THE AUTHORITY
OF JESUS CHRIST
Rev. William Soto Santiago, Ph.D.
Sunday, July 15th, 2012
Cayey, Puerto Rico
Very good morning, kind friends and brethren present and those in other nations; may the blessings of Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, be upon you all and me too. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
We read a passage in Matthew, chapter 7, verses 24 to 29, which says:
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Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock…” let us read it directly from the Scripture:
“
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
“THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST.”
May God bless our souls with His Word and allow us to understand It.
From where did the authority of Jesus teaching the Word of God came, from where did it come? From God. We find that this authority came through the Holy Spirit, which had been given to Jesus Christ through the manifestation of God through the Holy Spirit; so when He was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus and He was filled with the Fullness of God, and therefore with power.
He Was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and was there without eating or drinking for forty days, and the Scripture says that He was tempted by the devil at different times, but Jesus always said: “It is written,” in other words, His faith was based on the Word of God, because the authority must be based on the Word of God: “It is written.”
And now, let’s see chapter 4, verse 14 onwards, when He finished His time in the wilderness, it says [Luke]: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee (how did He returned?) In the power of the Holy Spirit): and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”
In other words, He went every Saturday to the synagogue as the Jewish believers followers of the God of Abraham of Isaac and Jacob were accustomed to do, and as the Christians did, which went to Church on Sundays to hear the Word of God, as the early believers in Christ did, who gathered the first day of the week, it was the first day of the week that Jesus Christ was raised, the day of the wave sheaf, and they also went to synagogue on Saturday to speak about of Jesus to all who came to the synagogue or temple:
“… and stood up for to read.
And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
Now, notice, Jesus returned from the wilderness, where He had been tempted for a while after being baptized by John the Baptist, and returned in the power of the Holy Spirit and began to preach. Then, in the same Chapter 4, verse 31 onwards, says:
“And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.”
Because His faith and His preaching was based on the Word promised for that time, and He knew what the Scriptures said about the Coming of the Messiah, and He knew that those Scriptures were fulfilled in Him, and He was filled with the Holy Ghost, and therefore was filled with the power of God through the Holy Spirit, and He had the authority to use that power.
It is the authority that gives Him power. It’s like a person who wants to order, to command in his city or his nation, but they ignore him, he wants to give orders to the people of different positions and they ignore him, but that same person can move on to another stage where people obey him, why do they ignore him? Because he has no authority. But if he switches to a position of authority then indeed, they will listen to him.
That person by having no authority, can order the traffic to stop, and cars will continue running. But he is moved to a position of authority where he is placed as a police officer, and is endued with authority when he puts the uniform on, and is recognized as a police officer, has the authority of the city; and then by having his badge as police officer, which is based on the power of the city, which has given him the authority to work as a police officer, he commands the traffic to stop, and all the cars stop, because he has authority. He has no power, power belongs to the city, to the country, but he has been invested with the authority to work for the city, for his country. That person can order someone that comes in a car not to park in a certain place, but to park elsewhere, or cannot park anywhere there; you notice that when you go to the airport, and other places as well.
So it is with the one who is invested with authority: the person himself becomes an authority, but it is because of the investiture (uniform) which he has. Likewise a person has no authority in his city, but when he is sworn in as mayor of the city, he is the highest authority of the city.
Also in the country, when a person is sworn in as governor, has authority over the state, over that territory, and approves or disapproves, he has the last word. And also a country which has a president, when the person is sworn in as the president of that nation; notice, they do it publicly.
When a mayor wins the election, a governor or a president, when he wins the election, he does not have authority yet, he was elected by the people. But when he is given the command, he takes over, you can see when a president is sworn in as the president of the nation, he is invested, and the ribbon is placed on him, he has already been invested with the authority as president of his nation, and then bears the title of president. Meanwhile, let’s say, he has not sat in the presidential chair, he is still not the president because he has not been invested with the authority of President.
Jesus Christ, when He was filled with the Holy Spirit after being baptized by John the Baptist, then He went into the wilderness, then returns from the desert filled with the power of the Holy Spirit with all the authority of God in Him; that’s why He spoke the Word and things happened. He knew who He was, He knew the Scriptures, because whoever has been endowed with authority, he must know what he has been endowed for, must know the laws which he must subject himself to and for which he works, so that they are complied with.
Jesus knew God’s promises for that time, He believed them, He knew He was the Messiah, He knew He was the Son of God, and He knew He was the one where the fullness of the Godhead bodily was, He was aware of all these things, and He knew He had come to Earth, He knew He was on Earth to carry out the business of the heavenly Father, to fulfill what was promised that the Messiah would carry out.
He did not come to do any other work, but to fulfill what the Messiah had to carry out at that time, and that was the Father’s business at that time. that’s why already at the age of twelve He was aware of that reality, and when He remains in Jerusalem on that trip He went with Joseph and Mary and other relatives to Jerusalem, for the Passover, and stayed there for three days and they looked for Him when they were returning to Nazareth and they didn’t find Him.
Joseph and Mary returned to the temple and found Him there talking to the doctors of the Law, and Mary asks Him: “Why have you done this? Your father and I have sought You anxiously, “what she said was not very good, because, for she said: “Your father and I,” saying that Joseph was Jesus’ father when she knew that the Holy Spirit had overshadowed her for her to conceive this child, and Jesus says:” “Did not you know I must be about my Father’s business?” not in Joseph’s business, which was carpentry, but in the heavenly Father’s business, fulfilling God’s Program pertaining to that time.
In other words, He already knew as a boy who He was. He did not only grow in stature, but in knowledge and wisdom and grace before God. Jesus knew who He was; and every believer in Christ is called to know who Jesus Christ is and who the person himself is: you.
Jesus knew He had come from God and was going back to God, and each believer in Christ is called to know that he/she has come from God, from the heavenly Father, to spend some time here on Earth and enter the Redemption Program to be reconciled with God and return to God according to that Program of Redemption, salvation and eternal Life.
While the person does not know who he is, the person cannot do anything, is walking blindly, groping, on this Earth, and that’s why millions of people have the problem of existential anguish, they do not know where they came from, they not know why they are here on Earth and do not know where they will go to when they die physically, that is, when his physical body dies, and they do not even know what they are.
What is the person, what is man? The human being is the greatest thing God has created, is the crown of creation, because the human being has been created in the image and likeness of God. Just as we find God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which is the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, man is soul, spirit and body. The soul of the person is equal to God the Father, the spirit of the person is equivalent to the Holy Spirit and the physical body to the physical body or physical likeness of God, which is Jesus Christ.
The image of God is the angelic body called the Angel of the Covenant, and the image of man is his spirit, which is an angelic body, a spiritual body, similar to the angels of Heaven, which is why Jesus, when He gave authority to His disciples and sent them to preach and proclaim the kingdom of God and make known that It was near, that the Kingdom of God was night and to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, and so forth, they went, and when His disciples returned, they are very happy and say to Jesus: “Lord, even the spirits are subject unto us in Your Name.” Jesus says: “Rejoice not that the spirits (that is, evil spirits) are subject to you in my Name, rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.”
In other words, that the name of the believers in Christ is written in Heaven in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Also when they asked Him about a man and a woman who were married and the husband died, and then she marries the brother of the husband, and that man died, that other man, and married another brother, and so on, with another man, and so on, and all died in the end, one by one, the woman died at the end and also the last man.
They ask Jesus: “Lord, in the resurrection, who will be the husband of that woman? To which of them will she be the wife of? “It looked like a big problem, because Jesus was speaking of the resurrection, and Jesus says: “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels who neither marry nor are given in marriage.”
The believers in Christ who died and will be resurrected and those who are alive and will be changed in the Last Day, in the Coming of the Lord, will be like angels. It is not to live a life like the one we now live in which we have children. They will be partners, but will not marry, the believers in Christ who are already changed and those who will be resurrected in eternal bodies will not be given unto marriage; things will change into a superior state, into a superior situation.
Christ taught with authority because He received that authority from the Father to teach and to accomplish all the divine Program that the Messiah the Prince had to fulfill in His first Coming, He knew what He had to fulfill related to the Messianic prophecy, and that which pertained to the second Coming will be fulfilled in the Last Day, He announced, He prophesied everything pertaining to the Last Day, to the end time.
He also announced the signs, as the sign of the fig tree and the fig tree typifies Israel. He taught that when we were seeing these things happen: earthquakes, tsunamis, distress of nations, with perplexity because of the sea and the waves roaring and for looking after those things to come, that is, tidal waves, roaring of waves, and so on, to lift up our heads to Heaven for our redemption is near, our redemption, which is the redemption of the body, in other words, the physical adoption as sons and daughters of God, because them that will be physically adopted, they should first be spiritually adopted, they should first have eternal Life in their souls, because they have received Christ as Savior and the number of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ will have been completed.
All that which corresponds to the Second Coming of Christ is for the Last Day, which is why Christ said, speaking of believers in Him, says: “And I will raise him up on the Last Day,” which is the seventh millennium from Adam until now, as the seventh day is Saturday or seventh day is Saturday, and it is the last day of the week, and one day before the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. One day before God becomes a thousand years, and from Adam to the present time six thousand years have transpired, and we have entered the seventh millennium according to the Gregorian calendar.
So we have entered the Last Day before God. Christ speaks about the Last Day in John, chapter 6, verse 39 to 58, John, chapter 11 also, verse 21 to 27, when He went to raise Lazarus, He spoke to Martha, Lazarus’ sister, when she tells Him: “If you had been here my brother had not died,” Jesus says to her: “Your brother will rise again,” Martha says: “I know he will rise in the resurrection on the Last Day.” Christ says, “I am the resurrection, whosoever lives and believes in me, though he is dead, yet he shall live.”
Therefore, Jesus Christ in His Second Coming to His Church on the Last Day will carry out the resurrection, which has been waiting for Him for some two thousand years, for about two thousand years she has been waiting for His Coming, for the transformation of believers in Christ and the resurrection of those who have died physically, and all this will be at the last trumpet which is the Trumpet of God, which is the same Voice that spoke to Lazarus: “Lazarus, come forth,” and Lazarus heard the Voice and rose again.
Likewise, the same Voice that raised Lazarus, the Voice of Christ, shall call the dead believers in Christ, It will resurrect them, that is the Great Voice of Trumpet or Final Trumpet, the Voice of Christ in the midst of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ , in the midst of them that slept or died physically, but also among those who are alive on the Last Day, because Christ will pass through Paradise and will bring with Him those who died physically, and He will rise them up again in new, eternal, young bodies, glorified bodies, like the glorified body that He has, because He has the authority to resurrect all believers in Him who died, and transform those who are alive, born again, in the Last Day in the midst of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He has the authority to do what He has promised, the authority which He has been endowed with by God the Father through the Holy Spirit. For that reason in Matthew, chapter 26, Christ, speaking as He was being tried by the Sanhedrin council, in chapter 26 of Matthew, verses 60 and onwards, says:
“But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,
And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.
And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
Jesus knew that He had to die according to the Divine Program to carry out the Redemption, to bear our sins and carry out the Work of Redemption, He knew that He would rise, and He knew He was going to sit on the Throne of the Father and therefore would have all the power of Heaven and Earth, for it says: “Sitting at the right hand of power of God.”
In other words, all power in Heaven and on Earth would be given to Him; so then after He physically dies and rises again, which he already knew, that He would rise, in John, chapter 10 He says He will resurrect. Chapter 10, verses 14 and onwards, says:
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I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Notice, He already knew the Divine Program: He came to die for the sheep of the Father, which are all sons and daughters of God who have their names written in Heaven in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It says:
“As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold
(in other words, they are Gentiles, are among the Gentiles): them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”
How will they hear the Voice of Christ? Through Christ’s presence in the Holy Spirit among His Church, Christ speaking through preachers, through ministers anointed with the Holy Spirit preaching the Gospel of Salvation, the Gospel of Christ.
In other words, that Christ in the Holy Spirit, would speak through those who would preach the gospel of Christ, the Gospel of Grace, and He says that they will hear His voice, and Christ says that He knows them and that His sheep know Him, and will hear His voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
The flock is the Church of Jesus Christ, and the shepherd is Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit through His Church using His different messengers from stage to stage, His various ministers with different ministries that He would place in the midst of His Church and as God grazed Israel through the wilderness through His Holy Spirit using the prophet Moses, and then in the promised land by different judges and prophets and kings:
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.”
Watch, He was going to lay His life down, He was going to die as the Sacrifice of Atonement for our sins, and then He would take life again, would rise, would leave the sins of everyone there in hell, He would bring them back to the devil, and would rise without the people’s sins, justified, and then He would be a season on Earth, the Old Testament saints would resurrect with Him, Matthew, chapter 27, verse 51 and onwards where it says that many of the saints which slept resurrected, rose from the graves, and appeared in the city after the resurrection of Christ.
So there in Jerusalem, when Christ was resurrected, also Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, resurrected, Sarah, too, all these people resurrected and appeared to many in the city, and they saw these young boys, because the resurrection is in a young body representing between 18 to 21 years of age, and they did not know that the resurrection of the saints of the Old Testament had taken place and the resurrection was led by Jesus Christ our Savior.
He appeared before the Father, presented His Blood, and His Sacrifice was accepted in Heaven in the heavenly Temple, and then He spends again a few days with His disciples, some forty days, because the first day appeared to some people, but rose to Heaven, that’s why He says to Mary: “Touch me not because I have not yet ascended to the Father,” but then later that day, allowed to be touched, and He therefore had already ascended to the Father, His Sacrifice had been accepted, and then He had returned to be with His disciples again, but already glorified.
He was about forty days appearing at different times, to His disciples, then He ascended into Heaven and sat there at the right hand of God’s power, sat on the Throne of God, turning God’s Throne into a Throne of Intercession, and there He has been making intercession for each person that receives Him as only and sufficient Savior.
He has been confessing the persons before the heavenly Father. Christ Himself said: “Whoever confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father in Heaven and before the angels.”
Therefore, Christ is at God’s right hand in Heaven in the Throne of Intercession. He, when He returned to Earth, when He was already resurrected on Earth, saying farewell to His disciples in chapter 28, verses 16 to 20 of Matthew, says: “All power is given unto me in Heaven and on Earth.” therefore, all the power of God is manifested through Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of God. That’s why in Hebrews chapter 1, the apostle Paul, who knew all this mystery and power of God, says in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1 onwards:
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”
Through Jesus Christ in His angelic body, which is the Angel of the Covenant, and is called the Word that was with God and was God, God created all things: “By whom also He made the worlds.” There you have the origin of the universe:
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person
(Christ is the express image of the divine substance, and the image is the angelic body, the Angel of the Covenant), and upholding all things by the word of his power.”
Christ upholds all things by the Word of His power, because all power is given unto Him in Heaven and on Earth. Human life is sustained by Christ, so every human being is called to thank Christ for his life, Christ Himself said: “I am the way, the truth and the life, and nobody comes to the Father but by me “John, chapter 14, verse 6.
“…and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
He is sitting on the Throne of Intercession, and cannot leave until He finishes His Work of Intercession in Heaven, where He is as High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, because He is Melchizedek that appeared to Abraham in Chapter 14 of Genesis and gave Abraham bread and wine, and Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
That Melchizedek is God in His angelic body, and the angelic body is the Angel of the Covenant, which is Christ in His angelic body; which is why Christ said in John, chapter 8, verse 56 to 58:
“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”
How was Jesus Christ, then before Abraham? He was the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel of God, the Angel of the LORD, who appeared to Abraham, had also appeared to Jacob, also appeared to Moses in the Pillar of Fire, and appeared in the form of a man as well, and appeared to Joshua in the form of a man, a warrior, as the Prince of the Armies of God: this is the who had appeared to Noah also, who had also appeared to Enoch, who had also appeared to Abraham, had also appeared to Adam, who spoke with Adam, who created Adam, God through the Word, which was with God and was God, because by Him all things were made, and without Him nothing that has been made, was made. God through the Word, Christ in His angelic body, the Angel of the Covenant, created all things.
And now He appears not only in His angelic body, which is His image, but He then appears in the body of flesh:
“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
(John, chapter 1, verse 14).
All that Chapter 1 of John is very important, because it speaks of the mystery of God the Father and of Christ.
The Scripture says that Abraham, Jacob also, also Samuel, and Moses spoke with God face to face, Jacob wrestled with the Angel in chapter 32, verses 24 through 32 of Genesis, and he did not let Him go until he received the blessing from the Angel, and then the Angel left and Jacob was very happy for he received the blessing of the Angel of God, and he called the place: Peniel, for he says: “I saw …” says: “And Jacob called …” Chapter 32 of Genesis, verse 24 onwards, says:
“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh…”
So, He struggled all night, and the day was about to break, already in the East a little clarity started to be seen. That is a type and figure of what is happening in this end time in which the day will begin to break in the East, by Israel, some clarity will begin to be seen, and it will be when the Jews start to see some clarity, and this will be very important in this end time, because in this end time something is fixing to happen among the Jews, and that will be a great sign in this end time.
Therefore, if you want to know what time it is, look at your watch; and if you want to know the time, what time is, in the divine Program, look at God’s clock, which is Israel. The Rev. William Branham in the message of the Sixth Seal of the series of the Seven Seals of Revelation, preached in Jeffersonville, Indiana, in the year 1963, talks about Israel, on March 23, 1963, and says on page 384 Spanish book [374 English book] of the “The Seals” in this version and translation, it says:
“This is when Israel received the message of the Kingdom, by the two prophets of Revelation eleven. Remember, Israel is a nation, God’s servants, nation. And when-when-when Israel is brought in; it will be a national affair. Israel, the Kingdom Age, is where David.… the Son of David sits on the throne. “
And now on page (this is parallel to what happened to Jacob when he had to meet, face Esau his brother) … page 392 Spanish [ 382 English] of the book “The Seals,” there in the Sixth Seal, says:
“That Esau didn’t need his money; neither does Rome. She’s got the wealth of the world in her hand. See? But it didn’t work.
But we find out now, that Israel, in that time of trouble, when he was Jacob, he wrestled with the…that got a hold of Something that was real. There was a Man come down. Jacob got his arms around, and he stayed there. And the—the fellow said, “I must be going now. It’s coming daylight.” Oh, that breaking-of-the-day! See? It was fixing to come day.
But Jacob said, “I—I’m not going to leave You. You. You can’t go. I’m going to stay right with You.” See? “I want things changed here.”
That’s that hundred and forty-four thousand, that money-scheming bunch…”
And it continues below:
“When they see the true, genuine thing to get a hold of. There stands Moses, and there stands Elijah. Amen.
They will wrestle with God until one hundred forty and four thousand of the tribes of Israel are called out right there.
That’s just before the Tribulation period, see, (oh how wonderfull)… “
And now, see how that is a type and figure of what will happen in this end time. And on page 500 of the Spanish book [494 English] of the book “The Seals” says:
“The time was between the Sixth and Seventh Seal, that He calls these people, spoken of by Jesus in Matthew the 24th chapter and the 31st verse, that we’ve just read, see. Trumpets here, the two witnesses of the… When the trumpet sounds, is the trumpet of the two witnesses of the age of grace for the Jews. One trumpet sound, you notice, one trumpet sound. He said, “And sound the trumpet.” Now notice over here, 31st.
And he shall send forth his angels
(not one, see; there’s two of them) with a great sound of a trumpet,…
What is it? When God gets ready to speak, there’s a sound of a trumpet. That’s always His Voice. It’s calling the battle, see. God speaks. These angels will come forth with the sounding of the trumpet.
And you notice, at the last angel’s message, the trumpet sounds. The first angel’s Message, a trumpet sound; second angel’s trumpet sounded, when He sent it out. Notice, but when the Seals were announced, they were all in one great, Divine thing, to call out a group of people; there was one trumpet sound, and Seven Seals were Broke.
Notice, “Gather His elected Jews from the four parts of the heavens.”
And now, we can see what is pointed out to take place in this end time. Therefore, when you see that the light begins to appear, the breaking of the day , at dawn, the morning to Israel… It is good for early risers to look to the east, towards the east, early in the morning, at dawn, and see how it begins to become clear in the east, and the person knows it is the breaking of the day, which currently takes place around 5:30 am, more or less, it may be, let’s say, 5:00 to 5:40 in the morning, and then you will know the meaning of this chorus that you sing, “By the east you already see a light appear.”
It was back in Israel at day break when this chorus was written, and it is a song, a chorus, a prophetic one at the same time, it is linked to this experience Jacob had and the one Israel will have in this end time.
Therefore, when you see by the East Jacob being concerned, the ministries of the two Olives Trees will appear, the Angel of the Covenant that they are waiting for will appear, and they will get hold on tight until they receive the blessing God has for them.
The Rev. William Branham speaking says that when they see Christ coming for His Church, His Bride Church, they will say, “This is the one we are waiting for.” So, something great is fixing to happen. They were watching there, Jacob was seeing there the Angel of the Covenant which appeared to him, in Whom was the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, the Angel of the Covenant veiled in His body … or God veiled in His angelic body.
So when that Angel appeared everyone said they saw God face to face, because they were seeing God in an angelic body, in a theophanic body. The Scripture says that God spoke to Moses face to face, as a person speaks with his partner, then the Scripture says, for example, in chapter 13 of First of Judges (in Judges) in the book of Judges, Chapter 13, says Samson’s father, Manoah, when he saw the Angel and then realizes it is the Angel of the Lord, he tells his wife: “We shall surely die because we have seen God face to face.” And then John, chapter 1, verse 18 says:
“
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he (made him known, in other words) hath declared him.”
In other words, they saw God clothed in His angelic body, in that theophanic body, that body called the Angel of the Lord, which is the divine image of God. It’s like when you see me or when I see you, I can say: “I saw you,” and you can say “I saw you too,” but then we can say: “We did not see each other,” and it seems a contradiction, but it is a truth, what we saw was the physical body where we dwell, the earthly house, the physical likeness, we did not even see the image: the angelic body.
We are living souls, and we didn’t see the soul, but we saw only the physical body, but we have said: “I saw you.” Also when Christ says: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” because they are looking at what? The house where God the Father was living; and it was God clothed with a body of flesh in the midst of the Hebrew people; just as whoever saw the Angel of the Covenant preserved.” God through Christ spoke to Israel, through His Holy Spirit through the physical body He had in order to carry out the Work of Redemption on the Cross of Calvary.
We have seen that the authority of Jesus Christ, He received it when He was endued by the Holy Spirit when He was baptized by John the Baptist; when He was baptized by John the Baptist, then the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and was endued with power from on high and divine authority; and the divine thoughts were transmitted through Jesus to the people in those days, God spoke through Jesus Christ by means of His angelic body, His Holy Spirit, in Christ.
And after Christ rose, before ascending into Heaven after forty days, He tells His disciples in the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 1 to 10: “Do not leave Jerusalem, stay there, do not leave until you are endued with power from on high, until they are vested from on high … “let’s look here:” Until you are endued with power from on high … “Chapter 1, verse 1 onwards, says:
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The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”
They would be endued with power, would receive power from on high when they would receive the Holy Spirit, when they were endowed with the Holy Spirit, and consequently they would have authority as Jesus Christ, and what Christ said: “All you ask the Father in my Name, I will do, “and He also said,” If thine faith is as a mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, ‘Move hence, and it shall move and nothing shall be impossible.”
Why? Because they receive authority, which is connected to what God has promised, it is connected to God’s divine Word, and the person with faith united to the Word, uses that authority and things happen, it makes the power of God to be manifested. The person as an individual is not the one who has the power, but God through the Holy Spirit manifesting it in the midst of the person and of His people, His Church.
But He has granted authority to the believers in Him, therefore, the believers in Christ have the authority given by God through the Holy Spirit; being endowed with the Holy Spirit are vested with the authority to preach, to cast out demons, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, and so on; all that which Christ said is available to believers in Christ which form the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He said: “And you will do even greater things.”
Therefore, it is important to know that just as Christ was endued with that authority, and used it, so every born again believer in Christ has been endued with the Holy Spirit and therefore has the investiture of authority to use faith-based on the Word, to pray, to speak, to make a reality whatever God has promised.
“If thine faith is as a mustard seed,” says Christ. That is, it does not say that if thine faith was like a mountain, but faith as a mustard seed will move a big mountain, and a mountain can mean any problem, anything that has to be removed from a place, as the kingdom of the Gentiles in the feet of iron and clay, that statue must be removed for the stone not cut by hands to emerge and grow, forming a great Mount, a great Kingdom, which fills the whole Earth, which is the Kingdom of the Messiah. That’s how the Kingdom of the Messiah will emerge. Look here, Mark, chapter 11, verse 20 onwards, says:
“And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
Therefore, faith is used based on the divine promise, in what has been promised, and Christ said that it is going to work. Believing in what you say, it will happen, you cannot doubt although the circumstances may appear to be contrary. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Therefore, every born again believer in Christ filled with the Holy Spirit is part of the Mystical Body of Christ, and consequently he has the authority, and he can use it and the power of God will be manifested according to the degree of faith the person has. That is, the secret to unloose the power of God and the amount of God’s power needed, will depend on the amount of faith that the person has, it is faith that makes you unloose the power of God.
Remember the Syro-Phoenician woman who came to Jesus for Him to heal her daughter? And He did not pay attention to her and said to her: “It is not lawful to take the children’s bread to the dogs, give the children’s bread to the dogs,” but she said: “The dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master or their masters,” and Jesus says:” Great is your faith, be done according to your faith, “It was granted to her, and the Syro-Phoenician woman’s daughter was healed; the power of God that was in Christ for this miracle came out, as Christ spoke so it was; because whoever has the authority is the one who has the right to unloose it, to be fulfilled, to be done, that which was spoken. Therefore, the authority of Jesus Christ comes from Heaven, and the authority of every child of God comes from Heaven by means of the Holy Ghost.
Remain with your faith in Christ, believing what was promised. Always placing you faith firmly on the Word of God, not believing on illusions, but believing what was spoken, and it will become a reality.
With authority, working with authority in the Work of God for everything He has promised to become a reality, so it was in Noah’s time. Noah had authority, had the revelation, he was basing his construction of the Ark on that which God had revealed, and God helped him, and he escaped the flood with his family.
God has given authority to His Church, and therefore to every member of His Church, and it is necessary that every believer in Christ knows who Christ is and who he is(the person) so he knows what God has said about you and me for this end time, and to know of the things in which all the members of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be working, for which is required to have knowledge of what God wants done in this end time, to have knowledge of what is promised to be done through the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to work in every spiritual or physical project that is promised to be fulfilled in the Last Day, because the instruments that God will use, will be the believers in Christ of the Last Day, just as for each time He used the believers of past Ages.
It will be Christ through His Holy Spirit working through believers in Him, as it was God working through Christ, it is Christ working through His Church.
And to finalize, on page 188 of the book “The Ages” in Spanish, in English 171, it says:
“From a little group of the true seed of the Word, God will present Christ a beloved Bride. She is a virgin of His Word. She is a virgin because she knows no man-made creeds or dogmas. By and through the members of the Bride (in other words, of His Bride Church) will be fulfilled all that was promised of God to be manifest in the virgin (that is, in the Church).
It is through His Bride Church that God by His Holy Spirit, through Christ in Holy Spirit will fulfill all that which has been promised He will do and will happen in the midst of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the midst of Christianity, and therefore I am and I’ll be working on every divine plan for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ for this end time, and many others will also be working, who will they be? All of you too, because you all will know what the divine Program for this end time is, what one is supposed to be doing in this end time, what is the will of the Lord, and what He wants to be done in this end time and therefore the members of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be doing it, because they have the authority to do so; and therefore the power of God will be unloosed so that which God wants to be done in the end time may become a reality in the midst of Christianity, in the midst of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The same authority that God placed in Christ, which God gave to Christ, and He used it, it is the same that Christ gives to His Church and to every believer in Him, and She has been using it from Age to Age and She will use it in this end time.
“THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS Christ,” which comes from where? From Heaven, from God, and the authority of the Church, which comes from Heaven, from the Lord Jesus Christ, was given to Her to preach the Gospel of Christ:
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
The Church has received the authority to preach, and that’s what She has been doing for about two thousand years, and continues to preach the Gospel of Christ for the completion of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, if there is someone who has not yet received Christ as Savior, you can do it right now and we will be praying for Christ to receive you in His Kingdom, forgive you and cleanse you with His Blood from all sin, and be baptized in water in His Name, and Christ will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire and produce in you the new birth.
To which you may come forward, here, and those in other places, other countries, you may come forward in the place where you are, to receive Christ as only and sufficient Savior, remembering that He said: “Whosoever confesses me before men, I will confess him before my Father in Heaven.” And he said:” He that shall deny me before men, I will deny him before my Father in Heaven.” (Matthew, chapter 10, verses 32 to 33), and in Mark, chapter 8, verses 26 onwards, says that “whoever is ashamed of Christ and His Word, He will be ashamed of such a person when He comes in His Kingdom with the angels.”
Therefore, we cannot be ashamed of Christ, because we do not want Him to be ashamed of us. There is no other way for salvation and eternal Life and therefore to be reconciled with God and have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Let’s wait for a few minutes as they come in different countries, and here too, in front, those which had not yet received Christ as Savior, or those who also had received Him but had turned away from Christ and now Christ has called them again, has given them a new opportunity.
Let’s stand to pray for those who have received Christ, are receiving Christ, in different countries, so that Christ may receive them in His Kingdom. With our hands lifted up to Christ, to Heaven:
Heavenly Father, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I come to You with all the people that are receiving Christ as only Saviour on this occasion. I pray You receive them in Your Kingdom and I pray You give them eternal Life. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray.
Now repeat after me this prayer those who have been coming to the Feet of Christ on this occasion:
Lord Jesus Christ, I heard the preaching of Your Gospel, Your faith was born in my heart, I believe in You, believe in Your first Coming, I believe in Your death on the Cross of Calvary as the Sacrifice of Atonement for our sins, I believe in Your Name as the only Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I give public testimony of my faith in You and Your faith in me and I receive You as my only and sufficient Savior. I beg you to forgive my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood from all sin and baptize me with the Holy Ghost and Fire after I am baptized in water in Your Name, and may You produce in me the new birth.
I want to live forever. Lord, make the salvation You purchased on the Cross of Calvary a reality for me and for anyone who’ll receive You as only and sufficient Savior. In Your eternal and glorious Name, Lord Jesus Christ, I beg you, to whom be glory and honor forever Amen.
And with our hands raised to Heaven, to Christ, we all say: The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin! The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin! The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin! Amen.
Christ has received you into His Kingdom, has forgiven your sins, and with His Blood has cleansed you from all sin because you have received Him as your only and sufficient Savior. You who have received Him at this time, you will say: “I want to be baptized in water as soon as possible, because He said, ‘He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.’ When can I be baptized?” Inasmuch as you have believed in Christ as your only Saviour, you may be baptized right now, and may Christ baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire and produce in you the new birth.
Water baptism in the Name of the Lord is typological. Also Christ Himself was baptized in water by John the Baptist, who did not want to baptize Him because he said: “I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me so I baptize you?” And Jesus said: “It is becoming us to fulfill all righteousness,” and then he baptized Him, and when He rose from the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus, and thus He was full of all divine power, received the authority of Heaven, divine authority, to use all divine power, in order to manifest the power of God through Him
When a person receives Christ as Savior, he dies to the world, and when he is immersed in the baptismal waters by the minister, typologically he is being buried, and when he rises him from the waters of baptism, is being resurrected to new life: unto eternal Life with Christ in His eternal Kingdom. Here we have the type or symbolism of water baptism, so in water baptism a person is identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
Therefore, you can all be baptized, everyone who has received Christ as Savior at the moment, and may Christ baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire and produce in you the new birth, and may you be endued with the authority and power of Heaven above, and we will continue to see each other for all eternity in the Kingdom of Christ our Savior.
Till next Sunday God willing I will be back with you again, may you continue spending a happy afternoon filled with the blessings of Christ our Savior. May God bless and keep you all.
“THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS CHRIST.”