THE ARCH AND KEYSTONE

                                       OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH                                      

4-10-64

By: Dr. Wesley A. Swift   

 

We realize that the church celebrates a day that is most important to  each of the children of the Kingdom, and we speak of RESURRECTION DAY. Let  us then go back for a moment over some of the pageantry that our minds have  been thinking upon in these events in the life of THE CHRIST, to the beginning of this period and to His ministry. To the powers that opposed HIM,  these events that had been prophesied were a warning and a disturbance to  their minds.

We talked a week ago on Palm Sunday how the people desired to  crown HIM King there in Ancient Jerusalem, and how the secret army under  Barabbas would have defended Him if He would have given the word. We spoke  of the preparation of both the Chalice as well as the Crown because of the  words of the boy John the Baptist as he imparted much knowledge to the  Essenes of these events. Then the eventful moment came when The Christ entered into old Jerusalem, and this army of Barabbas raised their short  swords, and exposed those blue tunics and all the people cried:..'Crown HIM  KING'. The people had cried as He came into Jerusalem:..'Hosannah in the  Highest tot this one the son of David', and as He approached the steps of  the Temple the hush of the crowd was breathless. And then HE accepted the  Chalice saying:..'Yes I am your King, and you are my people, but I cannot  take this Crown for I would then rule you in bondage. Instead I shall take  this Chalice at this time, but later I shall take the Crown and rule you  ...free. Then He cleansed the steps of the Temple, and the 'cup' provided  by Joseph of Arimathea was taken for its greater work.  

Judas of Iscariot remember had gone to the Temple, and there he had betrayed as to where Barabbas could be found, and Barabbas was taken prisoner. He had been quickly tried before the Roman court for his nationalist  army had warred on Roman as well as Jewish Caravans in setting up this  power. Jesus had met with His disciples in the Upper Room, and our minds go  back over the experiences of the disciples as Jesus identified Judas, and  told him to go do that which he must do. Then as Jesus broke bread with His  disciples He said:...'This my body, this is my Blood. This is the New Covenant, the New Testament' and remember that they had just partaken of the  Passover Lamb, and after this they left with HIM to go to the Garden. These  experiences were in their minds, and on Good Friday we also thought about  those experiences in the Garden. There they had missed the great agony of  YAHSHUA (The Christ) as they had slept during some of the most intense periods of this time. And YAHSHUA had asked:..'Could you not watch with me for  one hour?' Peter then defended The Christ as the soldiers came to seize  HIM, for He told Peter to put up his sword for the hour was not now...HIS  Kingdom was still some time hence.  

On Good Friday in meditation we with all of Christendom thought upon the  agony of all that had gone before, for greater than the crucifixion was the  agony of the Garden. For here this sinless Lamb of God without spot or blemish...perfect in all HIS generations back to Adam, and further whence He  had come, had now assumed all the guilt, all the transgression, all the  evil of the entire world upon HIMSELF, without one violation of law ever  having been in doubt. And within that inner Cup of that Chalice had taken  with that last drop of water...by which HE sealed this covenant..saying:  ..I now take upon Myself all the transgressions of the entire world that I  now might pay this price, that I might redeem 'this treasure' now hidden in  the field (which is the world).  

We are told that the pressure and the agony that came upon the consciousness of YAHWEH now embodied as YAHSHUA (Savior‑ The Christ)..in the flesh  ...was from this taking upon HIMSELF all the weight of transgression and  all of the evil which had taken place, and this caused great drops of blood  to come upon His brow.   

We then think of HIM as leaving the Judgment Hall of Pontius Pilate, and  going up to the Hill of Golgotha...carrying His Cross. He was being assisted by Simon from Cyrene who by the way was an Israelite, not as the propaganda would have you think as someone of another race. Simon had entered  the Temple to worship at Passover time, and had he not been of Israel this  would not have been allowed. When Jesus reached Golgotha, they laid HIM out  on that Cross and drove those spikes thru His hands, and then thru His  feet, and His disciples and those who loved HIM recoiled in horror at this  scene. As they dropped that Cross with a thud in the socket of the rock between two thieves...all hope, all expectation of the disciples now faded. 

Probably upon Mary was the greatest pressure at that moment, for had not  the Angel Gabriel told her at His birth that she would be with Child by the  Holy Spirit, and this child would be Jesus..YAHSHUA, the Messiah who would  save His people from their sins, and would rule upon the throne of his  father David? Now her heart is torn..having watched HIS childhood, watched  HIS ministry, watched the mighty impact of HIS power, watched HIM heal the  sick, raise the dead, and thru the testimony which this represented had  then hoped that the Kingdom of Israel would now be restored. Hoped that now  He would take the Crown and all Israel would once more move forth as a  mighty power. Yes now...here HE hung upon this Cross, and hope was now  fading. We can well understand the impact upon the disciples..but upon Mary  ...this was her son, this was Messiah, this was the hope of all Israel.  

Peter had been asked by YAHSHUA:...'Who do you say that I am? Peter had  replied:..'Thou art the Christ, the embodiment of the Living YAHWEH'....  and yet here HE hung upon the Cross, dying, and unless some miracle occurred all hope was gone. All hope was swallowed up by death, they would leave  this hill without hope.             

The Roman soldiers knew little of what was going on, they were casting  lots for His clothing yet fulfilling the responsibility laid upon them,  after all they had crucified hundreds before. Then YAHWEH who came as  YAHSHUA looked down upon these Roman soldiers and said:..'Father (Spirit)  forgive them for they know not what they do.' He was not however removing  the guilt of the Jewish Priests of the Temple, for they had said:..'if we  do not kill this man we will lose our power over this kingdom, and He will  gather the children of God who are scattered abroad.' 

Then as they watched this Jesus of Nazareth upon the Cross these Jewish Rabbi's, and Temple  Priests reviled HIM. They taunted HIM saying:..'If thou be the Christ  (Messiah) come down from the Cross.' The Priests looked on with scorn when  He did not answer. The Thief who hung on the lest side of him said:..'Yes,  if you be the Christ come down from that Cross and take us with you.' Then  remember the words of the thief on the right as he said:..'We are justly  condemned for our transgression'. Then turning to YAHSHUA he said:....  'Master, have mercy on me when you come into your kingdom.' And you remember that YAHSHUA (Jesus) said:..'This very day thou shalt be with ME in  Paradise.'  

The Roman Centurion in charge, now found himself with his gaze fixed upon  that Cross. he listened to the words of YAHSHUA...he heard the words of THE  FLESH:..'E‑lo‑I, E‑lo‑I, La‑ma Sa‑back‑tha‑ni' meaning 'Into thy hands I  command my spirit‑‑from my flesh.' Then dropping of HIS head when HE said:  ..'It is Finished'.. and then came the rocking and rolling of the earth as  even the earth opened unto the burial chambers on the farthermost hill and  the dead were seen coming out of their graves, as recorded by Matthew, and  they walked upon the Hill‑side.'    

Ancient Temple records tell us that the Priests left the hill in fear,  Lightening flashed, the thunder rolled, the earth rocked, and the sky darkened, even tho it was day. The disciples viewing this scene were of course  broken and crushed, and now they moved away. Word then came to Pilate that  HE...This Jesus of Nazareth was dead, and he mused with the Centurion that  this seemed a very short time. But the Centurion had thrust his spear into  the side of Jesus, and out had come bloody water...signifying that he had  died of a broken heart.

The listless crowd left the hill, soldiers stood by  as the earth continued to rock from the earthquake which reached from Jerusalem to the Aegean Sea, and across the very boot of Italy. Mt Vesuvius rumbled and various gods of stone fell from their pedestals, as even in Jerusalem they witnessed the very crumbling of the many gods of Rome. The earth  not only continued to rock but as the fleeing Priests reached the Temple a  lightening flash consumed the veil before the Holy of Holies, consuming it  before their gaze until now even this Temple which they illegitimately  held, was now open to public gaze. Deep down in the caves of the Temple,  deep down where the Treasury department was walled with stone, these false  Priests now hid. They locked the doors and lighted the lamps, and in fear  stayed inside.  

There is no doubt that this feeling the disciples had was now most depressing. They had been with HIM thru those days, had walked with HIM, and  followed HIM. They had witnessed miracles, and had thought even now a miracle will come to pass, even the heart of Mary thought that surely this  miracle was to be consummated here and now, somehow HE must be King, but  what now was to happen from this time on she did not understand, for now HE  is dead.  

One of the last things Jesus had done for his earthly mother was to call  His disciple John and say to them:...'Mother behold thy son, John behold  thy mother'...John was thus to take her from this evil hill. The disciples  gathered together later and Peter suggested that he would go fishing, there  was nothing to do but get out of this area of pressure. Other disciples  said:..'Whither shall we go? What is for us now..what route shall we take?'  

But what of this YAHSHUA..this embodiment of YAHWEH (God) who hung upon  that tree? After all the whole Universe was dependent upon Him:..'All  things were made by HIM..without HIM was not anything made, that was made',  what of HIM? The Apostle Paul tells us that HIS body was the image of the  invisible God, who resides within it, and now this body is dead. The earth  had rocked and reeled in that moment as that consciousness had left this  body. Then the earths shaking had settled down, but the darkness continued  for the whole Universe was angry at this attack upon the 'Very Creator',  and had made its demonstration.  

The Celestial consciousness of YAHSHUA went about His work. That soul of  YAHWEH (God) inside this Celestial body of Light now stormed the Netherworld of the Inner earth, that great prison chamber where in Lucifer thought  he was master, and in which Beelzebub, a fallen Angel with him had ruled  all this time there in the Netherworld. And here also the souls of the  children of Adam..from Adam's time to this had been held, unable to ascent  into the plane of spirit from whence they had come. But now here in an area  in the inner earth of his Kingdom of Darkness suddenly...A GREAT LIGHT...  appears, and the prophecies of Isaiah and others are now being fulfilled:..  ..'They who sat in darkness now beheld a Great Light'. And then came the  cry at the Gates of the Netherworld:..'Open up ye Gates, for the KING OF  GLORY shall come in.' Immediately Beelzebub cries out:..'Thou canst come  in here'.  And he cries out to Lucifer:...'Oh, Lucifer once son of the morning, why hast thou permitted this man to die, and to be brought here.  This ONE called Lazarus from our midst and we could not hold him. Now HE  comes with marvelous light into our domain. How then can we hold these we  hold captive...if he comes in here?'            Nicodemus the scribe gives you one of the greatest records in narrative,  as he records for you about how the two sons of a High Priest came out of  their graves and walked the streets at HIS crucifixion. Then taken before  the Priests they would tell their story as to what had happened while they  were waiting for Messiah after they had died, and gone into that Netherworld. They talked about the conversations between the Patriarchs, about how  as Christs ministry started a great hope then came into this part of the  Netherworld as each new person coming in told what was happening on earth.  And now they hear this great cry:..'Open up ye everlasting Gates.' We now  turn to the words of the Psalmist, in the 24th., Psalm as David said:... 'I  remember when the spirit did move me and I did write. I did not understand  what I was saying, but this I wrote feeling ordained of YAHWEH to write,  and now I know it fits this event. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be  ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; for the King of Glory shall come in.  Who is this King of Glory? HE IS YAHWEH OF HOSTS, HE IS THE KING OF GLORY.'  

Again...in the 107th., Psalm then the Psalmist says:..'Open up ye Gates  of iron and brass, open up ye gates for the King of Glory shall come in.'  Then Beelzebub again cries out to Lucifer to send more minions to hold, for  this man cannot come in HE is sinless. Then the KING OF GLORY makes HIS  Declaration:...making it as YAHWEH‑YAHSHUA..Jesus of Nazareth..Messiah...  and HE said:...'thou cannot keep me out for I now come not without transgression. I come now, having taken upon Myself all the transgression of the  world that I might set my people free. I carry now this weight and thy  doors cannot be shut against me.' Then with a burst of power The Christ  entered the Netherworld and proclaimed the Liberty of His children. He  preached unto these children of Adam, and fulfilled the prophecy that HE  went down and Proclaimed His Gospel unto those hidden and in bondage, and  now this is all FINISHED. HE became the captain of HIS salvation having  preached unto the Adamites there in the Netherworld, and He was now to take  their soul consciousness and spiritual beings out of that Netherworld forever. Then leading the sons of Adam from that part of the Netherworld over  to that part of the area where once the great 'Tree of Life' was growing in  Paradise, and where it was still symbolically to be found. He took them to  a part of the Netherworld across a gulf now broken. And as they entered  this part of the Netherworld HE introduced them to the thief on the cross  to whom HE said:..'This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise'. Here the  sons and daughters of Adam would rest after being introduced to the thief  from the cross, here they would rest until the first day of the week...or  Resurrection which today is called Easter.  

It is a significant thing that the reason we as Christians worship on the  first day of the week is because a new status is now bestowed upon us, for  we have been breaking bread, and meeting together from that day unto this.  And because of this new development on that first day of the week, a new  Sabbath of Liberation had been bestowed upon the people of God.     

Then as dawn began to break toward the first day of the week, again the  earth rocked. The earthquake which rocked the earth this day was almost as  great as the earlier one when the darkness came. It was not yet morning in  that area where Joseph of Arimathea had buried The Christ in his own tomb.  Fearful Jews had come to Pilate and demanded:..we want soldiers put around  that tomb lest the disciples come and steal His body and take it away.  Pilate replied:..'Ye fear him so much that ye want even his body guarded?  ..so shall it be.' They rolled a great stone in front of the tomb, and then  placed the seal of Rome upon it, and a centurion with a hundred soldiers  stood guard, and this Centurions name was Malcus. His report of this time  can also be read today as he gave it to Pontius Pilate who forwarded it to  Tiberius Caesar, and there it still remains one of the great historical records in Rome even today.  

This the Centurion reported:...'Suddenly the earth rocked, and a Great  Light came altho it was not yet dawn. We all (the soldiers) became awake,  and behold we looked, and the LIGHT surrounded this tomb. A Great invisible force rolled back that stone, and ONE came out of that tomb..brighter  than Jupiter, and as we beheld HIM we were as dead men, and we fell to the  ground. But we watched HIM walk out of the tomb, and could do nothing O,  Pontius Pilate, for no Roman soldier would have gone to sleep on this watch  as it would have cost us our lives.'   Pilate pondered these things remembering the words of his wife who had  begged:..'Have nothing to do with this just man.' Yes, even the Roman soldiers bore this witness.               We then think also of the disciples still heavy in heart, broken in  spirit, feeling as tho all hope was gone. They were still filled with that  hopefulness and we can still find these words of the Apostle Paul as we  turn to the first book of Corinthians to the fifteenth chapter and the  14th., verse. 'If Christ be not raised..your Faith is vain; ye are yet in  your sins.'  'They also who have passed into the plane of spirit are  perished.'  'If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men  in Christendom most miserable.' But on the basis of these events which we  celebrate as Resurrection Day...the Apostle Paul said:..'but Now is Christ  risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of all those who have  died.'              

Yes, the Mary's came down early to anoint His body, but when they approached the tomb they wondered would the Centurion roll back the stone for  them? But as they drew near a Light still shown around that tomb and the  stone was rolled away. They walked into the tomb filled with amazement, and  an Angel said:...'Who are you looking for?..Why do you search for HIM here?  HE HAS RISEN...go tell His disciples.' The women pondered this thing as  they moved away, thinking that people would not believe what they had just  beheld.

Then Mary...the one out of whom he had cast devils turned and saw  as she supposed the gardener and she cried out:...'They have taken away MY  LORD, and I know not where they have laid Him.' Jesus looked at her and  then said as no one else could:...''MARY', and she replied:..'MY LORD AND  MY GOD'. As she reached out He said:...'Do mot touch me.' The energy, the  Light power had not passed which He was still carrying, but He told her to  ... 'go tell the others.' Mary Magdalene ran as fast as she could, but  others were coming to meet her. And then Peter raced for the tomb, and  there he also saw the Angels and they said:...'HE is not here...just as He  told you...HE HAS RISEN...go tell the others.'           Now; the disciples are carrying the words:..'HE IS RISEN'. When they  gathered together discussing these things they were so joyful, and then  later Jesus appeared in their midst, and they were filled with great happiness and joy. Two of the disciples not knowing of these events had started for the hope was gone. They had watched Messiah grow up, and live, had  become His disciples, and they knew His power, but now He was dead. No  wonder their hearts were broken as they walked along talking of things  which had taken place. Then Jesus approached them and they knew him not,  their eyes were darkened as to his identity...so the Scripture says. Then  Jesus asked why they were so sad, why were they in mourning? They replied:  ..'surely you are a stranger in these parts or you would know that the High  Priests and our rulers have taken and crucified Jesus of Nazareth, a  notable prophet? HE who had wrought great miracles, who had done all these  things, and who we had hopes was THE MESSIAH...HE IS DEAD, and all hope is  gone. We are now going to try to patch up our broken lives, we are going to  Emmaus, but we do not know what we are going to do.'

Jesus walked along  with them, and then He began explaining the Scriptures from the writings of  Moses to the words of the Prophets and He asked:...'Could YAHWEH done any  less than this? If YAHWEH was the Messiah should not He have made this  atonement and set His people free? Should HE not have destroyed the power  of the Netherworld and broken all the forces of the fallen Angel Lucifer?  Is YAHWEH come to earth as YAHSHUA (Messiah‑Savior) as you say could HE  have done any less than this?'  

Later the Apostle Paul would bring this forth so forcefully as he writes  in the second chapter of Hebrews as to how YAHWEH our Kinsman came to earth  and could have done no less that this..for HIS people, and was not ashamed  to say....'Ye are My Kinsmen.'  But in the magnitude of these events these men on the road to Emmaus  little realized what they were a part of when they were so broken and in  such despair. But as they listened to these words from the lips of Jesus as  HE expounded to them the Scriptures their hearts were warmed again, a  little hope was now rekindled in their minds. This was the first consolation they had had since they had heard these words:..'He is dead.' They  then came to this little Inn and they said:...'let us go in and have something to eat together.'

As they sat at the table..Jesus took the bread..as  He was want to do, and break it and blessed it, and as He handed it to  them, they saw the nail prints in HIS hands. Then they were able to see the  Radiant Glory around HIM, and they knew...beyond all doubt that HE HAD  RISEN...HE WAS HERE WITH THEM. They then heard again those words as he  break this bread:...'Receive ye of it.' Now the room was filled with a  Golden Light then HE was gone, but they left the Inn with their hearts  filled with rejoicing, now they would go back to tell the others...HE is  Risen, we have broken bread with HIM, and our hearts were warmed as we saw  the prints of the nails in His hands. We touched HIM, we have been with  HIM, we now know HE IS RISEN.  

We now think of Thomas who said:...'I can't accept this, I could not believe it unless I put my fingers in the nail prints of HIS hands. Lest I  could thrust my hand into that hole in His side I could not believe..no all  hope is gone.' The others tried to reassure:..'But Thomas we have seen Him,  we know He is Risen...HE is alive.' Suddenly Jesus came thru the very wall  and stood in their presence. Thomas put your fingers in the nail prints in  my hands, feel this hand it is real, put your hand in my side, know that I  am not just a spirit, I am alive. But Thomas finally convinced replied:...  'MY LORD AND MY GOD'. Then came the words of Jesus...'Blessings rest upon  you Thomas, BUT MORE BLESSED ARE THEY WHO WILL BELIEVE...HAVING NOT SEEN.'  

Down thru the generations even your assembly here this afternoon is a  mighty testimony that you believe that you did not behold with your eyes,  but His Spirit witnessed to your spirit.     Therefore that Blessing passes  from Thomas down to you...'More blessed are they who shall believe, but  have not beheld, have not touched with the hand.'   We think of the mighty magnitude of HIS RESURRECTION..then later 500  would behold HIM, and the power of HIS RESURRECTION has been a dynamic  cause all down thru almost two thousand years, meant to press on..to accomplish the work of that Kingdom. The enemies of YAHWEH‑YAHSHUA may climb  that Hill, and burn that Cross they have hated so long in the city of Hollywood, but they can't dampen the Spirit of Christianity which shall build  even bigger ones. We tell you that all of the powers of Darkness could not  hold The Christ in the Netherworld. All the forces of evil have been  broken. I tell you this that there has never been one soul consciousness of  one son of Adam which has ever passed into the Netherworld under the control of Lucifer, from the Resurrection unto this day. When HE said:..'It is  finished'...HE had consummated the Atonement...today I give you this declaration and hurl it in the face of all doubters:....'All Israel shall be  saved as it is written.'....'He shall take away all the ungodliness of  Jacob.' There is not one white man, from Adam to this day who shall not be  restored to the Glory which the Father has ordained. As HE promised, they  shall conform to His own image. The magnitude of the RESURRECTION transcends anything which has happened as it relates to you and your race. This is  what YAHWEH has promised to do, and He thus destroys the head of the  Serpent.  

We can think of all the testimony of the disciples and the Apostles which  filled the early church. How many of these Apostles who beheld Jesus, who  talked with HIM after His RESURRECTION, and could never be shaken in their  Faith. No one could really question the courage of Peter, after all Peter  had lifted up a sword against all the soldiers of the Temple..to defend  Jesus. But we can think of the shock to him when eventually he saw The  Christ led away in bondage. We can think of the impact of watching Rome  having apparent authority over the body of God, and finally beholding HIM  Crucified. But after the Resurrection then Peter was a strong man, much  more than a great fisherman. Now he was charged with an indomitable spirit.  Peter and John were not afraid of organized Jewry any longer. They were not  afraid of the Temple Priesthood, but preached boldly in the Name of YAHSHUA  (Jesus) who had been Crucified...THEN RESURRECTED. When they were cautioned  that it would be better for them if they held their Peace, and never used  the Name of Jesus they said:...'Whom should we obey, God or man?' Tho you  threaten our lives still we must proclaim...'HE IS RISEN.'          

Yes, they threw Peter into Prison, and John as well, and as to how many  times the Apostles were persecuted, and how many of them martyred...do you  realize that every single one except John the beloved, the Author of the  Book of Revelation and others, of those Apostles..all except John died Martyrs deaths because they could not deny the Faith of what they had witnessed. Do you realize that those who had known this truth had their time of  witness, even the Centurion who on becoming a Christian went deep into  Rome, and he told as he went as to what he had witnessed. Finally in the  course of his tour of duty...under the command of Rome...he was up near  Lake Constance high up in the cold of the mountains, and he testified to  the soldiers of his command that he had beheld Jesus The Christ crucified,  and now beheld HIM RISEN. He went on to tell his soldiers that here was a  group of people they were to capture who are Christians, but considered  seditious because they do not acknowledge that the Emperor is God. The high  officials had given the command...then placed the responsibility upon the  Centurions shoulder, that he would give the orders for the execution of  these people. the Centurion did not want to fulfill this responsibility but  finally he being a Roman soldier then gathered the people all together and  said:..'Will you denounce thy faith in this ONE Jesus the Christ?' If not  you are to be forced to strip thyself of thy clothing and walk out into the  cold of this winter upon frozen lake Constance. Not a Christian broke ranks  from adult to child. Stripped of their heavy clothing they were now driven  out into the freezing wind in the High Altitude of Lake Constance.

Then  Malcus...the Centurion stripped himself also of his heavy armor and almost  one hundred men of his army did the same...saying: we also are followers of  The Christ, and we march with these people, and they followed the people  out on to the ice. Why? Because even in spirit they had witnessed the Resurrection. The Roman soldiers took their lot with those sent out to die,  because they would rather die with Faith than to live without it, because  deep in their hearts they knew that THE CHRIST WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD,  thus death had now no fear for them. This is also a matter of Roman History, and among the earliest of Martyrs of Christendom was this Centurion  who had said:...'Surely this was the very GOD'.     Tiberius Caesar sent for Pontius Pilate, and his wife and they were to  stand before Caesar, and tell him why he had permitted the Crucifixion of  The Christ which had brought all this trouble, and the earthquake upon Rome  and Palestine. Pilate had sent in his report, and in his letter he had born  testimony that this ONE was the VERY GOD..and this angered Caesar. Even tho  a daughter of Caesar..Pilate's wife stood now with him before the judgment.  the Wife of Pilate said:..'I listened to Him before HE had cried 'It is  finished', I beheld HIM at his crucifixion, I beheld Him after His Resurrection, and now I am a follower of The Christ...thus a Christian'. We are  then told that she gave up the Ghost (spirit) and passed away in the front  of the court. Pontius Pilate’s history is also unique for he also said:...  'There is no doubt that this was the very GOD, and I also will take my life  and lot with HIM, before I would renounce HIM here or any place, because I  know that HE arose from the dead.' Pilate was given the choice of rejecting  The Christ or being stripped of his power and taking the fatal cup. Pontius  Pilate died because of his Faith in the Resurrection of Jesus The Christ.  

My friends:...These were those who were there. We yet today are living in  a great struggle for our Faith. The powers of Darkness know that to conquer  Christianity, and the eventual destiny of God's Kingdom they must drive  this great knowledge out of the minds of men, and out of their hearts as  well. They know they will have to black out from our children in their generations the knowledge that CHRIST IS RISEN. They have sought to penetrate  our pulpits but have been unable to persuade the 'Clergy of God' so they  placed their own Clergy in the pulpits who do not believe in the Deity of  THE CHRIST, nor recognize the power of HIS Resurrection. This is the reason we have so many churches today which are dead, and so many out thru  Christendom which lack this testimony. But these men, even these who would  penetrate to destroy, lose their power subordinated in the Mighty Anthems  of this day when every choir thru out all Christendom sings:...'Christ is  RISEN.'   My friends...this is the Arch and Keystone of the Christian Faith. We  follow a triumphant YAHWEH‑YAHSHUA by the thousands, yea by the millions.  

Throughout the years there has been a constant stream of men of Islam to  Mecca. When they go to Mecca they go to the tomb of the prophet, for there  he lies. All that remains of Mohammed is there, and this pilgrimage becomes  very vital to Mohammedism, one of the most powerful 'World' religions. But  when they get there they kneel before the tomb of a dead man.   Buddhism covers great areas, and there have been a number of Buddha’s even  living ones who however soon die. But when they go to the tomb of the resting place of Buddha they say:...'here is where he lays.' When they go to  the far off Lhassa in the Steppes of Tibet, and find the constantly reincarnate Buddha’s...supposedly constantly being reincarnated in their religion,  still they die, and there they are buried.  

When you come my friends, to what is termed the worlds most powerful religions...they all have to go to a tomb...ALL BUT THE CHRISTIANS, and when  we find those that journeyed to see those places in the life of THE CHRIST  they come to an Empty tomb. This is the mighty triumph of the Christian  Faith. We have no tomb which encloses the body of Deity, we have an Empty  Tomb which is a symbol of Eternal Life. And because we are the children of  Eternal Life we shall never perish. No darkness shall stop our race from  accomplishing the objectives of bringing in this Kingdom. We shall be joined again with the ...re‑entering of YAHWEH‑YAHSHUA King of Kings, and Lord  of Lords. The mighty Potentate unto whom every knee will bow and every tongue shall proclaim that Christ is...YAHWEH‑YAHSHUA.        

Today we feel the swelling Glory of that Resurrection in our heart and we  can be thankful that we can say:...'OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN'.....  thankful that His Spirit has born witness with out spirit that we are the  children of YAHWEH (God)...We are the children of the Kingdom.... we believe in the Arch and Keystone of the Christian Faith which is HIS RESURRECTION.                                      

End of Message.