“When the enemy shall come in
like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD
shall lift up a standard against him.” (Isa. 59:19).
“If ye love Me, keep My
commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever.” (John 14:15,16).
For those who renounce their
idols and false worship, an opening in the heart is made for the Promised One.
They have reconsecrated themselves to His Father’s will. They have renewed their
commitment to His covenant by sacrifice. He brings these humbled lambs to His Son who will in no way cast them away, but will seal their commitment to His Father. Of God they are in Christ Jesus; and of Christ they are in God (1Cor. 1:30). They keep His commandments because
they love Him. Therefore Jesus prays His Father to give them a special
manifestation of Their presence (John 14:23).
“Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever ye
shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14).
The strong voice from heaven
to the consecrated apostles throughout the book of Acts was the glorified
Son of God, “divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof”. Desire of Ages, p. 669. The Spirit of the Son extended far from His bodily frame, filling heaven and earth, as we see in Revelation 5:6. “And I beheld...a Lamb as It had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” Although He couldn’t be with them bodily, He could still be with them by His Spirit. He would
pray His Father to bring their spirit to Him to guide them in the defense of the gospel. “In this sense He would be nearer to them than if
He had not ascended on high.” Desire of
Ages, p. 669.
“Cumbered with humanity,
Christ could not be in every place personally; therefore it was altogether for
their advantage that He should leave them, go to His father, and send the Holy
Spirit to be His successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested of the
personality of humanity and independent thereof. He would represent Himself as
present in all places by His Holy Spirit, as the Omnipresent.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, p. 23.3.
“If ye love Me, keep My
commandments. And I will pray the Father,
and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth;
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him:
but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18). “Let not your heart be troubled.... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:1,27). Physically, and in a modified, limited way spiritually Jesus was next to them as their comforter that night. But, later, He would be in them spiritually in no modified way after His reunion with His Father.
Jesus’ message to His
disciples was the same as He had always given His people. To keep His
commandments is to turn from transgression; and vice versa, to continue in sin is to never have known Jesus and His words from heaven (1Jn. 3:6). “He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.” (John 3:33). Obedience to God
and rebellion against God are polar opposites. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also
the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (1Jn. 3:4). When we throw away our idols, then Jesus can be a Redeemer to us and can come into our hearts
by His Spirit, setting His seal in our spirit, confirming a determination in us to “serve the Law of God.” (Rom. 7:25). “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27).
“And the Redeemer [the Spirit
of the LORD] shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in
Jacob, saith the LORD.” (Isa. 59:20).
In His last discourse with
His chosen eleven, Jesus said they would see Him on the Day of Pentecost and they
would live again because they would know that He still lived. Then Jesus’ biblical explanation of tri-unity: “I…in
My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you”. The three-way union on that Day would
cause a deluge of heaven-sent blessing upon the forlorn disciples.
“Yet a little while, and the
world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.
At that day ye shall know
that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.
He that hath My commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved
of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” (John
14:19-21).
If we have been humbled by
the Law of God, or if we have been humbled by the consequences to our neglect of the Law, then we may
call to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. The Lord God will answer us by lifting up His cross,
and we discern the damnation He took in our place and our revenge toward God that we took out on His Mediator. “The reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on Me.” (Rom. 15:3). Our
special need and brokenness upon that Stone for our disloyalty, our repentance
full and deep, is heard by the Lord of Sabaoth and our loyalty is restored. Then when the adversary comes in like a flood we can call on the Lord, and the special manifestation of the tightly woven together Father and Son spoken of in Isaiah 59:19 lifts up a powerful banner in our spirit against the hosts of evil. “Behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid.” (Judg. 14:5,6).
“Because he hath set his love
upon Me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath
known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I
will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour
him.
With long life will I satisfy
him, and shew him My salvation.” (Ps. 91:14-16).
“He that hath My
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me
shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to
him.” (John 14:21). Jesus at our right hand with pleasures for evermore lifts
up His own manifestation against the adversary and delivers us.“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any thing in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14).
Repentance may be sought by
the Lord’s people, without receiving this special manifestation from the throne
of heaven. But that is only because their repentance is not fully sincere,
but half-hearted, and mingled with love of idolatry. And God cannot honor such
repentance except with partial, limited blessing. To the extent that we are
whole-hearted do we receive His full blessing. And, if we continue to
seek Him and to know His statutes and judgments, then eventually with His help
we clear away all the rubbish that we have set up to love and worship instead of His Father. Self-love, love of this world, and relishing the things that come from the adversary all go away. Now, the Schoolmaster can bring us to Christ to be justified by faith. Then, and
only then do we have His commandments and keep them. And only then does He appear
over our Mt. Zion. And only then does His special manifestation rout the enemy and
deliver us.
“For He put on righteousness
as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the
garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.
According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, fury to His adversaries,
recompence to His enemies; to the islands He will repay recompence. So shall
they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of
the sun.” (Isa. 59:17-19).
“And we shall live in His sight” (Hos. 6:2), His enemies under His rulership and the glories of His truth surrounding us.
“And we shall live in His sight” (Hos. 6:2), His enemies under His rulership and the glories of His truth surrounding us.
