Christ is the Mystery no 129
Christian Life no 10
A Prisoner of Christ
Philemon 1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our
dearly beloved, and fellow-laborer, And
then in verse 9 Paul again says, Yet for love's sake I rather beseech thee, being such
an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
Notice
Paul calls himself a prisoner of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, the word
prisoner used here in the Greek is the Greek word desmios, which means to be bound to, or captive
to.
Paul
was not saying he is a prisoner as though he has done wrong and is in prison
for it. And he is not saying his captivity is against his will. But what he is
alluding to here is that he has bound Himself to
the Lord.
Just
as we would say in speaking of a person who held to their convictions strongly,
They are captive to their conscience.
The
same with Paul, he made Himself a captive
audience to what God was doing. In other words, his entire focus was not on
the world nor the things of the world but on
what God is doing in his hour. Therefore Paul could earnestly
proclaim that he was a captive of the Lord,
and bound to what God was doing.
And
even to the Ephesian church which Paul pastored for some time he said, Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I
Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, Notice,
not for himself, but for you gentiles.
And
again in Ephesians 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
So
we hear Paul declare in Ephesians 4, I beseech
you, which means I exhort you and
I encourage you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called.
In
his 2nd letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul said, 2
Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
Then
in the book of Acts we see that Paul was actually made not just a prisoner of Christ but as he
acted out His role openly, He was also fulfilling that role in the flesh. Acts 23:18 So he took
him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner
called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath
something to say unto thee.
And
again in Acts 28:17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the
chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto
them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or
customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into
the hands of the Romans.
Now, this morning I would like
to go back over paragraph 204 which we
read last Wednesday up through 208. But
this morning, I would like to focus on the thoughts of Brother Branham from paragraph
204 because brother Branham speaks here concerning our becoming a prisoner to
Christ Jesus as Paul had been a prisoner himself. And the form of prisoner he
speaks of he calls a love prisoner to
our Lord Jesus Christ.
204 (441-book) And see, God
Himself making Himself known and pulsating Himself through the Life
that you're a prisoner to Him now.
Notice what a beautiful
description brother Branham uses here, God Himself in making Himself
known pulsates His own Life through you making you a prisoner, a love prisoner
to Him. You women know what I'm talking about, when you first hear that little
pulse or that heart beat from that little life whose heart is beating in unison
with your heart. When I first heard the little heart beat of my children and
then my grandchild Ella, and not only hearing her little heart beat but her
mother, my daughter's heart beating in unison with her own daughter.
Oh, how it makes me realize
when Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ," he was saying, I
have willingly died to myself, and the Life I am now living in this flesh, can not be my own,
because I am dead to myself, but there is another Life pulsating through my
veins, and
it pulsates within me, giving me life. And the Life I now live
in this flesh, I am living by the Life of Christ. So my
heart in beating in unison with His heart, and when His heart beats, my beats
in response to his, and the life that is pulsating through me is the one that is conforming
to the Image of the first born son, and that same image is coming forth in
me.
Let's read it again and
continue...And see, God Himself making
Himself known and pulsating Himself through the
Life that you're a prisoner to Him now. You are His love prisoner.
The world can laugh, make fun them, say, "Come on out."
You could go, but you're a prisoner. The other women can act
In
his sermon, Paul A Prisoner Of
Christ 63-0717 26-4 brother Branham tells us how that Paul was able
to become willingly a prisoner of Christ. He said, "Forsake his own, he had to forsake everything that he
knowed, forget all of his training and everything in order to know
the will of God and to follow God. He can't follow anything that man's got to
do and God, the same time. It's too contrary, one to another. You can't be
going east and west at the same time; you can't be going right and left at the
same time; you can't be doing right and wrong at the same time; you can't be
following man and God at the same time. No, sir, you're either following God or
following man. Now, then if you're following God and have submitted yourself to
God, then you become a prisoner to that God, to that Word, to that will. No
matter what anything else is, you become a prisoner to it. You've got to check
your will with God's will, then you will do the right
thing.
In
other words, the purpose of God's breathing forth His Word into your Soul, is to transfix your Soul with a pre-occupation of His
Word, and purpose. God fills you with His own Breathe and Life and thus takes
over your soul which then takes over your entire being. You become possessed
with God Life, and thus you no longer are capable of living for yourself, but you
are a prisoner, yielded only to the Life and power which has taken over
your being.
Philippians 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any
bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil
ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being
of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let
nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but
in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not
every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
He said, let this mind be in you that
was in Christ. And we know through our studies that this word mind
here is a word that is also translated attitude. Let this attitude that was in
Christ be in you. And what is this attitude? It is an
unselfish love which prefers your brother before your own self.
Look at the beautiful wording of the new version called The Message uses here for Philippians 2 1-4 If
you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any
difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything
to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each
other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the
front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help
others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget
yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought
of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself
that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges
of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human,
he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special
privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a
selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Now
let's skip ahead to Philippians
And
then Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look
for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Therefore,
remember, it's an attitude, His attitude becoming our attitude. Let this attitude be in you that was in Christ Jesus.
And what attitude was that? It was a totally surrendered attitude to His
father, because His Words were not his own, but His Fathers. His Doctrine was not His Own, but His Fathers that sent Him.
His works were not his own original idea, but He simply did what he saw
the Father do. And let's face it, his own life was
not his Own. For the Father not only dwelt in Him, but did so
pre-eminently. As Paul said, "I am a prisoner
of the Lord." He did not even bring forth His Own Will, for He
said, "I came not to do my own will but the
Fathers Who sent me." And Paul quoting
the Old Testament prophecy of Christ, said, "for it is
written in the Book, I have come to do Thy Will O God."
Therefore
when we read In Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also
appear with him in glory. We know that this speaks of the end time
appearing or manifesting of Christ in this hour, and at that time when He manifests
in His true character we are also to manifest in our true character with Him in
the same Glory, the same opinions, the same values. Because
it is Life that is appearing in a form. Life that is
manifesting itself in our form.
When Christ who is our Life shall appear, we shall also appear, because it is the same life doing the appearing or
manifesting in both forms. That is why Paul himself was a prisoner of Jesus
Christ because He had emptied himself of everything contrary to Christ, and
allowed God in the form of the Holy Ghost working through the Pillar of Fire to
refocus His entire life around the Good news, and thus he could say in Galatians 2:20 I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Not
the life I am aspiring to live, not the life I am hoping to live, or the life I
would like to live, but the Life I am now living
in this flesh I am living by His Life
actually living itself out through me. Therefore it is the same very life that
was in Christ Himself, that is the Life that I am
living by in this flesh. Therefore, when His heart pulsates my heart pulsates the same.
Now, this speaking of our
being a prisoner is not just spoken of by Brother Branham in this paragraph 204, but seems to be a central theme throughout
this sermon, of Christ is the Mystery of God Revealed, for we first come across
it in paragraph 82 (147-Book) where brother Branham says, "And
the other night... If you didn't get the tape that I preached here one night on
"A Prisoner of Jesus Christ, Paul, a Prisoner..." See? When God gets you to be His prisoner,
then you can't do nothing but what the Spirit says do. Paul, with all
of his great intellects... He was taught by Gamaliel
to be a great priest or rabbi someday. And he had high ambitions. He was
intellectually a great man: great authority, great man in the nation. But he had to sacrifice every bit of it
(See?) to become part of the Word, to express Jesus Christ. He
knew what it was to say... He had a notion to go to some place (some brethren
had called him), but he was forbidden
by the Spirit to do his own will. Oh, if people half spiritual can pick
that up... See? He was forbidden to do
his own will. He only could do... "The Spirit forbid
me." See? He was a prisoner to Christ.
83 (149)Then,
this little fortuneteller one day, who he knowed... Paul knowed he had power to
cast that devil out, but he could only
do it as God willed it. Day after day she followed him, crying out after
him, but one day the Spirit give him permission. Then he rebuked her, the spirit
that was in her. See? He knowed what it
was to be a prisoner.
And look people, being a
prisoner of the lord Jesus Christ is not just a new testament
principle but there are brethren all through the Bible who actually were thrown
in prison and became prisoners because of their testimony.
There
was Joseph and Moses and Daniel, and Shadrack, Meshak and Abednigo, and Samson,
and Micaiah the prophet, and even David was a
prisoner and had to flee for his life. And that is to just name a few of the
Old Testament Believers. Then in the New testament there was John the Baptist,
and Jesus, and Stephen, and James, and John and Peter and Paul to name but a
few.
In fact in the next few
paragraphs brother Branham begins to name some of them, as we see in paragraph 84 (150)
Moses: his intellectuals, he had to lose
them in order to find Christ, to be a prisoner. Then when God got all the world beat out of him and all the mighty man that he
was, and stand in the Presence of that Pillar of Fire that day, he was found just
speechless. He couldn't even talk, he said. God had a prisoner then. See? You won't try after your own searching.
Then God had to endue this man, endow him with power enough that he could go
down there. And he said, "Lord, I told Pharaoh what You
said, and he wouldn't do it." He said, "Then take this, thy rod (God
speaking; that's God's Word); go out there and point it toward the east and
call for flies." And flies come into creation, because He had a prisoner that Pharaoh couldn't pay
off with nothing. Nobody else could turn him no way. He was a complete prisoner in the chains of God's Word, bound up wholly
to THUS SAITH THE LORD. Oh, if
God can get His prisoners like that.
85 (153) Now, that's when He can express the preeminences. You see? He's
got the man or the person so that he knows nothing but Christ. You get what
I mean? All right. That's secondly. First, to express Hisself completely: God in Christ. Second, to have the preeminences by this in His Church (which is His Body,
Bride) to... He could have the
preeminence to express Himself through them. All right.
And thirdly, to restore the Kingdom to its rightly position that fell by sin by
the first Adam, back to where He walked in the cool of the evening with His
people, talked with them, fellowshipped with them. And now sin and death had
separated them from His Presence and His entire expression. Do you read it?
Before the foundation of the world to express all of His attributes, what He
was...
102 (190) "If ye abide in Me
(the Word), My Word abide in you, then you ask what you
will." because you and the Word are the same. He has
the preeminence. He's got the rulership. You're
a prisoner to Him. The world is dead. You have nothing more... You see
the rest of the people living the way they do, but yet you do not do it. You're
a prisoner; you're yoked with Him. "My yoke is easy." (Yoked with Christ, with His Word.) "I do that only
which pleases the Father. And if you can't believe that I am He, then believe
the Word." So perfect...
And then we see him name
Joseph in paragraph 104 (194) where he says, "He
expressed Himself in Joseph: born amongst denomination, his brethren. They
hated him without a cause because he was spiritual. He saw visions; God was
with him; he could interpret dreams, and his brothers hated him. He was sold for
all--by his brethren by almost thirty pieces of silver just exactly like He was
sold by Judas Iscariot, one of His brethren, by thirty pieces of silver. He was
throwed into a ditch and supposed to been dead.
That's right. The father and them was told that be was
dead. And throwed into this ditch, taken up and went
to the right hand of Pharaoh. In the dungeon how he suffered there, and--and
there was two saved, the butler and the baker: one of them lost and one of them
saved, rather. And the butler... One of them was lost
and the other one was saved. Just as on the cross, when He was in His prison
house, a tacked to the cross for our sins (we become a prisoner), one thief was
lost and one was saved (See?), just exactly.
Next we jump a little bit
ahead to paragraph 115 (217) where he says, "But
that wasn't what He asked. He said, "Who do you think that I am,
now?" Now, there's the church He's talking to. See? "What
does man think that I am?" Today: "He's a
philosopher" this social religion. "He's a good man. We believe His
teaching's right. It's a subject to be lived by. I think it'd make us all
better if we did. We ought to have our churches, our so forth." That's
a Santa Claus, like a Santa Claus story. It's not an expression of some
church that we should express something. It's a life that you don't
live yourself, but He comes in you and lives by Himself, and
you become a prisoner to any human intellectual being at all. You're
led by the Spirit. And how do you know?
And then in paragraph 116 (219) brother Branham says, "Now,
you say, "I might know I was losing my mind. Maybe a man that loses his mind
does that." But if you have the
mind of Christ, Christ expresses Himself through
you. Shows that it's Him and not you, you've not lost your mind. Some
people under illusions of things goes out and becomes
insane. Well, that... We know that's wrong. That's the devil trying to
impersonate the real thing before it gets here. See? There's always a bogus.
See? But a real man is a lose his own thoughts and his
own thinking, not come up blindly like that. No, sir.
You come up with your right senses and Christ takes you over and expresses
Himself. And now, to the world you're an insane person. Now, if you're
insane, you're actually insane, then there's nothing... The devil can't take
you in complete control. He will make you do everything contrary to this Word,
but when Christ takes you over, He will express that Word right through,
because it's Him. He is the Word. See? And then you can see the expression
of Christ, not some illusion of some sort, but a real genuine Christ,
expressing Himself right through you. How beautiful.
Now, turn
with me all the way to paragraph 169 (359) where he says, "Why? He
was a predestinated Seed. God said, "I have chose
him. And I'm going to show him what great things he'll suffer for My Name's
sake. I'll send him to the Gentiles and disgrace
him in every way that they can be disgraced, but yet he'll bare My Name."
Paul went down there till he got all of his ecclesiastical stuff cut off of
him, down at the backside of the desert for three years and a half, down there
in Arabia, until he learned the Word and the Word become he, and he become a prisoner. Here he come
back in chains of love, "All my seminary experience is gone. I'm
a prisoner to Jesus Christ. (Amen!) Philemon, my brother, I'm a
prisoner of Jesus Christ. I only can speak and say what He tells
Then he adds in paragraph 170 (361) God
needs prisoners today that'll prison yourself to His will, to His Word.
That's what Paul was. No matter how much intellectual he'd learned, he'd known
God by revelation. Yes, sir. The intellectual went all the way out of
the business then when the revelation come, which upon the rock the Church
is built. Yes, sir. Notice, he was a predestinated Seed. The Holy Ghost
alone shows you Who He is. There's no man...
They'll make you Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and everything else out of it.
See? But the Holy Ghost will reveal Him as the Lord God of heaven made
manifest, that that is (oh,) Him.
And then let's turn way
over to paragraph 218 (466)
How do you know? 'Cause
you're a church member? Because Christ is living through you, So pregnated with His
Spirit that you're a prisoner to anything else. You're confined (oh, my.)
to the Gospel, confined to the Word. And all the children
that you can bring forth is that, 'cause you're a prisoner.You
can't commit adultery; you're already pregnated. Glory. He can't take a hold. The womb of life is closed to
anything else. You're already His by predestination. That Seed has come to
Life. No world can get in. Oh. Oh, how we'd like to stay on this for about a hour. I'm sure you understand. See? Christ and His
alone... already finished; the Seed was there. The Seed was already... When was
it put there? Before the foundation of the world, has predestinated us unto
Eternal Life. And as soon as the Life-giving flow, that Seed laying
there... Other seed's that just would come in wouldn't take hold, just couldn't
do it (like). But when that Seed come in, quickly it stopped up the womb; all
the rest of the seed was drove out (see, like that), and you become a prisoner
surrounded in Christ, Christ in you, His Life bringing forth His evidence, His
signs. Oh, my, my, my. Look, bringing His signs of Life as an evident of His
resurrection, proving to the world that Eternal Life, vindicates
to the world that we're alive in Him. And think of it. Alive
with God our Redeemer, Who created us for the very same purpose (the Church)
and His creative Life in us. That is... Moses could said
by the Word of God, "Let there come..." and there come flies. A God
can make flies can make squirrels. See? He can do whatever He wants to...?... God.
And in
the next paragraph 219 (470) he continues, "The
very same God (that creative Life--you see?)
that's in you can... You're a prisoner; you can't speak it till He says,
"Speak it;" but when it gets spoke, it's God's Word. He's
a-vindicated to be so; everything else is right, and he knows when that's spoke
it's got to be so. See? Moses took his rod and said, "Let there come
frogs" 'cause God said, "Let there come frogs." He just transmit
it on out. That's right. And frogs was in everything;
everywhere was frogs. Where'd they come from? Nobody knows; they wasn't there before. But the Creator, God working through a
man created things--a living species. The very God that made the first frog can
make the second frog. He makes all frogs. Oh, my. You see what I mean? Made the
first squirrel, makes the second squirrel, make any squirrel,
can make squirrels where there is no squirrel. He can do anything He wants to.
He's God. He's God. His Life... Oh, my.
And then we jump ahead
again to paragraph 228 (489) where he says,
"It goes right by them, and they don't recognize it till it's gone.
It only picks up the predestinated seed that God predestinated
before the foundation of the earth. The same thing come
through in the days of Noah. Same thing come through in the days of Moses, days
of Elijah, days of the prophets, days of Jesus, on down through and to this
very hour. The pregnated person with the seed of
God, the Word in there manifesting Itself, so surrendered to the
will of God that the Word and the Word alone manifests Itself and this person's
a prisoner, to an individual.
Why do you think everyone
has fought us so hard on John 14:12. Why do you think
God has made me stick to it, and dig deeper and deeper into the promise of John
14:12-13. We've seen one individual for certain in these days, but I believe
there are more than just that one who will reflect the very life of Christ
before we are out of here, because brother Branham is speaking of the Bride who
is the very body of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's bride will all have to come
the very same way that Jesus came, and Paul came, and William Branham himself
had to come, because that is the pattern in every age as we have seen here all
throughout this sermon, and all throughout the Bible.
Look I am so thankful that
the brothers put up all that fuss over John 14:12 because had they not, we
would not have entered into this wonderful understanding of how the God-Life
that expressed itself in Jesus is the same God-Life that expressed itself in
William Branham is the same God-Life that is expressing itself in us, the body
of Christ.
Therefore, I am just as
thankful as Joseph was that His brothers sold him into
Just look at the story of
Joseph, and you will see that trail of adoption, and the attitude of Christ,
the very mind of Christ that developed in Joseph through the trials he
suffered.
Genesis 42:5 And the sons of
19 "If ye be true men, let one of
your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the
famine of your houses: 20 But bring your youngest
brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And
they did so". 21 And they said one to
another, We are verily guilty concerning our
brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we
would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake
I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
23 And
they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he
spake unto them by an interpreter. 24 And he
turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them
again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before
their eyes.
Now, let's skip ahead to verse 36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have
ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is
not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. 37 And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring
him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. 38 And he said, My son shall not go down with
you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by
the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow
to the grave.
And now
let's skip forward to Genesis 43:3 And
Now, let's skip forward to verse 29 where we see
Joseph meet his brothers again. 29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother
Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this
your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And
he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son. 30 And Joseph made haste; for
his bowels did yearn (sadly, tenderly, compassionately) upon his brother:
and he sought where to weep; and he
entered into his chamber, and wept
there. 31 And
he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on
bread.
Look at the emotion he
was feeling for his brothers. Look at all the years of pain that he endured
knowing his brothers cared not for him, then to see them, and to know that God
had set the whole thing up, and he saw it all before any of it ever happened.
And finally let's skip
up to Genesis 45:1 Then Joseph could not refrain himself
before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out
from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known
unto his brethren. 2 And he wept so loud: that the
Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
The Message translation says, "But
his sobbing was so violent that the Egyptians couldn’t help but hear
him."
3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren
could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence. (they actually trembled) 4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near
to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I
am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into
he didn't hold a grudge with
his brothers. That was Christ in Joseph. That is why brother Branham said
perfection in Joseph. Perfection, full maturity to look to the promise instead
of the circumstances, and not hold grudges when someone caused him to suffer.
Look at
Notice how that Reuben and
Judah have come such a long way in their sonship. They no longer were the
selfish young men who conspired with their brothers to sell Joseph into slavery
(37:26–27). Though they knew their
decision would have a devastating effect on their father,
So you can see that
whatever suffering our brethren have caused us because of what God has shown
us, just as he had shown Joseph, we need not look at the suffering, but at the
greater picture and we need to stay focused on God's purpose and plan in all of
this, and we must recognize that one of these days, we will have the same
opportunity as Joseph did to forgive our brethren as Joseph did, and as Jesus
did on the cross when he cried out, "father forgive them, for they know
not what they have done." And one day we will truly understand what the
promise is that tells us that "all things do work together for the Good of
them that Love God and are the called according to His purpose."
In closing let us jump all the
way down to paragraph 252 (537) which is the last paragraph in this sermon,
where brother Branham speaks of our being a prisoner of Jesus Christ. And in
this paragraph he is letting us know that we are
the body of Christ, no different than his own physical body, for
we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And He
is the head of the body. And we are the physical body of Christ.
Notice he says, "His
body was not held in the grave, but was recognized with Him in the
resurrection. Do you get it? Then (if that was so) the
Body of His believing children will not be held in the grave when He comes, but
will be recognized with Him, because He died for the purpose to resurrect
His Bride, the Body. Recognize, because it is His Body,
because it's the Word. It's so completely yielded from denominations and things
to Him, and He is the Word. See? And it's recognized with Him because now we
have the first-fruit of our resurrection by know that we've
passed from death unto Life, become prisoners of His, and God
proving to us by His personal Headship that He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever, by doing the same things through the Church that He did then.
He in me, and I in Him, and you know, and so forth. That's right. His body was
not held in the grave, recognized with Him in the resurrection, same as He is
now.
Let us
pray...