THE IDENTIFIED CHRIST OF ALL AGES PT-8 (HIS IDENTIFIED MASTERPIECE)

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Isa 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isa 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

45 But one of the most outstanding things that I saw there, was as you enter the door, I believe it would be on the east side. There was a--a statue of Moses setting there, that was the life's cap work of Michelangelo, I believe it was, the sculptor. That, I may be wrong in the man. I believe that's right. Michelangelo, that--that... the great sculptor that molded out this, or an image of Moses. And as he was explaining it, the--the guide that was taking us through, he said that that was one of the greatest masterpieces that Michelangelo ever formed. And said it took much of his life, hard work.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

46 Then I noticed, I believe it was, on the right knee. The statue looked perfect, smooth, and Moses with the table of the laws in his hand, and his long beard. And it was, course, the mental conception of Michelangelo, what Moses should look like. Perhaps had never seen a picture, but, in his own mind, he drawed out what he thought that Moses should look like.

47 And the story goes, as soon as he got the--the statue finished, and all rubbed and perfectly, he stood back to view his work. And when he got so inspired, till it looked so much... What he had in his mind, he had made with his hand. It looked so much like it, and all the years he'd been waiting on it, till he was so carried away by inspiration, he smote it upon the knee and cried out, "Speak!" And there is a broken place on the--the--the leg, knee of Moses, where Michelangelo struck with his hammer, for he was so inspired.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

48 See, there was something inside of him, at the beginning, that he drew a mental picture of what he thought Moses ought to look like. And when he seen that reflected before him, the very thing that he had on his mind, what he thought Moses should look like; and carried that vision with him all them years and years, as he took the great piece of granite, and chip a piece here and a piece there, and mark it down, 'cause it had to come perfectly. And when it was perfected before him, he--he seen the reflection of what was in his mind. That's what inspired him so, to strike the image, and cry out, "Speak!" All his years of toil had paid off. His great handiwork had been finished.

THE MARK ON THE LEG, WHAT MADE IT, TO ME, THE MASTERPIECE.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

49 Now we see that, and I--I got inspired by it, 'cause I thought that, really, the mark on the leg, what made it, to me, the masterpiece. Because, just, if it just been another portrait, or something of Moses, some kind of a figure that some man had had a conception. But, the man that was doing the work, it so satisfied him until he struck it. And the mark on it made it the masterpiece to me, because it perfectly reflected what was in his mind that Moses should look like.

50 Oh, I stood there. I had to walk away for a few minutes, to think of--of what that must have meant to him, and--and what it meant to me at that time. Then it come to my mind, of this that I want to speak to you about.

*AND HE WANTED THAT MAN TO BE PART OF HIM, "SO HE MADE MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, AND IN THE LIKENESS OF GOD CREATED HE MAN,"

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

51 Let us turn now our thoughts from Michelangelo, to the great Sculptor, God Almighty, Who, in the beginning, before there was a day or dawn of day, 'fore there's an atom or a molecule. God, in His mind, had man, what a man should look like, what he should be, and what he should act like. And He wanted that man to be part of Him, "So He made man in His own image, and in the likeness of God created He man," oh, when God, in the beginning, made this masterpiece, something that reflected His thoughts.

*BECAUSE NOW WE POSSESS ETERNAL LIFE. AND TO BE THAT, WE HAVE TO BE A PART OF GOD.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

52 Remember, there's only one form of Eternal Life, and our... even our names and our thoughts were with God before there was a foundation of the world. Because now we possess Eternal Life. And to be that, we have to be a part of God. So we'd have to be as much as in His thoughts, 'cause we have Eternal Life, and was predestined to this life. "And our names were put on the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world," according to Revelations. Now, that God had us in His thinking, then we have Eternal Life, 'cause then He spoke us, and we come into existence. And a word is just a thought manifested. God had us, in the beginning, in His thoughts.

NOW, AND WHEN HE MADE ADAM, THAT FIRST MAN, HOW PERFECT IT WAS. HE LOOKED LIKE GOD.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

53 Now, and when he made Adam, that first man, how perfect it was. He looked like God. God, the great Holy Spirit, brooding over the earth, and He... the birds come out, maybe, and the animals, different things, and kept coming more in the form of the One that was brooding. Until, finally, there come up a specie just exactly like the One that was doing the brooding, God. God was, or... Man was made in the image of God, then, when He placed him in this great garden. Like Michelangelo has placed his great life's work, and all great sculptors; God placed His handwork in the garden of Eden, made him a helpmate. What a--a--a complete satisfaction it was to God, till even He rested. It was just at rest. His work had been finished.
Then the sad story comes, of the enemy.

*GOD GAVE THIS MAN A PROTECTION, HE GAVE HIM. HE FORTIFIED HIM INSIDE OF HIS WORD…

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

54 Now notice. This one thing I want you to bear in mind, that God gave this man a protection, He gave him. He fortified him inside of His Word, because He told them what they could do, what they could not do.

55 And that's the same basis we're set on today, what we can do, what we cannot do. No matter how good we are, how much we go to church, or do this, we got to be born again. See? It must be.
56 And God told Adam what he could do and what he could not do. He placed him behind His Word.

57 And then the enemy come in, by deceit, and crawled through the walls of God's Word, 'cause the door was open to him, and he marred that image, to sin. That's one of the saddest stories.

*IT'S HIS ROCK TODAY, IS, STAY BEHIND THE WORD; EVERY BELIEVER.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

58 To think, that the man that was made in the image of his Creator, and was given a wall to stand behind, that that Word could never fail. That's--that's the Christian's hope. It's his--his shield. It's his armor. It's his rock today, is, stay behind the Word; every believer.

59 Now, you must never get from behind That. When you do, you, you're opening the door to the enemy, when they say, "Oh, well, you can do a little of this, and a little of that." God wants you to separate yourself from everything that's called sin. Completely set aside for Him, and for He only.

*HE HAS A PURPOSE IN YOUR LIFE, EACH INDIVIDUAL, THAT NO ONE ELSE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE.

60 He has a purpose in your life, each individual, that no one else on the face of the earth can take your place. God has got something for you. You're made like that. You was did that way for a purpose. God is sovereign in His work. He even... Things different. We different, one from another.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

61 We notice in the animal life. We find out, in the animal life, there's one animal, God made a beast of burden, like the horse, and--and he has to work. And the cow is a sacrifice. And, but, the--the lion and the tiger roams the forest without any labor or anything. He made a great big animal like an elephant, then made a little bitty fellow like a mouse. Now, who is there to tell God what to do and how to do it? He does it his own way.

…YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL, TO GOD, AND GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR YOU.

62 And He makes the mountains. He makes the deserts. He makes the--the seas. He makes the plains. He makes one kind of tree, hard wood, palm, and--and so forth. He does it.

63 He makes men different. He gives us, each one, a different place. And a palm tree can never be a hickory. A hickory tree can never be a palm. Nobody can take your place, and you shouldn't try to take anybody else's place. Because, you are an individual, to God, and God has a purpose for you. He made you thus. You say, "Why did He do it?" He is sovereign. He's got a reason for it being that way.
But we find out that we're all guarded by the Word.

*BUT WE MUST SERVE HIM IN THE WAY THAT GOD MADE US, AND BE GLAD, AND STAY BEHIND HIS WORD.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

64 In heaven, we look at the celestial bodies. The Bible says that even one star differents from the other. There is Sirius and the different ones. And Mars and Jupiter, all those different ones, they different one from the other. The sun differents from the moon, and the moon from the stars. And there is Angels, such as, there is Seraphims and Cherubims, and Angels and great Angels, in--in degrees. And even in the new world to come, the kings of the earth bring their honor into the city.

65 We're always going to be that way. Because, God is not a Sears and Roebuck Harmony House. He is a God of variety. He makes one one way, and one another. But we must serve Him in the way that God made us, and be glad, and stay behind His Word. And that's the way God did it.

*WE GOT ONE WE MUST KEEP IN HARMONY WITH, THAT'S GOD.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

66 But when we find out that the enemy got through that Word, to this, the handiwork of God, he marred it. And that's exactly what he's doing now. He is slipping through that handiwork, the enemy is, trying to make us a World Council of Churches. And man has... Why, man can't even agree with one another, how we going to make a whole world agree with a man? And as soon as you do that...
67 We got One we must keep in harmony with, that's God. "And in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And the Word remains God, and always will be God, because God is in the Word. "And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us," in the Person of the Son of God.

HE WAS NOT WILLING TO LET HIS WORK GO TO RUIN.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

68 Now we find out, that, after He found this great marring. Looked like, had it been you and I, and we'd put all that time and effort, we'd have kicked the thing over and just let it go. But, not God. He was not willing to let His work go to ruin. That's the love of God. No wonder the poet said:
Would we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
And every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
Write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Or could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

69 See the love of God! After man had fallen and deliberately opened the door to the enemy, and come in and marred him, and set death in him, still God was not willing this be defeated. He came down and started all over again. He was going to make that man again.

*THAT'S THE SCULPTOR THAT MADE US. THAT'S THE CHURCH THAT'S HEWED OUT.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

83 So ought every Christian, today, to have that same testimony. If in this promised Word of God, if our lives don't qualify and meet exactly what the Word said, then we have no right to call ourselves Christians if we're not born again. Jesus said, in Mark 16, "These signs shall follow them that believe." See? Not "they may; they ought to; they probably will." They shall do it. That's the Sculptor that made us. That's the Church that's hewed out. That's the--that's the Body of Christ.

*…A PERSON SO YIELDED UNTIL GOD IDENTIFIED HIMSELF IN THERE, IN THAT BODY, AND HE BECAME... HIM AND GOD BECAME ONE.

THE.IDENTIFIED.MASTERPIECE.OF.GOD_ YUMA.AZ SATURDAY_ 64-1205

84 Now we find that it reflected Him perfectly. The Sculptor now had the Word reflected in the Masterpiece again, called His Son, God, Emmanuel. Just think, that, a person so yielded until God identified Himself in there, in that body, and He became... Him and God became one. "I and My Father are One. My Father dwelleth in Me. I do that always which pleases the Father."

85 What if the Christian today could have a testimony like that? You would be a masterpiece right here in Yuma, on the street. If you're a wash-woman out there behind the wash tub, you still be a masterpiece to God, when you can say, "I do that always which pleases God," and the whole world can see the--the work of Jesus Christ reflecting in you.