It is a privilege to be able to speak to you in the name of Jesus Christ, for there is no greater name, no greater One, no other Lord, no other Savior, and no other Salvation than that which is in Him. So I speak to you regarding Jesus. The Lord is dealing in me with regard to the work of Christ affecting me; the knowledge of Christ affecting me. Is the Lord affecting us in His revelation? Not just a revelation of knowledge, of preaching; that we sit and discuss, and come to understand that we have a greater comprehension than other people; but a revelation that affects our being in the revelation.

So in this thought, in Ephesians 4:15 and 16, "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to THE EFFECTUAL WORKING IN THE MEASURE OF EVERY PART, making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." I just love that; that increase comes from the effectual working of Christ in you. And what is the increase? It’s CHRIST! In other words, His working is affecting us - in His increase, and to me that’s just precious. And in the book of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul writes to the Corinthians here. "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Now this really says it all. "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Let’s focus on this thought: JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED." Truly when we begin to come into a view of Christ, we should see this very thing everywhere we look in the scripture. Paul wrote to Timothy about rightly dividing The Word of God. And the way it is rightly divided is right here - Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Otherwise it’s not rightly divided; otherwise it will be my opinion or your opinion, or what one person says or another person says, this creed or that creed. But it ought not to be, because The Vision is Christ and Him crucified. And this vision goes back to the beginning. For example, when God made a man, and the Psalmist writes in Psalm 8, "What is man that thou art mindful of him?", that’s picked up again in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 2:6-10, " But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see JESUS, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

Here we see the view of man. What is man? What is God’s purpose in man? And you can look and look, and exhaust yourself looking at Adam or looking at yourself, trying to find God’s purpose. But until you view CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED you will not see the purpose of God. You look at the first creation and you try to find the fulfillment of God’s purpose. We sing a song: "For Thy pleasure they were created..." All things are created for the pleasure of The Lord. And in this song the view of man comes in mind - all things created for Thy pleasure. But the reality is we don’t get the pleasure of God until The Christ comes on the scene, and we hear the announcement, "This is My Son, in Whom I am well pleased." Then we have God’s pleasure! Then we have all the pleasure of The Lord gathered up into Jesus Christ The Lord, and we find that pleasure in what Paul said, "I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." And that is what we find here: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" It goes on: that God made him and crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of His hands, put things in subjection under him. BUT verse 9 is the answer: "But we see JESUS..." Verse 6 - "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? But we see Jesus!" Here is God’s mind toward man!

When God made the man of dust and breathed in him the breath of life, he became a living soul. He is the natural man and had the natural creation under his feet. In the view of that man, the end result comes into view when we see Jesus and Him crucified. God’s man - for we see God’s Man, The Spiritual Man, The Man of The Seed of God, The Man in God’s image, The Man Who is the expression of The Father, the expression of God. Isn’t that Who The Father is? God; the expression of God. We see A Man that expresses Him, we see Jesus, The Man that expresses God. But we don’t find that in Adam, we don’t find that in us. We can find types and shadows, we can preach types and shadows in relation to family, related to marriage. We can find the types and the shadows, but the fulfillment of it is in JESUS CHRIST - and it always will be!

We take ourselves: we take the natural man, and we try to find a fulfillment for him, and we try to find our fulfillment in our families - in our wives or children. But we can’t find our fulfillment there. I love them, but my prayer is that I bring the fulfillment of my heart, and manifest it TO my family; because the fulfillment of my heart is Jesus, and it’s the fulfillment of your heart. See, man has tried and tried to build his kingdom, to build his palaces, his riches, his desires - all of that, and yet can’t find fulfillment. A famous country music singer had made millions and millions of dollars, and he had a drug habit of over $1500 a day! A lot of people think that if I had money, I would be fulfilled. But no, because THE FULFILLMENT OF THE SOUL IS CHRIST!! The fulfillment of man, the purpose of the man formed from the dust of the earth is brought into view; his purpose is to bear this glorious image of Jesus Christ The Lord! And what a purpose!

As I said, when we begin to look through the scripture, as in Noah, Abraham or the children of Israel - all the way through the scripture the same thing flows. It may have different aspects, but JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED flows. You see it in Noah. Matthew 24:37-39, "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of man be." And that is apprehended, or seen in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Romans 6:3-6, "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death" Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." This is the dealing of The Cross - the old man crucified.

Go back to Genesis 6:12,13, "And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." That’s what we just read in Romans 6: the old man, the earth, the first man, of the earth - earthy, the old man. This is what I’m talking about: The Cross is in the Book. God is dealing right here with Noah in view of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When He looks and says the whole thing is corrupt, He sends the flood and destroys them. You find the fulfillment of this in The Man, Jesus Christ The Lord. You find this fulfilled. Jesus says in John 12, 31-32, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." The end of all flesh; the end of all flesh in the days of Noah comes before the Lord, and here Jesus says if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL MEN unto Me. "Vs. 33, "This he said, signifying what death he should die." THE CROSS! Jesus Christ and Him crucified!

The Cross. Here it is in view - we see Jesus. We see Him crucified. We look in the days of Noah and we see more than a story, we see more than a storybook; we see Jesus Christ and Him crucified! "Lo, I come, (in the volume of the book it is written of me)..." In the book it is written of ME. We see it in the person of Noah, we see it in the building of the ark, we see it in the flesh being destroyed. That is The Cross! That is the very working of God, the very nature of God: to take away that Adamic man, that Adamic nature. And we find it in Jesus Christ and Him crucified: this first man, this man of sin, this natural man - crucified! That’s what I mean by seeing Jesus Christ and Him crucified through the Book. But it doesn’t just stop here - we go on in the book of Genesis 8:14-17, " And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth." So what do we comprehend here? Again - Christ crucified! How so? We see a New Creation; we see old things passed away, and all things are new. Here in type it is new in Noah - a New Creation coming forth in Noah; of the seed of Noah - a New Creation.

Yes it’s a type, but it is very much speaking The Cross. It’s the type here, but the REALITY IS IN CHRIST - old passed away, old man crucified. And what comes out? A New Man, a New Creation - one that is of God. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, "Old things are passed away, and all things are become new, and all things are of God." But do we comprehend that? We look at it, we see it in the Book. This is what the Book is proclaiming - CHRIST CRUCIFIED, A New Creation!

And that just picks right up in Abraham. Abraham is of the seed of Noah, he comes out of the descendants of Noah. And in Abraham we begin to view a seed. Genesis 13:14-15, " And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; For all the land which though seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy SEED FOR EVER." Here comes the view. "And I will make thy SEED as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy SEED also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." And so we go on with the story of Abraham and we’ve got the view of a Seed, and then we have Abraham working to produce the Seed, and we have Ishmael. But there we get The Cross: the separation - that, No! it’s not of works, it’s not of good works. See, Abraham was working according to what in his mind, God said. But no - it’s not that seed, and God tells him that’s not the seed. "For I will visit Sarai and she will have a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac." And there again, is The Cross; there again in view is The Christ, Jesus Christ Himself. I’m not saying Isaac is Jesus, but I’m saying the VIEW is. There is God’s work - not Ishmael. The Cross separated: "not of works lest any man should boast", but it comes forth of The Seed of God! And you can take this and go right to what Jesus said to Nicodemus.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night and says, "I know you must be of God (John 3) for the works that you do." In other words, your works are testifying you are of God. But what is Jesus’ response? Jesus replies: "Nicodemus, you must be born again; you must be born of the water and of the Spirit to enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." So there we have again the separation of The Cross. The Cross - The New Man, The New Birth coming out of The Cross. Yes, there it is - separating flesh and spirit. The Cross - the work of God and that work is spoken of all the way through the Book. The Seed - and each of you that have been born again are comprehended by God in this Seed: this ultimate Seed that God has planted, this Seed which is Christ; of whose fruit, of whose nature The Lord desires to fill the earth! So, we come to this view and we see Christ crucified. The first is done away, and the New Birth through The Seed, This Seed of God.

Now Matthew 1:21, " And she shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." His people - again, we see The Cross. And you can go back in the type and the shadow. You can go back to Moses, you can go back to the Law, you can go back to the sacrifice - and all of that points to CHRIST! The deliverers: HE shall save His people. Deliver - rescue His people. That’s what Moses did - he rescued his people from Pharaoh, from hard bondage, from the bondage of sin. Here again you see The Cross. See, God is working all the way through the Book in the comprehension of THE CROSS; in the comprehension of The New Creation, in the comprehension of The Seed, in the comprehension of Salvation.

So we have in view JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED. Truly that is my prayer; that our view of the Book is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When I open the Book, do I see Jesus Christ crucified? When I read of Noah, when I read of Abraham, when I read of Elijah and Elisha - Elisha getting up and following Elijah - leaving that behind to follow Elijah. The Cross - leaving it behind; old passed away - to apprehend, to comprehend Elijah; The New - Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When I read that, is that what I see? Do I see The Work of The Cross? When I read of Israel beating the sword into plowshares do I see The Work of The Cross for the fruit of The Spirit? Do I see Christ crucified? Do I open the Book and see Him crucified in the Book? For that is what the Book is saying.

Jesus said it testifies: "Search the scriptures; in them you think you have life; and these are they that testify of Me. And you would not come to me that you might have life." That’s recorded in John 5. But here we see Christ, we see Jesus, we see what God sees. And thank God we see HIM! Thank God we have come to this view! Isn’t the Lord just wonderful? I pray that this lesson just brings our mind more into tune with this view of Christ. Amen.

We are dealing with the apprehension of Christ. We are going to look at Philippians 3 where we see the word "apprehended". In the Strong’s this is the word #2638 that means ‘ to take eagerly, to seize, i.e. possess.’ Thayer’s says ‘to lay hold of, to lay hold of so as to make one’s own, to attain, to attain to, to take into one’s self, to appropriate, to seize upon, to take possession of, to lay hold of with the mind, to understand, to see, to learn, to comprehend.’ I like this: TO LAY HOLD OF SO AS TO MAKE ONE’S OWN. And we can relate this back to some scripture - 1 Corinthians 1:1,2, " And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save JESUS CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED." This is where the Lord is dealing with me: have I taken hold of this? Has this become my own?

I think it’s a very appropriate question. I’ve been teaching in this understanding for some time, and the Lord is dealing in my heart in the realness of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I see it in the scripture. I see it in The Word, but what He’s dealing with me about is the REALITY of my being a New Creation: is the reality of my being - The Cross? See, is that my reality? Or is my reality being a 6' 1 ½" man weighing 200 pounds? What is my reality? Is the reality I live in a New Creation: that an old creation has been destroyed? I’m talking about a Word that is more than a good teaching, a true teaching. And I thank God for teachers of The Truth. I don’t want you taught anything else, and I don’t want to hear anything else. But The Lord is dealing this way in my heart - the comprehension, the apprehending. Yes, we apprehend it, we come to view it, we come to understand it. Yes, but the apprehension IN THE SOUL, in the being; having it apprehended in our hearts so that it is what we are... We are a New Creation in Christ. That’s what we are. Apprehending that, so that in my everyday living, in my everyday walking, in my everyday talking, in my everyday thinking - I am thinking in regards to THIS Truth. It has become what my soul has apprehended.

To possess it. Go to Philippians 3: 1-15, " Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrew; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after... If that I may seize, apprehend, lay hold of, possess - that for which also I am seized, possessed, laid hold of - of Christ Jesus." This really struck me - APPREHEND: that I may apprehend this, that I may possess this, that this may be my being, that this may be my living. Well, yes I can, because my living is to be Christ - HE IS MY LIFE! That this may be my living, this may be my expression, this may be my being!

See, we teach it, we teach it, we teach it, we preach it...but, is it OUR BEING? Is Christ my being? Is the comprehension of Christ Crucified my being? Is the comprehension of The Seed of God, and being born of that Seed my being? Have I really apprehended being included? See, this is what we have been apprehended for! Have I counted all dung, all things lost - all of what I am lost - for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ? Has This Cross performed it’s Work IN ME? Has it come off the page and got into my being? So that when I walk around - when I walk through my house, I go on my job, I teach Church Sunday School services, I preach... has it seized my being? Of being a New Creation, of being The Creation of God? Have I come to view that as my Living? Paul said, "Not that I have attained all this, but this one thing I do: leaving those things which are behind, I press toward the mark..." I’m after this, I’m after Christ, I’m after HIM CRUCIFIED.

I’m not really after a "good teaching". I love good teaching, I’m for good teaching, I want to hear good teaching - don’t misunderstand me. But, I’m after CHRIST! I want to apprehend The House of God. See, I’ve taught a lot on "The House of God." And when The Lord began to be revealed in me, and I began to see in an understanding of The Lord in the scripture, I began to see that The House of God isn’t buildings in the sky, and it wasn’t the building on the corner that we go into on Sundays or Saturdays. And when I began to see that, I began to teach that. I taught that it was The Body of Christ, what God has brought forth in Christ. But even in saying that, have I apprehended The House of God? In other words, has my being become His House? I know it has through the Work of Christ, I understand that it has because God has done it. Yes, that is The Truth - you are The Temple of The Living God. God doesn’t have any other Temple. He doesn’t have an Old Testament Temple; Jesus destroyed that Temple. "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it again. And this He said speaking of His Body." No longer is God regarding that building, that Old Testament building as His Temple, for He has raised up His Temple in Christ!

But have I apprehended, have I seized that? Have I come to the place that The House of God has become my being? Has it become my living? Has it become my expression? His House, His Sanctuary, His place of offering; what the offering is - His Spirit. Has it become the place of His Spirit? I know His Spirit is in me, I know that all you that are believers have His Spirit, but has it become the very abode, the place of the being of His Spirit?

I don’t know that I’m putting this into really good words, but, have I apprehended "His House"? Have I come to that place of apprehension? Have we come there? Are we apprehending The House of God? We talked of Noah and The New Creation: the old man passed away, the old man being crucified. That was shown in type in Noah, and The New Man, The New Creation comes out of the ark, it replenishes the earth. But have I apprehended that? That the old creation is gone? It’s gone! In Christ - it’s gone, and I’m in Christ! Has this become our living? Is this our living in our homes? On our jobs? In the store, in the market, in the way we handle situations, in the way we handle problems, in the way we handle one another as a New Creation? Do we view one another as The Work of God? Has that become our being? That we no longer view each other according to the flesh, but we view one another according to The Seed of God? Have we comprehended the birth - being birthed out of God, birthed in Christ, being filled with His Spirit?

Here is where The Lord is dealing with me. See, The Lord wants a witness. He has the witness in Christ, but The Church is to be a witness of The Work in Christ, The Work that is done. That same Work is worked in us, in our hearts by The Holy Ghost. And that Work is more; it’s more than me being able to teach you by the scripture. And thank God we can, but it’s MORE! It’s an effectual working that affects us in the person; the reality of Jesus Christ The Lord! That will cause us to no longer view one another according to the flesh. Yes it will! Yes, He has done this Work! Glory to The King of Kings! It absolutely will! We preach the scriptures, we preach The Word, we preach The Bible... but, has the Bible become our Living? I’m talking about according to CHRIST.

Galatians 1:15,16, " But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." He revealed, He unveiled The House of God in Paul, He unveiled The Priest of God in Paul, He unveiled The New Creation in Paul, because He revealed THE SON. And every bit of that, every item is in The Son. He is all of that - CHRIST ALL AND IN ALL! The apprehension of Christ - that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection. Oh Jesus! Thank God He’s included us in such a One! Thank God! Let us think of this, let us consider this - Christ revealed, Christ revealed in you, The House of God revealed in you - in your being; changing you, transforming you. Isn’t that what the scripture says?

Isn’t that what we read in 2 Corinthians 3:13-18, " And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished; But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, ARE CHANGED INTO THE SAME IMAGE from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

As we behold Him - as The House of God, we are changed, we are changed into that image, into that expression. We give Him expression, we are changed from the first to the last. As we behold Him as The New Creation - we are changed! See, we are beholding Christ, we’re beholding all things in Him, we’re beholding all things summed up in Him. As we behold Him as The Fruit of The Spirit - we are changed. And where do we behold Him? In us! In our hearts, in our minds, in our heart, mind and soul. Yes indeed, God would have Truth in the INWARD PARTS. And the Holy Ghost has come that Christ may dwell in you! That it become the very expression of The Lord. That we be the expression of The House of God. It’s not a place we go any more: WE are the expression of God’s House! Praise The Lord!

Oh, I desire this, I desire to express His nature, His fruit. Have you ever come face to face with what you were, what you were according to the flesh? And hate it? And say - in me dwells no good thing? I have! And that’s the truth! In me, according to my flesh dwells no good thing. But thanks be to God, that I have been apprehended by Christ! And now my heart is not to apprehend what I was, even back in the garden of Eden; what greatness of man there was. My heart is not to apprehend the first man; my heart is to apprehend CHRIST! Not to find the greatness of me, not to see the greatness of me, but to see the greatness of HIM! Not to express my greatness, but to express HIS - to seize, to lay hold of that of HIM! Then you ask the question - does The Lord want you to? He delights to give us of His Kingdom, of His rule, of His nature, of His Person, to express Himself!

I just want to tell you it’s a great place that we’ve come to. We’ve come to a great place - and HE IS THAT GREAT PLACE! We’ve come to The Lord Himself, to The God of all creation - Jesus our Lord! Have you see Him that way? Have you see Him as Thomas saw Him, and cried, "My Lord and My God!" What a beautiful One we have come to! I just truly pray that This One would have expression in us. Have we come to the place of His expression? We’ve come to Him; He’s in us, but He’s in us for a PURPOSE. He’s in us for EXPRESSION. How beautiful His expression really is! We’ve only glimpsed it, we’ve only seen a small portion, but whatever you’ve seen of Him, it’s beautiful. I pray that The Lord Jesus will just bring forth a greater and greater increase of Himself. May HE be exalted, may HE be The Exalted One, may HE just reign in our hearts. That our very being with our brethren be in Christ; that we no longer be out to criticize, out to put down those that are His. MAY HE BE EXALTED! Bless you all in the Name and Knowledge of The Lord Jesus Christ!