Everlasting Gospel
First lesson: Rev. 22:2
“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruits every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Brethren, I want to let you know that all the teachings you have received from the world cannot bring you salvation. For one carnal consideration or the other, you seem to think that a person's wisdom or knowledge is synonymous with his right of entry into the Kingdom of God.
I want to tell you that your numerous certificates in engineering, accountancy, economics, law, theology, science and the rest of the worldly disciplines have no bearing at all with this new dispensation. The fact that your father or relation is a pope, a bishop, or church leader has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God.
Similarly, your being a member of the spiritual organisation or any other secret cult, has nothing to do with God's Kingdom. Besides, whatever knowledge you have got in any of the worldly institutions of learning is sham. It is only God alone that can teach you to come to the accurate wisdom of the truth. Whatever educational qualification you may have acquired, you should realize that wisdom of truth, is more important.
To this end, the wisdom of the world, acquired in colleges and universities cannot help anybody to inherit the Kingdom.
If people like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo had realized the importance of this new dispensation, they would have come here to receive this wisdom. They feel egoistic and therefore shun the true wisdom of God. It is no gain-saying that the worldly philosophers, theologians and generality of the people regard Brotherhood of the Cross and Star as the strongest and the most powerful society. If God does not have the supreme powers, then one wonders who else should have.
It is then imperative that you should not allow your father's position in the Presbyterian or other orthodox churches to blur your sense of reasoning because such worldly churches have nothing to do with the kingdom of God. This implies that the worldly people read the Bible upside down, and not with understanding. It is pathetic to note that many people still doubt visions and those who have been endowed with the spirit of healing, charm removal, and other spiritual manifestations. I would like to intimate you that every spiritual activity in the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star has its significance. For instance singing, dancing, going on blessings, celebrating the love feast, the application of the holy oil, each and everyone of them is very efficacious.
It is absurd to treat love feast disdainly. It is equally profane to treat visioners with disdain, or to receive visions from special individuals, or at worst to regard visioners as mere impostors. There is no prophecy of God that has ever been coined out of private interpretations. 2 Peter 1:17-21
“For when he received honour and glory from God the Father, a voice was borne to Him from the supreme glory. This is my son, my beloved, in whom I am delighted. And we heard this voice borne to us from heaven, when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.”
So, we have the prophetic message reaffirmed, to which you do well to pay attention as you would to a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the daystar arises in your hearts. With this most clearly understood, that no prophetic scripture can be explained by one's unaided mental powers. No prophecy ever came by the will of man: instead men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2.1 Very few understand the Bible
The whole world has not been endowed with the power to interpret the Bible, let alone to really understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit. John 15:1-6
“I am the true Vine and my Father is the Vine dresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit He prunes away, and whatever bears fruit He prunes so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean through the word that I have spoken to you. Remain in me and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself without remaining in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in me is thrown away as a branch and withers; people gather such branches, throw them into the fire, and they are burned”
You are mere branches of this Tree of life, and unless you abide in the Father, you cannot perform effectively on your own volition. “I am the Tree and you are the branches” and you can only exist and be accorded respect simply because He abides in you. And if He does not abide in you, you become empty.
First lesson Revelation .22:2
“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruits every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
The tree in reality cannot also exist on its own without the branches. Thus all things work in agreement and harmony to give glory to the Father. All creations derive their existence, feeding, and the air they breathe from this Tree. The moon, sun, stars, water, air, forest, animals, birds of the air, creeping things, visible and invisible things, all obtain their existence from this tree of Life. There is nothing you can do to prevent this symbiotic and dual co-existence. Romans 14:79
“For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself for in case we live, we live to the Lord, and in case we die, we die to the Lord; so whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this purpose Christ died and lives again, to be Lord both of the dead and of the living”.
You should all realize that you are part and parcel of the Tree and an embodiment of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Luke 6:17-19
“With them, He came down and stood on a level spot with a large throng of His disciples and a vast crowd of people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, came to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases. Those troubled with unclean spirits were healed every one”.
2.2 The Tree of life
The leaves of this tree of life is used in healing the nations. How is this done? There are the words which come out from His mouth and the impact of these words heal the sick of their infirmities, and those who have all types of inexplicable problems also obtain solutions through His words. The power that is in you is doing marvelous works, because by your mere saying peace to somebody who is sick or who has problems, he or she is made well or his or her problems are solved.
In another development, a person can get well by mere looking at you. You are all embodiment of power. But why is it not possible for those outside the fold to pray for the sick to get well? You may not realize the powers which are in you, but suffice me to remind you that Paul the Apostle of old, used his handkerchief to heal many sick people. The powers in you flow from the power house which is the Father Himself. That is why our Lord Jesus the Christ has said that whoever believes in Him shall do greater works than He had done. John 14:12.
“Truly I assure you, the one who believes in me will himself do the works I do, and will do greater things than these, for I go to the Father”.
2.3 The powers available to man
If you are in love with Him and believe in Him, you are also one with Him, (1Cor. 12:4-14) “and there are diversities of spiritual gifts but it is the same spirit which works all in all.” Ideally, the Almighty God has freely distributed His will and purpose. To this end, nobody is given more glory in them. There are various kinds of powers in operation in the world. These are political and military powers, mechanical powers, powers of attorney pertaining to written documents in respect of rules of law, electrical powers. Others are principalities and powers in high and low places employed by Satan and his agents to control the destinies and fates of humanity. But all these powers have their limitations and retributive effects on the operators. Only the divine power of God is supreme over all and encompasses all planes of existence visible and invisible. This power is available only to the children of God.
2.4 The twelve powers of man
The twelve fruits of the tree of life are the twelve powers of man, which are love, peace, faith, order, power, wisdom, zeal, mercy, humility, riches, foresight and life. All these are controlled by the one single Spirit. God controls them all. All of them are in agreement and in harmony.
2.5 Love is one of the faculties or ministries but have you got any? It is only God Almighty who has the monopoly of all these powers. Therefore if you have one or two of these powers, what about the rest? That is why man has little or nothing to glory about. God is love. Man may have love but no matter how much love he may have, the love would still be limited. But only God Almighty has immeasurable love.
2.6 Order is one of the departments. This symbolizes the orderly disposition of things following one after another. It is the harmonious sequence or the condition in which things are in their proper and divine places. It is the natural, moral and the spiritual constitution of all the planes of the universe. It is absolute obedience and lowliness of heart as recorded in Romans 5:19 and in 1 Peter 1:2.
2.7 Peace is a special faculty which consists of other attribute such as agreement, contentment, concord, harmony, calmness, endurance, and amity. Others in the same ministry are joy, relaxation, reconciliation, rest, assurance and pacification, The following passages in the Bible could be read through for further information: Isaiah 48:18, psalm 29:11. Romans 8:6. Romans 14:17-19.
2.8 Wisdom is another important ministry which borders on the knowledge of what is good, true and sagacious. This is coupled with judgment as to action of understanding and prudence. It consists of ability, science, brilliance, awareness, eloquence, realities, shrewdness, discoveries and inventions. Ecclesiastes 9:16-18, Ephesians 3:10, James 3:17, Psalm 90:12 are some of the passages on wisdom.
2.9 Faith is one of the faculties comprising of such other attributes as trust, belief, truth, confidence, loyalty and dependence. Others are credence, fidelity, hope, reliance, and anticipation; Romans 4:5, Acts 26:18, Romans 4:13, Heb, 11:1 and James 2:26 give fuller detail about the significance of faith. Nobody can really please God without it, and faith without work is dead.
2.10 Riches also are in another department comprising such attributes as abundance, fruitfulness, wealth, prosperity, plenty, fertility and affluence. It is a blessing bestowed on individuals to be storekeepers. In Psalm 62:10, Psalm104:24, Proverbs 30:8 and Ephesians 1:7, details are enumerated about the essence of riches.
2.11 Zeal is another faculty consisting of ardency, desire, objectivity, eagerness, diligence, skill and enthusiasm. Others are endeavors, diligence, devotion, the excess of it, which is fanaticism and zealotry. In Psalm 69:9, Romans 10:2, Titus 2:14 are some of the details.
2.12 Power is another significant faculty whose weapon is the sword of the spirit, i.e. the word. Power does not consist in talking but in action. Power belongs to God alone, and man may have just very limited power. Those other attributes in this ministry are protection, strength and defense. Power can be bestowed on humanity for the essence that confirms that man is the tabernacle of God. Psalm 96:6 Psalm 68:35 can be referred for fuller details.
2.13 Mercy The Bible says blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy (Matt 5:7). This is one department of the ministry which consists of compassion, forbearance, pity, clemency, benevolence, pardon and leniency. Others are forgiveness, favour, appreciation, good disposition, indulgence, cheerfulness and thanks. In Genesis 19:19, psalm 23:6, the significance of acts of mercy are realized and without mercy, none of us would see salvation.
2.14 Humility is another faculty consisting of these other attributes such as meekness, gentleness, lowliness, docility, submissiveness and difference. Colossians 2:23; Galatians 5:22-23 referred. Those who have no humility cannot please God, and the proud are always susceptible to iminent fall and disgrace. Our Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself even unto accepting the death of the cross.
2.15 Foresight is another important faculty that consists of vision, prophecy, preconception, foreknowledge, prediction and prevision. Others are precaution, planning, precognition, and clairvoyance. In proverbs 29:18, psalm 89:19, you can obtain some details on the import of having foresight.
2.16 Life is one of the powers of this faculty. It is spirit and the light. It consists of breath, sentience, being, essence, heart, soul, animation and duration. It is water, blood and spirit . These recorded quotations from the Bible give the detail: Gen.2:7, Leviticus 17:11, John 8:12, John 11:25, Rev22:1-5 and Rev 22:17.
2.17 God alone has all powers in abundance
God is the source of life for all living things. The mysteries surrounding all these faculties are beyond the wisdom of humanity. The reason why the work of God is so badly retarded on earth is because no one person is given more than two or at most three of these powers so as not to glorify himself or show the tendency to lord it over others. And since all these gifts are distributed with their limitations, therefore the selfishness to lord it over any department does not arise. For instance without the power of God bestowed on His children, one should be stricken at the altar or pulpit while preaching, and he or she would drop dead instantly. The efficacy of burning candles to invoke spirits or preparation of juju concoctions is no more there. Those who indulge in these diabological things must suffer untold hardships. There is nothing you can successfully do without the Spirit of God (Eph.4:8 -16).
There are those who have been endowed with the powers of visions and healing, but they may have no money and other material things. They may have neither education nor the ability to absorb the shocks. Hence these divisive tendencies can not allow things to work (John 2:24) normally. It is possible to remain with people for a long time without their knowing the type of person you are. It is only the Lord of love, life and power who can know how to deal with evil men.
2.18 God knows all people
God does not want a person to report somebody to Him, because He knows the minds of all the people. God is the custodian of all good virtues and powers. A person can deceive an individual or government, company or firm, but definitely not God. Galatians 6:7
“make no mistake, God will not be mocked. What a person sows, that he will harvest as well”.
Many people profess to have “big” certificates and work for the government and companies, but in reality these paper qualifications are fakes. Yet they are drawing fat salaries monthly. God does not need to ask people to tell Him what you are; see 2nd Peter 1:5:11.
“for this very reason do your utmost to supplement your faith with virtue, your virtue with knowledge, your knowledge with self-control, yourself-control with patience, your patience with piety, your piety with brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities increasing they will render your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ neither inactive nor unproductive, while he who does not have these is blind, short-visioned, oblivious of the cleansing from his former sins. Exert yourselves the more then, brothers, to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these things you will never stumble, for so an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ will be liberally provided for you”.
He knows whatever you are, and even the most hidden imagination of your heart. Which of the virtue do you possess? You also realize that the act of giving is receiving. You cannot expect to receive when you have not decided to give out. Those who have come to the understanding of this truth always try their very best to make sure they give out something to people. Anybody who chooses to remain alone cannot obtain these Godly attributes (John 15:1-2), because the branches of the tree cannot be sustained unless they are attached to the stem of the tree.
2.19 Love is the greatest
But the trouble is that you must neither add nor subtract or else you shall be cut off from the face of the earth. John 15:4-6 says:
“Remain in me and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself without staying on the vine, so you cannot without remaining in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him, bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in me is thrown away as a branch withers; people gather such branches and throw them in the fire, and they are burned”.
If you are with Him in doing His words, you cannot be separated from Him no matter the circumstance. It is the greatest height of insult to take dictation from wisdom, whereas love one another is the only hallmark with which to repose your confidence.
1Cor. 13:13. There remain then faith, hope, and love these three: but the greatest of these is love. It is only love that can unite the world and bind humanity together. Those who have no love are lost, (1 Cor. 8: 1-3) and those who LOVE God are known by Him. 1 Cor. 13:3
“And though I give all my belongings to feed the hungry and surrender my body to be burned, but I have no love, I am not in the least benefited”.
Love is the greatest of all the powers of man. You have been advised in your own interest to give gifts to under-priviledged people, because your prosperity depends on giving out your material resources for sustenance of the underprivileged.
If you go to the University, you only go there to obtain higher qualifications whereby you will have more money, but in this new kingdom of practical Christianity, when you graduate, you have higher Spiritual powers and in addition, inherit the kingdom of God.
It is more blessed to give than to receive, and ideally, giving is receiving. James 2:4-5. Have you not discriminated among your own and become judges with evil thought? Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor. Do not the rich domineer you and drag you into the courts?
It is imperative for those who had been ministering to the necessities of the underprivileged to continue doing so. They should not be fed up in doing good especially those who have got this recondite wisdom and understanding. Here is an analogy to draw a parallel to the fact that it is better to give than to receive. There was a king who had no child. He did the best he could to make sure that his wife bore him a child, no matter the sex. He consulted renowned medical experts and consultants. He did everything humanly possible to have at least one child irrespective of sex. He promised to make anybody who would make him have a child a millionaire.
One day the queen, his wife, saw a poor man with some zinc sheets struggling to build a little hut for himself and his family as he has been driven away from his former house. He could only have a monthly income of just ten naira (N10.00) which could not carry him through in a month. The children were not well fed. The queen had compassion on him and his family and so decided to help him. She asked the man to bring all his children to be trained by the king. She regretted having wasted all the money in native and medical treatment without success, whereas the money could have been spent in doing some welfare work for the underprivileged. The queen regarded the four children begot by the poor man as hers and started to train them in the best secondary schools and universities in that country. When the specialist doctor who used to come on visit to the palace asked the king and queen about their situation, they said that they were alright.
You all should realize that God who knows the hidden minds of men, knows how to salvage people from inexplicable problems. They started caring for other people's children just as their own, forgetting completely about the frustration they faced because of childlessness. But as God would have it, within a year the queen became pregnant. She continued to care for these underprivileged children. She was contented with whatever situation she found herself. Eventually she bore a male child which she counted as her fifth child among the children of the poor man. In the course of time, they were able to own two male and two female children, all totaling eight children. Meanwhile, the king and the queen asked the parents of the four children to come and live with them in their palace and to enjoy all the affluence of the royal family. They gave them the same colour of dresses to wear, and they all ate together from the same table.
2.20 Work for the good of others first
Luke 16:11-12 therefore if you have not been faithful in matters of unrighteous riches, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you are not reliable with what belongs to another, who will give you anything for your personal possession? This is the wisdom I had before I was five years old. You should always work for the good of others first and foremost, and all other things shall be given to you; Matt. 20:26-28. This is a statement which goes with power and works faster than magic. Our Lord Jesus Christ had set the pattern for everybody to follow. He did good for others. Anybody who does any good thing for other people, is automatically doing it for himself.
Our Lord Christ did good for people and as a result, He is now the King of glory. Although in the course of His doing good, He was vilified, disgraced, and spat upon, yet He neither relented His efforts in helping them. He did not stop to do good. Therefore, whatever you have to do, do it well as though you are doing it for yourself.
Eph. 6:5-8;” Slaves, render obedience to your earthly masters, with reverence and awe, with such unmixed motives as you feel toward Christ. Do not be eye-slaves as men-pleasures, but as slaves of Christ carry out wholeheartedly the will of God, rendering service with goodwill as to the Lord and not to men aware that whatever good each one may do, he will be recompensed by the Lord, whether he is a slave or a freeman”.
You should be prepared under any circumstance to serve anybody whether he be bond or free, for you are all one in our Lord Jesus Christ, hence there is neither male nor female in this kingdom. Since you all belong to God in Christ. You are all Abraham's seed, and therefore heirs according to His divine promise.
If you give out material resources to do good, God will replenish you in material prosperity, spiritual upliftment, in good health, in peace and every good thing of life. Who among you can give ten thousand Naira (N10,000.00) to the poor? Who is prepared to help? You will rather give your money to the corrupt rich or to swindlers, only to regret later for being defrauded by evil minded persons. Luke 14:12-14
“He further told His host. 'Whenever you give a dinner or supper, do not invite your friends or your well-to-do neighbour: for they may invite you in their turn and so repay you. Instead, when you give a dinner, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind: then blessing will be yours, for they have nothing to repay you, but you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just”.
You should not give your gifts to those you expect will reciprocate. Have you ever made love feast for the poor? (1 John 3:14) those that do not love still abide in darkness and death. If you lend out some money to somebody and he or she refuses to return the money, in the spiritual world the money would be deducted with sizeable interest and paid into your spiritual bank. That is why I am assuring you that it is better to give than to receive.
2.21 God endows man with powers
There are quite a number of things, which the people of this world did not know, but right now you are being given free. Since the creation of man (Genesis 1:26-29) nobody has realized the power, which God has bestowed on man. Man had been endowed with all powers to take the superintendence of all other creations of God. Have you known that whatever are being referred to as powers are invested in man? All other creations of God, namely fishes in water, birds of the air, trees, animals in the bush, and all other creeping things have not been endowed with these attributes of God. It is only man whom God created in His image and likeness that has been endowed with powers to control other creations. But God is the power house through which all the powers are generated, and then distributed.
The earthly power house is situated thousands of kilometers away, but electric light or electric power is working far away in houses, offices, factories and everywhere. It is just the same thing that God is doing with human beings. And just like individuals or corporate bodies who refuse to pay their electricity bills have their light or power supply disconnected, so it is with man. Acceptance of God’s injunctions and the practice of His words are just like paying the electricity bills. Righteousness is the only channel through which the powers of God can flow to individuals, families or communities.
Somebody can be in the United States of America and the power house is in Nigeria, in Africa, but the person in the United States of America will lavishly receive the power, while a person in Nigeria where the power house situates may not get the impact of anything. It is a common place occurrence to see numerous people clamoring and looking for talisman, rings, and amulets with the intent of acquiring powers through objects and other media, and not through the divine medium which is baptism duely approved by the Almighty God.
2.22 You are born with the power
In the interim, the power which God has bestowed on any man is right from childhood, and a question of acquiring power or self development is delusive. Such thinking should be ignored by all well-meaning people. The little framework called man is the tabernacle of God, and forest, fire, water, roads, mountains, valleys, animals, birds are found in man. Man shall continue to exist. Man has neither beginning nor end.
If you fight against your fellowman, you are fighting against God. Therefore right from now, you have to refrain from committing sins against your fellow man. It is wrong to say that you have done something in retaliation against another man. Such retaliatory action against the other person is against God also. Heb.2:6-9. But somewhere it is testified:
“what is man that thou art mindful of him, or a son of man that thou lookest after him? For a little while thou hast ranked him lower than the angels: with glory and honour hast thou crowned him: all things hast thou subjected underneath his feet”.
2.23 Man is superintendent
In thus subjecting all things to him, nothing is left out that is not subjected; but at present we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we see Jesus, ranked lower than the angels for a little while, crowned with glory and honour because of the sufferings of death, in order that by divine grace He might taste death for every one.
Although a man might have been made a little lower than the angels, the irony of it all is that all things have been put in subjection under him. Otherwise what could have made God to be mindful of man, or to come and dwell with him.
2.24 Know yourself
Do you know that all powers are in you? Consequently, since powers are in you, you simply collect leaves, herbs, bark of trees etc. and speak to them to perform some actions, and they obey and act immediately. But your problem is that you do not know the particular part of your body from where the power can generate. The powers of some of you can generate from the hairs on your head such as that of Sampson, some can generate from your eyes, ears, tongues, mouths or foreheads. That is why you should come to the accurate realization of yourself, and you shall have no more problems.
You ought to think positively always because positive thinking means success, whereas negative thinking means failure, if you really believe that you are the image and the likeness of God, and that all the power are embedded in you, then you can do anything.
2.25 Avoid sin and pride
The only thing that can ever inhibit you from displaying the powers in you is sin and pride. These vices are counter-productive. Man has been able to acquire all the knowledge and technology in the world, but cannot read and understand the Bible, which is the Book of Life. Yet these erudite professors have read volumes of books in colleges and universities for at least five to fifteen years. It is because you have not been able to refrain from anger, hatred, selfishness, fornication and adultery. Our Lord Jesus Christ has said that those who hear and do His words shall do greater works than He had done. Once you overcome all vices and human frailties, you have automatically attained Christhood and all things shall obey and be in subjection to you at all times.
May my peace and blessing remain and abide with the entire world, now and forever more- Amen.
2.26 The fruits of the tree of life
It had been prophesied that the time is ripe for the advent on this planet of a new race. Speculation has also been ripe as to when these “supermen” will be here and their characteristics. But the Supernatural Teacher has intimated us of the characteristic of these “supermen”. He says that Jesus assured us that, 'He who believes in me will do the works that I do, and even greater works will he do also” (John 14:12). He (the Supernatural Teacher) has gone further to assure us that as John the Divine saw in his vision, there is a tree of life with twelve types of fruits and it is the “leaves” of this tree that one can use to perform greater works than Jesus did.
1 Cor. 12:4-14 tells us the twelve types of fruits that the tree of life bears. The supernatural Teacher Himself classify these as faith, wisdom, understanding, love, zeal, power, life, order, strength, imagination, elimination and will. These fruits he says are the 12 powers of man. These twelve powers of man show how God in His infinite wisdom plans to gradually refine the man of flesh into the man of spirit for as Paul said, “This corruptible must put on incorruptible, and this mortal must put on immortality”.
Jesus was the “first fruit” of those who are coming out of mortality. He was the way-shower that is why He is the Christ. Each of these twelve departmental heads has control of a certain function in soul or body. Each of these heads works through an aggregation of cells that physiologists call a “ganglionic centre'.
The following outline gives a list of the Twelve that surrounds the I AM or Central entity and the faculties that they represent.
2.27 The twelve disciples
Simon Peter denotes Faith he believed that Jesus was the messiah. His faith opened his spiritual discernment (Matt. 16:1320, Luke 9:28-36). Faith in the spiritual man quickens spiritual understanding.
James the son of Zebedee represents Wisdom or good judgement or discrimination in dealing with substantial things. The question is often asked whether we must experience evil in order to appreciate good. In the allegory of Adam and Eve, the man and woman were told not to eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, but the pleasure of sensation (serpent) tempted them and they ate. So when the desire for pleasure of sensation is indulged and the guiding wisdom or judgement is ignored, a realm of consciousness is established that regards the material universe as the only reality. Wisdom or good judgement is the faculty in man that wisely chooses and determines. It may be in the matter of food, it may be in the matter of judgment about the relation of external forces, it may be in the choice of a wife or a husband.
John the brother of James, the two Jesus calls “sons of thunder”, is in-charge of the faculty of Love. Some of the most terrible ills are brought upon the body by the misuse of love. Regeneration is not possible without love. For as through the union of male and female elements the new body of the infant is brought forth, so through the joining of the creative forces of spirit and the soul attuned in love, the new body in Christ is speedily formed.
Philip is in charge of the faculty that gives man Power. Power is essential to the work that is expected of us. The order is go to every nation and preach the gospel. Man should apply the power of the word to his individual redemption, and he should speak redeeming words of spirit to multitudinous people. When we understand the power of the word, we have the key to the perpetuity of sacred writings for “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”.
Bartholomew controls imagination or Foresight. An artist sees in the mind every picture that he puts on canvas. Man and the universe are series of pictures in the mind of the Supreme Being. God made man in His image. Man is continually making and sending forth into his mind, his body and the world about him, living thought forms embodied and endued with his whole character. Forms are always manifestations of ideas. One who understands this can interpret the symbols shown to him in dreams and visions. Joseph was an interpreter because he sought the one creative mind for guidance. Paul referred to this power of foresight and imagination when he wrote “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit”.
Thomas represents the Mercy and the Understanding power of man. He is referred to as the doubter because he wants to know everything. Inquisitiveness brings one to actual knowledge and discernment of what is right or wrong.
Matthew represents Riches and the Will. The will to pursue the right and the will of not succumbing to the mechanizations of the devil.
James, the son of Alphaeus, is in-charge of the power of Order. Order connotes law. The woes enunciated by Jesus in Matthew 23 are to those living in the letter instead of the spirit of the law. If we go back to Moses, ignoring the lessons of Jesus the Christ, it is no guide, for anybody who wants to be His (Jesus) disciple must unite his with His. There must be no encumbering laws, rules and orders.
Simon the Cananaean is in charge of the power of Zeal. To be without zeal is to be without the zest of living. Zeal incite to glorious achievement in every aim and ideal that the mind conceives. It is the impulse to go forward, the urge behind all things. Energy is zeal in motion and energy is the fore-runner of every effect.
Thaddeus is the disciple imbued with Peace and the power of Elimination or Renunciation of the mind and the body. This is renunciation of the mind and the body. This is renouncing sin and reforming. The sinners most open to reform are those who sin in the flesh. The hardest to reach are the self-satisfied moralists or religionists. Recognition of the truth which prepares the way for the spirit through a letting go of narrow beliefs, and laying hold of divine ideas is renunciation or elimination. It confers peace.
Judas Iscariot is generally referred to as the Life conserver. So he controlled the life consciousness in the body, which without, the organism loses its essential substance and dies. Life as exemlified by Judas, the betrayer of Jesus the Christ, is selfish and greed. We need life, but life must be guided in divine ways. There must be a righteous expression of life. Judas, the betrayer of Jesus, must in the end be cleansed of the devil, selfishness; and having been cleansed, he will allow the life force to flow to every part of him.
Andrew represents the department of Strength and Humility. Power is also in this ministry. Andrew was one of the first persons to make contact with and to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who went to his brother Simon Peter and vehemently introduced our Lord Jesus Christ to Peter. He had a very strong belief and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He humbled himself.
2.28 The Christs of God are coming
God does not tempt man to break. His laws. A great creative plan is being worked out in which God is incarnating Himself lavishly in His creation. This incarnation is called the Son of Man which is in man, a wonderful being, is in the process of creation. This being is the spiritual man, who will be the Christ when and if man overcomes sin and handles with wisdom and power the powers of man.
A divine law has been provided for man that will meet every need when it is observed: “Seek ye the Kingdom of God and its righteousness; and all other things will be added unto you”. And this you can only do by “LOVE ONE ANOTHER”. You must practise love in all things. It is the first law in man's relationship with other people. Give up your selfishness and willfulness and ask the divine will alone to be done in you and in all your affairs. Jesus set aside His will so that God's will might be done in Him. ”Not my will, but thine, be done”. Today He is the Christ. God has made us His. He has distributed His gifts to us (Ephesians 4:8-16). The twelve powers are all expressed and developed under the guidance of the Divine God. One must keep the balance. One must, in all the efforts to bring the twelve powers in man, realize that they come from God.: That they are directed by the word of God, and that the I AM (Jesus) is the head.
Let those who have ears hear, may God bless His holy words; Amen