Spirit of truth reaching and teaching, abiding and guiding.

“My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.

When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.” (Prov. 6:20-22).

 

“His delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Ps. 1:2,3).

 

“I Wisdom dwell with prudence…. Counsel is Mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.” (Prov. 8:12,14).

 

“I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find me…. But he that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate Me love death.” (Prov. 8:17,36).

 

All who love the Word who was made flesh love the truth that He bore to the world. All who love Him find His mercies new every morning. And they will find Him making incursions into their thoughts all day and all night. With delight they find His precepts making incursions into their thoughts day and night. Not a dead letter or lifeless concept entertains them day and night, but the Father’s imparted presence of His only Begotten. None other than Jesus Himself entertains them with His truth and grace that thrill them and teach them truth; it is Christ’s voice they hear in their thoughts.

 

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Ps. 16:11).

 

Jesus never comes to us without teaching us more of His Father’s will. “Out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword” (Rev. 19:15) —that is, the sword of truth, the “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Heb. 4:12). Jesus so identifies with with the word of His Father that He is the Word.

 

Jesus will show us the path of life when His presence is near. It is His presence that makes truth so pleasurable and powerful to overthrow the dug-in spells of Satan. The power of sin upon our soul that affects our mind and body flees when the Spirit of Christ enters. When Jesus comes to us by His Spirit He brings with Him truth and grace. His presence is full of biblical truth and grace. We become a host for the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of truth. We become a host for the possession by Christ and His ministering spirits.

 

“When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan.” Desire of Ages, p. 324.

 

With Their truth and grace furnishings our soul becomes a fit tabernacle for Jesus to abide with His cloud of heavenly agencies. Our souls are holy temples,  we become holy schoolhouses in which They dwell. “With deep earnestness the mother of Jesus watched the unfolding of His powers.… Through the Holy Spirit she received wisdom to co-operate with the heavenly agencies in the development of this child, who could claim only God as His Father.” Desire of Ages, p. 69. “The child Jesus did not receive instruction in the synagogue schools.… As He advanced from childhood to youth, He did not seek the schools of the rabbis. He needed not the education to be obtained from such sources; for God was His instructor.” Desire of Ages, p. 70.

 

In the above two quotations we see that the Holy Spirit, who taught the mother of Jesus, was the same teacher of her Son—God His Father.

 

Jesus never comes to us without bringing truth with Him; that is, biblical truth, His Father’s Law. This is the only way we know that the pleasure of His presence is not a familiar spirit that is pleasurable to our flesh. Christ, as the Spirit of truth, is the only way we know that His supernatural presence is not Satan through demonic Spiritual Exercises, his spiritualistic practices that come to us today by his more modern, accepted title, Spiritual Formation. The one true God, the Schoolmaster “scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6). If we are surrendered to the Schoolmaster’s scourging truth, then He immediately brings us to His Son to be justified and to be reconciled to Himself, God our Schoolmaster. “For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Prov. 3:12). “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED; HEAR YE HIM”! (Matt. 17:5). Each sinner who the Schoolmaster gives to His Son will come to the Son; and the Son will in no wise cast him out. He has received Jesus and Jesus has received him. “Ye in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20). In His acceptance he finds fullness of joy, and in His Spirit is life for evermore.

It is not an impersonal Law that “when thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.” (Prov. 6:22). Rather, it is the Spirit of Christ, through the strong language of His Father’s Law and through His Father’s strong Spirit. They, the Father and Son Godhead, return to the renewed child of Adam with the same strong, holy communion that They had with unfallen Adam. And that holy communion is always in the context of the Law of God. Their communion is without the slightest bit of “lightness” (Jer. 23:32; 2Cor. 1:17), but it is full of light and delight.

 

To human hearts God sends His Son encased in truth. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15). Their love to Christ and commandment-keeping go hand in hand. And, thus the weakened children of God receive the strenth to meditate on His truth day and night. “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 14:16-18). Because the soul and Christ are reunited, His truth can efficiently enter the conscience. The will easily binds the precepts of the Law upon the heart and mind. The new Christians hold the truth in righteousness, handling the word of God honestly; and they guard their new treasure from being poisoned with the leavening power of Satan. They remain vigilant to anything that might prevent the testimony of Jesus from abiding with them forever.

 

“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.” (John 14:19,20). Because Jesus spoke of their future, He was really saying to His disciples that the world will see Him no more, but the disciples will see Him. He was speaking of Pentecost. In the near future then, they would confidently know Him to still be living by His powerful presence with them. “The times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ.” (Acts 3:19,20). The Father’s gift of Christ at Pentecost would launch them to give the gospel to the world. As lively stones of the church, they would become an unstoppable force to uplift the world from Satan’s squalor. The Law of the Lord would be written on their hearts and they would meditate on His Law day and night.

“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. Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:21-23).

 

Like David and Solomon, the disciples had followed Jesus and had bound “His Law” (Isa. 42:4) in their hearts. Therefore, wherever they went, His voice led them; whenever they slept, His Law kept them; and when they awoke, Jesus talked with them. “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.” (John 14:12,,13).

 

“God is a Spirit” (John 4:24), and “the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit.” (1Cor. 15:45). “I and My Father are one.” (John 10:30). They are two Spirits perfectly united and who work in perfect unison.

 

Therefore, “There is…one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” (Eph. 4:4). Jesus said, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matt. 9:13). “To Him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear His voice: and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice…. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” (John 10:3,4,16,27).

 

Jesus is saying that He is the Spirit, through His Father’s greater power, which called to the world beginning on the day of Pentecost. And He still calls to us, “Come. ...and drink of the water of life freely.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37,38).

 

“All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.” Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91, 92. Christ and all of His heavenly and earthly agencies, His “whole family in heaven and earth” (Eph. 3:15), His bride, will give His final call to the world.

 

“The imparted Holy Spirit enabled His disciples, the apostles, to stand firmly against every species of idolatry and to exalt the Lord and Him alone.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, p. 14.

 

“Christ comes with His own redeeming influence proposing through the agency of His Spirit to impart His Spirit to impart His efficiency to men, and to employ them as His instrumentalities, laborers together with Him in seeking to draw the world back to its loyalty.” The Kress Collection, p. 101.

 

“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…. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive (G2983, lambanō) of Mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take (G2983, lambanō) of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.” (John 16:7-15).

 

Who is the “He” that Christ called the Comforter who would “receive (G2983, lambanō) of Mine, and…shew it unto you”? The Comforter is “the Father” who Jesus “therefore” had just previously said would “take (G2983, lambanō) of Mine, and…shew it unto you”.

 

“The Comforter” is “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2Cor. 1:3,4).

 

The Comforter’s comfort comes attached to justice and truth, tribulation and trouble. We can be thankful for the Father’s comfort after He has scourged us with His holy, spiritual whip, and then received us through our closer attachment with His Son. The Schoolmaster has driven His Son to rule over us and to greatly multiply our sorrows, so that our desire will be for a firmer hold on the Father’s commandments and statutes and judgments, and a closer, constant dependence on our Intercessor’s ever-living advocacy. “With Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), we have eternal life today, and today we “sit in heavenly places” (Eph. 2:6) next to our Lord who sits next to His Father, the LORD of all, the Ancient of days. “God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 7:25), today lets us be “translated into the kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:13).