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The Temptations of Jesus


Roy Stahl

www.christisyourlife.com

THE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS


Brewer: Hello, Mr. Stahl, we’re glad to have you as our guest today. I suppose you know about 
us and why we have these interviews.


Stahl: Yes, I’ve not only heard about you, but I’ve enjoyed many of the interviews that I have 
heard you conduct. Tell me one thing, Mr. Brewer, if you will; all of the interviews that I 
have heard have been of a religious nature…Do you discuss other topics as well?


Brewer: No, Mr. Stahl, we don’t. We are concerned only with the various aspects of religion, 
particularly those that claim to be based on the Bible. We feel that by a better 
understanding of these various concepts of religious thought, there will be a better 
understanding between people and therefore less difficulty. 
We have invited you to be with us because, well, frankly we have heard quite a few 
comments about some of the things you teach. Some of the folks who call themselves 
Fundamentalists differ with you on some of the very basic concepts of the Bible. We did 
not tell you about this when we asked you to be our guest because we want what you 
say to be spontaneous. So, how about it…are you prepared to defend yourself?


Stahl: This indicates to me that you are going to fight…and I don’t aim to battle. I am very 
willing to answer any questions that I can, and I will be glad to explain what I believe as 
clearly as I can, but, defend? No! If there is any defense necessary, I’ll let the Lord do 
that. There would be very little harmony between people indeed if everyone defended 
his position. I honestly feel that what I have to say is the Word of God so I don’t have to 
defend it. He performs it…and I consider that defense enough. 


Brewer: Fair enough! Mr. Stahl, where did you receive your Theological training?


Stahl: I did not receive any formal Theological training. The knowledge I have I received is from 
God. 


Brewer: Have you followed any prescribed course of instruction?


Stahl: No Sir, I have not. 


Brewer: What authority do you give for your teaching?


Stahl: Only the authority that a person wishes to give me. I speak in Jesus’ Name and have no 
other authority. 


Brewer: Does not everyone have the privilege of the same authority? In other words, Mr. Stahl, 
how can you expect to have people accept what you say if you have no credentials to 
present?


Stahl: I don’t expect it, Mr. Brewer. I never expect to see anyone convinced of what I have to 
say unless they want to be convinced. The only thing I ask is that they listen to what I 
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have to say. I have two great desires: I desire to say only the things that God would have 
me say, and, I want to be able to say them in such manner that people will understand. 


Brewer: Suppose that someone who does not share your thoughts feels that he too speaks the 
truth…who then is right?


Stahl: I cannot arbitrate that, Mr. Brewer. Only God is right. What I say or what someone else 
says are not the criteria. Every individual must hear God’s Voice, as it were, and be 
convinced within himself. I firmly believe that there are certain basic principles of truth 
that are outlined in the Bible, and these truths must be the basic structure of all Godgiven knowledge. If it is not, we must be willing to change. 


Brewer: What if a man does not understand this basic structure of which you speak?


Stahl: I feel that all men can understand it. We are told that the way is so simple that even a 
fool need not err therein. The reason there are so many approaches to certain 
theological truths is that man desires to have his nature as well as the things of God. 
This is an impossibility! When man becomes willing to accept the basic premise that God 
is Spirit, and that God makes man to be one Spirit with Him, he has come to the place 
where he can begin to understand the things of God. 


Brewer: Mr. Stahl, we have had a number of inquiries about what you teach regarding Jesus. 
Many folk have the idea that you attempt to take away the deity of Jesus and present 
Him as only a man. Is this the idea that you mean to convey?


Stahl: Take away the divinity of Jesus…goodness no! However, I do claim that he was not born 
divine. 


Brewer: If you say He was not born divine, yet you say you are not taking away His divinity, well 
then, the next question. Do you believe Jesus was divine?


Stahl: Mr. Brewer, He became divine. The Bible mentions it this way. ”This same Jesus, God 
hath made him to be both Lord and Christ.”


Brewer: Then, up to this time Jesus was just a man?


Stahl: That’s right. 


Brewer: Do you find this in the Bible?


Stahl: Yes, I believe I do. I know of no chapter and verse that makes such a statement, but I 
feel the truth is quite evident. 


Brewer: I guess there are quite a few people who do not see it that way. That’s why you are 
here. How about telling us how you see it?


Stahl: Well, Mr. Brewer, to understand it you have to accept one of these basic principles of 
which we spoke earlier. Most every Christian will agree that one must be born again in 
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order to enter this realm of salvation prepared for us by Jesus Christ. They will accept 
the words of Jesus when He said, “You must be born again.” Now, anyone who is 
familiar with the Bible knows that this new birth is of the Spirit, Jesus said so. But not 
too many folk know what the Spirit is in relation to their lives. There is another 
statement that Jesus made at the same time, one that is not too generally emphasized. 
He said that when you are born of the Spirit, you become Spirit, just like when you are 
born of the flesh you become flesh – John 3:6.


Brewer: I believe that most Christians believe this, Mr. Stahl. How does this have a bearing on 
whether Jesus was divine or not?


Stahl: It has a bearing on what Jesus considered to be real; and, Mr. Brewer, I agree with you. 
Most Christians believe this, but I am firmly convinced that very few Christians know 
what it means to be born of the Spirit. The thing that bothers me is that there does not 
even seem to be any challenge in them to find out. I suppose this is the basis of my 
desire to bring people to the place of knowing the difference between flesh and Spirit. 


Brewer: And you believe you can show this by making Jesus to be a man?


Stahl: Mr. Brewer, I didn’t make Jesus to be a man, God made Him that way. It was Jesus, 
however, that God showed an example of what happens to a man when he is willing to 
embrace this truth. 


Brewer: How did this come about?


Stahl: Who knows how God’s knowledge comes to man? As I look back upon it now, I believe I 
was doing some thinking about the temptations of Jesus. I began to wonder about it 
rather seriously. I found that actually I had never seriously considered them before. I 
tried to find the reason for this, and I finally faced the fact that Jesus had always 
occupied a place wherein I could not really consider Him to have been tempted in the 
same fashion that I know temptation. 


Brewer: But, Mr. Stahl, there are many things to learn! There are lessons about the Bread of Life, 
worshiping the only true God, of faith and confidence.


Stahl: That’s right, Mr. Brewer, I taught those things for years. But it is still not putting the 
emphasis on the thing that is the most revealing. I cannot emphasize that statement 
enough. Look, let me show you what I mean. 


Brewer: Go right ahead, that’s why you are here. 


Stahl: As far as I am concerned, the Bible is the final authority, and the Bible says this: “God 
cannot be tempted with evil.” That is not hard to understand. It is a simple, positive 
statement…”God cannot be tempted with evil.”
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Now, the next part is just as plain and just as simple. Listen now, “Every man is tempted 
when he is drawn away and enticed of his own lusts.” This defines where man’s 
temptation lies,” in his own desires, the Bible says. 
So, here are two irrefutable facts, God cannot be tempted with evil, and, a man is 
tempted when he is enticed by his own desires. It is pretty conclusive that Jesus was 
tempted and it is also pretty conclusive that God cannot be tempted. Therefore, I must 
face the fact that Jesus was tempted as a man. 


Brewer: I’m confused now…Does not the Bible say,” In the beginning was the Word and the 
Word was with God and the Word was God?” Then it says the Word became flesh and 
dwelt among us. What about all this?


Stahl: That’s what I want to help you understand. You will be surprised how many questions 
are answered when you see God’s truth regarding this thing. The answers I give to your 
questions are the ones God gave me. Sometimes I try to find an answer by myself, and 
always I find that I make many errors. But God never errs. If we listen to what His Word 
declares, we’ll learn the truth. If I settle for the fact that Jesus was a man when He was 
tempted, then I look at things in a different light. In the first place, I must understand 
that temptation has a rather definite meaning. I cannot say that to one person it means 
one thing and to someone else it means something different. It is true that different 
people are tempted by different things; that is because people are different, but the 
basic strength of temptation is the same to all flesh. For a temptation to be a 
temptation at least three things must be satisfied; a man must have the opportunity to 
do that thing in which he is tempted, he must have the capability of doing it and he 
must want to do it. Above all he must want to do it. He can have opportunity and 
capability, but if there is no desire there is no temptation. 
If a person considers this he will begin to see something of the kind of man that Jesus 
was. Remember, Jesus was tempted…He wanted to do these things!


Brewer: Do you mean to say that Jesus wanted to cast Himself off form the pinnacle of the 
Temple?


Stahl: That’s right, Mr. Brewer. There were certain things that led up to it that doesn’t make it 
at all surprising. Let’s look at the beginning of His temptations…about turning the stones
into bread. Do you believe He wanted to do that?


Brewer: Certainly! He was hungry. After forty days of fasting you would be hungry too!


Stahl: I’d be hungry a long time before forty days. But tell me, Mr. Brewer, if Jesus had desire 
in this case, why wouldn’t He have desire in the other two cases as well?


Brewer: I see what you mean.


Stahl: When we know what a man wants, we begin to know a little bit about what he is like. 
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Brewer: Sounds reasonable. 


Stahl: Now we are in a position to know a little bit about what he thinks because we know 
what he desires. When a man wants something, and he is face-to-face with it, he either 
embraces it, compromises, or turns from it. His thoughts are pretty well defined by what 
he does. In the case of Jesus, we not only know that He turned from a certain thing, but 
in each case He spoke words that expressed His thoughts. 


Brewer: This sounds interesting. Tell me more. It’s rather a startling thing, isn’t it, to be able to 
know the thoughts of Jesus? It makes you feel like you are trespassing a little bit, 
doesn’t it?


Stahl: When you consider that Jesus was our example of faith and obedience, it becomes more 
acceptable. We have considered Jesus to be untouchable and unobtainable for so long 
that we have not dared to be so bold as to analyze Him. But look, He was a man of like 
passions as we are now. We know this because He was tempted in all points even as we 
are. He was anxious to tell us all the Father told Him. He exposed His thoughts and His 
life to all who would learn. So…no more do I feel like I’m trespassing. I’m anxious to 
learn. 
In Jesus, I see a man who is somewhat extroverted; He liked people and wanted to be 
among them. He was a man who was frequently seen at social gatherings. He liked to 
eat. He liked to be happy and have a good time. 
This is perhaps a little hard to accept, but if we accept it, we will be able to better 
understand the man. 


Brewer: You mean to say you see all this in the account of His temptations?


Stahl: I believe so, Mr. Brewer, maybe not directly but certainly by implication. Sometimes we 
learn more about the man who was, by what His enemies said later on. Of Jesus they 
said He was a partying man, a winebibber, and, a glutton. Because they were His 
enemies, we know that Jesus wasn’t the man they pictured Him to be. But knowing 
human nature, we know that there were things in Jesus’ life that gave excuse to these 
distorted accusations. The very first miracle that Jesus performed at Cana at the 
wedding could very easily have been an indication of His thoughts along this line. He 
could have just as easily purified the water, or produced any other thing. He chose to 
make wine. It was a marriage feast and this was the custom. It helped everyone to have 
a good time. 


Brewer: All right, grant what you say is true, but how does this have anything to do with His 
temptations?


Stahl: I feel that it helps to know a little bit about the man so you can better understand His 
temptations. Believe me; Satan did! Satan doesn’t just tempt in a random fashion…he is 
diabolical. His temptations are tailored to fit the individual, and don’t you forget it. 
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Every man is tempted right up to the point where he thinks he can no longer bear it –
but God is faithful. He will not let His loved ones down. 
Jesus had been shaken during the last few months before his temptations, so much so 
that He even wondered about His anointing, and this is where Satan hit Him. “If thou be 
the Son of God…,” Satan said. Prove it! “Command these stones to become bread.”
That’s real rough on a man that is hungry and all tore up on the inside, but that’s the 
way Satan operates. 


Brewer: What do you mean Jesus was “all tore up inside?’


Stahl: He had just finished a forty day fast, Mr. Brewer, and to a Jew this meant something. 
The Bible only records two other men who fasted forty days and there was great 
emotional desire in each case. Both men were satisfied before God at the end of their 
fast. Moses had received direction from God and Elijah went to his victory at Mount 
Carmel. At the end of forty days, the only thing that we read about Jesus is He was 
hungry and He was tempted. Jesus had not received one bit more direction from God at 
the end of His fast than He had at the beginning. That’s why I say He was all tore up 
inside. Do you see what I mean?


Brewer: Yes, I believe I do. I had never considered it before, but you may be right. 


Stahl: You see, Mr. Brewer, the thing we want to find out about more than anything else is 
Jesus, the man. If you wish to follow this line of thinking, I’m sure you will see some very 
startling things. If we can accept what we see and believe it, our whole life will be 
changed just as surely as was the life of Jesus. 


Brewer: This change you mention is not this quite contrary to the accepted belief? You say there 
is a change in the life of Jesus; what do you mean? The Bible says Jesus Christ, the same, 
yesterday, today, and forever…so what do you mean change?


Stahl: The particular change I’m talking about is the change that came about in the attitude of 
Jesus, His understanding of God, if you please, and what it meant to be God’s anointed. 
I think this change is quite clearly indicated in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter Four. He tells 
of Jesus temptations and the change of attitude is quite evident. Jesus’ answer to Satan 
on the first two occasions indicates quite clearly that Jesus considered Himself a man. 
“Man shall not live by bread alone,” He said. Then again the instruction was for man to 
worship God only. But the last time around indicates a drastic change. Even though 
Satan still hammered at Jesus from the standpoint of a man, “If you are the Son of God,”
Jesus no longer answered Satan as a man. He saw and understood that a miracle had 
taken place. His answer said I am no longer in the flesh because God is in Me. To Satan, 
He said simply, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God.” Satan couldn’t argue the 
point. In other words, “I am Your Lord. You cannot tempt Me.
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Do you know what the Bible says Satan did then, Mr. Brewer?


Brewer: If I remember right, I believe it says Satan left Him for a season. 


Stahl: That’s right! Why didn’t Satan leave Him before?


Brewer: Satan wasn’t through with his tempting. 


Stahl: Well, that’s right; but, how did Satan know when he was through?


Brewer: You said something about a miracle taking place – about Jesus being no more in the 
flesh, but I don’t know exactly how to answer your question. 


Stahl: We have already said that God can’t be tempted with evil – right?


Brewer: Yes.


Stahl: Therefore, when Jesus abdicated His position as a man and accepted His Oneness with 
God, He no longer had to argue with Satan. He simply said,” Thou shalt not tempt the 
Lord.” Satan knew this was true so there was nothing more he could do. He had come to 
the end of his tempting, so the only thing left for him was to withdraw. 
As long as Jesus did not take this position – as long as He considered things from the 
standpoint of a man – He was tempted. But when He saw what His anointing meant and 
was willing to accept it, Satan could no longer reach Him, he had to leave. 


Brewer: Mr. Stahl, I have a gentleman here that would like to ask you a question. Do you mind?


Stahl: Not at all. 


Brewer: Mr. Stahl, this is Mr. Carlten. Mr. Carlten, you indicated you had a question for Mr. 
Stahl?
Carlten: Yes, Mr. Stahl, what you say is very interesting, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be 
true. There are other Gospels aside from Luke. Matthew tells of the temptation in as 
great detail as Luke, but he transposes the last two temptations so that the affair on the 
pinnacle of the Temple was not the last one. That would nullify your whole approach, 
wouldn’t it?


Stahl: I don’t believe it would nullify the whole thing, Mr. Carlten. Things would certainly be 
obscured. The fact that God cannot be tempted does not change. The fact that Jesus 
said I and my Father are One would not change. But, certainly, this is not shown by 
Matthew’s account. I personally feel that Matthew is in error in the sequence of 
presentation. This is not an unusual thing; many things are not sequentially recorded. 
Your approach, Mr. Carlten, is well taken. If Matthew was the only account of the 
temptations, I would not be saying the words that I am saying now. Mr. Carlten, I have a 
question for you. Have you ever considered the temptations in detail?
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Carlten: Probably not as much as you have. 


Stahl: I feel that each temptation tells us a specific thing. It reveals a progressive attitude that 
was taking place within Jesus. Its starting point and its finish are extremely important. 
Perhaps we can investigate it more closely sometime. 


Brewer: There is no time like the present. We can take all the time that is necessary. These 
people here may want to ask for clarification on certain points, so if you are willing - you 
have all the time you need.


Stahl: Thank you, Mr. Brewer. I appreciate your spirit; and as for the rest of you people, I will 
be glad to answer any questions I can. However, please understand me right now. I 
don’t know all the answers. I am glad for the opportunity to present to you what God 
has shown me regarding the temptations of Jesus. 
                             There are some things that we should understand before we go much further in 
discussion. Scholars have bandied many words about in trying to establish whether 
these events really happened to Jesus or were they merely a figment of His imagination. 
You see, most scholars have a difficult time accepting Spiritual facts. 
Because of this, I feel it is important for us to establish certain things. Right for the 
moment it does not matter whether you agree with these things or not. However, it is 
important that you understand what I mean or you will not be able to understand what I 
am trying to say. 
Regarding Satan…just for the record; let me say that he is just as real as God. In so much 
as both Satan and God are contending for the human soul, they both will use the same 
method. This is because we are made a certain way and we respond to certain things. If 
Satan approaches us in such a manner as to put us on guard, or if he should present 
something to us that is completely irrelevant to our nature, he has no common ground 
with us and we would not even consider him. Therefore, he chooses his temptations 
carefully. He studies the man and formulates the temptation so it will hit the man where 
he is weakest. It’s the same way with God…He will be the thing to a man that he needs 
the most. It would be well if we today would do the same. Too often we have a set 
approach and expect everyone to respond to it. This is not so, every one of us is an  
individual with specific needs and desires. Very few of us respond the same way to any 
given situation. 
Find out a man’s desires, what he wants and what he thinks, and you have found out 
what manner of man he is. Find out how he meets his problems and temptations, and 
you will see the character of the man.  
The temptations of Jesus were very real. Some of these temptations were implemented 
by external conditions; the stones and the Temple pinnacle were real things. The turmoil
was within Jesus. 
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Many people want to know how Satan appeared to Jesus. He appeared to Jesus the 
same way he appears to us. In other words, he is anonymous. He is a voice within us –
he is a thought generated by words or circumstances. He is despair or desire, he is 
eagerness or hopelessness, but, he never reveals himself for what he is. When Satan is 
revealed to us as Satan, he no longer has the power to tempt. 
There is one thing we may as well know: Satan’s power is in making us think that the 
thoughts we have are our own. 


Brewer: Mr. Stahl, I believe there is a question in the audience. 


Stahl: Very well – You sir, what is it you wish to ask?
Evans: My name is Evans. Something you said just a moment ago bothers me. You said that 
God and Satan both work the same way or something like that. Maybe I don’t 
understand what you mean, but, it seems to me that God and Satan are very different. 
One loves, the other doesn’t. One is a liar, the other is truth. How do you mean they
work in the same way?


Stahl: What I mean, Mr. Evans, is that both God and Satan desire the soul of man. Satan would 
destroy it and God would give it life. 
We are subject to certain likes or desires. Both Satan and God would like us to believe 
that what we have need of is met in them. It is up to us to recognize that one is a liar 
and the other is true. 
Let me further illustrate: Suppose there is within me an intense desire for fulfillment –
to know that I am accepted by someone. Satan would be foolish to tempt me to go off 
by myself somewhere. I wouldn’t even listen to that! What I want is to be with people. 
On the other hand, if Satan approached me with the thought of let’s go to the party and 
have a ball, I’d begin to listen to him because here they might begin to accept me. 
God works the same way. If in my need to be accepted, He would come to me and say, 
“The time will come when they shall put you out of the church thinking they do God’s 
service,” I would turn from this thing called God…my thoughts say “I’m already out of 
things – I want to be in.”
If, on the other hand, He comes to me and shows me how great a love He has for me, 
and whispers to me, “I have made you accepted in the Beloved,” He has touched the 
responsive chord of my need. 
So it is in this manner that I say Satan and God both work in the same way insofar as the 
soul is concerned. Does that clear up the situation any, Mr. Evans?
Evans: Well – I guess so. I still don’t like equating God and Satan on the same level. 
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Stahl: Mr. Evans, we are not doing that: God is still God, and, Satan is still Satan, but the 
common ground is your heart, Sir, and mine. 
Look, let’s go around again. What I’m saying is that when our need is greatest, our 
temptation is the greatest and our deliverance is the greatest. Let me use another 
illustration. 
Mr. Evans, I don’t drink. I have never touched a drop of alcohol. I don’t want it. But, I do 
get discouraged. Now in my discouragement, Satan will not tempt me to go out and get 
drunk as that is no temptation. I don’t want the stuff. He would tempt me along some 
line wherein I would be more susceptible. 
Similarly, God will not draw me to Himself by revealing Himself to be something of 
which I don’t need. My attitude then is “So what!” But, when He reveals Himself to be 
something I need, then I am enticed of God and drawn to Him. 
Does this clear up your understanding of what I mean? Understand, Mr. Evans, you do 
not have to agree with what I say. Of course, I hope that you will, but I am very 
concerned that you understand what I say. How about it? 
Evans: Yes. I think I understand what you mean. Thank you for answering me. 


Stahl: The privilege is mine, Mr. Evans. I want you to ask questions. Above all, I want you to 
understand the meaning of what I have to say. Does anyone else have a question?


Brewer: Looks like they are all quiet right now. 


Stahl: Where were we, Mr. Brewer? What does the transcript say?


Brewer: You were talking about how Satan appears to us. You said, “He is a voice within us. He is 
a thought generated by words or circumstances. He is despair or desire, he is eagerness 
or hopelessness, but, he never reveals himself for what he is. When Satan is revealed to 
us as Satan, he no longer has the power to tempt.”


Stahl: Thank you, Mr. Brewer. I’m with it now. Satan has to remain anonymous. No sane 
person who loves the Lord would be the least bit bothered with temptations if Satan 
would appear to them, announce his identity, and then present his plan. We would be 
forewarned and that would certainly be forearmed. Even those with the weakest 
resolve would stiffen up and become firm if Satan would present his calling card. The 
Bible says that he appears as an “angel of light.” He uses subtlety and is cunning. He has 
blinded our eyes.
This is the way it was when Jesus was tempted. The Bible says Satan “came” to Jesus. It 
says that Jesus answered Satan. If we are not careful, we receive the impression that 
Satan appeared to Jesus in a physical way, and that Jesus recognized him as Satan. This 
is preposterous – nothing could be further from the truth! The things that Satan said to 
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Jesus seemed to be Jesus’ own thoughts. They were perfectly logical and reasonable to 
Him; otherwise - there could be no temptation. 
That’s the way Satan presents things to people. We must be aware of his tactics. The 
Bible says that we are not ignorant of his devices, yet, I am very much afraid that many, 
many Christians do not have the slightest idea of how it is that Satan approaches them. 
They feel snug and secure and then, all of a sudden, they are overcome. They are 
stunned, shocked, and, bewildered. 


Brewer: Pardon me, Mr. Stahl, but, I believe we have another question. 


Stahl: Yes, I see. You, Sir. What is your question?
Landis: My name is Landis, and, well, I don’t know how to say what I want to say. Do you mean 
to say that all these things in which Satan tempted Jesus were in His own mind? I feel 
that this is unthinkable. You’re making the Son of God to be on the same level with 
Satan. At least it seems that way to me. 


Stahl: Let’s go over this again, Mr. Landis. We are talking about temptation. Satan is the 
tempter; Jesus is His intended victim. Satan’s purpose is to destroy God’s plan. This is 
warfare. Do you understand that, Mr. Landis? It is not warfare on a merely human basis. 
It is Satan’s desire to destroy God’s effectiveness once and for all. He is striking at God’s 
anointed. Satan will use every vile trick at his command. The cold hard fact of the matter 
is that if Satan is known as Satan, he has no power whatsoever. Satan appears in the 
guise of our own thoughts, and unless we recognize what God is, we never will know the 
demarcation between good and evil. Satan’s thoughts will seem to be our thoughts 
because we are made from the dust of the earth. Our nature is carnal; it is of this world, 
and Satan is the prince of this world. 
I am not making the Son of God to be on the same level as Satan. What I am trying to do 
is to show you what things Jesus endured for you and I so that we might once and for all 
be free of the curse of Satan. 
It is time we understand that we are in warfare – it is high time we understand how it is 
that Satan works. Jesus not only is my sacrifice, but He overcame Satan for me so that I, 
in Him, need not be overcome. He is my example in all things. When I see how it was 
that He was tempted, and how He overcame temptations, then, I will know how Satan 
comes against me, and, I will know how to come into my victory. 
Do you see what I mean, Mr. Landis? I am not down grading Jesus in the least. I am 
merely showing you what Jesus went through for you and for me. 
Landis: All right – I’ll listen some more. 
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Stahl: Does anyone else have questions along this line? Speak up – because this is probably 
one of the most important things for a Christian to know. We must face the truth of how 
it is that Satan works, or, we will fall flat on our face. 


Brewer: I guess all is quiet, Mr. Stahl. Looks like you quieted them down with that one. 


Stahl: I feel pretty strongly about the matter. When I see people being robbed of the blessings 
of God simply because they do not understand how it is that Satan comes against them, 
well, I get pretty concerned. 
You see our whole objective here is to learn about Jesus as a man. He was tempted, and 
because the Bible is true, we know that a man is tempted when he is enticed by his own 
desires. 
We have already talked some about turning stones into bread. Let’s look a little bit more 
at that. We understand the action; Jesus was capable of doing that. We understand His 
need; He was hungry. The thing we haven’t looked at yet is the spot in which He was 
being tempted…”If thou be the Son of God” - that’s the whole point! There was doubt in 
Jesus mind as to whether or not He was the Son of God. This is an incredible thing to 
consider. Did not Jesus know from childhood that he was the Son of God? Apparently 
not; because here it is – do something to prove it – turn these stones to bread. 
If there was a confidence within Jesus regarding this thing there would have been no 
need of proof. Remember; He was in the wilderness; no one else was around, so the 
temptation was not to prove His Son ship to someone else – the doubt was not in some 
other mind, it was in His own. It was His temptation – He had to meet it within Himself. 
Now we know the thought of the man. Now we know why He came to the wilderness 
and fasted. Here was a matter that had to be cleared up. Either He was the Son of God 
or He wasn’t. 
Now we are in possession of two facts concerning this time of Jesus life. We know why 
He came to the wilderness to fast. The other point is the fact that the Spirit led Him into 
the wilderness. If God led Him into the wilderness; it must have been for a very definite 
and important reason. 
We read the scriptures and they say “and immediately the Spirit led Jesus into the 
wilderness.” God’s leading is not necessarily an “all at once” affair, or perhaps I should 
say that man doesn’t follow “all at once.” There is a process man goes through by which 
he learns to be led by God. This is the way it was in the case of Jesus. There was an 
“urging” on the part of God, a gentle “insistence” that would bring Jesus to the 
wilderness. God wanted Him there and so He gently brought it about. God immediately 
began this urging. 
Now Jesus is in the wilderness. The urgings of God have brought forth fruit and Jesus is 
at the place God desires Him to be. It is here that Jesus is about to learn the most 
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important thing that man can ever learn. He is to be the first man to see God as He 
really is. It is not a partial vision; it is a complete revelation. 


Brewer: I see some hands, Mr. Stahl!


Stahl: Yes, I see.


Brewer: We have had a couple of gentlemen before. Suppose we let a lady speak up?


Stahl: All right, Mr. Brewer, that sounds fair enough. This lady on my left; what caused you to 
raise your hand?
Lady: I’m Mrs. Cartwright and you said something I can’t agree with at all…or rather you seem 
to indicate it. The Bible says very definitely that Jesus was baptized and immediately the 
Spirit led Him into the wilderness. It’s in the Bible, Mr. Stahl. It’s in Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke; yet, if I understand you right, you are implying that a period of time elapsed in 
between his baptism and the wilderness. 


Stahl: That’s right Mrs. Cartwright; I am implying just exactly that. 
Lady: I don’t see how you can say that. When his temptations were over, the Bible says “He 
returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.” Do you mean to say Jesus began His 
public ministry without the power of the Spirit?


Stahl: Well, Mrs. Cartwright, you have good questions. Truthfully, I don’t know whether you 
want an answer. I have a feeling that your mind is already made up. May I ask you a 
question? Would you be willing to accept something different if it caused you to change 
some of the things you already believe?
Lady: I believe so Mr. Stahl. Some things are plain through and I see no reason to change 
them. 


Stahl: If you did see a reason, would you change?
Lady: I’d have to be convinced. 


Stahl: Well, I can’t convince you and furthermore, I don’t want to. If a person should be 
convinced by me, then they would say “Mr. Stahl says,” and there is no life or authority 
to that. When a person is convinced by God, then he has a solid foundation and he can 
depend on that. 
Lady: That’s the way I feel. 


Stahl: Insofar as the time of Jesus temptation is concerned, I feel that as our discussion 
progresses, you will see more clearly just why it is that I say Jesus did not immediately 
go to the wilderness. Remember, I said the scriptures say that God began to lead Jesus 
into the wilderness. He led Him by allowing certain things to come about. It is in the 
culmination of these things that brought Jesus into the understanding of what really 
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happened to Him. They are the things that brought Him to temptation and they are the 
things that gave Him direction to move in the right path. 
It is my hope that you will see this more clearly as our discussion progresses. 
You expressed another thought, Mrs. Cartwright; you seemed aghast at the thought of 
Jesus beginning his “public ministry” without the power of God. I don’t know how to 
answer that one. 
Let’s see. Just how can I say this? Jesus received knowledge that He was the Son of God 
when he was baptized. Now, a son does the will of his father. At least that’s the way it is 
supposed to be. The son takes over authority from the father and works in place of the 
father. Jesus said He came, not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent 
Him. Jesus had a will of His own too. No one can do God’s will and his own will. Every 
one of us must come to the place of discerning the difference in this area before we can
ever move in the power of the Spirit. In the case of Jesus, we can see this division 
between flesh and Spirit take place step-by-step, and because of this, we can 
understand it better in our life. 
I am not saying that Jesus did not do God’s will before, but I am saying that after His 
temptations, He moved perfectly and knowledgeably in God’s will. A change had taken 
place and this is the thing that we will see as we move along in our discussion. 
Do these words help you to understand what I say, Mrs. Cartwright?
Lady: Well, I guess I don’t change my mind that quickly. I still don’t see how…


Stahl: I don’t want you to change your mind that quickly. All I want is to be as sure as I can that 
my words are plain to you. I want them to carry meaning that you can understand; 
that’s all. 
Lady: I understand what you say all right. 


Stahl: Then I can ask for nothing more. Mr. Brewer, I believe there were some more 
questions?


Brewer: Yes, these were passed up to me, but it seems to me that you have already indicated 
their answer. Here is one that wants to know when the temptations took place…another 
one asks why is the time so important anyway. You seem to have indicated that you will 
answer these questions. 


Stahl: Yes, Mr. Brewer. I will. I’m glad to know that they have been asking as it shows an 
interest. I could answer them right now, but I prefer to let the answer come in its proper 
place. Sometimes, a question deferred is answered in due time, but if I don’t answer it, 
please remember it…jot it down so you won’t forget. This is an open discussion and I 
want to answer every question that I can. 
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Brewer: That sounds fair enough. 


Stahl: Let’s say we have gone far enough with this first temptation. It definitely establishes the 
fact of a doubt that had to be overcome. It wasn’t a matter of can you turn stones into 
bread; it was a matter of satisfying your own desires to get rid of doubt. This is never 
the thing to do. 
I said earlier that if we can discover how a man meets temptation, we can discover 
somewhat of his character. This is our first glimpse into the character of Jesus along this 
line. 
What Jesus had learned throughout His life began to take effect. “Man shall not live by 
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Here is resolve. 
It is a resolve that goes contrary to the natural urge of a hungry man and it indicates the 
attitude and integrity of the man Jesus. 
His attitude is displayed in that He considers Himself a man along with all of Israel. His 
integrity is demonstrated in His choosing the path of sustenance from God rather than 
natural means. 
Now we enter into the next temptation. The Bible says it this way; “And the devil taking  
him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a 
moment of time.” The temptation was to have the kingdoms of the world and the price 
was to worship Satan. To think that Jesus desired to worship Satan would be bizarre.  
Actually, it was Jesus who wanted to be recognized by His own nation. Remember, we 
have to find the man’s desire and it was certainly not to worship the Devil.
To me, this poses a very interesting question. Why would Jesus desire the kingdoms of 
the world? I considered this from every angle and could not determine why until God 
revealed it to me. The answer was very simple: He was a Jew, and what’s more, He was 
the Messiah! It was the most natural thing in the world for the Messiah of the Jews to 
desire the kingdoms of the world. That’s what the Jew had been taught for hundreds of 
years. When the Messiah would come, He would establish one-world government; all 
nations would come to Israel to learn of God. Israel would become a teacher to all 
people, and the Messiah would be King!
It is interesting to notice that this time Satan did not make mention of Jesus as the Son 
of God. This is significant. It was the main point in the first temptation, but here it was 
not even mentioned. The big thing here was the logical thing that the Messiah would 
want the kingdoms of the world. I learned something from this. I felt that something 
had happened to give Jesus a sense of security on this point. It had been settled insofar 
as he was concerned. 
I’m jumping forward now to the next phase of Jesus’ temptations. This time, Satan 
again struck at Jesus with the question, “If thou be the Son of God...” So here again, 
there was doubt within Jesus. This looks like an-on-again off-again affair, insofar as faith 
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in this thing is concerned. That’s not like Jesus who is the same yesterday and today and 
forever. You see, Jesus was in the process of being tempted. The first time He met this 
situation in a certain fashion and he seemed to have victory over it, but it wasn’t a 
lasting victory. Something else happened that caused Him to have a reoccurrence of the 
same old doubt. The thing that he thought was settled was back again and in a much 
worse way than it was before.                      
I imagine that every one of us here have had exactly the same thing happen to us. This is 
the thing that gets us so discouraged sometimes. When it seems that we have to meet 
the same problem over and over again, we begin to wonder just what the use is. 
But Jesus didn’t have to meet the same problem over and over again. He found the 
secret the second time around and got the victory once and for all. This is why it is so 
important for us to see this particular thing in Jesus, because it is only in Him that we 
learn how to defeat Satan. After all, Jesus is the only one who ever defeated Satan. I’ve 
already pointed out that in answering Satan on the first go-around, Jesus equated 
Himself with mankind. He quoted scripture. “Man shall not live by bread alone…” Man, 
as a whole, was not being tempted. Jesus was the one being tempted. His answer in 
effect was: I, being a man, will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds 
out of the mouth of God. 
It was pleasing to Jesus to make this choice. The words came from the traditions of His 
people, and He was pleased to take this as His position. To follow the word of God was a 
far greater honor than to turn stones into bread. It satisfied Jesus to know that He could 
take such a stand. Only the Christ, the Anointed One of God, would make such a 
decision under such trying circumstance. 
Jesus immediate doubt was allayed, but not for long. The victory was based on “His” 
ability to make such a decision; obviously, if He wavered in this ability or resolve, He 
would no longer have the victory. You see, His victory was based upon something He did 
as a man, rather than what God can do. This is always a shaky victory because it is no
stronger than man. At any rate, it lasted for Jesus until the next time He faced 
disappointment. 
Jesus entered into the second temptation sure in regard to His anointing, but, there was 
no understanding why people would not accept Him as the Messiah. If the people would 
come to Him and worship Him, there would be no problem. He would establish the 
Kingdom in Israel and the entire world could see the Glory of God. 
These are some of the thoughts we can glimpse within Jesus as we study this second 
temptation. 
There is an interesting thought that presents itself when we consider the anonymity of 
Satan. The condition that Satan laid down as payment for the delivery of these 
kingdoms…if thou wilt therefore worship me…cannot possibly mean the obvious. Jesus 
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did not know that these things were being presented to Him by Satan. He considered 
these thoughts His own. Here, then, is the thought that came to Jesus: If these people 
would worship Me, they would recognize Me as their Messiah and then all the kingdoms 
of the earth would be mine. 
This is not a strange thought; it is in line with the principles of the Jewish Messiah and it 
is in line with the decision Jesus reached. 
We remember the stand that Jesus took in His first temptation. He equated Himself as a 
man and followed the Word of God which said man shall not live by bread alone. Now 
He is facing a temptation in which He feels that the only way to establish a kingdom is to 
have the people worship Him. The word of God is very explicit in this case however. “It 
is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.”
There can be no mistaking that. He may be the Messiah, but He was still a man. God’s 
word was clear; you are not to worship man, you are to worship the Lord only!
If a man were to worship a man, then he could not be obeying God by worshiping Him 
only. On the other hand, if man did not worship Jesus, how could He ever be set up as 
the Messiah? So here is an impossible situation insofar as the thinking of man is 
concerned. In Jesus’ mind it spelled defeat to everything He considered the Messiah 
should be. Jesus left the mountain discouraged, defeated, and whipped, or so it seemed 
to Him. He had turned from His own desires; He had chosen God’s word to strengthen 
Him. He desired the Kingdom to be restored to Israel; He had longed for it with all the 
aching and yearning that it was possible for a man to have, and yet, it was not to be. No 
matter what happened, God’s Word came first. It is written, “Thou shalt worship the 
Lord, thy God, and him only, shalt thou serve.” This doesn’t leave room for anyone else, 
and no kingdom was ever established without loyal subjects who served the king. 
But, God was not through with Jesus! He knew the desire in this great heart and He 
found pleasure in it. 
Remember we considered the fact that God led Jesus to the wilderness? All throughout 
these first two temptations, there seems to be no considering the things by which God 
led Jesus to this time and place. Jesus early training and traditions of His people seemed 
to be the criteria for what Jesus did and said. 
Now, He entered into His third temptation. His original doubt was back again. We know 
this because Satan used it as the chief factor again…“If Thou be the Son of God…” Only 
this time it was infinitely worse. It was as though Satan were laughing at Him and 
mocking Him. So what if He was the Son of God? What if He were the Messiah? He 
couldn’t set up the Kingdom because God desired that man should worship only Him. 
I believe that this third time around Jesus began to consider some of the things that God 
had been saying to and through Him. In other words, He began to consider things in the 
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light of God’s personal dealing with Him. Before, it had been Israel…now it was God’s 
dealing with Him. 
Here again, we learn a lot. Many people today are satisfied because they belong to a 
certain church group and many are satisfied because they are members of the Anglo 
Saxon race. They belong to a “Christian” nation and feel that this is enough. 
It wasn’t enough for Jesus. God took Him beyond this point to the place where Jesus 
faced a personal relationship with God. When this was thoroughly established and 
accepted, Satan left Jesus and Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. 
It is no different with us today. We will not move in the power of God, nor will we have 
any authority over Satan until we too recognize and accept our position in Jesus and His 
place in us. 


Brewer: Mr. Stahl, I have a note here. It reads: “I have a question.” and it is signed Mr. Sawyer. 
Would this be a good place to hear Mr. Sawyers’ question?


Stahl: By all means! Mr. Sawyer, where are you? Oh yes, there you are. Mr. Sawyer, what is 
your question?
Sawyer: You said Jesus was whipped. That word stuck with me because I can’t imagine Jesus ever 
being whipped or defeated as you suggest. Do you really mean what your words imply? 
Jesus “whipped?”


Stahl: Mr. Sawyer, I said it seemed this way to Jesus, and I think I mean what my words imply. 
Remember now that all this temptation is coming against Jesus as a man. Jesus is 
anointed; God gave Himself to Jesus when He was baptized in the Jordan, but Jesus was 
not walking in the full awareness of what this anointing meant. Jesus was aware of all 
the traditions of Israel, and because He was a Jew, these things were strong in Him. He 
desired to see the Messiah come and establish His Kingdom in Israel; that’s why He was 
baptized of John. To realize the anointing of God and to know the traditions of the 
Messiah made His one consuming passion the establishing of the Kingdom. It was strong 
enough in Him to cause Him to shun the bread that the stones could have been. Now to 
feel that what you have given your whole life for is an utter impossibility is to be 
defeated and whipped. 
Remember, this whole experience is something that God has been leading Jesus into. 
Anyone that is to be used by God must come to the end of himself. Jesus was no 
exception. He was a man, tempted in all points like we are, yet, He did not sin.
Sometimes we think that victory over temptations would bring us great joy. Nothing 
could be further from the truth. Sometimes, a step in God’s direction will bring a great 
sense of despair and defeat. But the thing we must remember, as we see in Jesus, is that 
despair and defeat is in the realm of the flesh. There is no despair and defeat in God. 
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Therefore, we can, in God, rejoice because we know that if we continue on, there will be 
the knowledge of a new life. 
Jesus had to come to the end of Himself as a man. All of His hopes and ambitions 
according to the traditions of His people had to be removed from His life. 
We have just witnessed their removal in this second temptation. It is not a pretty thing 
to see a man stripped of everything He had hoped for, but it must happen to every one 
of us if God is to have free access to our life. 
We will see the fulfilling of things in the third temptation, but for the moment, Jesus 
was defeated and completely beat, or so it seemed to Him. Jesus was defeated in His 
own eyes, but He was just now in the place where God could reveal Himself. 
Are my words plain to you, Mr. Sawyer?
Sawyer: Yes…but it’s hard to believe. Maybe if I wait and see what comes next, I’ll understand it 
better. 


Stahl: I’m sure you will sir. But, the main point here is that flesh must die out to itself if God is 
to make it alive. We are told to reckon ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God. Do 
you believe this?
Sawyer: Of course!


Stahl: This is what is happening in Jesus. It had never happened in a man before, Mr. Sawyer; 
this is a brand new thing. It is the miracle of God dwelling in man, and, more particularly 
the process by which man becomes aware of this new life. 
Sawyer: I see what you mean. I just never considered this to have happened to Jesus. 


Stahl: That’s because you never considered Jesus as a man before. 
Sawyer: Could be. Go ahead; I’ve got to think about this for a while. I’m not going to believe it 
just because you say it. 


Stahl: I don’t want you to, Mr. Sawyer. If God doesn’t make it alive, forget it. I know that you 
won’t forget it though, because I see you love the Lord. You will find that your strength 
increases as your knowledge of God’s word increases. God bless you, sir. 
Are there more notes, Mr. Brewer?


Brewer: I guess not. Mr. Sawyer was the only one I received. So why don’t you continue?


Stahl: I appreciate Mr. Sawyer’s words, and, if there are any more here that share Mr. 
Sawyer’s thoughts, I say God bless you. I’m not ashamed to say that it took me 
considerable time to accept these things when God showed them to me. There is a 
difference now between you and me also. I was actively seeking understanding of this 
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thing, whereas, without doubt, this is the first time many of you have ever heard these 
thoughts expressed. There are many of you, who for the moment will forget what I say, 
but the thought will stick with you, and you will remember it at various times. It will take
hold of you as you look to God; it will be quickened and, if you keep your mind on it, it 
will change your whole life!
That’s the thing that happens: That is what is so startling as you see this change come 
about in Jesus. I said Jesus was defeated, and He was, but not before God. In this defeat 
of the flesh, Jesus stood before God, stripped of everything He had understood God 
expected of man and this is what God wanted!
God cannot freely work through any life if it is contrary to His own. God wanted to 
reconcile the world to Him, but in order to do this He had to have an expression in this 
world. God purposed that it was to be Jesus who would be His “expression” and God 
brought it about. His expression became flesh and dwelt among us. This had to be a true 
expression though. God would not tolerate any of man’s traditions being expressed as 
His Word, so Jesus had to come to the end of everything. Then, and only then, He 
became the Word of God. This is what God wanted; He would settle for nothing less. 
God demanded absolute things. We today live by the mercy of Jesus Christ, but Jesus 
did not receive this mercy. God led Jesus to this wilderness of temptation for the explicit 
purpose of Jesus coming to the realization of the absolute nothingness of all that man 
held dear or thought was of God. 
Now Jesus entered into God; from now on, He didn’t even talk like a man. 
I suppose that this is the most important thing that ever happened to Jesus, and, 
consequently it is the most important thing for us. The words that Jesus spoke of God 
are true and pure because He did come to the end of Himself. That’s why He could say, 
“The words I speak, they are Spirit, and they are life.” Jesus came to the end of all 
tradition; He came to the end of all that “He” thought should be. There was nothing left 
in Him to express other than God, so we beheld the glory of God in Jesus. God was in 
Jesus and we are reconciled to God through Him. 
Jesus entered into His third temptation. Luke reads in this fashion: “And he brought Him 
to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple…” Matthew words it this way. 
“Then the devil taketh him up into the Holy City and setteth him on a pinnacle of the 
temple…”
This brings up a question in the minds of many people, they have asked me; how did the 
Devil take Jesus to Jerusalem? How did he take Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple? This 
seems to say to them that the Devil was a person like Jesus and that he actually carried 
Jesus about by some means. 
The truth is much more startling. Jesus walked there Himself. It was the “thoughts of the 
man” Jesus that caused His steps to take Him to Jerusalem and to a pinnacle of the 
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Temple. Here again, the anonymity of Satan enters the picture. Until a man recognizes 
God in a certain thing, he cannot recognize Satan. Jesus had not yet come to the place of 
recognizing God in relation to the purpose of God in His life. He was too concerned with 
the traditions of Israel – with what the Messiah should be and do. Never, in all of history 
of mankind, was, or will there ever be, a man more dedicated to his calling than Jesus, 
and, never was there ever a man so bereaved of purpose and direction than Jesus was 
when He was finished with His second temptation. 
It was hopeless discouragement, despair, defeat, and emptiness that directed His steps 
to Jerusalem and to a pinnacle of the Temple. The thing that we must know is that 
hopeless discouragement, despair, defeat, and emptiness are merely adjectives that 
describe Satan. God is none of those things. We are apt to soften the impact of these 
things by saying they are just human emotions, but until our eyes are open to God in 
this matter, we will never see Satan. So His steps, as well as His thoughts were directed 
by Satan as Jesus went to Jerusalem and to a pinnacle of the Temple. 
We can realize the extent of His temptation to begin with. He was hungry. We have 
been hungry too; and it is not too hard to project ourselves to the place of 
understanding regarding His desire for the kingdoms of the world. After all, this is the 
rightful heritage of the Messiah. However, this third temptation goes beyond all physical 
things and expresses the very spirit of man. 
What was in the mind of Jesus? The Devil voices it. “If thou be the Son of God, cast 
thyself down from here, for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all 
thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy feet 
against a stone.”
How can I paraphrase it so it will have impact upon us today? Sometimes we have heard 
certain phrases and received them in certain ways for so long that they become 
somewhat meaningless to us. I think this is the position many people are in regarding 
these temptations. The words we read are plain but we have let their meaning become 
obscured. 
Jesus was ready to end His life! He had come to the place of complete and utter 
hopelessness. All He had ever hoped for now seemed an utter impossibility. There was 
nothing left to live for. His life was stripped of all purpose, so the natural impulse of such 
extreme dedication was to end it all. On top of all this hopelessness, or perhaps I should 
say, adding to it, was again the question as to whether or not He was really the Son of 
God. It was the same old doubt that had been gnawing at Him for quite some time. He 
had gone to the wilderness and fasted so that He might resolve it, but things were 
worse now than they were before. 
God’s word seemed to mock Him now; Cast yourself down from here if you are the Son 
of God; there is nothing to worry about. For it is written, “He shall give his angels charge 
over thee to keep thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou 
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shalt dash thy feet against a stone.” Go ahead, jump – get the thing settled one way or 
the other. 


Brewer: Mr. Stahl, I think there are some questions; at least I have indications to that end. 


Stahl: Whoever has a question speak up. You there, Sir, your hand seems to be the highest; 
what is your question?
Man: Do you mean to stand there and tell me that Jesus, the Son of God, our wonderful 
Savior, contemplated suicide?


Stahl: Yes, that is what I mean to say, Mr…I do not know your name.
Man: My name doesn’t make any difference – I’m shocked at what you say. I think you have a 
devil. Anyone who would even dare suggest such a thing as you have admitted to is 
guilty of blasphemy. As far as I’m concerned, I can’t listen to any more. Jesus is divine; 
He is just; and, He is Holy. How in the name of God, anyone can even suggest that He 
would think of suicide, like a mentally sick person, should have his head examined. 


Stahl: I would appreciate it if you would hear me out. I assure you that you haven’t heard it all 
yet. If ---
Man: I’ve heard all I’m going to Mr. Stahl. I’m leaving now and I’d advise everyone else that 
wants to keep their sanity to do likewise. 


Brewer: Ladies and gentlemen. The objects of our discussions have always been aimed at 
arriving at an understanding on various controversial teachings that we hear from time 
to time. We have always insisted that the Bible be our standard text. We have not in the 
past, nor is it our aim to either accept, or reject the opinions expressed by our guests. 
Mr. Stahl is our guest today, and we extend to him the same privileges and courteous 
treatment that we have extended to all of our guest in the past. 
We expect, and I’m sure Mr. Stahl expects, all of you to accept, or reject, or merely 
listen to what he has to say. 
Mr. Stahl, I hope you will excuse the interruption. 


Stahl: Mr. Brewer, in a way I’m glad for it. This is not the first time that I have had this happen, 
and I don’t suppose it will be the last, but I am glad. I’m sorry for the gentleman who left 
because he refused to listen. A story half heard is a story not heard at all. It is hard to 
conceive that Jesus was tempted in all manner as we, but Hebrews 4:15 say that He 
was.
I am glad in this sense – for you who are here the incident is fairly well fixed in your 
mind. You won’t forget that once you heard a man suggest the startling thought that at 
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one time Jesus contemplated suicide. I trust that you will hear the rest of the story, and 
then, you will understand. 
There are several statements that Jesus made that take on new importance when 
considered in this light. Remember, one time Jesus said, “If a man save his life, he shall 
lose it, but if a man shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall find it.” It’s impossible 
to understand that until you see and understand how Jesus laid down His life – and I 
don’t mean on Calvary either. He died for us on Calvary, but He died to self some two 
and one-half years earlier in the process of His third temptation. He was raised from the 
dead by the power of God, but, He willingly laid down His life and took the life of God 
for His own when He said to Satan, “Thou shalt not temp the Lord thy God.”
Are there any more questions before we proceed? Yes, you Sir, what is your name?
Brown: My name is Brown; Cyrus Brown and I would like to ask a question. 


Stahl: Very well, Mr. Brown. What is your question?
Brown: Here we are at a certain time in Jesus’ life – you say He was going to commit suicide. At 
the present time I think you’re way off base on that score, but I’ll hear you out. Only one 
thing keeps bugging me. Do you say that Jesus was divine? By that, I mean anointed of 
God. Was he divine at this time, or wasn’t He?


Stahl: Yes…
Brown: Then if he is divine, how can you suggest suicide?


Stahl: Mr. Brown, He was anointed, therefore He was divine, but, He didn’t know it. There 
were doubts in His mind about this anointing. That’s why Satan could hit Him so hard 
with the thought, “If Thou be the Son of God…”
And, Mr. Brown, there is one thing about man’s relation with God that we may as well 
face – if we don’t believe something – as far as we are concerned, it just doesn’t exist!
Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, and God poured out His Spirit on all flesh, but 
not everyone has availed themselves of salvation, nor is everyone living in the life of 
God that He so freely gave. But the promise is unto him that believes. Again, we are 
told, when you pray, whatsoever things you desire, believe you have them, and you 
shall have them. So my point, Mr. Brown, is that Jesus had not yet reached the place of 
believing in His anointing. This is evidenced by the question, if thou be the Son of God. 
Therefore, it was not yet true to Him, even though to God it was an accomplished fact.
Do you see what I mean? Jesus had not come to the place of perfect faith so He was not 
yet in conscious possession of what God had for Him. 
Brown: Yes, I understand your thought. Thank you.
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Stahl: Are there any more questions? …….Well, let’s move along then.
Up to this time, Jesus had answered the questions Satan put to Him in the light of the 
traditional understanding of God’s Word to Israel. But now He had come to the end of 
this. God’s word was still true, but quite evidently, there was something required for its 
understanding that no one had as yet found. 
Remember when Jesus was arisen from the dead? He talked to two discouraged and 
despondent disciples who were on the road to Emmaus. They were in the depths of 
despair because, as Jesus put it, they didn’t believe all of the prophets. They needed 
something added to their understanding. 
This is true of Jesus regarding this third temptation…Something new must serve as the 
key to understanding God’s Word. The traditions of Israel led to defeat; they lacked the 
thing that would bring victory. 
We have mentioned, in the course of these discussions, and the Bible mentions it, that 
the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. We have not yet considered just how this came 
about. What happened to Jesus to bring Him to this place of testing? I believe that now 
is the time to mention at least some of these things. 
All of these things happened in a normal, natural way. Well, I can’t really say that either 
– what happened in some cases was super natural, but only to Jesus. The time, the 
place, the event all fit into the natural surrounding so completely that it easily could 
seem to have natural explanations, but it was by these things that God led Jesus. 
All of these things require time. The reason that many of us do not really see what 
happened to Jesus is that we have more or less believed that Jesus was baptized and 
then immediately led or driven, as Mark puts it, into the wilderness. We have left no 
time for things to happen. God doesn’t work that way. He is Spirit. He works in such a 
way that only those who look for Him will find Him. All the others will be lost in their 
own reasonings. When Jesus came as a man, He was seen by all, but God’s Word 
declares that only to those who look for Him will He appear the second time – without 
sin – unto salvation. 
The next question then is this; Does the Bible indicate to us when the temptations took 
place? Yes. I believe it does. 
Let’s consider some things for a moment. What do we know about the temptations in 
relation to time? Only this – it was preceded by a forty-day fast. But, actually that is all 
we need to know. The next things we need to know is what the Bible has to say about 
time. 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke make no attempt to establish days. Luke, very precisely 
establishes the time of the Baptist’s appearing, but makes no further attempt to 
delineate days. John is the only one that does this. He gives us specific days up until the 
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third day after John baptized Jesus when there was a marriage in Cana. Marriage feasts 
in Cana lasted for ten days. Then Jesus and His mother went to the country about 
Capernaum and abode there for a few days. From there, they went to Jerusalem for the 
Passover. So, we have a very good indication of days from the time of Jesus’ baptism, 
which historians tell us was in January to the days of the Passover, which was in April. 
There is no place that we can squeeze in an extra forty days. 
What else do we know about His temptations? When they were finished we read that 
“He returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.” One time He went to Galilee, and 
didn’t have much success. This was His home country and it was said that He could not 
do many wonderful works there because of their unbelief. Jesus Himself said a prophet 
has no honor in His own country. 
Another time He went to the Synagogue in Nazareth to read from the Prophet Isaiah 
and said “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears…“ The words spoken, the events 
that transpired all have a tone of confidence that was completely lacking the first time 
He went to Galilee. 
There is another thing we read in the scriptures that, of itself, is extremely peculiar. It is 
the time that Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda. This was a peculiar healing. 
It is the only time that Jesus ever singled out a person and healed him. It marked a big
change in Jesus. From then on His life was in jeopardy. The Bible says the reason for this 
danger is that He had done this thing on the Sabbath.
This points to a very definite change in Jesus. It indicates that He had never before 
desecrated the Sabbath in this fashion, but something had happened that caused Him to 
change His mind. When you understand that He was a Jew raised in the traditions of 
Israel; and when you hear Him teach fasting even as the Pharisees and express Himself 
as He did to the Syrephoenician woman, then you can better understand that something 
very important had happened in His life. 
I feel that this great thing that happened which changed His life was His temptations. 
If we look in the book of John, in the Fifth Chapter, we read these words: “And there 
was a feast of the Jews…” This feast is not identified, but, if we consider Jesus’ life as a 
whole, we know that He was crucified during what was the fourth Passover since His 
baptism by John. A study of the scriptures very strongly indicates that this “feast of the 
Jews” mentioned in John, the Fifth Chapter, was indeed the second Passover that Jesus 
observed since His baptism by John.
All indications are that Jesus was somewhat inactive prior to this second Passover feast, 
and that He, indeed, did return to Galilee after this second Passover. It was the period 
immediately preceding this second Passover that John was imprisoned; so 
philosophically the stage was set for Jesus to enter into a unique ministry. John had 
preached to repent and make straight the paths of the Lord. Then, he had identified 
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Jesus as the Lamb of God, but John was not a follower of Jesus; he continued in his own 
zeal. 
Finally, to give further indication that this second Passover was indeed the time of the 
temptations, we have only to look at the locale. There was a wilderness to the east of 
Jerusalem and it was not far removed from the normal paths of travel frequented by the 
Jews in their migrations between Galilee and Judea. The hills about Jerusalem provide a 
setting in harmony with what we read about in the second temptation, and we know 
that Jerusalem itself was the scene of this third temptation. 


Brewer: Mr. Stahl…


Stahl: Yes?


Brewer: I have three questions here, all along the same line. It seems that Mr. Landberg, Mr. 
Sampson, and Mrs. White, are all interested in knowing a little more in detail just how it 
is you can say Jesus was not tempted immediately following His baptism. 


Stahl: Very well – let’s go over it again. In the first place, the Bible doesn’t say He was tempted 
immediately after His baptism. That’s the result of an impression we have. What the 
Bible does say is that immediately the Spirit “led” Him into the wilderness. This does not 
denote an immediate arrival in the wilderness; it denotes some immediate activity on 
the part of God, but Jesus’ arrival at this place was not immediate. 
The Gospel of John gives proof of this. Another thing that one must consider is the 
geography as well as topography of Palestine. After all, it took a finite time to travel 
from Capernaum to Jerusalem. 
I would suggest that those who are interested try counting days. Remember, the Jewish 
calendar was based on a 28 day month. The Passover was the middle of April. The week 
of preparation preceded the feast. Other facts that we must consider is that the 
marriage feast lasted for 10 days. Two things must be assumed; one is the time it took 
to travel from Capernaum to Jerusalem. We can consider ten days for this. They traveled 
on foot and they traveled in large groups because this offered maximum protection 
from thieves and robbers that infested the byways. The other thing that we must 
assume is that the “not many days” mentioned in John, 1:12 has a span of two weeks. If 
Jesus was baptized around the middle of January, we would find that He was in 
Jerusalem for ten days prior to the beginning of Passover week. This certainly is needed 
if Jesus is to establish a reputation by His teaching and miracles as Nicodemus indicated. 
Let’s suppose that Jesus was baptized at the beginning of January – add another 14 
days. That means 24 days, and that’s a long way from 40. Even if the “not many days” he 
spent around Capernaum did not exist, there would only be 38 days, not 40. So, no 
matter how you figure it, you still can’t find 40 days. 
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Have you followed me? I suggest if you really want to be sure of what I’m saying, take a 
pencil and paper and figure it out for yourselves. Are there any more questions? You 
there, what is your question?
McGinnis: I am Mrs. McGinnis: I follow your reasoning, but Luke seems to indicate that Jesus was 
tempted during the forty days. I would like to read it, Verse 2 of Chapter 4. “Being 40 
days tempted of the devil…” This seems to me like a plain statement, does it not? Why 
are we so concerned about the end of 40 days?


Stahl: Mrs. McGinnis, you have a good point. You have read the scripture right and I believe 
that you have properly understood what you read. But, please read on. You will read 
these words: “and in these days he did eat nothing; and when they were ended, he 
afterward hungered”. Then in the third verse it says, “And the devil said until him…” So 
you see, Mrs. McGinnis, the temptations of which we speak came after the 40 days. The 
second verse of the Fourth Chapter of Matthew reads the same.
Yes, I believe Satan did tempt Jesus during the forty days, but the important and 
significant temptations are the ones we read about and they took place after the 40 
days. 
McGinnis: Thank you.


Stahl: The reason it is so important to establish the time of these temptations is because we 
must see what happened to Jesus. God caused certain things to come about that led 
Jesus to the wilderness. What were they? What was it that provided the basis of 
understanding for Jesus when all tradition had been stripped from Him? If you know 
when the temptations took place, you can look before that time and see what 
happened. 
I feel that this time is right before the Feast of the Jews mentioned in the Fifth Chapter 
of John’s Gospel, and I feel that this feast was the Feast of the Passover. 
John mentions certain events that I feel are important factors in understanding these 
things of which we have been speaking. He tells us of the time Jesus made a whip and 
drove the money changers out of the temple. He tells us of Jesus meeting with 
Nicodemus, and he tells us about Jesus and the woman of Samaria. This in itself is quite 
normal. Here is a Jew, telling about the Messiah, and He tells about a Samaritan first 
proclaiming Him as the Messiah! 
I’d like to suggest to you how I feel Jesus moved about during these days of temptation. 
I want to show you the perfectly logical way in which Jesus lived. The reason I want to 
do this is that I want you to become aware of the manner in which Satan works. He’s a 
sly one! Like I’ve said before, the minute we know him as Satan, he has lost his power 
over us. That is, of course, if we know Jesus, which I assume you do. 
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Jesus was pretty discouraged when He went into the wilderness. That was why He went 
- to get things straightened out. You see, He wanted to be the Messiah. God had 
anointed Him to be the Messiah, but things just hadn’t been going right – at least not 
according to what He understood the Messiah to be. The Samaritans, rather than the 
Jews, had given Him acclaim as the Christ. He was anxious to get back to His home 
country, but He by-passed the road to Nazareth and went to Cana. 
There is not much said about this particular time around Galilee. John tells us about the 
Nobleman from Capernaum who sought Jesus and asked Him to come and heal his son. 
Jesus didn’t go with the man. He sent His word and the son began to improve, but the 
fact remains that Jesus didn’t go with the man. The words that Jesus used seem to
indicate despondency - a hopelessness that seems strangely out of place with what we 
know of Jesus. “Except ye see signs and wonders,” He said, “Ye will not believe” (that I 
am the Christ).
It seems quite evident that the Nobleman considered his trip useless. He had sought 
Jesus and found Him, only to have Jesus refuse to come with him, and he had received 
sharp words from Him on top of everything else. He did not believe Jesus when he left 
His presence. It was not until the next day when he met his servants and learned from 
them that his boy was on the mend, that he believed Jesus. The Bible says that he 
inquired at what time it was that his boy began to improve, and when they found that it 
was the same hour that Jesus had said “Go thy way; thy son liveth,” that the Nobleman 
from Capernaum believed again that He was the Christ.
However, Jesus was beginning to experience the uncertainty of doubt regarding the 
things of His calling. These people of Galilee provoked the old phrase “Physician, heal 
thyself” in regard to their attitude toward Jesus, and Jesus mentioned that a prophet 
has no honor in his own country. 
There came a time in the life of Jesus, just like there comes a time in the life of 
everyone, where we have to face square up to a problem and make our own decisions. 
Almost a year had gone by since He had heard God’s voice proclaiming Him as His Son. 
This could mean only one thing – a Son was to do the work of the Father – and in this 
case that meant being the Messiah. 
Some strange things had happened in Jerusalem at the Passover, but He had had more 
than a normal amount of success teaching and baptizing along the Jordan – and then in 
Samaria – but His own people would not receive Him! They said they wanted the 
Messiah and He offered them all that he could, but they would have none of it. 
Now, quite naturally, doubt began to tease Him – was He or was He not the Messiah? 
The path that He took to find His answers was typically Jewish; He entered into a fast. 
The time of His fast is indicative of His dedication - forty days. Only two men in all of the 
history of Israel experienced a fast of such duration. Moses, when he went on the 
Mount and fasted for forty days and nights and when he returned, he returned with 
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God’s words. Elijah took meat and drink and went in the strength of that meat and drink 
for forty days. God spoke to him and he went to Mount Carmel and challenged the 
Prophets of Baal; and so Jesus chose to fast so He could determine before God whether 
or not He was the Son of God. 
The Passover was not too far away, and so Jesus left the country about Galilee and 
turned His steps towards Jerusalem. There is one characteristic we find about Jesus. It
appears many times and I believe that it is evident here. Whenever Jesus was tired or 
troubled, He wanted to remove Himself from the multitude and be alone. Moses went 
to the Mount and was alone with God, and Elijah went to the wilderness. 
The country east of Jerusalem below Jordan was desolate. The fertility of the Jordan 
plain quickly disappeared as the land plunged to the Dead Sea. It was removed from the 
routes of travel of both the merchants and the pilgrims who found their way to the Holy 
City. I believe that it was here that Jesus went. 
For forty days He fasted, but He reached no decision. Then it happened - a bitter manlike thought. “If you are the Son of God, command these stones that they be made 
bread.” There went on in Jesus a struggle, a man wrestling with his principles. 
A doubt, a desire, a solution - this is the way Satan works. But the solution, in order to 
be right before God, must be God’s solution. It cannot be the one we have arrived at by 
our own reasonings.
Jesus saw two possible things to do. One was dictated by desire. He was hungry; the 
other was dictated by tradition, the Word of God to His chosen people of Israel. “Man 
shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of 
God.” It was on the basis of His teaching, His training, and the traditions of His people, 
that He chose the way He did.
There is something that happened to Jesus that is very human, and not at all God-like. 
Because of this, I know that at this time He still thought as a man. 
Now stick with me for a moment; don’t go shaking your head - just listen. The Devil 
doesn’t fool around with his tempting – he is out for keeps. He doesn’t waste time 
presenting little temptations, but his temptations are designed to kill - “If you are the 
Son of God.” This thing was gnawing at Jesus’ very soul. Apparently whatever Jesus did, 
brought Him satisfaction. How do I know this? Because the next time He was tempted 
we don’t hear of one question about whether or not He was the Son of God. In fact, 
now listen – the next temptation was based solely upon the assumption that He was the 
Son of God. If He would have had doubts about His Son ship, there would have been no 
strength to His desire for the kingdoms of the world. 
Yet, now stay with me a bit longer – the third time He was tempted, the old doubt was 
back again! God doesn’t give a victory then take it back. He doesn’t play that kind of 
musical chairs!
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Let’s consider the Law for just a minute. The Law develops an attitude. It was very 
prevalent among the Jews. 
Jesus puts words to it when He told about the Pharisee that prayed and said, “I thank 
thee, Lord, that I am not like this publican – I pay my tithes – I do this and that.” We 
think that is the attitude of the Pharisees - we wouldn’t be like that! But in the thinking 
of that thought we are like that! It’s a characteristic of the flesh. It is evidence of man’s 
thinking. It is not God! The early Apostles took great pride in observing the Law. Peter, 
in the book of Acts when commanded in a dream to arise and eat said, “Not so, Lord, for 
nothing unclean has ever touched my lips.” Yet at the time, he was living with one 
Simon, a tanner, which was itself an unclean thing, because it required coming in 
contact with blood. James said to Paul, “You see how many brethren there are that have 
believed. Every one of them is zealous for the Law.”
What am I trying to say? Simply this: Observing a law or tradition, is the path to selfrighteousness because it is something that we ourselves do. It makes us feel good; it 
gives us a feeling of accomplishment; we have done the right thing, even at the expense 
of our own desires!
This is the feeling that Jesus experienced. He was a hungry man! Yet all of His desire was 
for the Lord, but He did not know God’s desire. He knew the traditions of His people. He 
knew what was expected of the Messiah according to Israel. He subjugated every desire 
to that end. He chose the ways of God insofar as He knew them. 
This made Him feel good and it offered proof to Him that He was the Son of God. His 
calling must surely be a true calling or else He would never have had the power to make 
the choice He did. Consequently, He actually was strengthened in His body. But, He had 
not yet found the place of God’s abiding. All the old doubts were to return and they 
would be more complicated than ever before. His joy would be turned to hopelessness 
– all because He had not yet found the place of God’s habitation. 
He left the wilderness and made His way toward Jerusalem. He soon came to the 
byways that came from all points of the compass and converged on Jerusalem. He found 
them crowded with Pilgrims. The faithful Jews from every nation under the sun were 
coming to Jerusalem to worship the one Almighty God, for the days of the Passover 
were at hand. As Jesus walked along the way, I believe His steps were light and His 
hopes high. I believe He entered the city expecting to have the people proclaim Him as 
their Messiah. 
Whatever His hopes, they were not realized. There were troublesome and frustrated 
thoughts that came to His mind. They reached such proportions that again Jesus wanted 
to get away from the crowd. This time His steps took Him to a high mountain. There, 
undoubtedly He could look down upon Jerusalem. In His mind’s eye, He could see the 
people fathered from all nations under the sun. They had come with one thought in 
mind; to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
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Soon now, deliverance would be here. He was the Messiah. He would establish the 
Kingdom in Israel and all nations would learn of God from them. There would be no 
more wars, the lion and the lamb would lie down together. Israel would be restored to 
her rightful place in the world, and He was their Messiah!
But the one thing that was required to bring this about was for His people, the Jews, to 
recognize Him as their Messiah. In His mind’s eye, He saw all the nations of the Earth. 
They would come to the restored Kingdom of Israel and learn of God. They would 
forever more live in Peace. He could give Israel all the splendor and glory that was 
rightfully theirs. All these nations He could give them if only they would worship Him, if 
only they would recognize Him and accept Him as their Messiah! Longing for this welled 
up within Jesus until nothing else seemed to matter. If only – if only, His people would 
worship Him! He was their Messiah – even the Samaritans had recognized this! He could 
teach them of God; all the glorious history of Israel would shine forth as the truth. The 
words of God spoke to Israel were real and all men everywhere would know them. What 
a great God He was!
Surely Jesus’ thoughts must have been along this line. In fact, I believe it was always 
along this line - Israel was the reason for His existence! As He thought, God’s Word 
came to Him again as it had in the desert, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and 
him only shalt thou serve.”
Then suddenly, as the lightning shines from the east to the west, all that Jesus ever 
hoped for, all that He ever considered Himself to be, all hope that He ever had was 
shattered - everything wiped out in a twinkling of time. All because of the Word of God -
“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
The one thing that Jesus could see clearly now was that no man could ever be the 
Messiah to Israel and still fulfill God’s desires. “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and 
him only shalt thou serve.” Man could never worship or serve another and still do God’s 
will. No kingdom could ever exist without a king, nor could it long endure without 
faithful, loyal service on the part of the people. Jesus had thought that if people would 
worship and serve Him, He could restore the Kingdom to Israel and teach of God. How 
could He teach loyalty to God and also to Himself? “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy 
God, and him only shalt thou serve.” No man dare worship or serve another man and 
say that he does God’s will!
Jesus had turned to God’s Word when He was in the desert, and be strengthened 
because of it. Now He was stripped, utterly and completely without hope of all that He 
had dedicated His life to. If Jesus had been elated when He left the desert, He was 
completely and hopelessly discouraged now. 
He went again toward Jerusalem. He moved without purpose. No matter what went 
through His mind – no matter what had gone on before – He could not reconcile the 
finality of man’s separation from God. There would be no restoring of a Kingdom to 
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Israel – there would be no Messiah to rule, because God demanded absolute obedience 
and servitude. 
It is not at all unusual for men of great dedication, when they are stripped of all hope, to 
consider self-destruction. It does not seem a strange thing to them because all hope is 
lost – there is no more to their life. No man that ever lived, or ever will live, ever had a 
greater dedication than Jesus. No aim of man was higher, or more noble than that of the 
Messiah. And, because of this, no man was ever plunged to greater hopelessness than 
Jesus. No man ever faced a blacker void. 
The scriptures say “And the devil taketh him to Jerusalem, to a pinnacle of the temple,”
and said to Him, “If Thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from here; for it is 
written, he shall give his angels charge over thee, and in their hand they shall bear thee 
up lest at any time thou should dash thy foot against a stone. “
This was the end of the road as far as Jesus was concerned. All hope for Israel was 
secondary now. The prime question was like it had always been: was He, or was He not 
the Son of God? If not, there was no reason to go on living. It had seemed so sure in the 
desert. There was a sense of destiny as though He had lived all His life for that moment. 
But it was not so now. All His life seemed empty and hopeless now. All that He had been 
taught seemed strangely unreal. 
A man looks over his life at times like this, and I imagine that Jesus was no exception. 
Here it was almost the beginning of the Passover. One year ago He was in the same city. 
A lot had happened. A Pharisee had sought Him and asked Him questions. He had 
spoken to him of some strange things. The man had been troubled; he had come to 
Jesus seeking answers and Jesus had answered him. 
“Ye must be born again or ye cannot even see the things of God.” Ye must be born of 
God if ye are to know the things of God. “He that is born of the flesh is flesh and he that 
is born of the Spirit, is Spirit.”
I can’t help but feel that as Jesus considered these things, an amazing thing gripped Him. 
I think He had what we call a “revelation”. Here is the basic truth of God coming home 
to Jesus - a new life, a new creature in God. This is what Jesus needed. Remember, He
had been brought to the place of nothingness in Himself. If there was to be any life 
whatsoever, it had to be of God. All hope of the Messiah, according to the traditions of 
Israel had gone; but here was a new creation - here was a new realm - here was a new 
being. 
Other things must have come to His mind too. A year ago, he had brought ridicule upon 
Himself. He had made quite a commotion in the Temple when He used the whip on the 
money changers. The Temple officers asked Him by what authority He did these things. I 
don’t believe that Jesus understood His answer then either because the words were not 
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His own, but I believe He understood them now. I believe that Jesus understood now 
that His flesh was nothing but a dwelling place, a temple, as it were, for God to dwell in. 
Oh, what a surge, a joy must have come over Jesus when He realized this truth! A life 
that was empty now became full. Not full of traditions and self-understanding, but full 
of God! What a blessed thing to have come to the end of self so that you might be 
possessed by God!
I believe Jesus’ whole concept of God changed. I believe He remembered some words 
that passed His lips as He spoke to the woman in Samaria. “God is Spirit, and they that 
worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth.”
I cannot tell you just how God revealed Himself to Jesus, but I know what it was that He 
revealed. I cannot say just what method God used to lead Jesus into the wilderness, but 
I know what it was that He brought Him through there after. 
God revealed Himself to Jesus so Jesus would know that He was Spirit and not flesh. God
revealed Himself to Jesus so Jesus would know that God was all things and that nothing 
could exist apart from Himself. God revealed Himself to Jesus so Jesus would know that 
all that man was, all of his hopes, and pride, and traditions were as nothing. With God it 
was as though they never existed. God revealed Himself to Jesus so Jesus would know 
His love. 
God brought Jesus to the place of emptiness so He could fill Him with Himself. If Jesus 
had not been completely emptied of self, He could not have the fullness of God because 
God does not give His glory to another. We know that the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus; 
therefore, we know that He was emptied of self.
To know that God is in you; to know that you are indeed at the end of self is to know 
real victory. This will be reflected in our speech. 
Jesus came to the place of knowing. He no longer directed His life, His decisions and 
actions on the basis of tradition. He does not need precedent; He knows. He no longer 
has to depend on the Law or the priest or on any other thing. God has given Himself to 
Him and all knowledge, thought, and action is based on God Himself. Because Jesus saw 
God, He saw Himself. No longer were these thoughts of despondency and defeat His 
thoughts; these were Satan’s thoughts. And so because He had seen God, He became 
like Him and He spoke suitable words - words of authority. They were not words of 
reasoning, they were commanding words. They were not words of compromise, they 
were words of irrefutable fact. They were words of victory – listen to them!
“Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God”.
Eight words that Satan could not get around, eight words with which Satan could not 
argue, eight words that stated an Eternal truth, eight words that cannot be destroyed. 
eight words that no man can speak; but, eight words that are ours in Christ. 
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I’ve taken a good bit of liberty in supposing that certain things went on in Jesus mind, 
and I’m not expecting any of you to believe it unless you want to. But before God, I do 
know certain things, and it is of these things that I will speak. 
Something happened to Jesus! The first two times He answered Satan on Satan’s own 
level. I don’t need bread because – and I won’t worship you because – but the third 
time, there was not even a “I won’t do this or do that”. The order was to Satan “Thou 
shalt not“ and the authority was absolute; “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God”.
Jesus came to the place of considering Himself something other than a man. He made a 
clear cut statement to Satan – He identified Himself as the “Lord”. This was victory! You 
can determine for yourself how it was He came to this place of understanding. I say it 
was by revelation. Jesus answered Satan with the Word of God in all cases, but from the 
stand point of a man. But in actuality, Jesus wasn’t wrong. He understood something 
that no man before Him had ever understood. When God touches a man; when He gives 
Himself to that man, the man becomes no more. The man cannot understand this with 
the power of his mind because his mind is not subject to the laws of God. It does not 
know the things of God. It is subject to a different realm. Therefore, this knowledge 
must come by revelation. The man who wants to understand with his mind, and 
struggles to learn, will never understand, nor will he learn the things of God. When he is 
before God; when he stands in utter helplessness and knows that he cannot in himself 
ever know or understand, then, and only then, is he in a position to learn of God.                                                                     
I feel it is significant that Jesus made no voluntary, direct statement along this line. He 
hinted. One time the Sadducee’s were after Him. They tried to trap Him into some 
statement about marriage. They supposed that a woman married a man who had seven 
brothers. Her husband died and she married the brother – right on down through all of 
them. Then they asked the question, “Whose wife would she be in the resurrection?” 
Now listen to what Jesus answered them. “In the resurrection, there would be no 
marrying. Only the children of this world marry, but those who have attained unto the 
resurrection are like the angels.” This is the only place I know about where Jesus 
referred to this complete change that comes about within an individual when God 
dwells within him. Paul talked about it, but here is where He speaks because of 
revelation. You do not hear this oneness with God quite so plainly from the Apostles. 
But Jesus prayed the meaning of it in John’s Gospel, Chapter 17.


Brewer: Mr. Stahl, could we pause here for a minute? There are several questions that have 
been asked. 


Stahl: Certainly, Mr. Brewer, what do you have?


Brewer: Here’s one from a Mr. Miller; here is what he says, Do you mean, Jesus is being selfrighteous?” Then here is one from someone who signs as Mrs. Jones – it says, “You 
seem to be taking a lot for granted about Jesus. How do you know what His thoughts 
and actions are?”
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Do you care to say anything about these observations?


Stahl: Sure, I don’t know much what to say though. I admit to what Mrs. Jones says. Yes, I am 
taking a lot for granted, but not without reason. Even though there is no record of Jesus’ 
thoughts at the time of His temptations, Jesus did express Himself along these lines to 
His disciples. Then again, there is a very plain record of His thoughts recorded in John, 
Chapter 17. When you take these into consideration, I do not feel that I am taking too 
much for granted after all. Although, I admit, Mrs. Jones, that on the face of it, it would 
easily seem that I am a bit free with my supposings. I want to talk about what Jesus 
actually said. I think then you will better understand my words. 
Now, let’s see Mr. Miller, where are you? Oh yes, there you are. What was your 
question sir?
Miller: I don’t know if you can call it a question or not. I just don’t see how you can dare call 
Jesus self-righteous. The Bible says that self-righteousness is as filthy rags, and I just 
don’t believe God ever considered Jesus as a filthy rag.


Stahl: I’m with you Mr. Miller. I don’t believe God ever considered Jesus as a “filthy rag” 
either. 
There is one thing, however, that God does not like. It makes no difference where it is, 
He doesn’t like it and that is thoughts based on the reasoning of this world. Jesus was 
well-learned in the traditions of His people, and He lived by them until He found God’s 
will. And this is the difference, Mr. Miller, it is why God did not consider these thoughts 
of Jesus to be self-righteous. Jesus did not hold the traditions as law, He was willing to 
change. His one desire was to please God, and if it meant turning from everything He 
had been taught, He was willing to do that. When faced with the greatest void He ever 
experienced, He did not question or say I’ve done this or I’ve done that. 
You see, this is self-righteousness, Mr. Miller, to stand in your own efforts. Remember 
the rich young man that inquired of Jesus about eternal life? Jesus told him about the 
Law, and his answers were “All of these things I have kept from my youth.” This is an 
example of self-righteousness. 
I remember one time, very early in my Christian experience; God quite emphatically 
taught me a lesson along this line. One day God brought thing to pass in such a way as 
to cause me to believe that He had raptured all the Saints of God, and I was left behind. 
I cannot begin to tell you the terror that filled my heart. But what I remember more 
than anything else is the fact that I began to offer excuses to God. I said, “But Lord, I’ve 
gone to every church service; I pray; I pay tithes I sing in the choir…” Then the Lord said 
to me that not one of those things saved me and that to claim them was selfrighteousness! I’ll never forget that lesson, Mr. Miller. God reminds me of it every once 
in a while. Self-righteous thoughts come to every one of us, but the thought doesn’t 
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make us self-righteous unless we take hold of it and let it become the standard of our 
life. 
So you see, Mr. Miller, even though these thoughts came to Jesus, they did not become 
His standard. But these thoughts did come to Him; don’t ever forget that! Let’s know 
this one thing – if these thoughts come to us, they came to Him, because He was 
tempted in all points like we are. I do not say that Jesus was self-righteous, but I do say 
He was tempted with self-righteous thoughts and like every other man, He considered 
Himself victorious because of them. But when these thoughts brought Him to the place 
of decision, He turned from them even though He felt there was nothing left. 
I hope this will help you to see what I mean when I speak as I do. 
Miller: I guess so. I guess I’m a little slow, but I’ve never heard anything like this before. It 
seems to me that you’re putting every human trait in Jesus’ character and stripping Him 
of all His deity. 


Stahl: I’m not stripping Him of anything, but I admit that I am pointing out the human traits in 
Jesus. After all, the scriptures say that He was tempted in all points like we are, does it 
not?
Miller: Well – yes…


Stahl: Our aim as a Christian is to gain victory over these human traits so God can clearly be 
manifested in us. Right?
Miller: Yes…


Stahl: If we see these things in Jesus and see what happened in Him, we will be able to see the 
only right way to handle these things. On the other hand, if we fail to see them in Jesus,
we will not know what to do when we see them in our life; consequently we stumble 
blindly along. And I, sir, do not believe that blindness is the way of God!
Do you get the general idea, Mr. Miller, of what I am trying to say? Believe me sir, I’m 
not attacking our Lord, He’s my Savior too! But, I honestly believe He wants us to see 
these things. 
Miller: Yes – I guess – I see what you are getting at, but somehow I don’t know if your method 
is so good. I think you could bring out the same truth in other ways. 


Stahl: That undoubtedly is so Mr. Miller, but this is the way God showed it to me, so I have to 
tell it that way.
Miller: I understand that, but you’re still talking about Jesus as a man. Was He, or was He not 
God? I would like to know what you say. 
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Stahl: You ask a direct question, so I’ll give you a direct answer. I don’t think you’ll understand 
my meaning yet because the words are too premature. Yes, he was God, in the flesh, 
but He didn’t know it yet. 
Miller: Now wait a minute! Do you mean to say that Jesus didn’t know who He was?


Stahl: That’s what I said. Mr. Miller, give me the courtesy of hearing me out. I believe – well, 
let me get my punch line off. I feel that it is necessary for me to give you all this 
background so you can understand what a change can take place in a man. I anticipate a 
lot of questions, and I want to answer all that I can but let me come up to them in my 
way. That way I will have given you all the background that I can and perhaps questions 
that you now have will already have been answered. I understand, Mr. Miller, that what 
I’m saying is without a doubt very different from what you have heard before. I know 
you’re interested, or you wouldn’t have been here this long. So this I will ask of you. 
Keep your questions; wait until I have finished and then give them to me. All right?
Miller: All right. 


Stahl: Just one thing. Interrupt me with questions if I have not made myself clear. 
How about it, Mr. Brewer, does that sound OK to you? Any rebuttal type questions, like 
“I don’t believe that because…” Let’s keep those till the end. Any questions that will 
further clarify a point – let’s take those, so no one gets lost along the way. Does that 
sound OK?


Brewer: Sounds all right to me Mr. Stahl. I guess I’ll save these other two questions for the 
rebuttal. 


Stahl: Good – we’ll proceed on that basis then. Give your questions to Mr. Brewer as you have 
been, but I will give an immediate answer only to those that seek clarification. The rest 
will be considered at a later time, but I assure you that I will answer each question. I’m 
liable to have to say “I don’t know” to some of them, but I’ll acknowledge them. 
Well – let’s see…where was I?


Brewer: I’m the one that interrupted you, Mr. Stahl. According to the transcript you had just 
mentioned Jesus reply to the Sadducees regarding there being no marriage in the 
resurrection. 


Stahl: Oh yes! This is one of the few times that Jesus hinted at this new life in God. You see, it 
would have done no good to teach the people these things because the Holy Spirit was 
not yet given to all flesh. Jesus was the only one to whom God had given Himself, and it 
took Jesus a while to come to the place of realizing what this Anointing really meant. He 
knew that the time would come when everyone would have opportunity to know this 
truth. Here is what He said along that line, “When the Holy Spirit is come, (there shall be 
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no need for man to teach you) but He (the Holy Spirit) shall bring all things to your 
remembrance whatsoever I have said to you.”
You see, some way, by some miracle, Jesus became one with God – not a part of, but 
one, with God. This had never happened before. Therefore, it would be somewhat 
useless to try and explain it to someone who didn’t even know what God was like! Man, 
in trying to understand God, had made Him like himself. The thing that man cannot 
comprehend is that God desired to make man like himself. This truth was revealed to 
Jesus and that is why He said to Satan “thou shalt not temp the Lord, thy God.”
There is no record of what Jesus thought while He was on the pinnacle of the Temple, 
but I believe whatever it was He had it in mind when He talked to the twelve that last 
night when He was arrested. There is an urgency in His words, a longing to make Himself 
understood, and yet a knowledge that they would not, indeed, they could not yet 
understand. 
“Let not your heart be troubled,” He said, “You believe in God, believe also in me”. 
Remember how it is recorded in John that the Father committed all judgment to the Son 
and gave Him all authority so that He could give life to whomsoever He would –
remember that? Yet, here Jesus was pleading with them to believe Him. Then He asked 
them to “Believe the words that I say, or else believe me because of the works that I 
do.” You see how Jesus was pleading with them to believe Him? Look the Bible over and 
you won’t find another place where Jesus expressed such a desire to have His disciples 
believe Him. Whatever He was saying must have been important. 
What was the occasion? Phillip had said, “Show us the Father, and that will be enough 
for us”. Now listen to the answer that Jesus gave. It shows surprise, “Have I been so long 
with you and yet you have not known me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. 
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” You see the attitude of Jesus in relation to His 
true identity being, revealed in these words? This attitude was born on the pinnacle of 
the Temple. The first fruits of this attitude were the words directed to Satan “Thou shalt 
not tempt the Lord, thy God.”
                             Here is an amazing thing; here is evidence that flesh can so take hold of this truth of 
God’s life in us that we consider it surprising that no one else knows it. 
Jesus said to Phillip, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in 
me? Don’t you believe that the words I speak are the Father’s? They are not my own, 
they come from the Father who dwells in me.”
Then He went on to tell them how the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, would come to 
them, and He told them “At that day you shall know I am in the Father and you in me, 
and I am in you”. Jesus knew the futility of man ever understanding this truth by himself
and so He told them of things to come. If it seems obscure to us today, it is because we 
have trusted in our own understanding rather than the revelation of God. Perhaps His 
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words could have a dual meaning to us, but not to God; and when we receive God’s 
revelation concerning it, it is perfectly clear. It is impossible for man to accept or 
understand in himself because it follows no principles that are understood by our carnal 
mind. However, there are still other words that Jesus spoke that even further clarify this
truth. It is significant that He did not speak these words to man, they were addressed 
directly to the Father. Listen to them, they are found in John Chapter 17.
To me, this is a very interesting portion of scripture. It is one of the few times that Jesus 
spoke words that are recorded in the Bible and no one was around to hear them – yet, 
here they are! It is interesting to suppose what happened. After the supper, Jesus talked 
with His disciples for a while. Finally, and this is indicated in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus felt 
the need for prayer. He took Peter, James, and John apart from the twelve, apparently 
talked with them a while and then asked them to stay put and pray. He withdrew 
Himself to be alone and prayed. When he returned, He found the three sleeping. 
It seems to me that Jesus didn’t intend this prayer to be for human ears. These words 
are addressed directly to the Father. Did John hear this portion of the prayer or was he 
told of it by one of the others? Or, was he completely ignorant of Jesus uttering these 
words? Why is John’s Gospel the only one to include the communication of Jesus with 
His Father? John is unique in many things that he says. At any rate, these words indicate 
to me the divine inspiration of John’ Gospel more than any other one thing. 
These words are of more than common interest to me because Jesus was not talking to 
man. He wasn’t hampered by their lack of understanding. He expressed Himself freely 
knowing that there would be perfect understanding. It is just a free flowing of words 
that expressed what was in the heart of Jesus. It is the only time that we know of that 
He talked about these things, and we should be thankful to God that what He said is not 
obscured by parables. Bear in mind that Jesus is expressing the thing that was revealed 
to Him on the pinnacle of the Temple. He is expressing what it was that happened to 
Him that enabled Him to say to the Devil, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God.”
His mind is on His disciples; He expresses Himself to the Father by these words,“…..keep, 
through thine own name, those whom thou hast given me,” now listen carefully, “that 
they may be one, as we are.” What a tremendous thing! Not even the angels in heaven 
have that privilege. The impact of this thing is in that word “one”. It does not mean two 
that think as one, it means one. Jesus emphasized this by saying, “even as we are.”
Then He said something else that must be understood by revelation: Speaking of those 
who believed Him – “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world”.
This is an unusual thing. How can something be material, such as our senses say we are, 
exist in a material world and still not be a part of it! There is no need to try to 
understand this. Understanding is with our mind and our mind itself is bound by this 
world. It is of this world, but there is something that we are that is not of this world. 
Whatever it is, it is all of our life. It is the thing that enabled Jesus to say to Philip, “He 
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that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” It is the thing that caused Jesus to say to 
Satan, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God.” It is the thing that gave truth to Jesus’ 
Word. It is the thing that causes Satan to leave. Jesus emphasized it by saying it again 
the second time, “They are not of this world even as I am not of this world.”
Now, sometimes I’ve had folks say to me, “That was the disciples He was talking about,”
and they are right. If the scripture had no more to say about it, I would have to stop. But 
it does say more. 
“Neither pray I for those alone, but for them also which shall believe in me through their 
word”.
Brother that means me! It means you, if you believe. Jesus prayed for you and He 
prayed for me to an explicit end – “That they all (all of us who believe) may be one, as 
thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may 
believe that thou hast sent me.”
It looks to me like Jesus couldn’t emphasize this enough. He went on to say, “The glory 
thou hast given me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in 
them and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one…..”
Read that 17th chapter of John; it’s tremendous!
I realize there is nothing that says these portions of scripture we have been talking 
about are in any way connected with what happened on the pinnacle of the Temple. 
Therefore, if any of you wish to question this, I have no defense. I feel that what I say is 
true, but everyone has the right to his own opinion. Something happened to Jesus while 
He was on the pinnacle of the Temple. It was a tremendous thing whatever it was. It 
was the thing that God desired because it was God who led Him to this place. Whatever 
it was that God desired was fulfilled because God delivered Jesus from His temptations 
and Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. 
I believe that Jesus saw what God really was. The truth of God is stated in one of the 
Epistles – “When we see him we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” No man 
can see God until he loses sight of himself. The thing that Jesus saw was that God had 
given Himself to Him and that there was nothing else but God. Jesus did not think it 
robbery to be equal with God because God is the one that gave Himself to Him. 
How shall a man express this truth? Shall we say that Jesus became God? Peter said that 
God made Jesus to be both Lord and Christ? The scriptures say that God was in Christ. 
They also say this: “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature…” Jesus had to come to 
the place of realizing what it was that really happened to Him when God anointed Him. 
When He understood this, He knew that He was no more separate from God; He was 
made one with God. He was in the flesh, but not of it. He was the son of man, but not of 
man. He moved about in the flesh, but God was His life within the flesh. 
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It pleased God to be the life within Jesus and it pleased Jesus to live in this life of God. 
Therefore, Jesus said to Satan, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord, thy God”.
This was the place of victory into which Jesus came. It was His place of abiding. God 
could not perform His desires through Jesus until Jesus gave Him complete use of all of 
His faculties. When Jesus went to the pinnacle of the Temple, He was stripped of all His 
desires. He no longer knew what to do. He knew one thing – God was God, and He loved 
Him. When Jesus saw God, He saw Himself, but instead of being two, there was only 
one. 
Now God began to move through Jesus in the way of His own choosing. He left the 
pinnacle of the Temple and made His way to the Pool of Bethesda. There He went to a 
man who had an infirmity for thirty eight years. Jesus was not yet thirty-two. 
Let’s get the picture and impact of what happened. Why did Jesus single out this 
particular man and heal him? There were many other people who were sick; if it was 
just a healing that Jesus was interested in, anyone would have served just as well. I 
believe this particular man was more or less a tradition in himself. He had been coming 
to this pool for a long time, and he had not had a bit of luck. Every time the waters were 
troubled, someone else got there first. Yet the man came back year after year after 
year, hoping, always hoping, that this would be the time. Obviously the man wasn’t 
going to make it. He had to depend upon two things over which he had no control; 
tradition and people. 
In Jesus’ own eyes, this man must have been a symbol of helplessness. Suppose this 
man had been coming to the pool for thirty-eight years – this is not a wild assumption. 
The scriptures say that Jesus knew he had been there a long time. This means that Jesus 
had seen this man at the pool from his earliest years. Year after year, the same man, 
never losing hope, but never being healed – just growing older. 
I feel that Jesus saw Himself in this man. He was what He had been before His revelation 
on the pinnacle of the Temple. I believe He saw Israel in this man; a captive of tradition. 
He saw a pitiful thing; He saw humanity in their blind captive state, trusting in tradition, 
always hoping, but never possessing. 
So, He said to the man, “Wilt thou be made whole”? “The man said, “Sir, I have no man 
when the water is troubled to put me into the pool.” Jesus said, “I am here. Arise, take 
up your bed and walk.”
Jesus then returned to Galilee. He went to the Synagogue and read from Isaiah, “The 
Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He hath anointed me to set the captive free.”
It was more than just a healing at the pool of Bethesda; it was the first act of the 
Kingdom of God – a captive had been set free. It was the triumphant act of a King who 
has come into His Kingdom.
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Brewer: Suppose we take a fifteen minute break, have some coffee, and formulate your 
questions. Then, when we assemble again, we will see what answers are forthcoming. 
**************************


Brewer: We have quite a few questions Mr. Stahl. There is a predominate thought in all of them. 
Let me read some of them. 
Here is one that says, “How can you say Jesus was a man when you consider the manner 
of His birth?” It’s signed, Mrs. Jayle.
Another one: “Please explain how Jesus could be doubtful of whom He was when the 
wise men knew, Anna and Simon knew, Jesus knew when He was 12; He proclaimed 
that God was His Father and John the Baptist knew.” This one is not signed. 
Another one: “If Jesus was not the Christ when He was born, when did He become the 
Christ?”
Another one: “In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was 
God – and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Does this not clearly say that 
not only was Jesus God, but He was always God, even from before the foundation of the 
world?”
Here’s another one: “You speak of God urging, or leading Jesus into the wilderness. Just 
how do you feel this came about? Also, you seem to make quite a point of Jesus’
temptation taking place at some time after His baptism – is it so important?”
These questions seem representative of the majority of questions that I have received, 
Mr. Stahl. Would you care to consider these?


Stahl: I’ll try. You’ll have to go over them again though. Give them to me one at a time and I’ll 
see if I can answer them. Didn’t you have some question there, Mr. Brewer, about the 
manner of Jesus’ birth?


Brewer: Yes. It was – let’s see. Mrs. Jayle asks, “How can you say Jesus was a man when you 
consider the manner of His birth?”


Stahl: Mrs. Jayle, What do you mean by “Manner of His birth?”
Jayle: He was born of a virgin, doesn’t that make Him divine? There was certainly something 
different about Him!


Stahl: Yes, Mrs. Jayle, He was born of a virgin, but I do not feel that made Him divine. This 
virgin birth is something that we say is fundamental. Whatever else one might question, 
He should never question this…the virgin birth is unchangeable. To doubt it is to doubt 
God. But believing it without understanding it doesn’t do us a bit of good.
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One might logically wonder why Jesus had to be born of a virgin. Not only did His birth 
come about in this manner, it was prophesied that it would come about in this manner. 
The big question is “why?”
I’ll suggest to you the answer that God gave me. It is not difficult to understand, like all 
of God’s truth it is quite simple. It is simply this: God cannot look on sin.
This is a truth that everyone knows, but let’s see how it applies to the question at hand. 
Ever since Adam, man has been separated from God - lost in sin. The Psalmist says “In 
sin did my mother conceive me and by unrighteousness was I shapen.”
Paul said to the Romans that by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. 
God also proclaimed through Paul, that “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall many 
be made alive.”
If Jesus was born into this world in the same manner as other men, He would have been 
considered by God, to have been a sinner. It was necessary that a man come into this 
world free of sin, and because of love, remain free of sin. God took care of the first part 
by the virgin birth. Jesus took care of the second part because of love. He was tempted 
in all points like we are, yet without sin. He entered the world, free from sin, so God 
could look upon Him. Because He remained free from sin, God looked upon Him with 
pleasure and said, “Thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
So, you see, Mrs. Jayle, the virgin birth did not necessarily endue Jesus with special 
powers, but it allowed Him a start in this world that was free from sin as far as God was 
concerned. 
Jayle: But the Bible says the word became flesh, and it says the Word was God. This seems to 
me about as divine as you can get. How do you get around that?


Stahl: I don’t want to “get around” anything, Mrs. Jayle. I just want to understand it before 
God. 
Yes, Jesus was the Word, and the Word was God. He was God’s expression. God 
expressed Himself by bringing Jesus, a man free from sin, into this world. This man 
pleased God and God gave Himself to Him. Jesus not only was God’s expression in this 
world, now he became God’s word so we could hear. 
You mention the Word was God. That’s true, Mrs. Jayle, and this in itself is the biggest 
revelation of God that I know of. God is not flesh. He has no form. He is Spirit; He is 
logos, thought, and expression. God gave Himself to Jesus because Jesus was willing that 
this should be, and this miracle has been enlarged to include us who believe because, in 
Christ, we have been made one with God. 
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This is introducing other thoughts than your original question suggested. However, I 
believe one is a natural outgrowth of the other. Do you see the reason for the virgin 
birth now, Mrs. Jayle?
Jayle: What you’re saying is that God brought Jesus forth by a virgin so He could not be born in 
sin like other men. 


Stahl: That’s right!
Jayle: I see what you mean. I don’t see anything wrong with that, but at the same time it 
seems, well, like something is lacking. It seems like some wonderful thing is being 
taken away from Jesus.  


Stahl: What would that wonderful thing be?
Jayle: I don’t know how to put it into words, Mr. Stahl, but maybe I should just call it His 
divinity.


Stahl: To be divine, to have the same glory that God has is indeed a wonderful thing. I’m not 
taking that away, nor would I if I could. However, I’m pointing out, what to me, is a 
wonderful thing: a man who pleased God, a man who was tempted in all points like me, 
yet he did not sin. I’m pointing out the love of God that gave this man the wonderful 
divinity of which you speak. Are not these wonderful things, Mrs. Jayle?
I think perhaps the best thing to do at this time is to tell you about something that 
happened. Peter tells about it in the Second Chapter of Acts. “Let all the house of Israel 
know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both the 
Lord and Christ.”
It is there - a very plain statement. This Jesus – God anointed Him, made Him to be 
master over all things, made Him to be both Lord and Christ. The prophecy that came 
from the lips of Isaiah is fulfilled in this act by God. “…the government shall be upon his 
shoulders…” Jesus said that all judgment has been given to the Son. Isaiah says, “His 
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince 
of Peace…” Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” This is a 
tremendous identity, yet Jesus took it because God gave it to Him. When something is 
given to us, we should take it and claim it as our own. Listen to what the scriptures say, 
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ.” And here is the Word of explanation -
“who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” You see, 
this Word says that Jesus was in the “form” of God so it was perfectly right to be like 
God.
Now the point here is that “form” is not physical form, but for want of a better word, it 
is used. The physical form of Jesus was no different than that of other men, but there 
was a definite time when His attitude changed. Jesus saw God revealed; He had heard 
God’s voice. He saw that God had given Himself to Him, therefore he received His life. 
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He became one with God, not only in the eyes of God, but He accepted this in His own 
eyes. He did not think it robbery, or wrong, or presumptuous to be equal with God. The 
big question is “When did this take place?”
Mr. Brewer, you have a question along this line, I believe?


Brewer: Yes, I have, matter of fact, there are several that ask the same thing. Let’s see, this one 
asks, “If Jesus was not the Christ when He was born, when did He become the Christ?”


Stahl: He became the Christ at the time of His baptism by John at the river Jordan.
That’s my answer, and here is why I say this. The scriptures say that the heavens opened 
and the Holy Spirit descended and rested on Jesus. John’s instruction was that the Holy 
Spirit would descend and remain on this certain one. This is what happened; it is God’s 
anointing and this exactly fulfills the meaning of Messiah.
                             This brings up a lot of questions about His baptism that I think should be answered now.
I want to direct these words to anyone who has difficulty in believing that Jesus had a 
hard time accepting His Son ship.


Brewer: We have a question here about that.


Stahl: Good, what is it?


Brewer: It says, “Please explain how Jesus could be doubtful about who He was when the wise 
men knew, Anna and Simeon knew. Jesus knew when he was twelve; He proclaimed 
that God was His Father, and John the Baptist knew?”


Stahl: Boy! There are a lot of questions! I’ll try to get to them all, but it won’t be in that order.
This particular one about Jesus being in the Temple when He was twelve at first seemed 
to me to be rather important. The thing that gave it such a different air was Jesus reply 
to His parents, “Don’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?” It always 
seemed to me that Mary and Joseph were not too careful of the whereabouts of their 
children…it was also hard for me to understand the attitude of Jesus. When I was a boy, 
I jolly well stayed closer to my parents than Jesus apparently did; and if by some odd 
chance I turned up missing for three days and then was found by my parents, I had best 
not speak to them in the same tone that Jesus seemed to use. All of this adds up to say, 
this is something I don’t know. 
The Law says to honor your Father and thy Mother, and this is something that Jesus did. 
I know this because Jesus came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it. In light of this, 
I’m forced to admit that there seems to be a difference of attitude between then and 
now that I’d better look into.
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First, I must proceed with the knowledge that Jesus was not rude to His parents, and 
that He was proceeding in a perfectly logical pattern. My first question is…what was He 
doing? The Bible is very clear on this point; “and they found Him in the Temple with the 
doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.” So then I ask, what was this 
gathering? Was it something that Jesus convened; was He the central figure, or was He a 
part of something else? It seemed to me that these were all questions that should be 
answered. The Bible speaks only of Jesus, so it is only natural that there He was the 
central figure.
I discovered that there was a school conducted in the Temple by the Doctors or Rabbis, 
and it was for the purpose of educating the 12-year-olds in the history of Israel and the 
traditions and concepts of the Lord God Jehovah. This explains why Jesus was there, but 
what about the evening - what about the “out of class” time - where did Jesus stay 
then? Again the customs of the time gives an answer. Students lived in the Temple 
quarters and were under the supervision of their teachers. 
Every Synagogue had a school, but they differed from the Temple school in that those 
who attended lived with their parents. We are told the curriculum at the Synagogue was 
more lenient than that at the Temple, because the Temple training was only for those 
who wished to become Rabbis. 
So now some of the questions are answered. We know the purpose of this gathering of 
which Jesus was a part; there is understanding as to why He was there three days 
without causing undue excitement. We understand why the questions and answers, and 
we begin to see why Jesus was surprised that His parents did now know He would be 
there. 
Some more customs of the time that might clarify the event is the custom of the parent 
teaching the child during his early years. The mother did not wean her child for 4 or 5 
years; and during this time, she taught her child of love and tenderness and of charity 
and honor to his mother and father. Then the father took over and taught his son 
honesty and integrity of God and the traditions of His people. At twelve, the boy was 
ready to begin school.
So, you put all this together and what seems to me a very clear picture emerges. Jesus 
was twelve; He was going to school because His desire was for the Lord, God Jehovah. 
He had been taught well by His parents regarding the things of God and of Israel. His 
understanding was keen and His questions showed a vital interest in the things of God. 
His answer, “Know ye not that I must be about my Father’s business” indicates to me 
that He was reared in a very religious home. The fact that His parents did not keep Him 
in the Temple Synagogue indicates one of two things. They were too poor or they had 
no intention of doing it. As far as Jesus claiming God as His Father, all of Israel and that 
includes the Jews, considered themselves to be the children of God. 
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There seems to me to be no indication of miraculous knowledge within Jesus. His 
actions and His words indicate a very natural thing. Jesus was just living and His 
expectations were in accordance with the time. Luke concludes His account of the 
episode in a very normal manner, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in 
favor with God and man.”
Another thing of interest that I might mention in passing; these same traditions or 
customs regarding education are further illustrated in not only Jesus’ life, but also in the 
life of John the Baptist. It was not ethical for one to consider himself a teacher and call 
disciples to himself until he was at least 30 years of age. Some six months later when 
Jesus began to be about thirty years of age, He came to John to be baptized and thus 
began His public ministry. 
Now, regarding that part of the question that assumes John the Baptist knew, the Bible 
doesn’t tell us that John knew who Jesus was, that is as far as being the Son of God is 
concerned, but it does definitely say, and these are John’s own words, “I knew him 
not…”
I suppose this could only refer to Jesus as the Christ, because the way that John was to 
recognize the Lamb of God was by seeing the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove 
descending and remaining up on this special one. It does not refer to Jesus as a man 
because in this area there is indication that John knew Jesus and knew Him well. 
Let’s see what happened. First, Jesus came to John to be baptized. Why? There is 
nothing mystical in baptism, at least not when Jesus was baptized. He came to be 
baptized of John simply because He believed what John was saying and He wished to 
identify Himself as a believer. This is why people were baptized. Remember one time 
Paul was curious about what some young men believed? He had asked them if they had 
received the Holy Spirit since they believed. When they answered by saying they had 
not even heard whether there was a Holy Spirit, Paul, in surprise, asked, “In what 
baptism were you baptized?” When they answered John’s baptism, Paul knew 
immediately what they believed. So you see baptism was identification. Jesus wished to 
be identified with what John preached so He came to John to be baptized. 
Now we can find out some more about the man Jesus. What did John teach - to repent 
and make straight the paths of the Lord.
It seems a little incongruous to imagine Jesus repenting at least in the sense of our 
repenting - to make straight the path of the Lord? How can the Lord make His own paths 
straight? It’s hard to imagine these things if Jesus was God, but it isn’t hard to imagine it 
if His knowledge was that of a man! As a man, He desired the Kingdom to be restored to 
Israel. As a man, He was ashamed of His people’s bondage, and as a man, He longed for 
the Messiah. This was the essence of John’s baptism. 
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Jesus came to John to be baptized and John said to Him, “I have need to be baptized of 
thee; why comest thou to me?” Jesus answered him by saying, “Suffer it now to be so, 
for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” 
Now, it is because of this little exchange between Jesus and John that many people 
surmise that John knew who Jesus was in a spiritual sense. It infers nothing of the kind. 
It does suggest a prior knowledge of each other which is after all a perfectly logical thing 
in the light of their relationship. 
Jesus exhibited early dedication to the religion of His people and a life devoted to God. 
It was the custom of His parents to make the yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem to observe 
the Passover. Jesus went with them. Zachariah, John’s father, was a priest who served in 
the Temple. The two families were close because of Mary and Elizabeth, so it seems 
perfectly normal that John should know Jesus and know Him well. “I have need to be 
baptized of you, why comest thou to me?” tells me that not only did John know Jesus, 
but he knew of His desires and exemplary life as well. The reply that Jesus gave is an 
indication of His attitude. “Suffer it now to be so,” is a way of saying, “This is the way I
want it, please baptize me. For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,” is a 
phrase that tells me that Jesus’ attitude was orderly and humble. John was six months 
His senior; he was the evangelist and he was the one doing the calling to repentance. It 
is the right thing that John should do the baptizing - after all, he was the teacher. So it 
was that John baptized Jesus. 
As Jesus was coming up out of the water the miracle happened! John’s life was fulfilled. 
Jesus was the anointed Christ. 
I don’t want to spend much time talking about John; only he was an important part in 
God’s plan to introduce Jesus as Christ. This was his purpose in life. John did now know 
who this Christ was to be. He was instructed to go forth baptizing. He was told that 
there would be one person upon whom the Holy Spirit would descend in the form of a 
dove. It would rest upon a man, and remain upon Him. This man was the Lamb of God 
that would take away the sin of the world.
John had no prior knowledge as to who this one would be. He was equipped as no one 
else was equipped to do the job. You see, John was full of the Holy Spirit from his 
mother’s womb. This was necessary because as we are told in Corinthians, “no man can 
understand the things of God except the Spirit of God…”
This is perhaps a lengthy explanation just to show you that John did not know Jesus was 
the Christ until after Jesus was baptized, but we have glimpsed more things about Jesus 
and that is the main object of our discussion. 
The impact of John’s announcement was somewhat lost upon the world. A tremendous 
thing happened to Jesus, but John’s announcement caused hardly a ripple among those 
who followed him. Two people left John and followed Jesus – only two. It wouldn’t seem 
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like John had a very effective ministry as far as his main purpose in life was concerned, 
yet Jesus said there was no greater man born among men than John the Baptist.
Therefore, if what happened to the world because of John the Baptist is paramount, it 
would seem somewhat insignificant in relation to other things, but that is only part of it. 
What happened to Jesus is the thing that’s important. Jesus became the possessor of 
some knowledge.
The scripture tells us “There came a voice from heaven saying thou art my Beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased.” One thing we should understand right now - this voice was 
made manifest only to Jesus. It was not made known to the multitudes about Jordan; 
they heard only John’s voice - only Jesus heard God’s voice. It is not God’s way to speak 
in a voice from heaven for all to hear. Men will believe God because they hear Him in 
their heart, or they will not believe Him at all. There are three occasions that I can think
of where God spoke from heaven. At the mount of transfiguration; this time Peter, 
James and John understood the words. Paul on the road to Damascus heard God’s 
voice. He understood it, but the others said, “It thundered.” Then God spoke to Jesus at 
the Jordan, and there is no indication of anyone other than Jesus hearing anything. 
Therefore, it seems only natural to seriously consider what Jesus heard, and why He 
should have heard it. “Thou art my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
This is a simple statement of fact. God announced to Jesus that He was His Son. Had 
Jesus already known this, the words of God would be redundant. Redundancy might 
possibly have a place when dealing with man, but it becomes utterly foolish and 
unnecessary when dealing with God. If this Jesus was born the Christ and was divine 
from the moment of His birth on, it becomes rather pointless for God to say, “I am My 
Son and I am well pleased with Myself.”
God told Jesus that He was His Son and that He was well pleased with Him for the 
simple reason that He did not previously possess this knowledge. It was a brand new 
thing to Him. It had significance to Jesus that it would not have to someone of the 
western world today. Quite often it seems, our society being what it is, a son is a 
liability. This is not so in the society in which Jesus lived. A son was a definite asset. His 
responsibility was to do the work of the father. 
It is impossible for man to be anointed of God and not change. Jesus told the disciples 
that they would receive power when the Holy Ghost came upon them. He spoke from 
knowledge and experience. It was at Jordan that He entered into this knowledge and 
experience. It was here that certain things happened which were to irrevocably change 
His life and bring Him to the place of God’s purpose. Jesus was well versed in the 
traditions of His people; He knew the hope of the Messiah. His heart was open to God 
and His desire was that the Messiah should come. When He was baptized in Jordan and
heard God’s voice proclaiming Him as His Son, it remained only for Jesus to begin doing 
the work of a Son. 
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Jesus had one thing in mind. It was the thing every Jew expected of the Messiah, but 
God had a different thing in mind. Now the tenderest drama that ever happened on the 
face of the earth began. God led Jesus to the place that He desired. He brought Him to 
the pinnacle of the Temple where Jesus finally and clearly saw God’s way and He 
consciously began to walk in it. 
The path that leads us out of ourselves into God is a path of heartaches, 
disappointments, hopelessness and frustrations as far as the flesh is concerned. It is 
blocked by doubt at every turn. It is not the way of fame and honor and acclaim, rather 
it is to the way to oblivion for the flesh. It is not an easy road for man to follow. No man 
has to take it, but if he does not take it, he will not find God. Jesus said that if a man 
should save his life, he would lose it, but if a man should lose his life for my sake, the 
same will find it. He knew what he was talking about. It happened to Him!
Some of you folks have indicated a desire to know just how it was that God urged Jesus 
and brought Him to this place of temptations. Your guess is as good as mine. How does 
God lead you or me or anyone else? Every one of us is different; therefore, there is no 
fixed formula for leading anyone. I’ve already touched on this a little bit, at least to the 
extent of suggesting to you that God knows our needs and He supplies them. He knows 
our hearts and He woos our soul. God knew the heart of Jesus just as He knows our 
heart, and He began to lead Jesus and draw Him to that place of revelation that means 
conscious and knowledgeable life in God.
I’ve heard people express the wish that they lived during the time of the disciples so 
Jesus could talk to them. I tell them that God talks to them today if they would only 
hear, and then they say there are so many ways in which the Bible can be understood 
that it is hard to hear God’s voice.
Jesus heard God’s voice. Sometimes the words were within Him as it was the day He 
was baptized. At other times, God used the actual vocal chords of Jesus to speak. At 
times like this, you will find Jesus conversing with another person as you might think the 
words were meant for the other fellow and had their origin in the mind of Jesus. 
This should not be a strange thing for a Christian today to understand. The Bible 
instructs us of many things that God can do in man, if only that man is willing. In First 
Corinthians, God says through Paul, “Now concerning Spiritual gifts, brethren, I would 
not have you ignorant…” and then he goes on to tell, in effect, that God can give man 
words to say that do not come from his mind at all; they are directly God’s words. This is 
what happened with Jesus. It is a little different than the Word of the Lord that came to 
the prophets when they prophesied – it is more on an intimate personal basis. Let me 
show you what I mean. 
I feel that it first happened to Jesus when He was in Jerusalem during the first Passover 
after His baptism in Jordan. This is a highly significant event in Jesus life, so I think it best 
if we tell the whole story. 
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Jesus entered Jerusalem this year charged with great zeal. It was different than any 
other year. To the Jew, the Passover was both a commemorative act and an act of hope. 
By it they remembered their deliverance from Egypt, and by it they demonstrated their 
faith in the coming Messiah. Jesus came to the Passover this year, charged with high 
hope. He was God’s Son and He would restore the Kingdom to Israel. A few weeks 
before, He had been to a marriage feast at Cana, in Galilee, and had turned water into 
wine. He no doubt continued His teaching and good works because it was the thing that 
attracted Nicodemus to Him. 
Jesus observed what was going on in the Temple and what He did is indicative of what 
He thought and the man He was. The Temple was the center of Jewish culture; it was 
the one place on the face of the earth that God dwelt. Throughout all history when 
Israel was strong, the Temple was clean. There were things going on in the Temple now 
that were not pleasing to God. It had become a house of merchandise. The Law required 
certain sacrifices and in order to obtain them, they had to be bought. The temple 
authorities grew rich on their profiteering. 
Jesus observed all this and the more He looked, the angrier he became. The scriptures 
say that He “plaited” Himself a whip and drove the money changers from the Temple. 
Have you ever wondered what He thought about as He made that whip? You see, the 
whole idea is utterly contrary to the Jesus tradition has taught us. A whip is made to 
hurt and to punish. It takes muscle and intent to use them. Jesus knew all this and He 
made the whip knowing it. 
He drove the money changers from the Temple because this was the first thing that 
should be done, if Israel was ever to be restored. The Temple, first of all, had to be pure, 
then the people could be ministered to; but if the Temple was not pure, nothing could 
be purified through it. 
So, you see, these are some of the thoughts that could have been going through Jesus’ 
mind. Some may not agree with me, but this one thing I say. Whatever these thoughts 
were, they were strong ones, and they were firmly enough established to be sustained. 
They lasted while He made a whip and while He used it; but in the using, God spoke and 
when God spoke, He arrested Jesus’ thoughts and established a new one. Here’s what 
happened.
Jesus used the whip and drove the money changers out of the Temple. He upset the 
tables and scattered the merchandise. But, no one seemed to be afraid of Him. Almost 
before the last table was overturned, the Temple authorities appeared on the scene. 
They apprehended this young zealot and asked Him, “By what authority do you do these 
things?” And here is where a strange thing happened to Jesus. He opened His mouth 
and He spoke, but the words made no sense at all…”Destroy this Temple and in three 
days I will raise it up.” The Temple authorities were incredulous at such effrontery. 
“Forty-six years it took our fathers to build this Temple, and you will do it in three 
days?”
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We feel somewhat satisfied in the superiority of our theological knowledge. We are 
somewhat sorry for the Temple authorities because they did not know the wonderful 
thing that Jesus would do. But what about us? Are we aware of what really happened?
Let’s look at this objectively for just a moment. The words that Jesus spoke made no 
sense whatsoever to those who heard Him. It is preposterous to suppose that He did 
not know how long it had taken to build the Temple, and it is equally as preposterous to
suppose He expected the Temple authorities to accept His statement in a prophetic 
sense. The question arises then: Did even Jesus know the meaning of the words He 
spoke? If He did, why then did He expend effort to drive the money changers out of the 
Temple? These are not necessarily easy questions to answer in the light of our 
traditional understanding, but the events assume significant proportions when we 
understand that it was God speaking to and through Jesus. 
The words, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up,” were not words 
formed by Jesus’ knowledge; they were God’s words. In Romans 8:11, the Bible declares 
that “If the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead…” so you see, Jesus didn’t raise 
Himself from the dead; God raised Him. Therefore the words that came from Jesus “…I 
will raise it up,” would have been a lie if Jesus meant Himself. So you see it was God that 
spoke through Jesus. 
God never speaks foolish, meaningless, or empty words. If these words meant nothing 
to the Temple authorities, you can be sure they meant something to Jesus. It was 
necessary for Jesus to hear these words because He was the one that must know God.
He was God’s anointed one and He would teach all men about God. But He must know 
God’s dwelling place. The Jew said that God dwelt in the Temple in Jerusalem…now God 
is telling Jesus that there is a new Temple, and He is it.
Another thing happened to Jesus. It was along the same line, and it also happened in 
Jerusalem. A man called Nicodemus came to Jesus. A song puts it this way: “A ruler once 
came to Jesus by night, to ask Him the way of salvation and light.” But Nicodemus didn’t 
get much of a chance to ask questions. He took the initiative and greeted Jesus, but that 
was all. 
What transpired between Jesus and Nicodemus is probably one of the most useless 
conversations that ever transpired between men, if we look on it as being solely for the 
benefit of Nicodemus. If Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus for the explicit purpose of 
enlightening Nicodemus, then the attempt was a dismal failure. Nicodemus could only 
ask, “How can these things be?” Then to show his complete ignorance of the Spirit, he 
asked, “Can I enter the second time into my mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus sensed the import of what His words meant, but He did not understand them. He 
chided Nicodemus with these words, “Art thou a teacher of Israel and knows not these 
things?” Yet, at a later time when He had understanding, He said, “You have no need for 
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man to teach you, but when the Holy Ghost is come, He shall teach you all things, and 
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said to you.”
Now, if we consider the conversational exchange that took place between Jesus and 
Nicodemus to be a leading on God’s part to bring Jesus to the place of knowing God, the 
whole thing takes on new meaning. Certain cardinal truths stand out. Nicodemus said, “I 
know you are a man from God because of the things I see you do.” I suppose right here I 
have to stop teaching and preach just a little bit. 
You see, Jesus used the same standard. One time, John the Baptist sent one to ask Jesus 
if he really was the one who was to come. Jesus told the man to go and tell John of the 
things he had seen and heard. So in the height of this, it becomes somewhat irrational 
to believe that Jesus’ words to Nicodemus came from His own understanding, but again 
it makes perfect sense when we understand that here God was imparting information to 
Jesus. These words were inspired! They were not born from the understanding that was 
within Jesus; they came through the lips of Jesus, but they came directly from God. 
Jesus spoke the words that God inspired Him to speak, even though He did not, at the 
time, understand them. In speaking these words they became Him. This is a truth that 
every one of us must learn today or God’s Word will never become a part of us. Every 
one of us has felt the inspiration of God at some time or other; sometimes we have 
given spontaneous expression to it, and were made exceedingly happy because of it. 
Other times we have not expressed it. Rather, we have analyzed it and asked ourselves 
whether we really believed it or not. Did it make sense; was it the proper time; what 
would people think, and oh, so many things determined our actions! These people 
never receive a blessing because they never abandon themselves to God. They never 
have a revelation because they are never willing to forsake their own thoughts. They can 
never see God because they are too concerned with what their own senses discern. 
Nicodemus said, “I know you are a man come from God because of the things I can see.” 
Jesus, inspired of God, said words contrary to His knowledge; “you can’t even see the 
things of God unless you are born again,” and because Jesus said these words, Jesus 
learned of God.
Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus even though He did not understand them, and 
because He spoke them, God gave Him more to say. The result is that Jesus explained 
some pretty important things: a new birth, a new life, a new creation, you must be born 
of the Spirit. What is the Spirit like? I don’t know. Jesus told Nicodemus that the wind 
blows and one could not tell from where it came or where it went…”so, is every one 
that is born of the Spirit,” 
Perhaps we can say that God taught Nicodemus. I don’t know, but I can definitely say 
that God taught Jesus. Jesus had all the prerequisites necessary to understand this 
teaching. Nicodemus did not. I say this because the scriptures declare it. They say that 
no man can understand the things of God except the Spirit of God. Nicodemus did not 
have this necessary thing and Jesus did. Up to the time of Jesus, no man could 
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understand the things of God, the Law was given and obedience was demanded; but 
now there was to be understanding. Paul said that God winked at the “times of this 
ignorance,” but now he commands man everywhere to “repent” and that means 
“change your mind.”
God was bringing Jesus to the place of revelation where Jesus was to see God as He 
really was. God was supplying Jesus with “building blocks” that would fit together in the 
day of His revelation so the world could see the expression of the one true God, and not 
just the reflection of man’s understanding. These “building blocks” are thoughts that 
God presented to Jesus. Jesus paid attention to these thoughts and considered them. 
I do not know all that God was showing Jesus, but I begin to see enough to see the 
wonder of it. Let’s look at what happened so far. The incident at the Temple, if it did 
nothing else, suggested to Jesus that there was a different kind of a Temple. This may 
not seem too important to us, but, it was the very first thing that a Jew had to consider. 
The Temple was not, primarily, a place for man to worship; it was a place where God 
dwelt. There was no other place on the face of the earth where God made His abode! It 
was a daring thing for someone to change the routine of the Temple as Jesus had done,
and it shows the magnitude of His zeal for God. But the startling thing, the revolutionary 
thought, is the possibility of another Temple; another place that God would dwell. The 
tragedy that divided Israel in the days of King Solomon was compounded because the 
tribes of the north could no longer worship God at the Temple in Jerusalem and there 
was no other place that God dwelt.
So, you see, the beginning of understanding is to know that God no longer dwelled in a 
Temple made with man’s hands; the beginning of knowledge for the Jew is to be 
released from the bondage of his tradition. 
It is no different today; man has built his little “Temple” and said, “Here is where God 
dwells.” He energetically strives to bring all men to the place of his dwelling and says, 
“There is no other way.” He will boast in the antiquity of His belief and say “There is no 
other.” 
Man is sincere in his blindness, but it is blindness nevertheless. Jesus was sincere too. 
He was tempted in all points like us, yet He emerged without sin. 
I believe Jesus was willing to consider this change even though He did not understand it.
I believe it because God took Him to the next logical step - He indicated to Jesus that not 
only was a new dwelling place to be established, but a new kind of life as well. 
The exchange between Nicodemus and Jesus netted very positive information as to the 
necessity of a new life. Jesus said a strange thing; it suggests quite strongly that Jesus 
was unaware of the impact of what He was saying. To Nicodemus, He said, “You cannot 
even see the things of God unless you are born again,” yet there was no attempt to 
cleanse the Temple, where to the Jew the things of God were very much in evidence. 
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The one paramount truth that emerges is that of a Spiritual creature. It isn’t hard to 
understand. In Genesis, God said, “Let every living thing bring forth after its kind.” So
here it is, flesh brings forth flesh and Spirit brings forth Spirit. 
It must be understood that these truths which to us seem almost to be self-evident, had 
never before been presented to the mind of man. To take a man, such as Jesus, one who 
was strongly zealous for His people, one who lived by the Law and looked for the 
coming of the Messiah. To take such a man and suggest such thoughts to Him was 
daring to say the least. But, to find a man who would listen to and believe such thoughts 
pleased the heart of God. 
Traditions die hard. It is one thing to hear the voice of God; it is another thing to know it 
is the voice of God, and it is still another thing to give heed to the voice of God. It is 
quite easy to believe God when it conforms to tradition; we can boldly declare God’s 
Word when we have the backing of the multitude but we don’t really believe God’s 
Word until we are willing to stand alone and declare it. Jesus was willing to believe. 
Now there came another incident in Jesus’ life. It was almost more than an incident. I 
believe that to the man Jesus it represented a high point. I’m referring to His few days in 
Samaria. I feel that it was a high point because it was here that He was first accepted as 
the Christ. 
Remember this is what He came to be. These people accepted Him as the Christ because 
of what they had “seen and heard.” This is the stand that Nicodemus was willing to take, 
but the words that Jesus spoke would not allow it; yet in Samaria He allowed this 
attitude to flourish. This seems to indicate further that Jesus’ words to Nicodemus were 
not born of His own knowledge and desire. Now we have to make a decision as to which 
time was right in God’s eyes regarding this point. Later on, Jesus made a statement to 
Peter on the subject; He said that this kind of knowledge did not come by human 
reasoning (flesh and blood) but it came by revelation of God. This pretty much gives us 
direction in our quest for understanding. If man arrives at the conclusion that Jesus is 
the Christ because of what he has seen or heard, it isn’t necessarily so if his knowledge 
is from revelation and apart from human reasoning, it can be trusted.
So here was a high point in the life of Jesus, the man, but he also received a bit of 
information that gave substance to a very new thought. God was Spirit! This fact gave 
credence to the other things at which God had hinted - a new Temple! - one that could 
be raised up in three days, an impossibility for any material Temple, a new creature –
not one that was born of flesh, but one that was born of Spirit. And, if you were born of 
Spirit, you became Spirit, a new creation - one that could see the things of God, and now 
this latest thing - God is Spirit! And they that worship Him will worship Him in Spirit and 
in truth. 
One must understand that these things were new to Jesus. I have pointed out that what 
transpired could not have had much meaning for those to whom He spoke, and it was 
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true in the case of this woman of Samaria. To tell her that one would not worship God in 
Jerusalem or in “these mountains” was to take away everything that was then known 
about worshipping God. No other nation on the face of the earth knew anything about 
the one true God. To say that you would worship Him in Spirit had no meaning 
whatsoever to the woman of Samaria, nor did it have to the other Samaritans. They 
believed He was the Christ because of what they had seen and heard. There was no 
Spiritual revelation about it. The fact of the matter is that only Jesus had the Spirit. Only 
Jesus had the key to understanding. When he told His disciples about the Oneness that 
the new birth brings, He knew there could be no understanding. He encouraged them to 
believe and told them “At that day (when the Holy Spirit would come) you shall know.” 
You see, there is no “knowing” before God without the Holy Spirit. Again, Jesus said that 
“When the Holy Spirit is come, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your 
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
In light of all these things, it seems preposterous to believe that these Spiritual truths 
were meant for anyone but Jesus. We have understanding of them now, or at least we 
have the privilege of being able to understand because we have the Spirit of God with 
us. This was not so with the Temple authorities, with Nicodemus, and the woman of 
Samaria. That is why Jesus used parables to teach the people.
I believe these three incidents are high points in God’s leading Jesus to the wilderness 
there to be tempted and filled with the knowledge of God. I am not so naïve to say 
these are the only times that God arrested the attention of Jesus and pointed His 
thoughts in a direction contrary to tradition, but certainly it is three times that it 
happened; and in these three instances there is sufficient direction given to indicate the 
full life that God meant every born again individual to have. 
But what happened to Jesus because of it; was He satisfied? Did this line of revelation 
which God chose to give Jesus bring Him peace? Did it strengthen His purpose, and did it 
give Him direction?
No, my friend, in the natural, it did not. In fact, it seemed to do everything that one 
thinks should not be. It brought Him untold suffering; because of it, He had turmoil that 
robbed Him of everything which He had held dear. The scriptures say that He learned 
obedience through suffering. This is not an idle statement. To suppose that God can 
suffer is putting limitations on Him that are contrary to His nature. But to know that the 
man Jesus suffered, and to know He suffered and why He suffered, is to understand the 
moving of God in our life. 
Oftentimes God speaks to us and it seems that because of His revelation to us our 
troubles are increased. This is the way it was with Jesus, and this is the way it is with us. 
When we understand why it is this way, then we will understand how God works with 
us. 
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The turmoil arises within us because of the conflict between Spirit and flesh, between 
what we think should be and what God says is. It is hard to lay aside tradition. It is hard 
to turn from that thing upon which we had based our every hope, but it is not until we 
are willing to do this that we can begin to understand God.
Jesus had some rather definite ideas of what His people should be and what the 
Messiah should do. The Messiah’s very manner of living was established - all things 
would be according to LAW. The first responsibility of the Messiah was to put down all 
enemies and to make them subject to the way of Israel. Even the early Christians 
couldn’t get away from this idea. Peter, whom we always picture as being such a 
stalwart of faith, encouraged those of Galatia to observe the Laws of Israel. He was 
sharply rebuked by Paul for his efforts and the poor Galatians suffered the 
consequences. James, the elder, refused to deviate from the Law but for the sake of 
unity allowed a less stringent observance for the Gentiles. Regarding the Jews, however, 
he said to Paul, “Ye see how many there are who have believed, and every one of them 
is zealous for the Law.”
So you see the attitude of the Jew, even though he might accept Jesus as the Christ, was 
reluctant to turn from the Law. Jesus was a Jew, He was a man, and He was zealous for 
God according to the traditions of His people.
Now, perhaps it would seem that I may have deviated from answering the original 
question: How did God lead Jesus, and why is the time interval so important? But all 
that I have said has a direct bearing on just that question. Briefly, I could say God led 
Jesus by doing this and doing that, but His leading is not quite so obvious. Only those 
who are looking for God will recognize His leading in their lives. God speaks to us from 
the midst of situations that might seem most common and unless we are eagerly 
anticipating and desiring God to lead, His voice will be lost entirely. I do not believe it is 
at all difficult to see how God used certain situations to bring certain truth to Jesus’ 
attention. 
Why did it take so long? Because man must come God’s way of his own free will. God 
does not force one to do His bidding. Jesus was no exception. God leads; He doesn’t 
drive. 
I would like to talk so much more about the leading of God in our lives, but I believe 
enough has been said to cause those who are interested to consider a few things. 
Never allow personal zeal to drive you because of something you have learned from 
God. A spiritual zeal is a patient zeal and does not cause one to lose hope. But a 
personal zeal will drive you and cause you to lose hope if you don’t see results. By the 
same token, never allow yourself to be controlled by hopelessness. Discouragement is 
not of God. 
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Often times, we receive revelation knowledge from God and feel that it should be an 
accomplished thing in our life, yet we come into nothing but trouble because of it. Be 
patient, and know above all things that God’s Word is established forever. God is not 
bound by time, as we are, therefore, He does not have to cause things to come to pass 
just because we think that “now is the time.” But rest assured, God’s Word cannot be 
annulled, it is established forever. Remember, God watches over His word and He will 
perform it!
We have talked about Jesus, in His temptation. We have seen Him lifted high in 
exuberance, with what to Him was a sure knowledge that He was the Christ; and we 
have seen Him in the lowest place of despair. Yet we have seen God’s leading in all of 
these things. We have seen Jesus come to the place of utter desolation because of 
God’s leading in His life, and we have seen His consistent trust in God. We have seen 
that when things were the darkest, insofar as the natural things of this world were 
concerned, that Jesus really learned of God. 
These are worthwhile things to know because in knowing them we can see God’s way 
for us. When the time of darkness comes, as they will, we need not be discouraged, 
because we know that as we come to the end of our ways, we will find God.
We have already looked into what John the Baptist said. Regarding Jesus as the Christ, 
he said “I knew him not,” but you rightfully asked the question, “How did Anna and 
Simeon know that Jesus was the Christ?” They looked upon Him as a babe when Mary 
brought Him to the Temple to be dedicated. They took the child in their arms and 
witnessed to the fact that here, indeed, was the Lord’s Christ.         
I have been asked many times: How did they know? Does not this prove beyond all 
doubt that this Jesus was born the Christ?
I do not believe so!
Simon said, in giving thanks to God, “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation…” but there is 
nothing to indicate that the child was anointed, and, therefore, the Christ. In God’s eyes, 
it was already done, but the child had to grow and increase in wisdom and stature, and 
in favor with man and God. That He was destined to become both Lord and Christ, is to 
me, an undisputable fact; but it is also to me, equally as obvious that He was not at this 
time the Christ. 
I see no miracle, if God chose to enter this world as a child, seeing God can do all things. 
But I do see a miracle of love unleashed in Jesus in His dedication to God and the 
unbounded love He displayed for God. I see no miracle in Jesus fulfilling the Law, if 
indeed he was God, seeing as the Law came from God; but I do see greatness in Jesus,
the man, fulfilling the Law.
Perhaps it would be worth the time to spend a few moments with the Law and 
understand just what the Law did. Why was it given? Briefly, it was given so that we 
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might know God’s desires for us. For instance, what is God’s position? The Law defines 
this. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Again, what shall my attitude toward 
God be? “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart.” Again the attitude of the 
child to parent is defined: “Honor thy father and mother,” and our attitude toward our 
neighbor: “Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbors.”
Paul said, “I had not known sin except the Law said thou shalt not covet.” So, you see, 
the Law gives definition to God’s desires. It does not give righteousness, it does not tell 
how to do that which God desires, but it tells what God desires.      
Jesus fulfilled the Law: Therefore, God revealed Himself to Jesus and said, “Thou art my 
beloved son, and in thee I am well pleased.”
There is no miracle in God doing what He desires, but there is a miracle in man doing 
what God desires.
I cannot consciously see evidence that Jesus was born the Christ. He was destined to 
become the Christ. So back to the question, “How did Simeon and Anna know?”
By revelation! They came into this knowledge the same way that any one comes into 
this knowledge. Peter could not say that Jesus was the Christ except by revelation, nor 
can any other man. 
Revelation is God’s knowledge given to man. It is not bound by time. God’s revelation 
can reveal man’s future, explain the past, and give meaning to the present. In the case 
of Simeon, God had promised him that he should behold the Lord’s Christ; this was the 
revelation that told of the future. Now a child was being dedicated and again, God 
moved and said, “This child is set for the rising again of many in Israel. He shall be a light 
unto the Gentiles.” Because it was God’s revelation, it occupied a present place in time, 
but it does not mean that at that instant in time He was indeed the Christ.
Peter spoke and said, “Thou are the Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus said, “Flesh 
and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, which is in heaven.” Jesus told 
Nicodemus that he could not see the things of God, unless he was born of the Spirit. You 
see there can be no knowledge of God except from God. The mind of man cannot 
conceive God or the things of God, because it knows not God. It knows nothing of the 
realm of God. It is not subject to God’s realm and never will be. In short, no man can see 
Jesus, the Christ, except by the Spirit. Simeon and Anna were no exception. 
This truth of revelation is a truth that not many men have considered today; they have 
leaned much upon the “arm of flesh”. They have followed after their own 
understanding. The result of this has been such that blend of religious thought has 
become difficult to tell one group from another. The fact of the matter is that not too 
many people even know God’s revelation when God reveals it to them. Therefore, they 
establish their own pattern of thought and action and eventually come face to face with 
the emptiness of flesh.
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There are certain attitudes that must be formed if we are to learn of God and we see 
these attitudes evidenced in Jesus Christ. All too often, we lose faith in what we feel to 
be God because things don’t go “right.” There is no deep seated consciousness of God. 
When we feel good and circumstances are not too pressing, we can somehow manage; 
but when there is physical or mental discomfort, and the trials of adversity are upon us, 
it seems that confidence in God’s Word is something we no longer possess.
It is at times like this that we must be all the more sure of God’s word. God doesn’t 
change just because our feelings change!
This brings us face to face with the possible need of changing our belief. Quite often we 
have followed a certain path because our understanding has directed us in this path. We 
feel that certain things should be evident because we go this certain way, and yet, they 
are not evident. It is then that man demonstrates his nature by defending that which he 
says he believes. God’s words need not defense! It is established! Even though there 
should be no more heavens and no more earth, even though time should no longer be, 
God’s Word remains! Therefore, we must be willing to say, “I know not, but God is 
true.”
God’s Word is the foundation of all that is, or was, or ever will be. In the beginning was 
the Word – it was God – and it shall never pass away! How foolish is it for some man to 
subscribe to a small finite doctrine and try to establish it as supreme! How foolish it is to 
doubt God because He doesn’t fit in with our idea of what He should be! What a wise 
thing it would be to lay aside that which we think to be right and honestly re-examine 
our relationship with God. How wise it would be to say “Lord, I don’t know, show me 
your way,” and this will be our attitude when we know the sureness of God’s Word. If 
our faith is based upon the things we feel we know, and yet it is shaken when adversity 
comes, we can know our knowledge is based upon the learning of the mind and is not 
anchored in God. On the other hand, faith that has God for its author is not shaken by 
adversity, but really functions and produces a calm and definite assurance that God’s 
Word is true. This is manifest to the believer by a confidence and peace that is beyond 
human reasonings or expectation. 
This is the thing we see in Jesus. It was God’s purpose to bring Him to the wilderness, 
and it was God’s purpose to bring Him face to face with the emptiness and 
meaninglessness of tradition. Jesus was shaken, but there was an underlying faith in 
God that could not be moved. Like a child, Jesus came to God and in effect said, “All that 
I thought to be true is gone, what shall I do?” There was utter and complete 
dependence upon God. There was no rebelliousness within Jesus; there was no 
questioning God as to the why-for, the emptiness that the wilderness brought forth; 
there was no thought that God had forsaken Him; there was just child-like faith that 
said, “What will it be now?” And Jesus said, “Except ye become as little children, ye shall 
in no wise enter the kingdom of God.”
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This is the attitude that Jesus had when He found Himself on the pinnacle of the 
Temple. It was this attitude that caused Him to understand that God existed apart from 
traditions. It was this attitude that brought Jesus to the place of readiness to receive 
God’s knowledge.   
It is this attitude, and only this attitude, that will prepare us to receive God’s revelation. 
No matter how busy we are; no matter how much we profess to know the Lord, no 
matter what our church background may be, no matter what our supposed level of 
Spirituality may be, unless we are consciously upheld by the faith of God, and rest in the 
sure knowledge of God’s Word, we will not be ready to receive God’s revelation. Unless 
we willingly come to the place of recognizing the emptiness and uselessness and futility 
of tradition, we will never be prepared to even know God’s revelation!
Revelation is not a reasonable thing. Simeon and Anna were well advanced in years; 
both had served in the Temple for the greatest majority of these years. They were 
saturated with the Temple and the things of the Temple. Remember, to the Jew, this 
was God’s house; it was the way of salvation. Yet, here was a child that God’s revelation 
proclaimed was destined to bring light to the Gentiles and redemption to all that looked 
for it. Anna and Simeon had come to the place of rest before God and they were willing 
to proclaim, not the reasonable or expected thing, but the unreasonable - the 
unexpected. They were to proclaim that which was not yet as though it already were, 
simply because God had opened their eyes and they beheld the fullness of God in a 
child. No one else could see this thing, but it was revealed to them, so they proclaimed 
it as though it already were. 
Revelation is an unreasonable thing. Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I 
am?” The answers were reasonable; they were based upon tradition; they reflected the 
things people could expect. Then Jesus said, “But who say ye that I am?” and Peter gave 
an unreasonable answer, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Jesus 
recognized the source of this knowledge. “Flesh and blood had not revealed this to 
you,” he said, “but my Father which is in heaven.”
No man can, of his own ability, recognize the things of God because the carnal mind 
does not know the things of God. Man will know God only by revelation and man will 
know revelation only when he is willing to turn from tradition and trust God as a little 
child.
There is not enough time for me to talk about revelation, and I doubt whether I have 
words to clarify what I feel even if I did have time. But, know this one thing, no man has 
ever known God, nor will ever know God, except by revelation. Faith is the thing that 
enables you to receive. It is with the heart that man believes, not the mind.
I feel that you folks have listened to my words quite patiently, and I appreciate it very 
much. I am glad for the opportunity of telling this thought about Jesus. I have tried to 
answer all the questions that I could, but I realize that I couldn’t possibly cover them all.
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I have tried to suggest a thought to you, and I know that there will be many questions 
come to your mind. Pursue them before the Lord, because, in the final analysis, it is only 
what God gives that satisfies. But before I say my final “thank you,” I would like to give 
you one more opportunity to ask questions. You have been so good to write them out 
and give them to Mr. Brewer. This has saved us a lot of time, but now I would like to 
hear from you direct. If you have some questions that you would like to ask, raise your 
hand, and I’ll be glad to hear you.                         

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Warren Rogers Articles

FATHER KNOWS BEST

By Warren Rogers • August 4, 2023
It is not the nature of the flesh to appreciate the value of Spiritual thoughts. It seems that only when flesh and blood are brought to the place of utter desolation that a divine appreciation is born within the human spirit. How we ought to praise our heavenly Father for the trials and temptations that come our way — knowing that His promise IS that it will always end in a divine conclusion. He has said that He will NEVER leave us or forsake us and that He WILL perfect that which concerns us. You see, in order for God's will to be done we must be purged from every desire that opposes Him. (That's really the only time that God's will is done.) The Father knows just how and when this is to be brought to pass. It is through these "wilderness experiences" that we learn the most significant spiritual lessons. It is often when we are in the desert of human aloneness and seemingly isolated from the rest of the world that we can hear our heavenly Father talk to us, Sometimes we are not willing to bring ourselves to this solitary place of meditation, so our Father arranges things in such fashion that we are reminded once again of our need to seek His face. We do not always like the process that brings us to this place of learning, but we may be comforted in the knowledge that ALL things do indeed work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. His purpose, of course, is that we be "conformed to the image and likeness of His dear Son" - Rom. 8:28-29. Sometimes we forget just HOW our Father brought His first Son into conformity with His will. We read in the Bible that He was A MAN of sorrows and acquainted with grief — He was tempted in His desires in all ways like we ourselves — He was lonely — despised and rejected of men -- He had emotions and even wept as we might today. Many times He found it necessary to withdraw Himself not only from the multitudes but His own disciples too, in order to pray and seek His Father’s will. You see, the Father understands the weakness of all flesh -- He made it! He also knows just what must be done in order to conform us to His likeness while all the time strengthening our faith. The Bible takes time to record that even Jesus, God's first Son, the captain of OUR salvation, the author and finisher of OUR faith, the first born among MANY brethren, LEARNED obedience through the things that He suffered - Heb. 5:8. Jesus, the human Jesus, was not always aware of His Father's leading in His sufferings, perhaps even as we many times are not aware. His flesh did not necessarily enjoy the process of change any more than ours. You see, obedience is the criteria here and disobedience is deeply rooted.in ALL flesh. That is WHY in order for man to learn the things of God, his flesh must be subjected to a certain kind of suffering. It is this suffering we are talking about that brings about the will of the Spirit in our lives. Jesus experienced this suffering, for He spoke from the same place of conflict when He said "The Spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak" - Matt. 26:41. Paul says in Romans 8:3 that Jesus came in the "likeness" of sinful flesh. So, you see, the flesh is not really the answer, it is just a part of the problem: that is as long as it is not under the control of the Spirit. In fact, that's all a problem really is, just something that is not yet under the control of the Spirit. Quite simple, isn't it? Maybe we should yield "right away".) About this suffering thing: the Bible says that IF we suffer with Christ we will also REIGN with Him, It sounds like it is saying, "no suffering, then no reigning". Some today would like us to believe that suffering, any kind of suffering, is absolutely unnecessary. I can't buy that! The Apostle Paul must have derived the same kind of SPIRITUAL BENEFIT through his sufferings. He must have seen some sort of purpose in it even to the extent that he sounded these most unusual words..."That I might KNOW Him and the power of His resurrection AND the FELLOWSHIP of His SUFFERINGS being made CONFORMABLE to His death" - Phil. 3:10. Wow! That’s a pretty difficult statement to make, let alone understand, Why in heaven’s name, if a Christian is to escape ALL manner of suffering, would Paul want to fellowship or share in the sufferings of Christ? I thought that Jesus came to deliver the human race from suffering. I thought that one did not have to suffer. I supposed that suffering, any kind of suffering, was a sign of spiritual weakness and ignorance on the part of the believer. 1 thought that if you were to read "Seven Steps to Victory" by Dr. Know It All , one didn't have to suffer. I thought that all suffering was supposed to be of the Devil and any one who suffered in any way, shape, or form was living far below their God given privileges. Surely, any one that suffers must be out of the will of God and lacking in faith! Evidently, neither Peter, Paul, James, John or Jesus, who all either wrote or spoke about suffering and trials, had not been fortunate enough to get their hands on the right cassette tape series. They must not have known better. Question: Could there be a certain kind of suffering that is JUST AS MUCH a part of the will of God as being healed? Seems to me that the Bible speaks an awful lot about trials and temptations accompanying the Life of the believer. Even Jesus mentioned a cross for EVERY ONE to bear. You don't hear much about that to¬day though. It seems that in order to be in tune one must be a heavy advocate of health, wealth and prosperity, or he is out of rhythm. Maybe there is another side to the coin that flesh and blood does not like to hear. Even Peter said some of the strangest things about suffering. Perhaps what he said, according to some of our modern day seminar teachers, was way out of context. Maybe the Holy Ghost didn't give him his material. Perhaps he wasn't fortunate enough to have attended one of our modern theological seminaries. Maybe he didn't have a Bible dictionary or an analytical concordance. Maybe he didn’t know anything about Greek or expository preaching. Perhaps he had forgotten to memorize the fundamental principles of "Victorious Living". Here are some of the things he said about this matter of suffering — listen! "For as much then AS Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin (no wonder flesh wants nothing to do with suffering) — THAT he no longer should live the rest of his time (the time he has left) in the flesh, to the will of man, but to. THE WILL OF GOD. Beloved, think it NOT strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some STRANGE (out of the ordinary) thing has happened to you. But rejoice in as much as you are partaking of CHRIST'S SUFFERINGS. After you have suffered a while, God will make you perfect and establish, strengthen and settle you. Wherefore let them that suffer ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD " According to what? I Peter 4:1-2. It sounds like suffering, a certain KIND of suffering, is just as much the will of God as having a Devil cast out. Could it be that there is a particular God ordained suffering that is used to bring ones will into subjection and conformity to the will of the Spirit of God? Aren’t flesh and Spirit contrary one to the other? If, according to the Bible, Jesus LEARNED obedience BY the things He suffered, then He must not have known what the Father required of Him until He was trained in the things of the Spirit. You do not need to learn something you already know — it is only that which one does not know that he must learn. The Apostle Paul wrote another thing about this thing called obedience. He said that we are to "cast down (dethrone) imaginations and EVERY high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge (Word) of God and bring into captivity EVERY thought to the OBEDIENCE of Christ". He said that this is HOW obedience is fulfilled ~ II Cor. 5:4-6. It was Paul who also said^ "I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you PRESENT your bodies a living SACRIFICE (how the flesh abhors sacrifice), holy, acceptable unto God, which is YOUR reasonable service: and BE NOT conformed to the worlds system, but be YE transformed by the RENEWING of your mind, that you may understand what is that good, and acceptable and perfect, WILL OF GOD - Rom. 12:1-2. Renewing of the mind IS the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. You see, until we learn to PRESENT our bodies in obedience to the Lord (actually presenting of our bodies IS obedience to the Lord) and to lead every thought captive, suffering will be the inevitable tool that God will use to help bring this about. Someone once said, "God does not use force, but He certainly knows HOW to make you willing". The Scriptures say that the way of the transgressor is hard and as the sparks fly upward man was born for trouble. Suffering in the flesh is the Father’s way of redeeming the spirit and bringing man’s will into conformity with His will. Even Paul once said that he had delivered a man’s flesh to Satan’s control that the spirit might be saved. The Bible clearly states, "The wrath of God IS revealed from heaven AGAINST TVLL ungodliness". It also says, "Tribulation and anguish upon EVERY soul of man that does evil, but glory, honor and PEACE to EVERY man that works good" - Rom. 1:17; 2:9-10. It must be clearly understood that when the Bible speaks of suffering, it does not necessarily mean to suffer from sickness or disease or some kind of physical disablement. The kind of suffering the Bible speaks of here is the kind of suffering that belongs exclusively to the believer. The world does not experience this kind of suffering. This kind of suffering comes from the conflicting and contrary desires that are at war within the believer. The reason for this conflict is because man HAS been made a new creature and that new creature is at work within him and wants to gain control of his mind. If there were only one entity, there would be no struggle. Actually, it is God and the Devil fighting it out for control of man's will through his mind. Man yields to whomever he chooses. The Bible plainly identifies this as ".the sufferings and afflictions of Christ" You may remember Paul mentioning this kind of suffering when he wrote about the struggle between the FLESH and the SPIRIT - Gal. 5:16-17. He said that they are CONTRARY (in opposition) to one another and they strive to gain control of man's mind. Actually, you might say there is a civil war going on within man. This causes the most painful of all battles until the will is conquered and brought once again into subjection to the Spirit of God. Remember when we said that a problem is just something that is not yet under the control of the Spirit? Jesus Lord .

FOR CHRISTIANS and NON-CHRISTIANS ONLY

By Warren Rogers • August 4, 2023
What do you turn to in time of need? Do you follow just any old suggestion that comes to mind? A lot of people do. I know of many precious souls who seem to lack direction to their lives be¬cause they just aren't willing to recognize that they are not capable of handling their problems. If we could only realize (real eyes) this, we would stop trying to deal with them and turn them over to our heavenly Father who both wants and is willing to carry the load. The Bible puts it this way, '*Cast thy burden on the Lord and will sustain thee" - Ps. 55:22. Jesus says, "Come unto me all of you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". Why? "Because my yoke is easy and my burden is light" - Matt. 11:28. May I put it in my own words without re¬moving any of the sanctity? Come to Him everyone of you who are floundering, failing and anxiously striving in the weakness of your human nature, you who are burdened down with earthly cares that hang about thy neck as a great and heavy yoke; take upon thee instead the divine nature (nurture) that can and will sustain you in all of your ways and the promise is thy day so shall be thy strength ’’. The Bible in so many different ways encourages us to PUT our trust in the Lord. Even King David said in Psalm 33:17, "A horse is a vain thing for safety". We are asked to acknowledge the Lord ways and then He will take it upon Himself to direct our paths, Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and the righteousness that is of Him, and then He will add all else to our lives". Matt. 6:33. It’s so simple, but how we often com¬plicate our thinking. We depend too much upon our own minds. We have, as it were, entered into a contract or an agreement with God in Christ. Sometimes we get our thoughts mixed and fail to distinguish our work from His. Sometimes we want God to do ours and then at other times we try to do His, We forget that the whole basis of Christianity is trust and that God cannot do ours and we cannot do His. It's in the agreement, and agreements are no good if the ones involved do not keep their word. Jesus says, "You seek me and continue to think on the things that are in my kingdom (that's our part) and I will provide all of your needs according to my riches in Glory, whatever they may be" (that’s His part). Of course, there are earthly responsibilities we must assume; God knows that, but they are not to be magnified above heavenly things. It is often said that we are not to be "so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good". But what about being so earthly minded that we are of no heavenly good? My ex¬perience is that more people are worried about falling into the first category than the second, I've met a lot of people who are earthly minded, but I find it a rare thing to meet anyone who is heavenly or Spiritually minded, even in church, if you please. It appears to me there is little danger about going overboard with Jesus in most people's lives. I think they are quite secure. If we are going to magnify something, I believe it would be wise if we took the Psalmist* advice who says, "Come now and let us magnify the Lord together" - Ps. 34:3. We are bound to magnify something 1 So what do you turn to in time of need? Do you turn to that which helps you and sustains you, or do you consider that which only ends up delaying your answer? Is Satan leading you on?? People are all different, not any one of them are alike. They have different tendencies or different grooves of thought. They turn to different things when they become lonely, frustrated, bored, or just plain discouraged. You see, human beings are sub¬ject to many different kinds of emotions. More often then we should, we allow our emotions to rule us and make us slaves to our feelings. Feelings are good and were created by God to be our servant, but when things are turned around, it can become quite a problem. In fact, that’s what a problem really is—just something turned around. It can become heli on earth. Have you ever noticed that "evil" is really "live" spelled backwards? It all began with Adam and Eve when they obeyed Satan. When feel¬ings and desires became their master, so did Satan. Satan took control of their emotions and they became ego motions—motions motivated by their ego. They became a curse born of selfishness rather than a blessing, but then that’s always the way it is when we yield our emotions to Satan. Ever notice the difference when God has them as compared to the other side I Fear is an emotion and so is peace. Joy is an emotion and so is sorrow. See the difference? It's just a matter of which spirit has control of you—who you yield to. They are just the opposite in nature. One is the Spirit of God, the other the spirit of Satan. That's how simple it is. Jesus said, "The THIEF comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but I have come that you may have Life abundantly" - John 10:10, The child of God can yield his emotions to the Spirit of happiness “Christ if he wants. He doesn’t have to "pursue" happiness like the world teaches. It's already within him; all he has to do is develop or cultivate an awareness of his posses¬sion. He can do this by magnifying and acknowledging the Lord, not by magnifying and talking about the problem. Try it I It works; whether you emphasize the negative or the positive, you will get immediate results—what we sow, we will reap. And we don't have long to wait for the harvest. You might say that to live dominated by your feelings is living backwards or turned around, and the scriptures say the way of the transgressor is hard. We were not created to live backwards (evil) but front¬wards (live)—our back on our problems and our face in the di¬rection of the Lord- The Psalms say, "They looked unto Him and their faces were lightened, and they were not ashamed" - Ps. 34:5. If you face the Light, the shadows will be behind you, but if you turn your back on the Light, then you must face the shadows. No wonder Jesus said, "Get thee behind me Satan". Some people say we must face our problems, but they don't tell you how to cope. You do it by facing the Lord, and then He will take care of the problem. We are to overcome evil (darkness) with good and ONLY GOD, according to Jesus, is good. People lean in different directions when they have problems. Some think of drink when things get rough? others turn to physical activity to drown out their loneliness or boredom. Sometimes they turn to other people in order to discuss their problem. They for¬get that what they really need is for God to talk to their'Spirit so they may "Live'* and learn that God cannot be found in these other things . Inevitably there will come a reckoning (Rom. 6) day when they must learn the truth that David learned when the scripture records a great milestone in his life. It simply states, "And David encouraged HIMSELF in the Lord". There just wasn't anyone else around that could do it for him. And anyway, it wouldn't last any other way. Well, I guess the question now is, "Where can a person get help that will last and is there really any such thing"?? I suppose that we have all asked these questions at one time or another when we were very preoccupied with the problem at hand, when maybe we should have been putting it under our foot. I wonder if maybe the real problem has been that we too often look for our answer in the wrong thing. The answer, if we are ever to approach things from a sober point of view, must be admittedly recognized as not to be found in drink, or doing, or people, or places, or things; but in Christ and Christ alone. I like that song that says, "There is no disappointment in Jesus, He is ALL that He promised to be".

THE WORD OF FAITH WHICH WE PREACH

By Warren Rogers • August 5, 2022
In the knowledge of God’s Spirit is conveyed His Power and Ability. God is in His knowledge; God is Spirit, Knowledge, Power, and Faith. With God’s knowledge comes wisdom, or the ability to use this knowledge as it can be productive and creative in your life and in the lives of others. When one speaks according to the knowledge that God gives, he is giving voice to the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto deliverance to anyone who believes. It will deliver anyone that receives it and believes it, for it is God’s power. This is speaking as an oracle of God. It is as thought God spoke. When God speaks, His Word is performed. The one who ministers the Gospel of Christ represents God, so therefore God must be his ability. Because the Gospel is Truth, you have the ability to back up the words that you speak. You cannot separate God’s Spirit, which fills the Gospel of Christ, from Faith, Wisdom, Knowledge, and Deliverance. He is all of these to us and for us. The Gospel of Christ is saturated with all of these things, for the Spirit says in 1 Cor 3:1 that the Gospel is the image, or expression of God. Wisdom, faith, healing, and deliverance are all given to you through the Gospel of Christ. The Gospel is God expressed to the heart of man. The world was framed by the Word of God. The same Word and ability that formed the world and brought it into existence is released from the lips of the one that proclaims the Gospel. (Notice I said Gospel, not theories, or someone’s opinions.) The Word of Faith, creating out of things that are not seen, the things that are now seen. When one speaks according to Spiritual Knowledge (God’s knowledge), the same power that was drawn upon when the world was created again goes into action. The very same Word with the same Eternal Power. The never changing Word with His unchanging power to perform. The ability of Love, fulfilling the needs of those who put a demand upon the Living Christ. 1958

UNDERSTANDING

By Warren Rogers • April 25, 2020
Don’t expect people to understand you. They didn’t understand Jesus. Don’t expect people to like you for what you say. They didn’t listen very long to Jesus. Don’t expect people to be your friend. They were not always friendly to Jesus. But don’t let this keep you from being understanding with people and don’t let this keep you from speaking God’s Word. Don’t let this keep you from being friendly because Jesus was always friendly. Always remember that the word God has given you is true and does not change because of public opinion. Remember that there is a great gulf between the understanding of man and the understanding that God gives. Remember that one’s understanding is founded in the flesh--the other in the Spirit; and man does not know, or in many instances has not yet come to the place where he can understand Spiritual things. Know that until man learns to recognize the voice of God, he will act quite human. If you therefore understand God, act like Him. Do not lose faith because others do not have it. Remember, be patient with them and know that God’s Love is for them too. Do not give into feelings of disappointment because others do not believe you. Remember they did not believe Jesus either. If they do not respond to you, remember that God does not quit loving them because of your feelings. Remember that there are times when you too have not been responsive to God’s Word and Spiritual things, but still God is very patient and kind. Remember that you are the salt of the earth; and if you really are convinced that you have God’s Word, then speak because you have faith in what you say. If you are not convinced of that, then don’t speak; but if the words you hold are truth and life to you, then these words can work in others as they have worked in you. It is God’s responsibility to take care of His Word. It is your responsibility to speak His Word and believe. Do not be brought under bondage to the carnal mind whether it is yours or someone else’s. It does not understand the things of God, so do not consult with it. Do not defend yourself for you are dead and Christ is your life and He needs no defense. Remember that Love is what has made God’s revelation real to you and it is Love that shall make it real to others. Do not argue. Love does not use force. Always be bigger than those who would oppose you and remember that God’s Word is for them as well as yourself. Remember that Jesus died for all men and His Love is never failing. Never take anything personal, but the Word of God for all else will pass away. Keep ever before you the truth of God’s Word and it will change you. Remember that Jesus understands when people do not. Jesus is your friend when people are not. Jesus cares when people will not. Jesus helps when people cannot. Remember that Jesus never fail, though people often do and that one day the flesh shall pass away and be no more, but God’s Spirit abides forever. Always remember that God’s Word is a “He,” not an “it;” and when you give voice, you are releasing God’s power that can change the lives of those who can hear it. Do not limit God’s Word to your own experience, but know beyond doubt that His Word is not bound to human limitations and will work in the heart of the hungry. Remember, too, that a hungry heart is fertile ground for the Divine seed to take root; and it can grow up as the mustard seed into a great tree having strong branches. Remember that you can fill your words with whatever you choose--hatred or love, life or death, God or Satan, good or evil. Learn only to speak God’s Word and then you will quench the carnal mind’s socalled “right” of expression. Remember that God’s Word is a living thing and is not dead like the words of man. It will work wherever faith is found and too it can generate faith where there is need. Jesus declared that the words that He spoke were “Spirit and Life” and unbelief could not cancel it. Abide in Him and let His Word Live in you and then ask what you will.
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Roy Stahl Articles

God + Jesus + You = One

By Roy Stahl • July 18, 2020
There is not such a great gulf between those who believe the doctrine of the Trinity and those who believe that God is one. The doctrine of the Trinity opens the door to harmony by saying, “These three are one.” The Trinity tries hard to explain God but it runs into the same difficulty that has always been encountered when explaining the things of God--carnal understanding. Flesh just can’t know the things of God (1Cor. 2: 11). Trinity is inadequate and admits it! After fashioning minds to accept the “Personages” of God they turn around and in effect say, it wasn’t so because these three are one. The doctrine of “oneness” stops short of things too. They feel that the one and only God is Jesus Christ and that is His name! It is true this is the only name by which we know God. You see, God never had a name, but God is not contained in a name either. I would like to suggest that we look further into what the Bible says in regard to “Oneness.” I know of no other word to use; but by using the term “Oneness,” I do not refer to the doctrine of Oneness. I might as well define what I do mean. Oneness is not only Jesus being made one with God, but it is the believer being made one with God as well. The understanding of this is where the flesh falls short every time. I feel the truth of this Oneness is quite evident throughout the Bible. Jesus prayed to the Father and said, “That they all may be one, as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they also maybe one in us.”--John 17:21. There is no thought of merely being “in accord with” or of having a “singleness of purpose” as some would have us believe. One is just a number, not many, just one. So when I use the term “Oneness,” that is what I mean. It is my desire that these words will help to establish harmony between those two groups of people who believe the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of Oneness. These words are meant to “put together” not “take apart.” I can put together only by talking about the Spirit of God, because it is only in the Spirit that we are made one. Here, again, I must define my words: Spirit is God--not part of God, but all of God. The Spirit is the Father God that Jesus represented. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”-- John 1:1. There is no disputing the fact that Jesus was the Word because the Bible plainly states, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”--John 1: 14. In Jesus dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form (Col. 2:9). It is extremely difficult for me to consider how God, the Father (as a person) could dwell within God, the Son, another person, but I can understand a Spirit dwelling in a person. “And the Word was God.” The Word,” (Logos in the Greek) does not suggest a person. God is not so easily defined. Logos is a dynamic thought, not man’s thought. It is the dynamic, or expression of Divine thought, that existed in the beginning that was made manifest to us in the form of the flesh so we could see it. “We beheld His Glory…”--John 1: 14. When I look to the flesh, the only thing I can see is Jesus. It is not the flesh that is God; it is that which is in the flesh--the motivating force (Spirit) that is God. God entered the flesh because through Jesus He could express Himself in such a manner that man could understand. God dwelt in Jesus. Jesus’ flesh was made alive by God. Herein He was the Son of God. The believer’s flesh is also made alive because God dwells in the believer (Rom 8: 11). The same thing that made Jesus the Son of God makes us the Son of God. There came a time when Jesus gave Himself up to the Father. He is no longer in the flesh; he gave that up so we might also become Sons. While He was in the flesh, God was in Him reconciling the world to Himself. Now He has committed unto us the words of reconciliation (2 Cor.5 19). As God worked in Christ, He now works in us, both planning and doing what He desires (Phil. 2:13. We can look to Jesus in the flesh and see Him as the Son; and because we are flesh we can see, and in a measure, comprehend the great compassion and love that He showed forth to those about Him. But because we believe Him, we have received a new dimension of Life by God’s Spirit dwelling within us. We have the privilege and favor of being with Him in the place of glory that was His when only God was, or as the Bible says, “Before the world was.”-- John 17:5. This is the place of our Spiritual abiding; it is the place in the Father’s house that Jesus prepared for us. It is the place in which He received us to Himself so we could be where He is. It is the fulfillment of this prayer that He expressed to the Father, “Father, I WILL that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me.--John 17:24 All of this transpires in God. This Oneness is in the Spirit--it is not in the flesh. In the flesh I am a Son of God, with God’s Life in me. But when one sees his position in God, he will inevitability come to the conclusion that God is all in all and that in Him we have all been made one (Eph 1: 10). Jesus spoke in recognition of two things. He spoke, recognizing His position as a Son in the flesh, and He spoke recognizing His Oneness with God in the Spirit. Consider these remarks: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30, or “Before Abraham was, I AM.”--John 8:58, or “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”--John 14:9. These are Spiritual facts because they recognize a position found only in God. Then speaking from His position in the flesh, as a Son of God, He said, “All that the Father hath told me, I have told you.”--John 15:15; and again, “The words I speak are not my own, but the Father who dwells in me.”--John 14: 10. There are many words which Jesus uttered that become understandable only when we consider this duality within Jesus, but to suggest the thought is, for the moment, enough. Jesus reigned as the Son, until He put all enemies under His feet--even death (1 Cor.15:26). When God raised Jesus from the dead, He gave Him an incorruptible body so at this time there did exist two Gods—God, the Father, and God, the Son. Let’s consider these things for a moment: Jesus was resurrected from the dead. He had a material body. It was one having form and substance--it was not Spirit. He was emphatic about that. He said, “A Spirit does not have flesh and bone as ye see me have.”--Luke 24:39. Death no longer had any power over Him, He now could live forever. Jesus could have restored the Kingdom to Israel or do anything He wanted to because He had triumphed over all things. He was Lord of all (Acts2:36). Jesus had received the nature of God, the Life of God, the power of God. He literally was all of God in the flesh (Co1.2:9). But there was a God who was Spirit too! What would have happened if this condition continued? To understand this you must understand somewhat of the nature of man. The Bible is quite plain when it comes to exposing at least one of the weaknesses of the flesh. Flesh CAN NOT SEE, nor will it BELIEVE, anything outside its own realm (Rom 8: 7). Therefore flesh can’t understand or believe God, who is Spirit. Jesus could have remained in the flesh and all men would have flocked to Him. They would have beheld His miracles, and argued His wisdom, but THEY WOULD NOT HAVE KNOWN THE FATHER GOD, who is Spirit. No man can truly know Jesus without knowing God! Yet there were those who claimed to know Him. “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” By their very words they showed forth their ignorance of who Jesus really was. Jesus said if they had known the Father they would have known Him; but because they knew Jesus only AFTER THE FLESH, they did not know the Father. Had Jesus continued to exist in the flesh, no man would have known God. Although the fullness of God dwelled within the body of Jesus, man did not see God; they only saw another man, one possessed of powers beyond their comprehension, but a man nevertheless. They did not perceive the Spirit. The whole plan of God would have crumbled at this point if Jesus had not given Himself to the Father. Jesus was to reconcile man unto God and man was not reconciled. His place of abiding was not yet prepared. The Holy Spirit (God) did not dwell within man. Here is the paradox that would have happened if Jesus had stayed “in the flesh.” Men would have believed Him because of His works--things they could see. This is the thing that Nicodemus based his belief on (John 3:2). But because Jesus spoke not of Himself, but of God, men could not believe because God is Spirit and no man can understand the things of God--only the Spirit knows the things of God (1 Cor.2: 11). So Jesus had to go away if man was ever to know and abide in God. The fullness of God dwelled within Jesus, and only Jesus. Had Jesus remained in the flesh, no man could ever have had the Life of God within Him because God had already committed Himself. He had given Himself to this man Jesus in whom He was well pleased. He was satisfied. He had found the man worthy of His love. God loved the world to such an extent that He gave Jesus over to Satan (death) and let Him go through the torments of hell, just so we would not have to taste the penalty of sin. What a tremendous thing this is! He was forsaken by God, which IS the penalty of sin, then God raised Him from the dead and rescued Him from hell. He gave Him authority over all things and in effect said, “It’s up to you.” Now the final test of love was up to Jesus. God had lifted Him up above all principalities and all power and made Him Lord of all. He could have established Himself in this world or He could have established us in God. He desired that we know God as He knew Him, so His prayer was, “Make them one, Father, EVEN AS we are one.”--John 17:21 He tried to explain this to the disciples. He said that He was in the father and the father was in Him (John 14:10). Jesus knew the futility of trying to make the disciples understand this amazing thing, but He told them about it anyway. “I have told you about these things before they come to pass so that when they come to pass, you might believe.”--John 14:29. He said that the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things (John 14:26). He would bring to mind the words that they were hearing now and they would understand. “At that day,” Jesus said, “Ye shall know that I am in the Father, and He is in me, and I am in you.”-- John 14:20. In order for this to happen He had to go to the father. This is what He had started to tell His Disciples. It was disturbing news to them. They sensed a termination of their relationship with Jesus in the flesh; but they had no inkling of the NEW, and more COMPLETE LIFE, that was in store for them in the Spirit, and they were troubled. “Let not you heart be troubled,” Jesus said, “You believe in God, believe also in me. I go to prepare a place for you and when it is prepared I will come again and receive you unto myself so that where I am there you may be also.”--John 14:3. But Jesus knew that when He left, the world would see Him no more. He also knew why He was going to give Himself over to the Father, (no man can see God). But He also knew (as no one else had ever known, because He experienced it) that when God had given a man Spiritual Life He also gave him Spiritual eyes. So He told His disciples, “In a little while ye shall see me no more, and yet, in a little while ye shall see me because I go to My Father. Because I live you shall live also.”--John 16:16. He promised them, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.” Then He told them plainly, “It is necessary for your sake that I go away because if I don’t go away the comforter will not come”--John 16:7 If the Comforter did not come, we could never have the Life of God. There would be no such thing as a New Birth because that comes only because Jesus prepared our dwelling place in God. Had the Holy Spirit not come, we could never have known the things of God (1 Cor.2:12), but Jesus did go away! The world will see Him NO MORE, but we see Him because where He is, there we are also. We can behold His Glory because we are hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). Listen to the words of the Bible: “And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him that God may be All in All.”--1 Cor.15:28) This has already been done! All things were put under Jesus feet! This is the ultimate--One God! Man has come into the knowledge of the One God by Jesus Christ. God extended Himself into the realm of flesh by Jesus Christ and man’s ears heard God’s Word from His lips. He came from God and we called Him the Son of God. Remember Jesus had said that the Father is greater than I. He returned to God so that we might know beyond all doubt that there is but One God. He came from God and He returned to God (Spirit) so that we might be one with God. He returned to God so that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit (God Himself), could dwell within us and we would know no division! Had Jesus not given Himself to the Father, there would have been two Gods--one Spirit and one flesh. Man cannot worship two Gods! One cannot worship the man Jesus and worship God at the same time. “God is Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.”-- John 4:23. Jesus was the first born among many brethren; and because of His love for us, we are made accepted in the beloved. We live in the Father because Jesus lives in the Father. He has given us the Holy Spirit so we may know that all He has said is true. This is our guarantee! I hope now that you have begun to see how Jesus has taken us beyond the limits of persons and places and things and placed us in Himself. The Bible says that we are not of this world even as Jesus was not of this world (John 17: 14). Our Life is no longer of the flesh--flesh divides, and we are not divided. Flesh cannot please God--that’s why we are new creatures (literally a new creation). We are made this way because God dwells in us. “Ye are not in the flesh if so be the Spirit of God dwells in you.”--Rom 8:9. It is through Jesus that we entered into oneness in God. Jesus said, “No man cometh to the Father but by me.”-- John 14:6. He gave Himself to the Father that God maybe the only God. Then because Jesus asked Him, God gave Himself to everyone who believes Jesus. Because we believe, we have entered into God! There should be no contention between those who believe the doctrine of the Trinity and those who believe that God is One. Our understanding of God should go beyond the limits of the flesh and be enlightened by the only God, who is Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is a good place to start; but not to stop. We must go further! If Jesus had stopped and not given Himself to God, no man could have eternal life. On the other hand, had He not been a faithful Son, we would not have an abiding place in God. My desire is that we know the Son and His relation to the Father, that we will understand the love that caused the Son to give Himself to the Father; and above all, that we today, right now, KNOW AND ACCEPT OUR POSITION IN GOD! There should be harmony with our brethren who believe that God is One. They too must go on to understand that as God is One so are they, in Christ. To be one with God is the miracle of Salvation. We are made to be a NEW CREATION while we are yet in this mortal body. We must reckon ourselves to be dead to sin. We must consider our lives (our desires in this world) to be no more, because it is God who is now working in us. He plans what is to be done, and He is the only one who can do it. He is our place of rest. When we are willing to listen to God and let Him work, when we are willing to say, “Not my will, but thine be done,” we are in a position to learn more of God than we can ever imagine.

Talking Faith

By Ron Stahl • July 18, 2020
There is a scripture in the New Testament that on the surface of things looks most peculiar. It’s Romans 10:9. Actually there is a wee bit in the eighth verse that tells you what the whole thing is about. It goes this way: “This is the Word of Faith that we preach that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” That’s just plain talk! It’s somewhat reverse order from the way most people do things today. Today we figure that we better have something in our hand before we start talking about it. That’s true too. But this other is “talking faith.” The person who is not born again doesn’t do much faith talking. That’s one of the big differences between people today. Some talk faith, and some don’t, even among those who are born again. The person who believes God tries to do what God tells him to do. One of these things is to talk and act faith. The Bible says that FAITH is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”--Heb.11:1 Putting this together with Romans 10:9, I come up with this way of receiving from the Lord. If the Lord has provided something for me that I want and need, I confess that I have it, believe in my heart that this is so, and it becomes mine. This is like the Lord told us about prayer. He said, “Whatsoever things ye ask when you pray, believe that you have received them, and ye shall have them..”--Mark 11:24 Super psychology, you say. Well, maybe, but it’s God that’s backing it up. When you believe God, and put this thing to work because you believe God, you’ll see things happen! When the children of Israel finally came to the point of believing God, they began to act. They acted strangely perhaps, but they acted. God said, “There’s Jericho, it’s yours. Here’s what you do...” Then He laid out one of the strangest battle plans I’ve ever seen. Just go out and march around the wall of the city. Do it once everyday for six days, then on the seventh day march around seven times, but don’t say a word, just be quiet. Then on the seventh day when you finish your marching, just give a big shout. It looked somewhat strange to do all this marching and shouting before the victory, but Jericho wasn’t delivered into their hands until they did open their mouths and shout. O.K., look at Romans 10:9 again. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart…” then you’ll possess. That’s God’s way of doing things. Why don’t you do it?
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