Good afternoon, beloved friends and brethren present, ministers present and also ministers in different nations and their congregations.
Receive warm greetings on my behalf and on behalf of The Great Tent Cathedral Church in Puerto Rico; and a special greeting to missionary Dr. Miguel Bermudez Marin where he is, and also to the congregation where he is in Monterrey, Republic of Mexico, in the congregation of Reverend Epifanio Lopez, at “Moises Auditorium.”
Today, Good Friday, Christianity commemorates the death of Christ on Calvary’s Cross; therefore, let us have a glimpse of this important event which for centuries has continued to be commemorated by Christianity, and it has an empty grave.
Let us read in Matthew, chapter 27, verses 45 and on:
“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.
And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.
The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children.”
May God bless our souls with His Word and allow us to understand It.
Our subject for today Good Friday and the day we introduce the subject of the Bible class for next Sunday’s Bible school is: “THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURE.”
In order to see this subject of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ it is important to know who was, who is and who will be Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. For which, we go to the Scripture and examine who is that important person who has completely impacted humanity. John, chapter 1, verse 1 and on, says:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
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:
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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.”
This Scripture says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In other words, the Word, the Holy Spirit, the Angel of the Covenant, the heavenly body of God is the Word; and was with God and was God; God in His heavenly body, through which He spoke all of the Creation into existence.
“All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.”
That is how God made all of the Creation, that is how God carried it out. This is also what the apostle Paul speaks to us about in Colossians, chapter 1, which we will read so that we have a clear picture of who Jesus Christ is, who was crucified by the human being on Calvary’s Cross, and which is commemorated, remembered in Christianity throughout the centuries.
Colossians, chapter 1, verse 12 and on, says:
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Who is the image of the invisible God…”
The image: the heavenly body called the Angel of the Covenant or the Angel of God, or called the Holy Spirit; because it is a spiritual, heavenly body, not an earthly body.
“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.”
How did the Creation come into existence? How did God create? Through Jesus Christ being in His heavenly body. It is the image of the invisible God. That is why when God appeared in the form of a man it was the Angel of the Covenant, it was Jesus Christ in His heavenly body.
That is why in John, chapter 8, verse 54 to 58, says: “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” And how was Abraham able to see Jesus Christ? In His heavenly body, and even when it was carried out there and on the day before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, He ate with Abraham – or had lunch with Abraham, He and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael.
Now, notice all things were created, made by Him and for Him.
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”
Now we are seeing who Jesus Christ is.
And now, First of Timothy, chapter 3, verses 15 and on, says:
“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
received up into glory.”
That is Jesus Christ, who was crucified at Calvary’s Cross, the Word made flesh, God in His heavenly body; His heavenly body called the Angel of the Covenant, His heavenly body also called the Holy Spirit, which was incarnated in that veil of flesh called Jesus of Nazareth.
God became flesh in order to take the sin of the human being and die for our sins, and thus take away our sins with His precious Blood in the Sacrifice carried out at Calvary’s Cross; just like you can take a bottle of ink or a piece of clothing stained by ink, and dip it in chlorine, in bleach, and it disappears. Try looking for it after that, see if you find it. That is how the Blood of Christ is: disintegrates sin and it returns to the original owner of sin, which is the devil.
The Blood of Christ is the Blood of God, the Blood of God’s body, God’s physical body, which is the physical body of Jesus Christ.
No human being could take away the sin of the world. Animal sacrifices could not take away sin, because animals do not have a soul; they only have a spirit but not a soul. The human being is the one that has a spirit and soul.
That is why the most important thing in the human being is the soul of the person; that is what makes him a human being. And for that reason, in order to take away the sin of the human being, God had to become flesh on this planet Earth so that the Blood of God, which is in His physical body called Jesus, could be shed and could cleanse us from all sin.
Without the Blood of Christ, there is no cleansing of sin, and much less salvation and eternal life. We can only be cleansed from all sin with the Blood of Christ, and we can only obtain eternal life through Christ.
There is no other way to obtain eternal life: only through Jesus Christ, who is God Himself dressed in a body of flesh, who was crucified at Calvary’s Cross about two thousand years ago.
That is why it is very important to know the history: so that faith is born in people’s souls, people’s hearts, and receive eternal life through Jesus Christ, receiving Him as their only and sufficient Savior.
We have seen who is the One that died on Calvary’s Cross, between two evildoers; the one in the middle, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God with us, God in human flesh in the midst of the human race, to pay the price of redemption, to bring the human being back to eternal life through His Sacrifice carried out; which when He is believed in and accepted ⏤Jesus Christ⏤ the person receives eternal life.
There is no eternal life without Christ. That is why when Israel was going to leave Egypt, God commanded Moses to take a year-old lamb; on the tenth day – to observe it from the tenth day and on, and see if it had any defects or not; and sacrifice it on the fourteenth day, each family in their home, with their lamb sacrificed and roasted in fire, eating it, and the blood was applied to the side posts and doorposts of their homes; because the plague of death was coming for all the firstborns who lived among the Hebrew people there, and in the midst of Egypt all the firstborns would die if they did not have the blood applied on the doorposts of their homes. Which is type and figure of Christ, the Lamb of God, who would die and shed His Blood so that the Blood could be applied on the door of the heart of every believer, for the preservation of life, to live eternally.
Those who did not have the sign on the doors of their homes, had the misfortune of the firstborn in their family dying. And there was a great cry in Egypt due to the death of the firstborns, beginning with the firstborn son of the Pharaoh. They did not have the revelation that a lamb had to be sacrificed for the preservation of the life of every firstborn; but the people of God did.
It is the same nowadays: not everyone has the revelation of the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the preservation of life, in order for the person to live eternally.
Therefore, it is important to carry out the preaching of the Gospel of Christ in all nations as He said: do it in order to give these good tidings to all human beings so that they can have the opportunity to live eternally in the Kingdom of God. It is as simple as that. Keeping in mind that Jesus Christ is God incarnated, God in human flesh, to carry out the death and redemption at Calvary’s Cross.
No other person could carry out that Sacrifice for the salvation of the human being, only Jesus Christ; because He was God Himself dressed in human flesh. That is why Jesus Christ said on one occasion, around chapter 10 of John, verse 30: “I and my Father are one.”
It is like you and I: we are soul, spirit and body. And you can say: “I am a spirit and body, we are one thing.” You are incomplete without a body, and you are also incomplete without a spirit; because the human being is soul, spirit and body. And God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, only one God. That is why Jesus Christ said: “I and my Father are one”; and He says: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.1”
Therefore, it is important to know who was the One who died at Calvary’s Cross: it was God in His physical body who died; His Spirit did not die, neither did His soul. He descended to hell, and He left the sins of the human being there, (because He took our sins); and then He left there, went on to Paradise, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the patriarchs and all the believers of the Old Testament were; and He resurrected with them early on Sunday morning. Of which we will talk about next Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, the day after tomorrow.
Today, we have seen the purpose of the death of Christ at Calvary’s Cross. If He had not died on that occasion, there would not be people living on Earth, because that was the time for the divine judgment to fall upon the human race; and since He took the sin of the human being, He died for the human being. Judgment day, which was to come back then, fell completely upon Jesus Christ, upon the physical body of God, which is the body of flesh of Jesus Christ our Savior.
“THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURE.”
Today we discussed the crucifixion. And next Sunday we will discuss the part about the resurrection.
We are represented in Christ because He is the second Adam, who came to redeem every one, with His death, whose name is written in Heaven, in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
May God bless you and keep you, and help all of us comprehend, obtain the revelation of Jesus Christ for this end time, to be prepared to be changed and taken with Him to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
If there is anyone who has not yet received Jesus Christ as their Savior, you may do so at this time and we will be praying for you.
The only way to secure our eternal future is by receiving Christ as our only and sufficient Savior. There is no other way, there is no other program from behalf of God for the human being to live eternally; there is only one way, and God designed it; and when God designs something, it is the best.
Those in other countries can also come to the Feet of Christ if you have not done so yet, so that you may receive Him as your only and sufficient Savior. Children 10 years old and above can also come to the Feet of Christ our Savior.
Let us stand to pray for the people who have come to the Feet of Christ in different nations at this time.
With our heads bowed and our eyes closed:
Heavenly Father, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I come to You, bringing before You the people who are receiving Christ as their only and sufficient Savior. I pray that You receive them in Your Kingdom. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray to You, for whom be the glory and honor for ever and ever. Amen.
Now, repeat this prayer after me, which I will be making for everyone who is receiving Christ as their only and sufficient Savior on this occasion:
Lord Jesus Christ, I heard the preaching of Your Gospel and Your faith was born in my soul.
I believe in you with all my soul. I believe in Your First Coming. I believe in Your death at Calvary’s Cross as the Sacrifice of the Atonement for our sins. I believe in Your Name as the only name under Heaven whereby we can be saved.
Lord, I heard the preaching of Your Gospel and Your faith was born in me. I believe in You with all my soul.
I acknowledge that I am a sinner and that I need a Savior. I receive You as my only and sufficient Savior.
I pray that You to forgive my sins and with Your Blood cleanse me from all sin, and baptize me with the Holy Spirit and Fire after I am baptized in water in Your Name.
I pray to You in Your Eternal and glorious Name. Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen.
The baptism in water is topological, it does not take away sin, it is the Blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin; but the baptism in water is a commandment of Jesus Christ.
Christ Himself was baptized by John the Baptist, and then the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus when He was raised from the baptismal waters, and there He received the holy baptism to begin His ministerial life according to the messianic Scriptures He would fulfill2.
And every believer in Christ, after receiving Christ, is baptized and then receives the Holy Spirit; is equipped for the beginning of his Christian life in the Mystical Body of Christ: he obtains the new birth, he is born again.
Therefore, the baptism in water, being a divine commandment, allows the person to identify with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection; because we were in Christ eternally. Just as our physical body was in our earthly parents, as sons and daughters of God, we were eternally in Jesus Christ; because He is the Divine Seed through which many sons and daughters of God would come to life and would live eternally in the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, those who have come to the Feet of Christ may be baptized on this occasion; and may Christ baptize you with Holy Spirit and Fire, and bring forth the new birth in you.
May God bless you and keep you. And I leave Reverend Jose Benjamin Perez with you to continue, and in each country, I leave each minister to inform those who have received Christ at this time, what they must do to be baptized in water today in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Until next Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, the day after tomorrow, when I will be with you again for the subject regarding the resurrection of Christ according to the Scriptures.
May God bless you and keep you; and continue having a joyful evening, filled with the blessings of Christ our Savior.
“THE CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURE.”
1 John 14:9
2 Matthew 3:13-17