Jesus Appearing
Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 3:09 PM
Pastor Vitale,
Could you explain this to me? (Excerpt from an LEM Online Meeting)
So anyone who believes that Jehovah is appearing to mortal men as a spirit today, is deceived, and has been victimized by an evil angel.
What about spiritual appearances of Jesus, the Christ?
Are they legitimate?
I have heard testimonies of Jesus appearing at the foot of someone's bed, and having a conversation with them.
Does anyone have a comment on this?
<DANIEL42> I would say they are not legitimate.
<LivingEM> Yes, this is true. He who confesseth not that Jesus Christ is appearing in the flesh of a mortal man is an???
<DANIEL42> Anti-Christ.
<LivingEM> Yes, anti-Christ. Jesus speaks to us personally, through His Word, through His mind, and through other people, but He is not appearing in spirit form today.
Can anyone guess who this reappearing angel is?
<Overcomer> The Fiery Serpent, an immortal?
<DANIEL42> I would say some manifestation of the Serpent.
<LivingEM> That's true. The evangelist's reappearing angel is the visible projection of the personality's internalized Fiery Serpent.
[Pastor Vitale's Response:] our own soul has the power to project an image of itself. Sometimes it appears like us and sometimes it takes on another appearance, such as a leprechaun. The motive for this phenomenon is that our fallen soul is in the image of, and an expression of, the Serpent. The Serpent desires worship and Christ Jesus within us also desires worship. Our God is in the midst of us and desires us to worship Him. The Serpent is also in the midst of us and desires us to worship her. The $1 million question is, can we distinguish between the God in the midst of us and the god in the midst of us. Jehovah clearly said that there were many gods, but that He was God Almighty, the greatest of them all.
Images that appear to us are projections of our own soul. In the Old Testament, sometimes angelic messengers were sent and the way the appeared to a mortal man is that they entered into his soul and projected an image therefrom, such as in the case of Daniel.
Angels are breaths. They have no form of their own, so they much clothe themselves in a soul in order to become visible and appear.
Occasionally, Christ Jesus in a mature believer will astral project (sometimes with the believers knowledge and sometimes without it) and appear to another man for some specific reason. But, to the best of my knowledge, when this happens, Christ Jesus appears in the form of the personality that He is living in, and does not identify Himself as Christ, or the Lord Jesus to the recipient of this kind of ministry.
You mentioned that Jesus does not appear in spirit form today. I was wondering if you could explain Acts 9:3-7.
v.3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damamscus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: v.4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
v.5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
v.6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
v.7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man.
[Pastor Vitale's Response:] seeing “a light” is not the same as seeing the image or form of a man. Many hear His voice today, but to the best of my knowledge, the only “form” that Jesus is appearing in today is the form of the people who He inhabits by His Spirit.
Acts 22:9
And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
What do you make of this account, and why is there conflicting accounts of Paul's testimony? If it seems I'm asking a lot of questions and it seems burdensome to you just let me know.
[Pastor Vitale's Response:] there is no conflict in these 2 accounts. The 2 verses complement each other, each contributing its own detail to complete the account[My Response:] of one single event. Both verses are saying the same thing. Acts 22:9, is an abbreviation of Acts 9:7, buts adds its own detail in the form of a different Greek word that is translated “to see.” In other words, you have to understand what Paul is saying in Acts 9:7 before you can understand the abbreviated version of the event in Acts 22..
Acts 9:7
“Men” means male. The only spiritual male is Christ Jesus.
There are 2 different Greek words translated “see.” Acts 9:7 – Strongs 2334 – to experience; acts 22:9 – Strong’s 2300 – to perceive
The same Greek word is translated “hear” in both verses, but we will use a different translation from Strong’s in each of the verses: “to hear” in Acts 9:7, and “to understand” in Acts 22:9.
The spiritual principle here is that the people who Christ Jesus lives in are both male and female. Christ Jesus is the man and the personality is the woman, His wife. The man is invisible, but appears to others through the woman who speaks His words and conveys His teaching, ideas and judgments to other mortal men (physical males or physical females). When we apply this spiritual principle we arrive at the following alternate translations:
[WORDS IN BRACKETS ARE THE TRANSLATORS AMPLIFICATIONS FOR CLARITY]
Acts 9:7 [Christ], The [spiritual] male who travels with me, stood up [in spiritual power when He perceived* the Lord Jesus], but [my female Carnal Mind] did not experience [spiritual] man [hood], and was struck dumb [with terror] when she heard His voice.
* this word is the additional information taken from Acts 22:9.
WITNESSES:
Luke 1:19-20
19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. KJV
Dan 10:15-16
15 And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.
16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth [Christ Mind], and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. KJV
1 Tim 2:12
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. KJV
Acts 22:9
And [Christ], the one who was with me, indeed, perceived the Light, but [my Carnal Mind, my female side], did not understand the voice of Him who spoke to me, [and was afraid]. ATB
The words “and were afraid” in the King James translation have no Greek root. They were added by the translators.
CONCLUSIONS:
1. When Christ lives in a mortal man, He will stand up in spiritual power when He experiences the Lord Jesus.
“To experience” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
2. Christ within a mortal man is female in relation to the glorified Jesus Christ.
3. The marriage the Scripture talks about is a spiritual marriage between Christ in a mortal man and the glorified Jesus Christ.
4. The fruit of this union is that Christ in the individual increases into the spiritual man (the only mediator) Christ Jesus
5. When Christ Jesus “stands up” in a mortal man, that mortal man receives power with God, and becomes spiritually male to every man that has a lesser anointing, and to those who do not know the Lord Jesus.
6. When the Lord Jesus draws near to a mortal man to marry the Christ in that man, the Carnal Mind within that same man will not understand what is happening and be terrified.
7. Christians who fear the “last days” are spiritual females who do not understand the motives, intentions or End-Time Plan of the Lord Jesus for the salvation of mankind.
8. Christians who have a genuine “experience” with the Lord Jesus (not with the Holy Spirit. Christ must be formed in the individual before he/she can have an experience with the Lord Jesus.) will stand up in spiritual power, and think and speak with their Christ Mind most of the time. Their Carnal Mind, their female side, who had been thinking and speaking through them their whole life, will be so frightened of Christ Jesus within them, that she will be silent and stop competing with Christ Jesus as to which of them (Christ Jesus or the Carnal Mind) will control the thoughts and reasoning of the individual they both live in.
May this happen to you.
God bless you,
Sheila R. Vitale,
Pastor, Teacher & Founder
Living Epistles Ministries