SNT 1006 The Royal Household of God
God’s Dream Of The Ages: The Royal Household Of God
Shows what Jesus Christ went through and accomplished in fulfilling God’s eternal purpose – the household of God.
[February 24, 1980]
SNT – 1006
Format: audio-PDF-ePub-Mobi
Publication Date: 02-24-1980
Pages: 23
Victor Paul Wierwille was a Bible scholar and teacher for over four decades.
By means of Dr. Wierwille's dynamic teaching of the accuracy and integrity of God's Word, foundational class and advanced class graduates of Power for Abundant Living have learned that the one great requirement for every student of the Bible is to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Thus, his presentation of the Word of God was designed for students who desire the in-depth-accuracy of God’s Word.
In his many years of research, Dr. Wierwille studied with such men as Karl Barth, E. Stanley Jones, Glenn Clark, Bishop K.C. Pillai, and George M. Lamsa. His formal training included Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology degrees from Mission House (Lakeland) College and Seminary. He studied at the University of Chicago and at Princeton Theological Seminary from which he received a Master of Theology degree in Practical Theology. Later he completed his work for the Doctor of Theology degree.
Dr. Wierwille taught the first class on Power for Abundant Living in 1953.
Books by Dr. Wierwille include: Are the Dead Alive Now? published in 1971; Receiving the Holy Spirit Today published in 1972; five volumes of Studies in Abundant Living— The Bible Tells Me So (1971), The New, Dynamic Church (1971), The Word's Way (1971), God's Magnified Word (1977), Order My Steps in Thy Word (1985); Jesus Christ Is Not God (1975); Jesus Christ Our Passover (1980); and Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed (1982).
Dr. Wierwille researched God's Word, taught, wrote, and traveled worldwide, holding forth the accuracy of God's "wonderful, matchless" Word.
Gen 3:23, 24; Mat 26:39; Joh 3:16; 2Co 5:21; Isa 52:14; Luk 23:44-46
Heb 9:7, 11-17, 23-26, 28; Mat 27:51; Joh 20:17
Joh 20:17; Heb 5:5, 6; Act 1:4, 5; Eph 4:8, 11-16; 1Jo 3:1, 2
Rom 12:3; 3:22; 8:1; Heb 9:14; Rom 8:37; Joh 10:10; 1Co 12:13, 14; Act 10:34; 2Co 5:19; Col 1:26, 27; Eph 3:19; Joh 14:12
Eph 2:3; 5:1, 6-10; 2Pe 1:3, 4; Eph 4:15, 23, 24; Joh 15:5; Col 3:2, 3
2Co 5:17, 18, 21; Rom 3:26; 1Co 1:30; 2Co 9:10; 1Co 2:7, 8; Col 1:27
1Co 2:8; 2Pe 1:4; 1Jo 3:2; Luk 10:17, 18; Act 4:1, 2, 15-20; 2:41-44
Act 9:31; 19:20
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God’s Dream of the Ages: The Royal Household of God
I have something burning in my heart tonight I’d like to share with you. It’s been in the process of jelling for some time, and it’s a piece of research that I’d like to open to you people here at this weekend. And the title that I’d like to put it under, the topic is: “God’s Dream of the Ages: The Royal Household of God.”
The freedom of will to believe to receive is perhaps one of man’s greatest privileges. God started everything and gave man freedom of will. And He started everything with one individual – Adam – and, of course, his wife Eve. They, having freedom of will, chose not to follow. Then God, after an individual, got himself a nation: Israel. They, too, had freedom of will, and they did not succeed at carrying out the greatness that God had made available to them. And then, finally, God got a household: sons of God, men and women who have Christ in them, who have eternal life, that no matter how badly they blow it they still have eternal life because of their sonship. And it’s that household, as sons of God, that was God’s dream of the ages.
In Genesis Chapter 3, we have a record of how God lost the first Adam in the Garden of God, and what occurred then. In verse 23:
Genesis 3:23, 24: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
God regained the second Adam. Christ Jesus, also in a garden, but this was the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26, and in verse 39, we read this record:
Matthew 26:39: 39 And he [Jesus] went a little further, and fell on his face, and [he] prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless [as I…] not as I will, but as [what] {thou wilt}
That’s how God regained the second Adam in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus Christ said, “not my will, but thine, O God, be done.”
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, who was Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ so loved the world that he became the ultimate sacrifice. People, Jesus Christ endured and withstood all the adversary’s fiery darts. All that the cohorts of Satan could deliver of hell’s agonies, Jesus Christ, by the freedom of his will, withstood, and he said, “not my will, but thine be done.”
The tragedy of all ages was the crucifixion. 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5. And this tragedy of all ages. Of the crucifixion, occurred when 2 Corinthians 5:21 became a reality.
2 Corinthians 5:21a: For he [God] hath made him [Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son] to be sin for us [He, Jesus Christ], who knew no [what?] sin;…
That was the tragedy of the ages – the crucifixion – when Jesus Christ, who knew no sin; who had, by his renewed mind, walked a perfect walk of believing God; when he took upon himself sin, he who knew no sin became sin for us, that you and I might become…
2 Corinthians 5:21b: …the righteousness of God in him.
That, people, was the tragedy of all ages: the crucifixion.
In the King James Version of Isaiah, Chapter 52, verse 14, there’s a wonderful record. But I’ve done a literal translation according to usage of Isaiah 52:14 that I would like to share with you because of what occurred when this tragedy of the ages – the crucifixion – occurred, when Jesus Christ became what 2 Corinthians 5:21 says. This is a literal according to usage of Isaiah 52:14.
Isaiah 52:14 (literal according to usage): So deformed was his appearance, so unlike a man, that his visage (form, his body) no appeared, resembled, or looked like a man.
Jesus Christ was God’s only begotten Son, the most beautiful specimen of humanity since Adam, for he was the second Adam. But when he who knew no sin became sin, the tragedy of the ages began to occur. And they so took the Lord Jesus Christ and four or five times, the last day and a half he was here upon earth, they beat him with whips that had metal or bone at the end of the thongs. Thirty-nine lashes four or five times the last day and a half or two. Two different occasions they put a crown of thorns on his head, and one of them they ran right down into his head. They covered him, and then they slapped him, and they said, “Guess who did it?”
He was so deformed, people, this perfect Son of God…he was so deformed, so unlike a man, that his whole body no more resembled or looked like a man. And when they led him out of that Praetorium on that day of the crucifixion, they didn’t say, “Look, Jesus. Walk out.” They literally had to hold him up and carry him out because they had just beat him and beat him and beat him and beat him. And when they came to the door at the exit of the Pratorium, they found a man, Simon of Cyrene, on whom they laid the cross and it was Simon of Cyrene who bore the cross to Calvary, because Jesus Christ himself could not have borne it. And then they dragged him up Calvary’s hill and they nailed him to that cross. That was the tragedy of all ages, people – the crucifixion. And at the moment or at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, all creation went into darkness and mourning at the crucifixion of God’s wonderful Son of God. And you’ll find that record in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 23, verse 44. Listen to this:
Luke 23:44-46: 44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was darkened [verse 45], and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit [Aramaic text reads, “my breath life”]: and having said this, he gave up the [spirit]. It got to the point of time at the tragedy of the ages, the crucifixion, that the supreme court of heaven’s justice cried, “It is finished! It is finished!” Hallelujah! The Son of Man did it by the freedom of his will, believing with the renewed mind. Jesus Christ’s blood, my people, is the crimson seal on God’s heavenly document of eternal redemption. Satan defeated God’s Son on the cross. But, ladies and gentleman, God’s Son paralyzed, God’s Son conquered Satan and the dominion of Satan in the resurrection!
In the resurrection: Redemption accomplished, Justification attained, Righteousness established, the more that abundant life, the “more than conquerors” became available.
You know, my people, man stands mute in the presence of our God, in the world affairs of history’s greatest momentous events – the resurrection and, secondly, Pentecost. Jesus Christ, that year, died as the lamb of God. The two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas, did not know it, but they offered God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ, as the final, once-and-for-all sacrifice. Hebrews Chapter 9. Hebrews 9. Verse 7.
Hebrews 9:7, 11-17, 23-24: 7 But into the second…
That’s the “holy of holies”. The first part was “the holy place”. That was separated by the holy of holies by this veil which, as we read earlier, was rent from top to bottom, “in the midst,” with the death, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Into this second, the holy of holies, verse 7…
… went the high priest alone once every year, [but] not without [what?] {blood}, which he offered for himself [because the high priest was a sinner], and for the [sins; the word “errors” is the word “sins”] of the people:
Verse 11:
11 But [But!] Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle [his body], not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Verse 12:
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once...
How many times, people? Once!
… [in] the holy place [text or Aramaic reads “holy of holies”], having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Verse 13:
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more [How much more!] shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Verse 15:
15 [For this cause…] And for this cause, [Jesus Christ] he is the mediator of [a] new testament [a new covenant], that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first [covenant], [that] they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
Verse 16:
16 For where a [covenant] is [made], there must…of necessity be the death of the [“sacrifice,” is the text]. 17 For a [covenant is confirmed] is of force [is confirmed] after [the sacrifice is] dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the [sacrifice] liveth.
Verse 23:
23 [And] It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures [the examples] of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of [whom?] {God}…:
Ladies and gentlemen, how could he be God and appear in the presence of God? Stupidity reigns supreme in people’s minds.
24 …now to appear…
I didn’t write the Book and I didn’t die for you, but this is the greatness of what Christ did for every one of you!
24 …now to appear in the presence of [whom?] {God} for [whom?] us:
That’s right! For us! He appeared in the presence of God for us. Ladies and gentlemen, what a wonderful Savior! Verse 25.
Hebrews 9:25-26, 28: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of [what?] {others}; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now [but now] once [once, but now, once] in the end of the world [“at the end of the ages”] hath he [“suffered” is the text, hath he suffered] to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
How many times? Once!
Verse 28:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of [what?] {many}; and unto [those or] them [who] look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto [wholeness] salvation.
Yes, Jesus Christ died as the lamb of God, but he arose as the great high priest and he presented himself in the Temple where the veil had been torn from top to bottom, the veil that separated the common man from the supreme court of justice, the holy of holies.
Matthew 27. Listen to this record in verse 51:
Matthew 27:51a And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the [what?] {bottom};…
God did it! It was done by the power of God, ‘cause ordinarily, you wouldn’t rend a veil from the top to the bottom; you would rend a veil, you’d take it from the bottom and rend it to the top. God rent that veil that day, separating the common place, the common man, from the supreme court of justice, the holy of holies, making it possible from that day on for any man to come directly to God through His wonderful Son, Jesus Christ, who is the great high priest! Boy, what a record! That’s right!
Look at the Gospel of John Chapter 20. John 20, verse 17 – a record that few people have understood, but you’ll understand it tonight. On the day of the resurrection appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus said unto Mary, in verse 17; he said:
John 20:17b …Touch me not; for [I’ve] not yet ascended to my [what?] {Father}:…
And yet on that very same day he said to some of the apostles, “Look, here I am. Touch me. Put your finger into the prints in my hands, in the …thrust it into my side. Touch me. Then why did he say to Mary, “Touch me not”? Simply because he had to be the fulfillment of all law, and Jesus Christ’s appearance on what we refer to as Easter Sunday, the thing he had not yet done, he had not yet gone into the Temple to present himself, and that’s why Mary was not allowed to touch him. But after he had gone into the Temple where the veil had been rent in twain from top to bottom, he walked in, for [access for] the common man was all the way through, and he presented himself as the high priest of God. He didn’t have to have Annas or Caiaphas, for he was far above Annas and Caiaphas. As a matter of fact, this new high priest, Jesus Christ, did not belong to the family Aaron, out of whom all the high priests had to come, and their wives had to come out of that family. He didn’t belong to the family of Aaron, neither did he belong to the tribe of Levi, but he was after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrew Chapter 5. Hebrews 5:
Hebrews 5:5-6 5So also Christ glorified not himself [but he was made a] high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
Verse 6:
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
He was far above Aaron; far above any Levites. What a wonderful Savior! What a wonderful great high priest! He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He was also the Lord of the Temple. He is God’s great high priest, and he walked in that day after he had said to Mary “touch me not,” he walked and fulfilled the law, ‘cause anybody who was dead was unclean and they had to be cleansed. And he walked in, fulfilling the cleansing of the law, as the great high priest, presented himself in the Temple.
Now, Jesus Christ in his resurrected body made himself manifest time and time again among the apostles, and over 500 witnesses saw him. And on the fortieth day after the resurrection, Jesus Christ said what is written in Acts 1:4:
Acts 1:4, 5: And [he, that is Jesus Christ], being assembled together with them [the apostles whom he had chosen], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but [do what?] wait [until or] for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
This is what Jesus Christ said on the fortieth day after the resurrection. Verse 5:
Acts 1:5 5 …John truly baptized with [what?] water; but ye shall [absolute tense] be baptized with the [pneuma hagion, holy spirit] not many days hence.
That is what Jesus Christ said just before he ascended. And after he ascended and what he accomplished then when he sat down at the right hand of God, is what Jesus Christ did for us, and that is in Ephesians Chapter 4.
Ephesians, Chapter 4, verse 8.
Ephesians 4:8, 11-14: 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high [that’s the ascension on the fortieth day after the resurrection], he [Jesus Christ] led captivity [what?] {captive} [He led captivity captive], and [he] gave gifts unto men…
Verse 11:
11 And he gave some [what?], apostles; …some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and …some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints…
“For the perfecting of them” – couldn’t be the perfecting spiritually, but the perfection in the walk as a member of the Household of God, for the perfecting of the Body of Christ.
13 [Until, verse 13] 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:
Verse 14:
14 That we henceforth be no more [what?] children…
This is what Jesus Christ did. Jesus Christ said what Acts…I read to you from Acts. Jesus Christ did what I’m reading here from Ephesians, for us.
Ephesians 4:14-16 14 That we henceforth be no more [what?] 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…
The text reads “whereby they, with systematic deception, try to reach you.”
15 But [verse 15, speak] the truth in [what?] {love}, [that we] may grow up in him [to grow up in him] in all things, [who] is the head, …Christ.
Verse 16:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, [making] increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in [what?] love.
That’s right.
Pentecost, my people, is God’s masterstroke of all history. Pentecost is the heart’s cry of man’s complete completeness, man’s complete fulfillment. Man had always been a slave in life’s prison; now he had been freed of all chains; now he was a son of God.
1 John. That’s why Pentecost is God’s masterstroke of all history. 1 John Chapter 3. Listen to this.
1 John 3:1a Behold [verse 1], what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,…
Remember I said God so loved the world that He [what?] {gave} Jesus Christ so loved that he became the great sacrifice. But God, the Father…and, ladies and gentleman, I have an earthy father, that’s why I’m here. You have a Heavenly Father when you’re born again of God’s spirit; that’s why you’re spiritually here.
1 John 3:1a …what manner of love the Father…
Our Heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is also my Father.
1 John 3:1b; …what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called [what?] the sons of [whom?] {God}…
Boy! Therefore, the world shakes our hand and says, “Praise God, you’re wonderful!” {no} Doesn’t know us. Because it didn’t know him either.
But look at verse 2:
1 John 3:2a: 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of [what?] {God},…
Now are we what? {Sons of God!} When? {Now!} Now! Tonight! Right now! Not when we die; not in the sweet bye-and-bye; not with any pie-in-the-sky; but RIGHT NOW! Boy!! Someday we’re gonna believe this again. I trust this is the day and hour and time.
1 John 3:2 2 Beloved, now [now! now!] are we the sons of God, [but] it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
It’s good to be a son of God now, but that’s…doesn’t show up yet what we’re gonna be.
…but we know [we know because I’m a son of God now, therefore I know] that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Boy!! The masterstroke of all ages. Yes, people, the masterstroke of all ages – Pentecost!
Man previously full of fear; Now a man of faith, of faith according to the measure of the faith of Jesus Christ (Romans 12:3) Man previously unrighteous, Now having the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:22) Man previously condemned, Now no condemnation (Romans 8:1) Man previously sin-conscious, Now no longer any sin-consciousness (Hebrews 9:14) Man previously defeated, Now more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37) Man previously no life, Now more than abundant life (John 10:10)
Boy, every believer a winner!
1 Corinthians 12. Take a look at it. Boy, what a record in God’s Word! Listen to this – 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13.
1 Corinthians 12:13, 14: 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into [what?] {one body}…
By the spirit we’re baptized, not by the water from Jordan or the Potomac. There is no water in the world good enough; it had to be God’s only begotten Son. And it’s that God in Christ in you, by his spirit we’re all what? Baptized. Into what? {One Body.}
…whether we be [Judeans] Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond [slaves] or [whether we’re] free [men]; and have… all [been] made to drink into one [what?] {Spirit}.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
But One Body, but it has many? Members.
In Acts Chapter 10. Acts 10:34. Listen to this record from God’s Word.
Acts 10:34: 34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of [what?] {persons}:…
“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into One Body, whether we be [Judean] Jews [Judean] or [whether we be] Gentiles.” See it? God’s no respecter of what? {persons}. He’s only a respecter of conditions, and the conditions are stipulated in His Word. God’s a respecter of His Word, not of people. And when people are born again and they have the spirit of God, that one spirit, we’re all baptized into one Body, that’s God’s own new genus of men and women – men and women who are God-indwelt!
Look at 2 Corinthians 5:19.
2 Corinthians 5:19a: 19 To wit [namely],…God was [where?] {in Christ}, reconciling the world unto himself,…
God was where? {in Christ!} Can you remember that? {yes} Take a look at Colossians. Colossians 1:27. Let’s start with verse 26.
Colossians 1:26-27: 26Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints [his believers]: 27 To whom [To whom – the believers] God would make known [verse 27] what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ [where?] in you, the hope of glory.
Christ where? “In you, the hope of glory.” God was in Christ, right? {right} Christ is where? {In you!} Boy, oh boy! God in Christ in you, the hope of glory!! That’s right! Man!
Look at Ephesians. Ephesians, Chapter 3, verse 19:
Ephesians 3:19: And to know the love of Christ,…
God in Christ; Christ in you.
And to know…
Not question, no doubt, but to know that you know that you know that you know…
…the love of Christ [for us] which [passes sense knowledge],…
No man can reason it; you can just enjoy it. You can’t explain it; you can simply partake of it and live in the exuberant greatness of it. That you may know it by experience, that…
Ephesians 3:19: …which [passes] knowledge,…
And listen to this…
… that [you] might be filled [that you, to know that you might be filled] with all the [what?] fulness of God.
Ladies and gentlemen! Filled with the fullness of God! Boy! God in Christ; Christ in you – filled with all the fullness of God. This was God’s dream through the ages: to have a Royal Household of God with men and women filled with all the fullness of God! They were God’s and Jesus’ men and women, in-dwelt by God himself. And that’s why John 14 becomes so significant; familiar to many of you. John 14. John 14, verse 12:
John 14:12: 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you [Jesus Christ] speaking, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go [to] my [what?] {Father}.
If Jesus Christ is the Father, he couldn’t go anyplace, he was always at home. What a tremendous record! He said “greater works than I’ve done.” Ladies and gentlemen, then he cannot have been God ‘cause no man ever does anything greater than God. That has to be blasphemy! Boy!
Jesus Christ himself said, “greater works than I have done, ye shall do.” Now, ladies and gentlemen, the greater works of John 14 cannot be greater than raising the dead, and Jesus Christ did that. The greater works of John, people, has to be something that Jesus Christ himself could not what? {do} Had he been God, that… Oh, baloney. He was God’s what? Son! That’s right! God’s only begotten Son, right? {right!} Well, let’s keep the facts straight! But he said, “the works I do, ye shall do also; and greater works…”
The greater works of John 14 is Pentecost. Jesus Christ could not lead anybody into the new birth because it was not available. Jesus Christ came to make the new birth available. He gave his life so that you and I might live. He became sin so you and I might become the righteousness of God in him. He laid down his life so that you and I might walk with the greatness of the power of God and lead men and women into the new birth, so they would have God in Christ in them with all the fullness of the power of God, people! That’s the greater works!!
These were God’s Jesus-men and women. They were God’s men, who count the things that are as though they be not, and they cease being. God’s men who count the things that be not as though they are, and they sprang into being.
What shouting by the angels of heaven must have echoed through the celestial corridors of the many mansions when Pentecost really came! Then, for the first time, senses-ruled, senses controlled men now became God-ruled, God-in-dwelt-men and women. Pentecost produced a family, a Household, a Body of believers, people. God’s holy of holies is Pentecost – the household, the Royal Household of God!
At Pentecost, we have a new creation reality: sons in the presence of the Father of love. No longer children of wrath, as Ephesians 2:3 speaks of, but now children of God’s love, with a new nature, a divine nature, in-dwelt by God Himself. Look at Ephesians 5, verse 1.
Ephesians 5:1, 6-10 1 Be ye therefore followers [imitators] of God…
The word “followers” is the word “imitators”.
…as [beloved children] dear children [imitators of God];
Verse 6:
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words [empty words]: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of diso [what?]…{bedience}. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers [of] them.
Verse 8:
8 For ye were sometimes [once, darkened], but now [but now! but now!] are ye [what?] light in [whom?] {the Lord}: walk as children of light [walk as children of light!]: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Verse 10:
10 Proving what is acceptable unto [whom?] the Lord.
See, once we were children of darkness, but now we are children of what? {light} Why? Because it’s God in Christ in you. God in Christ in you; the fullness of God in you; God in-dwelling in Jesus-men and women.
2 Peter. 2 Peter Chapter 1. Listen to this. Verse 4. Well, verse 3.
2 Peter 1:3-4 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and [what?] {godliness}, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue [is “power”]: 4 [By His own] Whereby [by his own, which] are given unto us exceeding great and precious [what?] promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption [that’s] in the world through lust.
Partakers of what? Divine nature. Partakers of divine nature. Why? Because God so loved that He gave. You confessed with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believed God raised him from the dead, at that moment it is God in Christ in you, the hope of glory. The fullness of God, a divine nature, a new nature within you, a spiritual man. Tremendous power in it.
That’s how we got justification instead of separation; Redemption instead of Old Testament atonement; Remission of sins instead of a scapegoat; The new birth instead of circumcision; Sons instead of servants; Righteousness instead of condemnation; Life, my people, instead of death.
At Pentecost God started getting a household by birth instead of an individual or instead of a nation. And you and I are like little fledglings in a love nest in the heart of God.
God’s attorney general is Jesus Christ. He is the mediator between God and men. One mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) between God and men: the man, Christ Jesus. One mediator. A mediator, sir, is one who stands between. Jesus Christ, as the mediator, stands between the man who has not yet accepted Jesus (but whom God in His foreknowledge knows) and the acceptance. He’s the mediator. The one who stands between that man and God until that man gets saved.
He is the intercessor. Jesus Christ is the intercessor in the Word of God, which means he stands for us. As a mediator, he stands between, class. As the intercessor, he stands for the saints, making intercession for the saints according to [what?] the will of whom? {God} That’s the intercessor; that’s Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Body, but we are a unique part in that Body. But, ladies and gentlemen, it’s the Head that controls the Body. Just like your physical head is in control of your physical body, so Jesus Christ [is] the Head of the Body of the Church, the Royal Household of God. Jesus Christ is the head. We take the orders from the Head, but every member has a unique, wonderful, dynamic part to play.
In Ephesians Chapter 4, listen to this. Ephesians 4:15:
Ephesians 4:15, 23-24: 15 But speaking the truth in love, [you] may grow up into him in all things, [who] is the head [who is it?]…Christ:
That what it says? {yes} That’s what it means. Verse 23:
23 And [you’ve gotta] be renewed in the spirit [or in the life] of your [what?] {mind};
Verse 24:
24 …that ye put on the new man [you put on the new man], which after God [the new man, “which after” or “according to”] God is created…
…in the inside of you, for it’s Christ where? In you. That’s the “created”: God in Christ in you. The fullness of God created in you, you put on up here…
…in righteousness and [what?] {true holiness}.
See, the head controls the body. As your physical head controls your physical body, so Christ, the spiritual Head, controls the Body. This is the Word of God. This is Christ speaking as to what you do with your head, your physical head. Once you have Christ in you, the hope of glory, filled with the fullness of God, then you put it on up here and you walk like a wonderful son or daughter of God ought to walk, manifesting forth the greatness of God.
You see, in the Gospel of John 15:5, Jesus Christ said, “I am the vine, ye are [what?] the branches.” The branches produce fruit, but they do not produce fruit if they’re cut off from the vine. Jesus Christ is the Head. There is no fruit in your life when you cut yourself off from the Head, no more so than there is fruit when the branches are separated from the vine.
In Colossians Chapter 3. Look at verse 3, my people.
Colossians 3:2, 3: 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Verse 3:
3 For [you] are dead, and your life [your life] is hid with Christ in [whom?] {God}.
Our lives are hidden with God. Your life is hid with Christ in whom? {God} That settles the sin problem! The sin problem is settled, but we still have the believing opportunity manifested among us. This is why we live below par, because we will not renew our minds and believe literally what the Word of God says. Any person who continues in spiritual darkness after he is born again is nothing but Satanic bondage of mind and life. And continuing in religion after you’re born again is like patriotism – frequently results in tyranny, persecution, and slaughter. Continuing in the only kind of love man knows, after you are born again, is to continue in nothing but refined selfishness.
Individually, my people, every born-again believer is a tabernacle of God. Collectively, every born-again believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That’s the Royal Household of God.
You can’t have a walk of believing in the Word when you continue to live under condemnation. And, ladies and gentlemen, sonship is worthless without redemptive righteousness. If language means anything, then we have to hear and we have to act. 2 Corinthians 5:17:
2 Corinthians 5:18: …all things [new] are of God…
Well, 17:
2 Corinthians 5:17-18, 21: 17 …if any man be in Christ, [he’s the new creation] a new creature:…
A new creation; new creation with a divine what? Nature.
…old things are passed away;…
No more a child of wrath, now a son of God.
…behold, all things are become [what?] {new}. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of [what?] {reconciliation};
Right. Why? 21:
21For [God had] made him [Jesus] to be sin…, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
How righteous is God? {righteous} Ladies and gentleman, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”! Romans 3. (It’s hot up here.) {chuckling} 26:
Romans 3:26: 26 To declare, I say, at this time his [God’s] righteousness: that he might be just [God might be just], and [he, God, is] the justifier of [every individual, justifier of] him [who] believeth in [whom?] {Jesus}.
Therefore, you are not only righteous, but you are what? Justified.
In 1 Corinthians 1:30, listen to this wonderful record.
1 Corinthians 1:30: 30 But of him…
Verse 30. “But of him…” If you’re “of” someone, you’ve got that person’s seed in you. I am Victor Paul Wierwille, of Ernst Wierwille. I have his seed in me. If you’re of someone, you’ve got seed in you. Of him.
…of him [of God] are ye in [whom?] Christ Jesus [Christ Jesus], who of God is made unto us…
He’s made unto us. Not something you have to pray for; he’s already what? Made unto us! He’s…
…made unto us wisdom…
Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. He’s made unto us wisdom. He’s made unto us what?
…{righteousness}…
He’s made unto us…
…{sanctification},…
Sanctification means to be set apart. Before we were born again of God’s spirit, we were by nature children of wrath, but when we got born again of God’s spirit, we became sons of God. That’s to be sanctified. That is to be set apart; set apart for all heaven, that nothing in hell can stop you from going to heaven! Boy, what a record! Sactified! Made wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and what?
…redemption.
Take a look at 2 Corinthians 9. 2 Corinthians 9, verse 10:
2 Corinthians 9:10: 10 Now he [who ministers] seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and [he will] increase the [fruit] of your [what?] {righteousness};)
He’ll increase the fruit. The fruit is the evidence, the manifestation of Christ in you, the hope of glory, you and I who belong to the Royal Household of God. God’s Jesus men and women, filled with the power of God! Well! Huh-huh.
You know, at Pentecost, all the hosts of hell were numbed; they were shocked into insensitivity. It was the spiritual shock of all ages. What do they do now? Well, I’ll tell you what they did. They had a top echelon meeting. And this is so significant, that you’ve got to see 1 Corinthians 2. When Jesus Christ was here upon earth, how many places could he be at one time? {one!} You’ve got it, baby! Man, that’s tough, isn’t it! How many places can you be at one time? {one} 1 Corinthians (heh-heh), Chapter 2, listen to this. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 7:
1 Corinthians 2:7: 7 …we speak the wisdom of God in [the text reads “regarding the”] mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which…
“Hidden wisdom” because God had never told anybody.
…which God ordained before the world unto [whom?] {our glory}:
Our Glory! Not Christ’s glory, but our glory! Had Jesus Christ been God, he’d have known it, but he wasn’t God. He never knew! He never knew! This hidden wisdom was ordained for our what? {glory} It says in verse 8:
1 Corinthians 2:8: 8 Which none [none!] of the princes of this world [what?] knew:…
The “princes of this world” represent the Devil and all his forces: the Adversary, Satan, the old devil; all those devil spirits. None in the world knew! They did not know it! They did not know it! What did they not know? The Mystery! They didn’t know about the Royal Household of God; God’s dream for the ages! They did not know!! And here was God’s only begotten Son, and Satan said “We’ll get him. We’ll get him! We’ll take care of God’s Son and then we’ll have God nailed back up to the wall, and I, the Adversary, can become God who gets all the worship.” But you know what that little ol’ dude didn’t know? {The Mystery} That’s right!
That God, from before the foundation of the world, when he gave man, when he created man, He gave him freedom of will. He knew Adam and Eve would blow it. He gave a nation the privilege of being his nation. He knew they would blow it. Then He said, “I’m never going to tell anybody {laughter}, but someday, someday I’m going to have Myself a Royal Household of God with God-in-Christ-in men and women, who will be God’s Jesus-men and women, filled with all the fullness of God!
That’s what Satan did not know, else he would not have crucified the Lord of what? {glory!} That’s what it says; that’s what if means! That’s right! He’d rather have Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, running around one place at a time. That’s right. He’d have never crucified him; he’d have never crucified him. Boy, that’s fantastic! They would not have crucified the Lord of what? {glory} That’s right. He did not know that there was coming a day when there would be a lot of God’s Jesus-men and women running around upon earth. He didn’t know that! He thought there was only one Jesus Christ; he’d kill him, he’d get rid of him. What he did not know was the Great Mystery hidden in God! The one in Colossians 1:27 of the Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory! {applause and cheering} The Jesus-men and women, God-in-dwelt-men and women.
Satan did not know that, that one day there’d be that Royal Household of God with Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory! (We’ve already got two.) Christ in you – three. [Dr. Wierwille pointing to people in the audience.] Christ in you – four. Five – Christ in you! Christ in you!! Christ in YOU! That’s right! Had he known it, he would not have crucified the Lord of what? {glory!} You see why I got high when I finally understood this? Just as high as you’re getting, maybe a little higher. Boy, it’s the greatest reality of all times. Fantastic!
Well, since Satan blew it, now he’s got to do something. And you know what he does? He has to now destroy those people before they destroy him. See? Take it a step further (just stay logical now): destroying believers like you or like me who are born again of God’s spirit, have eternal life, would not get us back to him. We would never again become his property, children of wrath. Why? Because we are born again of God’s spirit. We have Christ in us, the hope of glory. Therefore killing me or destroying me will never get me back to be his child because I have what? {Christ in you, the hope of glory} Heh-heh. I have a new nature, according to 2 Peter 1:4, remember? I’m a son of God according to 1 John 3:2.
God bought us! God bought us! God bought us. Whose are we? {God’s} Does the Adversary have any legal right on any born again son of God? {no!} He’s trespassing, that old bird! That’s right! You ought to put a sign on yourself, “No trespassing!” That’s right. I’m a son of God with power; I’ve been bought; I’ve been paid for. God, in Christ, paid for it. I’ve been redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have no right, Satan, to any part of anybody who belongs to God. You’re cheating; you’re stealing. Bought with a price.
You know, my people, at Pentecost, God’s Word became a living reality on the lips of the new genuses of the Jesus-men-and women, in-dwelt by God Himself, and that was tremendously destructive to Satan’s kingdom. In Luke Chapter 10. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Chapter 10. Listen to this, Jesus sent out 12 apostles. Later, he sent out 70 more, and in Luke 10, it says in verse 17:
Luke 10:17, 18: 17 And the seventy returned again with [what?] {joy}, [And they said to Jesus], Lord, even the [devil…] devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18And [Jesus] he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall[ing] from heaven.
You know what it means? When 70 men had been commissioned to go out when the Lord Jesus Christ was here upon earth, only 70 (the 12 also, but 70), 70 sent out. Those 70, Jesus Christ’s W.O.W’s, they made such an impression in their witnessing that the Old Adversary himself had to come down like lightning from heaven and get involved in the fight. That means the five star general had to come down in the front line and quit hiding behind a tree and go out there and fight his own battles. Seventy men did it! Seventy people!! Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a lot more Jesus-men and women than that in here tonight. That’s right.
Those 70 were only servants of God. You are not a servant of God, you are a what! {son} And, ladies and gentlemen, certainly a son in the household has more rights than a servant.
Acts Chapter 4, verse 1.
Acts 4:1-2, 15-20: 1 And as they spake unto the people [this is the apostles], the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2 Being grieved [teed-off, mad] that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from [what?] {the dead}.
Verse 15:
15 …they…commanded them to go aside out of the council [this is the Sanhedrin, the 70 who ruled Judaism], they conferred among themselves, 16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable [what?] {miracle} hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and [you can’t] deny it. 17 But…
Verse 17. Here it is, now. Watch it carefully.
…that it spread no [what?] {further}…, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this [what?] {name}.
In other words, don’t go out and be a W.O.W. Don’t speak the Word of God. Keep your lousy mouth shut. It’s commanded, they said. “Don’t you speak in that name!”
18 And they called them…
Verse 18:
…they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in [what?] {the name of Jesus}. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, [make up your mind]. 20 For we cannot [we cannot! We cannot!] but speak the things which we have [what?] {seen and heard}.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have shown you things tonight from God’s Word; you’ve heard me teach it. You cannot, if you’re honest before God, but speak the things which you have heard and which you’ve seen! Men will threaten. The Devil will threaten. He’ll threaten so that you do not speak the truth or the greatness of God’s Word as it’s written. He’ll try to freak you, try to scare you, try to get you to keep your mouth shut. Tried it right here in Acts 4, but the apostles said to those men in the Sanhedrin, “Just make up your own mind. We don’t care what you do, but we can only speak what we have seen and what we have heard.”
Christ in them, the hope of glory. Men who were Jesus-men. God-in-dwelt-men. Acts 4. Same God in you in Christ. Every time these men preached, every time they spoke the Word, it gave birth to the new Jesus-men and women who manifested a more than abundant life; who were more than conquerors. And as these men fed upon the Word, they become more like the Master, and then Acts Chapter 2, verse 41, happened.
Acts 2:41: Then they that gladly received his word were [what?] {baptized}: and the same day there were added unto [the Church, there were added unto them]about [what?] {three thousand souls}.
That’s not bad addition. Same day, added unto them about 3,000. Just about as many as we have here tonight, about 3,000. Verse 42:
Acts 2:42: And they continued [the about three thousand] stedfastly [means “stay put”] in the apostles’ doctrine and [in what?] fellowship,…breaking of bread,…prayers.
Whenever people ask you what the Way Ministry is, the simplest I know is tell ‘em we are a Biblical research ministry; secondly, we are a teaching ministry; and, thirdly, we are a fellowship ministry. Biblical research, teaching, and fellowship – that’s all we are.
Acts 2:2:43-44: 43And fear [verse 43, great awe] came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by [whom?] {the apostles} 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things [in] common…
Not communistic but “in common,” to where whenever there was a need, the other believer could meet that need, he did just that. That’s how the Church, the Jesus-men who are God-in-dwelt, moved.
Acts 2:47b: 47 And the Lord added to the church…
The Lord added.
In Acts 9. In Acts 9, listen to this. 31:
Acts 9:31 31 Then had the churches [what?] rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee [that’s from persecution] and Samaria, and were edified [built up];…
I’m in Acts 9:31.
…and walking in the fear [reverence] of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy [Spirit], were [what?] multiplied [were multiplied].
In Acts 2, they were added. In Acts 9, they were what? Multiplied. Ladies and gentlemen, how far we live below par. How far. Multiplication certainly is better than addition! But it’s real simple. One plus one equals what? {two} Two plus two equals what? {four} Four plus four equals what? [eight} Eight plus eight equals what? {sixteen} Now do it times: one times one equals what? {one} Two times two {laughter} ….two times two equals what? {four} Four times four equals what? {sixteen} Sixteen times sixteen equals what? {chuckles and laughter} In Acts Chapter 2, the Lord added. In Acts 9, the Church what? {multiplied} Ladies and gentlemen, why can you and I not live today and see the multiplication of the Church, the believers, instead of just simple addition? The reason is given in Acts 19, verse 20:
Acts 19:20 So mightily…
So what? Mightily…
…grew the [what? the] word of God…
So mightily grew the Word of God, ‘til the Word did what?
…{prevailed}
That’s how you multiply. That’s why they multiplied. Because the Word what? {prevailed} At the opening of the …Acts 2, the Lord added to the Church, because the abundance if the Word was not yet available, but enough of it that God could begin to do what? {add} Then the revelation was made known of God in Christ in you, the hope of glory, in-dwelt by the power of God. And they believed God; they believed God’s Word; and then the Word, the Word began to what? Multiply. And the Word prevailed! The Word prevailed, then the disciples multiplied and the churches multiplied.
This Pentecost, when I said when all the hosts of hell were numbed, shocked into insensitivity, the spiritual shock of the ages, now what’s the Adversary going to do? He no longer has just one Jesus-man upon earth; he’s now got Jesus-men and women in the plural! What’s he gonna so! He never would’ve crucified the Lord of glory had he known, but he didn’t know! Now he’s got everybody else on his hand, born again of God’s… What’s he gonna do? It is so simple. Number one, he’s going to endeavor to destroy the ones who have the Word because it’s the Word of God that produced the results, right? Peter and John spoke the Word and (I showed it to you from the Word) – deliverance. Peter coming up to the Temple (I could show you a hundred more), comes up to the Temple and the lame fellow, he says, “in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk.” He didn’t even anoint him with oil; he didn’t pray over him; he said “Man, get up!” That’s all. The man believed.
You see, the Word prevailed! Today you read the Word, it goes in here and goes clean out on the other side, or it stays a little bit and you say, “Yes, but…” You never get results on the “Yes, but…” You get results on the believing. And you’ve got freedom of will, where I started. To every man there is given freedom of will. But we’ve lived so below par because the Word has not prevailed. It really is not God’s Word; we just say it in our minds, we mouth it, but we really don’t believe it in the innermost part of our being. We have not renewed our mind with the greatness of God’s Word! When the Word of God was believed and spoken forth, the Word prevailed and then the churches what? Multiplied. So the Adversary will endeavor isn’t after you, turn around, start believing the Word. Huh-huh. {chuckling} Glad I don’t get paid for my sense of humor. {laughter} He will endeavor to destroy the ones who have the Word.
Secondly, he will endeavor to destroy the Word so that it is a forgery, that it’s no longer the Word when you read it. Those two things. And he has done an admirable job. I have spent almost 40 years of my life working the integrity and accuracy of the Word. I know a little bit about the Word, but there is so much more I do not know because men have, by the spirit of the Adversary, forged it through the years. You see, if he can forge the Word and you read it in a Bible, you say, “Oh, that’s God’s Word”. But if it really isn’t; it won’t have what in it? The power of God! The power of God won’t be there! So you speak what it says there, nothing happens. It’s like a dry hole.
It’s the Word that prevails! The Word! Truth is what sets men and women free, right? {right!} That’s right! So what he’ll try to do, honey, if you ever get a good hold on the Word, he’ll try to destroy you. He’ll try to kill you. ‘Cause if you’ve got a good hold on the Word, he knows you’ve got a good hold on him for Christ is in you, the hope of glory. God in-dwells you and you walk like a son of God, like a daughter of God. You walk! And Satan comes down out of heaven like lightning when people start speaking the Word! He’ll try to get rid of you. But he’s, all through these years, endeavored to get rid of the Word; endeavored to get rid of the Word. Some places, in some so-called Christian denominations, we were even taught not to read it at all. Ladies and gentlemen, this is God’s Word. And whenever the Word of God prevailed, God multiplied.
So the Adversary will do his best to kill anyone or destroy anyone who has the Word. Secondly, he’ll do his best to destroy the Word so that when you read it, you really haven’t got God’s Word; you think you’ve got it. I was so thankful to come here – at least I didn’t get a phone call – but the last Heartbeat I went to, we had a phone call that afternoon said that was the last Heartbeat I was ever gonna teach. Well, somebody’s got their screws wrong ‘cause I’m here. Weekend in the Word or whatever! {applause and cheering} That’s right! Maybe this is the Heartbeat for me because the Word is my heartbeat. This is what I believe. This I know. You have to know. If you want to know God’s Will, you’ve gotta know God’s Word.
You know how long I’m gonna live? Just as long as I believe God. If I quit believing in the next five minutes, I’ve had it. But, by God’s mercy and grace, I’m not going to quit yet in the next five minutes. Sure! He…{applause} he wants to destroy every believer ‘cause you represent Christ upon earth, and if he can get rid of you…he can get rid of you, he gets rid of the Word that’s in your heart and life. Gets rid of it. So he wants to destroy believers and he wants to destroy the Word so that people don’t come to the truth of God’s Word, that they stay stupid. But if you’re real religious, he wants you to believe that you know the Word. You know: two crucified with Jesus; he died on Good Friday instead of Wednesday; that’s what he wants you to believe, see? And that you don’t have eternal life now, you’ve got to work for it. And if you’re good enough, maybe, finally, you’ll get it, but you may have an intermediary stop before you get there. {laugher} All of that stuff. See, huh?
People, this is the Word of God. And when the Word of God prevailed, God multiplied. This is that Royal Household of God. This was God’s dream through the ages – that finally there would be God-men and women; God-in-dwelt-men and women; born again of God’s spirit, with Christ in them, the hope of glory! You are God’s Royal Household. You are God’s people.
Ladies and gentlemen, as long as you believe, he can’t destroy you. And as long as you put your believing in God’s Word and the understanding of that Word, you will be able to speak that Word. And when you speak the Word, God will begin to multiply. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the joy of being the Royal Household of God. Thank you.