The Church May Ice in the Summer

By Dr. Selvon Seebran

The Church may ice in the summer...

One of the greatest needs within the church of Jesus Christ is a need to return to the basics of Christianity, plus an understanding of where we are in the fulfillment of prophecy and an understanding of the seven church age

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Feb 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781637697535

Dr. Selvon Seebran

SELVON SEEBRAN (MA, DD) realized he had a calling to serve the Lord and preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ as early as sixteen years of age. After attending Bible college, he met and married his late wife, Sherry. Dr. Seebran and Sherry were married for fifty-six years; they have three children and two grandchildren. Together they built a ministry and established Selvon Seebran Worldwide Deliverance Inc., a seven-point outreach for lost souls here in America and around the world. They both traveled the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.Dr. Seebran has since remarried, and he and his new wife, Sandra, are continuing the commission of Worldwide Deliverance Ministries. Dr. Seebran and his wife, Sandra, are working extensively in Brazil, South America, and are especially focusing on the people who live on the banks of the Amazon River.

Book preview

9781637697528_FrontCover.jpg

The

Church

May Ice In The

Summer

Dr. Selvon Seebran

Greyscale Trilogy Christian Publishing logo

The Church May Ice in the Summer

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2022 by Dr. Selvon Seebran

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Public domain.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Cover Artwork Element Credit: Realistic transparent blue ice cubes with berries inside Free Vector. Designed by macrovector / Freepik. https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/realistic-transparent-blue-ice-cubes-with-berries-inside_2870215.htm

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-63769-752-8

E-ISBN: 978-1-63769-753-5

Table of Contents

Chapter 1, Part 1: God

Chapter 1, Part 2: Jesus

Chapter 1, Part 3: The Holy Spirit

Chapter 2: Peter or Jesus?

Chapter 3: The Church

Chapter 4: The Ministry Gifts in the Church

Chapter 5: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 6: The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 7: In the Image of God

Chapter 8: What Jesus and the Apostles Taught

Chapter 9: The Church May Ice in the Summer

Chapter 10: Prophecy: Where We At!

Chapter 11: Revival Is Not!

Chapter 12: Revival: What Is It?

Chapter 13: Revival! Returning to Your First Love

Chapter 14: How to Keep Your First Love

Chapter 15: Staying Revived

Chapter 16: When the Price Is Right

Chapter 17: Strong or Agonizing Praying

Chapter 18: Purity Is the Key to Revival

Chapter 19: Manifestation of God’s Power

Chapter 20: You’re Assurance for Heaven

Chapter 21, Part 1: Stranger in His Own House

Chapter 21, Part 2: Stranger in His Own House

Chapter 22: Peter’s Shadow: An Embarrassment or a Challenge

Chapter 1, Part 1

God

The universe contains objects of incredible size and mass at distances that the human mind cannot fully comprehend. The moon is the nearest (natural) celestial body. It is approximately 238,855 (1,737.5 kilometers) in diameter—roughly the size of the continental United States. The Moon orbits at an average distance of 240,000 miles (380,000 km) from the earth. On the one hand, this is a tremendous distance. The moon orbits the earth in a roughly circular path, taking about one month from start to finish. In fact, that is where we get the idea for a month. According to Scripture, one of the reasons God created the celestial bodies was to be for signs, seasons, days, and years, in other words, to mark the passage of time. The moon does just that. It continually orbits the earth every month with clockwork precision.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.

— Genesis 1:14

Additionally, the moon, the lesser light created on day four, was designed to rule the night, Indeed, the moon does rule the night; it outshines every other nighttime celestial object. In fact, when the moon is out, it tends to wash out most other astronomical objects, making them more difficult to see. This effect is particularly evident when the moon is near its full phase. At that time, the moon is over 2,500 times brighter than the next brightest nighttime object—Venus. Let us move farther out into space and consider the greater light that God created on day four—the Sun. The Sun, like other stars, is a glowing hot ball of hydrogen gas. It derives energy from the fusion of hydrogen to helium in the core. The sun is effectively a stable hydrogen bomb. It is an extremely efficient source of energy, placed at just the right distance to provide the right amount of light and heat for the earth. The distance from the Earth to the Sun is approximately 92 935,700 miles.

The Sun is about 400 times more distant than the moon. Remarkably, it is also 400 times larger. So it has the same angular size as the moon—meaning it appears the same size and covers the same portion of the sky. It is interesting that God made both great lights the same angular size and far larger (in angle) than any of the other celestial objects. There is no naturalistic reason why the sun and moon would be at just the right distances to have the same apparent size as seen from earth. As far as we know, the earth is the only planet for which this is the case. The Sun is over 100 times the diameter of the earth. If it were hollow, it could hold over 1 million earths. At first, it seems almost wasteful to create such a massive globe merely to provide light for earth: until we consider that God created the Sun just as easily as the rest of the universe. It was not all difficult for Him, and it demonstrates His great power.

Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.

— Jeremiah 32:17

At the incredible distance of 93 million miles (150 million km), we cannot fully appreciate just how far away the sun is. An analogy may be helpful. How long would it take to drive 93 million miles? If we were to drive 65 miles per hour (105 km/hr), it would take 163 years to drive this distance. We couldn’t drive this far in our lifetime. The sun is far from the earth, and yet the earth is much closer to the sun than many of the other planets. Consider Pluto, a tiny frozen world at the outer edge of the planets of the solar system. Pluto (on average) is about forty times farther away from the sun than the earth is. Earth is much closer to the sun than many of the other planets. Pluto (on average) is about forty times farther away from the sun than the earth is.

Traveling at 65 miles per hour, it would take about 6,500 years to reach Pluto. This is comparable to the age of the universe. The solar system is truly vast; if it had been the only thing God had made, Yet, God has created on even larger scales. Consider the distances between the stars. Let’s start with the nearest star system to the earth (besides the sun), the Alpha Centauri system. Unlike the solar system, Alpha Centauri contains more than one star. Two bright stars (comparable to the sun in size and color) revolve around each other every eighty years. A third faint red dwarf star called Proxima lies farther away. The distance to this system is about 25 trillion miles. Such a number has little meaning to most of us; who can comprehend 25 trillion miles? This is about 6,800 times farther away from the earth than Pluto is. To help grasp this to some extent, let’s imagine that we had a miniature scale model of the solar system with Pluto’s orbit being only one foot (about 30 cm) in diameter. The sun would be approximately in the center, and the earth would be just over an eighth of an inch (3.8 mm) away from the sun. The sun itself would be smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Where would we place the next nearest star in our one-foot scale model solar system? At this scale, Alpha Centauri would be over half a mile (about one km) away, and that’s just the nearest star system. Our galaxy is comprised of countless numbers of stars at much greater distances. With our one-foot-scale model solar system, the galaxy would be larger than the Pacific Ocean!

Our galaxy is shaped like a disk with a bulge in the center. Earth is shaped like a disk, closer to the edge than the center. The disk has spiral arms; we cannot directly see this spiral structure because we are within it. To us, the galaxy looks like a faint cloud band stretching across the sky on (northern hemisphere) summer nights (or winter nights for the southern hemisphere). This is how our galaxy gets its name—the Milky Way. Our galaxy contains over 100 billion stars; the Bible says that God calls them all by their names. How amazing that God has a name for each and every one of those stars! Some of these stars are far separated from their nearest neighbor, much like the sun. Some stars come in binary or multiple star systems, such as Alpha Centauri. Some stars come in large clusters. Consider the M80 star cluster. This cluster within our galaxy is estimated to contain over 100,000 stars.

He telleth all the stars He calleth them all by names.

— Psalm 147:4

Lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number, He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power, not one falleth.

— Isaiah 40:26

That means that the Milky Way has roughly a million times as many; imagine one million stars for every single star in this cluster! The galaxy contains more than stars. It also contains nebulae—the same stuff as stars, but whereas stars are compact spheres, a nebula is spread out over a much larger region of space. When a nebula is heated by nearby stars, it glows, often with vivid and beautiful colors. Consider the beauty of the nebulae shown, but keep in mind how enormous these objects are. The Rosette Nebula is not only beautiful; it is estimated to be more massive than 10,000 suns. The section of the Eagle Nebula shown below is several thousand times larger than our solar system. It is incredible to realize that our solar system would not even be visible in this image. God paints beautiful artwork, and He does it on a canvas of unimaginable size.

When we consider the immensity of the Milky Way, with its 100 billion stars, countless nebulae, and star clusters, the overwhelming power of the Creator becomes clear. Yet, our galaxy is not the only one. God has created innumerable galaxies with a wide range of shapes and sizes. Some galaxies are spiral, like the Milky Way and M31. Others are elliptical in shape, and some galaxies have shapes that can only be described as irregular. Many galaxies come in clusters. The Milky Way belongs to a cluster of a few dozen galaxies called the Local Group. Some clusters are much larger than this. The Virgo cluster has about 2,000 galaxies. Clusters of galaxies are organized into even larger superclusters, clusters of clusters. Superclusters show organization on the largest scales we can currently observe; they form an intricate web of strings and voids throughout the visible universe.

Just think about the quantity of energy involved when God created all this. The sun alone gives off more energy every second than one billion major cities would produce in one year. Yet, our entire galaxy is 20 billion times more luminous than the sun; it is estimated that there are at least as many galaxies as there are stars in the Milky Way 100 billion. Just consider such energy and mass filling a volume of space that is immense beyond our ability to fathom. How does the Bible describe the creation of all this? States simply that God also made the stars (Genesis 1:16).

It is astonishing that the creation of the entire universe beyond earth is described so casually by such a simple statement. The biblical description makes it sound like the creation of all the hundreds of billions of galaxies was so trivially easy for God that it barely deserves to be mentioned. How awesome is the Lord when we contemplate all this which God created; it brings to mind how great our God is.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

— Psalm 8:3–4

It is amazing that the God who created such a universe would be concerned with something as small as human beings. Yet, Scripture makes it clear that humans are more important to God than anything; the reason is humans are created in His image and have an everlasting soul. Who would have thought from a casual glance at the night sky that the universe would be so majestic and so enormous? Certainly, the night sky is stunningly beautiful, even to the unaided eye. Who could have known that it would contain hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with millions to trillions of stars, along with countless clusters and nebulae of immense size and breathtaking beauty? It seems that the more we zoom in on the universe, the more beautiful it becomes, and the more we realize how truly vast and amazing it is. The more we magnify the universe, the more amazed we are by its beauty and complexity. The same is true of the Creator of the universe.

The more we magnify God, the more we realize just how amazing He is. It seems that God has constructed the universe to reflect this aspect of His character. Romans one twenty indicates that many of the invisible attributes of God can only be understood from the things which He made:

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so that they are [mankind] without excuse.

— Romans 1:20

Who else could have put together the vast universe, its magnitude, which comprises of the earth with all its riches, the oceans with all of the sea creatures and its wonders? The firmament, which consists of a conflagration of billions of stars, galaxies, planets, the Milky Way, including the sun and moon, all canopied inside this universe.

The ground you are standing on, which is being taken for granted by billions; have you considered the earth, its picturesque grandeur beauty, and scenery throughout this entire earth’s globe, the rainbow’s multicolor rays of light piercing through deep down in the valleys, revealing the awesome beauty of the mountains with its array of different trees shrubs and plants, the rivers?

Silhouettes the mountains ranges, valleys, and plains. Have you ever considered the vast riches on the Earth? Who else could have done all of this? No one but Jehovah, the True and Living God.

God, Theo, the sole Supreme Being, eternal, spiritual, and transcendent, who is the Creator and Ruler of all. God was, is, and forever. He is the future and always will be God. He exists as El Olam, which means the Everlasting God. The Hebrew name, El Olam, also means forever, perpetual, old, and ancient; God is infinite past, present, and future.

Before the mountains were brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

— Psalm 90:2

He was before time and everything that was made. The apostle Paul so eloquently stated as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words,

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

— Romans 1:20

This actually means from the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, are clearly seen by the things that He created from the beginning. Anyone in their right mind would obviously attribute everything that we see was created by a Supreme Being, and He is God.

Here are some of the names applied to God: Yahweh, Elohim.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

— Genesis 1:1

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.

— Psalm 19:1

El-Olam—meaning God, a reference to God’s power and might. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding Isaiah 40:28.

Jehovah-Rapha, Exodus 15:26, meaning The Lord our healer.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu, Jeremiah 23:6, The Lord our righteousness.

Jehovah-Jireh, Genesis 22:13–14, meaning, The Lord will provide.

Jehovah Nissi, Exodus 17:15, meaning The Lord our banner.

Jehovah-Shalom, Judges 6:24, meaning The Lord is peace.

El-Elyon, Genesis 14:17–20, Isaiah 14:13–14, meaning The Most High God.

El-Roi, Genesis 16:13, meaning The all-seeing God.

El-Shaddai, Genesis 17:1, Psalm 91:1, meaning The God of the mountains or God Almighty.

God is a spirit, and His power is limitless. His power fills the universe. The being or essence of God is intrinsically sublime and resplendent. This inherent brilliance is often referred to in scripture as light and glory. Light emphasizes the splendor of who He is comprehended by some as unapproachable and immaculate, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning James 1:17.

He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

— Daniel 2:22

God who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, which no man has ever seen. God’s being transcends the physical universe. He is not limited or bounded by material issues or concerns. God is not subject to matter in any way. God is not made of matter; God created matter and employs it however He desires.

The study of physics tells us that matter, time, and space must all occur together. Without matter, there can be neither space nor time. Therefore, time, the succession of moments one after another, did not exist before God created the universe, but before there was a universe or time, God always was there and existed. As described in His Word, Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen 1 Timothy 6:16.

From the record of the Bible, His being is best considered in terms of who He is, even His nature character; God is spirit, infinite, perfect in character; people talk about truth. God is truth. His being transcends the physical universe; however, He desires, God is Eternal. He is a supernatural being and transcends God’s own way, To whom will ye liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like Isaiah 46:5.

Uniqueness comes from God’s infinite nature. No one else in the universe can reasonably be compared to Him. He is absolutely unique within His own creation and, therefore, the one Person to whom all honor is due. Uniqueness thus speaks to God’s natural authority and ability to order the universe however He chooses. From the standpoint of His transcendence of the physical universe, He is unique by virtue of His spirituality, eternity, and immeasurability. From the standpoint of His supremacy within the physical universe, God is Omnipotent, which means He is all-powerful God, is Omniscient; He knows all things, and God is Omnipresence, He is everywhere, this means He is all-powerful God is good, and the word good came from the word God. God is good to all. His love, mercy, kindness, and compassion reach out to all of humanity.

God is Sovereign; He has no authority over Him. He is the authority over all. God is omniscient; He knows the past, present, and future; minutes, hours, months, years, decades, and millenniums are like nothing to Him. He, Himself, is greater than time. He made time.

He does not wait on time (even though He has a set time for the human race on this earth); time surrounds and waits on Him. God has time in His hands, and He is able to see the whole span of history as if it were a brief moment. Nothing that occurs in our lives He does not know; as a matter of fact, God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. God is a supernatural being who has existed from the beginning of time, based on the fact of a revelation we have of Him and His existence. As humans who were created by God, we can only comprehend certain things from beginning to end, but when it comes to God, we are limited as humans. Scientists and scientific researchers can believe the universe and planets exist with the explanation of the origin, but some of them cannot accept the fact and concept of God, who is a supernatural being that exists within the past, present, and future. It is easier for some of mankind to believe in an alien from another planet or galaxy than to believe in the True and Living God.

This book is not about Christian apologetics (even though the author understands what Christian apologetics is all about), but the Christian world does not have to apologize to anyone about God because God knows how to take care of Himself, the universe, and everything He created within the universe. God has set patterns and laws that govern this universe and everything He placed within this universe. The question about God is not God’s problem; it is a human dilemma combined with the devil’s influence for human beings to disbelief there is a God, God already exists, but whether some people believe there is a God or not (there is a God) rests upon the human race whom He allowed to be alive until this present time. The big question is whether you believe in God or not; this would determine your destiny in eternity. There are three kinds of people in this world, (1) unbelievers, (2) make-believers, and (3) believers. Believers have nothing to lose believing in God, His righteousness, His plan, purpose program, and timeline for humankind; yes, God even created time because His Word says,

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. […] And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. [Everything that is on this earth, under the earth, and in the heavens were created.]

— Genesis 1:1–3

Billions of people know Him as the Creator of everything and endeavor to worship Him in some way. God imbedded within the spirit of mankind a desire for God, even though some of them are searching and implementing their own ways to come to God. Believe it or not, God has already provided a way. God used the Jewish people to reveal and teach the world about God. God revealed Himself to Old Testament individuals in different names and ways from the beginning of time; some of these names of God indicated His love for fallen mankind. If we, humans, will choose to respond to God’s love and live for Him, most of all accept God’s provided way to come to Him, worship Him, love Him, obey Him, and fit into His plan and program, we would be blessed in every way and at times be despised or hated.

Two thousand years after the fall of mankind, the human race became so polluted, perverse, and perverted; certain of the human race had become so unrecognizable as humans because the devil and his angels had intermingled with humans that produced a type giant size monster called Nephilim, a type of people who had no desire for the true and living God. During this time, the people became a generation of idol worshipers, murderers, a generation who had no fear of God; they were loose and licentious in their living as they practiced human sacrifice. At this point, the Bible says that it grieved the heart of God that He had made mankind.

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

— Genesis 6:1–5

God, who is a God of righteousness, could not allow the human race to continue in their perverse and perverted ways and condition. God destroyed this generation of people besides Noah, his wife, three sons, and their wives.

After the flood, God spared Noah, his wife, and out of Noah, three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, out of whom were born the nations of the world.

And the sons of Noah went forth from the Ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

— Genesis 9:18–19

At the present time, the world population is approximately seven billion people of different nations of races and color. From the descendants of Shem, one man found favor with God. God called and told him to take his wife and family separate from his father’s home, family, and idolatry. Abraham obeyed God’s voice and moved out of his father’s household. After Abraham obeyed, God revealed Himself to Abraham, and Abraham taught Isaac about the true and living God, then Isaac taught Jacob about God. Jacob, in turn, taught his twelve sons, the patriarchs, about God; then, from Jacob’s twelve sons came the Hebrew nation, who ended up in bondage for four hundred years in Egypt. Recorded in the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which is also called the five books of Moses—these books give us a revelation of the beginning of the Jewish people who, in turn, introduced the True and Living God to the people of our world, especially those who desire and want to know Him.

Moses had a supernatural experience with God on Mount Horeb, and then God gave him the message, the ministry, and the miracles to go to Egypt and deliver the children of Israel who were in bondage for four hundred years. Moses was inspired as he asked God whom he should tell the Hebrew people (under Egypt’s bondage) sent him. God, in His all-knowing wisdom, told Moses to tell his people, "‘I Am that I Am’ sent you. It was quite some years since these words were translated from the Hebrew language, ehyeh asher ehyeh, which means I Am that I Am. During the time that God spoke these words to Moses, certain of the Hebrew people understood the meaning of these words, ehyeh asher ehyeh. Moses, the messenger and deliverer of the children of Israel, went to Egypt and told the people that he was sent by God to deliver them, then some of them would ask who sent him, and he spoke these words—ehyeh ahser ehyeh. ‘The I Am that I Am’ that sent me," then Moses got their attention, and they opened their hearts to Moses and God, His Messenger, the message as they saw the supernatural power of God as God brought their deliverance. This supernatural act of God gave birth to the Hebrew people, out of whom the Messiah would be born.

God created everything in beauty, grandeur, and splendor, and when Lucifer (the fallen morning star angel) tried to destroy creation and our first parents, Adam and Eve, this is where the plan of God to redeem mankind was implemented. God is not a tyrant like certain predominant religion thinks that God wants them in the name of their religion to hate, kill, and destroy. But God is a God of love, and the purpose of this book, from the inspiration of the Scriptures, is to reveal God to you and that God wanted to show who He is—"the Great I Am (Exodus, chapter 3). The Great I Am" who came down to deliver the children of Israel through Moses’ leadership from spiritual, physical, social, and financial bondage also came to deliver the human race through His Son, Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world [the people He allowed to be born through Adam and Eve], that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

— John 3:16

God has shown He is a God of judgment (corrective measures), but generally, God is a God of love, and Jesus is where God’s love is expressed for us human beings. God exists and is timeless; all the prophets beginning, such as Moses and other prophets, instructed the Israelites to honor and seek after God first. Contrasts God’s beginning throughout eternity with man’s frail and brief life. Man must come to terms with the small number of his days in comparison to a holy, everlasting God.

[Elihu says of God] How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.

— Job 36:26, NIV

God’s years are innumerable and unending in contrast to men’s few years. God is love, and His love knows no limits. His love reaches out to all people of every race, color, and creed. Love is not love until it reaches out to someone, even though they might not realize that someone loves them. There are two kinds of love. The first is Greek, "phileo love." Phileo love is a love of our affections, a warm feeling that comes when touching someone he or she has affections for.

Then the second one is what you call "agape love. Agape love is God’s kind of love. It is seeking the welfare and betterment of another regardless of how they feel. Except for a few men and women in the Old and New Testament, Jesus was the first person that expressed agape love. When it seemed like the ceremonial, civil, and religious laws had reached their pinnacle and could do nothing for mankind, plus the rule of the stone-hearted Roman government who controlled the Jews, and everyone else with an iron fist, here came Jesus and preached agape love" to one of the most religious men of that day named Nicodemus and, obviously, to the people of the world: to the Jews first, then the Gentiles.

These words of Jesus burst through like gleaming sun rays through centuries of dark clouds of ceremonial, civil, religious, and political darkness as He announced in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

For God so love the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

— John 3:16

Chapter 1, Part 2

Jesus

Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah prophesied the birth of Jesus Christ.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: […] a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel [translated ‘God with us’].

— Isaiah 7:14, NKJV

Fulfillment:

Now the birth of Jesus was as follows, after His mother Mary betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

— Matthew 1:18, NKJV

Mary’s pregnancy was a supernatural act of God; being pregnant in those days without being married had very serious repercussions.

[…] the angel of the Lord appeared unto him [Joseph] in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

— Matthew 1:20–21

If Jesus was not God or the Son of God, then He deserves a diamond-studded Oscar trimmed with billions of dollars worth of diamonds and gemstones. With all the conflicting ideas that are being written and circulated about Jesus, without a shadow of a doubt, Jesus is God, but He also became a man. He was with God the Father from the beginning; He was born in the similitude of a human being because this was the only way God could have redeemed humankind from sin. Jesus had to become the God-man, the Son of God, and He was called the Son of Man in the Bible because He was the first God-man that was born of a woman.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

— Genesis 1:1–3

The earth was already here, but without form and void (nothing); the Spirit of God was brooding over the earth, and God said, Let there be light, and there was light; after God spoke, the Holy Spirit moved on the earth, and creation occurred; well, He is the same Holy Spirit that moved upon Mary and created a body that grew in Mary’s womb after which she gave birth to Jesus; only the godly mind could comprehend the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. There was no human contact here; the virgin birth of Jesus Christ was an act of the creative power of God through the moving of the Holy Spirit.

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

— Luke 1:34

Human beings were sick and in need of a doctor, spiritually speaking, a spiritual doctor to perform spiritual surgery on the human race to get rid of the imbedded sinful nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve. Jesus had to become a man to redeem mankind. If you are in need of a doctor, you do not need the doctor’s mother, but you need the doctor himself. In addition to this statement, Jesus will be the central focus of this book to help the modern-day church to get back to the place it ought to be. The Doctor is Jesus, and He is the only One who has the answer for this modern-day church. Mary was not the doctor, but she was chosen by God as a vessel to bring forth Jesus. Jesus is the doctor; spiritually speaking, for God to save mankind, His Son, Jesus Christ, had to be born of a woman, and here lies the key to this entire book: the birth of Jesus Christ was supernatural, His ministry was supernatural, His death and resurrection were supernatural, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost who Jesus promise to send back to earth was supernatural.

The word supernatural would be used as often and needed in this book, and when speaking of the supernatural, the author is referring to the supernatural power and acts of God from a godly and biblical point of view. Not a hocus-pocus state of mind or walking around like zombies and insinuating being involved in witchcraft, voodoo, magic, Satan worship, etc. The word supernatural originated and was first used in medieval times, of which some ungodly English people referred to the acts of the devil, but this word was predominantly used by the church in England when they were experiencing a revival and the power of God was being manifested in supernatural signs and wonders.

By the way, the word supernatural was never mentioned in the Bible because the miraculous was expected; the word supernatural being mentioned in this book is obviously necessary and is mentioned from a godly and biblical point of view; the reason is, generally speaking, 90 percent of the church world today goes to church for Sunday ritual, tradition, and formality. Thank God you are going to church, but prayerfully, it would dawn on you that you need more than ritual, formality, and tradition but the power of God like the apostles, which is in the book of Acts.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

— Acts 2:1–4

What this is referring to is if the church, in general, would impact the people of our world in its present condition and rise beyond the norm like the book of Acts church with a few men, we must go beyond the norm. There is a great need within the Body of Christ to get back to the basics of Christianity, but there is a greater need within the church to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. God’s divine intervention to redeem the human race from sin and to provide salvation (means to be free from sin) to have peace of mind, real joy, and happiness, to be set from the bondage of the sicknesses, diseases, devil, demons, evil spirits, and to give eternal life or everlasting life to all that believe. The redemption of the human race was solely dependent upon God; He had a perfect plan from the beginning of time after the devil caused Adam and Eve to plunge the entire human race into sin. This plan began with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then the Hebrew people, which produced the Judges, Prophets, Kings, King David, and then a Virgin by the name of Mary, who came from the lineage of David.

Every leader of all religions came to live; Jesus was the only God-man or leader who came to die. He came to die to bring us life, everlasting life, yes, the life of God, which is the only thing that would be able to sustain and keep us in these last and closing days as we are noticing every word or prophecy that the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles spoke, is being fulfilled in our day. The beginning of Jesus’ ministry was an indication to bring changes in the religious order of that day to the present time, especially spiritual change, and change is what every leader of every religion, denomination, and organization is afraid of. Why? Because change for the betterment in every area of life, especially spiritually speaking, would mean self-denial, sacrifices, pain, and this would interfere with the traditional ritualistic formalistic ideologies of serving and leading men and women to God.

This is what Jesus did; He caused change in the church world of His day. Let it be said the change He brought about in the church world of His day. Religious leaders are the ones that tried to hinder Him, but eventually, His life, words, and teachings ministry changed the lives of a few men who shook then the known world. It was the religious leaders of that day, who engineered His death, but even in death, Jesus was triumphant. God vindicated His death by raising Him from the dead and now sitting at the right hand (authority) of the Father God to make intercession for us; in other words, Jesus is representing us to or before the Father God.

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith, and this is why almost every religious leader, people of every religion, some denominations, organizations, cults, far independent out-groups, some news media, atheists, agonistics, and the new age movement and modernism of this day and age are endeavoring to disprove that Jesus did not die on the cross and did not rise from the grave. Because the death of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a slap in the devil’s face, that God is alive and well, and so are His true followers. Jesus is my example, my hero, and my God. His way was God’s way for us. Jesus came to fulfill all that the law and the prophets spoke and wrote about, but in doing what He came to do, this was to give mankind a choice to a better way of life, also life eternal.

Believing and choosing His way of life, His teachings, and accepting Him will bring us inner peace, real joy, happiness, contentment, and, most of all, eternal or everlasting life. Jesus came to die so that we might live. He came to bring us life, everlasting life. Yes, Jesus came to show us the way to God, which was different than what we are accustomed to; why so many prominent people and thousands of people are turning to the mystical religions of the east? It’s because Jesus’ way in a way that is straightforward and contradicts the lifestyle so many want to live; if they adhered to the lifestyle of Jesus and His teachings, millions would experience salvation and inner peace and assurance of eternity, and the church would experience one of the greatest moves of God and a revival like we have never seen, which, in turn, would result in unprecedented evangelism of souls being reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world, which would usher in the second return of Jesus.

One of our finest pastors in America asked, Yours truly, what is your vision, mission, goal, and purpose in the ministry? He thought I was going to tell him that I would like to build a magnificent church building seating ten thousand or more people, comprising of every type of facility with my name and the name of my ministry in a digital flashing neon sign above this complex. Also, a type of building to facilitate every age group to reach all people with different needs and teach the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Nothing wrong with this idea; God blesses the ministers and ministries who are fortunate to have this opportunity. But what surprised him was my answer, My only desire, vision, mission, purpose, and goal is to try to be like Jesus in every way and to have the prayer life, power, the word, the boldness, the faith, miracles, signs, and wonders that Jesus had following the Word that He preached. To unconditionally love my brothers and sisters in the Lord, to have the compassion for lost souls that Jesus had (which I do), and to reach this generation for Jesus Christ before Jesus Christ returns to earth the second time.

There are over one hundred names that relate to Jesus; here are some of them. He is called:

Alpha and Omega

the Beginning and the Ending

Bread of Life

Bright and Morning Star

Christ of God

Counselor

Creator

Deliverer

He is the Door

Great High Priest

Heir of all things

Holy One of God

Horn of Salvation

I Am

Image of God

Immanuel

King of the Jews

King of Kings

Lamb

Lamb of God

He is Life

Light of the World

Lion of the Tribe of Judah

Lord of Host

Man of Suffering

Mediator

Messenger of the Covenant

Messiah

The Anointed One

Mighty God

Nazarene

Prince of Peace

Prophet

Redeemer

Resurrection of Life

Rock

Savior

Wonderful

the Way

Jesus is God because He was with God from the beginning.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word [living Word, not written word] was God.

— John 1:1

[…] Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.

— John 8:58, NKJV

Here are two of the most convincing scriptures concerning Jesus as God:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things.

— Colossians 1:15–17a, NKJV

In Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

— Colossians 2:9, NKJV

Jesus was God in the flesh. Amazingly so, the baby that was born in a manger, who grew up in Nazareth and worked in the sawdust and shavings of Joseph the carpenter shop, was convincingly the Son of God or God in the flesh.

The Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John takes us to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, especially the Gospel of Luke, And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness Luke 4:1. The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world John 1:29.

It is recorded where Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and also pray to be alone with God, this is where the devil attacked Jesus with three temptations, and He overcame every single one of them and the devil. These temptations were pertaining to the world, flesh, and the devil and his evil deeds. Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness was an example to us that we should fast and pray and be alone with God; the author is not insinuating that anyone should go in some wilderness somewhere and fast and pray for forty days but to emphasize fasting once in a while, which crucifies the flesh, purifies the mind, and increases the power of God in an individuals life. More will be dealt with in another chapter pertaining to fasting. But here is the record from the Bible.

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

And the devil, taking him ups into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:

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 dash thy foot against a stone.

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

— Luke 4:1–12

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

— Luke 4:14

Jesus’ way to fame was not to be popular but to meet the people’s needs, glorify, and do God’s will. Today’s way to fame is the person with a magnificent name, with degrees behind his or her name, and being popular with the crowd.

And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

— Luke 4:15

Jesus was already preaching the good news of the kingdom of God, which is peace and salvation through Him, healing the sick, casting out devils with miracles, signs, and wonders, following the word He preached. But up until this present time, hardly anyone really understood who He really was, and they began following Him by the thousands; why? Because of the word, the truth, and the power of miracles, there was something different about Jesus, supernaturally different, plus their souls were being nourished by the word He preached, their spirits were being lifted, their faith began to increase to believe God for greater things.

The dawn of a new Sabbath day had broken. The sun was with rays of sunlight protruding through the clouds, shining majestically with multicolored rays of sunshine upon the hills and valleys and upon the little town of Nazareth as everyone else was walking to the synagogue, including Jesus. This is the first time Jesus had returned to Nazareth, where He was born. Jesus walked majestically into the synagogue, and the presiding priest had respect and honor for Jesus. As Jesus entered the synagogue and sat down, the priest gave Him the book of the prophet Isaiah to read, and here is the written account from Luke, chapter 4,

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

— Luke 4:16–19

Everyone in the synagogue suddenly felt a ray of hope and praised God as they said these words, Alas! Deliverance has come. This homegrown boy, now one of their own ministers, was going to deliver us from our sins, sicknesses, diseases, problems, poverty, and depression and give us peace of mind. Also, He will definitely deliver us from the oppression of the Roman government and be at peace with our neighboring cities.

Jesus continued reading:

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

And he