a time to me – being born again, that I realized that my comprehension of Salvation just wasn’t getting the job done!

John 4: 23 – But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

A Veil

It was like a veil was there, and I couldn’t go beyond that veil. I’d pray and I’d pray – that I want more of the Lord… that’s what I said. ‘There’s got to be more than this!’ But there was this veil there. And Christ was all the time, as it were, in my heart, standing right behind the veil saying, ‘There is more. I am here. I am all things.’ Yes, but that veil was there. And then I heard THE TRUTH. I heard The Truth as it is in Christ. And hearing that Voice, not seeing yet, my soul began to rejoice and say, ‘This is what I have been waiting and listening for. This is what I’ve been waiting to hear. Not just that my sins are forgiven – this. This Voice: This is The One. Not just what He has done: but HE HIMSELF!’ I recognized immediately this is what my soul has been hungry for. This is what I’ve been wanting to know. This is it!

2 Corinthians 3:14 – But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken way in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

John 8:32 – And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Ephesians 4:21 – If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.

Responding To The Truth

And once again this time in my soul, I arose, I responded to The Truth. The Truth was presented to me: in Christ all men come to death. When He died, we all died. And I heard that. ‘And if any man BY ME will come, will enter in, they will find rest unto their souls.’ And rather than rejecting that, my soul responded. I thought, ‘Lord, that’s the rest I want.’ I responded in my heart. It was just as real as if I had gotten up out of a pew and walked down to an altar: I responded in my heart. "If any man…" We’re not left out of this in Truth. We come in Spirit, we grow in Truth, because it is The Spirit of Truth Who is in us. Matthew 11:25-30, " At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." What is it? We come in obedience to His death. The coming unto Christ in Truth is not first coming to Him as Life; it’s first coming to Him as THE DOOR!

Hebrews 4:9-11 – There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

John 16:13 – Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The Order of Entering In

We’ve got to get this thing in its order! Think about this: you are outside in the driveway in your car, and you pull up to this building. And there’s a door right out there. Why would you want to walk around and try to find an open window? Why would you want to walk around and try to find a hole in the wall? The whole point is you want to get into this building. The building is sitting there – it’s real; you can walk up and touch it. But if you want to enter into the building, your thought is NOT getting OUT of the driveway: your whole thought is getting IN the building. Why then in Salvation do we stand up as preachers and as believers and preach it as ‘getting out’ of something, and bring the whole thing into a wrong concept? We present it that way and have people come to accept it that way: only for those very people to end up not satisfied as to the Truth, for they have NO Truth! They may come, they may receive in Spirit, they may be born again, and then… be a baby forever! But they never came to Truth, never growing up, never experiencing in Christ the "all things" of Salvation. Rather, they are just knowing them in words, and terms, and they are not able to experience and know them in TRUTH. And then we assume these things are not really for us yet, but …. maybe…. someday.

Ephesians 4:14,15 – That we be henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.

Obedience To The Door

Well, here’s the building. It’s real, but the Spirit of God forbids you to come through the window. You can’t get in that way: you come in by The Door. And The Door to Life is His Death. This is what we, in our hearts, must be obedient to. It starts out with agreeing with it in your heart. We have to be obedient to it, because the Spirit of God will act upon the obedience of your heart, and will draw you into the reality of that Truth. Yes, "when the heart turns…" (2 Corinthians 3:16) the Lord appears. The Spirit of God will act upon the obedience of your heart and will draw you. No man comes except he’s drawn; but no man is drawn except he’s obedient. Obedient – obedience to The Door. That’s why Jesus said, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." Rest is me not living any more! "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." (Hebrews 4:10) You come to a Finished Work. You come to something that I don’t have to add to – can’t add to. You rest. He lays you to rest! You enter into HIS rest, a rest from the works of the flesh.

Philippians 2:5-8 – Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

John 6:44 – No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

My Yoke

"I will give you rest"; then "You take my yoke…" This is THE CROSS. This is what "joins together". It actually joins two oxen together, but the yoke is there. It is across the neck and joins them so that the two pull as one. This is The Cross. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me." LEARN OF ME. Here’s where learning begins. And then here’s the nature of the Lamb. "For I am meek and lowly of heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my labor is light." Look at that – from then on our labor is one of light – in knowledge, growing; walking in the light as He is in the light. It’s easy because it is not I, but CHRIST who liveth in me! I have come by The Door! And the promise is: I will give you rest. Yes, I will receive you unto My death, that I may live in you; that you may learn of me. It starts with the obedience of our hearts to His death.

1 John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Romans 6:3,4 – Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

The Door of Our Redemption

Now there is a redemption from that death. And what happens when we come to Him, and enter in by The Door is, we enter The Door of Our Redemption. Isn’t it something that we are delivered from death through dying? But not the death of being in sin: but rather HIS DEATH, wherein He hath gathered up all men and brought that whole humanity to an end, so that by Him we can be dead to sin. What is "dead to sin"? Dead to that whole humanity. The humanity continues, but I am dead to it. And in that death, you find your Life because The One that makes you to be dead to the one, is your Life to the other. It’s the Same One: "I am Way, Truth, Life. I’m it!" But it is in the order of OBEDIENCE, the order of knowing Him. We all want to be obedient to His Life, but not until you are obedient to His death can you be obedient to His Life. And we are caught in that confusion – trying to be obedient to His Life, having never been obedient to His death. In our own minds we are still living beings – with our sins saved, and we’re trying to be obedient to His Life. No – you and I must first be obedient to His death. There is our Redemption! He is our Redeemer, but our Redemption is in His death. And in entering into His death, we are redeemed from among the dead, and He is our Redeemer, our Life.

Romans 6:1,2 – What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Galatians 6:14 – But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Psalm 34:22 – The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants; and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Psalm 103:4 – Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.

Romans 3:24 – Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 1:7 – In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

Colossians 1:14 – In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

A Matter of Truth

It’s a matter of Truth. It is a Work of The Holy Spirit. Hearing the Truth… yes, we hear the Truth, and then we respond to the Truth. And then we see the Truth as the Truth truly is in the face of Jesus Christ. It comes from the hearing of Words to the Seeing of HIM. Oh yes, you must hear the Truth. This is the foolishness of preaching. You must hear the Truth: it must be preached. The Truth comes forth. That is the Gospel. Hath brought to light… "…and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Timothy 1:10. And it is in first receiving that, but then pressing toward the Truth. Having heard – that is in our hearts. And remember – the act of obedience is always rewarded – always rewarded! The Spirit of God will bid you "Come". The Spirit of God will draw you into Him. The Truth – we’re talking about the Truth now. We come to our Redemption through His death. That’s how it was with Israel, in type and shadow, and that’s how it is with us in reality.

Ephesians 4:21 – If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:6 – For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:21 – For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Philippians 3:12-14 – Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Genesis 22:18 – And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

The Body of Redemption

So, not only is the soul redeemed, wherein we enter into rest (that’s the Redemption of the soul); but there’s a body involved in this Redemption. Not BODIES as earthen vessels, as clay pots. No, those bodies become servants of Redemption. Early on in walking in the Truth of Christ, I came to realize that the body I have must serve the Body I am. I realized that it is so purposed. The one body is temporal, and the other is Eternal and everlasting. So is The Body of Redemption.

Philippians 3:21 – Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Ephesians 1:22,23 - … and gave him to be head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

2 Corinthians 4:18 – While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

1 Corinthians 12:20,27 – But now are they many members, yet but one body.

Turn to Romans 6. Paul here is talking about Redemption, but he speaks here both with regard to the soul and to the body. Verse 4-8, " Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from (among the) dead by the glory of the Father…" Now WE are buried with him by baptism: and Paul wants us to understand that is body and soul. But he isn’t talking about natural bodies any more than he’s calling our soul a natural mind or a natural brain. He’s talking about this whole body of death, this whole Adamic man that has come to be summed up in the body of Old Covenant Israel. And Paul is going to call that "the old man". "…even so we also should walk in newness of live. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him."

Bodies – Body

The old man – by which we served sin; the old man – by which we served the law of sin and death. The old man. Now our bodies were involved because they were servants of that body. Just like our bodies are involved in serving Christ, because they become servants of that Body we are. But so many Christians have no idea of the body we were, and the Body we now are. They are just all involved in bodies, and they base their whole theology upon bodies. And it’s a misunderstanding; it’s a wrong concept, and it keeps you from realizing and comprehending the true fulness of Christ and the true significance of " I am resurrection and life." (John 11:25) Because if He is not NOW our Resurrection, then neither is He NOW our Life! You can’t divide the one from the other because they are connected with "I AM". It’s not ‘I am Life" and I will be ‘Resurrection". No – I AM Resurrection – first. I AM Life! We come to the one, we come by the one into the other! And it’s soul and body – if we ever get a hold of the body. See, you and I before the Cross are the body of Adam; we are one body. We may think we are a bunch of bodies; but we are one body. This is the ignorance of man: to look at each other as races and creeds and kinds, and make their judgments concerning one another based on races and creeds and kinds. And for God’s sake – we bring that ignorance over into Christ – in our hearts – and we still make our judgments based on races and creeds and kinds! It’s just ridiculous!

Romans 6:16 - 18 – Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Seeing The Body We Are

And that’s because if we never see the body we were (Adam) how can we then comprehend the Body we now are (Christ)? We never see that. Can’t you look around in the world and see that wars are fought because of that ignorance? You would never kill yourself, and yet humanity kills itself every day! The body of Adam kills itself over races, creeds and kinds. Exterminators – because we see bodies. How in the name of God can we bring that over into Christ and justify it? And yet it’s justified in pulpits every Sunday morning just by telling you another lie. This is pitiful, and then we have seminars on how to get along with each other! Here’s an idea: how about bringing this whole body of death to The Cross where it belongs, and seeing it done away with? How about just finding the reality of being a New Body, a New Creation – in Christ where Christ is all and in all? One New Man! How about that for getting along?

2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Colossians 3:10,11 –And have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scynthian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Like As Christ Was

Well, it will in Truth: it won’t in theology. The problem today is that it’s not even preached today in theology. It’s not even set forth as a principle, but rather as some kind of a ‘future hope’. And what just kills me is I see saints of God get up, and clap their hands, and dance around and sing songs worshipping that misconception! And that just kills me. Romans 6:4, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: THAT…" "That" always brings you to purpose of what is being said. "… that like as Christ was raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." What that means is: in that Christ was raised up out from among the dead: He was raised up that we might walk in newness of Life. "For if we have been planted together (and this includes soul and body recognition) in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." And the term "in the likeness of his" has been added there. It really is "we shall be also of resurrection." If we have been planted together in His death, we shall be raised together in His resurrection. For you and I this is THE TRUTH to which our heart must come. See, Paul was talking to believers here who had no idea that when they were baptized into Christ, they were baptized into His death. They thought they just got their sins forgiven, and now they are having a hard time battling off not sinning again. And Paul is saying, ‘Wait a minute, how can you live in that wherein you are dead? How can you do that? How can a dead man live again?’ And he’s saying, No, Salvation is NOT a dead man living again: SALVATION IS CHRIST LIVING IN YOU. He’s The Resurrection. He’s the Newness of Life! He is seeking to bring these believers to The Truth.

Romans 6:1-3 – What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid, How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Obedience To The Truth

The reality of which has been wrought in them by the Spirit, but now that they would come by that self same Spirit to The Truth; and would live in obedience to that Truth. What is it to live in obedience to that Truth? After coming to The Truth, what is it to live in obedience to the Truth? It is to live in the reality, to live in the Truth – NOT I, BUT CHRIST. Not I, but Christ. But those are not words we stand in a mirror and rehearse. That is the Truth in which we live.

Truth Catching Up With The Spirit

So now – knowing this: it’s all based upon knowing this. First he says in Verse 3, " Know ye not…" And that’s the same as saying: You must know this. Here’s what you must know – you must know that when you were baptized into Christ, you were baptized into His death. The Truth must catch up with The Spirit! Now for many Christians who have finally come to "see this", it’s like being born again all over again! Why? Because The Truth has caught up with the experience. The Truth caught up with the birth. The child has had his eyes opened! Amen. And he not just saw that he was born again; but he saw of Whom! He saw the New Birth! Truth caught up with experience! See that’s the reason the Bible says in Hebrews 11:6, "…for he that cometh to God must believe that he is (that is, The I am)…" And in John 4:23, " …the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." True worship is the LIFE YOU LIVE. I know we come together and praise God, but TRUE worship is the Life you live. Now there’s never a time that I stop raising my hands in the congregation and saying Thank you, Jesus, but true worship is how you live. Spirit and Truth; Spirit AND Truth.

John 3:6 – That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

1 Peter 2:9 – But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

True Worship

True worship is not you and I coming to a place called "Church", doing whatever it is we want to do, and then going back out into "our" life to make it until the next time we come stumbling into what we call Church. No sir, that’s not what it’s all about. Once you come into this rest, from then on, He lives out from that rest. He lays you to rest, and from then on – HE LIVES. It is Christ living in me. I live in the flesh – right here standing before you, by the faith of the Son of God. It is that understanding in Galatians 2:20. What is that? It is the understanding: Not I, but Christ liveth in me. That’s what it means to live by faith; live in the understanding – not I, but Christ liveth in me: facing every situation that way, whether they are good ones or bad ones. You know sometimes Christians are as carried away with good situations as they are with bad ones. Well, they are both going to come, and they are both going to go. But The I AM remains! None of those situations should disturb our rest!

Your Peace

You know, for years I didn’t understand what that meant. Back when Christ was first revealed in me – in a reality in 1963, I was with a fellowship of believers in Dallas, Texas where we shared this Truth one with another, and preached this Truth as we understood at that time. And though we did not understand Christ in anywhere near a full measure, it was Christ we were understanding. And that is still so today; but it is CHRIST that I am learning. But during that time I would be sent from time to time to visit a little old lady, about 90 years old, and she was bedridden. I would go and visit her, and when I would come in, she would straighten herself and sit up in bed. I’d always go to minister to her, but never – ever, did I leave that place but that she was up in her chair, and I was down in front of her on my knees with my head in her lap – and SHE was praying for ME! It never failed! See, this is some of the richness from which I am so privileged to come. She would say this: ‘Honey, don’t ever let anything disturb your peace.’ It was years before I – IN CHRIST – came to realize what my peace was. It was comprehending: I AM DEAD! It was the comprehending Christ in His death: it was being dead with Him.

John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Disturbing Your Peace

It was being laid to rest. What is something that disturbs your peace? It causes YOU to get up! That’s not a resurrection: that’s a MONSTER! It causes YOU to get up! It causes you to get up out of your rest, and when you get out of your rest, what is manifested is NOT Christ! He lays us to rest, and then it’s not I, but Christ who liveth in me, because HE IS OUR PEACE. Paul tells us how: The Gentile and Jew are both brought to DEATH in His body, by The Cross; and the One that comes forth, The NEW MAN is at peace with God! And all of a sudden I saw what that precious saint of God had ministered to me. My eyes were opened and I found my rest. I have found peace IN HIM – in His death – in my NOT being. In the "not I" part of the comprehension of Christ I found rest and I found peace! I mean, what is there that you can do to a truly dead man that is going to bother him in any way whatsoever?

Ephesians 2:14-18 – For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby; And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

A Dead Shell

I think of this at funerals. I hate to go to funerals because of the ignorance that abounds there. But here’s a man in a casket, and all the flowery words that come… and they don’t affect him a bit! It’s just a dead man, a dead body. That’s all there is to it. And all that’s left over here really when you and I come by the death of Christ, by the obedience into His death and then find Life in Him: all that is left over here is just a dead shell. That’s the reason it has no power. That’s why death has no power – it’s just a dead shell left over here! There’s just a dead shell left - we’re gone out of it! We’ve come through His death; we’ve been obedient to His death. We’ve been obedient to the Truth as it is in Christ, and then found Him indeed to be our Life! So here’s the shell, and you could say sweet flowery words to it, or turn the coffin over and start kicking on it… One is just as good as the other because neither one affects the dead man. That’s why I say sometimes Christians are not caught by "bad" circumstances; they are carried away in "good" ones. But a dead man isn’t affected by them one way or the other, because his life is not there!

1 Corinthians 15:55 – O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Luke 24:5 – And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

Colossians 3:4 – For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The Redeemed of The Lord

We’ve been defining Life – taking it beyond words and finding it in Christ. His Life is in Christ. This is a dead man here – REDEEMED. The Redeemed of The Lord are those who have no Life but Christ and KNOW it! And KNOW IT – these are the Redeemed of The Lord! They sing a song, they declare a Truth because the Redeemed of the Lord are those who have entered in by Truth – through the blood! Romans 6:6, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed…" And the word ‘destroyed’ means ‘become non-effective, having no power, having no influence, made null and void.’ That’s the way we look at the body we were – it is non-effective. It has been made null and void. I don’t live there any more. I live in Christ: yet Christ liveth in me. We have come to a New Body IN Christ Jesus. That’s The Body of The Resurrection, that’s the One He brought forth in the Resurrection! This Son of God became obedient from before the foundation of the world and agreed to take upon Him a body prepared for his death; to become a little lower, to become of no reputation, to take upon Himself the body of death, the body of humanity. Do you really believe that God would NOT give that Son in His Resurrection – a Body? God says in 1 Corinthians 15:38, " But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body."

Revelation 5:9,10 – And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Galatians 6:14 – But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Hebrews 2:9,14,16 – But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

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.

Philippians 2:5-9 – Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The Body of Sin – The Old Man

Well, how about THE Seed- The only True Seed? Yes, God has given Him a Body, God has placed them one by one, by one: God has placed them in His Body. So the issue is NOT the bodies we have: the issue is The Body we are. That’s the issue of Redemption. And that’s what you have to understand Paul is saying in these verses in Romans 6. "Knowing this, that our old man…" "Our" in the Greek means the collective body, the collective old man. "… our old man is crucified with him…" Yes, because that’s the very body He took to The Cross. See, people looked at The Cross and all they saw was a person hanging up there. They just saw a flesh and blood body. But long before that He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (John 2:19) He saw that whole Temple system; He saw that whole Old Covenant system as the body that He had taken upon Himself TO DIE. He knew that was the body. Yes, I’m not telling you Jesus did not actually die in the flesh. I’m telling you there is more to that than meets the eye. The body of sin was put to death; the old man was put to death. That’s the real shame He bore, that’s the real burden He bore. That’s what obedience was all about. He agreed to become that! And then was obedient – not to just die, like a physical man; but "… even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:9) That’s the death of the old man!

Isaiah 53:4,5 – Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The Death of The Cross

I keep trying to say it in different ways, but you and I as the old man are made to be dead by The Cross. Christ calls us that we might make The Cross in our hearts, our death; that we might come to the death of The Cross. We need to see the distinction here of something that just comes upon us as a judgment, and you and I responding to that and receiving the good of it - becoming obedient to that judgment, and saying, ‘Yes, Lord, when You died, I died.’ In Truth, in reality saying that: being obedient unto that. Once you and I will be obedient unto that in our hearts – don’t you worry; the Spirit of God will reveal that in The Person of The Truth. We will see IN TRUTH ourselves dead with Him. But it is a soul and a body situation.

2 Corinthians 5:14 – For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.

Dead To The Law

In Romans 7 Paul says the same thing in verses 1-6. "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,)…"Now he’s going to show them something: that this is the Law, and this is what the Law is really trying to say. Here is why this is the Law: the Law says such-and-such, but we all know the Law was pointing to that which was to come. The Law was speaking beyond itself. And so he says, "…how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?" So this is the Law. And now Paul says I want to make a point in the Law. I want to show you something that the Law said, because the Law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Here it is: Verse 2, " For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband." Paul says you know that under the Law to be so. What’s that all about? "So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man." Now he makes his point. "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ…" And that is the body of His death wherein the old man, the Law and that whole system wherein mankind was summed up – DIED! See, these Christians who had gone out from the Law into Christ were, by those that were still under the Law called adulteresses. They would catch them and stone them, and kill them and put them in prison. They were called the people of lowest degree! Why? By the Law, and these that served the old man.

Galatians 3:24 – Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Acts 22:4,5 – And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem to be punished.

The Old Man is Dead

And Paul is speaking to the Christians and saying, ‘No, you are not adulterers. You are not under the Law: you haven’t broken the Law. No – you’ve become DEAD to the Law! The Law has said all it has to say: YOU’VE become dead to the Law. The old man is dead! The old man is the body in which you served the Law. Verse 4, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead, THAT we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered (and that word is the same word as "redeemed") THAT (here’s the purpose) being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."

Yet Under The Law

Then Paul brings in a personal testimony, and he’s not speaking of the present time; he’s speaking of a man who is seeking to serve God and find righteousness, and do good while yet under the Law. He’s still speaking to those who know the Law. Romans 7:14, " For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin." For under the Law, "that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." He’s not talking about a schizophrenic Christian. He is talking about Saul under the Law. He’s still showing these people the futility of the Law. So he is saying I am one who sought to find righteousness under the Law. In verses 9 and 10 he says I was doing pretty good as Saul until the commandment really came to me. " For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." We don’t really know when the commandment in his Jewish life really came to him, and he sat at the feet of Gamaliel and he learned the Law and the scriptures. And he said the thing that was meant to be life, I found to be nothing but death to me, and condemnation. When I would do good, it would just reveal the evil in me, and the more I tried to do good, the more evil abounded in me! That’s under the Law.

Acts 22:3 – I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

Condition Under The Law

That’s the condition of this whole dead side of The Cross. That’s the condition of the living dead. It’s the condition of those under The Law, and it ends up in a frustrated cry. Many of us have said it in one way or another. And before that Paul said it’s not that I don’t want to do the will of God; it’s just that I find it not in me to do it. Verse 18, " For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." The Law, the Law, the Law. Finally he says in verse 24, " O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And ‘deliver’ there means ‘redeem’. It’s this body from which we are redeemed. We must see that!

A New Body

Yes, we get a NEW BODY BY THE RESURRECTION. And our soul comes to Life. And Jesus says, " I am the resurrection and the life." (John 11:25) I am total Redemption. I am The Resurrection – The New Man. A New Body comes forth in The Resurrection! And I am the Life! It’s My Body, and I live in it! You talk about a miracle! You talk about a Redemption! You talk about a Resurrection! Oh my, you and I have come there in Spirit: we just need to make the trip IN TRUTH! Well, He is Spirit and He is Truth. And the Christian religion as we know it today has been robbed of The Truth; and they have a misconception concerning even The Spirit. They think The Spirit comes to show them how to do better and be better. In their understanding what they really do is they make the Work of The Spirit one of futility. No, The Work of The Spirit is to reveal The I AM. That Spirit is in you if you are born again, and He so desires to reveal The Truth. Yes, but since The Life and The Truth is all bound up with The I Am, and Jesus says, "I AM Door", we have to come. We have to submit our souls to The Truth, just as at one time each of us submitted our soul to The Spirit.

Ephesians 1:20,22,23 – Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Romans 8:9,10 – But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

John 16:13-15 – Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Quenching The Spirit

I hope you don’t mind me dividing these two, because in most of our hearts they are divided. I’m not telling you they ought to be: The Spirit is Truth, The Truth is Spirit: but the point is that in our hearts we’ve only come to part of that reality. We always talk about "quenching the Spirit", ("Quench not the Spirit" 1 Thessalonians 5:19) but true "quenching the Spirit" is refusal to walk in Truth. Why? Because He is The Spirit of Truth. Now listen – He is NOT The Spirit of "activity". He is The Spirit of Truth. If our activity is an expression of Truth, that’s fine. But in most cases you and I know it is not! To quench The Spirit is to refuse The Truth. I could show you that in the scriptures. That’s what it’s all about. And so many of us in Spirit filled circles are just like the Jews. The Jews broke the Law while condemning others of doing it. So many in Spirit filled circles are quenching The Spirit while accusing somebody else of doing it. He’s The Spirit of Truth. What did Jesus say? "When he, the Spirit of Truth is come…" I don’t think that God has nine hundred Spirits. I think there’s One Spirit, One Body, One Faith, One Baptism. Glory to God!

Ephesians 4:4-6 – There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

The Body of Christ

Now let’s go to 1 Corinthians 15. I want to show you something here. Verses 35-38 sets the stage. But some man will say (well, not just some – a whole lot), How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may be chance of wheat, or of some other grain; But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." You must see THE BODY OF CHRIST in that. The Seed – "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…" (John 12:24) He’s The Seed, He’s the True Seed. "… but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." That fruit is His Body. Why? We saw in Romans 7 about the body of sin being free from the old man and married to another that we may bring forth FRUIT unto Him. That fruit is in His Body. You are His Body! You are the fruit, and in you is to be found all the characteristics of His nature, which is called the fruit of the Spirit, but it is the characteristics of HIS nature being formed in you. His Body is the fruit, His Body is the harvest. God giveth Him a Body as it pleased God. As it pleased God! The Body of Jesus Christ! That sets the stage.

Galatians 5:22,23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Galatians 4:19 – My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.

Glory

And Paul uses some examples as in the heavens and in the earth saying that the real difference between one body and another is the glory of it. Well, Paul says in another letter there is a glory to the old body, the old administration; but a greater glory to the New because the glory of the one passes, it’s a type, it’s a shadow. The old administration can not contain it: it finds no place of rest here, no place for expression. But the glory of the New is CHRIST finding His place in a New Creation, finding His expression. It doesn’t come and go – it abounds to the fulness thereof! And he says we have come from the one glory to the other. He is saying the same thing here. Now verse 42, " So also is the resurrection of the dead. IT…" It – what? The body of the old man – "it is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption." One is the body of death, the old man: the other is the Body of Life, the Body of Christ. And they are divided by The Cross. The one is buried: it is taken by Christ down into His death. It is sown in corruption: it is raised incorruptible!

2 Corinthians 3:9-11,18 – For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.

Incorruptible

Now according to the psalmist David, and confirmed by the mouth of Peter, while in that place of the death, Jesus said, "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer your Holy One to (and the original says) return to a body of corruption." (Psalm 16:10) Soul and Body in Redemption. Glory to God – The Body is for The Son. The Body is The Redeemed, but The Redeemed are for The Redeemer! The Body is for The Son to live in! ‘You won’t leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer that thy Holy One return to corruption.’ No – it’s sown in corruption, and raised in incorruption! He gets a Body that is INCORRUPTIBLE! And YOU are that Body! It’s NOT the bodies you have; it’s the Body you are! You are That Body! That Body is clothed upon with Christ. That’s the reason I make fun of the roots from which I came. We worry so much about bodies – and what bodies look like, and we totally neglect The Body we are and its clothing. We stand there in the nakedness of our ignorance before God, not clothed upon with the ONLY clothing He cares anything about – CHRIST! This Body is clothed upon with Christ!

Acts 13:34,35 – And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4 – For we know that if our earthy house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

Clothed Upon With Christ

The Body is clothed upon with Christ else we be found naked before the Lord! To expose our nakedness in actuality is to expose our ignorance. That’s what it’s all about. The Old Covenant was pointing to the fulfillment and the realization of what it’s really about in the New Covenant. That’s why you weren’t supposed to uncover the nakedness. Well, you and I are not supposed to go around uncovering one another’s nakedness either; but rather we are to clothe upon with Christ. It’s not my purpose to go anywhere and uncover ignorance: there’s enough in me! No, what we want to do is "clothe upon". It’s not my desire that we be unclothed, but clothed upon. That’s what Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5: this same clothing, this same Body, this same House from heaven. To clothe upon and be clothed upon. Why? It makes sense when you understand whose Body you are. Now you can read the verses and they actually say something to you. Clothed upon with Christ!

Genesis 9:22,23 – And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

Galatians 6:1,2 – Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

1Corinthians 1:19,20 – What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

From One Body to Another

And these verses describe the Resurrection, which is coming from one body to another. But there’s no way we can come from one body to another except BY HIM: except by HIS death, HIS burial, HIS resurrection. That’s the way we come. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:11) Yes – dead indeed to sin – soul and body – and alive unto God through Jesus Christ – soul and body – in Newness of Life. 1 Corinthians 15:43, "It is sown in dishonour (that’s what He took upon Himself) ; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power" It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." The old man – the New Man. Natural here means that which is after man. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body, and because of that: "And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Paul describes the natural and the spiritual. And we come from the body of the one to the Body of the other, and we do so by The Resurrection and The Life. "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy (as we have lived as the body of the earthy, as our bodies have served the body of the earthy, as we have borne that image in everything that we have done), we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."

His Fulness

So what we are saying is: Redemption is Soul and Body, and I pray you have seen this in the scripture. We have come from death unto Life: we are a New Man in Christ Jesus Who says, "I am the resurrection and the Life. I am the Door, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. If any man enter by Me…" Oh my, when you enter in by His death, you have no idea of the greatness of that into which you have entered! It can only be measured in the fulness of HIM! That goes for His death too. His death goes in you to its fulness – nothing escapes it. But then His Life abounds to Eternity, and nothing can measure it! Amen.