Month: June 2018

130. Reprove of Sin

 John 16:8a He will reprove the world of sin.

 The promise is that Holy Spirit will convict the people of the world of Sin. This is one step in the conversion process, which is the peculiar work of the Spirit. The first necessary movement toward salvation is being convinced that I am a sinner; as a sinner: I am lost and condemned; I am guilty of temporal and eternal punishment; I am sinful to the core, and, dare I say, even evil; I cannot make myself right or improve my thoughts and behavior at all on my own, no matter how many self-help steps and self-improvements projects I undertake; I am a helpless slave to Sin and Satan and I cannot set myself free; I have no hope of standing in the Judgment Day and no prospect of acquittal.

The Holy Spirit through the Word of God convicts me deep in my heart that there is no hope and nothing I can do to save myself or come out from under the eternal just judgment of God. I am driven to the point of despair and there is nothing left for me to do than admit that God is right: I am wrong; I am the sinner; I must come to the point, and HS brings me to that point, where I can only plead for mercy with God. If God is not merciful I am doomed.

The conviction of sin also includes the hoped for prospect of forgiveness of sin and acquittal from guilt. Romans 2:4: “The kindness of God leads to repentance.” The conviction of sin and the plea for mercy is the definition of repentance. Godly sorrow is the result of the convincing work of the Holy Spirit. A vital part of this conversion work is the awareness of the terror of facing the just judgment seat of Christ.

This conviction of sin is much more than just being sorry, and more than just hoping that maybe God will not carry out his just judgment, that He will be nice to me. Conviction of sin is more than admitting, “Nobody’s perfect,” “Everybody makes mistakes.” “I’m bad, but I’m not that bad.” This is how the natural man thinks of himself, even the hardened criminal, and each person needs supernatural revelation of his true and real condition, as we stand naked before a Holy God.

In theoretical theology, conviction is the first step, although in real life and chronologically it does not always work out that way. The work of conviction of sin may be sudden or it may be a process. It may even be after faith in Christ that true conviction of sin happens in the heart. Either way, it is necessary for the Holy Spirit to reprove (convince) me of sin. Genuine repentance and faith in the Gospel is connected to this wonderful promise of what the Holy Spirit will do for us.

129. Bear Witness

 John 15:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

 This promise may sound like a command, but it really is a promise. The disciples of Jesus will bear witness to Jesus; this promise comes true in lives because we actually do bear witness all the time.

At times the witness we present to the world is a poor one, and at other times we present a good witness. When people of the world hear and see the representatives of Jesus they will form an impression of Jesus Christ. Whether for good or ill the believers in Jesus are bearing witness. People are watching, although usually they themselves are not conscious of doing that. People are always forming opinions of other people and of God. Indeed, the influence of believers on unbelievers may be more profound than it appears, because we have this promise that we shall bear witness.

The promise that we are witnesses places a privilege and a responsibility upon us. It is a privilege because the desire of the human heart is that I may be able to make an impact, to make a difference. The believer really does. It is a responsibility in that one must be careful that the witness is positive and true.

128. Comforter, Spirit of Truth

 John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.

John 16:7 It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

 Jesus promises a Comforter to come after He physically leaves the earth. He will take the place of Jesus in His absence, but the practical truth is that the Comforter is Jesus Himself, although the Holy Spirit is a separate person; Jesus and HS are still one God. Jesus promises: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We may look it in several different ways, but the truth is that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are with us, and in us, always.

The word for comforter is Paraclete. Paraclete literally means “someone who is called to be alongside:” it could be for companionship, for advice and counsel; it could be to represent one as in a court of law. The words used to translate this person are Comforter, Teacher, Counselor, Advisor, Advocate, Attorney, Companion, Guide, Helper, and other similar roles. The Holy Spirit will do them all. In any spiritual or physical need, we are never alone.

He is also called here “the Spirit of Truth.” In this role HS will testify of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is like a talent agent, who brings all the attention off of himself and onto the star. Jesus says He will glorify Me. Jesus receives all the attention, gets all the credit, and is heaped with glory; HS draws attention away from Himself and puts it on Jesus. So it is in much of the church’s praise and worship, hymns and songs. The Spirit of truth is constantly testifying of Jesus, pointing the people of the world to Jesus and the Cross, and bringing people to Him through the proclaiming of the Gospel.

The promised Comforter is constantly testifying of Jesus to us; are we listening?

127. My Friends

 John 15:14, 15, 16a Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you…but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

 We are familiar with the various images the Bible uses to describe the relationship between God and believers: sheep, bride, children, branches, members of body, and others. Here Jesus says we are friends. It is helpful for us to be aware of any of these Biblical metaphors that describe the relationship we have with God. Our connection is many-sided and any one of these will make us aware of how close we are to the invisible God. This awareness affects our approach to Him in prayer.

Jesus regards us as friends. Friends do things for each other as favors, sometimes expecting something in return and sometimes not. Friends also confide in one another, share secrets, and trust one another.

Abraham was called “the friend of God,” and because of Jesus Christ so am I. God confides in me and I in Him. In Genesis 18:17, “The Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?’” Abraham and God then engage in a dialogue about the destruction of Sodom. God has taken us, his friends, into his confidence as well, just as Jesus says, “All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” God has confided in us His intentions in the Word of God, and He allows us to engage with Him in prayer. “What a Friend we have in Jesus.”

Moses conversed with the Lord as a friend, as in Exodus 33:11, “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” Although we do not appear to speak with God in this face-to-face way, in truth, Jesus has brought us into close access to the Father wherein we also converse as friends. He confides in us and reveals Himself through the Gospel, and we confide in Him in prayer. “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!”

126. My Joy

 John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

 When Jesus lives and dwells within us so does His love, His peace and His joy. It is awesome and overwhelming to realize that the very joy of Jesus Himself remains in us. How could there be more joy than that? And we get to share it: then our joy will be full. This is the promise: we will be joyful! The cause of our joyfulness is the joy of Jesus remaining in us; the joy of Jesus results from the things He has spoken. What things has He spoken? He spoke Promises; He proclaims the Gospel. In other words: the Gospel of Jesus Christ produces full joy.

This could be a great self-help book: “How to be Happy.” The greatest “help” book ever written is the Bible that contains the Gospel. Reading and hearing it, believing and applying it lifts our spirit and makes joy. We can leave church with joy in the heart after hearing the Gospel; we can go home from a Bible study with an uplifted spirit because we heard the Gospel; we can get up from the couch where we spent Quiet Time with God with a spring in our step because we reminded ourselves once again of the love of God in Jesus Christ.

Many words that we hear every day and many events that happen to us have the potential to make us sad, or mad, or just weigh heavy and drag us down. Furthermore, depression does not always have an identifiable cause. But the Christian has access to a source of unspeakable joy at any time of need: hear the things Jesus spoke to you; joy comes with it. The promise is real; the joy is present; something really changes even if you don’t feel it right away; we just believe it: “Jesus loves me; I am forgiven; God is with me; my joy is full.” It’s true.

125. Love

John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

This is an unconditional promise: unconditional love; Jesus loves me, this I know. The result of this promise, once we are sure, is that we will most certainly obey His command: We will most definitely continue in His love. He will never, ever, withdraw His love or change His attitude toward us. The only question at issue is that He leaves it up to us to leave His love and discontinue if we should so choose. Of course, we will not.

The love that Jesus has for us is of the same quality and depth and unshakable certainty as the Father’s love for Jesus, His Only Son. This assertion is so strong it is unassailable. The breadth, length, height and depth of God is incomprehensible; we can only pray that that we would know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.

It is not hard to continue in His love, for we do so simply by hearing the Gospel as often as possible. Go to church, be involved in a Bible study, spend time alone with God, and tell yourself the Gospel throughout the day. Making oneself aware of the presence of God is continuing in His love. We will never tire of or get bored with the Gospel. It is new and fresh every morning. It will not be possible to exhaust the love of Jesus within an entire lifetime.

A universally acknowledged truth understood by all people is the fact that all parents love their children incredibly, even crazily. God the Father loves His only-begotten Son and He loves His adopted children in the same crazy, extravagant way. Bask in that.

124. Done

 John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

 A conditional promise: if you abide in me and Jesus’ words abide in you, then what you ask will be done for you. In other words, the Lord will answer your prayers if you believe in Jesus. This is an awesome promise; it is hard to believe and hard to explain away. When taken at face value it means, “ask and you will receive,” even, pray whatever you will and God will do it for you. The experience of every believer who prays is that he does not always get what he asks for, at least not in the way that he expects. Either he is not abiding (believing) or the promise is not true: God will not always do it for you. This leads us into thinking that there must be something wrong with me and my “abiding.” But that can’t be, because I know I am believing and abiding and His words are living in me. So what gives?

One way of answering this dilemma is to believe that God did do it for us, it was just not what we expected or the way we wanted it to be done. The promise is that it shall be done unto you; this means that something is done according to God’s good and perfect will. When we “ask what ye will” it is assumed that we are asking according to God’s will, in other words, our wills are in line with His. We may argue with God and our wills may not align with His; thus we need to sincerely seek His will in a matter; this will of God will be revealed in His answer if we are listening and waiting. God must answer and act according to His will: He cannot do otherwise, and He will not act contrary to His nature, character or purpose.

This asking what you will depends on our abiding in Him and His words. We believe in Jesus, but we may still be at odds with His word and will. Our preparation for prayer involves knowing the mind of Christ and the heart of the Father. This kind of preparation takes hours and years. In time, and maybe over a long time, the better we know Him and His words the closer our will is to God’s will. Then we ask what we will (in Jesus’ name). The adjusting of wills needs to be on our side. God will probably not change; He doesn’t need adjusting. So we adjust our own will by letting His words abide in us. For this reason, the “abide” condition is important.

123. Clean

 John 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

 The Word will make you clean; and that’s a promise. The Word of God flushing through us cleanses us. The external word from outside of us comes into our spirit within us and it cleans the soul. “Clean” is an important concept for spiritual and emotional wellbeing. Cleanliness means sins are forgiven and washed away. Cleanliness of soul brings us unfettered access to God, for only that which is clean may approach a Holy God.

More literally and directly, the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. That blood comes into the soul through the word, which Jesus has spoken unto us. The Holy Spirit gives the faith that applies the cleaning to the person; that person is now totally accepted by the Lord. With it He grants forgiveness of sins, salvation and eternal life. This cleansing can be applied daily through repentance and faith in the Gospel, which we can read and see and hear from the Word. Once we are cleansed we are right with God, our conscience is clear and the heart begins to decide and do the good works that come from a clean heart.

The washing of the Word happens when we are baptized or when we first believe the Gospel. The continual washing happens when we daily remember our Baptism by repentance and faith. Continual cleansing happens when we hear the word of Absolution and when we receive the forgiveness of sins. Continual cleaning happens whenever we come before God and hear the Gospel. The Gospel proclaimed brings with it the faith to receive it and all the consequent blessings of it.

Without clean hands and a clean heart we cannot come into the Presence of God, so when we come to God in prayer we always make sure we come clean. We know God hears us and accepts our prayers for the sake of Jesus and in His Name.

Just a few minutes earlier on that Thursday night Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, and said, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet.” [John 13:10] He who believes and is baptized is clean, but we still walk through this world and doing so makes the feet dirty. Foot washing = repenting and believing the Gospel. Utilize this wonderful “ye are clean” promise.

122. Fruit

 John 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:16a Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.

 Our purpose in life and God’s purpose in creating and redeeming human beings is that they should bear fruit. Now Jesus promises that those who abide in Him, like branches to the vine, will bear much fruit. There is a necessary and obvious condition: “he that abides in me.” A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; in fact, Jesus says that without him you can do nothing; of course, the branch must be connected to the vine, for nourishment, sustenance, growth and fruit-bearing comes from that connection. We must remain, stay, abide and connect to Jesus Christ = this means believing in Him; this faith comes by hearing the Gospel. This is abiding.

With much struggle, effort, trying and striving we will produce no fruit at all; we will just expend useless energy and harmful stress. It is hard to believe and harder to do that the better course of action is to simply abide in Christ and let the fruit and the results work themselves out naturally by the work of the Holy Spirit. It will always appear to our human minds that we should try hard and work hard to make something happen and produce fruit. But the harder way is to simply trust the promise of fruit that comes from abiding in Christ. It takes faith in the promise. It may seem like a waste of time to, for example, take time out of the day for personal Bible study and prayer, which is one way of abiding in Christ. “God helps those who are helpless and trust in God.” “Abiding” = hearing the Gospel, listening to Jesus. The world says: do something; Jesus says: abide in me.

Another aspect of the promise that is hard to believe is twofold: 1) if one bears no fruit he is taken away; 2) if one does bear fruit he is purged, or pruned. Pruning is hard, but every gardener knows how necessary it is. The Father is the gardener and He certainly knows best what to do. So we accept His working while we abide in Christ. We cannot prune ourselves any more than we can produce fruit; therefore, we abide in Christ, trust the Lord, believe His promise, and let Him do the work. Believing His promise, we are even able to let Him do the gardening in our lives. He has chosen me and ordained the fruit. I can’t improve on that.

121. Peace

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 Jesus promises peace, and He gives it to us. This is Jesus’ peace, which is perfect; it is a peace that is at peace with everything good. Jesus is at peace, totally, with the Father; He is at peace with the universe and all creation. This is a godly, a heavenly peace; there is nothing human about it. It is much more than the absence of war. There is no strife, disagreement, argument or fighting with anything. The world cannot give this kind of peace; the world’s peace is only surface, apparent and temporary.

God’s peace is deep, abiding, and nothing can take it away. Once we are at peace with God, because we are justified by faith, we are at peace within ourselves down to the core of our being. This is an active peace that brings peace, makes peace and keeps the peace. It is a peace that can be felt at times, but it is a peace that is always abiding whether we feel it or not. It is a peace that passes understanding; it cannot be explained or analyzed. This is Jesus’ peace.

This kind of peace with God, within self and with others abides deep and forever. This kind of peace guards and keeps us. The peace of God prevents the heart from being troubled; it is a powerful peace that is stronger than any trouble that comes through the world or our own flesh from our Enemies. We can count on the promise of peace to not be troubled, ever. We get into trouble all the time, but the peace itself does not allow trouble to penetrate into our inner being where peace abides securely.

This peace will never will never allow our hearts to be afraid, for we know that God is for us and nothing can be against us. Lies will tempt us to fear, but when we turn to the Lord we find peace. “Of whom shall we be afraid?” We will never cease finding things to fear and worry about, but the anxieties are only reminders to pray, turn to Christ, and hear the Gospel. Because of the promise of peace we can overcome trouble and fear. Peace is an overcoming power.