Death, Burial, Birth, Resurrection — G.W. North

The Mystery of Christ Revealed to the Church

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote afore, in few words, whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.". I wish we'd not lost that little letter to the Ephesians, because he said, if we'd have been able to read that, we would have understood his knowledge in the mystery of Christ.

I cannot but think that probably it was God's wisdom in allowing that little letter to be lost. I can only believe that God has retained unto us that which he felt in his love and in his mercy was absolutely necessitous to us.

But nevertheless, what I want to draw your attention to is that this is a mystery. And the great mystery, you see, who could know what was wrought in Christ? This was hid from other ages and generations of prophets and kings and great men, all these other people.

They never knew as indwelt as they were for the purposes of the prophecy by the Spirit of Christ, as Peter says they were. Yet, beloved, this thing was utterly withheld from them, you see. And it says in Peter that angels want to look into this thing too.

They don't know. They do not know this, not angels. They want to look into it. The prophets didn't understand. All they knew that they were prophesying to us. Hallelujah. Isaiah knew that he was prophesying to a people he didn't know.

It was us, you see. He didn't know we'd be in Rorah on this particular Saturday afternoon and that our names were Joe Black or Mary White. He didn't know that at all. But he knew that they weren't in it.

He knew this was for completely future people. And we're the people. This is the tremendous thing. This thing warms and thrills my heart. At least we're a section of them, only a small section, doubtless, here this afternoon.

But nevertheless, we're part of this people. And it's a tremendous mystery. Now you have to understand, beloved, that these things are things of Spirit. You understand this, don't you? You understand that in that body of yours that's sitting there on that chair that you've looked after and fed and clothed and washed and done everything today in it, you must understand that the real you is living inside that.

And you are a Spirit person. You must understand this. Praise the name of the Lord. You're a Spirit person. And whatever anybody did to that body, they don't reach that Spirit of yours. Is that right?

God as Spirit and the Nature of Humanity

That's what you've got to understand. And you see, this is right because the Scripture says that God is Spirit. You remember in John 4, our version has that God is a Spirit. But the Greek is God is Spirit.

And the original Spirit created other Spirits. You understand that? Your body was born of flesh. He didn't create your body, but He creates Spirits. You understand that? He got about making a first body by taking a handful of dust and forming it and breathing into it and that was that.

He created the original body. Praise God. But your flesh has been born of flesh. And what's flesh? His flesh. It can't be anything else. It remains flesh until it rots away in the grave. You understand that?

And you can't change it into Spirit at all. Praise the name of the Lord. But there is that which is Spirit. And it's in this great realm of Spirit, beloved, that God has done tremendous things. And it was a tremendous thing, for instance, when He started to create other Spirits.

It was a tremendous thing. That was before He created the physical world. Then He created, if you like, I mean all the details aren't given, but at least this is recorded in Scripture, that He created the heavens and the earth.

He created it, this wonderful universe in which we are. It was a tremendous thing. But you see, there have been things going on in the realm of the Spirit that we are scarcely aware of. And until God really starts to work on us and give us enlightenment of understanding, we don't know anything about it.

Groping about we are in this world and you hear something about people must have psychic powers and all this business and you read about it and then you hear about a thing called hypnotism and all this nonsense and so on.

And it all goes on and people that know nothing at all write great volumes about it. And I mean know nothing. Nobody knows until they get the Spirit of Revelation. And that comes after you're baptized in the Holy Ghost, not before.

So people that are writing about it until they know nothing about it. Nothing at all. That's what the book says, that making a book says no end. And people write books to show and they'll be confounded and confused in their own folly in the Day of Revelation.

But never mind, never mind, I get PhDs for it now. But the tremendousness about it, beloved, is that there have been great, great happenings in the realm of the Spirit. For instance, why did God bring about the flood on the earth?

Because there'd been something go wrong in the Spirit realm. When you read your Bible in Revelation, Genesis 6, you'll find that God had to bring in the flood because the sons of God had come down and got married or mixed up with, united with the daughters of men and God drowned them.

You see there? He got rid of all that generation. Only one family remained true and that was Noah's family. God got down to one family, you see, and then he stepped in and started again. It was a tremendous cataclysmic thing because some things had gone wrong in the Spirit realm.

You understand that? And you can go on and you'll find all sorts of things in the Bible, things you won't understand very much, and you'll read them and you'll have to wait until you get the spirit of wisdom and revelation before you'll understand.

But God expects you to believe them before you understand them. If you don't believe them, you'll never understand them. That's why only the believers understand, you see, and that's why it's a great gulf.

There's all that world out there that doesn't understand because they don't believe. But once a person believes, they will come on and God will bring them to the place of understanding. If you demand that you must understand before you believe, you will go to hell.

You understand that, don't you? There's no way out. It's all by the goodness and grace of God giving us the word to believe. It doesn't matter how muddled and mixed up a person may be. If thou believe what God says, thou come into it.

Because it's God doing it then and it's not them. Well, I simply believe in you. Well, that's fine. Then God's on his metal. Then he does it. Do you see that? It must be this way. If you could understand it, you'd start to work and try to do something yourself, you see, and God won't help that.

You can see why he does it. It's as simple as that. You see, once you begin to get a clue about it, you can understand it all. And so these tremendous things happen. Another great happening in the spirit realm was when God came down at Sinai.

And God there did tremendous things. And we could go on and we could look them all through. But I don't want to do that. You read your Bibles and you let the Lord teach you. And it's good to come together and share our knowledge occasionally.

Christ’s Death and the New Creation

But when the Lord Jesus Christ was born, there was a tremendous move in the spirit world then. Do you understand this? And Jesus Christ was born. But that was nothing like what took place when he died.

Now when the Lord Jesus Christ died, beloved, on that cross, something so tremendous took place in the world of spirit. See, men just saw someone hanging on a cross. They must have wondered when everything was blacked out for three hours on the earth.

They must have wondered what was going on. When darkness covered the face of the earth as it did the face of the deep in creation. That's why the darkness came. You see, he's going to start on the new creation.

So he brings it back to original position. Utter chaos. You know what would happen if in the busyness, say, of tomorrow or a working night, everything suddenly blacked out about five o 'clock of an afternoon.

Stygian darkness. Now what chaos would take place? And in Genesis you read that there was disorder, chaos, darkness was upon the face of the deep. So God said, right, now we'll come back. I'm going to bring you right back.

And so the sun was blotted out, the moon and the stars, as though they weren't there, as they weren't in the beginning when darkness was upon the face of the deep. All right. And God starts to move again.

Amen. You know that the darkness came when he said, in the darkness he cried out, my God, why thou have forsaken me? Everybody else said, there he was, alone. Then he cried, finished. Amen. And God wound up the old creation in the spirit sense.

And the last Adam died. Understand that? The last Adam died. What a tremendous thing that was. And then, you see, beloved, God did something tremendous. And you and I have got to understand this and understand this so well and deeply.

And unless we grasp this, and you haven't got to be ever so clever to grasp this, you've only got to be willing and desirous and say, Lord. In other words, you've got to believe what you're told. And become as a little child, as he said to his apostles, and then you'll get in.

He said, except you're converted, become as a little child, you won't get in. You won't get in. Not you, Peter, none of you, none of you will get in. You think you've got a right to be in because you've been following me now for years, but you won't even get in.

You've given up everything for me, so you say, but you won't be in. Unless you are a perverted. And become a little child, don't you shout about what you've given up. What have I given up, he could have said to you.

What have I given up? But he didn't talk like that, he wasn't selfish. We always think about what we've given up, the sacrifices we've made, and what we've left, and all this nonsense, which shows how truly we need to be converted and regenerate.

If you talk like that, you still need to be converted. It hasn't really reached your spirit yet, it's only in your mind. It hasn't really got you yet, if you talk like that. You're not in, you're still outside.

You might be getting a bit further in, like, but you're not in yet. Not really. You see, and it's a glorious and wonderful revelation when you understand, beloved, that God wants to bring you into something tremendous.

Crucifixion and Union with Christ

For instance, you're still in Ephesians, aren't you? With me. Alright? Look in the second chapter, and this is what it says, the first verse, you have he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.

That's a marvellous thing. And you see here, and it says, God, verse 4, he's rich in mercy, for his great love, when he loved us even when we were dead, hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.

This was the one wonderful thing. The thing that he wrought in Christ was stupendous. But let's get this traced right, shall we? Right from the beginning. Before you can know this, you've got to know this.

Let's go back to the Galatian letter. In the Galatian letter, chapter 2, verse 20, you've got to see this. You've got to see what Paul saw. I am crucified with Christ. Now, you've got to see first that you were crucified with Christ.

That's the thing you've got to see first. Now, do you see that? Now, this is what God did in the Spirit. Now, in the flesh, it was one man hanging on a cross between two things. In the flesh, it was a man being crucified because he displeased the Jews.

And because they said that he was making himself greater than Caesar. This was the sort of excuse they got onto Pilate, you see, all this sort of thing. Now, that's all that you would have seen. And until you start to believe God, that's all you ever will see.

And you'll keep coming and saying, Oh Lord, he shed his blood, please forgive me. You see, this is what you'll keep saying. But when you see that you were crucified there, when you see yourself, they really see it.

Not have to believe it because the chap named North Christ had drummed it into you. That's what he said. I pray God he gives you the spirit of wisdom and understanding and revelation. You won't see it unless you see.

Until you see this. Now, do you see it? I see it. I see this as plain as a pipe star. I see that it just had to be. God had no other remedy for me than to kill me, spiritually. He wouldn't keep saying, Oh, I'll forgive you.

I'll forgive you. I'll forgive you. No, it wasn't there. It's just that he had no way out. There was no way for God to solve the problem of you. That's right. You see this? This is the thing in the spirit world.

What God did in the spirit, then, and that's the realest thing what's in the spirit. That's the thing that's real. That's right. Don't you see that spirit got clothed in flesh in order that in the flesh he could do for other spirits that were in the flesh.

That's you and me. We're spirits in flesh. He could do for us what he couldn't do unless he did take flesh to do it. He got down to our level to do it. Don't you see? Is that clear to you? He got down to our level to do it.

We make a sing song and a dance and a big old show about Christmas and all this business. I hope you all enjoyed. I'm not trying to say you shouldn't. But that's not the thing. It was the miracle. Not the baby in the manger.

The miracle of God becoming flesh. Amen. That's the thing that I commemorate. That's the wonder to me. And he took flesh and hung on that cross. Alright. Now do you see what he did in the spirit? And when Jesus Christ laid in that grave, beloved, he wrought something.

Burial with Christ Through Baptism

Oh, but wait a minute. We're going a bit too quick. He was crucified with Christ. Now look. You see. Now you've got to understand this. Now we'll go to a Roman letter. You've got to see this very clearly, my friend, unless you can't even read this because it was what God wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

Not when he laid him in a manger. Not when Mary laid him in a manger. You understand this? Or not when they nailed him on the cross. But when he raised him from the dead. So you've got to see this then.

You see? Verse. Chapter 6 of Romans. Know ye not, verse 3, that so many of us. Now he's not saying all of us. I dare not say it about us in this room. I don't know. You've got to know whether you're in this or not.

I know I'm in it. I mustn't make any great big comprehensive statements. The Holy Ghost doesn't. I can only go as far as the Holy Ghost. So many of us. But only as many of us as were baptised into Jesus Christ, were baptised into his death.

Now that's where you were baptised. That's where you were met. That's where you came in. We'll go into this a little bit more, a little bit closer in a moment. You were baptised into his death. Now then, you see, I was crucified but when you're crucified there comes a moment of death.

Right. In the death. And then what follows the crucifixion? The burial. You've got to know you're buried with him. What a miracle. Amen. I thank God that there's a record in the Bible about Joseph Arimathea and Nicodemus who came and took his body and they buried it.

That's right. God had the body buried. Do you understand that? God saw that he was buried. Hallelujah. Yeah. God had two men ready and he had him buried. In the mouth or in the action of two witnesses it's established.

Alright. They buried him. Now I was buried with him. Now you can only be buried with Jesus Christ by baptism and it's got nothing to do with water, although they've got a big tank in there. The only thing it's got to do with water is that it's a picture of it.

But you can only be buried spiritually, in spirit, with Jesus Christ. Now therefore you see why it must be of believers and it can't be of anything else. Because it's a spiritual thing. You understand that?

You do, don't you? That should answer all the problems about baptism. It can only be done that way. You can't see it. Alright. You can do a lot of things wishful thinking like, but after the ideas of men, but you can only do this when you see it.

Alright. You're buried with him. Praise God. You must see it, beloved. This is on the truth of identity. This is what the Lord was talking to us about a little earlier. Alright. Buried with him into death.

Resurrection, Ascension, and the Body of Christ

Death like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. Now wait a moment. Let's stop there because this Ephesians says, Paul writing to the Ephesians and he wrote the Roman letter too.

Isn't it wonderful to gather these things together from the writings of Paul? He says, now God wrought something in him. Do you see that? All the time he hung on that cross, he was one person. He was taken from the cross and this is what he had to do for us vicariously alone.

And they laid him in the grave and then when Father raised him from the dead, the miracle. It wasn't just a body coming up from the grave that they saw Mary first through her veil of tears and then everything else as things went on.

It wasn't just that. It was at that moment this took place. Let's go back to the Ephesians letter, shall we? In the letter to the Ephesians. He was laid in that tomb vicariously and it was one single person.

But one God wrought in him, verse 20 of Ephesians chapter 1 and raised him from the dead. When he got up there, he changed character in this sense and in verse 22 he was the head. Now, on the cross he was head, body, feet, hands, trunk, legs, everything.

One person. But in this tremendous thing he was just the head of a great body of people that was now going to be formed by being baptized into him in spirit. You got it? Do you see this? Now this is the mystery.

The thing that God wrought in Christ was absolutely stupendous. Praise God. It's beyond words. Now you understand what I mean when I say I'd love to have read that little letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians to understand his knowledge because God gave me knowledge of it and I'd like to compare his knowledge with mine.

Whether we got it the same way, I expect so. You can only get it from the Holy Ghost. But this is the tremendous thing. I'd like to understand his understanding of the knowledge. That's what I'd like to see.

Whether I understand it quite the same. I don't suppose I do because he was the mighty apostle of the Gentiles. But what a tremendous thing this is, beloved. Now you must see this. We're on it. The thing that he wrought in Christ.

He raised him from the dead and beyond. You can see the picture now. He came down here to be the head of a tremendous body of people all like him. Why it's marvellous, isn't it? It's wonderful. It's unthinkable.

Of course it's unthinkable. It's inconceivable by human beings. Why? Because God had to conceive it. We're his conception. Really we're his conception. In a very literal way in the spiritual world we're his conception.

To bring us forth, beloved, in this marvellous order and manner that I could be a member of that pure body that was fit to take sin and deal with it because it was so tremendously pure and holy. And now I'm a member of that because he took my sin that I had in this body as a single human being, a spirit in here, my spiritual sin, my physical sin, my bodily sin.

And this is what Paul means when he writes to the Ephesians, Corinthians, like this. Shall we turn it up, shall we? I think it's good to turn it up, don't you? Not just quote it one to another. And in the seventh chapter of the second book of Corinthians you read this.

Perfecting this holiness. I'm a member of his body. Perfecting it. This holy body whose holiness was so powerful that it overcame all the sin and the rottenness and the corruption of the world. Hallelujah.

When God placed it all on him. Now I'm a member of this body. You see, now then, verse one of chapter two of Ephesians. If you like doing bible studies, I hope you do. It's no use dreaming about ideas and nice little sort of quotations.

You've got to get down to this book. I mean Phage falls alright as far as she goes. Words like that. But beloved, you've got to, this is it. This is it. And you hath he quickened. Now there's your quickening.

You understand that? When father quickens that dead body, you see it. You read this. Buried with him, quickened. Raised up. Here it is. It's here. It says, verse five. Quickened us together with Christ.

Raised us up together by not only a resurrection but an ascension. Death. Burial. Quickening. Resurrection. Ascension. I think this is tremendous. You see, he says, open your eyes. The eyes of your understanding.

Oh bless God. I tell you this is more than being religious and doing good works isn't it? This is getting an understanding of it in the spirit. This is getting the grasp of God. Raised us up together with him.

You see it was done then. Two thousand years ago. It was all done. And here we were. There was a man and a woman and they eventually became our mum and our dad. You know. And we were born in this world and all the trouble and all.

It's fantastic isn't it? Two thousand years after. God did this two thousand years ago for us before it all happened so far about a man and a woman coming together and we're the result of the union and everything that's gone wrong or been wrong or all this.

This is the revelation. Made us sit together in heavenly places. You see. And that's in Thoreau. Because he's seated on the highest place. This is what it says here. Verse twenty of chapter one. Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

Set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion. Every name. Whether your mother's name was Sarah and your father's name was John. Doesn't matter about that.

And whatever your name is. Far above everything is name. There it is. Now isn't this a marvellous thing beloved? This is what you and I have to understand beloved. And raised us up there and made us sit together in the heavenly places.

Living Above Sin and Spiritual Powers

And now beloved there are ages and ages to come. Ages and ages to come of this marvellous life in Christ. This is the mystery. I've just been giving you a little outline of it. Giving you the bare bones of it.

But what you're to do is to let your heart go in it. You're not to wait to be pushed. You're to jump. That shows that you believe him without reservation. And you haven't got your tongue in your cheek.

In the spiritual hidden man of you. That you believe him. Do you mean to tell me God wants me to believe that? That's what I am telling you precisely. He's wanting you to believe a lot more than that he can forgive you because Jesus died for you.

He's wanting you to believe this my beloved friends. You've got to believe it too. If not you'll be ashamed of yourself in the day when the trumpet blows. You'll be utterly ashamed of yourself. What a tremendous thing that you're seated in the heavenly places far above all principalities.

Because that's where he's sitting. And in spirit that's where I am. I'm far above all principalities and dominions and mights. And I won't be dominated by sin. That's what Paul said. Don't let sin have dominion over you.

In that same sixth chapter he's over every dominion. You're seated above that dominion. Can you be seated above the dominion of sin? Hallelujah. That's what God intends. Can you be seated above the might of Satan?

Amen. That's what the Lord intends. Can you be seated above all these wicked evil principalities and powers? Amen. Right above them. Amen. Well can't they reach you? No. Too high up for them. I mean that.

Because you can see why can't you? You're not sitting anywhere in that heavenly places. You're in Christ. That's where you're seated. In Christ. It's a mystery. This is what he said. You've got to have an understanding of that which is absolutely a mystery.

In Christ you didn't Jesus himself say when he was on the earth at the end of John 14 just before he was going to Calvary he was on his way to Gethsemane. And he says the prince of this world comes and has got nothing in me.

Hallelujah. Well I'm seated in him. Then he hasn't got me because I'm seated in him. See there was nothing in him and that's where you ought to be seated. Nothing. The devil can't get you. This is it isn't it.

Talk about safety. Talk about no more worries. Fear where does that come? No fear here. You see the Lord showed you. He took it all back to the original darkness. And he starts in that. The darkness. The spiritual darkness that's upon the face of the whole world.

The great sea and deep of humanity. It's there. They write their songs and sing them and they write their plays and act them. And they compose their music and they build their businesses. And they make their armies and navies and they jet off to the moon and I don't know what they do but I'm seated well above.

See this is the thing. They're not in it at all. And they make a great big puff of nonsense. I've already risen up high above all that. Don't you see that? But they write sagas about it. They say they've made history.

Well of course they have. But what they haven't made is mystery. God has brought us here. This is right. And they haven't touched it. Not that it isn't a tremendous achievement. Don't misunderstand me.

But are we making enough of the achievement of God in Christ? Or are we singing our little sagas and dirges of deaths and defeats, troubles, darknesses, all this business beloved. When it's all been done.

Unity in the One Body

You've got to see my beloved where you are in this. As for me, I'm crucified with Christ. I see that clear as anything. Buried with him. Died with him. I was baptized into his death. That's where I joined him.

I spiritually joined him there. Into his death. So you get to the fourth chapter. In the fourth chapter you read. You must. Let's read verse one shall we? I therefore his poor the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Ephesians 4 and beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called with all lowliness and meekness with long-suffering forbearing one another in love Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

There's one body. Only one. See that? He was the head. Now there's one body. And this body's on the throne. It's sitting in the heavenly place. You see that don't you? There's one body. One spirit. Even as you're called in one hope of your calling.

One Lord. One faith. One man. One God. Of all who is above all transcendentally of course. And through all in you. Only one baptism. You are baptized there. There's only one baptism. Hallelujah. That you go through all the glorious stages.

It's all wrought in Christ. It's all wrought on and in you in Christ. It's not here in Rorah. It's all wrought there. You understand that? It's all wrought. It's all done. It's all marvelous. It's glorious.

The change has taken place. The mystery is complete. It's all over. I'm baptized into that body. I'm part of him. It's all so glorious. There's the wonderful body seated there with the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's so wonderful you see. Now we go back to Romans 6. And in Romans chapter 6 this is what we read. Verse 4. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death. In order that. This is why we were buried with him.

Like that Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory. He was raised up from the dead by the glory. Of the Father. Even so. We also should walk in newness of life. Not just sitting there now. He's on the thread.

Now we're on the earth. And we've got all this behind us first. We've all understood this. We can't start to walk until we know this. You can't walk until you know this. This is where all the calamities come from.

Oh he's backslidden. He's fallen. Because they're trying to walk before they can sit. That's right. They haven't sat there. They don't see. They'd buy the books about it perhaps. But that's not the point.

You scarcely need any books if you read this one properly. That's all we've done this afternoon. We haven't had anybody's commentary on it. We've read it. And it's here. Not that commentaries aren't good.

I suppose I'm commenting on it. But you know what I mean. The tremendousness of that is that now you walk in newness of life. This is what it is. I'm alive from the dead man. I'm a resurrected man. Don't you see?

I've really come alive in a world of spirit. Stand. I've got all the faculties. Wonderful. To move in this glorious realm. And the Lord is wanting us to understand this beloved. Well do you? Now I can only do what Paul did.

I can only pray God. I can pray the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father of glory. That he should give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and knowledge of him. Indeed the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.

That you may be able and so on. Praise God. And then you walk in all this clear. Is that it? Amen. Now last night we were on the land that flowed with milk and honey. It had to do with the natural soul state when God moved.

The Fullness of Life in Christ

I didn't order it this way but this is the way it developed. And today we've been on the spirit side of it. Amen. So that we can see what God is doing. This sets you absolutely free. You're not fiddling about after little tidbits that preachers offer you.

Not that they shouldn't offer you nice little bits. But you've got the whole. You've got the revelation. You see what it's all about. And this is essential. And nobody can make the progress that they should make until they've got it.

They can't do it. This is why God raises up apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers. For the perfecting of the saints. So we go on and move into all this great fullness of life.

Amen. I think I'm going to leave it there. I've been talking to you quite a long time. Let's pray shall we. Let's have a time in the Lord's presence. You open your hearts. Move in. Don't hold back.