the greatest story ever told!

YOU "MUST BE BORN AGAIN"

That statement of Christ's taken from his conversation with one of his secret disciples, Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, is recorded at John 3:7. So important was the process Christ was here discussing, that he took the time to explain it in the simplest terms to Nicodemus - saying: "Most truly I say to you, unless anyone is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." (Joh 3:3) So the process is a vital one for all 144 000 holy ones who have been blessed by God to be his adopted children. (Eph 1:3-5) However, it may surprise you to learn that the fact that it is a blessing does not mean it is an easy process. It stands as one of the most misunderstood realities of Christianity. We will highlight some of its key aspects below, since it this process, that sets Jehovah's anointed ones apart from the rest of mankind, making us holy - or sacred. First things first ...

It is Painful

... For Moral Reasons!

It is obvious that there is a huge separation between the holy God Jehovah, and fallen mankind. Thus part of the love that Jehovah displays for his chosen ones is the need to discipline us. There are no exceptions. There is no human who acts the way Jehovah deems to be necessary - without correction. And it takes years of corrective training, along with help from his holy spirit to master ourselves!

However, going through the pain is for our benefit:

Though the process is extremely difficult, going through it brings the richest rewards - afterwards. As the scripture correctly states, "no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but ... painful...." This is similar to how kids think their parents are unloving if they are strict with them while they are growing up. However, once grown, and having been shaped by the wise guidance of good and loving parents, they come to truly appreciate how it has helped to shape them into good people and swear to do the same to their children! If that applies to imperfect parents, who don't always know what they are doing, how much more so does it apply to the one and only true God of the universe, Jehovah - the God who is "Love?" (1Jo 4:8)

... For Training Purposes!

The very last part of Hebrews 12:11 speaks of another benefit: "Training." Jehovah patiently trains all his anointed children because their anointing makes them special targets, not of the FBI, or CIA, or any other government agencies - but of Devil and his demon hordes, themselves. Surviving such focused demon attention requires expert training!:

Our adversary is a "roaring lion!" And he is focused. Jehovah's holy children do not have a struggle against other humans - our fight is a spiritual one. That means we must quickly learn to be adept at using the scriptures and learning to follow the leadings of the holy spirit. (2Ti 2:15; 1Pe 3:15) And the roaring lion is not working alone. When he rebelled against Jehovah, Devil was not the last powerful angel to do so. In Revelation he is described as having dragged one third of the "stars of heaven" down with him. (Re 12:3,4) As such the anointed have a fight against a powerful, invisible army of quantum enemies first - and their human minions ... only by proxy:

You can see why we need intense training! If Neo needed extensive training from Morpheus to fight computer programs, how much training does it take to defeat powerful supernatural beings who have been alive for thousands of years? This is why the aim of training in both first Peter and Ephesians (different descriptions of the same training) - is to make us "firm!" It is this firmness that allows us to "resist in the wicked day" and to "accomplish everything" Jehovah has "foreordained" us for - including the glories I have spoken about elsewhere! (Eph 1:3-5; 1Co 2:7) But as hard as it is to conquer Devil, and his minions - both demon and human governmental agencies - there is an enemy every holy one faces that is much, much more fearsome: our imperfect selves!:

Being born imperfect, all holy ones suffer many trials. Unlike the perfect man Jesus, many of our trials are self-inflicted wounds. And it takes us time, while being intensely trained by Jehovah, to learn to be free of such self-inflicted wounds. The root cause - our "treacherous hearts." For as Proverbs 26:2,3 says: "A curse does not come without a real reason." And again: "A whip is for the horse ... and the rod is for the back of stupid people.":

The discipline of Jehovah, the "scourg[ing]" that the holy spirit talks about in Hebrews 12 is for exactly this reason - to help cleanse us of our inborn defects. This is an amazing act of love from Jehovah and his High Priest, Jesus the Christ. (Pr 3:11,12) Mike Tyson's love for his trainer and mentor, Cus D'Amato, is legendary. Someone asked him why, if he benefitted so much from Cus' mentorship, he is not a trainer of young upcoming boxers in return? His reply is that it is too difficult! I am paraphrasing, but his reply went something like: "You have to give everything to the person you're training. You wear so many hats: you're a psychiatrist, doctor, father and mother. I just can't do it." This honesty reflects what the Apostle Paul said on the subject:

And ...

If that is how Paul feels about his fellow anointed brothers, how deep is the bond from Jehovah?:

Tyson is widely regarded as the best historian on boxing, having an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. Yet he frankly admits that he doesn't have what it takes to transfer his knowledge to the next generation because he doesn't have the emotional resources required to do so. It's difficult! On the other hand Jehovah loves us with the exact same love he has for Jesus! Pause to let that sink in.:

And ...

And so it is that both Jehovah and the Christ have the "loyal love," the emotional strength necessary, to stick with all the anointed until we are perfected - or "born again." This reassurance, makes what would otherwise be an impossibly scary journey - enjoyable.

... For Transformational Purposes!

But there is yet another critical function of pain: it transforms the anointed from being corrupted beings, to: "Sharers in divine nature, having escaped from the world’s corruption produced by wrong desire." (2Pe 1:4) The footnote for "wrong desire" is "Lust." This "escape" is a function of God's holy spirit and the spirit of Christ, but also of working through the pain of trying to be obedient to Jehovah and his Christ in everything!:

The most critical point about Jehovah's adopted children conquering the world is our need to transform to be like him. We need to reflect his personality and thought patterns, for since he is holy - as obedient children, we must also be holy. (1Pe 1:14-16) Being anointed is a process that kills your former self. The only way forward is to finish our training and conquer the world. If one of the anointed rejects his anointing, he doesn't go back to being an un-anointed human with the prospect of living forever on a paradise Earth. He dies. Forever!:

The statements: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," and, "For our God is a consuming fire" are both directed at the anointed in Hebrews. (Heb 10:31; 12:29) Thus, our anointing is a life and death matter, and it takes the most vigorous mental application for us to "keep working out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling." (Php 2:12) When we don't live up to it, it is tantamount to self condemnation and eternal death - for we have rejected the implanting of Jehovah's mind into our personality - and made ourselves his opposers as highlighted in the above scriptural passage. As such, the essence of Jehovah training his anointed children can be likened to trading in our pleasure based "user interface" for his spirit. The "treacherous heart" resists this. But in time, with effort and by leaning on his strength through faith, we are able to conquer. (Ro 12:1,2; 1Jo 5:4) This is only made possible through Jehovah's holy spirit, for it is from Jehovah that the power for our transformation comes:

As 1 Peter 4:1,2 brings out, suffering pain in trying to do what is right, plays a big part in our ability to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. This requires diligently working through the pain of sinfulness by persevering in good works as we seek incorruptibleness. (Ro 2:7) Pain helps the anointed in another way. Learning to not be ashamed about Christ in the face of ridicule and opposition.

... For Giving Us Strength of Character in the Face of Opposition!

One of the premier jobs of the anointed on Earth is to prove that Jesus is the Son of God and to "bear witness" to his name:

"Bearing witness" about Jesus, automatically glorifies both him, and his Father, Jehovah. (Joh 15:8) Nothing angers Devil more. Therefore, this holy work draws his ire, with the predictable result being persecution from him against the anointed, through his human agents. Recall, Schopenhauer's words:

Then consider who and what Jesus is:

More poignantly,

Jesus doesn't just tell the truth - he is the Truth! Thus it is impossible for anyone who has the work of bearing witness about Jesus to not go through the ridicule and discomfort that comes from empirically establishing such "truth." When we witness about the Christ, it is not that we are clearing the record on this or that aspect of his being, or life. Our commission of bearing witness to him is not limited to just telling the truth about who he is - but includes establishing what he is: because he himself is the "truth," in the same way that Jehovah is "love," and the "Spirit" (1Jo 4:8; 2Co 3:17)

It is for this reason that Christ urged his disciples to count the cost of their discipleship beforehand, for no one who is not ready to suffer pain can be Christ's follower:

Instead of unreadiness, we take a page from Christ's greatest evangelizer - the Apostle Paul. (1Co 15:9,10):

Anointed ones rejoice in our "sufferings" for Christ, for such momentary tribulations work out fo us a glory that is of "more and more surpassing greatness." (Ro 8:18; 2Co 4:17) Understanding the inestimable privilege of being given such a ministry means we are joyful whilst performing it - even in the face of ridicule and dangers. For if that process is necessary, according to Schopenhauer, to establish this or that truth about this or that topic - how much more so does it apply when it comes to establishing the Evidence Profile of the absolute "Truth," itself? For Christ does not represent this or that individual truth about a certain facet of reality - he represents all Truth! For since Jehovah was "pleased to have all fullness dwell in him," it means: "Carefully concealed" in the Christ "are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Col 1:19; 2:3) Thus bearing witness about his greatness cannot be done without facing ridicule and opposition - until the truth is firmly established! Without understanding that, we as Jehovah's holy ones - cannot fulfill our commission. (Ac 1:8; Re 12:17) What you have just participated in is just such a work. For since, these revelations are a function of Holy Spirit, they prove that Christ has indeed been resurrected to Heavenly life - just as he foretold. (Joh 16:7; Ac 2:32,33)

But there's more. Many people are willing to undergo physical pain for what they believe in, but shy away from ridicule. Devil, in the time Jehovah has given him to rule the world, has filled it with all sorts of fanciful myths about the origin of the universe. This was in order to make the bearing witness about Jesus Christ as uncomfortable as humanly possible! When everyone believes in evolution and the Big Bang, stating simple truths is an act of rebellion. Thus Satan has done all he could to fill the world with "deeply entrenched" metaphysical ethers and nonsensical dephlogisticated reasoning! (2Co 10:4) Just this morning, I was reading in The Guardian, about the latest evidence disproving the Big Bang. In an article titled, James Webb Telescope Detects Evidence of Ancient ‘Universe Breaker’ Galaxies, the writer shows that all the evidence being gathered by the recently launched James Webb Telescope, goes against the standard model of Cosmology. There is no such thing as the Big Bang. Remember when I told you that in the absence of evidence, explaining how things "look" can have reasonable sounding explanations on either side of the issue; but that once the evidence starts to pile up - it all falls on one side? That is what is now happening against the Big Bang model of the universe. Some excerpts from the article:

The title is, of course, misleading. It is not the "universe" the evidence is breaking, but the incorrect model - of the universe! Cosmologists claim the universe first created solitary stars and only after many years of successive "generations" of star creation, did they finally gather themselves gravitationally into galaxies. Thus, as they develop the capacity to look farther and farther back into the history of the universe they should be seeing more and more solitary stars and less and less galaxies. However, we know better! We know that God created all the galaxies on the same creative day - Day 4! As such, any investigation into the history of the development of the universe, can only yield results with that Evidence Profile. As is now happening through the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Imagine calling yourself an expert, but always being surprised by the results of your investigations. Is it possible that that is an Evidence Profile for someone, who is not, an expert?:

If your experimental results do not agree with your hypothesis, change you hypothesis. As Feynman said, "If it disagrees with experience, it's wrong. That's all there is to it." But as Sabine has been saying, decades of wrong predictions do not dissuade physicists from changing their working hypothesis. Instead they only adjust them in this or that direction - to no avail. When the next experiment comes, they utter the same refrain: "It's bananas." Something is bananas, but it's not the data. We continue with the article:

Once again, the problems the Evidence Profile "creates" are not aimed at true Science - but against baseless, evolutionary Scientism!:

At the very beginning of this episode, I quoted Neil deGrasse Tyson saying that the God of the Bible - Jehovah - is a God of the gaps: always retreating to areas that science is still ignorant of. My contention is that it is scientists who are masters of the gap - always cowering and retreating from the failures of their baseless models! We are experiencing the truthfulness of that now. Here's more from the article:

As I told you previously, Jehovah has worked things out so that the "disaster" awaiting Intellectuals comes upon them, just as their feet are starting to "slip." (De 32:25) Dr Chapman can at least see the writing on the wall. However, This is now Jehovah's time, for reasons I will soon explain in detail as we bring this episode to a close. That means there is nowhere for Intellectuals of the gap to retreat to! Recall 1Corinthians 1:19,20. What they are now facing is complete existential collapse! Isn't science wonderful!

Being prepared to bear up under the constant onslaught of ridicule from Satan's system of things for telling the truth is part of not "denying" the Christ - and of fulfilling our calling with joy! We must suffer together, in order to be glorified together. (2Ti 2:11,12) If out of fear of man, an anointed holy one were ever to cower from his commission and deny the knowledge he has been granted in front of men, Christ promises that he will deny such an individual before Jehovah and the holy angels!:

And ...

The courage to declare truth in the face of unanimous opposition comes from a deep love of Christ - and the conviction that as per Jehovah's working out of matters, verification of all that we bear testimony to is imminent. For, Jehovah has timed the publications of these revelations with the vast accumulation of verified experimental data! As he prophesied, he has timed the shining of light with the breaking of the arm of the wicked. (Job 38:12-15)

For all these reasons, the process of being born again is very painful. In fact, the only reason I do not say unbearably so, is because Jehovah makes sure to sustain us through it all. (2Th 3:1-5; Joh 10:28-30)

Why We Can Understand the Process of Being "Born Again?"

When Christ was explaining the process of being spirit anointed, he used an Earthly illustration that is common to all humans - being born. When Nicodemus struggled to understand the points, Christ asked him:

Although I am very familiar with this scripture I had not realized how important it is until I was trying to explain the weird process of being anointed to a relative. Off the cuff I said how traumatic and confining it was (because you cannot escape it). Because we are undergoing a process of learning to live by another spirit, I thought of a baby when they are born and suddenly they are forced to start breathing for themselves instead of through their mother's umbilical cord. It struck me that being anointed was a similar process because it requires you to leave behind everything you are familiar with and survive by using something which is initially very unfamiliar. I have never heard of a newborn who does not cry when they are first born. I then said the only difference is that you are awake throughout the whole nine months of development. That is the truly traumatic part! I remember a show some years back about medical emergencies. Emergency 911 I think it was called. What I remembered from it is that when they interviewed the survivors and asked them what they remember, they would always say "Nothing." People pass out under such trauma. Shutting down our cognitive abilities seems to be the body's coping mechanism for surviving tragic events. In this way, if we survive, our minds are not unnecessarily traumatized by memories of the experience. However, as we have just covered, with becoming a holy one - and it is a process, not just an anointing - it is imperative that the chosen individual always be alert and aware of the process. We can never shut down our perceptions as trauma victims often do. For if we do not work through the pain, we do not benefit in the ways listed above! Only after I had briefly given this explanation did I go back and revisit Christ's description of it, having realized that his parable of being born again was highlighting the same process.

As harrowing as the experience is, it is crucially important. For it is through these sufferings that we are cleansed of all defilements - without which we would not be able to "see" the Christ. (Heb 12:14) It is not sufficient for the holy ones to cleanse their garments - difficult and commendable as this is. (Re 7:14) Unlike the great crowd, the anointed must wash their actual bodies - inside and out. So that they have no defilements! This calls for another level of purging. Treatment that is so traumatic, that only the anointed can survive it!:

The intense form of this purging with the holy ones results, not in our clothes being washed but our whole being too:

And lastly ...

This is why Romans speaks of the anointed as "having the glorious freedom of the children of God," While faithful, loyal servants of God who are not anointed are spoken of as being "subjected to futility ... on the basis of hope." (Ro 8:20,21)

Thus the frightening and often confusing transformation of being anointed is one of God's most incredible creations! Changing an Earthling into a citizen of Heaven. This wholesale change in our future affects everything about us. Anointed ones who are women have an added variable to contend with, for there are no females in Heaven. When they are taken to Heaven by Christ, it will be as men! And they must incorporate this change into their mental transformation now! These changes are not easy for anyone involved, including close family members - like perhaps the spouses of anointed ones. For essentially the changes that come with being chosen render us as new people:

That leads us to our next topic. How our anointing separates us from the rest of mankind.

Set Aside

Another function of been "born again" is to be set aside for a special purpose. This was the original case in ancient Israel. Jehovah had instituted the nation of Israel so that it could provide him with a holy priesthood:

Being set aside for special service is part of the original definition of "being holy":

Thus the words of Exodus 19:5 and 6, of a kingdom of priests who are a special property for Jehovah are fulfilled in Christ and his anointed followers:

The people Christ bought with his blood for God are going to rule with him in Heaven over the Earth. They are the 144 000 holy individuals who are born again in order to become "priests to our God." It is for this reason that they are referred to alternatively in the Bible as Christ's "own special possession," a "royal priesthood," or "the congregation of the firstborn.":

And ...

Of course, as was the case in ancient Israel, there is a purpose behind why Jehovah creates this special group of people. The Apostle Peter, under inspiration, writes about it in his first letter:

That we "should declare abroad the excellencies of the One who called" us out of darkness into "his wonderful light," is the purpose! The footnote for "excellencies" is: [Lit., "the virtues," that is, his praiseworthy qualities and deeds]. That work of glorifying Jehovah in the face of Intellectual and demonic opposition is part of the "good works," that Jehovah has decreed the holy ones to perform. These works are part of the revelations of wisdom that Jehovah "foreordained before the systems of things for our glory." (1Co 2:7). Thus in creating the 144 000 Jehovah has fulfilled his prophecy of creating a "royal priesthood" that would glorify his name among mankind. We are his "handiwork" and everything we accomplish, he has prepared ahead of time for us to perform:

A big part of our training to fulfil these prophetic works "determined in advance for us to walk in them," is honing our gift(s) of the spirit!

Developing our "Talent" - A Most Difficult Path

Christ speaks of the slave who was given a talent, but hid it and did nothing to develop it. (Lu 19:20-23) He contrasts this example with slaves who immediately got to work, harnessing the power of the talents they had been given. (Lu 19:15-19) What does it take for the anointed to get to grips with the incredible gifts that we receive from the outpouring of holy spirit? The holy spirit explains through the hands of Paul. Paul explains that some of our gifts need to be "interpreted" before they can be understood! Also, the aim of all anointed is to build up the congregation of God - and thereafter, mankind in general:

That "beneficial purpose" is to build up the congregation of the firstborn - the 144 000:

Let us now quantify that some gifts, like prophesying, are a natural element for building up the congregation. As such, an anointed one who has them, merely has to speak - or publish - the prophecy and he is using his gift. However, there is another category of gifts, that need "interpretation." Paul discouraged the use of such gifts within the congregation - unless their owner learned to interpret them! The holy spirit explains:

The gift of speaking in tongues fell into this category. Thus Paul discouraged it, for without an interpreter, it did not meet the criteria of building up the holy congregation! It would amount to "an indistinct call" making the speaker and the hearer "foreigners" to each other. The opposite of unity - and building up! Remember that the holy spirit is God's mind. That means for the individual speaking in tongues, the exercise is a highly enjoyable one, because you are still experiencing a wonderful gift of sharing in God's thoughts. But none of the other holy ones are built up. Also speaking in tongues should have content. New information that is itself upbuilding for the congregation. This would include using a tongue - and its interpretation - to speak to the holy ones "with a revelation or with knowledge or with prophecy or with a teaching." (1Co 14:6) So we see a difference in the effect of gifts. Such gifts of the spirit always build up the one who is performing them, but some are limited to just that range, if they cannot be interpreted so that all can benefit!:

That is all clear. But what is the difference between the gifts that need interpretation, and the gifts that come ready to benefit the congregation? Why would the holy spirit which is the source of and performer of these gifts even bother performing such limited gifts? Because they are a "sign" to a targeted audience!:

Wonderfully, the holy spirit defines the difference for us! Some gifts are meant primarily for the congregation, and others are aimed at "unbelievers," or "ordinary people." It is good to note that not all "ordinary people" are "unbelievers." An ordinary person could just be a future believer, who has not yet had the opportunity to hear the Good News. (Ro 10:11-17) More specifically, an unbeliever is more than a non-believer, they are people who have heard the Good news, but failed to take it seriously. They have not "put faith in the thing heard!" (Ro 10:16) Do you fall into that category? I spoke earlier about accepting an offer of a Bible Study. Don't wait. The whole world around, we all know who are the people who are offering such services on behalf of Jehovah - the Father of mankind! Don't wait for the next time they come around. Reach out! Your life depends on it.

Let us confirm what the Bible has just told us about tongues being a sign for the "unbelievers." If that is the case, there should be an Evidence Profile in the Bible when this sign was used to help people who had heard about Christ, but didn't put faith in him, to realize that they made a mistake and thereby get a second chance at attaining salvation! And indeed there is. We turn to the book of the Acts of the Apostles:

Now the Jews who were in Jerusalem at this time, were devout in their worship of the Mosaic law. According to that law they were in Jerusalem at the time of of pentecost 33 CE - as commanded by that law. This command was to be observed annually. Hence, such Jews knew who Jesus was and what had happened to him. They were also in Jerusalem previously, during his three and a half year ministry and "knew" who he was - yet they were "unbelievers!" We learn as much from the next verses as the account continues:

The Apostle Peter helped the assembled crowd to understand the significance of what they had just witnessed. The group of about 120 recently anointed ones, were not drunk, for it was about 9am. Instead this miraculous sign was intended for the "unbelievers" who heard them speak. In this instance the speaking of tongues did not require interpretation, for the "magnificent things of God" that were being uttered could be understood by the visiting Jews, who spoke the foreign languages being uttered by the 120 disciples of Christ. That is why they knew the content of the message: that is was about the "magnificent things of God!" This undeniable Evidence Profile prompted them to ask themselves: "What does this mean?"

The answer, as identified by Peter from Joel's prophecy, was that this was an Evidence Profile of the pouring out of Holy Spirit - and what that proved about a man they all knew about, but had declined to put faith in, Jesus the Christ! Peter explains how everything fits together:

Above, Peter confirms that the assembled crowd knew about Jesus! "Jesus the Nazarene was a man publicly shown to you by God through powerful works," he says. God performed these powerful works through Christ "in your midst, as you yourselves know," he continues. It gets worse: "You fastened" him to "a stake by the hand of lawless men, and you did away with him," he next declares. All this, is directed at unbelievers - people who had an opportunity to accept what they "heard," and saw about Jesus - but rejected it. Then he makes a bold claim: "But God resurrected him by releasing him from the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held fast by it." We continue:

What is happening now? The bold claim is being substantiated through an undeniable Evidence Profile! One that all the "unbelievers" have already acknowledged:

Peter explained it beautifully. David - whom they all believed in - prophesied about the arrival of Jesus and his resurrection. The holy spirit spoken of in Joel, would only be poured out through Jesus. The fact that the 120 anointed disciples of Jesus were all speaking in tongues was a "sign" to these unbelievers, that Jesus must be resurrected. For it was Christ who "received the promised holy spirit from the Father" (as per Joel), and had now "poured out what you see and hear!" This was possible for according to David's prophecy - and again, they all revered David as a prophet of God - the Christ was to be resurrected within three days (before his flesh saw corruption, i.e. decomposition). It was through these Evidence Profiles and matching them to prophecy and its fulfillment, that people who had "heard" and seen Christ, but failed to exercise faith in him, could now become convinced that Jesus was indeed "both Lord and Christ!"

What was the effect on the crowd of unbelievers?:

Isn't Jehovah wonderful? Thus we see that in the end - belief is tiered. There are those who like the Beroeans, naturally, eagerly apply the principle found in Hebrews 11:1-3, and actively engage with Evidence Profiles to see if the "evident demonstration of realities" works out. These are people who access the truth they hear through the application of their minds. They work out how the evidence fits together on their own. However, there is another way for people to become believers, which Jehovah allows. This is when having failed to exercise faith in an Evidence Profile by using reason, Jehovah gives them a miracle, something that can only originate from him, as a sign to "unbelievers" who might not be wicked, but obviously failed to connect the dots earlier! In this instance, They become believers, not through reasoning out the evidence, but through the evidence being plain, that it is effectively - pre-reasoned out for them! People who come into the Truth via this route should not feel subpar. In fact, they oftentimes become greater lovers of Jehovah and Christ than the first group! If that is your lot in life, Jehovah wants you to know he values you - and all is forgiven. Here is the holy spirit through Peter explaining just that:

So, while they had previously "disowned" Jesus the Christ, Jehovah knew it was out of "ignorance." Thus, as long as they would "repent ... and turn around," their sins would be "blotted out!" "God is love!" (1Jo 4:8)

Please take note that the majority of people who come to be believers come to the Truth in this way. We are Evidence Profile people, so let's look at the facts. After Christ's resurrection, the most amount of disciples recorded as being followers of Christ is stated as more than 500. (1Co 15:6) On the day of the conversion of the unbelievers 3 000 instantly joined the ranks of Christ's disciples. As more and more signs kept happening that number grew - within a matter of days - to 5 000. (Ac 4:4) So the apostles made more disciples than Christ, and within a shorter time span. But the difference is because Christ's ministry was not obvious. (Lu 17:20,21) His ministry was prophesied to be esoteric in nature:

Why did Jehovah design Christ's ministry so that most people would not understand? That reason is another act of love from the God whose mercies never end. (Ro 11:25,26,32) The explanation has its own episode - so wonderful and brilliant are the details! For now, since you have found Him: never let go of Jehovah Most Precious! We continue.

The last part of our Evidence Profile is to show that how you came into the truth is not a limiter for how close you can get to God. Many times its a catalyst. One such case is the conversion of the greatest evangelizer the Christ ever had - the Apostle Paul. When Peter heard that Christ was the Messiah, he and his brother immediately identified him as such. (Joh 1:35-42) And they were men who were "unlettered and ordinary." (Ac 4:13) On the other hand, Saul was a high flying Pharisee who persecuted the congregation of Christ. (Ac 8:3) He didn't come into the truth by working out Christ's Evidence Profile for himself! Instead a miracle he couldn't deny hit him in the face - literally! (Ac 9:1-5) After his conversion Saul became known as Paul - the Apostle Paul! He readily admitted how he came into the Truth:

And ...

Take that message to heart. The vast majority of people who become believers fall into this category. The Davids, Moses', Hannahs, Ruths, Rahabs and Jobs of the world are very few and far in between! You can literally count these exceptional human beings on your hands - and have spare fingers left over. Most of us realize we have made a colossal mistake when reality hits us hard in the face. Get up - and make up for lost time!

The Apostle Paul was one who did every thing he could to show Jehovah and Christ that he appreciated their understanding, patience and forgiveness. He excelled, to the point that he exceeded all the other apostles in accomplishments. The holy spirit is happy to acknowledge that fact, for it inspired Paul to write:

What powered his drive? The Christ himself explains:

So even those who have come to the Truth through many detours of acts of ignorance and a lack of faith, can find redemption - and salvation! Whatever drives you, personally, whatever road you have traveled to arrive at this point reading these words: use it to the fullest extent, to the best of your abilities - to glorify Jehovah Most Precious and his wonderful Son, Jesus Christ!

A Key Function of the "Helper"

We have seen how Jehovah uses "signs" to help people who have missed an opportunity to attain to salvation, by giving them another chance. These kind of works are not primarily aimed at the faithful - unless they are accompanied by, a "revelation or ... knowledge or ... a prophecy or ... a teaching!" (1Co 14:6) No, they are aimed primarily at "unbelievers." And it is these kinds of gifts of the spirit that require their possessor's to "interpret" them - so that the congregation may also be built up! Which is the purpose behind all gifts of the spirit, as we have already seen.

This unique type of sign or work, that is aimed at unbelievers, is a key function of the holy spirit. But, in addition to "unbelievers," it can also be directed to the holy ones, the congregation, as long as such revelations are accompanied by "interpretation" of the sign meant for unbelievers. Otherwise, how would the congregation be built up? Such feats are operations of God's Holy Spirit, and it is because the holy spirit can perform such convincing feats to unbelievers that it is also called a helper. It aids the anointed to convince people who would otherwise not go through the process of Hebrews 11:1-3 for themselves! As such, the holy spirit, the spirit of truth, is also known as the "helper.":

What was the defined purpose of this spirit? We know that it constitutes an individual's anointing. (Joh 15:26; Ro 8:14-17) This anointing is what teaches us about all the "sacred secrets" of the Christ. (1Joh 2:26,27) It performs many other functions including sanctifying us and - over time - perfecting us to the point where we no longer "practice sin." (1Jo 3:9) The end of this most traumatic life experience, is coincidentally what being "born again" refers to. When Jehovah made Woman from the man's rib, he used anesthesia so that Adam felt no pain. When Christ died for his "wife" - the congregation - he was fully awake. (Eph 5:23-25):

When Christ uttered those words, he truly was in agony. But he did not say them to communicate that God had abandoned him! If you look at Christ's behaviour on the stake that day, you will realize that everything that happened to him, was to fulfill prophecy! This included him refusing the "gall" they gave him to drink, and how they gambled for his clothes. (Mt 27:34; Ps 69:21 and Mt 27:35; Ps 22:18) Ps 22 held another prophecy that was to be fulfilled by Christ:

In was not only because he was in genuine pain, but to fulfill that scripture, that Christ uttered those words! Christ knew that his Father would never abandon him, for he always does the things pleasing to his Father. (Joh 8:29) Would that be true in the rest of his life and not true, now that he was doing the hardest thing that his Father had ever commanded him to perform? (Isa 53:10-12) Of course not! Nevertheless, we return to our main point: when Christ died for his anointed followers he was fully awake! As it was with him: so it is with his followers. What Christ told his followers figuratively, he performed literally. (Mt 10:38,39; Mr 15:20) And just as he was conscious through his whole ordeal, so are we as Jehovah creates "a new creation" in/through us. (Ga 6:14-17) That is the source of the pain, as we are being transformed. But, as we have learned, that pain is then, in turn, the source of all the blessings! (Heb 12:11)

So holy spirit has many functions. But none of them are the one quoted at the beginning of this subheading - John 16:5-11. What is that purpose? After telling them that he going back to his Father, he reassures them by telling them he will "send" the helper to them. Then from verse 8 he details what the holy spirit will help them to do! We touched on that point briefly just now, let us now focus more diligently on it:

Question: To whom are the mentioned functions of the holy spirit aimed at? The answer is "the world!" The world. The holy spirit would give Christ's anointed followers the ability to give the world "convincing evidence," i.e., Evidence Profiles about three things: "sin ... righteousness and ... judgement!" In other words, the people who had not reasoned out their own faith, as the Beroeans had, would be given clear Evidence Profiles that would allow them to accept the truth after having initially - and maybe persistently - rejecting it. The phrase "convincing evidence" is exactly the same one used in Hebrews 11:1, where faith is defined. I quote them below for your easy comparison. We must use the scholarly version of the Bible - the one with extensive footnotes - to get to these important details! Hence, the scriptures will be quoted from the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures - With References. Without question, the best version of the Bible ever produced - excerpt for the originals (of course). Please find the texts below:

There are three footnotes, and three sets of references to this short scripture, but I have left only the detail which is of immediate interest to us now: the footnote to the phrase "evident demonstration." It reads: "Evident demonstration." Or, "convincing evidence." Gr., eʹleg·khos; Lat., ar·gu·menʹtum. Compare Joh 16:8 ftn. Below, I will then quote John 16:8, with its relevant footnote:

The only footnote in this scripture - is the one we are looking for. It says: "Will give ... convincing evidence." Or, "will reprove." Gr., e·leg'xei. (In all cases of italics, they belong to the original publication.) That footnote is even more informative! First we acknowledge the obvious, they both use the same word. I know nothing about Greek, but I would hazard a guess that the difference suffixes have to do with single and plural tense. With the example in Hebrews talking more generally about evident demonstrations of many different kinds of evidence. Whereas John is more pointed: the holy spirit will give the world a set of "convincing evidence" about sin; then another set of "convincing evidence" about righteousness; and lastly, another set of "convincing evidence" about judgement. Now, the reason we know that the convincing evidence the helper will give are Evidence Profiles is because in Hebrews the phrase is used in the past tense: faith is the "assured" expectation.... So the convincing evidence will be pre-reasoned, or to put it more naturally: will be pre-packaged as an inescapable conclusion of the facts. That is "the world," at whom this evidence is directed will not have to work out the details - everything will be worked out for them. After all not working out the details, is what makes them the world, or "unbelievers," in the first place! As opposed to the faithful followers of Christ, who undertake this process for themselves. This is where John 16:8 gives us an extra nugget of a detail - Or "will reprove" the footnote reads. In other words, the convincing evidence would be such a solid and non-debatable Evidence Profile that those who witness/hear it will be reproved by its content or substance.

These prophetic Evidence Profiles first started being used as soon as the holy spirit - the helper - arrived in Pentecost 33 CE. That is what the account we have discussed in detail about the "tongues" was about. In the case of all the first century "unbelievers" who came into the Truth by way of convincing evidence or "reproof" from the holy spirit - the message they had to understand related to "sin." Christ explained it this way:

Those first century Jews who had been eye-witnesses to Christ's sojourn to the Earth, were not putting faith in him. Thus once he sent his faithful disciples "the helper" - it aided them in giving those Jews an Evidence Profile that they didn't have to work out themselves. This is the "first," instance of the holy spirit performing this function, that Christ is here referring to! That is the account with Peter and the baptism of 3 000 repentant "unbelievers" as new disciples on one day. They were suitably "reproved" for not having put faith in Christ - though they were eye-witnesses to his ministry! More evident demonstrations followed - and all were confirmation that Jesus was the Christ - and that he had been resurrected, hence the pouring out of holy spirit, with its resultant Evidence Profiles aimed at "the world." (Ac 4:33) This had the effect that:

I will cover the other two periods of time for the usage of this unique function of the holy spirit, by the holy ones of God, later. For now, a question closer to home: The first episode of The Greatest Story Ever Told, "Credentials," to whom is it aimed - the faithful or to "the world?" The answer is to the World. It is "convincing evidence" that serves as a reproof for all the baseless metaphysical fantasies they have dreamed up over the years. An Evidence Profile.

It is for this reason that I have been busy for 1114 days as of this writing, "interpreting" the contents for the holy ones. You will recall from Paul's exhortations that "signs" that are meant for the "unbelievers" are perfectly appropriate for the congregation - as long they are accompanied by "a revelation or ... knowledge or ... a prophecy or ... a teaching." (1Co 14:6) In that way they fulfill the mandate that the "congregation may be built up."

I have had to learn several new skills in that time including coding and 3-D computer graphics. This reflects the advice/conclusion of the holy spirit as to the matter of how signs meant for unbelievers can be presented in a way that meets the greater goal of edifying the congregation:

What does learning to interpret entail?

It is better to speak five words in the congregation that build up, than 10 000 that need interpreting. Nevertheless at important junctures in history, the holy spirit is prophesied by the Christ to perform acts or signs aimed at "the world" as a form of "convincing evidence" or "reproof." In such cases while it is enjoyable to delve into such a gift with only the spirit, to be able to make it relevant for the building up of the congregation - one must also apply their mind in utilizing their gift of the spirit! (Again, I will later elaborate on when the other two periods when the holy spirit gave convincing evidence "to the world" are.) For now, our focus on how we as holy ones can apply our minds to make the most of the gifts of the spirit leads us naturally to the next subheading - the need for solitude and deep meditation.

The Need for Solitude & Deep Meditation

Christ often hiked alone into a mountain so he could have solitude and the opportunity for deep thought. After he was baptized but before he began his ministry he went to the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. (Mt 4:1,2; 14:23-25) He didn't do this because he was anti-social, but because his mission on Earth required the utmost focus and commitment. Every one who is chosen by God to be anointed needs to take this time to try and understand what is happening to them and how to, first, get to grips, and then, how to master their new superpowers - for that is what the holy spirit is: a supernatural superpower! It is what Jehovah used - both the energy source and the intelligence - to create the universe (or both realms of reality). (Heb 6:4-6; 2Co 5:5) Being anointed means you are transforming from using Physics - to using Spirics as the guiding principle in your life. This change is dramatic! For one, it means your life is now split into dual realities: your internal "spiritual life," and your external fleshly existence, for you are still in a human body. (Heb 12:23) Essentially living in Space, while living on Earth. That is it in a nutshell! Everyone who knows me, knows how friendly I am. But there are countless times when close friends, or their wives tell me they greeted me in the hallway somewhere and I didn't respond. I was far far away, preoccupied with one or other dynamic of my spiritual life. It's not that I didn't respond - I just didn't see them due to being deep in thought. This behaviour has always confused them, and I couldn't tell them the reasons before. All I could do was apologize and say I didn't mean it. They took it personally because they know I'm friendly, and so couldn't understand why I was shunning them. When I was merely absentminded for the reasons already stated. The anointed mostly don't live in agricultural settings like Christ did. We can't take hikes alone into the mountains to meditate - but meditate we must. Hence when it happens in a busy social setting, the above scenarios occur.

Since there are the tremendous changes happening internally; but from the outside you look normal it causes a great disconnect in our lives. Internally we feel powerful and all conquering, but externally we might be an abused housewife, who seemingly depends on her domineering husband to get by in life. Or a frail old lady with health problems. Or a young man who seems distracted and without direction in his life, because unlike Paul when he was Saul, you don't have a prominent career and are not "making greater progress ... than many of [your] age," which is how parents and society gauge success. (Ga 1:14) This is because after your anointing you are forced to realize that all these things are nothing in comparison with your new goal of putting "on Christ!" (Ga 3:26,27; 4:19) Jehovah uses the transformation of Paul to illustrate the point for us all:

Unfortunately, those things that we might have previously considered gains are still considered gains by the rest of the people in our lives! This is another source of disconnect - the friction with our relatives. At first, you yourself might still harbour desires of this or that trapping. One of the hardest parts of being anointed is learning to accomplish tasks using the holy spirit - as opposed to your own natural resources. This difficult developmental period is uncomfortable to say the least. You feel the power. But you don't know how to manifest it directly. It takes years of specialized training from Jehovah - and suffering, to get there. (1Pe 6-11) It is comforting to know that "the entire association of your brothers in the world," is going through the same experience. (1Pe 5:9) So, we are not alone in our struggles. One of the greatest impediments to progress is trying to use Earthly resources to accomplish Spiritual goals. For year's I tried this or that business in order to achieve spiritual aims. This thinking is native to the human psyche. (Mt 19:22-25) The natural inclination of humans is to rely on money to accomplish things, since money has universal application:

For this reason, the first type of leverage humans think of when faced with a daunting task is - money. But that is not how this works. We have the difference between how force is applied to do work in Spirics and Physics. It is applied from inside the object being moved in Spirics. And it is applied from the outside in Physics. How would we master spirics if we centered our training on external sources of leverage - like money, or prominence? Were that to happen, we would never be able to exercise our Inzintian muscles. We would never master how Spirics works. We would never develop to the point where Christ is fully "formed" in us. We would never learn to trust God implicitly - for our security would lie in unstable physical resources - now you have it; now you don't:

All my business ventures failed, and yours will too - as an anointed soldier of Christ. This is because of Christ's protection that arrests any deception from getting hold on us. Our only path to realizing our spiritual "talent" is to harness the power of the holy spirit - until we master our gifts!

Did you see the contrast? Did you note the difference between how humans think and the transformation we must make to succeed as anointed ones? This is what took me the longest to understand in my own journey. I think the task is more complicated if you come from, or are surrounded by money: because then you have first hand experience in how money meets a "response in all things!" With one having had this thinking drummed into one, it takes consistently hitting the wall before one thinks: "does Jehovah expect me to do this another way?" Soldiers don't get involved in commercial businesses ... in order to gain "the approval of the one who enrolled [them]." Likewise, there are "rules" by which we must abide as holy ones, for Jehovah - who chose us - has enrolled us in the "Heavens." (Heb 12:23) Did you notice why it is not our first choice to stick to the rigid discipline roles of being a soldier for Christ? Pain! Our natural instinct is to avoid pain, and take the route of least resistance. "Take your part in suffering adversity" Paul says. That is the role of a fine soldier - and the rules for how the anointed fulfill their calling. Going through the pain - as we have already touched on at length - is the only way to develop both our spiritual gifts from the holy spirit, and to transform our personalities until Christ is formed in us. Only intense pressure over time, creates diamonds. Take away the pressure, or apply it for a short period of time - and you just have dirt.

While all this is happening internally and you are trying to figure things out. There is consternation from those who are part of your life. They view your change of focus in your life as stalling. And depending on how they are related to you, parents, spouses, children ... they will put different pressures on you. Finding the balance between internal reality and your external circumstances takes a lot of work. No one who doesn't give this unique transformation, their full and proper attention with all seriousness and due diligence will fully accomplish all that they need to. To learn how to put on the Christ takes time - and it goes against all our natural inclinations! Remember, being "in union with Christ" means you are a "new creation!" (2Co 5:17) That means throw away the old rule book, and learn the rules of the contest you are now in - and then master them! For we "cannot be crowned unless [we have] competed according to the rules." (2Ti 2:5) And the rules of our contest are all based on suffering!:

And ...

So paramount is this aspect of being anointed to our effectiveness, that in the Bible, it has a name going to "Arabia!":

You will recall that Saul was on his way to Damascus, when Jesus intercepted him on the road. (Ac 9:1-4) You can imagine his confusion at the events surrounding his conversion. He desperately needed the time in the deserts of Arabia to think things through. No matter what our personal histories are - nothing is more confusing (initially) than being anointed. The change in perspective is correctly depicted in the Bible as a death and rebirth:

This has to do with "being baptized for the sake of being dead ones." (1Co 15:29-34; Ro 6:3,4; Php 3:10,11) These are higher grade topics whose details need not concern us here. The relevant point is that all who are anointed - fall into this category! While not covering the details, we can elaborate on the reality: the anointed must lead a life of sacrifice now because we have "died" to the world, and our "life has been hidden with the Christ in union with God." (Col 3:1-5) That means while we are working out our "salvation with fear and trembling," we look like complete idiots, because no one understands our life course - it has no rhyme or reason for people who just want to have a nice house, with the white picket fence and two cars in the double garage. (One of which it seems, must always be a white Toyota SUV - Hilux, Fortuna, Landcruiser etc, - at least in South Africa). (Php 2:12) As a result:

But nothing could be further from how things appear:

What did the holy spirit mean when it said: "as having nothing and yet possessing all things?" It means that while the holy ones are alive on Earth, their lives are hidden with the Christ's as we hae discussed. But, in actual fact looks are deceiving, because the holy ones actually own everything. In turn we are owned by the Christ, and the Christ is owned by Jehovah! I am not lying to you. It's in the Bible:

Remember that the "inhabited Earth to come" belongs to the holy ones of God - that is, to Christ and his 144 000 anointed ones. (Heb 2:5,6,9,13)

The Role of Arabia in Developing the Holy Ones

So, holy ones who take the time to go to their personal "Arabia" like Christ and the Apostle Paul excel at their calling. But such endeavours mean the world is dead to us, and we to the world. Arabia also makes us very different to the rest of mankind, as our development is based on our "spiritual life," that is, our citizenship in the "Heavens." (Heb 12:22,23) This necessarily requires that we keep our minds focused on "the things above!" (Col 3:1-3) I can remember so many times when people looked at me like I was crazy. And I couldn't explain. That is the lot of a holy one - until our time comes.

This relates to a story Malcolm Gladwell tells about how to train to be highly effective. In a discussion with Interviewer Tyler Cowen, he is asked: "Let's say you're giving advice to the parents and grandparents in the room. You can't reshape the system, you can't even control Harvard. But you can tell them what to do for their children. What's your advice...?" Here is his reply:

Think of two Biblical accounts, one when the Israelites had just left Egypt, and another many years later when Jehovah asked Gideon to - with 300 chosen men - fight a war against the combined armies of two mighty nations that the Bible describes as having so many soldiers that they covered "the valley plain like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were without number, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore." (Jg 7:12) What is the difference between these accounts? The passages are found below:

Versus ...

Why the difference? The account in Exodus was when the people had only recently started to have dealings with Jehovah - their trust in him was not fully established. Also, they were untrained as warriors! But by the time of Judge Gideon, they had settled in the promised land, and Gideon, specifically - was a mighty warrior who had faith in Jehovah! (Jg 6:12; 7:15) That arc is the path all anointed follow as we learn to depend on Jehovah's Arm of spirit - and not our own arm of flesh: be that wealth, our natural talents, education, credentials, or anything else that falls under the umbrella - of "flesh!":

The lesson from Gladwell, which Jehovah illustrates by how he acted in each of these two circumstance is that if the entry bar is too high, even people who would otherwise succeed - fail! That is what Gladwell means when he says, "In other words, there's a continuum here and exclusivity is at one end and opportunity is at the other end!" Watch the video and you will see that he puts great stress on the fact that opportunity and excellence are at two opposite ends of the same spectrum. Put yet another way, for people to willingly participate in something, they must feel that they will not be judged harshly if they fail - otherwise they won't even try. That is why our lives as anointed ones are "hidden" - until the Christ takes action. This invisibility to mankind, is like a cloak of anonymity that allows us to practice all the exercises of our particular gift and hone our mastery of it - without expectation. Only the holy one, knows what they are working on. No one outside of the worldwide brotherhood of fellow holy ones would appreciate the pressure - or feeling of solitary struggle that you experience in this process of transformation. (1Pe 5:9)

In my own training, over many years, I would always break what I was getting good at and start from scratch. All the while A/B testing and keeping what worked and getting rid of what didn't. Follow the Scott Adam's (of Dilbert fame) template of working according to a system - not a goal. Basically, if you work to a goal, you either reach the goal, or fail. However, when you work around the principle of a "system," whenever you fail at a particular task, you assess the situation and get rid of the bad, and keep the good you learned from the exercise and use that in your next attempt. This "system" approach means your are always improving! And the different components that make up your system are always being refined and made more robust. In my own case, many times people wondered, what is going on? I would give a universally praised lecture one month and six months later, a total dud. But I was trying out different approaches and techniques. One time I heard a lecture where the speaker gave a fantastic, maybe hour long lecture without notes. Immediately I tried that on my next lecture. I prepared it for three months - and it was the worst lecture I ever gave. My body betrayed me and my mouth went dry as soon as I stepped on the stage. My voice quickened as a response of trying to keep the next point in mind so I wouldn't go blank. Do you think I knew exactly what the purpose of an outline was after that talk? Absolutely! My audience didn't know what to say, and while I was sorry for using them as guinea pigs, it was necessary. It's the only way to cultivate the actual skills needed to fulfill our commission - which will be played out on the world stage, and under pressure!

As soon as you become satisfied with a level of competency - you stop growing! We have not been selected by Jehovah to excel by human standards, but to exert ourselves in training hard and mastering the "talents" he has given us. The "works" that Jehovah has "prepared in advance for us" must be accomplished to the highest possible standards: because they are meant to glorify the greatest being in the universe - Jehovah God, himself! (Eph 2:10) And once we start - there is no time for training, and polishing this or that aspect of our talent stack. Like gazelles in the field, we have to hit the floor running, Maverick top gunning. So as long as we are still in training, that is, our lives are hidden - we practice, practice, practice. Don't worry about human reactions, or how people view you. This A/B testing, increasing our talent stack and working on systems and not goals applies across all aspects of the gift(s) Jehovah has blessed you with. Our aim is not to progress according to human standards by sticking to the conventional way of doing things. We are a new creation. And we must exert ourselves tirelessly to figure out how to perfect control of ourselves - and of our spiritual gifts. As Paul urged young Timothy: "Do not neglect the gift in you that was given you through a prophecy...." (1Ti 4:14) Instead he encouraged him to "stir up like a fire the gift of God.":

Time and time again Paul strengthened Timothy by admonishing him to:

Everything we have spoken of so far, in terms of harnessing our talents from Jehovah through his power, can be summed up with one word: "Arabia." We define Arabia as the environment we create in order to focus single mindedly on the transformation we must undergo to be born again. This state represents the solitude and self exertion required of us if we are to attain to "the measure of stature that belongs to the fullness of the Christ." (Eph 4:13) But all this development in solitude has an effect - perhaps unexpected for many.

Isolated Development Destroys Conformity

There is another central reason why solitude is integral to the arc of development of the holy ones. It is because Jehovah trusts the individuals he has chosen to become his holy children. In delegating certain functions of the outworking of his will to them, he has entrusted them with much responsibility. And he does not micromanage. What he has delegated, he has entrusted! As such, the gifts of the holy ones are under their control:

Since we are to be solely responsible for the gifts bestowed upon us, it is vital that our training reflects the seriousness with which we treat that reality. Thus solitary development is crucial to the efficiency with which we will fulfill our calling later on! A consequence of solitary development is being different from the crowd. Conformity is born, most of all from a desire to fit in so that our financial security is never at risk. Let me present three quotations - all from the same person - that are relevant to our current discussion. The first two are two sides of the same coin. And the third explains how we can escape the first two undesirable conditions:

That's a steep price. Giving up 75% of yourself just so you can fit in. But how does this work in principle?

What does that mean? It means in everyday life people think the decisions they take belong to them, but in reality, much of their thinking is based on not rocking the boat - to remain safe. Really people are most focused on protecting two things in life - as brought out by the Pharisees concerns surrounding the rise of Jesus: "if we let him go on like this everybody will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." (Joh 11:48) Those are the central concerns among the vast majority of mankind, no matter what they may claim to the contrary. If you want to know the truth about people's motivations, you shouldn't listen to what they say, but look at their actions. It is the decisions they take, that show you who they really are. Take my current favourite issue of "what is a woman." A decade ago many people would have readily defined a woman. Today, many refuse to answer this question. Why? It is not because their core understanding of what a woman is has changed, but because, it has suddenly become hazardous to the bank balance of many to define this simple term. And suddenly they have biological amnesia, and can't remember the definition of one of the only two sexes in existence! That is the power behind conformity. And, that is what the second of Schopenhauer's quotes means.

This means the opposite of the prominent social status and conformity promoted by the Pharisees ... is solitude and freedom:

This "freedom" manifests itself in two ways for the holy ones. First: "Jehovah is the Spirit, and where the spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom." (2Co 3:17) Secondly, Arabia produces in us a freedom born of the solitude that is a pre-condition to our self development and training. Is this freedom wrong? Not at all for it is critical in being able to carry our the works that "God has determined in advance, for us to walk in...." How? Because of what we have already discussed. Standing up for Truth means we are going to be put through the first two phases of every truth - ridicule and opposition! This is the proverbial red dot on the Zebra that Jordan Peterson was talking about. In normal society, no one wants to be the Zebra with the red dot. Everyone, in an attempt to remain secure in their "place and nation" - their "Matrix" does everything to comply with the general mood of their times - as per Schopenhauer's words. Yet the anointed were created as God's handiwork to glorify him. This means standing out and going against the crowd. Were it not for our "spiritual lives" and the fact that the world is dead to us, and we are dead to the world - we would not be able to carry out our calling! (Ga 6:14) Instead, we rejoice at having a red dot on us for the sake of the Christ:

And ...

And ...

This conviction is only possible among the holy ones due to Arabia, and the personal spiritual development it fosters, and from being chosen by God to fulfill a special calling of being chosen to be different, "holy" or "sacred," that is, set aside! The "freedom" that results from having Jehovah's spirit is not a bug, but a feature of the process! Without it, the holy ones would - like the Pharisees - be more concerned about "our nation and our place," than about glorifying Jehovah and his Christ at any cost - including "ridicule" and "opposition." This uniqueness holds great benefits for mankind as a whole as we will soon learn!

As we close this section on what it means to be "born again," and all the different things it includes, let us please take a moment - a moment of silence - for all those who have not been chosen by God to be part of his holy ones; those who have no clue what Arabia is; are not taking part in suffering evil, and yet believe they are "born again!" Shame. False religion has done so much harm to mankind! So many people are lost in dense ignorance: