Sermon given by Herbert W. Armstrong "What Is A Christian?" - 27 August 1983
(NB Headings are not part of original, but are added for clarity)

What Is a Christian?

By Herbert W. Armstrong

27 August 1983

(PLAY FROM START)

I want you to notice in Romans the 8th chapter, verse 7: Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind ...

And that's the natural mind you're born with. And that is, well, specifically if you would run this down it is not speaking with exactly the mind you are born with, or the mind that Adam was created with. It is the mind that Satan has made a natural mind to you.

Now we think of nature. Nature is that which comes naturally. We in the Church become partakers of God's nature. We receive God's nature. We weren't born with it. That's something we receive and we take on until it becomes natural -- until it becomes natural to have a nature like God. Now God has a nature, and that's the thing, the way that just comes naturally to Him.

The carnal mind is in some translations translated as the mind that is on materialism and material things. It is the mind that Satan has gotten into and changed, at least in its attitude. But:

Romans 8:7 The carnal mind is enmity against God.

Now that word "enmity" we don't use very much any more. Remember the King James translation is translated back in 1611, and that's about 350 years ago; and in today's language we would say hostile. The natural mind -- as Satan has influenced that mind to become selfish, and materialized, and thinking of material things and material acquisition, wanting to have material things, to get material things -- is hostile against, against, God.

Romans 8:7 It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Romans 8:9 But [Verse 9, now see if you are a Christian.] you are not in the flesh [That is, having fleshly desires and your mind on the things of the flesh as some translations will give verse 7. "You are not in the flesh ... "], but in the Spirit [That is, not fleshly minded but spiritually minded.], if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.

Now, what difference does that make in your life? How do you know whether the Spirit of God is dwelling in you or not? Some people say the way you know is you speak in tongues. Now, if you'll notice, they get the tongues speaking; and I've often thought that some of these days I want to just give a sermon on that. They get it from the 2nd chapter of Acts, on the day of Pentecost. And if you'll go back and read that again carefully (I'm not going to go into it right now.), you'll notice that there were 120 there receiving the Holy Spirit. Now there were at least 3,000 -- and probably more than 3,000 -- there, because there were 3,000 that were baptized that day after Peter's sermon.

The Holy Spirit came that day for the first time. I'm going to show you how God had ... I've shown you so many times how God had closed up the Holy Spirit way back in the days of Adam. That was 4,000 years earlier -- 6,000 years ago now. And for the first time now the Holy Spirit began to be poured out upon a certain group of people, and it came first on the 120 who ... That is, they were 120 altogether including the twelve apostles; but the Holy Spirit came to enter into them.

Now, if you'll notice, they heard the Holy Spirit coming. It came with a great noise. It sounded like a rushing, mighty wind. I don't know whether you were ever in a real tornado or a cyclone back in the Middle West somewhere, but a rushing wind makes a terrific noise. Now that's something that they could hear.

And then they SAW the Sprit coming in the form of flaming tongues -- just like a tongue, but like flames of fire -- and sitting on the head of each one of them. It was something they could see. Now in modern Pentecostal meetings, you don't see anything like that. They don't hear anything except a lot of "Praise you, Jesus" and "Glory, hallelujahs" coming out of the voices of people that are on sort of an emotional jag or drunk.

SPEAKING IN TONGUES (PLAY FROM 5:46)

And then, if you go a little further, they spoke with tongues all right; but read what kind of tongues it was. Go back and read it, 2nd chapter of the book of Acts. And of the 3,000 others there, every man there (coming from different countries, and it goes on and mentions many of the countries) heard them -- the 120 -- speaking in his language; and he could understand every word they said. They didn't need any interpreter.

Modern tongues people think they have to have an interpreter. You know up in Salem, Oregon at some meetings we were holding back in 1933 (and I refused to participate any further in those meetings); but there'd always be different ones would get up and have to jabber on in what they called "tongues." And it was ... They'd noticed that without an interpreter you should keep quiet and never speak. That's in the 14th chapter of I Corinthians. So they had a man there that would always interpret. So, he had his interpretation all memorized.

One person would speak in one kind of gibberish and go [Mr. Armstrong made a lot of strange sounds at this point that are not intelligible.] or something like that. I don't think you know what I said, because I didn't say anything. But always he'd get up and interpret the same thing. He had it memorized. Then, at another time, another person would get up with another different time of so-called "tongues." But he had the same interpretation all right.

Now I think those poor souls really believed it was the truth. I don't know. They were deceived. Maybe they honestly believed that was the truth. But on the day of Pentecost the Medes who were there heard them speak the language of the Medes, the Median language. The Italians there heard them speak the Italian language. The Parthians there heard them speak the Parthian language -- the whole 120. Now there has NEVER SINCE been that kind of tongues speaking, and "tongues" merely means "languages" anyway. It's just an old English word for languages. They spoke in different languages so that each man from each different country understood what they were speaking. You never hear that in the modern so-called "tongues movement."

Now the one chapter on the whole thing, of course, is I Corinthians 14. There you will notice that Paul said: "I speak with languages more than you all (tongues, or languages. But he said): ... I had rather speak five words with understanding (That people could understand and get some kind of meaning out of.) ... than ten thousand words in (these) tongues.

That's the value that the apostle Paul put on it. And he absolutely forbade people to speak in any kind tongue unless there was someone there that understood that language and could translate it so that everyone would understand it.

Now often I speak in foreign countries. I've spoken in Japan. I've spoken in Thailand and other countries like that, and in China. And I will have an interpreter because those people wouldn't understand what I say. So I say it, then he interprets it. And often we have a man who can talk right along just as fast as I do, and interpret it with me. Sometimes he can't. Then I have to say a short sentence and stop, and then he will repeat that sentence. Then I take another short sentence, and he has to take a little more; and on we go. It takes twice as long that way, but at least people understand what is being said; and understanding is the main thing.

ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN? (PLAY FROM 9:51)

Now, notice this:

Romans 8:9 You 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 God] of Christ [Here it says Christ.], he is none of his [None of Christ's.].

If the Holy Spirit is not DWELLING IN YOU, you are not a Christian! Now you go a little further and over here in, let's see, the 14th verse says:

Romans 8:14 As many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

The Holy Spirit opens your mind to comprehend and understand the Word of God; and the Word of God is God's instruction, God's teaching, God's message to you. And the Holy Spirit is the interpreter, really, that opens your mind. In other words, the Bible is a coded book. Like Hitler had a coded machine, and he would put a message he was sending to one of his field generals out in another front; the machine would scramble it all up and uncode it so it didn't make any sense. And the only way you could get anything out of it, that same machine could recode it back again. So each general had a similar machine with him. He would put it on the machine so he could understand it.

You know, the British finally were able to get most of the parts of such a machine, and complete it, and put it together; and they began to get all of the Germans' secret messages. They knew just where the Germans were expecting the Channel invasion to strike. So they just let them amass all of their forces there, and then the Allies proceeded to strike in a place of a distance that the Germans simply couldn't get to them. So the landing was a success.

WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES (PLAY FROM 12:01)

Well, the Bible is a coded book; and the most highly-educated people in the world CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT! "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man the things God has PREPARED for those that love Him." That's in I Corinthians the 2nd chapter. But God has revealed them unto us by the Holy Spirit, which is in us.

Now, did the Holy Spirit reveal? Oh, no. The Holy Spirit is not the teacher, or the revealer. God is the Teacher, and God teaches through His Word -- who is Christ; and Christ is the Word in person. The Bible is the same identical Word in writing. So God reveals to us [Mr. Armstrong can be heard tapping on his Bible at this point.] in the Bible, but through His Holy Spirit. We have to have the Holy Spirit in us. That is the "machine" that unscrambles and puts it back together again so we can understand it.

So one of the things the Holy Spirit will do in you, it will open your mind to understand God's directions as to how you should live. The whole thing is about sin, and sin is the transgression of God's law. It's a way of life. The Bible explains how, and how we should live. And then "as many as are LED BY the Holy Spirit" -- that means the Holy Spirit will open your mind to understand; but you're the one that has to do it.

Now the Holy Spirit will lead; but it will won't get hold of you, and yank you, and pull you. You have to follow on your own power. Now sometimes you don't have enough power. Maybe you're a little weak. Well, that's where faith comes in. You have faith, and God will help you. God will give you extra power, and that will come by the Holy Spirit too. But the Holy Spirit won't pull you. It'll give you power if you call out for it, if you need it.

Now then, let's carry on a little farther here. Verse 11:

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [That is, make immortal. Turn from human into God.] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.

That is HOW we are to be MADE INTO GOD. From human to God is through the Holy Spirit. But we need to know more about God's Holy Spirit, and what it is, and how REAL it is! In the first place, people don't realize how REAL God is; and they certainly don't realize how real His Holy Spirit is.

GOD'S GOAL AND PURPOSE (PLAY FROM 15:00)

How important is this to understand? It's the most important thing in your life to understand this. The most important thing in all of the universe, brethren, is God's purpose. Now if you've read my little booklet that was written many years ago (I think I should go over it now, and expand it, and bring it up to date, and rewrite it.) -- The Seven Laws of Success -- you find that the first law of success in life is having the right goal. It's not only a goal. It's the right goal.

Now there are many people that do have a goal; but it's the wrong goal, and it will lead them to the wrong place. Other people, most people, have no goal whatsoever. They're just going nowhere, and they'll never arrive anywhere either. They'll never be a success. But God has a goal, and that goal is His purpose -- the most important thing to God. And the most important thing to man is to understand God's purpose. That's God's goal, and what He is existing and living for.

Now we read right here in Romans 8, same chapter, and beginning with verse 28:

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good [Period?]

Now we had a minister in one of our largest cities teaching that. And he was teaching that whatever you do and any evil you do, go ahead and sin. It will work together for good. It isn't what it says!

Romans 8:28 All things work together for good to them that love God.

And you can't love God without His Spirit in you, because you don't have the kind of love to love God. Really loving God is His Spirit in you returning back to Him in love.

Romans 8:28 All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are THE CALLED ...

There again is that word "called." It doesn't say to them who volunteered. It doesn't say to them who heard an evangelistic meeting, and went up to the altar, and went forward to let the preacher pray a short prayer for you and hand you a piece of literature. But:

Romans 8:28 To them that are the called [That God has called and chosen.] according to his purpose.

Now, He has CALLED YOU ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE! In other words, it has been His purpose to call you. Now that's pretty important to God! If you're one He has called, that's something that is very important to Him. Now read the next verse.

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow ...

And that means that He has called you. If you put all of this and the 1st chapter of Ephesians (where it talks about predestination) and put it together, you find that God foreknew you.

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did PREDESTINATE ...

What? To be saved? Or to be lost? Maybe predestinated to be lost? No. It doesn't say that at all.

Romans 8:29 He did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.

That's what you were predestinated for; and that means to be saved, that means to receive His Spirit, that means to be made one of Christ's brothers. He calls you a brother. That means to make you a son of God until you become BORN OF GOD, and you become just as much "God" as He is. My sons born of me are just as much human as I am. So notice it now, just take word by word, every little phrase of the sentence even.

HOW CHRIST BECAME GOD'S SON (PLAY FROM 19:45)

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow [He foreknew those He called.], he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son [who is Christ], that he [Christ]might be THE FIRSTBORN OF MANY BRETHREN.

Now how was Christ born? And He was the FIRSTBORN. That means you'll be born like He was. He was just the first one of the brethren to be born. You are one of those brethren IF the Spirit of God is dwelling in you. Now, to understand that, we have to go back to the 1st chapter of Romans. (Didn't I put a marker in that for the first chapter of Romans? Anyway, here we are.) I want you to notice how Christ became a Son of God. Verse 3, chapter one, Romans 1, right at the beginning of the book of Romans, breaking into the middle of the sentence:

Romans 1:3-4 Concerning his Son [It's talking about God. Concerning God's Son.] Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (4) and declared to be the Son of God [Then it puts in some other words.] with power, according to the spirit of holiness, [Then how is He made {1} the Son?] by the resurrection from the dead.

Now take out the modifying clauses and just read the sentence as it is. The sentence, without its modifying clauses thrown in, is this: Christ, our Lord, declared to be a Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. He was then BORN A SON OF GOD by a resurrection from the dead! He was the FIRSTBORN OF MANY BRETHREN. Many of the brethren are right here in front of me this afternoon, and I hope that means all of you. He was the firstborn. We haven't been born yet.

Of course, I know now that there are some that think they are already born. Most Protestant preachers think they are, and Jerry Falwell included. Oh, he's a "born again Christian," don't have any understanding what it is to be born again at all because there's no really understanding of the Bible.

Now, it goes on to show what we will be ultimately; and I'm not going to take time to go through that this afternoon. If I'd go back a few verses would show you, and connect that up with the 2nd chapter of Hebrews, that ultimately after we are born of God and made very God, and after the Millennium here on earth -- ultimately we are going to restore and renew the entire universe. Not only this earth, but many other places. But this earth will become the capital of the whole universe, and God the Father will be dwelling here at that time.

MORE THAN ONE GOD (PLAY FROM 23:12)

[** Tape skips at 23:12 and picks up with Mr. Armstrong reading Genesis 1:1.]

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And then again in verse 26:

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us [Not "Me." Let us ... ] make man in our image.

Now, Moses wrote that in the Hebrews language. "In the beginning God ... " The English word "God" is translated from the word Moses wrote, "Elohim"; and Elohim is a plural word that means more than one. Yes, more than one God. And it was God who said to the Word, "Let us make man in our image" in verse 26 "after our likeness."

But now, if you want to understand how there is more than one God and yet you read in the Bible there is only one God, well you have to turn then to John in the New Testament. Again I say the Bible not only is a coded book, it's like a jigsaw puzzle. One explains the other. John 1 verses 1 to 4:

John 1:1-4 In the beginning [again] was the Word ...

Now, who was the Word? In verse 14 it says the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and became Jesus Christ. So:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word [before He was born as Jesus Christ], and the Word was with God [That's another person. Now you have two persons.], and the Word was God.

The Word is God, and God is God; but They are two persons.

John 1:2-3 The same was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made by him [the Word].

And in Ephesians 3:9 you read how God created all things by Jesus Christ. He's the Word who spoke. But Jesus said, when He was on earth, He spoke only what the Father told Him to speak. So God is the one who said, "Do it." God told Him what to speak, how to speak. Jesus spoke. The Holy Spirit is THE POWER that leaped to do it when Jesus spoke. But Jesus said, "I and My Father are one." And They are one God!

Now you can have, at a certain place, Sam; and Sam was with Smith; and Sam was Smith. Well, you see, Sam -- maybe he was Smith's son or Smith's father; but they are one family, both the same family. God is one in the sense of one Family. And the Church is one, one family; but many, many members.

HOW GOD LIVES (PLAY FROM 26:05)

Now in verse 4 back there in John 1 (I'm not going to turn to it right now.), "In Him [the Word]was LIFE ...

So He lived; and He lived with the Father, and God the Father lived. They both lived. Now how did They live? Well, They lived a certain kind ... Today we'd use the plain word about lifestyle. Maybe you could call that Their lifestyle, only usually lifestyle means a certain out and out fashion and way-out fashion of today. It's Their Way of Life, and Their way of living was love. The Father loved the Word; and, when He became Jesus and was baptized, the Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." He loved the Son. Jesus loved the Father and obeyed the Father.

Their way of life then was one of cooperation, love, and all of that. Again, as I've said so many times, two can't walk together except they be agreed; and They were agreed. And two can't walk together either except one is boss. One is the leader. The Father was the boss, and it's made plain all the way through the Bible. Jesus said, "My Father is greater than I. My Father that sent me." The one who sent Him was greater than the one that was sent. "And I have said only what My Father commanded Me to say." He shows that the Father was at the head of the Family.

Now, if They lived, They had to be doing something. What did They do? Well, They were Creators. And to create They first had to design, and plan, and think what They were going to create, and what form and shape it would take, and what it would do.

GOD CREATED ANGELS (PLAY FROM 28:03)

Now they first created angels. And in Ezekiel 28 you read something. I'm going to go over a few of these scriptures a little bit again because I want them to be fresh in your mind. I've already gone over them many, many times. But in Ezekiel 28 is the archangel, and only three have been mentioned. There were ordinary angels, then there were seraphs, and there were cherubs. Now the cherubs are the highest of all, in power and rank and in superiority. And speaking of this super angel, God says of him in Ezekiel 28:14, "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so."

{2} Exodus 24-25 explains where it shows the throne of God pictured on earth as Moses was given a pattern to picture that on the throne of God were two cherubs, one on each side, his wings spreading over the throne so the wings touched each other, spreading out over the throne of God. And so he was one of those. Then in verse 15:

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast PERFECT in thy ways from the day that thou wast created [He was not born. He was a created being.] till iniquity was found in thee.

Iniquity is lawlessness. Now verse 17:

Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.

He was so beautiful, so bright, that it was brilliant! It was brilliant, and it was dazzlingly beautiful; and it went to his head. Vanity seized him, and then he glorified himself. He wanted to be first above all. He wanted to be above God. Then he wanted to be the boss, instead of God. He wanted to own and have everything. He wanted to take away from God. He began to oppose God. He began to want to destroy what God had done. He wanted to begin to grab and use what he did; and what he didn't like he wanted to destroy; and it all started from that vanity.

Again, we read of him next in Isaiah 14. I really should have read that first, perhaps. His name was Lucifer. Here it speaks of him, Isaiah 14 beginning with verse 12:

Isaiah 14:12-13 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [Or, morning star. "Light bringer" is the meaning of the name Lucifer.] How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? [Or, thou which did weaken the nations, thrown down to the ground.] (13) Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. [So he was below heaven. He was on earth.], I will exalt MY THRONE ...

So God had set him on a throne on the earth! At that time he was perfect in all of his ways. He had been at the very throne of God in heaven. He knew God's government. Now, God's government is based on a law; and a law is merely the code of rules of living, of how to live. And God's way of living is that of love, of cooperation, of serving, helping, cooperating, doing good, construction, building up. Satan had turned to the other way -- destruction, (instead of loving) hating, competition, strife, taking away from others (instead of giving and helping). Just the very opposite! But now he says he had a throne, and the throne was on the earth.

Isaiah 14:13 I will exalt my throne above the stars [or the angels] of God.

He was going to be the most high. He said in verse 14:

Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be [it says here] like the most High.

I'm quite sure the right translation of that would be "I'll become the most high myself." That's what he wanted. He wanted to take God's throne away from Him. AS A RESULT OF ALL OF THAT, and God placed angels on earth under him, and he with his cunning deceived the angels into also becoming demons. He became Satan the devil, they became demons -- hostile against God, just the opposite from God's way of love; and destruction came to the earth as a result of it.

Now in Psalm 104 and verse 30 (and I would like to turn to that and read it). It's just one little verse, but I've read it many times. But I think you forget this. I want you to remember this.

Psalm 104:30 Thou [God] sendest forth thy spirit [That's God's Spirit.], they are created [All the things that are created that it's been talking about here.]: and thou RENEWEST the face of the earth.

THE CREATION OF MAN (PLAY FROM 33:51)

The whole face of the earth had come to the condition we read of in Genesis 1 and verse 2 -- chaotic and in confusion, waste and empty. In six days, as you read in Genesis 1, God sent forth His Spirit; God told the Word what to do; and the Word spoke. And the Word said, "Let there be light." Darkness was all over the fluid surface of the earth. It was all water. There was no land. God said, "Let there be light." That was, Christ was the one of God that said that, because His Father told Him to; and light appeared.

Then He had the dry land appear, and so on. Come down to verse 26, and it that was God -- it was not Christ; it was God the Father who said "Let Us make man in Our image." It just says Elohim there; but you can tell which one of the Elohim said it, and there's no doubt about that.

So He made man in His own image, male and female made He them. But in Genesis 2 and verse 7 you'll read that:

Genesis 2:7 God formed man of the dust of the ground.

Now He formed angels out of spirit. What is God? John 4:24 says "God is a Spirit." God is Spirit. Man though is only dust, matter, out of the ground. So man was given only a temporary, physical existence -- a chemical, physical existence. Yet God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our kind." After the God kind! And we learn, as I read to you in the beginning, that Jesus was THE FIRSTBORN God Being OF MANY BRETHREN. So it was God's purpose to have man, which He made out of the ground, finally become God! How was that going to be?

INJECTED WITH GOD-LIFE (PLAY FROM 35:55)

Now he didn't have any Life in him. He had a temporary existence, as long as he was breathing air and as long as his heart was pumping blood; because the air is the "breath of life," and "the blood is the life thereof" is another scripture in the Bible. And all the life you have within you now, naturally (which you were born with), comes from the breath of air and the circulation of blood. But God has Life inherent. Spirit Life doesn't have to have a heart, doesn't have to have any blood being pumped, doesn't have to breathe air, doesn't have to be fueled with food and water. But God placed Life available before the man, because He had put him in the Garden of Eden; and there were the two trees (as I've said so many times), and one was the Tree of Life.

Now I wonder if you can understand what that meant. It meant Life injected from God -- the Life of God injected into him. Now he didn't have it. All he had was what life was injected through just chemical actions, the physical elements of the ground. And, you know, there is great power even in matter. Look at what the atom can do. Look at nuclear physics. And look what power there is, even the power of electricity and of lightning; and that's all material. It's material power. But God offered him God's Life -- that God would put HIS OWN LIFE and beget it right into Adam. It meant the injection of divine GOD LIFE into Adam.

Now that was one of the trees. That meant eternal life -- the Tree of Life. But if he was to have that, he'd also have to have the mind of God and the righteousness of God, the CHARACTER of God, because what is God? Well, He's composed of Spirit; but above all God is perfect, spiritual, righteous character. And He was going to build that type of holy, righteous, spiritual character into the man; but the man had to make his own choice. He had to have something to do with it himself, to become a God.

KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL (PLAY FROM 38:35)

So the other tree was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now good and evil is not knowledge of how to build a house, or a barn, or an automobile, or an airplane. That's just physical knowledge, and God made man with ability to acquire that kind of knowledge. He already had that. But in front of him was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now that's spiritual knowledge. That's either doing what is good or what is evil; and that has to do with the RELATIONSHIP to your own Maker, and secondly relationships to other people.

Now, you see, God had purpose. Part of His purpose was that Adam and Eve were to have children, and their children would have children; until finally there'd be a lot of people on earth. And, if there's going to be a lot of people, they have to LIVE together just as God and the Word had lived together. Now, how were they going to live together? Well, God's way is GOD'S LAW; and that is the foundation of His government.

That is the law, the government, that Lucifer rejected; and he turned to the opposite way. Instead of obedience to God and the way of LOVE, he turned to the way of competition, strife, wanting to get, wanting to take, and wanting to destroy instead of wanting to create and build.

Then, Satan tempted Eve to turn to the way of taking the knowledge of good and evil; and he deceived her into thinking that she was already an immortal soul, that she had eternal life already (which she didn't have). And, of course, he tempted her on the beauty of the thing when she saw how good that tree and how beautiful it was, and good for food, and desired to make one wise.

Now, she had a mind; and she thought that now she'd have ability to decide right from wrong. And that's a higher knowledge than just the knowledge like carpenter knowledge of building a house or a barn or something. That's knowledge to deal with other spirit beings because there is a spirit in man, or you wouldn't have had a mind in the first place. So she took of the forbidden fruit, and gave to her husband, and he did eat with her.

And then, as a result of that: And I don't think I need to go back and read it again. But in the 3rd chapter of Genesis, the first 4 verses, you find how Eve was tempted. Then Adam followed her. Then verses 23-24, because now that Adam had made his decision -- Adam had REJECTED THE LIFE OF GOD, which was offered to him -- decided to just keep what physical life he had; and God said, "You will surely die if you do that!" Yes, he had temporary life; but it was only temporary, and he was going to die. And Adam chose that, and that he would decide for himself how to get along with God and how to get along with neighbor. That is the knowledge of right and wrong.

MAN CHOSE DEATH (PLAY FROM 41:59)

The foundation of the world was at that time. Adam could have had Life, but he didn't. And so, at that time, God decreed that the Holy Spirit would be shut off from man, or the Tree of Life (eternal life), until Christ, the second Adam, should come. Now it was decreed at that time, as you will read in Revelation the 13th chapter, that Christ as the Lamb of God would be slain to pay the penalty of sin. God said to Adam that it would be sin if he disobeyed and took of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and death was the penalty. But God decreed at that time it was appointed for all man once to die but after that the judgment.

It was also decreed at that time that Christ would come as the Lamb of God. That is, Christ is the one that was the Word, who became Christ; but He would come and be born as Christ. That HE would die in the place of man, who had already sinned. HE would pay the penalty in man's stead; and, once the penalty was paid, man could again be reconciled to God.

Now when Adam disobeyed God and took the wrong fruit, he cut himself off from God; but God didn't cut Himself off from man necessarily. He just simply cut off the Holy Spirit from man. But man did cut himself off from God! Now God still talked to Adam's first son, Cain. When he was angry with Abel, God talked to him and cautioned him to be careful. But Cain went ahead and killed his brother anyhow, and then he lied to God about it.

Noah walked with God. Enoch walked with God. Abraham did. God took Abraham's children and made a nation out of them and gave them His law, His way of Life; but He didn't give them His Holy Spirit. And love is the fulfilling the law; and it's the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (according to Romans 5:5).

God had not given ancient Israel that kind of love. They still were mortal, and it was appointed that they should die. Then how could they have a judgment after that? In I Corinthians 15:22, you will read that:

I Corinthians 15:22 As in Adam ALL DIE ...

And because of Adam's sin, EVERYBODY had to die; and everybody under 150 years of age (and there isn't anyone over that now that I know of on earth) has died. Everyone who's ever lived has already died. And every one of us living will die, unless God prevents it someway in the future; and, brethren, he's never done that for any generation.

Now, in due time, Christ was going to come. And "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" in a JUDGMENT; and in that judgment they are going to be pronounced guilty, and the death penalty will be on them. Then they are going to find out that Christ came and paid that death penalty in their place; and so they can still be released from it, if they want to finally (at that time) turn to God's way and have Life instead of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then every one ultimately is going to have to make his own decision, just like Adam did.

(I can't read my own notes here sometimes.) The Life that was offered to Adam meant God Life -- God Life injected into him; but man chose death. One tree was death and the other was Life. The Holy Spirit was closed to man until Christ, the second Adam, should come.

ABUNDANT LIFE (PLAY FROM 46:24)

Now finally, 4000 years later, Jesus was born. Now why did Jesus come? In John 10 and verse 10, we'll read He said:

John 10:10 I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Now, they didn't have Life. Adam had rejected it, and they were all cut off. Jesus came that now they might HAVE LIFE and have it much more abundantly than just a chemical existence. But there's one other thing, and I want to read this because I've said it so many times but I want to get through this, because I want you to be very familiar with it. John 6:44 -- because all Protestants think that God is trying to save the world. He wants RIGHT NOW. "Now is the only day of salvation," they say. Many have gone out of this Church who still believe that.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, {3} except the Father which hath sent me draw him.

God has to choose and draw those that are coming now. Joel had made a prophecy (In Joel 2, let me see, verse 38 or something like that.) that the day would come when God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. He closed it up in the time of Adam, but the time would come when God would open up His Holy Spirit; but that time hadn't come yet.

Now Jesus was born by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Life of God injected into us. The Life of God was injected into an ovum in either the fallopian tube or the uterus of His human mother, Mary; and that imparted Life to a human ovum. And there was not a male sperm cell. It was the Spirit of God. And so Jesus was born the only begotten Son of God. No other human has ever been begotten and born humanly like that. He's the only begotten Son of God so far as human birth is concern. Now we can be begotten sons of God, but we were humanly begotten by a human father. But you are begotten for ETERNAL LIFE by the Spirit of God.

Now, thirty times or more (I read you thirty times recently here, from this platform.) in the New Testament where it says that the only ones that can come to Christ for salvation are those that God has called, or those that were chosen, of those that were (Let's see, called or chosen or), elected -- the elect.

Now what does all this mean? It simply means that God was going to produce, out of the ground, by man (formed and shaped like God but with a temporary, chemical, physical life) ultimately -- by infusing HIS SPIRIT, HIS LIFE but also His mind, also His CHARACTER, also His attitude of love, of cooperation, of giving, of concern for others just as much as concern for yourself, selflessness instead of selfishness -- but God was going to make us into His own children, into Gods.

GOD'S UNFINISHED WORKMANSHIP (PLAY FROM 50:45)

But it's a process, and what He created was not finished yet. When a woman bakes a cake, she takes the cake out of the oven; but, when she hasn't put the icing on it yet, it is still an unfinished cake. It's not finished until she puts the icing on. Now Adam was not even finished physically until God made a wife for him. Then they two became one family. He put one human spirit in the man; but he was not SPIRITUALLY finished without the Holy Spirit of God, which is GOD'S LIFE being injected into him. So he still was unfinished.

And mankind is unfinished all over. Now then, human beings then are an UNFINISHED piece of God's workmanship, as God is working to produce His own kind and reproduce Himself.

I don't know, brethren, whether this is real to you and whether you can see the MAGNITUDE of this and how great it is! God looks like we. He thinks like we, only His thinking is so much more perfect than ours that there's no comparison. His mind is perhaps a few thousands times greater than our minds in its capacity and what it can do. And we are all an unfinished piece of God's workmanship. Notice that now in Job, in the 14th chapter of Job and verse 14. Job asked this question:

Job 14:14-15 If a man die, shall he live again? [Let's see.] All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. [He's going to be changed. Then he says:] (15) Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

We are an unfinished piece of God's workmanship. Now if we turn back to Isaiah 64. Let's see, Isaiah 64 and verse 8.

Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father [Now notice that we become His children. "Now, O LORD, thou art our father."]; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all art the work of thy hand.

We are His workmanship -- an unfinished piece of His workmanship. We are a cake that doesn't have the icing put on yet; but, in this case, the icing is going to be by far the most important part.

A FEW CALLED NOW (PLAY FROM 53:53)

Anyway, in the meantime, what has happened to those God has not called? Well, I told you a while ago. They are not called now. They will live and die, and they are having the experience of finding out that the way of Satan is wrong. They are unhappy. Their lives are unhappy. They are miserable. They are discontented. And there's so much suffering, starvation, violence, anguish of every kind. Nothing is satisfying.

Ultimately, God's time will come for EVERYONE to be called; but He is calling a few now. Brethren, why does He call a few of us first? You know that before you start a school ... I wanted to start a school, a college; but before I could start I had to have teachers. If I bring a lot of students here and there's no one to teach them, what kind of a school would that be? If you take a bunch of six-year-old kids and say, "We're going to start you in the first grade, but you don't have any teacher there." They come into the schoolroom, but there's no teacher. They aren't going to learn anything, are they? First you have to have TEACHERS, and you have to have some discipline; and the teacher has to also rule, or regulate, or administer certain rules or disciplines.

Judgment now is already on the Church. It is not yet on the world. Now you'll notice that in I Peter 2, verses 9 to ... Let me see, 9 to 11. That's not what I wanted. I Peter 4 verse 17.

I Peter 4:17 For the time is come [already] that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin with us [That's why we're the firstfruits.], what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Well, their time of judgment will come later. Now then, the Church today is only the firstfruits. But I want to show you what we are. Now that's I Peter 2 verses 9-11 that I turned to a while ago. But here's what it says of us, brethren. If we have God's Spirit, here's how different we are from the world.

I Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN GENERATION ...

You see, we've been chosen. We've been called by God. We haven't volunteered. God has called us. In some way God put it in your mind to get interested, and you wanted to know more. You wrote for literature. You began to study it. You began to look in your Bible. God began to speak to you through His own Word, the Bible. You finally talked to one of our ministers, and he counseled with you. He didn't try to talk you into becoming a Christian or anything. But when he saw you were ready, he finally baptized you; and it's God's Spirit that put you into the Church. So look what it has made you.

I Peter 2:9-11 You are a chosen generation [different from the rest of the world], a royal priesthood, an holy nation [Just like a nation, or a holy Church.], a peculiar people [different from the rest of the world]; that ye would show forth the praises of him who hath CALLED YOU [Again, we've been called. "Hath called you."] out of the darkness into his marvelous light: (10) Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy [not then], but now have obtained mercy. (11) Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims [in the earth. Not part of this earth. Not part of this world, I mean. "As strangers and pilgrims.], abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

The things that the world are doing. We've had to COME OUT of the world, to live separately a different kind of life -- God's kind of Life according to God's law; and God's law is merely the rules of that Life the way it must be lived.

SATAN BROADCASTS EVERYWHERE (PLAY FROM 59:12)

Now I want to show you some important things. The main thing I want to say I haven't even gotten to yet, and time is almost up. So listen very carefully now. Adam took the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and there can be good in an ordinary human nature. Even Satan will allow a certain good, but Satan has his idea of what good is. It is good as long as it benefits you. In other words, you can be good to the other guy as long as you think it's going to pay you to be good to him. But always there's a selfish motive. Now I want to show you that. Turn to Job, back now to the 1st chapter of Job and verses 6-10.

Job 1:6-7 Now there was a [time] when the sons of God came to present themselves before the [Eternal], and Satan came also among them. (7) And the LORD said unto Satan, Where have you come from? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Now, by the way, one comes out with an article against the idea that Satan gets to us and influences us by injecting a certain attitude of selfishness into human beings, even beginning in babyhood; that he's the "prince of the power of the air." He says Satan is just one person at one time, and he can only influence one person at a time. Poppycock! And he depends on this, that he said "going to and fro upon the earth."

Satan is the prince of the power of the air, and he is exudes a spirit that permeates the air. I'm in one place, and my voice goes through the air around the earth wherever it goes on television. And on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles I will speak from here. They will be hearing it in New Zealand at that same moment; only it will be the next day there, but the same moment. They'll be hearing it in England. They'll be hearing it in southern Canada and the United States. But I'm only here. I'm not at all those places. Satan is the prince of the power of the air. What I'm saying is going to go through the air. So if you've ever read any of that kind of thing, I want you to understand.

They came to present themselves to the Lord, and Satan came also among them. The Lord asked Satan, "Where have you been?" And then Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and from upon the earth, from walking up and down on it." But when he broadcasts as "the prince of the power of the air," it goes out and permeates the air all over the whole earth.

SELFISH CARNAL LOVE (PLAY FROM 1:02:26)

Job 1:8-11 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and eschews evil? [Now look at Satan's answer about what is good. And we see Satan's concepts of what he considers good right here.] (9) Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? ["If he's good, doesn't it pay him? He's not good because he's unselfish. Oh, no. He's selfish."] (10) Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every hand? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (11) But [Now here's what Satan argued.] put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you.

"Then he won't love You anymore. He only loves You because of what he gets from You. He loves You because it pays him! There's a selfish motive." BRETHREN, THAT'S THE ONLY KIND OF LOVE THAT ANY CARNAL-MINDED MAN CAN HAVE IN THIS WORLD. A mother loves her own child; and we say that mother love is the finest example of human love, and perhaps it is. But that child is hers! Does she have that same kind of love for every other child?

You know, there was a mother; and another woman claimed her child and said, "No, that's my child." That was way back in the days of King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. They brought it before Solomon to decide whose child it was. Solomon said, "Well, I'll tell you what we'll do." He called a man with a sword. He said, "I want you just to slice that child right in two, right down the middle. Give one half to one woman, the other half to the other woman." And one woman fell down and begged, and pleaded, and said, "Don't do that that. Kill me, and not the child. Or let her have the child, rather than that." And the other woman smiled and said, "Well, it's all right with me. Sure, I'll take half." Solomon then knew who was the real mother.

Human love is selfishly motivated, my brethren; and you need to learn that. Did you ever notice that change that came over? What change does the Holy Spirit make in us? It's a change of attitude. It's a change of motive. It's your whole purpose in life. You come to have a different purpose. It's a start, just like the first principle of the laws of success is having the right goal. Your goal changes! You have a different goal. It's no longer selfish. It's the love of others, and there's not many ...

GODLY LOVE (PLAY FROM 1:05:45)

Now, take Christ. He didn't have to die. But He loved the people, and it's the only way they can be saved. And by His death He paid the penalty of all of the world, and billions of people can now, if they will. They still have to have the will to do it, too, and make the decision. If they will, they can receive God's Holy Spirit; and they can grow to become God. But it's a case of growing into the CHARACTER of God; and that character doesn't come all at once. I've explained the milk bottle. As you get a little of God's Spirit in, a little of the air has to go out.

Christ was born with the Holy Spirit without measure. He had the Holy Spirit fully. He had none of the carnal spirit in Him. But He could have had. He was tempted in all points, like we are; and He had to watch it every second. He had to pray to God. Why, if we prayed, well, maybe 1/10th as much or maybe 1/50th as much as Jesus did, we'd be a lot better than we are, brethren.

But with the Holy Spirit GOD'S LIFE has entered into us, if the Holy Spirit has entered. Then the very LIFE of God -- that means also the MIND of God. You read in Philippians, "Let this mind be you, which was in Christ Jesus" -- the very mind that was in Christ. The only thing is His mind hasn't fully entered. There's still some of the old mind still there. And we have to constantly overcome and root out the evil.

I haven't done it all yet. In just another week or two, I will be in my 92nd year, and I still have much to do, much to overcome yet; and I know it. And I want to make the grade, don't you? And it's not easy. This world is going the way that glitters and glamours. It looks tempting, and you kind of want to go along with them; and you have to resist that.

But we are not Gods yet! We have to "GROW in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." That knowledge is the way to live! We have to learn more about how to live. And someday we're going to have to be teachers. And we've got to learn now how to teach others, to guide the lives of others, counsel with them, dealing with them when Christ comes. And then we will start a new civilization, under Christ.

What's different now between the Holy Spirit and Satan's spirit (which had entered into all of us and has entered into everybody in the world)? You read in Ephesians, the 2nd chapter just comes to mind right now, how you were dead in trespasses and sins; but now you are no longer that way. Now the Life of God has been injected into you, and some of His Life. The trouble is, we haven't gotten all of His Life. It isn't fully in us yet. We have to grow in that.

I don't know, sometimes I get a little discouraged. I talk to some of our ministers at my office where we get private, and alone, and talking. I say, "I just wonder how many of our brethren really do have the Holy Spirit." And they begin to remind me of the fruit. When we go up to the Feast of Tabernacles, I tell you the local people there see us as an entirely different people than the rest of their people, or other people that they have seen. Then they begin to see some of the fruit.

Well, brethren, the fruits are there. We are the people of God. But we have to grow, and we've only grown so far up to this point; and we have to grow further. We have to realize it. We have to pray more. We have to study the Scriptures more. We have to have our mind on those things more and more.

Now Satan injects, not the Spirit of Life (such as God). When the Holy Spirit comes, that injects THE LIFE OF GOD; but it also injects the attitude of God into us. So our attitude is love toward others, instead of competition and trying to get and take from others. It's a different attitude all together! But the Holy Spirit can inject actual LIFE.

Now Satan injects something into us, but he cannot inject actual Life into us. All he can do is put in an attitude, and you can root that out. It is all together different than the Spirit of God. It's just an attitude of selfishness. And now understand this: Satan's attitude is selfishness. The self comes a certain degree in some person, and a greater degree in another, and a smaller degree in still another.

Also, the Spirit of God comes into a certain degree in one, and a different degree in another; and there are differences. And a whole lot depends on you, your attitude, on your prayer life and how much you pray, where you set your affection, where you set your mind. Where are your goals? What are you striving for? We have to grow. We have to overcome. We have to endure unto the end. And then we shall be God.

TEACHERS NEEDED (PLAY FROM 1:11:42)

Now I say you can't start a school until you have teachers. God can't start the World Tomorrow until He has teachers and leaders, and that's why He is calling us now. Now God is prepared. I saw that the Church couldn't go on without a school. I had to come down and start Ambassador College. Ambassador College now has produced a great many very fine young ministers, and they are teaching you. They are teaching others all over the world. You, in turn, have to teach others later -- sooner or later. And when we are really made God, then we find we will still grow.

You know, I believe God is still growing Himself. A couple of weeks ago, God didn't know a lot of things that were going to happen on the earth that have happened since, because humans -- still with free moral agency -- they make up their own minds what they are going to do and God allows that. Now God knows things now He didn't know two weeks ago. God is growing in knowledge all the time. I don't think God is growing in perfection, because He reached that a long, long time ago; or else He's always been that way. But we haven't reached perfection yet; and we have to still grow, and grow, and grow.

So understand that the Holy Spirit in you, it does change you. It does make you different. It gives you a different attitude, a different purpose in life. You are going for a different goal. You are looking forward. You have a different purpose in what you want.

PRAY FOR ENEMIES (PLAY FROM 1:13:27)

Some have gone out of this Church; and they have only one goal, and that is to destroy this Church. Anything they can do to destroy this Church and this Work. They tell me they want to destroy me personally if they can, and I don't think God is going to let them do it; but I just place myself in God's hands. I'm one of these imperfect people, trying to get better; and I hope that God knows that and He understands it, even if enemies don't.

I still pray for all of my enemies. I pray for them first. You know, I've said before I start out by thanking God that He is God and that we have such a God. After I express my thanks and pray for the Kingdom of God, then I next pray for my enemies. Then, after that, I pray for the Church and my own family.

Now maybe that's not just the right formula; but it seems right to me, and that's the way I do. That's why I do ask for the prayers of all of you, and I know I do have them; because I need them because ... Well, as I know my wife said to Mrs. Rona Martin before she died, she said that Satan would rather destroy her husband than anybody else on earth; now maybe that's true. Well, sometimes I think he comes pretty close to it; but he hasn't been able to yet.

Satan works through human instruments, just like God does, too, you know, and some humans, allow themselves to be used by him. Well they don't realize it. I pray for them because I don't hate them. I don't want to see them have to go into the Lake of Fire. I don't! I want to try to save them, as even as you read in the {4} 3rd chapter of Zechariah, a brand plucked out of the fire at the last moment (as it says there of Joshua, the high priest).

You know, when you have the Spirit of God, you don't just pray for those where there's something in it for you. Everybody says, "Well, what am I going to get out of it now?" You don't always look at it from the standpoint of "What am I going to get out of it?" How much can I give into it? How much can I contribute? Well, brethren, I am very appreciative that in this Church there are so many who are giving and giving so generously.

Now this morning, here it's on the Sabbath; but, I know there are some that had to get up about three o'clock this morning to get over to answer the telephone, the WATS line telephones coming in from broadcasts in the Eastern time zone three hours later. I mean, three hours, well, it's three hours later their time than it is for us out here, almost the same time; but their clocks say three hours later. And so the telephone calls begin to come in. When we ask for volunteers, they respond.

In the Co-worker letter, I mentioned the need up at Orr for the camp there for the teenagers, up there. And, you know, I just wonder. If the brethren didn't respond, I was going to say I was going to write something about it the next time. But I don't have to do. Just the first two or three days, about $46,000 came in for what we need to so up there. So now instead of one building we are going to be able to build two, because that's the way our brethren are.

But, brethren, we're only on the way. We've started, but we still have a long way to go. I know God is blessing you, because we have the goal. We've made the start. We're on our way. But Satan is still against us. We still have to pray. We have to persevere. We have to overcome. We have to grow. And I know we will.

I think that the most important part of my life remains yet to be lived and to be done. By far the greatest things that God needs to use me for lie yet ahead. I do need your prayers for it.

I have a very important mission in the next few days. I'm going to Washington, DC on Wednesday. I have some very important meetings there. And then I expect to speak, a week from today, to a combined Church service at Pittsburgh. Many of the Churches in that area will all come together in one large auditorium. And then, that night, on to Big Sandy where the summer camp is starting. I'll speak to the students there the next day. And then up to Orr and the next day speak to students up there.

And, incidentally, I may have to go down to, on Monday, to Austin, Texas. The state legislature of Texas has passed a law, finally, that our children legally now are allowed to be off on all of God's holy days; and that's one place where they've caused so much trouble. They've expelled children right and left, all over Texas. Now, our brethren have had great trouble in the state of Texas. And now it's a law. And on a week from Monday, Monday of the following week, the governor is going to sign that bill. I may go down there to be there. If there's going to be a ceremony of any kind, I may go down there to be there at the signing of that bill.

So, once in a while, government has even helped us; although usually it's been government that Satan's used to persecute the Church. But, in this case, the government has been on our side. So we'd better be thankful for what we get from the government.

Well, God bless you all. We're on the way; and I just want to say, brethren, you're doing fine. Let's just keep it up, only let's speed up the pace a little faster as we go along.

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