THE PATHFINDER
PUBLICATION #35
(Part I)
(January 1989)
WHO IS THIS?...ANSWER THOU ME!
WHAT A HIGH!
ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT
RECONSTITUTION OF ALL THINGS
*LETTER OF TESTIMONY
"WHO IS THIS THAT DARKENETH COUNSEL BY WORDS WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE? GIRD UP NOW THY LOINS LIKE A MAN: FOR I WILL DEMAND OF THEE, AND ANSWER THOU ME." [Job 38:2-3].
There is no telling how many different answers might be heard should we all be asked the same question: -- From those who truly stand in the presence of the living God, I am sure their answer would be not much different than that of the man who was perfect and upright, ...I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." [Job 41:6]. Out of the heart of the same few, as they groan with the pain of righteous sorrow, and from the pressures of great distress, we might also hear, "I am a WORM, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." [Ps 22:6]. And we may hear others recite the same verse, but their spouting is not because of the anguish of their soul as it is subjected to the godly crucible of affliction. Their text is drawn from the feeble counsel of their own self esteemed grandeur and is often the fruit of false humility. Such people are a vexation to the spirit -- avoid them. And quoting one of Job's comforters, Bildad, the self-righteous taskmasters may also speak of worms, crying, "How much less man, that is a WORM? and the son of man, which is a WORM?" [Job 25:6]. Some of these ignoble ones have a tendency to beat the people with clubs which they piously call "the word." Much could be said about these odious lords of Baal who bring God's saints under the whip of slavish servitude, but we will let that subject alone for now.
When attempting to identify one's self, a large majority will be heard saying, "Lord, I'm only HUMAN, just help me make it through the day." This thought is the product of the natural mind and very often comes from those of self-pity or who are looking for an excuse for their self-made weaknesses. The proud, however, are inclined to declare, "I am a SELF-MADE MAN! God gave us minds to think with, bodies to work with, and that's exactly what I'm going to do! Let God take care of the universe, I'm going to take care of Number One!"
There are some who never make either bold or base statements, they are just who they are in Christ, and when challenged, "Are you a son of God?" -- they neither confirm nor deny it. Their answer is simply, "You say that I am." [Lk 22:70]. They see no need of making an issue of their identity, they know who their Father is, but if one recognizes who they are, then so be it. There are others, of course, who are quick to answer the same question with a firm, "You said it, mister, and let me tell you why..!" They are then likely to go on and build a dialogue about everyone being gods but just need to be made aware of it. There are scriptures to substantiate their claim to glory, but a little adjusting to their knowledge, understanding and spirit are direly needed.
It has been widely taught, and we are aware that man has been created in the IMAGE and LIKENESS OF GOD [Gen 1:26], that he is even called GODS [Ps 82:6], and it speaks of some being THE SONS OF GOD [Rom 8:19]. However, from what we have been seeing throughout the country, we are beginning to doubt if we really know WHO WE ARE. How many, we wonder, can truly answer the same question God had posed to Job? -- WHO IS THIS?...ANSWER THOU ME! [Job 38:2-3]. Almost everyone will probably be quick to respond with one of the quotes listed above, but there might not be a large number who are accurate in their suppositions; and doubtless to say, until God appears to us as He did to Job, we will be hard pressed to know. When this happens, I believe we can also assume that we will be equally humbled, if not more, than was this great man of God.
WHAT A HIGH!
The question of WHO WE ARE seems to have been a very rousing question this past year, and from our observations we have noticed various things coming out of the word of YE ARE GODS...some good and some not so good. We have no aversions to this phrase, for the scriptures speak of this more than once; yet there are some things that have caused us to be very concerned and to start walking with caution in this area of teaching.
Almost without fail, the majority of places where we have ministered within the last several months are having problems. A fairly large number of people are becoming addicted to the teaching, their teacher or both. It's as if they have become a narcotic to them, for have seen it affect people the same way drugs would. At first -- WOW! WHAT A HIGH! -- but after awhile depression sets in, and the only way to escape it is to listen to more tapes. And then, to avoid crashing, a few just listen to the tapes all the time...night and day. Dear ones, you can do that for only so long before you have a burn out! Be careful...
There is also an element of belief which is producing ideas that since the scriptures declare there is only ONE GOD and WE ARE GODS (making up the body of Christ), and God can't sin, and everything is of God -- then EVIDENTLY it is O.K. to relax and "let our hair down a bit." Truthfully speaking, it looks as if the gate has been opened long before the colt's wild spirit has been brought into subjection of the Master.
Some seem to be having a love affair with the teaching itself. If this is true, they are most likely forsaking the true relationship with Christ, which is no less than spiritual adultery. This extramarital relationship has generated much excitement for many. In this state of exhilaration, it's as if they can finally fulfill their long awaited desires without any condemnation or reprisals. It is believed that these aversions are sanctioned by God Himself, -- for isn't it written, "all things are of God?" (I briefly touched upon one area of scripture that deals with this in our previous publication #34, pages 3 & 4, HAVE ALL OLD THINGS PASSED AWAY? and ARE ALL THINGS REALLY OF GOD?).
It is very evident there is something definitely lacking in either the word being ministered or with the spirit it is being taught. And again, perhaps an essential element is missing in the body itself which would contribute to an imbalance to a growing number. Most likely, however, it is probably a combination of all three.
We first heard this teaching of who we are about three or four years ago, and from what we could see people were genuinely edified and blessed in the Spirit by it. Within the last year or so, however, it has been delivered with a combination of metaphysics and Christian Science overtones. This mixture has prompted something less than healthy in a quite a few. For the sake of not having a better term, I guess we could call it, "the LIBERTY to do all things." In reality, however, they have not entered into liberty at all; but rather, they have eagerly surrendered and walked through the prison gates of DEATH, and they are now in BONDAGE and have become the SLAVES to that which they've yielded themselves to. [Rom 6:16-18]. What was formerly a bitter enemy (sin and death) has now become a companion. The war they were sure to win, is lost. The life they once had, is gone -- but praise God! We believe in resurrection, and when they truly hear the voice of the Son of God -- our friends shall live and come forth in VICTORY!
Concerning these things, let us see if we can come to some visions and revelations of the matter; and in doing so, we can cast aside anything that is in conducive to death while warmly embracing everything that is life.
ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." [Eph 4:4-6].
It has been said that since there is only "ONE SPIRIT," then every spirit in existence is the Spirit of God. It has also been said that since there is only "ONE BODY," that the one body is referring to all of humanity rather than that of the relatively small, corporate body of Christ. The verse commonly used that seems to support this idea is John 1:9. "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. At first glance, it may appear that every individual, as they come into the world at birth, receives the Spirit of Christ; however, this is not what the verse is saying at all. Most of the recognized Greek scholars (Weymouth, Goodspeed, Moffatt, Rotherham, Young, Giesbach, and others) agree that this verse is speaking of Jesus being the one who is coming into the world, and their Bibles have it translated with this same thought: "The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world." (Revised Standard Version).
John's statement simply says there is a time when the sum of humanity will indeed be enlightened by the light of Jesus Christ, but it is not suggesting they receive the light of His Spirit at the time of their natural birth. They can only receive it the moment they are awakened and called to it, and not a second sooner. We agree, if everyone was born with the Holy Spirit at the time of their natural birth, then the entire world would certainly make up His ONE body, but the fact of the matter is -- IT DOES NOT! The only ones who comprise this body are the ones placed into it by the ONE BAPTISM.
There was a time when I had also reasoned in my own mind and had assumed there was only one Spirit, for this is what Ephesians 4:4 tells us. But does it? When I looked at the context of these verses, something began to be apparent. The essence of Paul's thought speaks of the unique attributes of God and His Son, qualities which are not common to the world but stand out in utter contradistinction to what we know humanity is. Everything here is SUPREME and HOLY: The Indivisible Unity, The Pure Body of Christ, The High Calling, The Preeminent Faith, The Great Baptism, The Supreme Lord, The Holy Father God, and The Holy Spirit of that Holy God! YEA, EACH OF THESE ARE ONE!!! -- But neither of them are one with the world!
Yes indeed, "...There is ONE SPIRIT, but it is plain that Paul was not saying all spirits, i.e. man's spirit, animal spirits, and demonic spirits, are all one spirit of God. The substance of his thought is concerning God's HOLY Spirit bringing forth His Holy character of love and unity. It is THAT HOLY Spirit that knits His Holy body together in the bond of peace. There is certainly only ONE SPIRIT...which is H-O-L-Y, and that Spirit is called THE HOLY SPIRIT. There is no other spirit that qualifies, not even the spirit of the "gods many" we read about in I Corinthians 8:5.
Paul spoke of this One Spirit in another place when he wrote, "But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." [I Cor 6:17]. The Amplified Bible has it this way, "But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit." You see, there is a basic requirement before anyone is ONE SPIRIT with God, and that requirement is to be J-O-I-N-E-D to the Lord! It is then that they B-E-C-O-M-E ONE SPIRIT, and not one bit sooner!
To say there is no spirit other than the One Spirit of God, and to suggest there is not other body than that of the entire world, is to overlook the glaring truth in its simplest form. For one area of reference we could note I Corinthians 12:12-28 and see that the one body and one spirit speaks of the Church alone. And when Paul said ...by one Spirit are WE ALL baptized into one body, take note that he was not writing this letter to the whole world, but to the Christian Corinthians. He was speaking of the spirit and body they could now identify with, which both are highly unique and set apart from the corporate body of the first man, Adam.
In relation to our subject, permit me to quote a dear brother, J. Preston Eby, and a skilled and anointed writer:
"`That which is born of the Spirit is spirit' (Jn 3:6). This verse speaks of two distinct `spirits': one is capitalized and the other is not. The first occurrence of the word refers to the Holy Spirit, and the second to the spirit of man. That which is born of the Holy Spirit is the human spirit. Another verse showing these two `spirits' is Jn 4:24: `God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit.' Again, the first `Spirit' is capitalized and the second is not. We must worship God, who is the Spirit, in our human spirit. Romans 8:16 further confirms the existence of two spirits: `The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.' The pronoun `our' definitely designates the human spirit and removes any ground to doubt the reality of both the divine Spirit and the human spirit.
"Bible translators have found it very difficult to decide whether `spirit' in some passages refers to the Holy Spirit or the spirit of man. The reason for this difficulty is that in the believer the Holy Spirit and the human spirit are joined together as one spirit! `He that is JOINED unto the Lord is ONE SPIRIT.' We are one spirit with the Lord, but one which is clearly joined with the Holy Spirit. It is like joining hydrogen and oxygen to make water. Such a united spirit makes it difficult for anyone to say whether this is the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. The two are compounded as one. We may say it is the Holy Spirit, and yet we can also say it is the human spirit. Sometimes we make a beverage by mixing two kinds of juices -- apple and cranberry. After it is mixed it is difficult by taste to tell what kind of juice it is. Is it apple or cranberry? We would have to call it apple-cranberry. In the realm of the spirit it is wonderful to see that the two spirits, the Holy Spirit joined with our spirit, ARE ONE SPIRIT.
"...There is ONE SPIRIT' (Eph 4:4), says the apostle. That one spirit is neither the Holy Spirit nor our spirit -- it is His Spirit joined to our spirit -- for `He that is joined to the Lord I-S O-N-E SPIRIT....The unregenerated man is not one spirit with the Lord.
"The truth of the revelation of Christ in you is not a revelation of `The True Self,' or `The real You,' or `The Inner You,' or `The Christ Consciousness,' of pagan eastern philosophy and its hybrid, metaphysical christianity. Until a man receives birth from above by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, his `Inner Self' is just as profane as his `Outer Self' and ALL SELF MUST GO. The complete self, the whole man: spirit, soul, and body, must submit and bow to the power and life of the transforming Holy Spirit, the Christ of God. This, then, is the revelation of `Not I,' but of `He that dwelleth in me.' Many have erroneously perverted the real truth of `Christ in you' and have identified the inherent, unquickened, unregenerated spirit of the natural man with the `Inner Self' of Unity School of thought, Science of Mind, Christian Science, etc. etc. They give place to their own corrupted `Inner Self' disguised as `the Christ.' This self-transformation is not Christ; it is satanic. Satan is the great `Self-Transformer' who `transforms himSELF into an angel of light (II Cor 11:14). Whenever you try to `make yourself' like the Most High, this is the gross deception of Satan and this unclean spirit will deceive the very elect, if it were possible...."
RECONSTITUTION OF ALL THINGS
No doubt, EVERYTHING in the entirety of the universe, whether it is spirit or physical, has come out of God. One verse that points this out is found in Romans. "For of Him (out of Him, Grk), and through Him and to Him are ALL THINGS...." [Rom 11:36]. Therefore, in a sense, I suppose we could say everything in existence is God, for if it has come out of Him it must be of Him to some degree or another. This belief is similar to pantheism, and we should be careful and not carry such a thought too far lest we stumble and fall with it. Therefore, let us consider the essence of the matter and walk continually straight and upright.
We will note Acts 3:21, which states, "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.... The word for RESTITUTION in this verse comes from the Greek word apokatastasis. Kittle & Friedrich define the word as meaning: To restore, to return, to heal, to renew, TO RECONSTITUTE. (Theological Dictionary of The New Testament). If something is in need of being reconstituted, then evidently there is some sort of ingredient that has been removed or left out when it came to be in that particular state of being. Hence, to restore, return, heal, renew, and especially TO RECONSTITUTE, simply means TO PUT BACK THAT WHICH WAS LEFT OUT. E.W. Bullinger, in the Critical Lexicon and Concordance to The English and Greek New Testament, says the word means, "COMPLETE RESTORATION, REESTABLISHMENT..." I like the example Brother Eby uses to explain reconstitution. In part, he says, in order to reconstitute orange juice, the water which had formerly been removed must be put back. Until water is rejoined with the orange pulp, it is lacking in a prime ingredient and is not really usable for what its created purpose is.
Therefore, what we have with man (his spirit, soul, and body) is a creation of God, and indeed, his whole make up is God in some sort of fashion; however, THERE WAS SOMETHING LEFT OUT WHEN HE WAS FIRST MADE! -- Namely: THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, i.e. THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, THE SPIRIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE SPIRIT THAT GIVES ONE THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PURITY OF GOD. Simply speaking, man in his natural state is orange pulp, and without the water of the Spirit he is very sour and distasteful and unfit for the table of the Lord.
The first Adam was made alive as a result of God breathing into his nostrils, i.e. mouth to mouth resuscitation, if you please. Elijah did the same when he breathed into the dead boy to give him life. The youth, like Adam, received life, but he did not receive his life giver's genetic characteristics. The last Adam, unlike the first, had no one breathing life into Him, for He was UNIQUELY BORN OF GOD. He was not FORMED, He was B-O-R-N! There was nothing about Him that needed to be reconstituted, for He was born CONSTITUTED! -- As a matter of fact, HE was the very CONSTITUTION OF GOD! He had all the ingredients of His origin! HE WAS COMPLETE WITH NOTHING LEFT OUT! God established Him as His supreme CONSTITUTION, a constitution that would never need the adjustments of amendments. The only thing remaining for Him was to grow up to be a man, learn from His Father, overcome the fleshly garments of death, make an open show of His victory, and then by BIRTHING to bring many sons into the same glory! GLORY!!!
"The first man was of the EARTH, EARTHY, the second man is LORD FROM HEAVEN." [I Cor 15:47]. The first man was formed out of the dust of the earth, but the second one was born from the essence of heaven -- God Himself. The first one had only a breath of air blown into him, which had no seed and could never give him the nature of the One blowing that breath. The second One, however, was conceived by the sperm cell of Life and became a Life giving Spirit. The man formed from the dust was lacking, and at every attempt to achieve holiness, he sinned. He continually missed the mark, for he did not have within his being that spark of Jehovah. The prime ingredient that could have enabled him to identify and be one with his creator was missing, it was left out. Therefore, for many long generations and eons of time, he has been in dire need of RECONSTITUTED to what he was before he came out of God.
In this reconstitution, however, we might note, there is more than a slight difference to the original. Something is added in man's restoration which was not previously with him. Primarily, he has been provided with A WORTHY SOUL THAT'S TO BE THOROUGHLY TESTED AND PROVEN, and A BODY WITH WHICH TO FINALLY EXPRESS THE GREAT GLORY OF GOD! You see, until man had a soul and body, he could not be proven and there was no way to express who or what he was. And until the birth of Jesus, man's soul was a product of breath and earth, and no matter how hard he tried to manifest the nature of God, nothing would come out of him but what he was made of -- DUST -- which of course, was eventually to become the serpents meat. Try as he may, the natural things of the earth only reflected in types and shadows God's true reality. Therefore, he has grossly missed the mark of godliness. Yes, he did have a spirit that came from God, but that spirit was not by birth, it was a breath from His creator and was lacking something. -- It was lacking THE GENES OF HOLINESS. Note: Genes do not come from lungs but from loins.
Therefore, although everything has come out of God, everything is not of God, not even the spirit that was given to man by God. It is not God in the sense of being complete, lacking in nothing and possessing His nature by birth.
Elwin R. Roach
* Note: We have received many letters which have been a tremendous blessing to us and wish there was some way we could print them all. However, there has only been two or three that we have felt very strongly impressed to do so, and the following letter is one of those. It was sent by ROBERT B. SMITH in Georgia. I am sure you will be as blessed with it as we were:
Dear Elwin & Margit,
I just want to pause for a moment and say just how much you have meant to me!
I was at the point of death for seven years -- seemingly darkness of physical and mental torment kept me in constant suffering. It could never be expressed in words, but I tried to study and pray and praise, but I just groaned. I knew no one (being isolated in the country), way out of Ringgold in the foot hills of Georgia -- the end of the world!
Your PATH FINDER came from time to time. You were the only one I knew who could reach my spirit. I've seen restitution of all things since 1954. I'd been in the so-called "Move of God," Later Rain," and traveled some with the late Bill Britton in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, etc. At one time I played piano and organ in the Big Band era.
I've known the Lord since I was six years old -- even saw and felt Jesus in a whirlwind -- but in high school and college I got with the "IN" crowd. However, I never forgot the many experiences with Jesus (even healed of blindness after three years!).
I drank, smoked, and went with the crowd, but I was so unhappy, and at that time I believed in eternal hell. I learned to read from the Bible but never went inside a church `til I came out of World War II. After my wife died I also lost my printing shop in Chattanooga, Tennessee. By a long string of events I lost my wife (Betty) to cancer, my family, home -- EVERYTHING!
I kept on playing in the bands, until one night I prayed because of feeling such guilt of not living right, "Oh Lord -- whip me and help me live for you!" Wow! I'll never ask that again!
I was at home with my parents and such panic caught hold of my whole being, and I KNEW I'd blasphemed the Holy Ghost!! I imagined my soul burning in fire (I can see how we conjure up and create things in our own minds). I finally quit praying and just gave in to the roasting and toasting, and trying to cool off in molten lava. Then suddenly like a flash -- the Spirit said, "You asked me to whip you." Oh! What a relief and blessing!!
It was 3:00 a.m. and my room lit up brighter than any sunshine and a dove, which I knew was the LOGOS, came down and when it touched me...you know how it was!!! Unspeakable and full of glory!
I quit the bands -- I was so happy for six weeks. I told everybody. Then an old saying came to my mind "YOU MUST GO TO THE CHURCH OF YOUR CHOICE." I always admired those "good people" who were always going to church, with their Bible under their arms, so serious, NEVER SMILING, and singing those corny songs. I never liked "religious" songs, especially the way these Georgia hill-billies did it, but I wound up going to a Baptist church anyway. I wanted them to know I was NOW one of them. I couldn't wait to tell the people. Well, when I did, everything got quiet. I was so happy, but I couldn't understand why they ALL dropped their heads as if they were ashamed of me.
That was my downfall -- BABYLON! In spite of everything, they made me a teacher, but I wouldn't teach their doctrine -- so I got the left foot of fellowship. They then made me superintendent of seventy-five county churches, this way they wouldn't have to worry about me teaching "false" doctrine. I wore out more new cars than you can imagine, Elwin, just trying to keep all the people in harmony or at peace with each other. Impossible!!!
I finally burned all my denominations doctrinal books and commentaries and went to a little "Holy Roller" church. I could write books on how they beat on me, carrying on every night `til 12:00 a.m. trying to get me to speak in tongues. I couldn't get my mind on God as their breath and bodies stunk so bad. They'd scream in my face, spray me with spit, and had me saying and doing all sorts of crazy things. I got disgusted and went to the big Church of God in the big city of Chattanooga. I never spoke in tongues until one night I was awakened at home, and I really thought the rapture was taking place. So I lifted up my hands, and I EXPLODED. I heard some one speaking a very beautiful language I didn't know, and to my amazement, I realized that it was me who was speaking! Praise God!! But I was really branded then.
A Latter Rain minister came, William Branham, and his manager asked me to go with them, so I did. I covered the States playing piano for him, Jack Coe, Bro. Grant of Dallas, -- even Billy Graham in New York at Yankee Stadium. I was in a meeting in Florida when I met Bill Britton, and many of the people were very "Pentecostal," and supposing this was the Spirit of Christ, I was upset because I wasn't doing all those Pentecostal gymnastics. It was then that Bro. Bill came softly to me and spoke quietly in my ear, "You don't understand why you can't be like these others, but in your later days, you'll see that God had reserved you for those days."
Wow! I thought I'd be another Jack Coe, A.A. Allen -- but -- by 1954 I knew about Sonship, Restitution, etc., and when I came out of Babylon I was labeled "The refuse of all evil," "Antichrist," "Heretic," and more. However, I finally realized Bill Britton's prophecy and knew I was a "Come-Outer" -- or "Fly-By-Night" as the religious world called me. That was all right, I just lived a quiet, peaceable life. After much time, I found a PATH-FINDER, or perhaps I should say, it found me. Oh! How glorious to hear all the exciting things you wrote about -- "RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS," "RAPTURE," "LUCIFER"....
It was during that time that I got very sick. The doctors said I had no more than a month, six at the most, to live. I was diagnosed as having malignant cirrhosis of the liver. I couldn't walk at all, I was crippled from head to toe. I couldn't hold my water so had to sleep on rubber sheets. I felt demon possessed. And I broke out in sores from scalp to toes.
I had met a German during the war and he became a good friend, as I had saved his family at that time. He told me, "Some day I'll make this up to you (he spoke English)." Well, he came one day and had bought me an eight roomed, brick house on a hilltop overlooking the city.
I was looking in the mirror one morning, and to my amazement I saw no sores -- they had disappeared! My body quit aching -- my hands and body straightened! I was flabbergasted! As we hill-billies say. That was three years ago, and I am still well. I had Xrays, etc., etc., and all they found was a small hernia on the stomach.
Your papers kept me encouraged as you spoke LIFE! They were a great source of finding my way back to God out of my long night. Hallelujah! I could write a book of this healing, but praise God, now it's RESTORATION -- not just a patch up job!!!
By another long series of events I was cheated out of my Social Security, I get $200.00 and a G.I. check for $197.00; otherwise, I would send you more. I'm 72 but I feel 40, except for occasional hernia flare ups. It only "came to pass!" I have NO ONE any where to fellowship with except a lady in Oregon and one in Wisconsin. We correspond by cassettes.
I sent your Pathfinder studies to my friend in Germany, and they are translated into six languages. Eberhard Fricke has a broadcasting station which can reach all of Europe and Russia, and he got much response to your messages. (There are 1,500,000 underground Pentecostals in Russia.)
I just had to write and say, if you only helped me, it is worth it; but not only has it helped me, the word God has given to you is now being heard by radio all over Europe and Russia. Doesn't he work in marvelous ways?
THANK YOU DEAR ELWIN & MARGIT!! LOVE & BLESSINGS!
Bob
Home | Elwin | Margit | Ministry Links
To to receive our
monthly studies in booklet form write to:
The Pathfinder
Elwin & Margit Roach
PO Box 4004
Alamogordo, NM
88311-4004