Very often I hear people say that Jesus is with us,
or among us, only then to qualify their statement with, “of course, He is not
really with us personally, but through the Spirit”. So, my question is, Is He
or is He not among us? Is He interacting with us, or is it someone else?
Jesus told us that He would be with us to the very
end. Did He really mean that? Is that really true? Who am I speaking to when I pray, Jesus or a third person of the
Godhead? Is a third person a suitable substitute for Jesus? When I pray, should I say, Holy Spirit third person, please deliver my prayer to Jesus, and make sure you decipher it and make it sound right to God? If Jesus is the one I've come to trust, Why shouldn’t it be Him who I come to and speak to? That's what the disciples did. That’s what all the people in the gospels did who I read about for lessons to instruct me regarding prayer. They needy, diseased, heart-broken, went to Jesus. And as I read of them doing that, I appropriate scripture, and I do what they did. Why complicate something so simple by adding in a third person who masks the face and presence of my Friend and Saviour?
Who would you rather spend time with, a person who knows what you’ve been through and who really knows you, or a mysterious third thing that cannot know what you’ve been through because it never walked a mile in my moccasins. The whole purpose for Jesus to be incarnated was so that we could know that we have a Mediator who understands us. Then why do a bait-and-switch on us, and give us a third misty non-human entity that never walk among us under the hot summer Sun and in the frigid winter nights, but that (or who) floats around unaffected by the elements and difficulties of life in a world of sin? Could a divine spirit ever be tempted by Satan? No. If it doesn’t know my chastisement of peace as was upon Jesus, then how can I intimately trust it? Then how can I unburden my heart to the third thing? Doesn’t this issueanyone else care about ?
Who would you rather spend time with, a person who knows what you’ve been through and who really knows you, or a mysterious third thing that cannot know what you’ve been through because it never walked a mile in my moccasins. The whole purpose for Jesus to be incarnated was so that we could know that we have a Mediator who understands us. Then why do a bait-and-switch on us, and give us a third misty non-human entity that never walk among us under the hot summer Sun and in the frigid winter nights, but that (or who) floats around unaffected by the elements and difficulties of life in a world of sin? Could a divine spirit ever be tempted by Satan? No. If it doesn’t know my chastisement of peace as was upon Jesus, then how can I intimately trust it? Then how can I unburden my heart to the third thing? Doesn’t this issueanyone else care about ?
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and
deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him
the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like
unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them
that are tempted.” (Heb. 2:14-18).
We have no way to identify with the Father except
through the Son. Those were Jesus’ own words. “All things are delivered unto Me
of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” (Matt.
11:27).
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye
should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have
seen Him.” (John 14:6,17). “And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3).
“For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of
God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loveth the
Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:34-36).
In these verses, where is Jesus’ concern that His disciples need to know a
third person of the Godhead? In these verses, Jesus wants us to only know Himself and His Father.
Eternal life comes in the knowledge of Them both. The Son of man excluded every other
person. Of the third person trying to take the place of the human Saviour in our
hearts, it makes me want to say, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are
ye?” (Acts 19:15).
When we look at a few statements after Jesus
introduces “another Comforter”, He keeps that other Comforter in the
context of His sayings and commandments, and of Himself and His Father. See John 14:15-24. Jesus was saying that He and His Father would be the other Comforter through His words and commandments. Jesus
was speaking metaphorically, as He ever was wont to do. By absorbing His words of truth into
our spirit, they open us up to Him, His Spirit, His own Spirit. Thus, He could abide with His
disciples always. He said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to
you.” Is Jesus here and now? Is He with us, or not? He promised He would be. “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:21). By
His precious promises, from Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning” to Revelation 22:22
“Amen”, Jesus has been with us, and not another. Jesus, and no one else from the Godhead has given
up all to be our Protector, Comforter, everlasting Father, Judge and Advocate.
Not a third person, but Jesus. The Father is with us, yes; He has been with us because He is inescapable; in
Him we live and move and have our being. But, the Person who intimately comes to us, who has intimately
come to know us and us to know Him is Jesus; and not a third person. “Forasmuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise
took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the
power of death, that is, the devil.” Can we accept this promise literally, with
its plain meaning? The plain reading of Hebrews 2:14-18 is that Jesus alone can
be our help; and, therefore He came to save us. The spirit third person never did
this. Then why should we be content to be so apathetic with the needs of our
hearts for a self-sacrificing, human Friend, that we will accept the spurious doctrine of a third person
of a trinity for our intercessor? This is textbook bait-and-switch.
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:15,16). Is the spirit third person touched with the feelings of our infirmities? How can we know that if it didn’t become one of us? Do you think I’m making too much of this point? I don’t believe I am. I want Jesus close to me. That’s what I was promised from the Father and the Son, and that’s what I want. I want Jesus. “We would see Jesus.” (John 12:21). “And the two disciples heard hi speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto Him, Rabbi,... where dwellest Thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day.” (John 1:37-39). These things were written just for our curiosity or love of old Christian traditions. They are there to us to appropriate to ourselves.
I want to talk with the Jesus they spoke with in awe. I want the goods, not some fancy theological footwork from the days of the early apostolic church apostasy. I demand the true doctrines that don’t cover up a lying falsehood that steals away my personal Saviour from all that He did to be my personal Saviour. I demand my right to a personal Friend and Saviour. There should be an uprising amongst Christianity for the fraud that Satan has perpetrated against the church by substituting a phony third person in Jesus’ place. And I believe there will be before Jesus returns.
“And give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He
make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The LORD hath sworn by His right hand,
and by the arm of His strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat
for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for
the which thou hast laboured: but they
that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have
brought it together shall drink it in the courts of My holiness. Go through, go
through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the
highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the
LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion,
Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work
before Him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the
LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.” (Isa. 62:7-12).
These promises were claimed by the apostles.
Jerusalem was the church, not only to their apostolic church generation, but to
ours today. When we can believe this, Jesus will work in our behalf as much as
He did in theirs.
“Therefore My people shall know My name: therefore they
shall know in that day that I am He that doth speak: behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good
tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall
they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD
hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare His
holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God. Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence,
touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear
the vessels of the LORD. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight:
for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.”
(Isa. 52:6-12).
Not a third person spirit has made bare a
holy arm that a misty spirit doesn’t have, but the Lord Jesus has made bare His
holy arm in the eyes of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth will see
His salvation in the Latter Rain of His Spirit.
“To turn aside the right of a man before the face of
the most High, to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not.” (Lam.
3:3,36). It is our right to have Jesus,
and not another.
“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and NOT
another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:25-27).
We are commanded to see Him. “And this is the will
of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him,
may have everlasting life: and I will raise Him up at the last day.” (John 6:40).
We are not to wait until the last day to see Jesus; we need to see Him today, and to talk to Him. If we wait until the last day to see Him, then He will not be able to raise us up on that day. Seeing Jesus, knowing Him, and talking with Him are what give us the faith and the right to be resurrected. Why should we be content to talk to a third person that the scriptures do not teach?
We need to see Jesus by His own Spirit.
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to
you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me…. At
that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.” (John
14:18-20).
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if
so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of His.” (Rom. 8:9). The definition of being in the
Spirit is to have both Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ. Their holy union
reaching down to a union with our heart, our spirit. The only biblical three-way
unity of spirits is between God, His Son, and Their children. Scripturally
speaking, that is the only heavenly trio, for by faith we are already translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son and sit in heavenly places with Christ (see Col. 1:13; Eph. 2:6; Luke 23:43).
“For He whom
God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto Him.” (John 3:34). How can the first Person of the Godhead give a
third person to the second Person of the Godhead? The plain reading, as I
experienced when a teenager, indicates that the Father gave of His own Spirit
without measure to His only begotten, beloved Son in whom He was infinitely
well pleased. The Lord spoke to me forty years ago after reading this verse to
question the church tradition of the trinity. At that time I feared to do so, but, He has
returned again to lead me in that direction. By retaining my loyalty to the
trinity doctrine, Satan robbed me of Jesus’ presence when I needed Him very
much as a teen. He says those that seek Him early will find Him, and I know I
would have drawn very close to Him in those years when the young heart is open wide to
the love that God has to give. Oh, what devastation the separation from Jesus
has left the church because of the trinity error!
Remember that “the Spirit” (John 3:34) is the same
as “the Spirit of His Son” who “God hath sent forth…into your heart” (Gal. 4:6).
And it is the same “His Spirit” (Eph. 3:16), that is the Father’s Spirit, “the
Spirit of your Father” (Matt. 10:20). This is the same “the eyes of the LORD”
that “run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the
behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” (2Chron. 16:9). The Lord was
very real to the people of Israel. He showed Himself very strongly in their
behalf. Literal hail fell upon the enemies of Joshua at Gilgal and He made the
sun literally stand still.
“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I
have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before
thee. Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all
night. And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great
slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron,
and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled
from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast
down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were
more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with
the sword. Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up
the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And
the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged
themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So
the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a
whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD
hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.” (Josh. 10:8-14).
We’ve been told from the book, Great Controversy,
that “signs and wonders will follow the believers.” Would we like to see the
kinds of wonders again that Joshua and Moses and David saw? We won’t until the
Lord is as real and close to us as He was to Moses and Joshua and the rest. We
must know that Jesus is with us; and a third person substitute is not all-sufficient, nor is it the truth.
The Lord God of the Old Testament was the Son of
God. He said, “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can
any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do
not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.” (Jer. 23:23,24).
In His preincarnate form, there was no need for His Father
to use His own Spirit to represent His Son to us. The Son naturally had that
ability of Himself. But, now that He took our limitations and our body, He must rely
on the Father to make Him known to our hearts. Because of our sinfulness, Jesus
must forever be disabled from His previously eternal divine body. Nevertheless, He has
immediate access to His Father’s powerful Spirit, and through His Father’s
ready power Jesus can be seen and heard by us, and not a third person. The disciples
wanted Jesus and no one else. They weren’t satisfied with anyone but their
Saviour and Friend. The same was true for Miriam of Magdala and 500 others who
watched Jesus ascend. Their hearts would have been shattered if He had promised to
send someone other than Himself. They would have been destroyed if it weren’t
for His promise to remain with them until the end. He had never lied to them,
so they knew He wasn’t lying to them that day. When Pentecost came ten days
later, after much soul-searching for all their failures and short-comings
during the few precious years of His earthly ministry, the baptism of power
that came down upon their spirits fulfilled Jesus’ promise to never leave them
or forsake them. They were transfigured in the thought that Jesus had come again, which gave
them joy and a boldness that nothing and no one could remove.
He had foretold them His return by His Father’s
power.
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever…” (John 14:16). “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 14:17,18).
One of the disciples who heard Him was content that Jesus would be the Comforter, and not another. So, “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou
wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” (John 14:22). It was
clear to the disciples that it would be Jesus, or Jesus with His Father, and
not a third person, who would be manifest to them. “Yet a little while, and the
world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also.” (John
14:19).
“He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine,
and shall shew it unto you. All
things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine,
and shall shew it unto you.” (John 16:14,15). Jesus is saying that His Father
would glorify Him. He was not speaking of a third being. “O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thy own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” (John 17:5). The Father would take
of the powerful authority of Jesus that would result from His great
self-sacrifice for the human race, and reveal it to His earth-bound waiting
children. All that the Father had He shared with His Son, and Jesus reiterates
that it’s the Father who takes of His Sons’ “all power” (Matt. 28:18) and
reveals it to us. The “He” pronoun referred to His Father.
We will look closer at the preceding verse of John 16
in the next part. But, before we close this first part I want to say how much I
appreciate the concluding scene of John’s gospel. We have a scene of Jesus
appearing after a week of absence, apparently in the flesh eating with His disciples
and talking together with the them. Rather than a scene of Christ floating up
to the sky on His way to the heavenly sanctuary, John shows Jesus as very human
and warm, just the way he wanted to remember is best Friend—as a real person
who hadn’t left yet.
“He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third
time, Lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou
knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep. Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst
whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy
hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This
spake He, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when He had
spoken this, He saith unto him, Follow Me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the
disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper,
and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth Thee? Peter seeing him saith to
Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that
he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou Me. Then went this
saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus
said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come,
what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things,
and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. And there are
also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written
every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books
that should be written. Amen.” (John 21:17-25).
This is the Jesus I want to remember and to know. He
still hasn’t changed a bit. John remembered fondly that Jesus’ love for him had
never changed. And His love for us also remains the same. His compassion, His
yearning for our uplifting from sin and full restoration into the image of God,
His pure enjoyment to be one of us, like us, among us, surrounded by His
children who have suffered in the flesh with Him, all come from the same love that He still
has, even in the heavenly sanctuary. As our High Priest, He is the same today
and forever as He was yesteryear. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment