FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR

Transcription

1 FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR Rev. William Soto Santiago, Ph.D. rd Sunday, June 3, 2012 Cayey, Puerto Rico

2 FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR NOTES TO THE READER It is our intention to do an exact and faithful transcription of this Message, just as was preached; therefore any error in this writing is strictly error of hearing, transcription and impression; and should not be interpreted as errors of the Message. The contained text in this conference can be verified with the recordings of the audio or of the video. This pamphlet should be used only for personal purposes of study, until be published formally. Savior. In Your eternal and glorious Name, Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, to whom be the glory and honor for ever and ever. Amen and amen. With our hands raised up to Christ, to Heaven, we all say: The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin! The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin! The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin! Amen. In the different countries I leave you with the minister concerned to let you know how to be baptized in water in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have come to the Feet of Christ. Water baptism does not take away the sins, but the Blood of Christ our Savior is what cleanses us from all sin. Water baptism is typological, is in the likeness of death, burial and resurrection of Christ. When a person receives Christ as Savior, he dies to the world, and when the minister immerses him in the baptismal waters, typologically is being buried. And when he rises him from the waters of baptism, is being resurrected to a new Life: unto eternal Life with Christ in His eternal Kingdom. That is the symbolism, the type of water baptism in the Name of the Lord. That s why in water baptism in the Name of the Lord we identify with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Therefore, you may be baptized, and may Christ baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire and produce in you the new birth. I leave with you in every country the minister concerned to let you know how to be baptized in water in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have received Christ as only and sufficient Savior right now. May everyone continue spending a happy evening, filled with the blessings of Christ our Saviour, and until next Sunday God willing. "FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR."

3 26 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO Children ten years and older can also come to the Feet of Christ our Saviour, and those in other nations can also come to the Feet of Christ our Savior to be included in the prayer that we will be doing for all those who received Christ as only and sufficient Savior. Let's wait for a few minutes so that you may have time to come forward in the different countries, and if there is here someone that has not yet received Christ, you can do it also. We will stand on our feet to pray for people in different countries that are receiving Christ as Savior right now. With our hands raised up to Christ: to Heaven: Heavenly Father, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I bring to You all these people you are receiving You, receiving Christ as only and sufficient Savior. Lord, heavenly Father, receive them into Your Kingdom. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray, to whom be glory and honor for ever and ever. Amen. And now, those who have come to the Feet of Christ right now, repeat after me this prayer: Lord Jesus, I heard the preaching of Your Word, Your Gospel and Your faith was born in my heart. I believe in You with all my heart, I believe in Your first Coming, I believe in Your Name as the only Name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. I believe in Your death on the Cross of Calvary as the Sacrifice of Atonement for my sins and for the sins of every human being. I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I give public testimony of my faith in You and receive You as only and sufficient Savior. I beg You to forgive my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood from all sin and baptize me with the Holy Ghost and Fire after I am baptized in water in Your Name and produce in me the new birth. Lord, make Your salvation a reality in my life, the salvation You purchased on the Cross of Calvary for me and for every human being that receives You as only and sufficient FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR Rev. William Soto Santiago, Ph.D. rd Sunday, June 3, 2012 Cayey, Puerto Rico V ery good morning, kind friends and brethren present and also those in other nations through the Amazonas satellite or internet at this time. It is of great blessing to be with you on this occasion, to share with you a few moments of fellowship around the Word of God and His Program for this end time. We read in Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1 and onwards, and the Apostle Paul tells us by God's Word: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

4 4 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO May God bless our souls with His Word and allow us to understand. Our theme for this occasion is: "FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR." Since Scripture tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God, then we all need faith to please God, all that is not of faith is sin, says the Apostle Paul. The human being, being created by God in His image and likeness, is created by God of soul, spirit and body, and that is so because we find that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By God creating man in His image and likeness, we find him with soul, spirit and body, the most important part of the human being is the soul, which is equivalent to God the Father. Christ Himself said: "The Father is greater than I." He said it is the Father who did the works; that He did nothing of Himself, but the Father dwelling in Him, was who did the works. And the human being, being in the image and likeness of God, when the person works, it is the soul of the person working by means of his spirit and body. If the soul and the spirit leaves the person, the body cannot do anything; if one tries to shake his hand he cannot extend it, because that which is greater than the body of flesh came out: the spirit and soul of the person. The human being is a living soul, that is what in reality the human being is, and the spirit of the human being is a body of another dimension, like the physical body but from a different dimension, and the physical body of flesh is a house or temple where you as an individual live, but when the physical body dies, it does not mean that the person died, what it means is that your earthly temple or house, your physical body died, but the person who is a living soul continues to live in his spiritual body similar to the physical body, but of another dimension. If he is a believer in Christ, he goes to Paradise, which is the sixth dimension, if he is not a believer in Christ, he goes to the fifth dimension which is hell, to which no one wants to go, FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR of that. You give a Bible to them, send them messages, and so forth, so that when they hear the Word the Faith of Christ may born in their heart, because we all want our families to obtain salvation and eternal Life. Faith or faith is revelation, and therefore when that revelation comes and you catch it, you have faith, you have received faith and have faith for what you are looking for, either for divine healing or your salvation or of your family, or whether for other blessings, because there are no limits to the blessings of God if you believe it. "All you ask the Father in my Name, I will do," says Christ our Savior. Believe it with all your heart and God will do it. "FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR," and the evidence of things unseen, then what you believed materializes, becomes true; something cannot be materialized for you to believe thereafter, you have to believe first for it to become a reality. By faith we believe that by the Word of God the universe was made, created, because it's there, and that has come down to our heart and we believe it with all our soul, and we believe in Christ as our only and sufficient Savior. And if there is someone who has not yet received Christ as Savior, you can do it right now and we will be praying for you for Christ to receive you in His Kingdom, forgive you and cleanse you with His Blood from all sin, and you may be baptized in water in His Name and for Christ to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire and produce in you the new birth, and thus you enter in the Kingdom of God. As simple as that. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned." That is the divine promise given by Christ our Saviour, therefore, if there is any person who has not yet received Christ as Savior, you can do it right now and we will be praying for you, for which you can come forward and we will be praying for you.

5 24 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO would become pregnant and would have a child.? Sarah laughed in disbelief, God rebuked her, and then God confirmed that at that same time the following year at the time of life Sarah would have a child. Abraham at the age of a hundred years old, and Sarah ninety years old, would have the child, the promised son: Isaac, which means 'laughter.' Abraham in another chapter or previous chapter had laughed when God tells him that the child that he was to have, which would be his heir; Abraham laughed, but not with disbelief, but out of joy, thinking (he was confirming the promise), when Sarah laughed was disbelief; these are two ways in which people can laugh in relation to a divine promise. Abraham with faith, with faith in his soul, in his heart, his laughter was a laughter of faith, of joy. And now, since the promised son represents Christ who is the heir of God, and the believers in Christ are joint-heirs with Christ our Savior. We are in a very important time where we have to be aware, up to date, in the Scripture, in the Word of the Lord, so that our faith may not falter but continue to grow more and more until it becomes perfect faith, to such a degree that we can be transformed and carried with Christ to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Some have called it "rapturing faith," faith for change and rapture, as also the Rev. William Branham commonly called it. Therefore, it is important for our faith to continue to grow within the soul as we hear the Word of God, that's how faith grows, based on the promised Word of God. Every promised Word of God is conquered by the person with and by faith; to believe for salvation faith is needed in the soul, in the heart; to believe for the salvation of our family, also that faith must be inside the soul, within the heart, and we must keep on believing that God will do for our families, for our family, what we ask, that they will receive salvation. How will it be? How will God do it? God will take care FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR... 5 because everyone wants to go to Heaven, to Paradise which is the sixth dimension, for which it is required for the person to have faith. The human being, him being soul, spirit and body has five senses in his physical body, which are: vision (or sight), hearing, touch, taste and smell, and his spirit, the spirit of man has five senses as well, which are: imagination, reasoning, conscience, memory and affection. You do not love with the body you love with the spirit, that is how you express filial love, human love, which some people also call it love, but it is human love. You also remember things by the sense of memory, when your memory is affected, you begin to forget things, and some reach such a degree that they lose their memory. Conscience: It is important that the sense of conscience is always active in the person to be aware of all the things that surrounds him, and of his own life; being aware of good and evil to take the path of good, aware that the person is a sinner and needs a Savior; if one is not aware of that, the person is not going to worry about the salvation of his soul. Reasoning: In order to judge between good and evil and thus to act properly, in order to act properly you need to have good reasoning. And the imagination: a person without imagination is found in a very sad situation, a person sees in his spirit with imagination. Each of the senses of the spirit are linked or connected with the body's senses. And we go over to the soul: the soul has only one sense, which is the free moral agency to believe or to doubt, the person doubts or believes with his soul, for that reason Christ said that "he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." The person, by having free moral agency which is the sense of the soul, believes or doubts; by hearing the preaching of

6 6 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO the Gospel of Christ faith is born in the soul, in the heart of the person, before the person is set the right to believe or to doubt, and through the free moral agency that the person has, when the faith of Christ is born in his soul, he receives Christ as only and sufficient Savior, or rejects Him. Therefore, in the soul there is only one sense, and that is why the Scripture says: "The soul that sins shall die," because that is what actually the person is: soul, living soul, which exists and lives in a spiritual body called: spirit, and in a body of flesh called: human body. And now, the human being who is a living soul; without faith it is impossible for him to please God. Faith must be based on the Word of God, because faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans, chapter 10, verses 8 to 17). Therefore, it is important for a person to receive Christ as Savior, he must hear the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, because "how will they believe?" Paul says in Romans, chapter 10, verses 8 and on, says: But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Notice how salvation comes to the person, this is the way a person receives salvation and eternal Life. Remember that Christ said, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me, and I know and I give them eternal Life, and they shall never perish, my Father which gave them me is greater than all and no one can pluck them out from the hand My Father." Here Christ teaches us that the Father is greater than the veil of flesh called Jesus, and He says, according to His words, that His sheep, these are the people that are written in Heaven in the Lamb s Book of Life Lamb from before the foundation of the world, which through the history of Christianity would appear on FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR inside the heart, and you say, "That's me, that's my case," and believes it, and then obtains healing, why? Because it is the faith within the heart, believing what is said in that passage. The person at reading the Bible is identified with a character or is identified with main characters like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the patriarchs and other characters, and the women are identified with women servants of God in the Bible. And that's why they get biblical names, Christians will put their children biblical names, knowing and looking to see what the name means, because that name will influence the life of that child for all life. And if the name means something bad, it is best to take it off, his parents should remove it or he or she should take it away when he or she is old enough to do so. It is important to be aware of what you ask God and how to do it, and then that should be set there in the soul, no matter the situations, circumstances, keep on believing what you asked God, like Abraham, to whom God said He would give him a son through Sarah his wife, and she was seventy-five years old; and each year he expected the child and the child did not come, and now when she is old, Sara, eighty-nine and Abraham ninety nine, God appears to him with His Archangels Gabriel and Michael in physical form, Abraham offers them lunch, a calf, cheese and bread, milk, butter, and so on, which was offered to an important guest at that time. And then God says to him: "Do as you said," that is, He accepted the lunch Abraham offered Him. Abraham sent his servant to prepare the calf, told Sarah to make bread, and so forth they prepared everything, they brought it to Elohim and the other two, who were Gabriel and Michael, they ate under a tree, and Abraham with them, and then they had to go to Sodom, but first He says to him that "next year Sarah your wife will have a child," the child that had been promised to him. Sarah laughed, because which woman at eighty-nine years of age will be expecting to have intimate relations with her husband, who was ninety-nine years old, and would conceive,

7 22 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO who can bring peace to Israel. One can make many treaties, but those are humans treaties which last for a while and then disappear and are not perfect; but the Prince of Peace is the One who will bring peace to Jerusalem, to all Israel and to all the Hebrew people, to all Jews, and that will be in the Kingdom of the Messiah, in the Kingdom of David, which will be restored by the Son of David, the Messiah the Prince, for the end time. "FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR." The Word comes by faith being born, and grows... or faith comes by hearing the Word and faith grows by hearing the Word. If the person does not continue hearing the Word, is discouraged, his faith decays, and some depart from the Lord, the enemy takes out what was sown in the soul, in the heart of people, as in the parable of the sower: he who received seed by the wayside is the one who hears the Word and then comes the wicked one, the evil one, and plucks out, removes, what was sown in his heart, roots out that Word. So you have to be constantly hearing the Word of God, Scripture reading, listening to the messages and the like, and to keep receiving the Word, for the person's faith to grow, because faith is based in and upon the revealed Word of God to the person. That s why you have to put it within the soul, whatever you ask God, you must ask it from your soul, why? Because it is there where one believes, one believes with the soul, and therefore in there, which is the subconscious, is put whatever you have asked God, all requests from the heart, and Christ by His Spirit makes them a reality. "Whatever you ask the Father in my Name, I will do," says Christ. Therefore, one must know how to believe, not a mental faith, because that is intellectual, one must believe from within his heart. Sometimes there are people, I've gone through that experience, that reading a passage, and being with a health problem, it seems like the passage jumps out from there and gets FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR... 7 this Earth, they would hear the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, the faith of Christ would be born in their soul, they would believe and receive Him as only and sufficient Savior by using free moral agency correctly. Faith is a revelation, and not everyone has faith. Peter once heard Jesus ask in chapter 16 of Matthew: "Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?" and His disciples began to say: "Some say that Thou art Elijah or Jeremiah or John the Baptist or one of the prophets," in other words, "one of the prophets that is risen." If they thought that He was John the Baptist and John the Baptist was dead, they thought He was a prophet who had risen. Let's read it, chapter 16, verse 13 onwards of Matthew, says: When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: (in other words, many people thought Jesus was John the Baptist who had risen) some, Elijah Other people thought He was Elijah the prophet, because the Bible says: Behold I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. But Elijah was John the Baptist, Christ, in chapter 17 of Matthew, when coming down from Mount Transfiguration, His disciples asked Him: "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus says: "Elias truly shall first come and restore all things, but I say unto you that Elijah is already come and did not know him and did to him whatsoever was listed" (in other words, he was beheaded), and then His disciples understood He was speaking to them of whom? Of John the Baptist. In chapter 11 He had also said to them that John the Baptist was the Elijah who was to come. Chapter 11, verse 9 to 15, of Matthew. But He also says in Chapter 17: "Behold, Elijah will come first and restore all things." That is, an Elijah that was already there: John the Baptist, and another Elijah that will come

8 8 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO to restore all things, and that is for the end time before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and before it comes, consequently, the great tribulation where God's wrath will fall upon the human race: "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. " But in verse 2 of that Chapter 4 of Malachi says: But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing (salvation) in his wings. That's the second Coming of Christ with His Angels as promised and seen in Matthew, chapter 17, verses 1 to 9. And now, let s continue here, He said to them... His disciples tell Him: "... Elijah, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." That is, the majority of the people considered Him to be a prophet, but they did not know which prophet, they did not know that He was the prophet Messiah because the Messiah would be a prophet. Verse 16 continues saying (15 to 16): He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (and how did Peter know it?). And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. The revelation Peter had, he had received it from Heaven which is why he believed in Jesus Christ; he had the faith of Christ, believed in Christ as the Messiah prophet, the Son of David, who was promised to come to Earth in the corresponding time, and His ministry would be in the first half of the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy, chapter 9, verses 21 to 27. Mathematically the Coming of the Messiah was appointed for Him to have His ministry in the first part of the seventieth week, and each week of the seventy weeks of Daniel's book represent, each week, is composed of seven years; therefore, the seventy weeks are four hundred ninety years, since FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR see: For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. They were blessed by hearing Jesus and seeing Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise of the Coming of the Messiah, and by seeing Him, having received this revelation from Heaven, they were blessed. There were many who had studied hard, politics, and religion too, and economy and all, but they did not see Him as the Messiah, some saw Him as a madman, others said that He cast out demons by the finger of Beelzebub, and others said He was a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and so forth, trying to discredit him, defaming Him. But others said, when He raised the young man from the... at Nain, the widow of Nain had a son, a young man who died, and was the only breadwinner, and when they went to bury him, Jesus went there and had compassion on the widow of Nain, put His hand on the coffin, everyone stopped, He stopped them from walking toward the cemetery, and called the young man, He raised him. His mother, very happy, gave thanks to God of course, and Jesus, and the people of Nain were greatly afraid and said: "God has visited his people, because a great prophet has arisen among us." That is how God visits His people. There the people of Israel had visitations every time God sent a prophet, because the Holy Spirit was in the prophet, God through His Spirit speaking through the prophet. This is God s visitation. In Luke, chapter 19, there in verse 41 onwards, Jesus wept over Jerusalem when He saw it, said: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, He is the only one

9 20 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO His Voice and they would follow Him and He gives them what? Eternal Life, for that reason the Gospel of Christ is preached: to receive eternal Life when we receive Him as our only and sufficient Savior. Now we continue in Chapter we saw that to some is granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and to others is not granted, it is the sovereignty of God, it is not of him that willeth or runneth, but of God who has mercy: For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart (and with the heart they what? May understand), and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. What were they seeing and what were they hearing? They were seeing the promise of the Coming of the Messiah in the midst of His people Israel as the Messiah prophet as it was announced, and they were hearing the Messiah prophet, that s why the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ were blessed, because they were seeing and hearing what many wise men wanted to FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR... 9 the Word of God came or the King's word came forth for the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple. Mathematically everything marked the time when the Messiah would have His messianic ministry. Messiah means: Anointed, the Christ, the Anointed One. When John the Baptist baptized Him and the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus like a dove, there He was anointed as the Messiah, there He became the Messiah, which is why in Luke, chapter 4, verse 11 onwards, Christ says: "The Spirit the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me," and begins to list the things for which He had been anointed, including: healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raise the dead, deliver the oppressed from the devil, and preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and there He stopped. He was reading Isaiah, Chapter 61, verse 1 onwards, and stopped at the passage of verse 2, why did He not continue? Because then it said: "And the day of vengeance of our God..." and the day of vengeance of our God would be preached in the end time. Therefore, it is at the time of the Second Coming of Christ that the day of vengeance of our God will be preached, which corresponds to the time of the great tribulation, where the judgments of God will be falling over the human race, and that preaching corresponds to the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom. Now we see why Christ did not continue reading that passage. For this end time the day of vengeance of our God and will be made known, and consequently the judgments of God will come, will be made known, in other words, will be made known the sentence upon the human race, upon those who have not received Christ as only and sufficient Savior, although they have heard the preaching of the Gospel of Christ: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be damned."

10 10 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO That s how simple that is. The person has to choose one thing or the other: either believe or not believe in Christ as their only Saviour. Christ Himself tells us in John, chapter 6, verse 39 to 40: And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. Christ will resurrect all those who have received Him as Savior, and have been baptized in water in His Name and have received the Holy Spirit and have therefore obtained the new birth and have entered the Kingdom of God. Christ told Nicodemus in chapter 3 of John: "Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a man be born of Water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." In other words, to enter the Kingdom of God is not by good works of the person, but by faith in Christ, by faith in Christ for salvation of his soul. Christ continues saying... notice, and the promise is that in the Last Day He will resurrect all believers who have died in him physically, and those who are alive, He will transform them, and then everyone will be like Christ, with immortal, incorruptible glorified bodies, as Jesus Christ's glorified body, which is immortal, and inter-dimensional too. Christ ascended to Heaven in that kind of glorified body, and the dead in Christ with that kind of body shall rise and live when they are changed; they will go with Christ to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb in the rapture or catching away of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is important to understand that not everyone has faith. All the believers in Christ form the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ called by Paul in Galatians, chapter 6, verse 10: the family of faith; that is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is the seed of Abraham, heavenly one, the offspring of God through the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has been multiplying Himself in sons and daughters of God through the union with His FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR "He that believeth not shall be damned." That's the end of all those who have heard the preaching of the Gospel of Christ and have not received Him as only and sufficient Savior. It is important to have faith, and one receives it from Christ through the Holy Spirit through the revelation of Christ by His Spirit to the person. Notice, chapter 13 of Matthew, verse 10 onwards, says... here is the purpose of the parables, it says: And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. To some it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, to receive God's revelation. Remember the reading we had a few minutes, Matthew, chapter 11, verses 25 to 27, where Jesus says, "I praise you Lord, I praise you Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth..." At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. See? To have the faith in Christ and to have the faith of Christ, and being a believer in Christ, it depends on God the Father, as He did with Peter, to whom He revealed who Jesus Christ is, for faith in Christ to be born in the soul of the person and may receive Him as Savior: Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. It is not for the one who seeks for Him, but of him whom Christ through His Spirit seeks, He says He would seek His sheep, somewhere in Jeremiah and Ezekiel tells us that, and also in Isaiah. He would seek His sheep and His sheep would hear

11 18 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Those who are being saved are added to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is His spiritual Temple, which is His Mystical Body of believers, and which is the second Eve of the second Adam, Christ is the second Adam and the second Eve is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom Christ through His Spirit has been multiplying Himself in many sons and daughters of God. We have seen that Christ adds to His Church those who are being saved, "there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," says the book of Acts, chapter 4, verse 12, and that's Peter preaching; Christ is the One who always works and adds to His Church those that should be saved, which are written in Heaven in the Lamb s Book of Life, those are the ones mentioned by Paul in Hebrews, Chapter 12, verse 22 onwards: But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven The congregation of the firstborn who are written in Heaven in the Lamb s Book of Life, are the believers in Christ which form the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Church is the family of faith, family of faith in Christ, the family which has in their hearts, in their souls, the faith of Christ and in Christ, because She has the revelation of the Word, She has that revelation, because faith is revelation. That s why those who do not have the revelation of Christ, do not have faith to believe in Christ, not everyone has faith, then they are unbelievers, they do not believe in Christ, and therefore some do not even know what will be their end, it says: FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR Church from stage to stage, and thousands or millions of sons and daughters of God have been born in the Mystical Body of Christ, they have been born again through these two thousand years from Christ until now. These are the sons and daughters of God, they are the sons of Light, these are the sons of the Kingdom, represented in wheat in the parable of the wheat and the tares. Christ said that the wheat are the children of the Kingdom, or the sons and daughters of God, God s predestinated, the elect of God. The elect of God are written in Heaven in the Lamb s Book of Life since before the foundation of the world, and not one of them will be lost. That s why the Gospel of Christ is preached for the Gospel of Christ to reach into the soul of the people, for faith in Christ to be born, and people may receive Him as only and sufficient Savior. That is what Christ said in John, chapter 10, verses 14 onwards, when He says that He is the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives His life for the sheep, and He says: "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep and am known of mine." We were not yet born on this Earth and Christ already says that He knows us and we know Him, and this is from before the foundation of the world, where God put our names in the Lamb s Book of Life (in the Book) for whom Christ would die on Calvary s Cross, and they would receive Him as only and sufficient Savior. It continues: As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold (those are gentiles): them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. They will hear the Voice of Christ, which is the Gospel of Christ, the Gospel of our salvation, and He says there will be one fold, and that Fold is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Fold of the Lord Jesus Christ and a shepherd, who is the

12 12 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO shepherd? Jesus Christ our Savior in the midst of His Church, in the midst of His Fold, Christ in the Holy Spirit through His Church grazing His sheep, the members of His Church. All heavenly blessings pertain to the believers in Christ; they are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ our Lord, Romans, chapter 8, verses 14 and onwards. It continues: "Therefore doth My Father loveth Me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." Christ, voluntarily, having free moral agency, agreed to lay down His Life as an Atonement for our sins, He took our sins and became mortal, He bore our sins and returned them to the original owner of sin, which is the devil. When He descended, dying on the Cross of Calvary, He descended in Spirit to where the spirits in prison were who were disobedient in Noah's time, and preached to them, not for salvation, and there He had a battle with the devil, He took away from him the keys of hell and death to get out from there, from hell, and then to leave the tomb in the resurrection. And the sins that He had taken, our sins that He took and thus He became sin, He bore them, He returned them to the devil who was the originator; that is what the Blood of Christ does, when our sins are thrown in the Blood of Christ, they disappear as any stain on a dress when you apply bleach, chlorine or any other brand, it disappears and you do not know what happened, it returned to its origin, to that which it was before it was ink. And so it is sin, it returns to the originator, the devil, who was the one who caused it and introduced it in the midst of the human race. It continues: Therefore doth My Father loveth Me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again." (He knew He had to die and knew that He was going to rise). No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received from my Father. In other words, He came to Earth with a divine mission: FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR they will obtain a body with eternal Life, an immortal, incorruptible and glorified body, as the glorified body of Jesus Christ our Savior. These people would have the faith of Christ, these people would please God because they would have faith in their soul; they would believe in the Word, the Gospel of Christ and would receive Christ as only and sufficient Savior. But not all have faith, that s why there are believers in Christ and there are people who do not believe in Christ. God is the one who works, who gives the revelation as He gave it to Peter for him to know who is Jesus Christ, who is Jesus, and receive Him as sole and sufficient Savior. Matthew, chapter 11, verses 25 and on, says: At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. See? Those who believe in Christ have faith that pleases God, their faith lays in Christ because the faith of Christ is born in their soul and they believe with all their heart, and Christ said: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Therefore, the believer in Christ has received the revelation from Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and it was born there in his soul, his heart (which types the soul) the faith of Christ is a divine work. The Scripture goes on to say in the book of Acts, chapter 2, verses 46 to 47, it says, speaking of the believers in Christ, the Church of the time of the apostles, it says: And they, continuing daily with one accord in the

13 16 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO ash and lava, the Earth will renew itself, and all these earthquakes, tsunamis and an atomic third world war, it will straighten the grades the Earth has tilt, and then it'll be again a promised land as the promised land that was promised to Israel when it came out of Egypt toward the promised land, to Canaan land. The Kingdom of the Messiah will be a Kingdom of peace, He will rule with an iron hand, strong hand, a rod of iron, but with love, wisdom and prudence, and all nations will be under the crown of the Messiah who will be on the Throne of David sitting there in the City of Jerusalem. Remember, the Angel Gabriel, who appeared to the virgin Mary, he told virgin Mary that she would have a child, and He would be called the Son of God, she was to conceive and was to give birth to a child and would be called Son of God, and told her to Name Him Jesus, and told her that God will give Him the Throne of David His Father, and would sit Him upon the Throne of David, God will give Him the Kingdom of David and will sit on the Throne David and will reign over His people. That is a promise that will become reality after the great tribulation, where Christ and His Church will come to establish His Kingdom on Earth. But before that we find that Christ has been in the midst of His Church: "Behold I am with you always, even unto the end of the world," Christ says in Matthew, chapter 28, verse 20, in Holy Spirit He has been all along in the midst of His Church. Christ said the Holy Spirit would come under what name? in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and would lead the believers in Him to all righteousness and all truth, and will make them known all the things that will come to pass, the Holy Spirit would be the One who would work, who would produce the new birth, those who would form the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ would be born of the Spirit, and would enter the Kingdom of God with eternal Life in their soul and spirit, and then they would only lack physical eternal Life and by being transformed FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR He was Emmanuel, God with His angelic body called the Angel of the Covenant, called the Holy Spirit, within a body of flesh called Jesus, Emmanuel, which being interpreted is: God with us; it says Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 14, and Matthew, chapter 1, verse 17 to 23. Therefore, "great is the mystery of godliness (says Paul), God has been manifested in the flesh," that s why Christ said: "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works, and the Father, He is greater than I, "and where was it? In Jesus, and the Holy Spirit where was He? In Jesus too. Here we have God in all His fullness, God manifested in human flesh in all His fullness. This is the first person in whom God was manifested in all His fullness, He is nothing less than the veil of flesh of God, the physical likeness of God. Christ would say: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," He tells Thomas and Philip. Chapter 14, verse 6 onwards says, of John: "Jesus said: I am the way and the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." It is through Christ that one comes to the heavenly Father, both, in prayer as well as in seeking salvation and eternal Life, seeking reconciliation with God, seeking peace with God, there is no other way: If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? (Do you know not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? says Christ to Philip) the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth

14 14 REV. WILLIAM SOTO SANTIAGO the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works sake. They were the works of God which were being viewed, expressed through Jesus Christ, it was the Father, God working through Jesus Christ our Savior. It is important to know that Jesus Christ knew the Redemption Program for which He had come; the disciples did not understand it. On one occasion Peter wanted to prevent Jesus going to Jerusalem, because it was the time in which Christ was going to Jerusalem of which He said that they were going to take away His life, but notice, though it was to die, by Peter trying to prevent Him going to Jerusalem, Peter was working, acting and speaking out of the will of God, though it seemed that for the loved he had for Jesus he was trying to prevent him to be killed: but He came to die, to lay down His life in Atonement for our sins; and to try to prevent this Divine Work for humanity to be carried out, it was to be against the will of God, it was then the enemy of God, the devil, trying to hinder the Work of Redemption on the relevant date, because the death Christ had to be carried out on the eve of the Passover, not out of that date. He had to fulfill the Feast of the Passover there, and that s why He says to Peter: "Depart from me, Satan," because he had his sight not on the things of God but the things of men. How will the Scripture be fulfilled if He does not go and dies for us on the Cross of Calvary? We would not be here if Christ did not die there in the Cross of Calvary, we are here living on Earth because He died on the Cross of Calvary to take away our sins, bearing our sins. At that time the human race, the human family, was living in the most dangerous time through which it had ever gone through, every human being had to die for his sins; it was a parallel cycle to the time of Noah, where only Noah and his family were saved. And in this time we are in the divine cycle FAITH: THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPE FOR again, where the human race is in the most dangerous time of all ages and all stages of Christianity. That is why Christ is going to catch away, rapture His Church to the heavenly Father's House, to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, because the Earth will be going through the cycle of great tribulation, which will last three and half years, where the plagues, the Vials, the judgments of God, will fall on the Earth, volcanoes, seaquakes, tsunamis, diseases, and a nuclear war is being prepared to take place on this planet Earth, because the atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs and of any other type, are not for babies to play with. They have been preparing for many years for a nuclear World War III, and that will give fulfillment to Malachi, chapter 4, verse 1, which says: "For behold the great and dreadful day of the Lord cometh." Malachi, chapter 4 (we must be realistic), it says: For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. With volcanoes erupting, and with the earthquakes also arising, the poles melting, the environment with a host of problems, the temperature on Earth increasing too, and a nuclear third world war threatening the human race; we have seen wars and rumors of wars everywhere, but there's a nuclear war which is prepared in the Scripture that is prophesied to be performed: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. There we also have the Coming of the Lord as Judge to speak the divine judgment upon the Earth. Currently the Earth is in travail to give birth to a new world for the Messianic Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Messiah; with volcanoes, volcanic