The word "John" in the Hebrew tongue means "God's gift", and this book is truly a gift to each of us. In the first three Gospels; Matthew presented Jesus as the King; Mark has shown Jesus as YHVH's servant; and in Luke, Jesus was the ideal man. As the descriptions of the events in Jesus Life are given in each of the Gospels, many critics call attention to the difference in presentation of the facts, when in fact there is a perfect overlay. It is therefore four different men (by the direction of the Holy Spirit of God) telling you and me the events of what they say, in the light as they present our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first three Gospels presented the Humanity of Christ, and this is important in that it shows Christ as our kinsman redeemer, for He laid down His life for all mankind that would repent and come to Him by faith. This book of John will give us an insight into the things that were, as well as the things that will be, and it is given in a manner that even the uneducated can read with understanding.

There is not much translation required from the Hebrew tongue in this Gospel of John, for John presented his teaching in the Greek tongue, and therefore when it came from the Greek to the English, the translation remained. It was translated in such a fashion where the lay person can understand.

Where John writes, "When ye have seen the Son, ye have seen the Father." This book will help you understand the other Books, and see the three offices of the Godhead in them. There is only one God, but He does have the three offices, and the book of John presents the office of Jesus, the Son of the Living God, while at the same time presenting Him as God.

John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Jesus Christ is the Living Word. This earth age of flesh man, just like the earth age that was before this, shall pass away, but God Word shall never change. Jesus is the same today as He was in that first earth age, and tomorrow and into the eternity He will remain the same.

Though most all of man's theories continually change, that plan that God sets forth in His Word never changes. Men like to present God's Word in confusing ways, changing just as words of their languages take on new meanings. However this is the reason we must learn to use the tools for studying of the Scriptures for the Word of God is absolute, it never changes. The new forms of teaching systems try to take away a person's value system, and in the process it leaves it's students in mental confusion, with nothing absolute; however in Christ, and His Word we have something that has never changed, nor will it ever. That is why we must place all of our faith in that Word.

A prime example of this are the events that are taking place on the entire earth today. Things that were prophesied many thousand years ago are taking place right on schedule. The tiny Nation of Israel has been reestablished, the world is moving to world peace, and the first beast (One World Political system) has formed and now controls the nations on the entire earth. The authority for governing the world is under its ten horns of power of the agencies of the United Nations.

My Fellow Christian, God does have control of All events, as well as mankind. He sets kings up, and takes them down, and the world continues exactly according to God's prophetic clock. Today the young people are told that it is the worst time that it ever has been, when in fact, it is the exact opposite. Though the future looks like it is a loss, according to the press, the actual position that we are in is quite the opposite. In a worldly sense, the future is very bright, however in a spiritual sense, we are approaching the time of the Antichrist. That time when Satan comes onto this earth with policies of peace and prosperity, as spoken of in Daniel 8:23-25.

In the phrase, "In the beginning was..." is a very deep thought, and just incomprehensible by most people. So the question should be; When was the beginning? Most Christians are taught in their church houses that that was some six thousand years ago. That shows a lack of knowledge of the Scriptures; for II Peter 3, gives us information about the first earth age, the age that Satan was overthrown, and brought one third of the sons of God, the angels down with him. Many of the remains of creatures that are non-existing today roamed the earth in the earth age that was (that first earth age). This earth is truly millions of years old, however Adamic man (from 8th. day Adam) is but about six thousand years old.

So, when was the beginning? Countless millions of years ago; and if that is hard to comprehend then you are starting to get a grasp on this verse, for it was even then that this Word existed, and the Word has not changed one bit since then. We are not talking about creation here, only the existence of the Word, Jesus Christ, and the Father God and the office of the personage of the Spirit of the Living God. God and all three offices in the God head pre-existed before any point of time that the human mind can imagine.

The Word even existed prior to the existence of the creation of this earth, the sun, the planets, and the stars in the heavens. Don't ask me to explain it, for there is no person in human form living today that has the answer, it is one of those things you must accept as fact and by our faith in God's holy Scriptures. By our faith we accept Jesus Christ Who is the Word, and it is necessary and part of becoming a Christian. It is time for us to take the blinders off, and acknowledge the things of creation that are around us, and give us the physical evidence that the first earth age did exist, that this earth age is millions of years old.

Then get into the Bible and learn all we can about what happened in that period of time.

Ephesians 1:4 addresses the time before this flesh earth age, that started when "the earth became without form, and void [ruin]", as spoken of in Genesis 1:2 of the Massoretic text. In that first earth age, all souls existed in their spiritual bodies, bodies like the angels have. Paul talked about this other body in I Corinthians 15, and this is why there are no human flesh carcasses or bones predating ten to twelve thousand years ago. When they dig up a link that appears to be man in an early form of development and run the tests on it, They find that it was a monkey, ape or what ever. In that first earth age, however all of our souls did exist, but in their spiritual, or angelic bodies, but there was one soul that was created more beautiful, and wiser then all other created souls, and his name was Lucifer, known as Satan today.

There was a spiritual warfare when Satan/Lucifer rebelled and tried to take control, and many stood up, and fought against Satan. Ephesians 1:4 addresses that first earth age when the battle took place, and those specific souls that stood against Satan, and they were judged then, and addressed in a certain manner in this earth age. This is not saying that man has existed in the flesh a second time, for that is talking about spirits of divination, or familiar spirits, and that is an entirely different matter.

Ephesians 1:4; "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:"

Those that were chosen in that earth age, are called the "elect" of this flesh age.

Ephesians 1:5; "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,"

"Jesus Christ" is "the Word" of John 1:1, and we are adopted through the blood of Jesus Christ to the Father. The Elect were predestined because of what each of them did in taking the stand against Satan's uprising, and not because any specific act in this earth age. However, all souls must come to the Father in this earth age through repentance, and under the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:6; "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved:"

This Word always has been, and it does not need you to apologize for it. In most cases, the person that disputes this fact simply does not have the mental ability to understand it in the first place. The Spirit of God has blinded that persons spiritual eyes. The only thing man can apologize for is his own ignorance. When one seeks an apology for what is the Word, and in the Word, it shows their lack of teaching and understanding. A set of rules simply can not instruct you of the events of the first earth age, for in many cases, church doctrines assumes the beginning of earth, the angelic beings, and all living to be only 6,000 years old.

To them, science is rejected, and stones and bones have no meanings to them, but what is important to them is their church systems. We don't have to close our eyes to the past and to the things around us, but we learn from those things. Our understanding of that first earth age; the fall of Satan when the third of the angels followed him; and all the rest will be exactly as it was then, at the end of this second earth age. Most all of mankind will again be deceived by Satan when he arrives on earth in his role as the Antichrist with his locust army of fallen angels. Then all except those that have the seal of God in their foreheads will follow the false Christ again, as recorded in Revelation 9:4; "And it was commanded them [the locust army of fallen angels] that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men [ and women] which have not the seal of God in their foreheads."

That "seal" are all the truths recorded in God's Word of the events of the end times, and stored away in your heart and mind so that you will not be deceived by the Antichrist. We need to grow in the Word whereby we can understand and become strengthened, and know how powerful our heavenly Father is.

So, In the beginning "was" the Word. The word "was" in the Greek is "aions", and it means simply that there is no number, because it is so far back in time. It was then that the Word, and all three offices of God still existed. It means that God and His Word preexisted before anything that your mind can place an image to.

Simply don't struggle with man's systems and designed notions of God's creation. Book knowledge is great, but when it comes time for reality, the evidence that exists is strewn all over this earth. Open your mind to the greatness of our God. Use common sense in your studying of God's Word. Don't throw out the fossils and geological data that is obvious for the sake of your defending God, for both He, and His Word simply don't need your defending. God's Word will support itself.

John 1:2 "The same was in the beginning with God."

"The same", is better translated, "The Word" was in the beginning with God." In the Hebrew text it is implied " "He" was in the beginning with God." This also implies both singularly, the Spirit, or the Word, Jesus Christ, were in the beginning with the Father.

John 1:3 "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made."

The subject to this point has been "the Word" itself. Now the subject changes to the creation of all things. God spoke and nothing became everything. To the human mind, it is incomprehensible. As you consider this verse, try to see the three offices of God that are in this; the Son, the Spirit, and the Father. All these three combined have brought into focus "the Word". Jesus Christ is the Word, and because these three are one, then we have one God.

When that Word spoke our very souls were brought into existence, and that is why we address Him as Father. Our authority of being able to approach Him in our sinning condition of these flesh bodies is solely because of what the office of His Son, Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary. Our souls existed in a spiritual body, since the beginning, before the first earth was even created, and upon conception each soul enters into the human body form of that embryo. Our closeness and Love for our Heavenly Father existed even prior to our entering into human body form.

John 1:4 "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

God was the tree of life, so we see that this Word was where all life came from. Symbolically the "tree of Life" that was in the Garden of Eden was the symbol of the Word. The "Tree of Life" was Jesus Christ in the very beginning of this second earth age. We read of this in Genesis 2:9; "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

This "tree of Life" that was in the beginning of this age in the Garden, and He will also be in the eternity. Revelation 22:1, 2; "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Land." [1] "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." [2] Jesus Christ is life, and it is from Him that we get our healing, both now and as it will be then.

God breathed the breath of life ["Nephesh", in the Hebrew] into man, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7; "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." This is another way of saying, "He took the soul that He had created, and placed it into the embryo upon conception, within the mothers womb. And you, your flesh body, became a living soul, abiding in the mothers womb." This goes against the concept of those that hold that somehow the soul enters at birth, which is part of the doctrine of demons.

The entry of the souls into the embryo is addressed in Luke 1:41; "And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in the womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit:" The Holy Spirit entered into the soul of John the Baptist that was the babe in the womb of Elisabeth. John the Baptist, in the womb at the sixth month leaped with joy at the presence of Mary in the room. Mary had just conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and one soul rejoiced at the presence of the other. That is life, and God created that life. God created that embryo. When life enters the embryo, you have a living soul.

The Word is a light to every soul that will allow Him to shine upon them. That light will change you, if you will allow it, and that light of Christ's Spirit shines over the entire earth. His Word enlightens you in all things and will give you knowledge and wisdom to change your life to make you a far better person.

John 1:5 "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

This even goes back into the first earth age (from the beginning), when the darkness was Satan. Just as the "tree of Life" is Christ, and the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is Satan. So also as Light and day referred to Christ, the darkness and things of the night are references to Satan. In the first earth age the darkness [Satan] tried to overcome the Light, and Satan tried to put that light of Christ out, but he could not, nor shall he ever. When God spoke, that created cherub called Satan came into being. A cherub is a created being, and God created Satan for a purpose, as He tells us through Ezekiel 28:14.

Ezekiel 28:14 "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire."

Satan was created for a purpose, and that purpose was to cover, or protect the mercy seat of God. Satan was created to guard and protect the holy things of the Almighty, and as such he was even in the Garden of Eden. Satan was the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil", also known in another role as the "serpent". No creature can ever overcome it's Creator.

Ezekiel 28:15; "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."

Satan was perfect in his created structure, until his pride and vanity destroyed him.

Ezekiel 28:16; "By the multitude of thy merchandise thy have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profaned out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, form the midst of the stones of fire."

The word "merchandise" in the Hebrew text is "rekullah", and it is in reference to trafficing, and it applies in a moral sense. It is the going about and making profane and slandering the things of God.

Ezekiel 28:17: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."

Satan's sin was his vanity and pride in his heart, and it came because of his own created beauty. The time when Satan will be cast to the ground will be at the end of this earth age, when he is cast out of heaven to the earth, and comes as the Antichrist. At the end of his five months reign is when the kings of the earth will see Satan for what he really is. He was the king of Tyre, the false rock.

Satan has already been judged and sentence to the lake of fire, and the very person that spoke Satan into existence, will turn him to ashes. This also applies to each of us, for just as God spoke each of us into existence, He can also speak each soul out of existence, and blot it out, for ever. Following judgment day there will be no fence straddlers, you will either have an immortal soul and have everlasting life, or even the memory of you to your loved ones will be as if you never existed. The only thing that determines which way it shall be, is by the light that shineth in the darkness of your soul, and turns your soul into a light that shineth for God.

In Matthew 10:28, Jesus warned us; "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

John 1:6 "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John."

This "John" spoken of here is not the Saint John, the writer of this book, but John the Baptist, the person that was the forerunner to Christ. John the Baptist was in fact the cousin of Jesus, as recorded in Luke 1:36; "And, behold thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren."

By stating that John the Baptist was sent from God, it shows us that God is in control. It shows us that the soul of the two beings, John and Christ, existed in those embryos.

John 1:7 "The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe."

John the Baptist came to be a witness, and witness to the Light, who was Jesus Christ. Christ is the Word of God, and John's purpose for being sent as he was, is to identify Christ as the very Lamb of God. The qualifier to this verse is "that men might believe." John's message is given in Matthew 3:2; "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The kingdom of heaven is where ever Christ is. When men believe on that message that Jesus Christ brought to the world, they will be changed. That message is the light that lighteth the whole world.

John the Baptist was not only sent by God, but he also was named by God. The word "John" means "God's gift", and John was a gift of God, sent to man, to bear witness of the Light which is the Word Jesus Christ. When Jesus came to earth, mankind rejected that message, and has allowed the very Word to become clouded in the minds of people. The very Word of God [our Bibles] is treated so common, that it is becoming totally disregarded, and for many of us, has become nothing more then a storage for family records.

John 1:8 "He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John was not the Savior, but John was the one that made the announcement of who Jesus Christ was. Jesus Christ was and is that Light, and when that Light shines into ones soul and heart (mind) then He will change that life to give that soul eternal values. Christ will pick that person up and give direction and purpose to him [her].

The witness that John bear was to repent, for the kingdom of heaven (of God) is coming.

John 1:9 "That was the true Light, Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

Every person born into the embryo of their flesh body, in this earth age, is no accident. God created your soul, and He is allowing you the freewill choice that most persons have in the flesh body to choose the Light, or darkness. Before any created soul is judged, that soul will have had the right to see and understand, and then to chose the Light or darkness.

For those that do not receive this opportunity in the flesh body, will be given the opportunity to be taught in the Millennium age, for God is a just and loving God who created His children, and wishes none to perish. Every living being that has life through the womb is given their life from God.

John 1:10 "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not."

The Word, and Jesus Christ was not only in this earth age, but also in the earth age, that was. The world, or earth age that is now, with all it's beauty and animal life was made by Him, the "ruach" which in the Hebrew is the Spirit; God's Holy Spirit. So John the Baptist was announcing the coming of the Word, the One that created the whole world, and John was announcing Jesus Christ as God.

The world and it's religious leaders refused to accept Him as God, for their minds were blinded. In these final days of this earth age, that Word is being withheld from our schools, and the One who is the Word, Jesus Christ is being rejected in favor of the creation that was made by Him. We are in the final days of preparation, when the entire world is being made ready to receive the false Christ, the Antichrist who is Satan. On that day of the arrival of Satan, you will either be sealed in your minds with and by the Word, or you will accept the Antichrist and be taken by him, the false Christ.

There is no middle ground, for Revelation 9:4 tells us that if you are not sealed, God Himself will turn you over to Satan, and his locust army of fallen angels. "But it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." It is time to study that Word, and get to know what is written in it. That "seal" or "knowledge of God's Word in your mind" is your only protection against Satan in the end times.

Even in the strongest Christian nation in the world, the influences of Satan, through his offspring the Kenites have so changed our laws that the truth of God Word, cannot be taught in our schools. In it's place they proudly teach the winds of satanic doctrine, such as evolution, and other forms of spiritual satanic divination. Our nation is a Christian nation, it was founded for that purpose and it always will be. Yet our children, today, cannot be taught the facts of creation, but in its place there is a mixture of ideas that are made to appear as truths, only when analyzed, does it becomes obvious for the lies that they are.

The scientific world today exists in a state of stupor. They have thrown out the very principles that they have made in order to come to scientific conclusions, for the sake of believing their own lies. They stand there with their bags of genetic lengths to their chain, where there is no connection between the lengths, and yet because there is no proof to what they say, they expect you to believe their trash of satanic lies, simply because they have said it. It is no different today, then it was in Jesus day, when the Kenite religious leaders stood and declared Jesus a blasphemer, simply because their altered traditions did not go along with what Jesus declared.

The world did not believe Jesus was the Christ then, and today they don't believe that you are a created being, but a life coming into existence and happening by chance. Is it any wonder that the common things of the world have become so distorted, and the youth have nothing to hold dear.

If evolution were to be a fact, then it would need to be an unending process, continuing even to this day. It could not be a little change here, and much later by chance another change, it must be an unending process of growth from the simple one cell life forms, all the way to the completed man. And my fellow Christian, that just doesn't exist. When they state that man came from monkeys or apes, the problem is that every time they present a specimen of ancient ape form, that is what that life was, an ape.

Science itself documents the fact that evolution is an impossibility. Science documents the fact that an ape genetically of ages past, is exactly as the ape of today. The snail of of millions of years ago is genetically just as that snail of today. The difference of course is in the fact that many of the creatures of the first earth age, are extinct today, but their remains are being dug up all over the world. The Word records that there was a prior age, and because of Satan's downfall, and the downfall of one third of God's children that followed Satan, God destroyed the earth age that was. The evidence of that destruction is found all over the earth today.

The age of the earth is countless millions of years old, only Adamic man as presented in the Word is about 6,000 years old. Because of the twisting of the Word, Christians seem to think that they have to defend the Word, however their lack of knowledge of that Word and the traditions that they have come to except, their traditions add fuel to the fire of the lies of Satan, and his demonic doctrines, such as evolution.

When a snail grows up, it becomes an adult snail, and not another animal, when any small creature grows to maturity it stays that same kind, and species of creature, without forming into another different creature form. That is exactly as God has created each being. This process is recorded in Genesis 1:20-21. To this date, there has been not one example of one kind producing another kind, and that is proof that evolution is a lie. When you believe evolution, then you believe a lie, and the product of that lie is to miss the understanding of the Word of instruction that God has given to us. God's Word has never changed, nor will it ever.

Genesis 1:20-21; "And God said, "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." [20] "And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the water brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind and God saw that it was good." [21]

Maybe the simplicity of this verse is just too confusing to the educated mind. My fellow Christian, you will either believe the Word, or you will believe a lie, you cannot do both.

John 1:11 "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not."

Jesus came to His own kin folks, and those that were suppose to receive Him, and know who He was, did not believe Him. God had foretold of Jesus coming through the prophets, yet by the time Jesus came in the flesh, their traditions did not allow Israel to accept Him.

The ten tribes of the House of Israel had been scattered by 722 B.C. by the Assyrians along with much of the House of Judah except for in and arround Jerusalem, and when the Babylonians carried off what was left of the House of Judah to Babylon 135 years later, many of them kept right on going and also scattered. By the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the return of what remained of the House of Judah to Jerusalem, the Levitical priests were not with them, and the Nethinim had taken over the duties of the Levitical priests, and scribes. These Nethinims were the Kenites, the offspring of "Cain", who was the son of Satan through his sexual union with Eve in the Garden of Eden.

These offspring of Cain [the Kenites] were the religious leaders, the scribes and chief priests of Jesus day, and they ruled over the Temple. They were the ones that lied and plotted to have Jesus killed. They were evil and wicked men. They led the elders of the people and set the traditions that the people of Judea followed, and it is because of them that Jesus was taken and crucified. Jesus showed the people the error in those traditions, and for doing this, the Kenite leaders wanted Jesus dead. That is the negative part of the plan of God, for without Christ's death on the cross, there would be no salvation to mankind. The tribe of Judah allowed these Nethinim Kenite people to infiltrate into their ranks and take over, and they blended in with the people of Judah, and gave brother Judah their bad reputation.

Was Jesus accepted by His own? Of course not, and in these end times the Kenites are doing the same as they did in I Chronicles 2:55; they took over the duties of writing the law and history, as the scribes, and their half truths and customs caused Jesus Christ's own people to reject him. "And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez [Jerusalem]; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab." The false doctrines of the rapture theory will also teach many of the Christians of today to accept Satan, the false Christ who is the Antichrist, as their Messiah.

John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:"

Notice the qualification given to those that became the "sons of God". "As many as received Him", and to them alone the Father gave each of those men and women the power to become one of God's own people. However there was another stipulation to this verse, "even to them that believe on His name." That name is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. That is your access to the throne of the heavenly Father, and the only credentials that allow you to be heard by the Father. The reason for this is because the only sacrifice that God will accept is blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, and He died on the cross, and was raised from the dead, and that is what you must believe. To pray in the Name of Jesus Christ is to believe that He is the very Son of the God.

That is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions, and makes Christianity a reality, a fact. The "power" that we have to become the Son of God, is the "authority" we carry in being God's child, with all the rights and privileges that come with this authority. That power is spelled out in His Word, and that power with all the rights and privileges are the promises that all Christians hold dear. In the expression "sons of God" there is no gender, but should be "child of God". They are the ones that see the Word with eyes of understanding and believe in Jesus Christ. This gospel of John presents Jesus Christ as God, for we have only one God.

If you claim the name of God then it is time to get into His Word and find out what power you do have, and where your authority comes from. Then prepare yourself to use that authority. Prepare yourself to make a difference as a citizen in this earth age for our heavenly Father. Not as a know-it-all, but firm in all your convictions as a believer in Christ.

John 1:13 "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

The subject here is being "born again". It is the person that has received the Son, Jesus Christ that has the authority of God. That Christian believes on Jesus' Name and is obedient to the Lord, and he is the one that is "born again". If you receive this power, or authority given in God's will, then that power becomes part of you and you are changed.

The nature of flesh man is to rule and take over the world, and flesh always seeks to satisfy itself and put aside the problems that it has created upon itself. The flesh side of you demands all of your attention, so that which is left is man's spirit. So lets look at this again, in proper context.

Our heavenly Father has given to only those that have received His Son, Jesus Christ who was born of woman, the authority and the right to become and be called the children of God. When you become a child of God, you become an heir to the Living God, the owner of all things.

In this flesh life, a father passes the farm, or what ever wealth he has on to his children, when he passes from this life. The child then takes possession just as the father had during his life of all his wealth. This is what separates the Christian life from the communistic thought, and all forms of the satanic social realm. To take what belongs to one and share it with those not entitled to it is of Satan. The whole idea is Kenite, and of Satan. God blesses those whom He will, and that entitles that person to more then the masses.

Remember in Ephesians 1:5; "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will," This "adoption" that draws us to the Father, is "by the will and good pleasure" of the one doing the adopting. A flesh father is the one that makes the commitment to the child, to protect and love, and to assign his inheritance to his child. The child receives this commitment by and through the law. It is between the legal entity being adopted, and the one doing the adoption, whether the rights and authority will take place.

That is exactly how you will become "born again", or better stated "born from above". You can only see and believe in Christ because the Spirit of the Living God has opened your spiritual eyes, and then you have the ability to see the condition of sin that is in your life. Only then do you understand that you need to be saved from that condition of sin, and that the only way is under the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross. Once you confess in repentance and believe on Jesus Christ, then God's adoption of you into His family has taken place. When you are adopted into a family, you become part of that family with all the rights that the family holds. Then just as the human child receives the right to inheritance from his human father, so also you become joint-heirs with Christ in God's heavenly kingdom. This is recorded in Romans 8:16-17.

Romans 8:16, 17; "The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:" [16] "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." [17]

To believe that Jesus is God's Savior for mankind, is what is meant by "believing on His name". When you can receive that into your heart (mind), then you believe on His name. When you receive Christ, then the Spirit, the power and the authority of all of God's Word is reborn into you. That is what "born again" means, it is to be born again into the family of God, as a child of God, with all the rights and privileges that this family membership gives. We will deal more with this subject of "born again" in John 3.

What is the duty of that membership? It is not to meet all your pleasures and desires, but for you to meet God's will and pleasures. Many today think that being a Christian in this family means that they can run around and claim what ever pleases themselves, and God must provide it for them. The purpose of being born again, into the family of God, is to fulfill the will of God, and that will is the promotion of His Son, Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God always elevates Jesus Christ, and promotes Him, and any spirit that does not do this, is not a spirit of God.

Today there is a prosperity doctrine that states that if you state your wishes, "in the name of Jesus", then what ever you can claim, it must come to pass. My fellow Christian, this elevates you over God, and you have placed your will over the will of the Father, and this is not of God. When man's will gets in the way of God's Will and takes priority, it is time to watch out. When you get in the way of God's Will and Plan then God has a way of straightening things out. When you take God out of the planning for your life, and substitute your fleshly desires, you are getting into the heathen oriental mind of thought.

This is directed to only those that "believe on His name", and are born of the Spirit of God, and that are under the Will of God, as joint heirs with Christ. Outside of that, there is only play acting and this doesn't apply to you. Those that this is directed to, do not get puffed up, and they will act as part of the royalty of God's family. The prince of any kingdom knows that the King has the final authority, and all commitments by the prince will be with the full agreement of the king, because those commitments are within the will of the king.

These people are taught with regards to praying in the "will of God", that if you pray in the "will of God", then you are a weakling if you are not also claiming, therefore you do not have the faith. This is stupidity, so lets give an analogy here. If one of your children came to you, and said to you, "Daddy, I want a new red wagon, and I'm not taking no for an answer, and there it is, now go and get it." The kid saw it, he believes it is there and this kid thinks he can order daddy to get it. My friend, daddy is about to get the switch, and straighten the spoiled brat out a little. This is the same non-sense that is used in the prosperity doctrine teaching. It has become common in television teaching, and it is not of God.

If you are a child of God, our heavenly Father is in control and He knows what you need and He will provide it when you should have it. He is our Father, and you had better pray in His will. In the reverse of the analogy of above, if the child tries only to satisfy the father's will, and please his father, you know that the father will try to get what pleases his son, because of his love for that son.

John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Here we see the Living Word, the Word that became flesh and lived and walked on earth in the flesh body. The Living Word that became flesh is Jesus Christ who shed the blood of His flesh that became our covering for sin. and it was through this Living Word that we can find repentance and approach our heavenly Father in prayer. Christ is the Word, and as we saw in verse one, this Word that became flesh was in the beginning with God, He also was God. There is only one God, and that one God has three offices, His three characters. I can't explain how this can be, but I accept it as fact, for God said it, and that settles it.

When God gave the law to mankind, it is the standard of perfection that no man can keep, and by the law all men [women] are under the sentence of death for sin. The covering, or atonement for sin prior to Jesus death on the cross was through the animal sacrifices, but they did not offer forgiveness for sin, but only a temporary covering. Upon the death of Jesus Christ, and His resurrection the price had been paid once and for all, and this is the sole purpose that it was necessary for a just and completely innocent God to come to earth, and be born of a women (The Virgin Mary), and to pay the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

This is what Paul addressed in Hebrews 9:20-22; "Saying, "This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you." [20] "Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry." [21] "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." [22]

Through Christ's shed blood, He brought Life, for He is the "tree of Life". In Christ and the Word we can have full life and grace that only God the Father can give, and that is why it is important to study His Word.

John 1:15 "John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, "This was He of Whom I spake, He That cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me."

This is John the Baptist that is speaking here. Though John was born six month before Jesus, John is telling us that Jesus existed all the way back before the beginning of time.

John 1:16 "And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

In the Greek it is saying, that in the fullness of Christ, you have the fullness of God. Through Jesus we have a continued flowing of that grace upon grace that only God can give. In God's unlimited patience, He never grows tired of giving His unmerited favors that He extends to His own. Understand that this is addressed to God's children. His fullness is overflowing in love and understanding, along with it comes His correction that He gives those that He loves.

"Grace" is "God's unmerited favor" given to those who repent in Jesus' name. It is God riches that are given to you, at Christ's expense. You don't deserve it, but those riches of eternal life are given because you have asked for them, and have turned to the one that has paid the price for you. Remember it this way (G) God's (R) riches (A) at (C) Christ's (E) expense, "Grace".

John 1:17 "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Grace and truth came by "God's savior, His anointed one"; that is what "Jesus Christ" means.The law is given to show us how things should be, but Christ brought truth. The law was a shadow of things to come, but Christ wasn't the shadow of things to come, He was the truth, because He is the Living Word.

John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, Which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."

Jesus is in the bosom of the Father, because they are one. Lets take this verse back to the Greek to better understand what is being said here. "No man has seen God at any time"; This is a statement that can be disputed by Moses and Ezekiel, so what does it mean. This word for "hath seen" in the Greek manuscripts, is "horao". It means "with both the eye and the mind." It means to see and comprehend, or understand. So what the verse is saying is that no man except the Son of God, that is in the bosom of God, can totally and completely comprehend the mind of God the Father.

We know that in Acts 7:55, 56, after Stephen had preached one of the most stirring messages of the gospel of Christ, we read; "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost [Spirit], looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God," [55] "And said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing on the right hand of God." [56] Stephen saw God.

Many people have seen God and have lived, but no man [horao] can see with the eye and mind and can comprehend the mind of the Father. It is impossible for flesh man to understand God, but Christ can, Why? Because He is God.

This also falls back to praying in God's will. God comprehends all things, and we don't. You must submit to God, or you are making a god out of yourself.

John 1:19 "And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who art thou?"

This is the record of John the Baptist when the religious leaders in Jerusalem sent out their certain priests to inquire just who John was. John was baptizing people and converting them, and this was hurting the money bags at the Temple. If there is one way to hurt a Kenite or false prophet, it is to attack his money bag.

John 1:20 "And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, "I am not the Christ."

John had such a crowd following him, they thought he could be the Christ. However John faced that charge right off the bat with his answer, "I am not the Christ."

John 1:21 "And they asked him, "What then?' Art thou Elias?" And he saith, "I am not." "Art thou a prophet?" And he answered, "No."

These questions are in reference to Malachi 4:5, 6; "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:" [5] "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to their children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." [6] "Elias" is the Greek word for "Elijah". John told them that He was not Elijah. Then these priests asked John again if he was a prophet, and John answered them No.

When Jesus addressed this in Matthew 17:10-12, when He told them, if you would have received Me, He would have been Elias [Elijah], but you received Me not; and that is the whole point. Matthew 17:12 "But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them."

They didn't receive Jesus and they did not receive John. John could not have been Elijah, for John was a child born to the Levitical priest Zachariah and his wife Elisabeth, who was the cousin to Mary. John came in the spirit and power of Elijah.

Luke 1:16, 17; "And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God." [16]"And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." [17]

Everyone that teaches others, and prepares the way for them to receive Christ, comes in the Spirit and power of Elijah, for that Spirit is the Holy Spirit, and the power is the power of God that is given to all that receive Jesus. That is the power which allows them to become the sons [children] of the Living God. This power is the gift of understanding and wisdom of the whole Word of God, and the tools to apply it to your life.

John 1:22 "Then said they unto him, "Who art thou? that we may give answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thy self?"

If you are doing the work of God and telling others of Jesus, and one of these religious types demands to know by what authority [of man] you are spreading the Word, it is your right to tell him to push off. More then likely they would not understand your answer anyhow; but if they would, they would not have asked the question in the first place. When the words you speak comes to the enemy, the Kenite religious realm will use the words you speak and twist them to use against you. These Kenites paraded as brother Judah, and Levite priests in Jesus day, and today they parade also as fellow Christians to cause confusion in the church and Scriptural doctrine.

When it comes to doing work for our Lord, we do not need to give any answer. John's answer was a quote straight from the Old Testament, Isaiah 40:3; "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." "

John 1:23 "He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as said the Prophet Esaias."

As we saw from the prior verse, the Prophet "Esaias" is the Greek form for the Hebrew Prophet Isaiah. The verse John is quoting is Isaiah 40:3. The Old testament prophesied of each event of the coming of Christ in the first advent, including the events surrounding John the Baptist. The New Testament is the completion of the Old Testament, and is a part thereof, and most of the prophesies of the Old Testament are yet to be fulfilled.

The only authority we should be following is God's Word, and His Will. When you are doing the work of our Heavenly Father, that is the source of any answer we give. It should be straight to the point, and without debate. When it is done as such, they still will not understand, so don't waste your time arguing.

John 1:24 "And they which were sent were of the Pharisees."

Pharisees, meaning the separated ones.

John 1:25 "And they asked him, and said unto him, "Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?"

These Pharisees were asking John, "Why are you baptizing?" Baptism to this point had been a ritual of sprinkling of the hands, and washing of the hands in a certain manner. The Word "baptize" means to "put under". This is why there is much discussion of Baptism, for many religious orders still sprinkle, while others totally submerge. Christ showed us how it was to be done and went to the river Jordan and was submerged in baptism by John the Baptist.

John 1:26 "John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water: but there standeth One among you, Whom I know not;"

Jesus had not been baptized yet, but John knew that Jesus was alive and walking on the earth, from his birth. John the Baptist and Jesus were cousins through Mary and Elisabeth. This is why I feel that the "Traditions of Glastonbury" have merit, for John did not even know his own cousin, when the church world presents that they lived so close.

John 1:27 "He it is, Who coming after me is preferred before me, Whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose."

There will be some strange things happening here, for John the Baptist had baptized in water, and with water before the baptism of Christ. When the Messiah was Baptized, He set the path that we are to follow, and thus this should be an act of obedience to Christ.

John 1:28 "These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing."

"Bethabara" in most manuscripts is "Bethany". This is the place where John did his baptizing. This then as another prophecy being fulfilled from the Old Testament.

John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, "Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world."

John is making the announcement that the promised sacrificial Lamb of God, that was promised from the beginning, and before the foundations of this earth age was standing there before John. That sacrificial Lamb of God is Jesus Christ. John is announcing that through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, His blood will be shed, and the sins of the world will be taken away, for those that repent and believe upon Him. When John spoke these words he knew that there would be both a first and second advent.

This is foretold in Isaiah 53:7; "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, ye He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth."

The Lamb of God is brought into focus in this verse, as it was spoken over seven hundred years before John said the words to this band of Pharisees. God spoke it through the Prophet Isaiah, and then standing before John the Baptist and these Pharisees is Jesus, and John presents Jesus to them as the Christ, the Messiah, the very "Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world."

Isaiah 53:8; "He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people was He stricken."

The ones that shall declare His generation are the elect of God, as well as Christ Himself. You declare it by preaching and teaching that proclamation to those with eyes to see, and ears to hear God's holy Word.

Christ was "cut off from the land of the living" when He was crucified on the cross at Calvary hill. Christ went to the cross for the transgressions, which is the sins of the entire world, of all times, for those that will repent and be baptized in Jesus name. Jesus Christ is the only perfect sacrifice that would ever be acceptable to God. Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb.

Isaiah 53:9; "And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth."

Jesus hung on the cross between two malefactors, or robbers, and He was placed in the tomb of His rich uncle, Joseph of Arimathaea. Jesus always spoke the truth.

So we see that the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. The entire Word of God is important to all believers, for it takes the entire Word to complete the instruction necessary that we face, and to give us understanding of the events of this the final generation. When John addressed Jesus, it was always as "the Lamb of God" that would be sacrificed, not as the King of kings that would return in the second advent to rule the world with a rod of iron, but as the loving Savior to become the slaughtered Lamb.

The time when all sins will be taken from the world is at Jesus Christ's second advent, and that is when all forms of idolatry, and things that offend will be taken from the earth. It is the start of the Millennium age when the kingdom of heaven will be on the earth.

John 1:30 "This is He of Whom I said, After me cometh a Man Which is preferred before me: for He was before me."

This is in reference to what has been stated in the first three verses of John 1.

John 1:31 "And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water."

John is stating that the reason that he is baptizing with water, is that Jesus came to be taught to all the tribes, not to just the house of Judah, i.e. the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. John is making his announcement to all the tribes.

John states that he did not know his own cousin, and the reason for this comes from secular writings, such as the "Traditions of Glastonbury", in England. This is secular history that Jesus did go to Glastonbury in England with His Uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, who was wealthy in tin and lead mines in the Mendip Hills, as well as his ownership of many ships. History records many travels of Jesus as a youth, even to the point of Biblical records of people in Jesus' family's synagogue not knowing who He was.

In Luke 4:16-22; "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up....and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him....And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?"

Two things strike us here. First, the usage of the expression, "where he had been brought up,"implies that while Jesus had spent His childhood in Nazareth He had not continued to live there. This expression is strengthened by the fact that His hearers asked the question, "Is this Joseph's son?" almost as though they doubted Jesus identity.

This helps us understand why John did not recognize Jesus when he first saw Jesus.

John 1:32 "And John bare record, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him."

When Jesus Christ walked up to the river Jordan, the dove from heaven came down, and God's Spirit spoke and identified Jesus. Luke 3:22; "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, "Thou art My beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased."

John 1:33 "And I knew Him not: but He That sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, 'Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He Which baptizeth with the Holy Spirit."

This is important; "Spirit descending, and remaining on Him," for once the Holy Spirit came upon Christ, God's Spirit stayed with Christ, and upon Him. Many people say that the Spirit left Christ as He hung on the cross, as He quoted from Psalm 22, but that is not so. God's promise here in John is that His Spirit would never depart from Christ.

That same Spirit of God will also remain with you, as you stay in His Word, and follow in Christ's path. However there are conditions that every child of God must meet, regardless of what level of understanding, and service you are in. God places the conditions so that His servants will serve Him well.

The Spirit of God is eternal from infinity past, to the eternity in the future. The Spirit has always been with God, and where ever the Father and the Son are, there the Spirit is also.

John 1:34 "And I saw, and bare record that This is the Son of God."

John is stating a fact, based on his personal knowledge. The book of John is the gospel that declares Christ as God.

John 1:35 "Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;"

This is John the writer of this great book the Gospel of John, and the other man that stood and watched as the Spirit of God descended was the disciple Andrew.

John 1:36 "And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!"

"The Lamb of God" is the "Passover Lamb", that is what the Lamb of God is. It will be in three more Passovers when Jesus would indeed become the Passover Lamb slain.

John 1:37 "And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus."

When Andrew and John the disciple heard Jesus speak, they followed Him.

John 1:38 "Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, "What seek ye?" They said unto Him, "Rabbi," (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) "where dwellest Thou?"

The word "Rabbi" in today's English meaning is better expressed, "teacher". It was Jesus' Words and teachings that caused Andrew to follow Him. When the true word of God is being taught, people will always follow that teacher. God's Word should only be taught from His Word, Chapter by chapter, and line upon line, and not through traditions and fairy-tale story telling.

John 1:39 "He saith unto them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour."

When the two disciples asked where Jesus lived, Jesus invited them to come and see, for it was late in the day, about 4:P.M. When Christ taught, they were drawn to the Word. As far as God's election is concerned, altar calls are not necessary for when the Spirit of God moves on one of God elect, conviction by the Spirit of God draws the action, and not man's emotions.

John 1:40 "One of the two which heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother."

So we see that Peter was the brother of Andrew, who heard John the Baptist preach before he ever heard Jesus teach.

John 1:41 "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, "We have found the Messias," (which is, being interpreted, the Christ.)"

Once Andrew heard Jesus in person, he was convinced Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. In excitement Andrew ran to his brother Simon Peter to tell Peter that he had found the Christ.

John 1:42 "And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, "Thou art Simon the son of Jona:" thou shall be called cephas," (which is by interpretation, A stone.)"

Before Peter could say a word, Jesus identified Peter, and named him. What is interesting about this verse, is "Jona" means "dove", which is the symbol for the Holy Spirit, and it is Peter that Jesus Christ used to establish His church on Pentecost day, with the first one hundred and twenty souls.

However, Peter is not the Rock that the church was built upon, Christ is the Rock, and in the Greek, this Stone is an immovable stone. Why then would Christ call Peter "cephas" which is not Hebrew, but Aramaic? Christ is showing that His church is going to be going out to not only the people of Israel, but to all peoples of the world. So Jesus gave Peter a name that would be understood by the world language.

John 1:43 "The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, "Follow Me."

There was no volunteering in Jesus command to Philip, simply "follow Me". Jesus knew the heart of Philip, and when the command came, Philip followed. This form of calling is what is called, "election". By this we can understand Ephesians 1:4; where God stipulates; "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without before Him in love:" Which in the Greek is to say, "I chose you before the overthrow of Satan." Jesus knew this soul before it had been placed in the womb of his mother. Philip had a destiny, just as many of you do. If you have known since you were a child that there is more to God's Word then what is being taught, it is time to get into that Word.

John 1:44 "(Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.)"

John 1:45 "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, "We have found Him, of Whom Moses in the Law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

The word "Nathanael", means "the gift of God". Moses wrote of Christ in the Law in Genesis 49:10; "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." The law is of God, and "from between his feet" is in reference to the "posterity" of Judah. "Shiloh" is the Hebrew word of"tranquil", and is the name given to Messiah.

Both the advents are covered here, for "the coming of Shiloh" is at the first advent, and "the gathering of the people" will be at Christ second coming. Moses also wrote of Christ coming in Genesis 3:15; "And I [God] will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [Eve], and between thy seed [the Kenites] and her seed [Jesus Christ]; It [Christ] shall bruise thy [Satan's] head, and thou [Satan, through the Kenites] shalt bruise His [Christ's] heel."

When Christ went to the cross, Jesus Christ's heel was bruised, but at that same time the sentence was placed on the head of Satan. This sentence will be carried out following the great white throne judgment, as written of in Revelation 20:13-15; "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works." [13] "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." [14] "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." [15] That is the time Satan's head will be finished forever.

John 1:46 "And Nathanael said unto him, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip saith unto him, "Come and see."

Nazareth was a small and back woods type of town, but the town's reputation was not that which would cause you to expect the Messiah to come from. But Jesus was not born in Nazareth, but Bethlehem. Because of Herod's killing of the babies under two years of age in Bethlehem at Jesus birth, Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt. Then from Luke 2:4, on the return from Egypt, they went to Nazareth, Galilee, which was not under the control of Herod.

John 1:47 "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and saith of him, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!"

Jesus recognized Nathanael, and knew of his honesty. Nathanael was of the house of Judah, but remember that all tribes of both houses are Israelites.

John 1:48 "Nathanael saith unto Him, "Whence knowest Thou me?" Jesus answered and said unto him, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee."

Nathanael was wondering how Jesus knew who he was. When Jesus told Nathanael when He saw him first, Nathanael knew that there was no way that Jesus could know that except He be the Christ. In a sense Christ called him out from under the fig tree.

Take this to another level of teaching in "the parable of the fig tree". It was the leaves of the fig tree that covered over Eve after she had conceived Cain, from the relations with Satan. It would also be the bad figs [the Kenites] that were controlling the Temple worship at the time of Nathanael, and when Christ called Nathanael, He called him out from under those bad figs, or Kenites.

Live Link to->>>  The Parable of the Fig Tree

We are living in another time when both baskets of good and bad figs have returned to Jerusalem to reestablish the Jews back into this promised land, and this marked the start of the last generation as Jesus said in Matthew 24:34; "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." My fellow Christian, the start of this last generation started March 15, 1948, and many of the events of the final generation are already history to us today.

The fig leaf is the symbol for something that is hidden or deceiving, and that is the evil that shall cover the entire earth very shortly. Satan's deception and that of his children, the Kenites, will package Satan the Antichrist so that the whole world will accept him as the Christ, and only the elect of God will know the truth. Today Christians are relying on the doctrines of tradition, and rejecting God's Word, and by doing so they will be deceived.

John 1:49 "Nathanael answered and saith unto Him, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel."

The Spirit of God revealed Jesus Christ's identity to Nathanael, and Nathanael understood that only the Son of God could have told him what Jesus said to him.

John 1:50 "Jesus answered and said unto him, "Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these."

Jesus is telling Nathanael that if you thought what I said to you was something, stick around and see the miracles that I shall perform.

John 1:51 "And He saith unto him, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man."

Remember back in Genesis 28 where Jacob had a vision, and there was a ladder, and this ladder reached into heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on that ladder, and from this vision Jacob was shown that he was in the seed line that would bring forth the Messiah, and the twelve.

The twelve are the children of "Jacob" whose name was changed to "Israel", and the offspring of those twelve sons of Jacob became known as "Israelites". The sons of Israel multiplied their families into twelve tribes, and into a nation that came out of Egypt calling themselves Israelites, the children of God.

Following the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel was split into two nations, or "houses"; the one house to the north was called the "house of Israel", and the nation to the south, the "house of Judah". The house of Israel and much of the house of Judah, was scattered by the Assyrians by the year 722 B. C., and migrated through the Caucasus mountains, and became known as the "Caucasians".

Over a century later the house of Judah, was taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and held for 70 years. All of the tribes of both houses are Israelites, even though the name "Israel" was given to Joseph sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, in Genesis 48. Though the Christian world today has lost the ten tribes of the "house of Israel". The prophet Hosea identifies them, as they would be know in the last days, in Hosea 1:10.

Live Link to->>>   "Do you know who you really are?"  Are you a Israelite?

Live Link to->>>   "Israel's Lost Tribes" As Israel left the Caucasus Mountains and migrated into Europe, and to North America, they became known as Caucasians

Hosea 1:10 "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, "Ye are not My People," there it shall be said unto them, "Ye are the sons of the living God."

The Living God is Jesus Christ, and those that say they are not of Israel, in their home places around the world, still claim the name of Jesus Christ, and call themselves"Christians". The Christian nations around the world are the house of Israel, prophesied by the prophet Hosea, and their numbers are great. They were "the lost sheep of Israel" that Jesus sent his disciples to preach to, and even to this day, though they call themselves "Caucasians". They call themselves after their migrations through the Caucasus mountains, they still think of it as a race. They have lost their identity marking the event of the migration, and scattering of the old "house of Israel" mostly into Europe and the Americas.

Back in John 1:51, Jesus was telling Nathanael that it is through this ladder, Jesus Christ that heaven's gates shall open, and you will see the many works and miracles being preformed by the Son of man. Jesus ministry is about to start, and Jesus is telling him to wake up and pay attention to all parts of His ministry.

Each of these things that come to pass are part of the foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ. The things that gave Jesus pleasure, are the same things that give our heavenly Father pleasure, and that is why we must know and do the will go God

American Wisdom Series Editor's Note: Now that we've completed this 2015 study of the  "BOOK OF JOHN chapter 1" we have placed a earlier 2002 John chapter 1 study to follow for your comparison. I don't believe you will find much difference in the general opinion of these 2 authors, but to read another person's perspective of events that took place may prove helpful in your understanding of the gospel of John.

In this book of John we learn that real light is not what we, through our flesh eyes, perceive it to be.

The name "John" is Ioannes in the Greek and comes from the Hebrew word Yohanan which means "Yahveh has been gracious" or "Yahveh's gift". And certainly our Father has been most gracious to all of us in giving us His Word through this "disciple whom Jesus loved", the apostle John.

John was a son of Salome and Zebedee, who was a master fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. He was also the brother of James, who suffered martyrdom under Herod Agrippa I as recorded in the Book of Acts:

Acts 12:1
Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.[2]And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

And whereas our Lord and Savior would call Peter "Cephas", which means rock, He would surname these two brothers, James and John, "Boanerges", which means the "Sons of Thunder".

Mark 3:17
And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and He surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

It would be this same John, a son of thunder, who would be taken in spirit to the great Day of Lord, the first day of the Millennium, and SHOWN the actual events of the 7 Seals and 7 Trumps recorded in the Olivet Prophecy by the other three Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark and Luke.

It was this same John who sat at the right hand of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper and who leaned on His bosom. And it was John who was the only disciple of the 12 who was at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified, until the Lord sent him away with His mother. And so it was John who was taken to the third heaven and privileged to actually SEE the lightings and thunderings which usher in the return of Jesus Christ at His second advent. He records all of it for us to read and study and understand in the great book of the unveiling, the Book of Revelation.

Furthermore, John, along with Peter and James, was the only Gospel writer who saw the Lord in His Glory at the mount of transfiguration. It is no wonder then that the Divine purpose in the Gospel of John is to present the Lord Jesus as God. Dr. E. W. Bullinger writes in the Companion Bible in his preface to the Book of John, "This is the one great feature which constitutes the difference between this Gospel and the other three." Again in his notes he writes, "The purpose of the Holy Spirit by John, in his presentation of the Messiah, is to say to us and to all, 'Behold your God'; and His Deity is observed throughout this Gospel."

Isaiah 40:9
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

Knowing then that the presentation of "Jesus as God" and "Behold your God" is the overall theme of his Gospel, John himself gives us the reason why the events contained in this incredible Gospel were written.

John 20:31
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

So John writes to give us documentation that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Divine God. And he tells us again in the third chapter that if you believe in Him, then you shall have eternal life.

Behold, the Gospel of John:

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Where have we heard "In the beginning" before? Right! In the beginning of the Word of God, in Genesis 1:1 to which this same time frame refers. Of course "kids" always want to know when "in the beginning" was. We tell them that God "always was" and "always will be" and they say, "I don't understand, is that the best you can do?" Well, perhaps. But know this, time is not a measurement of the spiritual dimension just as a "thought" has no length, or breadth or height, does it?

Man has his limitations in the flesh. If he could hear all sounds in the city, he would be deafened. If he could see all the molecules and particles in the air, he would be blinded. He can only reach about three feet and jump so high. And the same limitations apply to the flesh mind. I like to use the "carrot" test to illustrate the point.

Close your eyes and envision 3 carrots. Pretty easy, isn't it? Now close your eyes and see exactly 148 carrots. You can't do it? Our minds can't even SEE 148 objects and yet we want someone to explain infinity and then the Trinity. There are some things that lie beyond man's ability to comprehend. They belong to the other dimension, behind the veil which separates this one from that one.

However, there is one thing we do know as revealed in God's Word, and that is that "In the beginning" was BEFORE CREATION!  Yes, there was a time before this planet earth even existed, but He who always was and always will be was there, even the Father, the Word and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 8:22-26
The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

Wisdom was with God before any of His works, i.e. creations.

[23] I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

There was no earth "In the beginning".

[24] When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

[25] Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

[26] While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

Was "the beginning" only 6,000 years ago as the unlearned claim? Hardly! It was aions ago, or as the late Carl Sagan would say "Billions and billions and billions of years ago".

So what did exist "In the beginning"? We just read it in the first verse of John. Let's read it again:

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John certainly knows who the Word of God is. He saw Jesus Christ many times, in the flesh, transfigured, and while in heaven. Here's his description of Him in heaven.

Rev. 19:13
And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.

So the Word of God was in the beginning with God, because He was God.

John 1:2
The same was in the beginning with God.

Christ is the Living Word of God. He always was and He always will be. He changes not!

[3] All things were made by Him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

So when we read Genesis 1:1 we now know Who it was that did all the creating. It was the Word of God who created the heaven and the earth.

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

Hey, the apostle Paul knew it was the Word of God who created the heaven and the earth:

Hebrews 11:3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

We understand through faith because "that's the best we can do" because of the "Carrot Factor", i.e. the problem we have seeing into the other dimension. So we don't know how He did it, but we know He did it.

The apostle Peter knew it was the Word of God who created the heaven and the earth:

2 Peter 3:5
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Everyone knows it was the Word of God who created the heaven and the earth, don't they? Oh, I forgot about the public school systems and the scoffers who are willingly ignorant of God's Word. They have no idea and so they keep "big banging" their heads trying to figure it all out.

And everyone knows that life can only come from life, don't they? Life existed before the creation of the world, and it is that life from which all that has life comes.

John 1:4
In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Yes, but unfortunately we know there was one who didn't want to walk in that light, and his name was Lucifer.And he brought darkness into the "world that then was" but he did not prevail.

John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

"Comprehend" is the Greek word katalambano; Strong's #2638, and means to take eagerly, to seize, or to overcome. Satan wanted to seize or usurp the light, the throne of God, but the darkness could not overthrow the Light.

And as everyone knows (don't they), God destroyed the "world that then was", the first earth age (2 Pet. 3:5-6) and created the heaven and earth age that exist now.

2 Peter 3:5-7
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

[6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

All Gone! You can see the fossils and remains of the dinosaurs, etc., in the bedrock all over the earth.

And so in Genesis 1:2 the earth became utterly wasted, and was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Genesis 1:4
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

That's right! God separated the darkness from the light! The Word of God separated Satan from the Light of men and He sentenced him to outer darkness and eternal death! And following this present earth age, when the plan of salvation of the sons of God is complete, there shall come a new heaven and a new earth, the final one which will last for all eternity.

2 Pet. 3:7
But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

There will be a new heaven and a new earth after the Millennium. John actually got to see the New Jerusalem come right down out of heaven (Rev. 21).

Rev. 21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And so it is that John has given credentials to Jesus Christ as God Himself. He is the very Living Word of God and we have His Written Word in our hands.

What say we then? Shall we walk in darkness or in light? Here are Christ's words as recorded by John:

John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

The choice is yours!

Was Jesus Christ actually God?  The Gospel of John declares Him so! So anyone who tells you that He wasn't is a liar and the truth is not in him. This same John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, declares them so in his epistles.

Next we will learn about the forerunner of Jesus Christ who was sent by God to declare that the Word of God, the Light of men, was come into the world to dwell among men.

John 1:6
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

We call him John the Baptist, and he wasn't a self proclaimed prophet, for he was the very last prophet before the Messiah, and he was SENT from Almighty God in the Spirit of Elijah with a specific mission which will be defined in the next verse. In fact, he was sent [placed in his mother's womb] just 6 months before Mary's miraculous conception on the day we now celebrate as Christmas.

It should be noted that the word "sent" used here is the Greek word apostello and it means set apart and sent out. It is the very word from which we get "apostle". And as we read the next few verses we will discover that John indeed was the apostle sent forth to proclaim and bear testimony of the Light which was to come, even God Himself, the Word, in the flesh.

So John the Baptist didn't just happen along. His birth was perfectly planned, perfectly timed, and perfectly well announced by a very high ranking angel, and Luke perfectly documents it with specific and revealing details. Don't think for one minute that the Holy Spirit moved Luke to just tell a nice "story" of the birth of John and Jesus so we could have material for Christmas plays and pageants. There are no "filler words" and wasted space in the Word of God. Therefore much can be learned when one knows there is a reason and a purpose for ALL that is written.

So if you take the time to read and rightly divide the account of Luke concerning how John the Baptist was SENT into this world you will discover some amazing truths which are "hidden" from the majority of Christianity. Understand, they [the amazing truths] are only "hidden" because people refuse to "take heed" and study His Word seriously, like as if it was written from the Creator of all the Universe. Think about it! Either the Bible is the Word of God, or it isn't! Your belief as to the verity of that statement determines the seriousness of your study.

So here are some examples of the wonderful gems you can possess from reading the account of John the Baptist's birth:

(Gem #1) The reason it is documented that both Zecharias and Elizabeth, John's parents, were descendents of Aaron is to show that they were both of the tribe of Levi, the tribe from which the "priesthood" came. Why is that important? Because it is also written that Elizabeth was Mary's cousin, which means that their mothers were sisters.

Note: Mary's genealogy is given in Luke chapter 3 beginning with her father Heli, who was of the tribe of Judah as the account shows. Don't be confused because the genealogy begins with Joseph, Mary's husband. Even a cursory examination of the scriptures shows that Joseph was the "son-in-law" of Heli, which is what the phrase "as was supposed" means in the Greek. Joseph's genealogy is given in Matthew chapter 1.

So what does all this mean? It means that Mary was 1/2 of the tribe of Judah, the Kingship line, and 1/2 of the tribe of Levi, the Priesthood line. AND SO, Jesus Christ qualified right down to His very genealogy as The KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS. Both the ROD and the SCEPTER belong to Him BY HIS VERY BIRTHRIGHT! He is our KING and our HIGH PRIEST! Is the Word of God perfect or what?

Note: Next time someone tells you that Jesus was a Jew, you can confirm that they are partially correct. He was also a Levite.

(Gem #2) The reason Luke wrote that Zacharias was in the Course of Abia is so that we could know what time of year it was! Why is that important?  You see, we are told that it was 6 months after John the Baptist was begotten that Mary was found to be with child. Do you realize that if we only knew when John the Baptist was conceived we would know when Christ was conceived and thus WHEN JESUS WAS BORN !And guess what? WE DO and it wasn't December 25th!

The actual DATES for the 24 Courses of the Levitical priests are GIVEN in the Book of I Chronicles, chapter 24! How many people do you know who have ever read the Book of Chronicles? In fact, for those of you who sometimes think that we're a little too "hard" on the ignorance of Christianity, especially those who are in charge of leading and teaching Christians, then perform this little test anytime, anywhere. Ask a professing Christian what the Course of Abia was that the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias, was performing in the "Christmas story" account of Luke. Your answer will be "The Course of What?" You'll know right then and there that they are believers in the traditions of men and believe Christ was born on December 25th. They probably also believe there were 3 Wise Men when there is absolutely no documentation as to how many there were (except for the song "We Three Kings", the lyrics of which are not scripture). They also construct Nativity Scenes with the Wise Men in attendance, when only the shepherds from the field were present. The wise men entered into Joseph and Mary's house in Nazareth when Jesus was about 2 years old.

The point is, WHERE are the teachers of our people?

Well, if you want to know when Christ was born you'll need the Book of Chronicles. We are not going to go into detail, but you will find that John the Baptist was conceived around June 24, 5 B.C., and that 6 months later, on December 25th, CHRISTMAS DAY, Jesus Christ was CONCEIVED. He was then born on September 29th, 4 B.C., on the 1st Day of the Feast of Tabernacles! Do you know what the Feast of Tabernacles signifies? God dwelling in the FLESH, an earthly tabernacle, a temporary dwelling! Is God's Word perfect or what?

(Gem #3) If you calculate the conception of Jesus to His birth you will find there were EXACTLY 280 days, which is the perfect gestation of a human being! In Biblical numerics it is 40 weeks or forty sevens, or 7 x 5 x 8= 280. Now you know why a lot of babies are considered a little past due.

(Gem #4) Do you recall the account when Mary, who had just conceived, immediately ran to her cousin Elizabeth and the babe, John the Baptist, leapt in his mother's womb? Now you know the answer to the question, "When is a fetus viable?" There is life at CONCEPTION! I didn't say that life began at conception, for those who are familiar with the "world that then was" know that ALL of us were with our Father before He SENT us here too!

Note: For a further study and more details on the SENT of John the Baptist and the BIRTH of Jesus see appendix 179 in the Companion Bible. There you will find some more gems explained.

Let us now return to the Gospel of John and read why God sent John the Baptist.

John 1:7
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. John the Baptist came to bear a witness, i.e. to declare that the Light is coming and to prepare, as he himself said in John 1:23 "He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias."

[8] He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

Again, John was not the Light, but he was SENT to testify and bear witness of the Light. Even as we read this Gospel he is bearing witness of the Light, isn't he? I guess we could say he "left the light on".

[9] That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

And that Light is there for any and every one who "will" be illuminated by Him. It is hard to imagine that there are those who prefer darkness rather than light, but there are. Jesus Christ said it's because they have something to hide, like sins and evil deeds.

John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

[20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

[21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

As we read this next verse keep in mind from the first verses of this chapter that the true Light created all things and that nothing was made that was not made by Him. Think about how He must have felt.

John 1:10
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew him not.

The world didn't recognize their very Creator. But they will ALL recognize Him the next time He comes!

[11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Even His own kinfolk did not receive Him as Messiah.

[12] But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

It takes POWER to be a Child of God. Whether you like it not, or whether you believe it or not, there's a spiritual WAR going on out there. The forces of darkness are Waging War against the Children of Light. Most of us only think about and have concern for our physical well being, but our real problem, whether we know it or not, or whether our flesh mind can comprehend it or not, is from the forces of evil we constantly face, i.e. those principalities and powers,  rulers of darkness and wickedness from high places in the spiritual world which we can't see with our flesh and blood eyes, yet exists all around us!

Ephes. 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So let's be about using that POWER and stomp some Dragon!

Luke 10:19
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Who are those serpents and scorpions, i.e. our enemies? Well, who was the serpent in the garden? Yes, Satan of course, and his troop of fallen angels, i.e. the locusts we learn about in the book of Joel and in Revelation 9:7. They are coming to earth in person very soon and are already here in spirit. Yes, locusts the size of horses, with stingers in their tails!

Again, He gave us the power! We have the power! But it is up to us to use it!

Ephes. 6:10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

And He will never let us down.
 

Do you have the power to become a son of God?

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:

He gives the power to become sons of God to
"them that believe on His name".

Just what does it mean to believe on His name?

 The answer lies in knowing "What His Name Is"!

And John told us earlier in Chapter one.

Rev. 19:13 And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.

The Word of God gives you the POWER to be a son or daughter of God!

It is the Word of God that gives power to those who believe on His name,
for His name is the Word of God.

Now this may sound really simple,
because it is,
but do you have the Word of God?

Do you read it daily?

Yes!

Then you have the power!

Continuing with the subject of the Light coming into the world. Some might say that this verse is simply talking about being "born again" of the spirit, and if that is how you see it, that is OK, but on a deeper level this verse addresses the subject of predestination. Let's read it first.

John 1:13
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Instead of "Which were born" (the word born meaning begotten) some of the manuscripts (as noted in the Companion Bible) read "Who was begotten", which is singular, referring to the subject being discussed of the Light coming in to the world, i.e. Jesus Christ. And of course the begetting and birth of Christ was not dependent on mankind, or on the course of nature, or on the will of the flesh, or on family planning. No, His birth was due to the Will of God.

But didn't we just read that the begetting of John the Baptist was also by the will of God? Our Father SENT him here, right?

We also read the following verse earlier:

John 1:12
But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:

Are you one of those to whom He has given power? Do you believe on His name, the Word of God, both Living and Written?  Then as one of God's elect your begetting and your birth WAS NO ACCIDENT either. It was also not dependent on mankind, or on the course of nature, or on the will of the flesh, or on family planning. No, your birth, like John's, was due to the Will of God.

If you have studied with us through the books of Genesis or Ephesians or Peter, etc., then you are familiar with the "World that then was" (II Pet. 3:6), before God destroyed it at the rebellion of Satan. And before He even formed this present earth age He set your time to be sent here, as one of His.

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

[5] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Your Father SENT you here to be a part of this final generation of the fig tree. You are somebody! You are a child of the Living God and you are truly well blessed indeed!

And because of His love for His children, having made them all to be born in the flesh, He Himself became born of flesh to dwell among us. (No one will ever be able to say at judgment, "Oh yeah, you try living in one of those flesh bodies once." He did!)

John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Dr. Moffat translates "full of grace and truth" as "full of grace and reality".

And John the Baptist, who was sent by God in the Spirit of Elijah, as the voice crying in the wilderness, bare witness of Jesus Christ that He was indeed the Word of God, the One who existed in the beginning, the One by whom all things were created, who now was made flesh and dwelled among us.

[15] John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me.

The Word was in the Beginning, long before John or you or me.

And get this next verse:

[16] And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

We can get all spiritual here and overlook the fact that ALL we have received, from our very souls to this beautiful place called earth, yes, the very air we breathe, came from Him. EVERYTHING!

1 Cor. 10:26
For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.

Plus we have all received grace because of His grace, His love.

And we need grace because we are all yucky sinners. The law, that wonderful schoolmaster that sets the standard, lets us know we indeed fall short.

John 1:17
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

But through Jesus Christ grace and reality are ours.

[18] No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.

Have you seen God at any time? See, the Bible is true!

Flesh man cannot see behind the veil into the spiritual dimension, so the Word became flesh that the Father might be declared.You see, Christ could actually be SEEN so that we know the Father!

Just wait until we get to chapter 14 and Thomas and Philip are talking face to face with the Word of God in the flesh and the subject of the Father comes up.

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

[7] If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.

This is way too deep for Philip so he speaks up, "I don't see anyone, Lord, just show us the Father and I be satisfied."

[8] Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

[9] Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

"Come on Philip, old buddy, old pal, get with the program. He that has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you saying, Show us the Father?" Philip is now formulating a new phrase "Like Father, like Son!"

[10] Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Next we have the account of John the Baptist discussing "who's on first" with the confused religious leaders of the Jews.

John 1:19
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

Priests: "Hey, you over there!"

John: "Who me?"

Priests: "Yes, you, the one with the honey coated locusts. Who are you?"

[20] And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

John: "Well, I'm certainly not the Messiah, if that's what you are thinking! Want to try again?"

[21] And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

Priests: "What then? Are you Elijah?

John: "Nope, wrong again. I'm not Elijah."

Priests: "Are you the prophet we await?"

John: "No! So you guys are priests, huh? You're not too good at playing 'What's My Line?' are you?"

[22] Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

Priests: "All right, we give up. Look, we have to report back to the Jews who sent us to find out who you are. So tell us who you say you are."

John: (Thinking to himself how clueless these priests are, he decides to give them a "clue" and quote from Isaiah 40:3).

John 1:23
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

Of course these guys didn't want to ask a "layman" what that verse meant, so they moved to the next question.

[24] And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

Oh, now we see who these dudes really are! Careful John!

[25] And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

Priests: "So tell us, what are you doing baptizing people if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or that prophet? Where are your credentials?"

[26] John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

[27] He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
 

John: "Oh, I just baptize with water! But there is One among you, of course you don't know Him anymore than you know who I am, Who comes after me, Whose shoes I'm not worthy to untie. Tell that to those who sent you! Good day gentlemen."

[28] These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

There are basically two approaches to reading and studying the Bible.

The first approach is where you already have a doctrine or even a theory that you believe,

probably because you grew up believing it and/or your church teaches it and believes it.

So since you already believe this doctrine to be truth,
after all, you think, the church is a good church,
the people are good people,
and the minister is a good minister,
you then read the Bible and look for scriptures to support that doctrine.

This method is very safe.

The only problem is that the Word of God is secondary to the doctrine,
or the tradition,
i.e. the religion comes first,
ahead of the Word of God, and only to the point where it backs up the religion.

Then too, the entire church group itself also serves as a prejudiced grand jury
which will not permit new evidence,
even if it is directly from scriptures,
to be entered into the body.

The second approach, however, is much riskier

and requires the courage to be able to face reality head-on
and accept the facts as they exist and are documented without the twist of the Spin-Ministers.

It may require one to admit he or she has been or is wrong!

God forbid!

Discovery, a legal term meaning gathering information and facts
which can be a lot of work,
is often required before beginning to rightly divide the truth from the spin.

Of course you must then use your own mind
to "think"
instead of trusting someone else's!

Let's use an example from earlier.

There are those who teach and believe that John the Baptist was actually Elijah the Prophet. After all, during discovery you will find it is recorded in Malachi 4:5, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:". This passage was well known by the scribes in Christ's time and we find in Mat. 17:9-13 and Mark 9:11-13 that the disciples told Christ that the scribes were saying that "Elijah must come" before the Messiah. Jesus said, "Yes I know, but they are clueless for Elijah is come already and they knew him not."

You see in Mat. 11:10 Jesus was discussing John the Baptist and He quoted Mal. 3:1, not Mal. 4:5, which says, "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me..." Then in verse 14 of Mat. 11, Jesus said that "IF you will receive", i.e. if they had repented and believed, "this is [represents] Elijah, which was for to come." In other words, Christ would have ushered in the Kingdom of God had the nation repented and accepted Him and John the Baptist would have been reckoned as Elijah. (See notes on Mal. 4:5 in the Companion Bible).

Then Christ said "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." That is a statement made to God's elect, to those to whom He has "given power", i.e. to those whom He has sent. The Pharisee's were sent by MAN. John the Baptist was sent by GOD. The Pharisees therefore did not have ears to hear.

Now for someone to say that John the Baptist came in the "Spirit of Elijah" would be quite accurate indeed, for we just read that he would have been reckoned as Elijah had the nation received the Messiah. But to teach that he actually "was" Elijah is quite another matter.

Do you know of any servant of God who didn't know who he was? If you asked Isaiah if he was Jeremiah, what do think he would say? If you asked Daniel if he was Ezekiel, what do think he would say? If you asked John the Baptist, "Who are you?", do think he would say "Hmm, I don't really know. I know I have been sent by God so maybe I'm Elijah the Prophet!" Well, for those who don't have eyes to see or ears to hear it sometimes has to come down to this level. Remember, there are no "filler words" in the scriptures, so the discourse between the priests, sent by man, to ask John the Baptist, sent by God, if he was indeed Elijah, is recorded for a purpose and a reason.

John 1:21
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias?

And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

Question: Was John the Baptist Elijah the Prophet?

Answer using Method #2: No!

Answer using Method #1: Well, that depends on your definition of the word "No!"

We now move to the beginning of the ministry of the Messiah according to the Gospel of John. The account is still of John the Baptist's witness.

John 1:29
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John the Baptist obviously knew the Oracles of God, the scriptures, very well. He quoted from Isaiah to the Pharisees and now declares Jesus as the Lamb of God, even the Passover Lamb, the sacrifice of which is for the remission of sins. This comes directly from Isaiah 53:7.

So did John know that Christ would not be accepted and that He would be the Lamb Slain? Of course he did!

Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not his mouth.

And what did Jesus have to say for Himself at His midnight trial? He fulfilled this verse!

John 1:30
This is He of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for He was before me.

When a true prophet says so, it happens! John already documented the Word was from before the foundation of this earth in the beginning of this chapter.

[31] And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin, remember? However, there is no Biblical record of where Jesus was from age 12 until this verse where He is age 30.  We'll read later in chapter 6 of this book that even the townspeople said "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?"

So here in verse 31 John says, as Dr. Moffat better translates it, "I myself did not recognize Him." (Moffat) Why didn't John and the people recognize Him? Because He had been away! History records that Jesus traveled abroad with His mother and His very wealthy uncle, Joseph of Arimathaea, back and forth to Glastonbury, England, and other diverse locations.

Note: If you haven't read the booklet "The Traditions of Glastonbury", by E. Raymond Capt, then you are in for a real treat should you decide to get a copy and read it. You will find it at www.artisanpublishers.com

So we read in verse 31 that John's mission was to preach repentance, baptizing with water, and making known to ISRAEL that He was coming.

John 1:32
And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

[33] And I knew him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

John was named by God, and sent by God, and told by God, Who gave him his commission, that he would know Him when he saw the Spirit "descending" and "remaining" on Him.

[34] And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

[35] Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

Andrew and John, the writer of this Gospel, were these two disciples of John the Baptist. I'm sure he had more. So in other words, they were students of the Word, taught by John the Baptist, who documented in scripture that the Lamb of God was coming. I'm sure that was exciting!

John 1:36
And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Wow! That had to be an awesome experience.

[37] And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

They heard John the Baptist speaking, not Jesus. Verse 40 documents it.

[38] Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

Jesus turned and asked them what they wanted. They opened their mouths to say "ARE YOU REALLY THE MESSIAH?" and out came "Uh, hi Rabbi, where are you from?"

Since it was about 4 PM Jesus figured He'd invite them over for dinner.

[39] He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.

[40] One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

Andrew means "manly", Peter means "rock".

[41] He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

Andrew, all excited no doubt, went and found Peter, his brother, and said, "Peter, He's here! We have found the Messiah that John's been teaching us about in God's Word. You've got to come meet Him."

[42] And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

And so Andrew brought his brother to the Lord. What a wonderful thing to do!

How is that you came to follow Jesus Christ?  Are you one of those who have searched and even wandered from church to church? Have you somehow always intuitively known that something was amiss or missing and that the truth and the "true church" just had to be "out there" somewhere?

And then one day you hear or read His Word being taught boldly and straight forward and your "ears" perk up and you begin to "see" things you can't believe you overlooked before and marvel why it is you were never taught them before!  And it begins to make so much sense to you and you "know" it is the truth and you now are driven by an insatiable "hunger" to dig for more precious manna from His Word. Such is a common story often told by God's elect and not so very different as the calling out of the disciples of Jesus about whom we are currently studying.

We saw John and Andrew and Peter follow after Jesus without an altar call and without any emotional pleas. You see, they heard His voice and immediately knew it was Him, just as it is documented later in this Gospel of John that His sheep do "know" His voice! Let's jump ahead and read it:

John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

Notice that Jesus "goeth before them" and leads His sheep, He does not have to drive them. They hear His voice and they follow after Him, even as they did in "the world that then was", before the foundation of this earth age, at the rebellion of Satan. Thus were God's elect, of Christ's day and of today, chosen then. Paul documents it in Ephesians:

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

Now remember what John has been documenting in this Gospel of John: His "voice" is the Word of God.

Jesus Christ is the true Shepherd. And when He speaks, i.e. when the true Word of God is spoken, those who are His, His elect, "intuitively" know His voice, and that it is indeed the true Word of God that is being spoken.

[5] And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

And once God's elect have been "called by His voice", they can never again follow after strangers for the stranger's voice now rings hollow and no longer rings true. They will flee from them and that means even changing the channel. They have now been set free from the shackles of the traditions of men, from religion that looks like Christianity, and have entered into "grace and reality" (Jn. 1:17), which is Jesus Christ.

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

The late E.W. Bullinger, one of the greatest Christian scholars of our modern era, writes, "Only now can they know "the God of Peace" (Rom. xv. 33)". On page 416 of his book, "How to Enjoy the Bible", he writes most profoundly on this subject. He says regarding those who know that "peace":

Only such have leisure to be occupied with God.
Only such can "sit at the Lord's feet and hear His Word" (Luke 10:39).
   All others must be "cumbered about with much serving." They must needs be occupied with themselves; either as sinners taken up with their sins, or as penitents with their repentance, or as believers with their faith, or as saints with their holiness.

Think about it. Are you free from "religion"?

And know this also regarding the voice of strangers. There is a "stranger" coming in the image of the Lamb slain, whom the whole world with the exception of God's elect will follow after, believing he is indeed Jesus Christ. But he will be the false Messiah and God's elect will NOT follow after him. His voice will sound to most pro-fessing Christians, like the voice of the true Shepherd but it will be the voice of a dragon for it will be The Dragon, even Satan himself.

Rev. 13:11
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Note: "Horns" are symbolic of "power" and the Dragon, who is the spurious messiah, Satan himself, will have control of the New World Order as well as the Religions of the world, including Christianity. In other words he is coming as the King of kings and Lord of lords, only he will be an imposter.

So are you one of God's elect? Do you have "eyes to see" and "ears to hear"? If so, you were also chosen before the foundation of this earth age. Now we will also see that Jesus knew His disciples before they came to Him. We begin with day four of John's ministry.

John 1:43
The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.

Again, notice there was no pleading, no emotionalism, and no altar call, followed by no argument from Philip.

John 1:44
(Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.)

Beth-saida means "house-of-fish", the city of the big fisherman, Peter, and his brother.

[45] Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Philip also knew the Word of God and the prophecies of the coming Messiah, as did Andrew and John who we read were both disciples, students, of John the Baptist.

[46] And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

Though Jesus was born in Beth-lehem (meaning "house-of-bread") on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, He was circumcised on the eighth day and presented in the temple 33 days later according to the law in Leviticus, and then He and His mother and Joseph left for Nazareth where they established their residency.

[47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Jesus greeted Nathanael as though He knew him, which He did, and called him an honest man and an Israelite.

[48] Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

Nathanael then said to Jesus, "How do you know me?"

Jesus told him He "saw" him under the "fig tree" before Philip called him. You see, Jesus didn't physically go to the fig tree with Philip, so how would He know Nathanael was there?  Of course he saw him spiritually.

[49] Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Nathanael correctly called Jesus the King of ISRAEL, not just King of the one tribe of Judah!

John 1:50
Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

Sure he would see greater things than that, for Christ knew He would perform all kinds of healings, raising people from the dead, and other miracles.

[51] And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

And if you are one of His you will also see heaven open and the 3rd and final Earth Age established on this earth (Rev. 21-22).

What a privilege and an honor to be one of His sheep and to know His voice, His Word. The security and peace in knowing Him surpasses all that the strangers have to offer, which is really only religion and bondage.

Do you know the truth? Then you are free indeed to "sit at the Lord's feet and hear His Word"!

                                 

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