Will You Be Gods?

Let me get into the sermon here. There's a basic litmus test in mainstream Christianity today that requires a person to believe in the Trinity. And that's the only way you can be accepted into pretty much every Christian denomination, including some Sabbath-keeping groups, like the Seventh-day Adventists, who believe in the Trinity. So, as you know, this teaching is that the Holy Spirit is a divine person in the God family, along with the Father and Son. But if you take a closer look at their belief, it's simply not biblical. And here's the problem. It does not truly show the nature of God. And it does not truly show what our destiny is. It clouds and hides that. Can you become a Christian if you deny the Trinity? Are we considered Christians because we deny the Trinity? There's a huge California church called Grace to You. And on their website on the front page at GTY.org, they have a big question, can you become a Christian if you deny the Trinity? And then they answer it. No. If you don't believe in the Trinity, then you don't understand who God is. I beg to differ with that answer. And I would say they don't understand who God is as a result. It is a tragedy that the Christian world has embraced such a giant fraud that he's actually rooted in pagan philosophy. The Trinity doctrine was foreign to the writers of the Bible. And it originated several centuries after the New Testament was completed. So here on this day of Pentecost, let's confirm what the Holy Spirit is and see how it affects our lives as Christians. Because remember, it was on this day in 31 AD that the New Testament Church of God was founded. We're going to re-examine our marvelous potential in God's family. The teaching of the Trinity masks that truth of what God has in store for each of us. And so I've titled this sermon with a question, Will you be gods? What is the Holy Spirit? If it's not what is commonly taught with the Trinity doctrine? One of the simplest descriptions of the Holy Spirit is, it is the power of the highest. With a capital H, the power of the highest. Let's turn to Zechariah 4 verse 6, if you would. Note what we read in Zechariah 4 verse 6. Because rather than describing the Holy Spirit as a distinct person or entity, the Bible often refers to it as, and connects it with, God's divine power. Zechariah 4 verse 6 we read, so he answered and said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Of course, part of a greater prophecy here. But, quote, not by your might nor by your power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. So it's not our own power that things get accomplished, through which things get accomplished, but through God's power, through God's Spirit, His power. Look at Micah chapter 3 verse 8, a few books back. Micah 3 verse 8. Because it's God's power and might, not our own power and might, that gets things accomplished, and it comes from God's Spirit. Micah 3 verse 8, but truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. Now, Jewish scholars examining references to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Scriptures have never defined the Holy Spirit as anything but the power of God.

And then in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul referred to it as the Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. That's in 2 Timothy chapter 1, the Spirit of power, love and a sound mind. Here's another example of the power of the highest. In informing Mary that Jesus would be supernaturally conceived in her womb, an angel told Mary, quote, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and then the divine messenger described his Spirit to her as, quote, the power of the highest, which will overshadow you.

It's in Luke chapter 1. The power of the highest, Mary was told, would be involved in the conception of her child. And then in a statement that Jesus himself actually made about this day, about the day of Pentecost, Jesus told his followers in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. It's in Acts chapter 1 verse 8.

You will receive power. Didn't say you'll receive an introduction to a third person in the God family or in the God, in the Trinity. No, you'll receive power. A few of us were talking at dinner last night about what it must have been like on that day. Of course, they would have been at church on the Sabbath beforehand, thinking, okay, it's tomorrow they said we were going to receive power. I wonder what it'll be like. Would you sleep that night thinking, what's it going to be like on Pentecost the next day?

Because Jesus said we're going to receive power. I wonder what they thought that was going to be like. Then they all gathered together on the day of Pentecost and received that power in a very visible way, with tongues of fire descending upon each of them, so that it was pretty obvious that the church was beginning that day. But no doubt, some apprehension, some excitement about this day by the early church, wondering what kind of power would they receive. Jesus, working through the Apostle Paul, said in Romans 15 verse 19, in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God.

So I'm just giving some examples of how the Holy Spirit is referred to as a power, not as a person. That's in Romans 15 verse 19. So here's what the New Catholic Encyclopedia admits. And of course, the Catholics are the main proponents of the Trinity belief. The New Catholic Encyclopedia in volume 13, page 574, such a giant encyclopedia. This is in volume 13. Quote, the Old Testament clearly does not envisage God's Spirit as a person. God's Spirit is simply God's power. And it continues, the majority of New Testament texts reveal God's Spirit as some thing, not some one.

This is especially seen in the parallelism between the Spirit and the power of God. So I really don't understand why they came up with a doctrine when they admit that. The Catholic dictionary under the title of the Holy Trinity, on page 827, says, on the whole the New Testament, like the Old, speaks of the Spirit as a divine energy or power. So even the proponents of the Trinity know that's not what Scripture teaches us. Excuse me.

They know that's not what God's Word says. God's Word shows how the Holy Spirit is a very nature, presence, and expression of God's power actively working in His people. It's also shown to be the mind of God, how He thinks and gets things done and accomplished through His power, and the very essence through which our Father in heaven begets human beings as His spiritual children, which is what we're leading towards here in the sermon.

The Holy Spirit is spoken of in many ways that demonstrate that it is not a divine person. For example, it is referred to as a gift, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, that God gives without limit. Let me mention a few more ways the Holy Spirit is referred to. We're told the Holy Spirit cannot be quenched. Sorry, it can be quenched. Be careful. The Holy Spirit can be quenched. That it can be poured out on people. You can't pour out a person.

And that we are baptized with it. People can drink of it, partake of it, be filled with it. The Holy Spirit also renews us. It must be stirred up within us. These are very impersonal characteristics, and certainly not attributes of a person or personal being. The Spirit is also described by other designations as the Holy Spirit of promise, the guarantee of our inheritance, and the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. These all show it's not a person. And in contrast to God the Father and Jesus Christ, who are consistently compared to human beings in their form and shape. The Holy Spirit is consistently represented by other types of symbols and manifestations in a completely different manner, such as breath, wind, fire, water, oil. Remember the parable of the 10 virgins? The Holy Spirit is referred to as oil. As a dove, as an earnest or down payment on eternal life. And of course I've got scripture references for all these if you're interested and want to check some of them out. But these depictions are difficult to understand if the Holy Spirit is a person. Let's notice Matthew 1, verse 20. Turn there with me, if you would, to Matthew 1, verse 20. Because here's a another proof that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct entity. Matthew 1, verse 20.

So this is Joseph here wondering about how his wife suddenly got pregnant, or actually his fiancé at the time got pregnant. While Joseph thought about these things, Matthew 1, verse 20, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take you, marry your wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

Now this is actually another proof that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct entity, but God's divine power. Here we read that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. However, he continually prayed throughout his life, Jesus did, and addressed God the Father as his Father, not the Holy Spirit as his Father. If he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit was a person or a being, he would have prayed to his Father, the Holy Spirit. But no, he never represented the Holy Spirit as his Father, but God the Father as his Father, and prayed to the Father. So another proof here, that the Holy Spirit itself is not a divine being or person. Clearly the Holy Spirit was the agency or the power through which the Father begot Jesus as his Son, not a separate person or being altogether. And so, contrary to the Trinitarian teaching, Scripture reveals the Holy Spirit not as a person, but as something much different, the divine power through which God acts.

We've had some interesting experiences over the years at the Home Office over the last 20 or more years, beginning when we first started to air our Good News Radio program. You may recall back in about 1999, we brought Gary Petty in to do Good News Radio programs. And we did hundreds of them over those years. And you might think, and most media representatives would tell us, that we could expect the most responsive and success by airing our radio program on religious stations. But we found the opposite. The religious stations were the worst. We found that our radio program did best on generic news talk stations. The kind of stations you'd find like Rush Limbaugh on or something, you know, the news talk stations? Not religious stations. And our contracts on Christian radio stations were often cancelled by the station just a few weeks into our contract. Why? Because they found out because they found out we did not believe in the Trinity. You're cancelled. So litmus tests, like I said at the beginning of the sermon, so litmus tests as to whether or not you're a true Christian according to them. And they would say, do you not believe in Jesus? If you don't believe in the Trinity, how you don't, you obviously don't believe in Jesus. We say, yes, we believe in Jesus. We are Christians. We believe in Christ. We're Christians. They say, do you believe in the Father? Yes. Do you believe in Jesus? Yes. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Yes. Well, but you're not Trinitarian? No. You know, yeah, we believe in the Holy Spirit, don't we? We believe in the Holy Spirit as the power of God and how He gets things done. One of the major problems with the Trinity doctrine is that it shields understanding of the crucial role of God's Spirit as the power of God and what this means for our eternal destiny in God's family. The belief in the Trinity is that it's a closed, triune system that will not have any more beings added to it. It's complete as a Trinity.

It won't be added to.

But the Holy Spirit is a power that made and sustains the universe. It's the same power we can receive directly from God. And this Spirit empowers us to live a life of growing, overcoming, and transforming our lives to become like Jesus Christ. Look at Romans 8 verse 9, for example.

The Spirit is a power of God used to transform our lives and renew our minds. And in Romans chapter 8, we read a lot about the Holy Spirit and what it is and what it does. And the Apostle Paul here in the book of Romans helps us understand how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a Christian. And of course, here on this day of Pentecost, this is what it's all about. The giving of the Holy Spirit to God's people. Romans 8 verse 9. Look at 9 part b, the last half. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. So if you want to be considered part of the body of Christ, you have to also have the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 14.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

You have to be led by the Spirit of God to be a son of God. You have to have the Spirit of God to be considered part of the Christ body. Here we see that to be considered God's children, we must be led by the Spirit of God.

And it's through the power and influence of God's Spirit that we allow Christ to live in us.

We succeed through God's power working in our lives, not through our own efforts. So it says here in verse 14, if you're led by the Spirit of God, you're a son or daughter of God. How does God's Spirit lead us? How does it work in our lives? What does it do?

Without the power of God's Spirit, we can have no deep, close relationship with the Father. It's essential to have God's Spirit to have a relationship with the Father, a deep relationship. Nor can we become His children without it, is what we read. And it's because the Spirit dwells in us that we are called the children of God. But notice you're led by the Spirit of God there in verse 14. God's Spirit does not force you, drag you along, drive you. No, it leads us. It won't prevent us from sinning if we want to sin, if we choose to. It won't force us to do what is right, but it will lead us, as we're filled with it, to do what's right and prick our conscience when we don't follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. I just have six brief ways here of how the Holy Spirit leads us. You might want to jot them down, and there are no doubt other ways as well, but just six that I'll mention briefly and give just one scripture for each. Number one, the Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind. It keeps us in contact with God's mind. We read in 1 John 3 verse 24. Here's how the apostle John describes it in 1 John 3 verse 24. He who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit who he has given us. If you want to abide with God, if you want to abide with the Father, if you want to abide with Christ, you have to have the Spirit given to you. 1 John 3 verse 24. So the Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind, and it's through the Spirit which he gives us that we can be influenced by God for the good and obey his commandments. When Jesus promised the apostles he would send the Spirit to them on the day of Pentecost, he said it would guide them into all truth.

That's in John chapter 16. He said the Spirit will guide you into all truth. You know, it'll put you in contact with God's will, with God's mind. So the whole Spirit keeps us in contact with the mind of God. Secondly, how does the Spirit lead us? God's Spirit inspires a deeper understanding of his word.

So many people read the Bible, don't they? But they come up with some different ideas than what we come up with. The Holy Spirit, when you have that, gives you a deeper understanding of God's word. I have 1 Corinthians 2 verse 10 written down for this one. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 10.

Paul tells the Corinthians, God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. What is revealed to us through his Spirit? The verse goes on to say in 1 Corinthians 2.10, For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. The Holy Spirit helps you understand the deep things of God's plan, of his will. Without God's Spirit, a person cannot understand God's divinely expressed word and will properly. Actually, read in verse 14 of the same chapter, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14, For their foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. So the ways of God are seen as foolish by those who don't have the Spirit. Seen as foolishness, Paul reminded the Corinthians. So for a deeper understanding of God's word, you need the Spirit to be led by that Spirit. Number three I've written down is the Holy Spirit makes overcoming possible. So it leads us, it gives us understanding, it puts us in contact with God's mind, and it helps us put sin out of our lives. Makes overcoming possible. Nothing is then too difficult for us with the power of God working in us. I wrote down Romans 8 verse 26 for this one. Once again back in Romans chapter 8 where there's a lot said about the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 verse 26, Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. See, it gives us strength to overcome. When we're weak, it gives us power. When we need strength, it's there for us. Romans 8 verse 26 continues, For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought to, but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. So Romans 8, 26, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses and intercedes for us to help us even to be inspired what to pray for and what to think about.

The Christian life is to be one of overcoming this world, overcoming Satan, overcoming ourselves, becoming more like the Father and Jesus Christ. And so we realize when we're filled with the Holy Spirit that God doesn't want us to remain as we were when He called us. He wants us to change, to grow, to overcome, to be a better person, to become more like the Father and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit makes overcoming possible. I wrote down number four, As the Spirit of God convicts our conscience and helps us see sin as it really is. The Spirit of God convicts our conscience.

So you say something you shouldn't, you do something you ought not, and then that's a little niggling away in your mind. I need to repent of that. I need to tell God I'm sorry. I need a change. Your conscience gets bothered when you're filled with the Spirit and you don't follow God's lead. I wrote down John 16 verse 8 for this one, because God's Spirit working within us works with our conscience, helps us to recognize and avoid John 16 verse 8. By the way, as I read these, when it refers to the Holy Spirit, often the New King James and the King James says, he, right? When you receive the Spirit that says, he. That's because in the Greek everything has to be either male or female. And so the translators made the Holy Spirit a male. He, like a table, a lecture, and a piano, has to be either listed as a male or a female. Same in Spanish and French, right? So in the Greek it's like that. So they made the Holy Spirit a he, but a much better translation is it, because we understand it's not a person. It's not a he or a she. And so I'm reading it today. If I keep saying it, you'll know why. John 16 verse 8, and when the Holy Spirit, when it has come, it will convict the world of sin and and of righteousness and of judgment. So the Holy Spirit convicts your mind when you sin, convicts our conscience. And in speaking of the Holy Spirit, which would be given to His followers after His death, after His resurrection, Jesus said it would convict the world of sin, right here. These are Jesus' own words. The guilt we feel when we sin is real, because we're prompted by the Holy Spirit to realize that we need to change. Our mind, our heart, our conscience is pricked when we see sin as it really is. Number five, the Holy Spirit produces godly fruit in us. So another way the Spirit leads us is by producing godly fruit. Just as an apple tree produces apples, God's Spirit produces a particular type of fruit in the life of a Christian. And it's not apples, it's godly fruit. Paul lists the fruit that should be evident in those who are led by God's Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in Galatians chapter 5, right? Look at 2 Peter chapter 1, though. Here's a slightly different list of fruit or how the Holy Spirit leads and guides us to be better people, to be more like Christ. In 2 Peter 1, starting in verse 4, because the Apostle Peter sums up the process of growing into spiritual maturity. He gives the steps we go through to become more like God. In 2 Peter 1 verse 4, first of all, there's a very important statement here, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. And what is this great promise? That through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. What does that mean to be eventually become partaking of the divine nature?

We'll continue having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

In verse 5, we then get this list of how to grow spiritually. For this very reason, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue. To virtue knowledge. So you've got to study and learn, right, about God. Knowledge. To knowledge self-control. Because then you've got to make sure you do it. To self-control perseverance. To perseverance godliness. To godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. Ultimately, having the love of God, you should go through all those steps of conversion. The Holy Spirit produces godly fruit in us. Virtue, perseverance, kindness, diligence, and love.

That we, it says in verse 4, may be partakers of the divine nature.

So when you become like God and start to act like God, you start to take on a different nature. You take on the nature of God, the divine nature. And we're going to talk about by taking of the divine nature a bit more in just a minute, because that is our ultimate destiny as human beings. It's a very important concept that we're going to consider here in a minute. Number six on how the Holy Spirit leads us. The Spirit of God comforts, encourages, and helps us. Comforts, encourages, and helps us. If we go to John chapter 14, get back to John again one more time, John 14 verse 16 and 17. Because Jesus Christ promised that after He was gone, He would send His followers, the Holy Spirit, as a helper or a comforter. And this is what we often read during the Passover service, right? Here in John chapter 14 verse 16. He says, I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another helper, that it may abide with you forever. Verse 17, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees it nor knows it, but you know it, for it will dwell with you and be in you. The Holy Spirit will be in you, Christ said, the Spirit of truth. So it gives us comfort and encourages and helps us. True comfort and reassurance comes from God's Spirit dwelling in us. And God's Spirit gives us the assurance that whatever happens, however bad in our life, will work out eventually for the best, to those who love God and to those who are the cold according to His purpose. That's in Romans chapter 8 verse 28. You're familiar with that. This assurance provides an outlook on life that is rare in our world. When you're filled with the Spirit, you have a certain confidence and assurance that you know the end of the game, the last play. You know what's in store for you eventually, no matter what you're going through at the moment. And that is to be sons and daughters in God's family. Yes, we can get discouraged, but it's through the Holy Spirit that we can begin to look at life differently and be encouraged and comforted. God works in our lives through His Holy Spirit actually to transform us into something else, enabling us to obey Him and grow in His way. And then at the resurrection, we will experience an awe-inspired transformation to Spirit life at Christ's return.

Let's now examine for a moment how God's Spirit leads us to our ultimate destiny, our ultimate destiny. This ultimate destiny is clouded by the Trinity teaching. But with a true understanding of the Holy Spirit, our destiny becomes clear. What is our future? What's the ultimate goal God has for each of us?

And so I ask and repeat the title of today's sermon, Will You Be Gods? Will you be gods?

Seen as a blasphemous question by some. Will you be gods?

Let's turn to John chapter 10. The Jews of Jesus' day accused Him of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God.

And if we read John chapter 10 verses 33 through 36, we'll see the story. John 10 verse 33. And the Jews answered Him, you know, the Jews were complaining and trying to pressure Christ, and they answered Him saying, for a good work, we do not stone you. You know, just because you do something good on the Sabbath, we're not going to stone you. But for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God, you know, we're going to stone you for that.

Verse 34, Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law? Yeah, we said not written in the Old Testament, right? I said, you are gods. Of course, right there He's saying that He helped write the Old Testament, right? Jesus is saying that I said you are gods. And verse 35, He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came, the Scripture cannot be broken. Do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, speaking of Himself, you are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God? In other words, Jesus Christ said, if Scripture in the Old Testament outright called human beings gods, which we're going to read in a moment, why are you upset when I merely state that I'm God's Son?

Yet, are human beings actually gods? What did Jesus mean?

It's Psalm 82 verse 6 that Jesus was referring to. Psalm 82 verse 6. And in Psalm 82 verse 6, we read, I said, you are gods, and all of you are children of the most high.

So if you're a child of God, then you're also part of the God family, is what it's saying here in Psalm 82 verse 6. The key here is the word children. We must understand that God is creating a family, a divine family, a family of gods, of more than one person.

And as we know from Scripture, there is one God, the God family, comprising more than one God being right now, the Father and the Son. The God family from the beginning comprise two divine beings, God and the Word. And the Word became flesh 2000 years ago as Jesus Christ.

After Jesus' human life and then death, he was resurrected to divine spirit existence as the firstborn from the dead. So there'll be more. He was the first. He was the firstborn from the dead and the firstborn among many brethren. Let's read Romans 8 again. Romans this time verse 29. Romans 8 verse 29.

For whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. So Christ was just the first of many to be resurrected as spirit beings. The first of many brethren. Who are the many brethren? It's the saints. It's God's people. It's Christ's brothers and sisters. The brethren. It's you and me. Let's go to Acts 17 and read about the offspring of God. Jesus was spiritually born in the resurrection as the first of many brethren, or the first of many children to follow. And here in Acts 17 verses 28 and 29 we read that we are God's offspring.

So parents here today, you have kids. They're your offspring.

God is doing the same thing. He's creating offspring. Kids. Acts 17 verse 28, For in him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. And the word for offspring here is the Greek word genos. Like we get genealogy, right? Genos. Ospering. Verse 29, therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Now as God's offspring, we will partake of the divine nature, which is not something physical. It's not like a rock or a stone or a piece of gold.

It's spiritual. The Greek word for offspring, genos, here means kindred, race, kind, stock, or family. So we are the family of God, we are the stock of God, we are the kindred of God. And Genesis 1 reminds us that God's purpose in creating man, and in his own image and likeness, was to make him according to the God-kind, to reproduce himself through mankind. The offspring of cats are cats. The offspring of dogs are dogs. The offspring of humans, here, are more little humans.

The offspring of God are, in Christ's own words, gods.

Children of God, God's children, God's kids. Now we have to be careful here, of course, because there's no one here right now that is literally a god. Okay?

Not yet, at any rate. Not yet. We are currently human beings. But as we partake of the divine nature through the power of the Holy Spirit, we're heading towards that goal of being resurrected as a spirit being.

At present, we've been created in God's image, in his likeness, on a physical, mortal level. We can die. We're not spirit. And we have limited dominion over our lives, over our homes, over our animals, over our jobs, over our kids. Limited dominion right now. We resemble God, but without his divine character and glory. We're made in his image, but right now we don't have the glory that he has. And we limit it in the divine character that we're able to produce at the moment through his spirit.

But another aspect of this is that men and women have the ultimate potential of becoming the same kind of beings the Father and Christ now are, and with power and glory.

Amazingly, God's purpose is to exalt human beings from this fleshly existence to the divine spirit existence he has in heaven.

Let's turn to Romans chapter 8 again. Okay? More about the Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8. Because the ultimate outcome for us is divine glory. We are God's children, and the spiritual reproductive process starts with God's spirit joining with our human spirit. Remember, we read in Corinthians, there is a spirit in man. There is a spirit in man. And then there's God's spirit that he gives us in addition to our own spirit. Romans 8 verse 16.

The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. So when God grants us his Holy Spirit, puts his Holy Spirit in us, along with our spirit, our human spirit, we then become a child of God.

Verse 17, and if children, if we're his kids, then we become heirs. Just like our kids inherit our home when we die or whatever, we become heirs of what God has, and joint heirs with Christ. See, that joint heirs with Christ. What Christ was given, we'll get some of that too. If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. That we may be glorified. And through this miraculous union, we become partakers of the divine nature and have the potential for glory. That's in 2 Peter 1.4, remember, where we read that we partake of the divine nature. The spirit-begotten Christian is a child of God, an actual member of the God family, but not yet in the ultimate sense, of course, as it will be when we're resurrected. Because as children of God, we must still go through a developmental process in this human life. A period of building godly character. A period of showing God that we will follow his lead, that we'll follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. That we'll repent when we sin. That we'll change our lives, becoming more and more like God in this physical life, in the way we think and behave. And then at the end of this life, of becoming more like God and taking on godliness, in the resurrection at Christ's return, we will be changed. We read in the twinkling of an eye, right, it'll be instant, will be changed into divine spirit beings like the Father and Christ. Look at 1 John 3, verses 1 and 2 for a moment. 1 John 3, verses 1 and 2. See how this amazing truth is recorded by the Apostle John. 1 John 3, verse 1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Now, what a wonderful thing to be called God's children. Think about it. The creator of the universe. And he says, you're my kids. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him. You know, not everybody has this understanding just yet. Verse 2, but beloved, now we are children of God. In a sense, we are already now children of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, and when Christ returns, when we see him again, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. So we will be like Christ at the resurrection. In fact, to expand upon this, we are told in numerous passages of Scripture that we will receive divine glory.

The glory of the Father and Christ. I'm just going to note three of them. There are a lot more than this, but I'm just going to read three of them to you about the glory the saints receive when Christ returns. 1 Peter 5 verse 10. 1 Peter 5 verse 10. 1 Peter 5 verse 10. May the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. So we read, we're called to eternal glory. Colossians 1 verse 27. Colossians 1 verse 27. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

We too have the hope of glory through Christ living in us, through the Holy Spirit. One more. Hebrews 2.10. And this is part of the vision statement for the United Church of God. Part of it is taken from Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10. For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Talking about Jesus Christ. But the purpose is to bring many sons to glory.

So we read eternal glory, the hope of glory, bringing sons to glory. And there are many more passages just like that, that talk about the ultimate destiny of the saints.

As co-inheritors with Christ, we will receive dominion over all things, including the entire vast universe along with Jesus Christ.

So, consider this. I'll repeat it again.

Converted human beings are to one day possess divine nature, divine glory, and total power over the creation, sharing God's infinite knowledge.

This biblical truth that is hidden by the common doctrine of the Trinity comes as quite a shock to those who've only heard the traditional view of mainstream Christianity regarding the ultimate reward of simply going to heaven. They don't even really know what it's like or what it is. Just go to heaven when you die.

Or go to hell. Of course, no one thinks they're going there.

They did a survey one time and asked everybody when they died if they thought they're going to heaven and hell. Everybody said heaven. No one said they were going to hell. But even so, the early church fathers of mainstream Christianity even did understand this incredible truth, at least in part. Let me quote to you from Athanasius. This is from the fourth century, the five hundreds. Sorry, the three hundreds. From Athanasius. It's a book called Incarnation of the Word, chapter 54, section 3. For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.

So in the fourth century, that's what was commonly believed. That the Son of God became man so that we might become God. When was that understanding lost? Pretty soon afterwards, when the Trinity doctrine came along. From Thomas Aquinas. This is from the 13th century. The only begotten Son of God wanting to make us share in His divinity assumed our nature. He became like man. So that He made man, might make men, gods. That's Thomas Aquinas from Epuschiculum 57, lectures 1-4, pages 112-113. There you go. Just in case someone's listening wants to get that quote. But there are many other quotes like this from early church believers. Then just these two I quoted. Becoming like God was a commonly accepted view during the early Christian centuries before the Trinity doctrine took hold. And so you can see how it's just warped people's understanding of our destiny. That doctrine has. It's clouded the truth.

The earliest theologians, closer to the original apostles, show no hint of Trinitarian ideas. Here's a remarkable statement from the second century bishop, Irenaeus. Now, Irenaeus, or Irenaeus, was taught when young by a disciple of the Apostle John. He had John, one of John's disciples, and then he taught Irenaeus. Here's what Irenaeus says in Against Heresies Book 4. There is none other called God by the Scriptures, except the Father of all and the Son, and those who possess sonship as God's children.

I'll read it again. There is none other called God by the Scriptures, except the Father, the Son, and those who are God's children. That's what he's saying. So rather than the Trinitarian one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Irenaeus proclaimed one God, one God that includes the Father, the Son, and us.

And he was a disciple of, originally, through the Apostle John.

So it's us, the multitude of sons and daughters that will also be brought to glory.

So there was an understanding of this almost 2,000 years ago, but it got lost when a heretical doctrine was introduced to replace it. More recent authors have glimpsed of biblical truth as well about man's destiny, and one of the most remarkable quotes is from C.S. Lewis, perhaps the most popular Christian writer of the last century. But in Mere Christianity, page 176, C.S. Lewis says, quote, He said in the Bible that we were gods, and he's going to make good his words, if we let him, for we can prevent him if we choose. The process will be long and in parts very painful, but that is what we are in for. Nothing less he meant what he said. C.S. Lewis is just reading the scripture from Psalms and from the words of Christ himself, and then going through and reading all the passages about the saints taking on divine glory. God is preparing to add others to his family.

Again, there are present two fully divine members of the God family, two distinct beings, God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ, but as incredible as it might sound to some, there are more to come. Those who enter this family as glorified in the immortal children of God, of course, will never challenge the preeminence of the Father and Christ as leaders of the family. We won't do what Satan tried to do and take over God's throne. Now, we will prove ourselves now in this life, will be tested now, so that we would never challenge the preeminence of the Father and the Son in the family, as the head of the family. The Father and Jesus Christ remain at the top of the family forever, because unlike us, the Father and Son are uncreated.

They never had a beginning. They are living eternally.

Through time without beginning, they are different. We will never be quite like that, but we will be kids in that family. We'll be sons and daughters of God. This, then, is why we are here.

This is why we've been imparted the Holy Spirit. As we read in some scriptures, it's like a down payment, or as a deposit on what we will eventually receive in full. We've got a little bit of the Holy Spirit in us now that God has given to his church that began back in in 31 A.D. It's the awe-inspiring purpose for which we were created. It's the potential destiny of all mankind. And as Jesus quoted, seeing our future, he said, you are God's.

Our future can't get any higher than that. The Trinity is a closed family. Closed family teaching. It doesn't allow for God's family to expand like this. And it denies the truth we know that God is a growing family of which we can become part.

And so it's a tragedy, really, that the Christian world has embraced such a giant fraud. This actually goes back to paganism, if you look into it.

But the truth of God is plain for those led by his Spirit. And we covered six points about how to be led by God's Spirit. The truth does astound the mind in the immensity and grandeur of its scope. This is not a minor thing. It's our ultimate destiny. And that's why we work hard to follow God, to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, to put sin out of our lives like we did, you know, during Unleavened Bread, we focused on that. This is why we look forward to the resurrection. This is why we do what we do. This is why we proclaim that message of the coming Kingdom of God to the world as best we're able. And so may you hold fast to this stunning and glorious destiny God has promised in his word. He's promised it to us. And on this day of Pentecost, may you be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and do his will.