November 2000

Father's elect sons are entering into His rest. They have ceased the useless religious works of the past and are walking according to the new principles for this new Day in Father's purposes for this world. They have been and are being led by the Spirit. They are honoring this present Sabbath Day and are fully entering into His rest. As they enter into the rest of the Lord, they are also ascending new heights in the Spirit. They are seated with Christ in heavenly places, to worship and serve Him in the realm of Spirit, which is the realm where all true, spiritual work must be done and is being done. We are co-laborers with Christ in the kingdom of our Father, worshiping Him and working with Him, but only in the Spirit and by the Spirit.

Father's Name Written in our Foreheads

There is something else that is happening in our lives; it is that our Father's name is being written in our foreheads (Rev. 14:1). While we continue to go through the necessary tests and trials of this life, we are being changed in our minds unto our complete and total transformation (Ro. 12:2). Our souls or minds are being renewed, and we are less conformed to the world and the things of it. We are more conformed to the Spirit and the purposes of the kingdom of God. When Father's name is written in our foreheads, it means that His authority and His character is being imparted to the governing area of our souls. Jesus is our example and pattern of true sonship. He expressed the will of His Father, and also the Father's authority and character. Even so are we to live and act as Jesus did while He was here on earth.

As we pointed out in last month's booklet, when Jesus said we must "eat the flesh of the Son of man," He meant for us to partake of the external principles of the earthly life of Jesus. Our lives in this world are to be patterned after His life in this world, for Jesus is our example and pattern. One of the greatest examples Jesus gave us is revealed in the following message: "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he (first) seeth the Father do: for what things soever he (the Father) doeth (in the realm of Spirit), these also doeth the Son likewise (on the earth)" (Jo. 5:19). Our instructions, our guidance, our actions in this world, must come first from the Father. Jesus did only those things on earth that He first saw the Father do in the heavenlies of Spirit. And when the will of our Father is first done in the realm of the Spirit, it is then a simple matter for that same work to be duplicated and fulfilled here on earth (Mt. 6:10).

Unless the work of the Lord is first done in the heavenlies of His Spirit, it is vain and useless to try to fulfill it here on earth. Jesus saw the Father doing a work in the Spirit, and then He duplicated that same work in the earth. But there is a new way of the Spirit that is being revealed and established in this new kingdom Day. It is the revealing and the manifestation of the principles of those greater works, which Jesus said we would do. Speaking of this new way, Jesus said, "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 unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it" (Jo. 14:12-14).

Although many have tried it - some have named it and claimed it, and others have bombarded heaven to try to fulfill it - it is obvious that no one has ever yet done those greater works. There have been those rare times in our lives when we saw the Spirit move and work in such a way that He did through us whatever we asked Him to do. It was as if we had free and open access to the Spirit, and the Lord granted the immediate desire of our heart. But that was only briefly! There is a Day coming when we shall indeed do those greater works, and this may be that Day! The secret to doing those greater works may be found in us being in greater and more full and complete union with our Father, as Jesus was. When Father's Name is written on our foreheads, or in the governing area of our souls or minds, we will then also have Father's full authority and character within us, to complete, perfect, magnify and glorify all that we do in His Name.

Jesus was in such full and complete union with the Father that He could say, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Being one with the Father, Jesus also said, "the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, HE DOETH THE WORKS. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake" (Jo. 14:9-11). When we are in full and complete union with our Father, He will do the greater works through us just as He did through Jesus. We will do those greater works, not through Jesus as our mediator, and not in the authority of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, but in the Name of our Father and with the fullness of His nature and authority. Jesus explained it this way, "At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say NOT unto you, that I will pray the Father FOR YOU: FOR THE FATHER HIMSELF LOVETH YOU, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God" (Jo. 16:26-27). What treasures of truth we may glean from the words of Jesus!

How wonderful to know the truth that results from our full and complete union with our Father, which is, "the Father himself loveth YOU." True, mature sonship elevates us to the position of being in union with the Father to the degree that we are equal to Jesus Christ in stature and maturity. According to the Apostle Paul, this is the goal of our spiritual growth. It is the result of the work of the Spirit within us, as we read, "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, UNTO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULNESS OF CHRIST: But speaking the truth in love, MAY GROW UP INTO HIM in all things, which is the head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:13, 15). To grow in the Spirit to become a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, becoming what Christ is, should be the desire and the goal of every one of us. When we have grown to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, we will have become all that He is. We will then be equal to Christ and the Father, possessing the Father's character and authority.

The carnal mind will never understand the truth of God, especially such wonderful, mature truth as this. So Paul wrote, by the inspiration of the Spirit, to tell us, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form (or nature) of God, thought it not robbery TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD" (Phil. 2:5-6). For us to see ourselves as being equal with God is not robbery - it is not as something taken by force - nor is it being deceitful, proud, or egotistical. To be equal with God means we are spiritually mature as He is, but we are not equal with Him in the administrative sense. That is, we will not replace Christ as Head, Lord, and King. Our biggest problem may be in claiming to have something we do not yet possess. How often have we heard immature Christians claim to have something of God and of His kingdom that they could not demonstrate! If we really do have the mind of Christ, as Paul tells us we should have, then we will have been purged of all our egotistical claims and arrogant and carnal ambitions, and will simply LET God do His good work within us, for His glory. With the vision of our equality with God ever before us, we will then endure the processings and preparations of this life with trust, hope, and confidence in our Father and in His magnificent and abundant, kingdom promises.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was never ashamed or embarrassed about His relationship with His Father, nor did He ever deny that His authority came from the Father. He wanted everyone to know that He was not some arrogant, independent, individualist doing His own thing, but that He was uniquely joined and identified with His Father in heaven. He not only proclaimed it, but He also demonstrated it! On one sabbath day, Jesus said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD" (Jo. 5:17-18). To be equal with God is our goal! It is our more mature, spiritual position that we shall have when we are fully in Christ. We desire that equality, yet we are not boastful, proud, or arrogant about it. As we are becoming equal with Him, we will always manifest the humility, meekness and submissiveness of Jesus Christ, the first Son of God.

It is the work of Christ to bring us to the same spiritual level that He has with the Father. Jesus prayed, saying, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, THAT THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US... that they may be ONE, EVEN AS WE ARE ONE... that they may be made PERFECT IN ONE; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, BE WITH ME WHERE I AM; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (Jo. 17:21-24). What wonderful promises for those who are enduring the necessary trials, which will fulfill this word in them!

The Christ within is working by the Spirit to bring us to that oneness and that union with the Father that will truly make us ONE WITH GOD. It is more than outward unity, it is full UNION with Christ and with the Father, which will fulfill this word of promise. When we are in full and complete UNION with Christ and the Father, by the Spirit, we will then be ONE with one another, as well as with the Father. But that unity, that oneness, for the present, can only take place between believers of the same calling in God. Not all believers are called to sonship; only the elect remnant are called to walk in obedience to the truths and principles of sonship! Eventually, all will be in Christ, and in the unity of the Spirit. And our manifestation as God's sons will make that widespread unity possible. Until then, unity with all believers is not yet possible. As we go through the daily processings unto sonship fulfilled, it will help us to behold the glory that Christ is, which glory was given Him by the Father. It is His great delight and joy to share that glory with all His sons, when we have been fully processed by the sufferings of Christ. And we are almost there!

The prayer Jesus prayed for us, as expressed in John seventeen, will be fulfilled in every detail, not somehow but triumphantly. So also will the whole world, with its many sins, iniquities, bondages and evils be subdued and made subject to the totality of the reign of Christ. Eventually all things everywhere will be subject to Christ, both Head and Body. Then, this many-membered Christ will be, in truth and in fact, reigning over all things in the whole universe. No longer will sin, death and evil be seen anywhere, for all things everywhere will manifest the righteousness, justice, truth and peace of the kingdom of God. Christ Jesus, the Son of man, which includes the body of Christ, was made a little lower than the angels. This completed Christ was then crowned with glory and honor, and was made head over all the works of God's hands. All things everywhere were put in subjection under his feet. And when Father put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. The reality of God's Word has not yet been fully applied to the whole creation. But, in God's time, it surely will be!

We now see that all things are not yet put under Him, but we see Christ Jesus, "who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (see He. 2:5-9). While we may be concerned with the present state of things in this old world, we should focus our vision, our hope, and our faith on Christ, the Lord of glory. He only is the hope of the world! The Seed (Christ) of the kingdom of God was planted in the earth, first in the hearts of His chosen ones, where that Seed grew to rule and reign in our lives. And now that kingdom plant, which grew from a small Seed within us, has grown out from within us to begin to change the world all around us. Look first in the Spirit, and you will see the kingdom of God in action in the realm of Spirit. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and, like all things divine or spiritual, the reign of Christ must first be seen in the Spirit. Just as Jesus, the first Son, saw the Father do a certain work in the Spirit and then He fulfilled it on earth (as in Jo. 5:19), so also are we to see the work of the kingdom of God FIRST in the Spirit. Then, having seen His kingdom power and dominion working in the Spirit, we will also see that the power and authority of the reign of Christ is also working outwardly to change the world all around us.

As the kingdom of God changes everything it touches, or everything that is under the dominion of Christ, so it/He changes us and the world all around us. The changes at first may appear to be small and insignificant. But in due time, we shall come forth in the image and likeness of Christ. So also shall everything in the earth be changed, even as we were changed, from glory to glory, by the Spirit. Until all things everywhere are changed into the full glory and likeness of Christ, we will behold Him in His glory. We are becoming that which we see! If all we can see now are the things of this corrupt worldly order, we shall remain in this state of corruption. The word of the Lord is clear; we must see Him to become what He is (1 Jo. 3:2)!

That we are to be changed to become like Christ, being made equal to God, is also the truth of other scriptures. The writer to the Hebrews continues his message with this encouraging word of truth. "For it

became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, IN BRINGING MANY SONS TO GLORY, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (He. 2:10-11).

It is the glory and the wonder of Christ to declare and manifest His equality with God, while also asserting His oneness, His union, and His association with us, calling us "brethren." He is the bridge, the go-between, the mediator, the High Priest, Who maintains His equality with the Father while being identified with us, that He might bring us together, until we share the same union He has with the Father. What a wonder Christ is! And we are becoming what He is! It is His stated purpose to bring many sons to glory. And we may be certain that He will not fail to fulfill this glorious word, as He takes us from little children to mature sons of God, fully created in His image and likeness. What Christ shall do with us He also shall do with the whole creation. Everything everywhere, including all the creatures in every part of the universe, "shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children (or sons) of God" (Ro. 8:21). He accomplished all this by enduring the suffering of death on the cruel cross and by being raised again the third day. May His glorious Name be heralded throughout all the earth to the heaven of heavens, until all have heard it and have fully surrendered to His omnipotent and sovereign, kingdom power and authority!

His Name Written on our Foreheads Includes His Authority and His Character

To have the authority and the character of our Father written, engraved, and described within our very being should be the goal of every one of us. We desire to be like Him, not merely in part, but in the glorious fullness that He is. One characteristic of our Father, which is generally misunderstood, is the love of God. His love has often been described by looking into the meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew words, translated "love" or "charity." It has been generally understood that the love of God is best seen or revealed in the Greek word for charity or love, which is "agape." But even the best and most descriptive words of man's language fail to properly tell of the holy, pure and perfect Love of God.

We believe the truth of the Love of God is best described and learned by observing the life of Jesus. He was the pure and holy manifestation of the Love of God to all the world! Jesus the Christ personified the Love of His Father! When we "eat the flesh of the Son of man," we are spiritually walking in the footsteps of Jesus, becoming all that He is. As Jesus was the pure and holy manifestation of the Love of God, even so shall we become our Father's Love, to manifest that Love to the whole creation. When Father's name is written in our foreheads, we will then manifest His character, which includes His Love.

The word of the Lord tells us that "God IS love" (1 Jo. 4:8 & 16). In other words, God the Father does not merely possess love, show love, give love, or manifest love; HE IS LOVE! And the greatest expression of our Father's pure, holy Love was displayed for all the world to see and experience when the Father sent Jesus Christ, His firstborn Son, into this world of sin and shame to die for the sins of all mankind. That was a manifestation of Father's pure, holy, undefiled and unadulterated LOVE. As God IS Love, so also is Jesus Christ Love personified. He is the greatest example of the Father's Love the world has ever known. When we come forth in His image and likeness, His Love will be perfected in us, for God or Love will then dwell in us in fullness and we will love one another as He loves us (1 Jo. 4:12).

All too often, we tend to think of love as it is understood and expressed by the carnal mind. But only when we are delivered of this carnal mind and body can we fully perceive and understand the pure Love of God. The famous "love" chapter (1 Cor. 13:) is generally interpreted and understood by the carnal mind and is often read at weddings. The Love of God, that is high and holy and of the Spirit, is usually interpreted naturally, conceivably making it easier for a person to attain to its high and holy standard. But the pure and holy Love of God cannot possibly be interpreted or understood with the carnal mind; just as we cannot experience and understand God with the carnal mind. GOD IS LOVE; and God also IS Spirit! Therefore, to understand the Love of God we must interpret the Love that He IS in the Spirit and by the Spirit, and not by the carnal reasonings of man.

By observing Jesus' life and ministry, we can get a glimpse of the Love of God, as it is in the Spirit. All that Jesus did was done because He first saw that work being done by His Father in the Spirit. Thus, all Jesus did was of God, or of Love, for God IS love! Love's will, or God's will, was always done by Jesus! The first thing Jesus did to begin His earthly ministry was the will of Love, or the will of God, just as everything else He did was Love's will. He began His earthly ministry with the message, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt. 4:17). A new order had come to the earth, and Love declared that repentance was the way to enter that new order, which was the beginning of the kingdom of God in the hearts of men.

When we speak of the kingdom of God, let us remember also that His kingdom is "the kingdom of Love," for God IS Love. At the present time, the kingdom of Love has progressed from the kingdom within us, or from the kingdom in our hearts realm (as in Lu. 17:21), to the realm of the kingdom of Love in the earth all around us (as in Mt. 6:10). In its beginning stages, the kingdom of Love in the earth now is similar to what we might call "tough love," for it is the time when God, or Love, is subduing all our enemies and putting them all under His feet. Sometimes Jesus manifested this "tough love," as we shall see later. Love's (or Father's) purpose now is to deliver us of all our enemies and set us free in every area of our spirits, souls, and bodies. Repentance should be our attitude now as we seek to be free of our enemies, and are being prepared to enter into the greater fullness of our Father's kingdom of Love.

Next, Jesus called some of His disciples from among the people. He saw Peter and Andrew his brother fishing, so He said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt. 4:18-19). No doubt there were others fishing that day, but only those two were called to follow Jesus at Love's invitation. Had we been among those fishing that day, we might have felt sad and disappointed when we were not called. Carnal love, the simple love of one man toward another, would have done it differently. Man's love, or carnal love, would have made friends with all the people, and then would have given them all a choice or a chance to follow Jesus. But true Love eliminated man's choices and chances and singled out only those two and chose them to be followers of Jesus. Love could read their hearts to know they would be faithful to the end, and would inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. Man's love would have ended in failure, but true Love shall never fail!

Apparently, there was no time for Peter and Andrew to think about the call of Jesus on their lives at that moment, so they "straightway left their nets, and followed him" (Vs. 20). As Love (Jesus) walked with Peter and Andrew along the sea shore, He saw two others, James and his brother John. They were in a ship with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them also, "and they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him" (Mt. 4:21-22). The carnal mind might question such Love as this, which led those two men to leave the ship and their father's business to follow Jesus. But the love of man, which is carnal love, cannot possibly understand the true, Divine, Love of God. God's Love, which sometimes is "tough love," required that James and John leave both their father and his fishing business to follow the Lord. This often happens in the lives of the Lord's apprehended ones, even in more recent times.

Almost fifty years ago, Love (God) called me to leave my good job and the farm in Michigan, with all the farm machinery I had acquired, and come to Portland to learn the will and ways of Love. My mother was practically alone on the farm with me as the main source of help, so I knew she would never want me to leave. But I also knew I must be about my Father's business! When she left with a neighbor to go to Florida for a time that winter, I left my job, the farm and everything on it, without consulting with her, and came out to Portland at Love's command. This undoubtedly hurt my mother, but Love had a plan. It may have hurt her and given her pain temporarily; but Love's plan would eventually give praise and honor to the Lord, and would also give her understanding, peace and contentment in due time. About three years later, as I lay flat on my back with typhoid fever in a hospital in Accra, Ghana, my mother wrote me the most beautiful letter of forgiveness and understanding a person could every receive. She agreed that I had done the will of Love, and that I was in the perfect will of my Father by serving Him in Ghana, West Africa. Such are the pure and perfect ways of Divine Love, the Love of God!

True, Divine Love, the Love of God, is always right. Love will never lead us astray, nor will He ever lead us to a dead end. When Paul wrote about "love," he was not writing about the love of a man for mankind, a man to a woman, or even of a man's love for God, but he was telling of the pure and perfect Love of God, which surpasses all other love. Thus, he wrote, "Love never fails - never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end. As for prophecy [that is, the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose], it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [that is, it will lose its value and be superseded by truth]. For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). But when the complete and perfect [total] (LOVE) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away - become antiquated, void and superseded." (1 Co. 13:8-10, Amp.)

God is Love, and Love is God! The sovereign will, purpose and dominion of Love is slowly, surely and gradually coming to the earth to replace that which was fragmentary, incomplete and imperfect. That which was in-part is being replaced, made void, and is being superseded by that which is perfect, which is Love. And Love, which God IS, should never be brought down to the low level of human understanding or carnal thinking. As God's ways are always higher than man's ways, so the ways of Love are above and beyond the ideas, the understanding, and the ways of man.

Divine Love called James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, and then also required that those two brothers should leave their father and his fishing business to follow the Lord. Imagine how devastated by Love Zebedee must have felt. His fishing business was ruined by Love when his two sons left him, and he had to start over with new employees. But Love leaves no room for compromise! Love cuts a fine line between the will of soul and the will of Love, and then gently leads us to be obedient to Love's will and purpose. Man's carnal love would have suggested that those two sons should remain with their father and his business. But true, divine Love differs sharply from man's carnal love. The will of Love was done in that case, as it will always be done, both in all the heavens as well as in all the earth.

Let us now realize that the will of your heavenly Father and mine is also the will of Love. Every word, every call, every command, and every directive our Father gives to us is the perfect will of Love. His Love is revealed and manifested to us when our Father gives us a guiding or commanding word and then leads us to obey Him. All too often, we think of God's will as something foreign to us, something impossible for us to hear, receive and obey. But when we think of God's will as Love's will, and that His Love is perfect, good and righteous, we will then understand that all that happens to us is also perfect, good and righteous, for it all came forth out of pure and perfect Love. Perfect Love brought us to where we are now spiritually, and that same Love will take us to the final goal in Christ.

Love indeed is perfect, good and righteous, for God IS Love and Love IS God! But we can only see Love as being perfect, good and righteous when we can see the end result. Love, as He is revealed and manifested to us now, may be perceived to be imperfect, harsh, difficult, and far from righteous in His present manifestation. We are all going through difficult tests and trials, which may seem imperfect, harsh, and difficult. But when viewed in its proper perspective, and considering our future makeup, Love indeed is perfect, good and righteous. We will all be gathered into God or into Love, and He will have become all and in all everywhere in the whole universe. Then Love will prevail everywhere, for His glory, honor and praise.

God IS Love, and Love IS God! Love "suffereth long, and is kind;" Love "envieth not;... vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things" (1 Co. 13:4-7). When Love is perfected in us and we are fully immersed in Love, we also will suffer or endure long and be kind. Then, we will not vaunt or boast of ourselves, nor will we be puffed up. We will not behave unseemly, improperly, or in an inappropriate manner, which tells me that we will no longer have this carnal nature within us. When we are no longer burdened down with this carnal nature, we will never again seek our own will or ways; we will never be provoked, nor will we ever again think an evil thought. Love, which we are becoming, does not rejoice in iniquity, but always rejoices in the truth. Love endures all things necessary for our perfection, and also believes all things and hopes for the fulfillment of all things true and righteous.

After Jesus had called the four disciples to follow Him, He went about all Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sicknesses and diseases among the people. Great multitudes followed Him wherever He went. But Jesus, or Love, was not interested in the multitudes. Love was interested only in planting the seed of the kingdom of God in the hearts of a few chosen and faithful followers. Love did not depend on the vain, temporary and fickle desires of the multitudes, but purposed instead to choose those elect ones whom He had determined beforehand would follow Him all the way. So Love left the multitudes and took His disciples up into a mountain to teach them the principles of the Kingdom of Love.

"And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth and taught them" (Mt. 5:1). What a strange thing for true, divine Love to do! Seeing the multitudes, it appeared that Love totally ignored them, and then took His disciples up a mountain and began to teach them. Carnal love, the love of man, would have done it much differently. Man's love would have insisted that Jesus, seeing the multitudes, would have continued to heal their sick, cast out devils, and restore the minds of those who were demented. He might have blessed them and fed them, and then entertained them with His gentle goodness, and kind grace and mercy. But God, or Love, had a better plan!

Love saw the needs of the multitudes as being more than immediate and temporary, physical well-being, mental health and economic prosperity. Love looked beyond the immediate, momentary needs of the people that were present at that time, and saw the great, pressing burdens and problems of all people everywhere throughout all ages. Love set forth a plan then whereby every need would be supplied, not just for those of that generation, but for all people of all generations. So Love took the few disciples He had up into a mountain and began to teach them the principles of His kingdom, a kingdom that would eventually overtake and overwhelm all the kingdoms and systems of man. And Love did not lose those multitudes when He left them and took His disciples up into that mountain. Rather, the multitudes continued to follow Him when He came down from that mountain (Mt. 8:1). And whether we understand it or not, Love is still working in the earth today to right every wrong, save every person, and establish righteousness, peace, joy and justice everywhere in all the earth. This indeed is the will, plan and purpose of Love!

The truths that Jesus, or Love, taught the disciples that day when He led them up into a mountain seemed harsh and unloving to the carnal minded. He took the commandments of the law and raised them all to a higher level of obedience. He said, "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill. But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment" (Mt. 5:21-22). Jesus was telling them that the principles of the old days of the past no longer applied. A new and higher standard was then being established among His disciples, for a new Day had come to the earth. In this verse, Jesus, or Love, mentioned the sixth commandment and then also raised it to a higher level of obedience. Throughout the rest of His message that day in the mountain with His disciples Jesus mentioned many commandments or laws as they were interpreted in the past, and then raised the standard for every one of them and required more of His people.

Next, Love mentioned the seventh commandment, and then also raised it to a higher level of obedience (see Mt. 5:27-32). He did the same with the principle of oaths (vs. 33-37), an eye for an eye (vs. 38-42), and neighborly love (vs. 43-47). Then, as if to raise His expectations and the standards of His righteousness even higher, Love then said to them, "Be ye therefore PERFECT, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Mt. 5:48). And that word seems almost impossible for us to observe and do, especially in our present state!

One would think that Jesus, or Love, would have made it easier and simpler for His disciples to follow Him. Instead, He made the commandments of the law much more difficult to keep and do, by raising the standard much higher. Man's love would have allowed for the inconsistencies and weaknesses of the flesh to prevail, so long as the people followed Him, if only from afar. But true, divine Love raised the standard, making it impossible for those not chosen and predestined to that high calling to keep His word. Only those chosen of God and predestined of the Father to the high calling of apostleship and discipleship would make it in that day of Jesus', or of Love's, earthly ministry. Instead of lowering the standards and making it easier for others to follow Him, Love raised the standard and tightened the circle of His fellowship. This made it much more difficult for any other carnal wannabes or religious look-alikes to follow Him.

Love said to His disciples that day, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction (spiritual ruin or loss), and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it" (Mt. 7:13-14).

In this wonderful, new kingdom Day, Love has raised the standard of holiness and righteousness, making it much more difficult for carnal Christians to walk in the light of these new, kingdom principles. Some might attempt to open and enlarge the circle of fellowship in this sonship walk, to include many others, but their efforts will be futile. The door to the basic salvation is open and free to all! But this high calling of Love in Christ, or this sonship walk, is reserved only for those who are called and chosen of their Father. Love does not accept any carnal wannabes, or religious look-alikes in this walk! Love has already determined who the elect of the Lord are, just as Jesus chose His disciples according to Love's, or His Father's, will, purpose and leading. Those who have been set aside of their Father for this high calling in Christ are being processed of the Lord, through difficult tests and trials. They are fully prepared to make the necessary changes in their lives, according to Love's new principles for this new Day.

You may have heard it said by those of old time (speaking of the outpouring of the Spirit in 1948-1953), come out of all of the denominational churches. But Love, in this new Day, now says, come out of ALL the churches and ALL the fellowships of man, and cease hearing the teaching and the preaching of man (as in He. 8:10-12). Forsake the meetings and teachings of man, and worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth! Hear only His pure Word from His pure mind! Love has raised the standard above and beyond what was expected in the past, and now requires more from the elect of the Lord. We are now being called to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. And all who are called and chosen of Love will meet Love's holy requirements for this new Day. They will rely more completely on the Christ within to help them keep all the law of Love, or of God, which will make them perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect.

The law of the Lord has not been relaxed, dismissed, or forgotten! But its holy and righteous demands are as a standard or as a banner in front of us, allowing us to see them and read them continually. The laws and commandments of Love are as "frontlets" between our eyes (see Ex. 13:16, Deut. 6:8 & 16:18), as something worn on our foreheads to remind us of the righteousness of the law of the Lord. But we cannot look only to the law! If all we see is the law and its strict requirements, we will think it to be something impossible to keep and do. But when our eyes are on Christ, we will then see Him as our strength, enabling us and helping us to keep all the principles of the law of Love, to be clothed upon with His righteousness (Ps. 132:9).

In His message to His disciples on the mount, Jesus said this about the law, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall EXCEED the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 5:18-20).

The immediate goal before us now is to enter into the greater fullness of the kingdom of Love, by experiencing the Life of Christ, which will change us into the image and likeness of the risen Christ of glory. To attain to that Life, our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, or of those in Christendom. Then all the principles of the pure and holy law of Love will be fulfilled in us, and we "shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Furthermore, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is GREAT REWARD" (Ps. 19:7-11). What a challenge Love has placed before us! It is a challenge we shall satisfy and fulfill by being led by the Spirit of Love!

Remember the revelation of the Christ that Peter received? When Jesus asked him "whom say ye that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Then Jesus told His disciples not to tell this truth to anyone else (see Mt. 16:13-20). From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must suffer many things of the elders, chief priests and scribes, and be killed and raised again the third day. "Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But He (Jesus or Love) turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Mt. 16:21-23).

You would think the revelation Peter received of the Christ would also have helped him understand the endless, spiritual Life that Jesus had. But Peter's revelation, as wonderful and rich as it was, was not deep enough and did not go far enough. So Peter tried to tell Jesus that He was not going to suffer and die. But pure, perfect, and undefiled Love turned to Peter and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." How strange that Love should address Peter as Satan! But everything Peter said about the suffering and dying of Jesus came from the mind of Satan. Peter's carnal mind, inspired by the mind of Satan, made him an offence to Jesus. With that old mind, Peter could not understand the things of God, but only the things of man. He did not savor the things of God, which means that he had the wrong mind. His mind then was not the pure and holy mind of Christ, so Peter expressed the mind of the flesh and the carnal love of man. It is the same carnal mind and fleshly love that we see expressed so often, both in Christendom and in the world all around us today!

Jesus and His disciples were invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. When they ran out of wine, "the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come" (Jo. 2:1-4). Reading Jesus' rather harsh statement to His mother at that wedding, probably with others standing by, we might ask, was that Love speaking? Couldn't He at least have called her "mother" in a kinder, gentler and more tender tone? But Love was abrupt and tough that day! Jesus always did the perfect will of His Father. He never listened to anyone else, including His mother. He had no connection with His mother, except an earthly one. His heavenly, spiritual connection was the only one that mattered. Obviously, that point had to be made, even in front of the assembled crowd at that wedding.

When Jesus said, "mine hour is not yet come," what do you suppose He meant? I think He meant to tell all the people there that the hour of His death and resurrection had not yet come. Perhaps He meant to tell them that as long as the Spirit of Christ was still in His body, there was only One who could tell Him what to do. But when the Spirit left His body, His mother could then take charge of His dead, lifeless, physical body. Until then, only One could give Him guidance and direction. And that One was His Father in heaven! His earthly mother had nothing to say about His Life, for He was the Christ, the Son of the living God! Do you suppose it may that way with us also? Are we not sons of the living God (Love), subject only to the will, the plan and the sovereign purpose of Love, or of our Father? Father's Name, including His authority and character, is being written in our foreheads. Now we are subject only to His will, His plan, and His omnipotent purpose! And may we fulfill that sovereign plan and purpose as faithfully as Jesus did!

There is also another wonderful story of Love regarding the death of Lazarus. When Jesus or Love heard that Lazarus was sick, He replied, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God (Love), that the Son of God (Love) might be glorified thereby." Jesus or Love did not go immediately to see Lazarus and minister to him, but "he abode two days still in the same place where he was." After those two days, Jesus told His disciples they should go to Judea. He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." When His disciples thought Jesus spoke of Lazarus taking rest by sleeping, Jesus said plainly to them, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him."

Love had a plan that involved a manifestation of the greater glory of the Lord. Man's carnal love would have insisted that Jesus go immediately to see Lazarus and minister to him. But pure, divine Love did not lead Jesus to visit Lazarus for at least another four days. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, "He found that he had lain in the grave four days already," and his dead body smelled. But true Love is never dis-couraged or defeated! Not only was Lazarus dead for four days when Jesus arrived, but his sisters, Mary and Martha, were very discouraged when Jesus or Love failed to come when they thought He should. So Martha said to Him, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God (Love), God (Love) will give it thee." He who is Life and Love called Lazarus to come out of the grave, and he came forth in victory. We are also sons of Love; we may be the only manifestation of Love the creation shall see. We shall obediently follow the example of Love given us by the first Son for creation's release and deliverance. And they shall all come forth from their "graves" in triumphant victory when we have reached the top of our mount of transfiguration!

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