Month: July 2018

151. Witnesses

 Acts 1:8b And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 “Ye shall be witnesses” is a promise, not a command. Followers of Jesus will be witnesses to Jesus all over the world. This activity is not a choice; it is a promise that has been and will continually be fulfilled throughout the earth. We are witnesses of Jesus according to His promise, whether the witness is positive or negative, helpful or harmful. We can bear the name of Jesus into the world in vain.  We can also bear the name for a positive and useful point. Witness to Jesus has actually gone out to almost all the uttermost part of the earth.

What the people of the earth think about Jesus, whether good or ill, true or false, accurate or distorted, depends on the witness His disciples have been. The reputation of Jesus Christ is limited and qualified by how the disciples live and talk and act.

The promise of being a witness places a privilege and a responsibility upon us. It is a joy to be a witness to Jesus because we know He loves us so much and we are excited when those who don’t know Him very well come to believe in Him. It is also a heavy responsibility when we realize that other people are watching the people of God, the church. The love of God is seen, or not seen, through the people of God. Others will respond to Jesus according to how they respond to my witness.

Certainly we fail in giving a clear and positive witness to the One we know and love. But we are forgiven and given another chance over and over again. The Holy Spirit takes frail and weak human beings and uses them for His purpose to bring attention to Christ. We daily repent and believe the Gospel and we encourage others to do the same thing by our words and deeds. We do not even know how the HS uses us as His witnesses, but we can be sure that we are witnesses.

150. Power

 Acts 1:8a But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.

 With the Holy Spirit we are promised power. Power and authority are sometimes used interchangeably, but the Greek makes a distinction. Authority is the right to rule; power is the ability to enforce that rule and make it happen. “All authority” was given to Jesus Christ, so He says. Then He says: Therefore, going, make disciples…. On the basis of Jesus’ authority over all the enemies, proclaim the gospel to all people, baptize and teach to obey. The authority, or right to rule, belongs to Jesus and He commands his disciples to make more disciples by announcing His authority over all.

Here He promises that we, His followers, will have the power, the ability to enforce that authority of Jesus, after the Holy Spirit comes upon us. It is still the power of God, the Holy Spirit, that does the influencing and changing, but He gives it to us to exercise by witnessing through word and deed. The HS living in us uses our bodies, hands and tongues to witness and proclaim the lordship of Christ over all enemies. The HS influences people to hear and believe the Gospel that changes and overcomes—this is conversion through repentance and faith in the Gospel.

The power (dynamis) of HS that we receive is the Gospel. Romans 1:16: “The gospel is the power (dynamis) of God for salvation.” The Gospel is the power; HS uses the gospel to save lives; HS uses us to proclaim this power. No one of God’s created humans has the power or ability to convert people, convince minds, or change lives. But HS uses those powerless humans to speak and live out the message to bring lost sinners to Himself forever. We do not have control of the power to make happen what we want to happen; we have received it, but HS controls and uses it for purposes of salvation and life. The power is exercised by the decision and plan of God to save, but He has chosen to use us, who have received HS. Having received the power we become instruments of God to witness His life and love to the people of all nations. Take hold of the promise of power and let it flow, for good.

149. Baptized with Holy Spirit

 Acts 1:5; 11:16 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence….John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

 The promise is that we shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This baptism is distinguished from and in addition to baptism with water, but also it is connected to water baptism. Jesus also says we must be “born of water and the spirit, “ [John 3:5], which is equated with being “born from above.” This promise of Jesus changes the baptism of repentance unto the forgiveness of sins by John into a miraculous entering of HS into the baptized person.

When we were baptized with water the Holy Spirit also comes into us and enters into a cleansed vessel, cleansed from sin. When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan the Holy Spirit then also descended upon Him. Our baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is like Jesus’ baptism; this is using water and the Word. John’s baptism of people other than Jesus was with water. Since Jesus’ resurrection He is able to pour out HS, and so from now on the Spirit comes with the water and the Word, and He fills the baptized believer (HS grants faith for the infant or the adult in Baptism). Peter says in Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

To be baptized with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with HS. When a person is converted to faith in Jesus Christ it is by the action of HS; thus HS is already present and active in the conversion of repentance and faith, for no man is able to believe by himself without the working of HS. These 3000 people on the Day of Pentecost were already convicted and believing by the power of HS; now they are baptized and with the baptism will receive the gift of HS. This is no half measure, but it is a filling or a “baptism with.”

When one is baptized and believes he has all of God. Every baptized person needs to grow in the knowledge and awareness of that filling, and what it means. This kind of growing never stops nor ever reaches fulfillment, but the growing comes out the filling that has already occurred. The truth is that we are already filled according to the promise. Through life the indwelling Spirit will touch the soul from time to time and we may “feel” more full, but we do not receive more Spirit; we are already full, immersed, or flooded. Believing the promise is more lasting than the occasional feeling of it. The baptizing is full; we are not refilled. This is seen by faith, not by sight or feeling.

148. Blessed

John 20:29 Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

 Blessedness is promised throughout the Bible for various reasons. Here it is faith that blesses: those people are blessed who have believed without seeing. Many are the blessings of faith; it is faith that is defined in Jesus reply to Thomas; faith by definition is different from seeing; it is above and beyond physically seeing. Faith “sees” the invisible spiritual world where God lives, and therefore, faith sees all the wonderful spiritual blessings from God for Christ’s sake and enjoys them.

The unseen things are the things that are eternal. They are perceived by faith. The Bible was written to unveil the spiritual world and its life and blessing to our view. Faith, of course, is necessary to see the things that the Bible reveals, and the Bible itself gives the faith to see. These are the people that Jesus calls blessed. Faith sees and receives the truth without empirical evidence or scientific proof. Faith is the evidence; faith is the proof.

The Bible, the Word itself, says that the wounds of Jesus’ crucifixion were present as scars in Jesus hands and feet and side. By faith we see them; and by faith we see the meaning of the wounds; by faith we see the inexpressible love of God expressed. Believing without seeing does not cause the blessing; it simply receives them. When we concentrate on the things that cause faith we are blessed.

147. Receive Holy Spirit

 John 20:22 He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.

 Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to His disciples, which also includes us who live in a different age and yet have believed in Christ. To receive the Holy Spirit is to have the Almighty, Eternal God living within. The God who lives in us is the HS whom we have received as a gift from Jesus Christ. This means everything, for if we have God we have all things. We receive HS not so we might possess or control Him for our own wishes and desires; no, we receive HS so that He might possess and control us according to His will. Faith in God’s Word knows that God’s will is good for us, far better than our own selfish will.

The control of the HS is not by force or coercion, but it is by gentle influence convincing us by the Word that His will is better; we submit our will to His. This is a scenario of constant struggle; indeed, the flesh and the spirit within are at war inside of Christians all the time. Another term for this spiritual warfare is old man versus new man; another is saint and sinner.

The Holy Spirit dwells in the human spirit after making it alive by faith in Christ. From there it wars against the human soul, which is entirely self-seeking and under the tyrannical control of Sin. Most people recognize that they are two people, and they see them as some form of good versus evil. The Christian knows that he is both saint and sinner at the same time all the time. Both exist (and fight) together in the same person until death, when the soul is finally changed forever.

“Breath” and “spirit” are the same word in both Hebrew and Greek. Four times God breathes the spirit: 1) when God created Adam in Genesis 2; 2) when God breathed on the dry bones in Ezekiel 37; 3) when Jesus breathed on His disciples in John 20; 4) when God breathed out (inspired) the Scriptures in 2 Timothy 3:16. Both breath and spirit are life. We receive the breath and we live.

146. Sent

 John 20:21 Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

 As Christians, we can and should regard ourselves as sent ones. The Father sent His Son on a mission and completed it. In the same way, Jesus is sending us and the mission is still ongoing. In fact, we are sent daily and we are always on a mission; it is the Mission of God. Each believer has been given a mission; it is unique and given just for him. Under God’s control the entire mission of God for the entire world will be done, and when He sees it is finished the world ends. We are always sent one, always under marching orders. We may not be aware of those specific orders, but we can be aware of being sent.

We may feel privileged and especially set apart for being sent by Almighty God on a mission with eternal consequences; but with the privilege also comes a responsibility to be faithful to the calling. This means paying attention to Him and listening to His words of gospel and the guidance of God’s will for our lives; this is the Law, which we want to obey in response to receiving the Gospel. The responsibility is not to find out what the specific mission is, for this we do not generally need to know. But it is our responsibility to be attentive to Christ and His Word to us, to know Him better and better, and to receive the Gospel message on a regular basis. In other words, “abide in Christ.” When we are stuck to Christ the fruit will come and the mission will be accomplished.

It is not for to us know what exactly we are sent to do; it is enough to know that we are sent. In God’s hands, our mission is important and eternally significant. A sense of being sent is the important matter at issue. He will take care of where we go, what we say, what we do and whom we see. He does the sending; we are sent.

145. God’s Love in them

 John 17:26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

The promise is twofold: God’s love will be in us and Jesus will be in us. Both of these promises have been given before, but now they are combined. The cause of this wonderful result is that the name of the Father is declared unto us; and Jesus will continue to declare it, and so He has for centuries. Jesus declared the name of God unto us and put the name of God on us when we were baptized (“baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”). God’s name has been placed upon us and will be in us when spoken over us, and we should not “bear (or take) the name of the Lord in vain.” This means that baptized children should bear or carry the name of the Lord with dignity and carefully guard how we act and go about our lives, because our lives witness to the name of God within us. Naturally, we sin against this commandment, as well as all the others. How we need mercy and forgiveness!

The love with which the Father has loved His Son will be in His baptized and believing children. This is an awesome privilege and responsibility. The love of God energizes, motivates and activates us to live a beautiful life, for love is powerfully moving and it is breathtakingly beautiful. This love of God in us works in two ways: 1) the love in us works to love us in our hearts and minds, giving forgiveness and comfort, and we are assured and calmed; 2) the love in us works to go out from inside us to love others unconditionally and treat other people as though they had never sinned, fully accepting and enfolding them into the love of God. The Love Christ controls us to live a good life and do good works. Our own human love is woefully inadequate and severely flawed; we cannot love perfectly, but God can and does.

Jesus Himself will also be in us, as promised many times; the Holy Spirit fills us, and when HS is in us Jesus is also, for the two persons are one God. Jesus in us not only lives His life in us and out of us, but He also influences and moves us to actually do the loving in our words and actions. We are not able to discern how much and when it is Jesus speaking and acting and how much and when it is I myself that is speaking and acting. My behavior is properly mixed together so that it looks like me, but it is actually Christ in me. We just receive Christ by faith daily and then live our life: the promise works.

144. Behold His Glory

 John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me.

 Those of us whom God gave to Jesus will be with Jesus where He is so that we may see His glory. When the Holy Spirit reveals our sins placed upon Jesus Christ on the cross and when we see our sins taken away by Christ, then we behold His glory. The glory is seen in the unimaginable love of Jesus to forgive and save. We are with Him on the cross dying with Him to sin and rising with Him to new life in His bodily resurrection from the dead. This happens in our baptism, and it reoccurs every day when we remember our baptism: as Romans 6:4 says: “Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

With the eyes of faith, generated by HS through the Gospel, we see the glory of Jesus hidden beneath the innocent suffering and death. It looks like incredible love; this love is the glory of Jesus. Faith beholds His glory. This revealing vision is beheld every time we hear the Gospel. When we repent and believe the Gospel we are with Him and we see glory. This overwhelming love has the power to change our lives. We walk away from “church” uplifted into glory. We get up from our personal devotions in the Word and prayer with a new spring in our step.

Where does this spiritual power come from? It comes from the Gospel, in which we see the glory of Jesus. Seeing the Glory of Grace is a miracle of sight for the blind. “I once was blind but now I see.”

143. Glory given

 John 17: 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them.

 God the Father gives glory to the Son, and He gives that glory to His believers. This is an awesome promise: we have received the glory that God gave to Jesus. Can this be true? Do we have the glory of God in us or on us, or what? What we know: God glorified Jesus at the cross, although it looked like shame and suffering; but it was truly glory, in this way: the cross exhibits graphically and violently the Love of God for mankind. Glory is the outshining of the inward character—the inner character of God’s heart is Love, unconditional and undiminished Love. Love is glory.

Because of the innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Jesus Christ God is able to rightly, legally and absolutely forgive all sins to me and all believers. This is glory: we see the essential character of God: it is Love. Because of Christ God gave us His life, His love, His glory, His very self. Because of Christ we have it within us, in our inner spirit. Through us and out of us God is showing others the glory of God, that is, the love of God, as we lay down our lives for the good of others. These acts of kindness and mercy are small and almost unnoticeable deeds, but in the “real” world these are big deals. This is the glory we have been given.

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” is the key to what has been given to us. “When Christ appears we will appear with him in glory.” The glory of God is already in us and with us, but it is unseen to human eyes. One Day, when Christ appears, that glory in us will appear for all to see clearly with their new, resurrected human eyes. Then everyone will see what has really been within us all along. The answer to the question posed above: Yes, we do have the glory of God in us. But because we don’t see it and it doesn’t look like glory we must be told this is true by Jesus’ own promise. It can’t be seen, but it can be believed. You and I are full of glory, and one day all will see it. For now, it looks like unselfish love, at least once in a while. We believe it because we have this promise.

142. Be One

 John 17:21, 22, 23 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be onein us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me….that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.

 This prayer and promise of Jesus is, and will remain, a mystery. Unity is a mystery; it is connected to the other “oneness” mysteries: 1) the mystery of the Trinity, that three distinct persons are One God; 2) the mystery of the nature of Christ, that two distinct natures are united in One Person; 3) the mystery of Christ and the Church, that this Union is compared to the other mystery of One Flesh from two distinct human beings in marriage; 4) this mystery in John 17 speaking of believers, that they shall all be One, united in Christ, and perfect in one in a perfect union. A mystery is not something hard to understand; it is a truth that is impossible to understand; it is beyond the ability of humans to comprehend. A Biblical mystery is a truth that must be believed, whether we “see” it or not.

By certain definitions of oneness and unity, the unity of the brothers in Christ will never be seen in this world. If by being “one” we mean some kind of agreement, this will be impossible to achieve between any two human beings on earth. A husband and wife, who become one flesh, will never agree even when they have much in common. One believer and another will never agree on everything no matter how much they may agree on fundamental truths.

Unity and oneness of believers in Christ goes way beyond agreement on Christian doctrine or practice. It goes beyond love and tolerance and compromise; it goes beyond harmony and understanding; it goes beyond peacemaking. It is a deeper bond, deeper and stronger even than family ties. For all their differences, married couples are united by Christ, who makes them one flesh. For all their differences, two different believers are united by Christ, who makes them one in Him. We will never see this unity, although once in a while we get a glimpse of our oneness in Christ in a spiritual sense. Take hold of Jesus’ promise and enjoy the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Jesus prays for it; Jesus gives it.