The word 'mystery' is mentioned 22 times in the New King James version of the Bible. Here are some of the important ones:
The Kingdom of God is a mystery (Mark 4:44); the Wisdom of God is a mystery (1 Cor. 2:7); the rapture is a mystery (1 Cor. 15:51); God's will is a mystery (Eph. 1:9); the Church is a mystery (Eph. 5:32); the Gospel is a mystery (Eph. 6:19); Christ is a mystery (Col. 4:3); lawlessness is a mystery (2 Thess. 2:7); Godliness is a mystery (1 Tim. 3:16); and the Christian faith is a mystery (1 Tim. 3:9).
Moses said to the children of Israel, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deu. 29:29, NKJV).
Solomon said, "It is glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Prov. 27:2).
The word 'kings' here refers to Christian believers (Rev. 1:6).
Paul said, "Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Cor. 4:1).
Therefore, in general, God and the things pertaining to God are secrets and mysteries, hidden and waiting to be searched out by His saints - us.
Dr. A. W. Tozer was aware of this and he once prayed:
"O Majesty unspeakable, my soul desires to Thee. I cry to Thee from the dust.
Yet when I inquire after Thy Name it is secret. Thou art hidden in the light which no man can approach unto. What Thou are, cannot be thought or uttered. for Thy Glory is ineffable.
Still, prophet and psalmist, apostle and saint have encouraged me to believe that I may in some measure, know Thee. Therefore, I pray, whatever of Thyself thou has been pleased to disclose, help me to search out as treasure more precious than rubies or the merchandise of fine gold; for with Thee shall I live when the stars of the twilight are no more and the heavens have vanished away and only Thou remainest. Amen."
God's attributes and attitudes
It is true that the Bible does not actually say that God's love is a mystery. Since everyting about God is a mystery, God's love is also a mystery. But it does not mean that we know nothing about God's love. In fact the Bible says a lot of things about God's love.
But we cannot begin to talk about God's love without knowing something about the attributes and attitudes of God. His attributes are: His greatness, His power, His goodness, His creativity, His personality and so on. His attitudes are: His feelings, His likes and dislikes, His motives, His actions and so on.
It is beyond the scope of this message to talk anything abut His attributes in any detail except that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (present everything).
God alone is perfect
It is impossibe to talk about the moral attitude of God without facing a great probloem because it it almost impossible for us (being imperfect) to comprehend Him. God is perfect in all His ways, and it is almost impossible for us to realize what that means, as we never encounter perfection in human existence. Our source of revelation is the Scripture.
Here are some examples of the perfection of God: God is absolutely honest - He cannot lie (Heb. 6:18). He is absolutely fair. No one have any grounds for accusing God of injustice (Gen. 18:25; Heb. 12:23). He is sbsolutely pure - no impure thought, intention, word or action ever occurs to Him. He is absolutely loyal - He keeps His promise. He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13).
The most common Biblical statement of God's perfection is 'God is good'. But, unlike Jesus, we do not normally use the word 'good' in this absolute sense.
Jesus said to a certain ruler: "Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God" (Luke 18:19, NKJV)
God alone is good or perfect, in this absolute sense.
The expression of God's Love
The Bible calls Christian believers 'saints'. Paul addressed the believers in the Church at Corinth, as 'saints' ((1 Cor. 1:2). God can make a sinner perfect. He can take a sinner and turn him into a saint. He can take a person full of vices and faults, the worst of men, and begin a process of transformation.
God looks at the life of a person and says, "I can see a saint, because I have begun to do something in that life and I'm not going to stop until my glory is in it". God, in other words, is willing and able to make people perfect, and that is the only way for anyone to get to heaven. That is the expression of God's Love!
Someone may ask: "If that is true, why does God not just go ahead and make me good, holy and perfect without delay"? The answer is - you cannot compel a man to be holy. Before a life can be made perfect, God has to wait for one thing - our willingness to be made perfect. This willingness is, in Biblical language, called 'repentance'! When we are willing to repent, God is going to say: "Give me that old life - no matter how bad it has been; how low or corrupt, I will make it perfect and give you eternal life".
That life is not easy or comfortable, because God keeps on stirring it up, uncovering various imperfections, putting His finger on them, and dealing with them in a long process that leads to perfection in Christ.
The nature of God's Love
The Bible says 'God is love'. It does not say, as it well might, that 'God has love' or that 'God is loving', but that God is love.
John said, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).
As far as I know, there is not one religion, whose god can claim that - he is love. Therefore, the followers of all religions do not know genuine love and consequently do not know God.
The nature of God's love is revealed by answering these two questions - Why does God love us? How does God love us?
1. Why does God love us?
At a start, instead of asking "Why does God love me?" first let us ask, "Why did God love and choose Israel? Out of all the world why He chose this one nation of people to reveal His salvation through His Son?
God gave His reason in Deuteronomy 7 - "The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your father, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt" (Deu. 7:7, 8).
Notice that God loves Israel because He loves Israel and because He is love! His love lies not in them at all, but in Him!
Similarly, we can say God loves me not because I am lovable but becuse He is love. His love is unconditional - called 'agape' in Greek. It is the love that one could have for a person who has nothing within himself to attract that love. It is the love only God can give - a love which begins in the lover and goes on to create in the loved one all the attractive and lovable qualities that were not there to begin with.
Paul said, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:7, NKJV).
Jesus described human love as, "love those who love you" (Matt. 5:46). The best expression of human love is what Jesus said: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13).
2. How does God love us?
The general notion of God's love is that it is a kind of sentimental sympathy for our plight, a love which turns a blind eye to our shortcomings and simply wants us to be happy. If that is true, then this kind of 'love' is totally inconsistent with the perfection and holiness of God.
It is often argued by well-meaning people that a God of love would never exclude anyone from heaven. Surely, they say if you believe in the love of God you cannot also believe in ideas of hell or judgment?
But this is not the 'love of God' we read of in the Bible. If God overlooked my sin He would not be showing real love, but unconcern. Because he loves me, and because His love is pure and holy, He did something far more costly than simply to overlook my sin. He gave His only Son to die for my sin. He paid the price, which makes sin the most expensive commodity in the World! It is expensive for the sinner - it cost him eternal life. It is expensive for God - it cost Him the death on the cross of His son Jesus.
Sin has to be paid for, because this is a moral universe, where God reigns - and He is perfect, holy, just and true. God's holiness demands that all sins must be punished, but God's love provided the Cross of Jesus by which men can have forgivness and cleansing.
There is the divine dilemma. God hated sin but He loved sinners. God wanted to destroy sin, but He wish to save the sinner who committed it. How could He separate the two? Even before the first man committed the first sin, God knew the answer, and He also knew what that answer would cost - the sacrifice of His only Son. That is how He loved us!
Paul said, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ did for us" (Romans 5:8).
There can be no Christianity without a cross. There can be no true reconciliation and no true relationship with God that does not begin beneath the shadow of that Cross. That is the cost of our forgiveness.
Paul said further, "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation" (Romans 5:10, 11).
The measure of God's Love
The cost of our forgiveness has been borne entire by God. Try to appreciate something of the suffering of Jesus. Try to imagine the physical agony of crucifixion under a hot sun; the mental agony of being executed for crimes He did not commit; the spiritual agony of being cut off from His own Father, of going through hell itself. We must also try to appreciate the suffering of the Father. He was not an indifferent spectator of His Son's sufferings for mankind. Far from it, Christ's agony was the agony of the Godhead.
God shared the agony of Calvary. The Father put your sins and my sins on His own Son to save His people. That is the measure of His love.
Indeed, God's love does not finish at the Cross. There the guilt of sin was dealt with, but God goes on pouring His love into our lives to sustain us in the forgiven life. Not only did Jesus take my place in His death, He takes my place in life, too. So Jesus died in my place and lives in my place, and God's love begins to remould me until I am perfect, fit for glory.
The Amazing Grace
God is love and He loves us in our sin, not by letting us off but by providing His Son to die for us. By grace we received God's love - a love that is not deserved and cannot be earned, a love that is simply poured out (Romans 5:5) at the expense of the Giver. Someone defined grace as "God's riches at Christ's expense". There simply is nothing to pay. God has done it all. No wonder it is called 'Amazing Grance'!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Understanding the Kingdom of God
Three of the most confusing terms found in the Bible are "The Kingdom", "The Kingdom of God" and "The Kingdom of Heaven". The term "The Kingdom" is generally used to describe the dominion ruled by the Lord Jesus for the unbelieving world. The other two terms are used to describe the dominion ruled by the Lord Jesus for believers.
Contrary to what many Christians, including Bible teachers, believed, the terms, "The Kingdom of God" and "The Kingdom of Heaven" are neither identical nor interchangeable despite the fact that Matthew employed the terminology of the "Kingdom of Heaven" and Mark and Luke, when presenting practically the same teaching; employed the phrase "Kingdom of God".
The "Kingdom of God" is evidently a more comprehensive term than the "Kingdom of Heaven" and it embraces all created intelligences, both in heaven and on earth, who are willingly subject to God and thus in fellowship with Him. The "Kingdom of Heaven" (more precisely the "Kingdom of Heavens - in Greek) is a term descriptive of any type of rulership God may assert on the earth at a given period or dispensation. This will become clearer as you read on.
The Kingdom
As a predicted Kingdom it has reference to the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel on the earth:
"Therefore, when they (Jesus' disciples) had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel'" (Acts 1:6, NKJV, emphasis added)?
Notice that, in relation to the Old Testament prophecies, the term "Kingdom" is used to describe both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The reason being, the Bible uses the term "Kingdom" to designat the rulership of the Lord over the Gentle nations of the earth.
David, the psalmist said, "For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations" (Ps. 22:28).
The Lord being the King of the nations, rules over all the nations (Gentile and Israel) of the earth.
Daniel's prophecies concerning the Kingdom
Daniel was called to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream. After the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar there would arise four other kingdoms. All these were political kingdoms. After these kingdoms, the God of heaven would set up an everlasting Kingdom - a spiritual Kingdom:
"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Dan. 2:44).
Daniel was given a vision of God (the Ancient of Days) and the Son of Man (Jesus Christ).
"I was watching in the night vision, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they (beasts) brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:11 - 14, emphasis added).
Here is a further description of this everlasting Kingdom:
"Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him" (Dan. 7:27, emphasis added).
The above prophecies indicate that all political kingdoms will be destroyed by the Kingdom of God. Only His Kingdom and His Dominion shall not pass away and shall not be destroyed. And His Kingdom will be given to Christians (saints)!
The difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus Himself indirectly declared that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are not similar.
The entrance to the Kingdom of God (a spiritual kingdom) is by a spiritual rebirth:
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
Jesus continued, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
Even though you are born again and consequently entered the Kingdom of God, there is no assurance that you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a warning:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matt. 7:21, NKJV, emphasis added).
So, the condition of entering the Kingdom of God is born again by the Spirit of God; the condition of entering the Kingdom of Heaven is by doing God's will. Obviously, these two apparently similar Kingdoms are not the same. But you cannot do God's will unless you are born again. And so, only born again believers will ultimately enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven
Every kingdom (political or spiritual) has a king or ruler and Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let us look a what the Gospel according to Matthew says about Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven:
"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!' For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight'" (Matt. 3:1 - 3, emphasis added).
John the Baptist astonished his hearers when he announced that this expected and hoped-for Kingdom was "at hand" in the Person of Jesus.
Jesus repeated this message: "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matt. 4:17).
He went even further by announcing clearly that the Kingdom was already present in His ministry:
"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Matt. 12:28).
Jesus was, therefore the full embodiment of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The entire ministry of Jesus is understood in relation to this important declaration of the presence of the Kingdom. His ethical teachings (the Beatitudes), for example, could not be understood apart from the announcement of the Kingdom. They are ethics of the Kingdom; the perfection to which they point makes no sense apart from the present experience of the Kingdom.
The Kingdom has been growing from stage to stage during Jesus' earthly ministry. He Himself was there, embodying the Kingdom of God in His Person; and the circle gathered around Him partook of the blessings of the Kingdom.
A call to the highest level of righteousness
Participation in the new reality of the Kingdom involves a follower of Jesus in a call to the highest level of righteousness.
Jesus said to His disciples: "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20).
The "righteousness" of the scribes and Pharisees consisted in outward observances of ceremonial and traditional law. They offered sacrifices, fasted often, prayed much, were punctilious about ablutions, and tithes, and the ceremonies of religion, but neglected justice, truth, purity, and holiness of heart (read Matt. 23:13 - 33). The righteousness that Jesus required in His Kingdom was purity, chastity, honesty, temperance, the fear of God, love of God and men, blameless before God and men. It is pure, eternal and holy.
Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God explained
It is true that Jesus did not actually define the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God, but to His disciples He explained them using parables.
A parable is a simple story, drawn from everyday experience, to communicate a spiritual truth. Jesus used parables to illustrate the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God (please read my earlier posting - "The Purpose of Parables").
Jesus explained to His disciple why He spoke to them in parables:
"Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees) it has not been given. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear" (Matt. 13: 11, 13, 16, NKJV, emphasis added).
The above passage of Scripture clearly shows that only believers can understand the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God.
It is interesting to note that the parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24 - 30) and the parable of the dragnet - good and bad fish (Matt. 13:47 - 50) are only spoken of in connection with the Kingdom of Heaven. On the other hand, the parable of the sower is applied to both Kingdoms (Matt. 13:18 - 23).
The two opposing Kingdoms
The two opposing spiritual kingdoms are the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of the world.
It is important to understand that God is not ruling in this world; He is not ruling on the earth now. But thank God, He will one day - when Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom on earth.
Paul said, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age (world) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:3, 4, emphasis added).
"The god of this age" is Satan. After the Fall Satan has dominion in this world. He will have that dominion and he will be god of this world, until Adam's "lease" runs out.
That is the reason why Paul and Peter wrote the following passages of Scripture:
"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ..." (Eph. 2:1, 2, emphasis added).
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9, 10, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. Paul and Peter were writing to believers who were born again and thus had entered the Kingdom of God.
2. Even though you are in the Kingdom of God, you still suffer under the rulership of the "god of this age". But this suffering cannot be compared with the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven when it is revealed!
3. Before you were born again, you were under the dominion of "the prince of the power of the air" - Satan.
4. God had "called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" means He had called you out from the kingdom of the world into the Kingdom of God.
Conclusion
John heard a loud voice from heaven saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Rev. 21:3, 4, emphasis added).
The above description is the ultimate Kingdom of God - God's tabernacle on the new earth. This will be the dwelling place of Christ and His bride!
Contrary to what many Christians, including Bible teachers, believed, the terms, "The Kingdom of God" and "The Kingdom of Heaven" are neither identical nor interchangeable despite the fact that Matthew employed the terminology of the "Kingdom of Heaven" and Mark and Luke, when presenting practically the same teaching; employed the phrase "Kingdom of God".
The "Kingdom of God" is evidently a more comprehensive term than the "Kingdom of Heaven" and it embraces all created intelligences, both in heaven and on earth, who are willingly subject to God and thus in fellowship with Him. The "Kingdom of Heaven" (more precisely the "Kingdom of Heavens - in Greek) is a term descriptive of any type of rulership God may assert on the earth at a given period or dispensation. This will become clearer as you read on.
The Kingdom
As a predicted Kingdom it has reference to the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel on the earth:
"Therefore, when they (Jesus' disciples) had come together, they asked Him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel'" (Acts 1:6, NKJV, emphasis added)?
Notice that, in relation to the Old Testament prophecies, the term "Kingdom" is used to describe both the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The reason being, the Bible uses the term "Kingdom" to designat the rulership of the Lord over the Gentle nations of the earth.
David, the psalmist said, "For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations" (Ps. 22:28).
The Lord being the King of the nations, rules over all the nations (Gentile and Israel) of the earth.
Daniel's prophecies concerning the Kingdom
Daniel was called to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream. After the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar there would arise four other kingdoms. All these were political kingdoms. After these kingdoms, the God of heaven would set up an everlasting Kingdom - a spiritual Kingdom:
"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Dan. 2:44).
Daniel was given a vision of God (the Ancient of Days) and the Son of Man (Jesus Christ).
"I was watching in the night vision, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they (beasts) brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:11 - 14, emphasis added).
Here is a further description of this everlasting Kingdom:
"Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him" (Dan. 7:27, emphasis added).
The above prophecies indicate that all political kingdoms will be destroyed by the Kingdom of God. Only His Kingdom and His Dominion shall not pass away and shall not be destroyed. And His Kingdom will be given to Christians (saints)!
The difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus Himself indirectly declared that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are not similar.
The entrance to the Kingdom of God (a spiritual kingdom) is by a spiritual rebirth:
Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
Jesus continued, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
Even though you are born again and consequently entered the Kingdom of God, there is no assurance that you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave a warning:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matt. 7:21, NKJV, emphasis added).
So, the condition of entering the Kingdom of God is born again by the Spirit of God; the condition of entering the Kingdom of Heaven is by doing God's will. Obviously, these two apparently similar Kingdoms are not the same. But you cannot do God's will unless you are born again. And so, only born again believers will ultimately enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven
Every kingdom (political or spiritual) has a king or ruler and Jesus is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let us look a what the Gospel according to Matthew says about Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven:
"In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!' For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight'" (Matt. 3:1 - 3, emphasis added).
John the Baptist astonished his hearers when he announced that this expected and hoped-for Kingdom was "at hand" in the Person of Jesus.
Jesus repeated this message: "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (Matt. 4:17).
He went even further by announcing clearly that the Kingdom was already present in His ministry:
"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Matt. 12:28).
Jesus was, therefore the full embodiment of the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. The entire ministry of Jesus is understood in relation to this important declaration of the presence of the Kingdom. His ethical teachings (the Beatitudes), for example, could not be understood apart from the announcement of the Kingdom. They are ethics of the Kingdom; the perfection to which they point makes no sense apart from the present experience of the Kingdom.
The Kingdom has been growing from stage to stage during Jesus' earthly ministry. He Himself was there, embodying the Kingdom of God in His Person; and the circle gathered around Him partook of the blessings of the Kingdom.
A call to the highest level of righteousness
Participation in the new reality of the Kingdom involves a follower of Jesus in a call to the highest level of righteousness.
Jesus said to His disciples: "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20).
The "righteousness" of the scribes and Pharisees consisted in outward observances of ceremonial and traditional law. They offered sacrifices, fasted often, prayed much, were punctilious about ablutions, and tithes, and the ceremonies of religion, but neglected justice, truth, purity, and holiness of heart (read Matt. 23:13 - 33). The righteousness that Jesus required in His Kingdom was purity, chastity, honesty, temperance, the fear of God, love of God and men, blameless before God and men. It is pure, eternal and holy.
Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God explained
It is true that Jesus did not actually define the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God, but to His disciples He explained them using parables.
A parable is a simple story, drawn from everyday experience, to communicate a spiritual truth. Jesus used parables to illustrate the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God (please read my earlier posting - "The Purpose of Parables").
Jesus explained to His disciple why He spoke to them in parables:
"Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees) it has not been given. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear" (Matt. 13: 11, 13, 16, NKJV, emphasis added).
The above passage of Scripture clearly shows that only believers can understand the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God.
It is interesting to note that the parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24 - 30) and the parable of the dragnet - good and bad fish (Matt. 13:47 - 50) are only spoken of in connection with the Kingdom of Heaven. On the other hand, the parable of the sower is applied to both Kingdoms (Matt. 13:18 - 23).
The two opposing Kingdoms
The two opposing spiritual kingdoms are the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of the world.
It is important to understand that God is not ruling in this world; He is not ruling on the earth now. But thank God, He will one day - when Jesus returns to establish His Kingdom on earth.
Paul said, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age (world) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:3, 4, emphasis added).
"The god of this age" is Satan. After the Fall Satan has dominion in this world. He will have that dominion and he will be god of this world, until Adam's "lease" runs out.
That is the reason why Paul and Peter wrote the following passages of Scripture:
"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ..." (Eph. 2:1, 2, emphasis added).
"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9, 10, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. Paul and Peter were writing to believers who were born again and thus had entered the Kingdom of God.
2. Even though you are in the Kingdom of God, you still suffer under the rulership of the "god of this age". But this suffering cannot be compared with the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven when it is revealed!
3. Before you were born again, you were under the dominion of "the prince of the power of the air" - Satan.
4. God had "called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" means He had called you out from the kingdom of the world into the Kingdom of God.
Conclusion
John heard a loud voice from heaven saying: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Rev. 21:3, 4, emphasis added).
The above description is the ultimate Kingdom of God - God's tabernacle on the new earth. This will be the dwelling place of Christ and His bride!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
To be filled with the Holy Spirit
The early Church depicted in the Book of Acts reveals that the Holy Spirit should fill the Church of Jesus Christ and that He should fill individuals who make up His Church. In fact all believers were filled with the Holy Spirit before they became a Church. That is the reason why in the contrmporary Pentecostal or Charismatic Local Church it is common for Pastors or preachers to invite or even to persuade believers to come forward to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the end of the Church service. Many do come forward but very few are baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Why? There are two reasons for this: One is misconception of being filled. The other is failing to meet the conditions.
Misconceptions of being filled
Here are some basic misconceptions of being filled with the Holy Spirit:
1. Some think that you can be filled with the Holy Spirit without knowing it. I cannot find in the Old Testament Scripture nor in the New Testament Scripture, neither in Christian biography, in Church history nor in personal Christian testimonies, the experience of any person who was ever filled with the Holy Spirit and who did not know it. No one was ever filled with the Holy Spirit who did not know that he had been so filled!
2. Some think that the Holy Spirit comes upon you gradually and fill you gradually. In the Scripture (as recorded in the Book of Acts), it was never a gradual filling. It says that He fell upon them, He came upon them, He fille them - it was an instantaneous act.
3. Some think that the Spirit-filled life is abnormal. The fact is, if we really mean business about pressing on follow the Lord, we will be brought to the conclusion that it was His plan, and part of the purchase of the blood of Christ, that He should fill everyone who names the Name of Jesus Christ. There isn't anything about the Spirit-filled life that is abnormal, extra, strange or queer. Actually, it is the way that Christians are supposed to be!
The conditions which must be be met
Here are some basic conditions which must be met by anyone who desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit:
1. You must be sure, to the point of conviction, that you can be filled. If you have the impression that you have received everything God has for you the day you received Christ as your savior, you will never move on to the fullness.
The New Testament Scripture tells us that after the filling of the Holy Spirit a believer's life is transformed. Spirit-filled Christians are changed people and they will do what Paul said:
Paul said, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:18 - 20, NKJV).
Unless you are convinced about this, I suggest you don't come forward to be baptized in the Holy Spirit yet. I suggest you search and meditate the Scripture, read the Word, and see for yourself what the Lord has spoken.
2. You must be sure that you desire to be filled. Does every believer desire to be filled with the Spirit of God? The answer is no. Many do not wish to pay the price of being possessed by the Holy Spirit.
It is plain in the Scripture that the Holy Spirit wants to fill us and possess us if we are believers. The Holy Spirit is pure, for He is pure, for He is the Holy Spirit. He is wise, for He is the Spirit of wisdom. He is true, for He is the Spirit of truth. He is like Jesus, for He is the Spirit of Christ. He is like the Father, for He is the Spirit of the Father. He wants to be the Lord of your life, and He wants to possess you so that you are no longer in command of the little vessel in which you sail. You may be a passenger on board, or one of the crew, but you definitely are not the captain. The Holy Spirit, the Captain is in command of the vessel.
He expects obedience to the written Word of God. But our human (fleshly) problem is that we would like to be full of the Spirit and yet to go on and do as we please. The Holy Spirit who inspired the Scripture will expect obedience to the Scripture. And if we do not obey the Scripture, we will quench Him.
3. You must be sure that you need to be filled with the Spirit. Why are you interested in the baptism in the Holy Spirit? you have received Jesus, you are converted and your sins have been forgiven. You have studied the New Testament Scripture. You know that you have eternal life and no man can pluck you out of God's hand. In the meantime, you are having a wonderful time going to heaven.
Are you sure that you can't get along all right the way you are? Do you feel that you just cannot go on with your Christian walk resisting discouragement? Do you feel that you cannot obey the Scripture and understand Biblical truth and bring forth fruit and live in victory without a greater measure of the Holy Spirit only the baptism in the Holy Spirit can fulfill? You must come to a place where you would still be happy and joyful if you had only Him! You don't need God and something else. God does give you Himself and lets you have other things too. But there is that inner loneliness until you reach the place where it is only God that you desire. If you have reached that place, then baptism in the Holy Spirit is for you and that you need it desperately!
Bible passages on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit
There are four Bible passages on how you can be filled with the Holy Spirit - baptized in the Holy Spirit.
1. You must present your vessel
Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1, 2, NKJV, emphasis added).
"To present your body" means "to surrender your vessel". That must come first. A vessel that has not been presented will not be filled. God cannot fill what He cannot have. God wants us to be intelligent to take the initiative to come to Him. If you will not present your personality, you will not get the fullness of the Spirit of God.
Are you ready to present your body with all of its functions and all that it contains - your mind, your personality, your spirit, your love, your ambitions, your all? This is the first thing and it can be a simple act. Are you willing to do it?
2. You must ask
After presenting your vessel, you must ask.
Jesus said, "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion" (Luke 11:10 - 12)?
The answer, of course, to each of these questions is "No", and so Jesus draws His conclusion:
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Luke 11:13)!
God's people all over the world have taken advantage of this gracious offer. They have believed Him - they have asked and they have been filled. How much more shall the Holy Spirit is given to them that ask God, so you ask. First, you present your vessel, and then you ask. That is perfectly logical and perfectly clear. I set aside all theological objections to this text. Many so-called believers say that this is not for today.
Let me just ask them why the Lord left us this promise in the Bible. Why didn't He put it somewhere else? Why did He put it where I could see it if He didn't want me to believe it? Some believers may say, if the Lord wanted to do it, He could give it without our asking. But He chooses to have us ask. "Ask of me I will give thee" - it is always God's order (see Ps 2:8). So why not ask?
3. There must be willing obedience
Peter said, "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32).
The Spirit of God cannot give a disobedient child His blessings. The Father cannot fill a disobedient child with the Holy Spirit. God gives His Holy Spirit to them that obey Him - those who are obedient to the Word, obedient to the Spirit, obedient to the Risen Lord. Are you ready to obey and to do what you are asked to do? What would that be? Simply to live the Scriptures as far as you understand them - simply, but revolutionary.
4. To have faith in God
Paul asked the questions: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being mad perfect by the flesh" (Gal. 3:2)?
The answer is, of course, by the hearing of faith. You are not filled with the Holy Spirit by law-keeping. You are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith and obedience to your Lord. I am talking about His coming and possessing the full body and mind and life and being, taking over the entire personality, directly but gently making it His, so that we may become a habitation of God through the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit and Christians
Here are two important Biblical facts concerning the Holy Spirit and every believer in Christ:
1. Every believer is given a measure of the Holy Spirit
Paul said, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those are God's possession - to the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:13, 14, NIV, emphasis added).
2. Any believer who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him
Paul said, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:9, NIV, emphasis added).
The anointing of the Holy Spirit
"Anointing" is an Old Testament word and is an act accomplished by pouring oil on an individual's head. When they poured oil on a man's head, it was not a gradual process. When they poured the oil they turned the oil vessel (container) over and poured it out, and it ran all over and down the skirts of the man's garment.
At the consecration (of priesthood) of Aaron and His sons, it it written:
"And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his (Aaron's) head, and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ..." (Exodus 29:7, 8, NKJV).
Similarly, the anointing and outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not a gradual process, but an instantaneous act of God. God gives us the anointing because we are priests of the New Covenant.
Misconceptions of being filled
Here are some basic misconceptions of being filled with the Holy Spirit:
1. Some think that you can be filled with the Holy Spirit without knowing it. I cannot find in the Old Testament Scripture nor in the New Testament Scripture, neither in Christian biography, in Church history nor in personal Christian testimonies, the experience of any person who was ever filled with the Holy Spirit and who did not know it. No one was ever filled with the Holy Spirit who did not know that he had been so filled!
2. Some think that the Holy Spirit comes upon you gradually and fill you gradually. In the Scripture (as recorded in the Book of Acts), it was never a gradual filling. It says that He fell upon them, He came upon them, He fille them - it was an instantaneous act.
3. Some think that the Spirit-filled life is abnormal. The fact is, if we really mean business about pressing on follow the Lord, we will be brought to the conclusion that it was His plan, and part of the purchase of the blood of Christ, that He should fill everyone who names the Name of Jesus Christ. There isn't anything about the Spirit-filled life that is abnormal, extra, strange or queer. Actually, it is the way that Christians are supposed to be!
The conditions which must be be met
Here are some basic conditions which must be met by anyone who desires to be filled with the Holy Spirit:
1. You must be sure, to the point of conviction, that you can be filled. If you have the impression that you have received everything God has for you the day you received Christ as your savior, you will never move on to the fullness.
The New Testament Scripture tells us that after the filling of the Holy Spirit a believer's life is transformed. Spirit-filled Christians are changed people and they will do what Paul said:
Paul said, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 5:18 - 20, NKJV).
Unless you are convinced about this, I suggest you don't come forward to be baptized in the Holy Spirit yet. I suggest you search and meditate the Scripture, read the Word, and see for yourself what the Lord has spoken.
2. You must be sure that you desire to be filled. Does every believer desire to be filled with the Spirit of God? The answer is no. Many do not wish to pay the price of being possessed by the Holy Spirit.
It is plain in the Scripture that the Holy Spirit wants to fill us and possess us if we are believers. The Holy Spirit is pure, for He is pure, for He is the Holy Spirit. He is wise, for He is the Spirit of wisdom. He is true, for He is the Spirit of truth. He is like Jesus, for He is the Spirit of Christ. He is like the Father, for He is the Spirit of the Father. He wants to be the Lord of your life, and He wants to possess you so that you are no longer in command of the little vessel in which you sail. You may be a passenger on board, or one of the crew, but you definitely are not the captain. The Holy Spirit, the Captain is in command of the vessel.
He expects obedience to the written Word of God. But our human (fleshly) problem is that we would like to be full of the Spirit and yet to go on and do as we please. The Holy Spirit who inspired the Scripture will expect obedience to the Scripture. And if we do not obey the Scripture, we will quench Him.
3. You must be sure that you need to be filled with the Spirit. Why are you interested in the baptism in the Holy Spirit? you have received Jesus, you are converted and your sins have been forgiven. You have studied the New Testament Scripture. You know that you have eternal life and no man can pluck you out of God's hand. In the meantime, you are having a wonderful time going to heaven.
Are you sure that you can't get along all right the way you are? Do you feel that you just cannot go on with your Christian walk resisting discouragement? Do you feel that you cannot obey the Scripture and understand Biblical truth and bring forth fruit and live in victory without a greater measure of the Holy Spirit only the baptism in the Holy Spirit can fulfill? You must come to a place where you would still be happy and joyful if you had only Him! You don't need God and something else. God does give you Himself and lets you have other things too. But there is that inner loneliness until you reach the place where it is only God that you desire. If you have reached that place, then baptism in the Holy Spirit is for you and that you need it desperately!
Bible passages on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit
There are four Bible passages on how you can be filled with the Holy Spirit - baptized in the Holy Spirit.
1. You must present your vessel
Paul said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:1, 2, NKJV, emphasis added).
"To present your body" means "to surrender your vessel". That must come first. A vessel that has not been presented will not be filled. God cannot fill what He cannot have. God wants us to be intelligent to take the initiative to come to Him. If you will not present your personality, you will not get the fullness of the Spirit of God.
Are you ready to present your body with all of its functions and all that it contains - your mind, your personality, your spirit, your love, your ambitions, your all? This is the first thing and it can be a simple act. Are you willing to do it?
2. You must ask
After presenting your vessel, you must ask.
Jesus said, "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion" (Luke 11:10 - 12)?
The answer, of course, to each of these questions is "No", and so Jesus draws His conclusion:
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Luke 11:13)!
God's people all over the world have taken advantage of this gracious offer. They have believed Him - they have asked and they have been filled. How much more shall the Holy Spirit is given to them that ask God, so you ask. First, you present your vessel, and then you ask. That is perfectly logical and perfectly clear. I set aside all theological objections to this text. Many so-called believers say that this is not for today.
Let me just ask them why the Lord left us this promise in the Bible. Why didn't He put it somewhere else? Why did He put it where I could see it if He didn't want me to believe it? Some believers may say, if the Lord wanted to do it, He could give it without our asking. But He chooses to have us ask. "Ask of me I will give thee" - it is always God's order (see Ps 2:8). So why not ask?
3. There must be willing obedience
Peter said, "And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32).
The Spirit of God cannot give a disobedient child His blessings. The Father cannot fill a disobedient child with the Holy Spirit. God gives His Holy Spirit to them that obey Him - those who are obedient to the Word, obedient to the Spirit, obedient to the Risen Lord. Are you ready to obey and to do what you are asked to do? What would that be? Simply to live the Scriptures as far as you understand them - simply, but revolutionary.
4. To have faith in God
Paul asked the questions: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being mad perfect by the flesh" (Gal. 3:2)?
The answer is, of course, by the hearing of faith. You are not filled with the Holy Spirit by law-keeping. You are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith and obedience to your Lord. I am talking about His coming and possessing the full body and mind and life and being, taking over the entire personality, directly but gently making it His, so that we may become a habitation of God through the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit and Christians
Here are two important Biblical facts concerning the Holy Spirit and every believer in Christ:
1. Every believer is given a measure of the Holy Spirit
Paul said, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those are God's possession - to the praise of his glory" (Eph. 1:13, 14, NIV, emphasis added).
2. Any believer who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him
Paul said, "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Romans 8:9, NIV, emphasis added).
The anointing of the Holy Spirit
"Anointing" is an Old Testament word and is an act accomplished by pouring oil on an individual's head. When they poured oil on a man's head, it was not a gradual process. When they poured the oil they turned the oil vessel (container) over and poured it out, and it ran all over and down the skirts of the man's garment.
At the consecration (of priesthood) of Aaron and His sons, it it written:
"And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his (Aaron's) head, and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. ..." (Exodus 29:7, 8, NKJV).
Similarly, the anointing and outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not a gradual process, but an instantaneous act of God. God gives us the anointing because we are priests of the New Covenant.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
The Work of the Holy Spirit
The importance of the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in the lives of individual believers cannot be over emphasized. We need to understand the place of the Holy Spirit in the growth and fruitfulness of the individual believer. I believe if you have the desire to honor or glorify Jesus you will come to understand the work of the Holy Spirit. The following are some areas of truth concerning the Holy Spirit revealed by the Scripture.
Holy Spirit comes as a result of glorifying Jesus Christ
I believe the Church has overlooked one single all-important fact - Wherever Jesus is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes! With reference to the Second Chapter of Acts, contrary to what most people unintentionally assumed, the important thing here was not the Spirit had come - the important thing was that Jesus had been glorified.
Peter and all the disciples were gathered together when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, and they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly as they gathered there came a sound from heaven as the sound of a rushing mighty wind. It was not the rushing wind itself, but the sound of it. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:2, NKJV).
some thought these people were drunk. But Peter stood up and explained that it was the fulfillment of the prophecy (Verses 14 - 21). Peter proceeded to tell them how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecy.
Peter testified, "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear" (Acts 2:32, 33).
So, the important thing, according Peter, was the fact that Jesus had been exalted. Jesus Himself said, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). And in the next verse John said, "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for this Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
It is therefore plain that the glorification of Jesus brought the Holy Spirit. When Jesu is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes. He does not have to be begged - the Holy Spirit comes when Jesus is glorified and when He is honored. How many times have you seen the Local Church "begs" the Holy Spirit wherever or whenever the congregation meets on Sunday or Saturday night?
Jesus Christ is revealed by the Holy Spirit
We need to understand that, by nature, man does not have the ability to comprehend divine things.
Paul said, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14, NKJV).
At this point, please refer to my earlier messages: "Saving of Souls" and "The Spirit, Soul, and Body of Man". The natural man has intellectual knowledge and so his knowledge of God is intellectual (in the realm of "reason"). The spirit is the agency by which we apprehend divine things. But the natural man's spirit has died - it is dead because of sin. When we are born again our spirit is made alive again by the Holy Spirit. That is God's plan for us - He gave us His Spirit to apprehend Himself; and intellect (the soul realm) to apprehend theology. Therefore, by theology alone, no one can understand God and divine manifestations.
Jesus said, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:12 - 14).
The One who reveals God to us, who reveals Christ to us, is the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit gives "The ability to do"
Jesus said, "And when He (Holy Spirit) has come, he will convict the world of sin, ..." (John 16:8).
One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to show sinners their sins. Another function is to show Christ to the believers.
The last words of Jesus, before His ascension, were: "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49, emphasis added).
A definition of the word "power" means "the ability to do" - one of the meanings of the Greek word, "dynamite". As an illustration: One man picks up a violin and gets nothing out of it but squeaks and raucous sounds. This man does not have the ability to do. Another man picks up the same violin and he soon playing beautiful and rich melodies. The difference here is this second man has the ability to do.
It is the same with spiritual things. If you are baptized in the Holy Spirit you have the ability to do many things according to his will and calling. If you a soul winner (an evangelist), you will have the ability to win souls. If you are a preacher or a Pastor you have the ability to proclaim the Word of God with authority and power. If you are a Bible teacher you have the ability to make the Word of God plain. Whatever you do in the Name of God, He gives you the ability to do. He gives you the ability to be victorious, to live right, to behold Jesus and love Him, and to live with heaven in view. It is the ability to do.
The Holy Spirit make a difference
The Holy Spirit certainly made a difference in the ministry of the first disciples of Jesus. In order for us to assess the great difference in the men to whom the Holy Spirit has come in power, we will look first at these disciples to whom Jesus spoke.
First of all they were His called and chosen disciples. The Scripture plainly tells us who they were, and it tells us about the long instructions by Jesus Christ Himself. In a sense, they had graduated from the greatest Bible school in the world. Jesus Himself had taught them for more than three years.
Notice also, that they had received and possessed a divine authority. They had an authority that very few believers would dare to try to exercise now. They had been with Jesus throughout the three years; they had seen Him die on the Cross; they had seen Him after He had risen from the dead. So, they knew Him living, dead and living again! They had shown evidence being truly converted persons. There is no doubt about their conversion. Jesus Himself had declared them to be such.
Jesus prayed to the Father: "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in you name. Those whom You gave me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. I have given them Your word; and the world had hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:12, 14, NKJV, emphasis added).
This does not sould at all like the Lord talking about a bunch of sinners still needing to be converted. They were true disciples, and they possessed the consciousness of their discipleship and their authority from Christ. They were converted, forgiven and had fellowship with Christ. They had something a lot of ministers do not have now - they had the gift of preaching and worked miracles (Luke 9:6). They worked miracles before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. You do not need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to work miracles; you need authority from Christ!
The difference Pentecost made
Here is a list of things that the Holy Spirit did for the disciples after Pentecost.
1. They knew the sudden, brilliant conciousness of the actual divine presence of God. There was the sudden, illuminating knowledge of God Himself actually being present with them.
2. They actually received the joy of the Holy Spirit. In the four Gospels, there was not too much joy. There was instruction, and there was a subdued and quiet peace, but not very much joy. Believers in the contemporary Church always praying for joy, praying for light, praying for every benediction, and yet they don't receive. True joy results the fact that in Christ, we have already died, and risen, and there is not real death out there for the true child of God.
3. They spoke and preached with penetrating power of the Words. When Peter preached at Pentecost, they were stricken in their hearts when they heard him.
"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do'" (Acts 2:37)?
4. There was suddenly the clear sense of the reality of all things. Throughout the four Gospels the disciples were asking questions - while in the Book of Acts and after Pentecost they were answering questions. They stood with authority and answered questions. The same Peter who had sneaked around and warmed his hands at the fire and lied to the girl, who recognized his accent, was standing boldly and with authority to preach the Word of God! What a difference!
5. The infilling of the Holy Spirit brings a sharp separation between the believer (disciple) and the world. After Pentecost, they were looking at another world (the Kingdom of God). Nowadays, a large part of Christianity (both Charismatic and evangelical) is trying to convert this world to the Church (not to Christ). We are bringing the world - the unregenerated, uncleansed, unbaptized, unsanctified right into the Church. If we can just get some famous, wealthy big shots to say something nice about the Church we will tell the world about our Church through the media. We want our pews filled at all costs.
6. They took a great delight in prayer and communion with God. The Gospel recorded that when Jesus and His disciples were at Gethsemane, none of the disciples could stay awake as Jesus prayed (Matt. 26:36 - 45). After Pentecost they became praying people. In the Book of Acts you will find them in prayer meetings. But before that, they would fall asleep.
When the Holy Spirit comes He takes the things of God and translates them into language our hearts can understand. Even if we do not know the will of God and do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit does know, and He prays with groanings that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).
7. They love the Scripture. Notice that Jesus quoted the Scripture in the Gospels but the disciples quoted the Scripture in the Book of Acts. There was a difference! When you are filled with the Spirit you will feel like "eating" the Word. Well, you may not get the Word by eating it, but the Word of God is sweet to the Spirit-filled person because the Spirit wrote the Scripture.
The Psalmist said, "How sweet are Your words to my taste. Sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Ps.119:103).
The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
To have fellowship with the Holy Spirit means to walk with the Holy Spirit in perfect agreement. Contrary to what professing Christians like to think, many of God's people are not willing to walk in perfect agreement with Him. For this reason, many believers do not have the power of the Spirit, the peace of the Spirit and many of the other qualities, gifts and benefits which the Spirit of God brings.
The fact is that we cannot walk with Him unless we are agreed and if we are not agreed, we will not walk with Him in harmony and fruitfulness and blessing.
Amos wrote, "Can two walk together unless they are agree" (Amos 3:3)?
This is a rhetorical question, equivalent to a positive declaration that two cannot walk together except they are agreed, and the affirmation that if the two walk together, they must in some sense, be one.
We need to understand that the Holy Spirit is a living Person, and He can be known in an increasing degree of intimacy. Since He is a personality, He can never be fully known in a single encounter. God's personality is so infinitely rich and manifold that it will take thousands of years of years of close search and intimate communion to know even the outer edges of the glorious nature of God. When we talk about communion with God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we are talking about that which begins now but will grow and increase and mature while life lasts. In other words, we can cultivate our fellowship with the Holy Spirit in our Christian walk.
As I have said at the beginning of this message, wherever Jesus is glorified the Holy Spirit comes. We must also remember that we will know the Spirit more intimately as we make more of Jesus Christ, the Lord of our lives. This is so, because on of the ministries of the Holy Spirit would be to take the things of Christ and show them unto us.
To glorify Jesus is the business of the Church, and to glorify Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. I can walk with Him when I am doing the same things He is doing and going the same way He is going and travaling at the same speed He is traveling. I must honor Him by obedience, by witness, and by fellowship.
It all boils down to the need of knowing Him in His Word. The Spirit of God inspires the Word and He will be revealed in the Word. Every problem that touches us is answered by the Word. We need to read the Word, read if often, brood over it, think over it, and meditate over it. As we do this we will understand the presence of the Spirit everywhere, all the time. You will find it impossible to just walk out and hide from His presence.
David, the psalmist said, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me" (Ps. 139:7 - 10, NKJV).
Holy Spirit comes as a result of glorifying Jesus Christ
I believe the Church has overlooked one single all-important fact - Wherever Jesus is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes! With reference to the Second Chapter of Acts, contrary to what most people unintentionally assumed, the important thing here was not the Spirit had come - the important thing was that Jesus had been glorified.
Peter and all the disciples were gathered together when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, and they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly as they gathered there came a sound from heaven as the sound of a rushing mighty wind. It was not the rushing wind itself, but the sound of it. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:2, NKJV).
some thought these people were drunk. But Peter stood up and explained that it was the fulfillment of the prophecy (Verses 14 - 21). Peter proceeded to tell them how Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the prophecy.
Peter testified, "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear" (Acts 2:32, 33).
So, the important thing, according Peter, was the fact that Jesus had been exalted. Jesus Himself said, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). And in the next verse John said, "But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for this Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
It is therefore plain that the glorification of Jesus brought the Holy Spirit. When Jesu is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes. He does not have to be begged - the Holy Spirit comes when Jesus is glorified and when He is honored. How many times have you seen the Local Church "begs" the Holy Spirit wherever or whenever the congregation meets on Sunday or Saturday night?
Jesus Christ is revealed by the Holy Spirit
We need to understand that, by nature, man does not have the ability to comprehend divine things.
Paul said, "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14, NKJV).
At this point, please refer to my earlier messages: "Saving of Souls" and "The Spirit, Soul, and Body of Man". The natural man has intellectual knowledge and so his knowledge of God is intellectual (in the realm of "reason"). The spirit is the agency by which we apprehend divine things. But the natural man's spirit has died - it is dead because of sin. When we are born again our spirit is made alive again by the Holy Spirit. That is God's plan for us - He gave us His Spirit to apprehend Himself; and intellect (the soul realm) to apprehend theology. Therefore, by theology alone, no one can understand God and divine manifestations.
Jesus said, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:12 - 14).
The One who reveals God to us, who reveals Christ to us, is the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit gives "The ability to do"
Jesus said, "And when He (Holy Spirit) has come, he will convict the world of sin, ..." (John 16:8).
One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to show sinners their sins. Another function is to show Christ to the believers.
The last words of Jesus, before His ascension, were: "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49, emphasis added).
A definition of the word "power" means "the ability to do" - one of the meanings of the Greek word, "dynamite". As an illustration: One man picks up a violin and gets nothing out of it but squeaks and raucous sounds. This man does not have the ability to do. Another man picks up the same violin and he soon playing beautiful and rich melodies. The difference here is this second man has the ability to do.
It is the same with spiritual things. If you are baptized in the Holy Spirit you have the ability to do many things according to his will and calling. If you a soul winner (an evangelist), you will have the ability to win souls. If you are a preacher or a Pastor you have the ability to proclaim the Word of God with authority and power. If you are a Bible teacher you have the ability to make the Word of God plain. Whatever you do in the Name of God, He gives you the ability to do. He gives you the ability to be victorious, to live right, to behold Jesus and love Him, and to live with heaven in view. It is the ability to do.
The Holy Spirit make a difference
The Holy Spirit certainly made a difference in the ministry of the first disciples of Jesus. In order for us to assess the great difference in the men to whom the Holy Spirit has come in power, we will look first at these disciples to whom Jesus spoke.
First of all they were His called and chosen disciples. The Scripture plainly tells us who they were, and it tells us about the long instructions by Jesus Christ Himself. In a sense, they had graduated from the greatest Bible school in the world. Jesus Himself had taught them for more than three years.
Notice also, that they had received and possessed a divine authority. They had an authority that very few believers would dare to try to exercise now. They had been with Jesus throughout the three years; they had seen Him die on the Cross; they had seen Him after He had risen from the dead. So, they knew Him living, dead and living again! They had shown evidence being truly converted persons. There is no doubt about their conversion. Jesus Himself had declared them to be such.
Jesus prayed to the Father: "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in you name. Those whom You gave me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. I have given them Your word; and the world had hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world" (John 17:12, 14, NKJV, emphasis added).
This does not sould at all like the Lord talking about a bunch of sinners still needing to be converted. They were true disciples, and they possessed the consciousness of their discipleship and their authority from Christ. They were converted, forgiven and had fellowship with Christ. They had something a lot of ministers do not have now - they had the gift of preaching and worked miracles (Luke 9:6). They worked miracles before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. You do not need the baptism of the Holy Spirit to work miracles; you need authority from Christ!
The difference Pentecost made
Here is a list of things that the Holy Spirit did for the disciples after Pentecost.
1. They knew the sudden, brilliant conciousness of the actual divine presence of God. There was the sudden, illuminating knowledge of God Himself actually being present with them.
2. They actually received the joy of the Holy Spirit. In the four Gospels, there was not too much joy. There was instruction, and there was a subdued and quiet peace, but not very much joy. Believers in the contemporary Church always praying for joy, praying for light, praying for every benediction, and yet they don't receive. True joy results the fact that in Christ, we have already died, and risen, and there is not real death out there for the true child of God.
3. They spoke and preached with penetrating power of the Words. When Peter preached at Pentecost, they were stricken in their hearts when they heard him.
"Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do'" (Acts 2:37)?
4. There was suddenly the clear sense of the reality of all things. Throughout the four Gospels the disciples were asking questions - while in the Book of Acts and after Pentecost they were answering questions. They stood with authority and answered questions. The same Peter who had sneaked around and warmed his hands at the fire and lied to the girl, who recognized his accent, was standing boldly and with authority to preach the Word of God! What a difference!
5. The infilling of the Holy Spirit brings a sharp separation between the believer (disciple) and the world. After Pentecost, they were looking at another world (the Kingdom of God). Nowadays, a large part of Christianity (both Charismatic and evangelical) is trying to convert this world to the Church (not to Christ). We are bringing the world - the unregenerated, uncleansed, unbaptized, unsanctified right into the Church. If we can just get some famous, wealthy big shots to say something nice about the Church we will tell the world about our Church through the media. We want our pews filled at all costs.
6. They took a great delight in prayer and communion with God. The Gospel recorded that when Jesus and His disciples were at Gethsemane, none of the disciples could stay awake as Jesus prayed (Matt. 26:36 - 45). After Pentecost they became praying people. In the Book of Acts you will find them in prayer meetings. But before that, they would fall asleep.
When the Holy Spirit comes He takes the things of God and translates them into language our hearts can understand. Even if we do not know the will of God and do not know how to pray, the Holy Spirit does know, and He prays with groanings that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).
7. They love the Scripture. Notice that Jesus quoted the Scripture in the Gospels but the disciples quoted the Scripture in the Book of Acts. There was a difference! When you are filled with the Spirit you will feel like "eating" the Word. Well, you may not get the Word by eating it, but the Word of God is sweet to the Spirit-filled person because the Spirit wrote the Scripture.
The Psalmist said, "How sweet are Your words to my taste. Sweeter than honey to my mouth" (Ps.119:103).
The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit
To have fellowship with the Holy Spirit means to walk with the Holy Spirit in perfect agreement. Contrary to what professing Christians like to think, many of God's people are not willing to walk in perfect agreement with Him. For this reason, many believers do not have the power of the Spirit, the peace of the Spirit and many of the other qualities, gifts and benefits which the Spirit of God brings.
The fact is that we cannot walk with Him unless we are agreed and if we are not agreed, we will not walk with Him in harmony and fruitfulness and blessing.
Amos wrote, "Can two walk together unless they are agree" (Amos 3:3)?
This is a rhetorical question, equivalent to a positive declaration that two cannot walk together except they are agreed, and the affirmation that if the two walk together, they must in some sense, be one.
We need to understand that the Holy Spirit is a living Person, and He can be known in an increasing degree of intimacy. Since He is a personality, He can never be fully known in a single encounter. God's personality is so infinitely rich and manifold that it will take thousands of years of years of close search and intimate communion to know even the outer edges of the glorious nature of God. When we talk about communion with God and fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we are talking about that which begins now but will grow and increase and mature while life lasts. In other words, we can cultivate our fellowship with the Holy Spirit in our Christian walk.
As I have said at the beginning of this message, wherever Jesus is glorified the Holy Spirit comes. We must also remember that we will know the Spirit more intimately as we make more of Jesus Christ, the Lord of our lives. This is so, because on of the ministries of the Holy Spirit would be to take the things of Christ and show them unto us.
To glorify Jesus is the business of the Church, and to glorify Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit. I can walk with Him when I am doing the same things He is doing and going the same way He is going and travaling at the same speed He is traveling. I must honor Him by obedience, by witness, and by fellowship.
It all boils down to the need of knowing Him in His Word. The Spirit of God inspires the Word and He will be revealed in the Word. Every problem that touches us is answered by the Word. We need to read the Word, read if often, brood over it, think over it, and meditate over it. As we do this we will understand the presence of the Spirit everywhere, all the time. You will find it impossible to just walk out and hide from His presence.
David, the psalmist said, "Where can I go from Your Spirit? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me" (Ps. 139:7 - 10, NKJV).
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