Lessons from Jonah (Pt. 2): When Consumed by Your Affliction, Cry Out to God

Lessons from Jonah: When Consumed by Your Affliction, Cry Out to God Pt. 2

 Jonah 1:17
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
 
"the Lord had prepared a great fish..."

The rule of the day is to discount the Bible as literal by making it out to be sensationalism. Liberal scholars devote the entirety of their lives to obtaining doctorate degrees in what they call theology, but it is a theology, which discounts the inspiration of scripture; furthermore, they employ a technique known as higher textual criticism. In other words, they come to the text believing the book was written by men and not God; therefore, they expect to find mistakes; furthermore, because the Age of Enlightenment employed the thought of the Scientific Method, any miraculous occurrence is discounted.
 
Because the miraculous is discounted, the story of Jonah, in their eyes, isn't literal, it's only allegorical. But the real entity on trial in that scenario isn't the miraculous nature of the story; rather, God's existence is being called into question.
 
The real question isn't whether God can perform a miracle. The real question is whether or not God exists. I can tell you unequivocally that God exists. I know it to be true because He's alive in my heart, whether you choose to believe that or not is up to you, but because I believe He's real, I also believe He still performs miracles.
 
And God performed a miracle for Jonah. He prepared a great fish. Some have argued that there aren't fish in the Mediterranean big enough to swallow a man. As a matter of fact, regarding whales, only a Sperm Whale would be capable of swallowing a man. If God can call the animals two by two into an arc, then He can prepare a great fish. If God can split the Red Sea and deliver His people Israel through on dry ground, then He can prepare a great fish. If God can take a bound up sinner like me and set him free, then God can prepare a great fish.
 
As I was walking with the cross Sunday, I prayed and asked God that He would send someone that needed a divine appointment or encounter, I can't remember the exact words I used. As I was walking on Hwy. 70, a woman stopped me, and we began to talk, with tears in her eyes, she said, "I've been going through some things; I was on the phone with my friend and said, "I need a divine appointment." Suddenly, I looked up and there you were with the cross.
 
If God can lead me to pray a prayer like that, and at the same time cause a person looking for answers to pray a prayer like that and allow their paths to cross at the right time when I didn't even want to carry the cross at that moment because I was tired, then God can prepare a great fish. He can tell a Sperm Whale, if that's what it was to go into the Mediterranean Sea and wait!
 
God ordained this circumstance and situation. This fish, this affliction, provided a vehicle of transport for God to get the prophet where He needed Him to be. In a similar fashion, God uses trials in our lives to get us to the place He wants us to be. Many times pain is the propulsion that moves us to brokenness and brokenness moves us to cry out to God, so don't give up in the midst of your trial because many times God is using it as a vehicle of transport to move you towards His purposes, to move you and I from a direction of disobedience to obedience (Hebrews 12:3-11).
 
While the fish ultimately serves the purposes of God and saved Jonah's life, it certainly can't appear that way to Jonah while he's in the midst of this fish's belly, so for Jonah, it's an intensification of the storm while he's there.

 From a spiritual perspective, there is no doubt that the three days and three nights Jonah spent in the fish’s belly are, while literal in Jonah’s life, are a spiritual type of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. We know this because Jesus told us so: 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

What’s interesting about this passage is that Jesus had just delivered and healed a man possessed by demons, after which, the Pharisees accused Him of operating under the power of demon spirits; now, they want a sign, and Jesus lets them know that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; furthermore, the only sign they will be given is the sign of Jonah, the sign of His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead. In addition to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection being communicated here, surely, we can see Jonah as the man of God, even the New Testament believer. We have already covered this concept of identification previously where we associate or identify ourselves as also being partakers of His cross. His death is our death; His cross is our cross; His burial is our burial, and certainly His resurrection will be ours also. Nevertheless….

 Jonah 2:2
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

Nevertheless, there is that timeframe in the life of the believer, or at least the one who has acquainted himself with this Jesus of Nazareth, a timeframe where the Jonah Journey undoubtedly will be embarked upon. This journey is a tale rife with failures and disobedience. This is a journey where self has been crucified in God’s eyes; the place where upon faith, God sees the sinner plunged beneath the blood which flowed from Immanuel’s veins, but in this leg of the journey-- self, the “old man,” refuses to die. Instead, he clings to his own will and in disobedience he journeys away from the presence of God. Listen close child of God, chaos is coming; the storm is brewing, because God will not leave those that are His alone flailing in that tempestuous sea. And through the storm and affliction, God will bring that believer to a place where the story goes from the Jonah Journey to the Jesus Journey, where the believer will finally reckon himself to be dead, so that he can now see himself the way that God sees him (Romans 6:11).

 
As we can see, it was the affliction that caused Jonah to cry out to God. He cried out from what he called the "belly of hell." For Jonah being in the belly of this fish was hell, Sheol, the place of the departed dead.
 
God has always given progressive revelation regarding the plan for His people that are called by His name. At this point in Israel's history, He had already given a glimpse of the resurrection through the psalmist:
 
Psalms 16:10
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
 
The Psalms were written at least 200 years before Jonah, so he would have been familiar with this passage. For us it's easy to look at this passage and see that it refers to the resurrection of Messiah, and when we review Jesus' words to Mary, we are reminded that because He rose, and we being placed in Him, furthermore, finding our righteousness in that place (our connection with Him), we also will rise again:
 
John 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
 
But here, no glimmer of hope is heard. Instead, in the midst of this hell, there is only darkness and despair. There is no way out of this darkness. This depression will not subside. Just as there are no exit doors in hell, for Jonah, there is no hope at this point. How many people, even Christians, live in similar hopelessness, feeling as though there is no way out, knowing they've been living lies of disobedience?
 

I would imagine that at this point of the journey, Jonah believes that he deserves everything he's getting. I would imagine that at this point, he wishes he wouldn't have written a "but" into the script. Nevertheless, for Jonah, there is hope on the horizon. He can’t see it yet, but soon the fish will spit him out and the trial will end. After deliverance takes place, at some point, I don't know when maybe after he's lying in his bed while the burns from the gastric secretions of this fish are healing. But at some point, it seems to me a song of praise and thanksgiving burst forth from Jonah's heart.
 
...and he heard me!!
 
Jonah 2:3-10
For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas;
and the floods compassed me about:
all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
 
It's amazing to me that there are Christians who honestly believe that God would never allow anything bad or challenging to touch their lives. Where does this thinking come from? The storm was sent by God. God's word tells us that. Jonah, at some point realized that the storm was from God and that it wasn’t the mariners who had cast him into the deep; instead, it was the hand of God that allowed the deep to overcome him for a period of time.
 
Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight;
yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
 
Why? Why would God allow such a thing? He allows it, so that we, His children would learn to look towards His holy temple. When I say that, it's being said allegorically or illustratively because the temple of God is where His presence dwelled with Israel. Jonah sets his face towards the temple, towards the presence of God and directs his prayers there. Listen close child of God, God wants you to learn a new process when you find yourself sinking, head wrapped about with sea weed, waters overcoming you, and feeling there is no hope. God wants you to look to Him, cry out to Him in your affliction and turn to His presence. Jesus paid a high price on the cross, so you could enter into the presence of God and receive rescue from your affliction.
 
The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:
the depth closed me round about,
the weeds were wrapped about my head.
 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains;
the earth with her bars was about me for ever:
yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord:
and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.
 
Jonah’s prayer made it to the holy temple. In other words, God heard Jonah’s prayer. I would imagine that right now some of you would say, “But I’ve been praying, and I wish He would hear my prayers, but how often are our prayers expended on our selfish gain? We want Him to hear us, but we’re ignoring Him! Go Jonah! Get up and go to Ninevah!

Many times this is the way that God gets our attention and helps us remember that He is God and without Him we are hopeless. He puts us in circumstances, where if He doesn't show up, we won't make it, or we put ourselves in circumstances where if He doesn't show up we won't make it. Either way, remember this-- while you may have been caught off guard, He knew all along what was coming down the road in your life. Sister Toot used to sing a song, "If His eye is on the little bit of a sparrow, I know He watches over me."
 
Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
 
Jonah:They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay that that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.
 
In the last part of the song or writing, whatever you want to call it, Jonah makes a distinction between his response and the response of others. I don't think we should think that Jonah is being prideful here and already forgetting his disobedience, which brought the trial on; rather, I believe he's had time to reflect upon this whole scenario. Usually, when a person is in the midst of a storm, they can't see God in it. They can't see His hand maneuvering and preparing circumstances for their deliverance; however, once the trial is over, once the fish has spit you out on dry ground and you've had time to unwrap the sea weed from around your head, then an appreciation can come forth from the trial you endured because you learned so much and you did, at some point cry out to God.
 
"They," on the other hand won't cry out to God. Instead, "they" represent those that will continue in disobedience by putting their hope in lying vanities. The idea of "lying vanities" is empty un-truth. It’s like the Christian who is living a life of sin and disobedience, finding themselves in the midst of chaos, and looking to false hope through false doctrine, looking at the lies of their storm instead of the answer, looking to psychiatry and Prozac to make their head right. Come on really? Why do we worry about getting our head right when our heart isn’t? Get your heart right with God, and He will do the rest.
 
 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
 
God heard Jonah's cry and delivered him from his trial.
 
I couldn't help but think about how this trial produced what I call a song in Jonah's heart, but it reminded me of another instance, where the trial was trying to steal the song.
 
Psalms 137:1-4
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept,
when we remembered Zion (Jerusalem- means peace  [its as though its saying, "How can I sing of peace when the enemy has stolen my joy]).
 
We hanged our harps
upon the willows in the midst thereof.
 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song;
and they that wasted us required of us mirth (joy),
 
Their enemy taunted them to remember their home of peace and to sing a song of joy, but there was no song of joy they could sing, so they hung their harps in the trees. It saddens my heart when I think of God's people being held captive by their enemy, and being overwhelmed with despair, they hang their harps in the trees.
 
Israel’s enemy: saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
 How shall we sing the Lord 's song
in a strange land?
 
But don't let the devil steal your joy child of God. This is a test, an opportunity to trust God in the trial, an opportunity to do things different than ever before. Take the Journey tape, with song Open Arms on it, throw it in the trash, and run into His open arms. He's waiting for your arrival; He's waiting for you to run to Him. He died so you could.
 
Come on you can do it go put some worship music on, separate yourself with just you and God, and worship Him even though things seem bad right now. Take the harp out of the tree and strum it. He saved you from your sin. And one day you're going to reign with Him! Come on access His presence and be filled with His Spirit.
 
You see something happens in the midst of the trial when you learn to hold onto Him through it.
 
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
 
As we learned a few weeks ago, justification is how God sees you, more specifically what He speaks over your life. Your faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified put you in right standing with God. In right standing with God, you have access to grace, which gives you the needed power to stand in the midst of this sin riddled world.
 
We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God because one day... I said, "Some glad morning when this life is o'er I'll fly away, to a home on God's celestial shores, I'll fly away. I'll fly away O' glory. I'll fly away.
 
One day you and I are going to partake of the glory of God when: ....this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:53-54
 
But what about in the meantime? What am I supposed to do while I’m in the midst of this trial upon this wicked, evil earth?
 
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
 
You glory in your tribulations? What in the world are you talking about Paul? The word tribulation means to be pressed. If Paul could talk to us he would say, "You think I don't know about pressing? ‘Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.'" 2 Corinthians 11:23-27
 
So here is a mighty man of God that is well acquainted with tribulation, and he says glory in it because God uses it as a process through which He produces something beautiful
 
Tribulation- the pressing produces patience.
 
Patience- hupo- monae/ remain under. God is asking you to trust Him as you remain under the trial. Don't buckle Christian! Don't hang your harp in the trees! Remain under the trial trusting God.
 
Patience produces experience, some translations use the word character. The word in the Greek is dokime. The idea is a proving or a test. In other words, something is proven to be what it says it is. Just as a fire proves the metal, so the trial proves the Christian.
 
Experience results in hope-- hope even in the midst of this fallen earth, even in the midst of this horrendous trial because God's going to show up and prove Himself true.
 
So Cry out Jonah... Cry out Christian!  When you're consumed by your affliction, cry out to God and watch His mighty hand deliver you.

Lessons from Jonah (Pt. 1): When Consumed by Your Affliction, Cry Out to God

Consumed by Affliction: Jonah’s Disobedience

The book of Jonah was written in approximately 800 BC by the prophet bearing its name. During this time frame, Israel was under the leadership of King Jeroboam II.

2 Kings 14:23-24 In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria, and reigned forty and one years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord:he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

When reading passages of scripture, it's always helpful to have some understanding of the underlying context surrounding the movement of the story or teachings taking place. I specifically used the word story because Jonah is considered narrative literature. We have discussed the concept of literary genre on multiple occasions, describing the differences between narrative, which tells a story, apocalyptic, which foretells future events, and epistles, which are letters in the New Testament containing deeper revelations of biblical instruction.

While Jonah is narrative literature, it's also prophetic literature. Specifically, the book of Jonah is considered one of 12 Minor Prophets. Essentially, in the Old Testament Jewish Bible, the Major and Minor Prophets were used as a method of dividing the books. In addition, the length of these books was the main determining factor on why some were called minor vs. some being called major. The three Major Prophets were: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

God always used His prophets of old as a mouthpiece or vessel from which He would speak forth His word. Specifically, the prophet's ministry was to bring a word of correction to Israel, which was God's own special people He had created from amongst the heathen world. Anytime the modern Christian reads the happenings of ancient Israel, there should be some element of viewing the text from the perspective that these are God's people, from there, the reader should also be able to see the text speaking to himself; for he or she is also "God's people."

Previously, we pointed out that Jeroboam II was king during Jonah's prophetic tenure. The 2 Kings passage connected Jeroboam II to Jeroboam. The reign of the original Jeroboam chronicles significant changes to the nation of Israel. Oftentimes, Christians are unaware of the intricate details surrounding Israel's history.

King Jeroboam represents a very disturbing time in Israel's history. When Solomon, King David's son sinned (1 Kings 11), the result was a split to the kingdom of Israel. God's judgement upon the nation that He had created was that they would be split into a place of disunity, resulting in the upper 10 tribes, known as Israel, and the lower two tribes, which consisted of Judah and Benjamin.

Interestingly, Judah was the tribe of King David and his son Solomon, which housed the prophetic promise of Messiah's descent (II Samuel 7:12,13); and Benjamin was the tribe from which the house of Saul came. If you will remember, there was a covenant between King David and Jonathan, Saul's son, which bound these two "houses"/tribes together.

Israel represented the Northern Kingdom; whereas, Judah, reigning from Jerusalem (South), where we get the word Jew from, was the Southern portion of the nation.

Rehoboam, Solomon's son was the king of Judah; whereas, Jeroboam, who was an officer in the King's court before the nation was split, ruled Northern Israel. Jeroboam followed the latter path of Solomon and worshiped false gods; furthermore, he built a temple for their idol worship in Samaria, which is where all the contention between the Jews and the Samaritans started that we read about in the New Testament.

Jeroboam purposefully did this to prevent the people from going down to Jerusalem to worship God. This false leadership, which produced error in Israel's understanding of God incited God to anger resulting in Him using His prophets as mouthpieces to prophesy against His leaders and His people who were living in opposition to His word. Sadly, the apostasy worsened rather than improving and, with time, Judah went the way of Israel. The explicit narratives of these happenings can be found in 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, and 1-2 Chronicles.

So here we are in the time frame of the prophet Jonah who was from a town in Northern Israel from the tribe of Zebulun. To give you a mental picture, the tribe of Zebulon settled the area West of the Sea of Galilee.

Jonah 1:1, 2 Chapter 1 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, v2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

The Duty

There is so much to consider with these two initial verses. First, we must remember the underlying context regarding the condition of God's people. Israel has been disobedient towards God since the rebellion of Solomon, a succession of wicked leaders: kings, prophets, and priests has taken place, resulting in apathy and failure on the part of God's people.

There is a living principle here to observe: God desires to reach a lost and dying world with His plan of salvation to turn the heathen (those who are unconverted and don't know Him) towards Him. The way God chooses to do that is through the use of His people. But in this time frame, God's people Israel are apathetic towards His ways because Satan has successfully infiltrated their camp and changed the object of their faith. Specifically, they have entered into a form of syncretistic (mixed) worship.

What are you talking about preacher? At this time in Israel's history idol worship was so bad that they had brought them (idols) into the temple and called them YHWH. What does that have to do with me preacher? It saddens me that more often than not preachers behind pulpits cannot recognize the current condition the church is in today.

Between the mixtures of a works based message and a charismatic move void of sound theology, the condition of the modern church is synonymous with ancient Israel. We won't even get into my personal beliefs of an occult agenda influencing the church through the Word of Faith movement, Emergent Church (Jesus Culture), and the current seeker sensitive debacle. There are probably Christians who will read this and think to themselves what is this guy talking about? Google and watch: The Real Roots of the Emergent Church.

And that's my point. I don't believe we can see because for so long we've been moved away from a proper understanding of God's word.  I know that I have attempted, through Facebook, to pound the concept of true righteousness and justification, which will set the captive free, but I fear that when most people read those words, they think in their hearts, where is the "prophet?" I need a service or a church somewhere where the "Spirit" is moving, so I can get in a line, have hands laid upon me, get a word, fall down, and do a shake rattle and roll.

Before you tune me out charismatic Christian, let me ask you a couple questions: (1) how many times have you gone to the front for prayer to receive deliverance from your bondage? (2) how many times have you fallen out in the Spirit when you went up there for that prayer? (3) how many times has that resulted in freedom from your bondage?

That can't work because that's not the way to victory. If a believer doesn't have a revelation of who he is in Christ, how Jesus defeated the forces of evil through the atonement, and how proper faith in Jesus' finished work is the only thing that will give access to grace, which is the only way that people can have deliverance from bondage of any sort, through accessing the power of God, then that believer can't be delivered. Some may say, "Where does this guy get this from? Why does he think the cross is the answer to power over sin?"

 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

BECAUSE THE WORD OF GOD SAYS SO!!!

So in the midst of a time when God's people have such a mixture of false doctrine influencing their understanding of God and His ways, how will His people function properly? How will His prophets hearken (listen with obedience)?

The word of the  Lord came to Jonah with clear instructions. Essentially, he let Jonah know Ninevah (the world) is full of sin and wickedness, and I need you Jonah, Christian, man of God, I need you to go tell them to repent.

Now, before we get going good, many may say, "Hold up! Jonah was a prophet; it was his job to go speak to them. I'm not a prophet; you're making me feel uncomfortable, because you're trying to make me do the preacher's job! Isn't that what we pay him for?" I  have to tell you that it was always God's plan that the people called by His name would bring light into darkness:

Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The word workmanship has the idea of something that is produced or made, but notice that the creation of this workmanship takes place within a certain locale, sphere, or place. In other words, the factory where this creation is produced is in a place called in Christ.

We have pointed this out many times: that the prepositional phrase in Christ describes a precognition (prior knowledge) where the believer understands the transaction and translation, which occurred at the cross. Once again, when faith is placed in Christ, the sinner is translated and placed in Christ. Within this realm, as faith remains in Christ for right standing with God, grace (the operation of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life) changes him and creates anew in Christ, making him (the believer) the person he was always intended to be, preparing him for his true purpose upon this earth to engage in the good works of God, witnessing to the truth that Messiah has come, offering eternal life and changed lives to those who will repent.

By the way, it was always God's intent that His people would would be prophets:

Numbers 11:29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord 's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!

God desires to use all His people as prophets, not always for foretelling but forth telling. In other words, accomplishing what God is asking Jonah to do, let the wicked world know it's time to repent and turn to God.

It's interesting to note that Jonah's name means dove and his father's name Amittai means my truth.

There is so much symbolism here, and while I would never want to over spiritualize, I can't help but point out that the dove is used to symbolize the Holy Spirit. But also the dove symbolizes peace with God, as when the dove brought an olive branch back to Noah in the Ark; from that point forward, the olive branch has been viewed as an extension of peace.

In this sense, God is sending peace (Jonah) to Ninevah (the world) through his truth (Amittai). This principle holds true today. God is calling sinners to come home, to a place where there is peace. This can only be done when the servant of God is obedient to the call of God, bringing God's truth to a lost and dying world. Once the sinner repents:

Repentance: a state where a person changes their thinking, realizing they were wrong and all along God was right; furthermore, this change of mind is associated with a strong, even emotional distaste for the previous way of thinking,

The presence of the Holy Spirit produces peace between God and the man:

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

So remember Christian whether we like it or not, God has called us to live a separated life in the midst of this fallen world; furthermore, just as he called Jonah to cry against Ninevah and her sin, He is asking His church to take a stand against ungodliness in the world today.

The disobedience

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

How much woe and sorry has been produced from this one conjunction- But?

In the English language, the conjunction but is known as an adversative, meaning it denotes conflict or adverse conditions. Jonah is in conflict with God; he's choosing to move in a direction completely opposite of God's request. How many times have we all as God's people written a "but" into the script when God was looking for an "and"? ...and Jonah went to Ninevah... and Matt obeyed...and the Christian said, "Yes, Lord I will...."

But Jonah fled instead to Tarshish. What is Tarshish for you child of God? I've certainly had to ask myself the same. I can tell you that Tarshish is any place of disobedience that pulls you in the opposite direction of God's will for your life.

God's work isn't getting accomplished in Ninevah when His prophet is on a boat headed to Tarshish. If there are any Christians willing to listen, I have to ask some questions: what isn't being done, who isn't being reached when we pay our fare and settle down in the belly of that ship headed to Tarshish?

He paid a fare. He was now invested in this trip of disobedience... I couldn't help but think how this represents a connection point, even a devotion, or maybe a feeling that it's too late to turn back. How many times does our slide towards disobedience start with just a little step at a time?

I can remember when I was a young Christian engaged to be married. I was working for an oilfield company and had gone to Holland for survival training in order to work in the North Sea. On the flight up there, we sat in the business class and all the alcohol you could drink was paid for-- I didn't touch a drop, but the first night in Holland about 40 minutes away from a city called Rotterdam, the men I was with were going into town to go drinking. My personal contention was that, as they drank, I would go sight-seeing and take pictures-- it was a set up from Satan, and it should be pointed out that more often than not this is how the enemy hooks us; we make small decisions that are contrary to God's will, starting us in the direction of Tarshish, and before you know it, we've paid the fare and somehow feel committed to the trip.

When I first got on the bus, the Holy Spirit spoke very vividly saying, "Get off the bus!" But like a scared, defeated puppy, I put my tail between my legs and shuffled to the back of the bus, sitting down, preparing for the unknown journey, I heard His voice again, "Get off the bus!" For some reason, I ignored the warning, choosing rather to venture into the place of the unknown, certainly not unlike Jonah, who will soon find himself in the belly of this ship.

As the bus rolled to its stop in front of an obvious barroom, they look the same in Europe, I noticed everything else seemed closed on that Sunday night, so I asked the driver, "Aren't there any stores open? Aren’t there any scenes to see, or other choices in places to go?" His response was a simple shaking of his head in the motion of a negative.

When I think about how suddenly everything happened, I still get spun around, within minutes, I was in line with the world, had bought a ticket for $5 that would purchase five drinks, and from the purchase of the ticket to the walk through the door, I somehow had changed my mind from drinking Coca Cola to deciding on Jack Daniels and coke. It was almost as though that thought was placed in my head from somewhere else. I didn't even drink Jack Daniels nor did I know whether they even sold it in Holland, but lo and behold, there it was on the menu when we sat down at the table.

Unfortunately, things worsened from that point, because women began to walk up and sit down at our table; in addition, a woman came out on the stage dancing completely naked.

How could have this happened so quickly? How could a person on the plane, who had determined in his heart not to go the way of the world fallen so rapidly? Things could have been worse that night, but they were certainly bad enough-- I drank things I had no business drinking and smoked things I had no business smoking.

When I woke the next day, the conviction of the Holy Spirit overwhelmed me. Everyone began to plan that night's party, and they were including me in their plans. I can remember so vividly the shame I felt. I felt as though I had personally betrayed Jesus. Then, suddenly one of them said, "Dude, I don't get you. You fly all the way over here and don't drink when it's free, but then you come and do all that last night-- that's stupid-- I don't get it."

My response, "I agree it was stupid, and I don't expect you to understand, but I'm supposed to be a Christian. I'm supposed to be living my life different, but I failed God last night. I can tell you this though; I won't be going back tonight."

I wish I could tell you that I never failed God again, but that would be a lie. The truth is that until God gave me a supernatural revelation of the power of the cross, I failed God repeatedly over the next 12 years, but I will tell you this, if you feel as though that is you and sounds something like your walk with God that isn't normal Christianity. I don't care what any preacher tells you or how bad the church looks today. Christians are supposed to walk in victory over sin because Jesus destroyed its power on the cross.

As we will see moving forward, Jonah also cried out in the midst of his misery, but in the meantime, his disobedient choices have sent him in a direction opposite of the presence of God, a storm is brewing on the horizon Christian! I don't say this to make you feel guilty. I say this out of love. You better bow your knee and let God deal with your sin on the front end before disaster strikes.

So Jonah had paid his fare. The point I was really trying to make is that many times there are things in our lives, whether they be certain addictions or personality traits like control issues, we all have trouble letting go and letting God have His way in our lives, and with time these "things," hang around so long, we become connected to them. It's as though we've paid the fare and taken ownership of them: "Oh, I'm just an alcoholic. I'll always be this way. I can't let go of this area of my life because I've never navigated those uncharted waters."

No, Christian you can live life free from those bondages. Tarshish doesn't have to be your destination. Jesus died to set you free. When you placed your faith in Him, you were baptized, immersed, or placed in Him, and in the mind of God, the "old man" that had paid the fare and was headed to Tarshish died, was buried and a "new man" has resurrected to newness of life. This man I speak of "In Christ" isn't bound by a fare to Tarshish, because Jesus redeemed him from the former life. In order to give him a new life, a new destination, and a new purpose.

 But when the journey towards disobedience ensues, the storm begins to brew.

Jonah 1:4-10

But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the ship-master came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.

I suppose we should take the time to realize that not every trial is related to gross disobedience in our lives; nevertheless, every trial provides an opportunity for God to test our response. In this situation even the world (the mariners) knew this occurrence was from God. They didn't know who God was, but they knew that whoever he was, He was the one who sent the storm.

Also, notice how they all call upon their different gods with the same respect or reverence: Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god.... O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not..

This is interesting to me because today we're seeing a similar occurrence take place called pluralism- more than one substance. In this case, "There is more than one god, and everyone's god deserves the same amount of reverence and respect; furthermore, it's inconsiderate to intrude into other people's lives in an attempt to turn them from their God." Quotes represent what the world would say today, and even many elements of the Emergent Church.

This whole line of thinking is fine if you're not convinced that Jesus is the only way. But once you become convinced by the presence of God that Jesus must be embraced, the gospel is the inspired word of God, and those that reject His message, will suffer the fate of hell with the devil and his angels, then intrusion may be an inconvenience, and it may seem inconsiderate, but there is no alternative; the masses must be warned.

Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them

Ultimately, they will find out that the reason they're in the midst of this storm is because of Jonah's disobedience. Previously, several weeks back, we discussed the story of Jonah. Ultimately, the point made then is that if there is a "Jonah" in your boat, you should throw it out, that "Jonah" being anything or anyone that stands in the way of your relationship with God.

While there is certainly some truth to this thought, a more accurate representation of the context would be to say, "Hey Christian, there is a storm raging, and your disobedience is not only affecting your life, but it's also affecting the lives of those around you who need to see a valid witness, so they can know the truth, throw down their false gods, and embrace the one true God; but as you continue to navigate your storm, they continue to panic and scurry around looking for answers-- the whole while you secretly hold the (answers) in because you have your own agenda.

On Resurrection Sunday, Sean and I walked with the cross at Lake End Park. There was one specific occurrence that I believe illustrates this point well. There were 4 guys drinking beer, and they made a comment to us. So I responded, "Man, were here to remind people about Jesus. I personally think the world is beginning to shake."

One of the four said, with a smirk, as he took a drag on what was left on his finished cigarette, "Yeah, I can't wait until Jesus comes back to take us out. Then we won't have to deal with all this."

Wait! What? Did he say that? I quickly responded, "Dude, do you honestly think if we're not ready now, we'll be ready then. Are any of y'all born again?"

Both him and another one, who was sitting down on the grass, eyes hidden by his shades said, "Yes." Whereas, the first one was full of pride in his retort, the one sitting lowered his head and whispered with a sense of shame. From that moment forward, he was reverent and appreciative. I could tell the other two guys were clueless about what was going on. Nevertheless, this is the breakdown. Mr. Cocky thinks his sin is perfectly fine. He's bound in a lie of sin and self righteousness; however, the other guy knows he's wrong. He knows God isn't pleased with his sin. I believe He's going to be OK because God sent us there that day just for him. I'm praying he will get right, but until he does, he's Jonah. He's living his life in the midst of the world, their all in the storm of life, and he's sitting in the bottom of the ship, heading to Tarshish with the world, the whole while not warning them of the judgement up ahead.

Jonah 1:10-16 Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you:for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not:for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood:for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea:and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

While there is a lot that could be said regarding this passage of scripture, some main elements are: (1) there is a storm raging and it's affecting everyone involved; (2) the storm is a trial produced by God in response to Jonah's disobedience; (3) Jonah's disobedience in the presence of sinner's prevents the storm from calming in their lives; (4) once a move towards obedience is made, the storm is calmed, giving the world a sign that Jonah's God is real, and they begin to worship Him.

I. There is a storm raging and it's affecting everyone involved.

By now, we should all be aware that we live upon a fallen earth that is in the midst of chaos and disarray. The chaos affects everyone of us. Our relationships, jobs, everything we hold dear.

This storm affects both believers and unbelievers alike. The difference between the believer and unbeliever is that we (believers) have access to grace, which gives us strength through these storms, our understanding of God is increased as we maintain faith through the storm, and we also learn to cast our cares on Him through it all:

Romans 5:1-3 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

2. The storm is a trial produced by God in response to Jonah's disobedience.

We should always be reminded that God will never leave those that belong to Him to themselves without correction. The storm in this instance is purposefully sent to put Jonah back on track. God will use trials in our lives for correction and to produce the character in us He's looking for, not the character we think we need:

Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

James 1:3-4 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Hebrews 12:5-10 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

3. Jonah's disobedience in the presence of sinners prevents the storm from calming in their lives.

A while back we preached on Jonah a little when we did the Weathering the Storms series. One of the main questions we asked was, "Who or what is the Jonah in your boat?" Furthermore, it was pointed out that who or  whatever it was you needed to throw it/them out-- now, don't say the preacher told you to get rid of your spouse. Those situations are a lot more complicated than that.

Afterwards, Robert, and I talked a lot about these concepts, and truthfully, the real context is that disobedient Christians living their lives of sin as they journey to Tarshish are the problem. How will the world ever have a chance to know God or have a relationship with God, even have the storms in their lives calmed when the believer is in rebellion?

4. Once a move towards obedience is made, the storm is calmed, giving the world a sign that Jonah's God is real, and they begin to worship Him.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

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

Outline for the Book of Jonah

Outline of the book of Jonah

A. Chapter 1: Outward, blatant disobedience.
 
 1. God wants to send peace and truth to a lost and dying world verse one. 
 
   (a). Jonah means “dove” (symbolically- peace\Holy Spirit).
 
   (b). Amittai means "my truth" (the peace and presence of God cannot come to man until his truth 
is revealed and received.
 

"But" Jonah went to Tarshish v3 “But” is known as an adversative conjunction: denotes contrariness. 
God had a plan, but Jonah was contrary. 

 2. God wants to send peace, but His people (Israel [context of where they were as a nation] and Jonah are in disobedience). 
Jonah fled from the presence of God: in verse 3 it says that twice. 

 3. “But” v4 when God's people are contrary to Him, his response is contrary to them. But God prepared a great storm.

 4.  The men knew Jonah was the problem at some point: 

   (A). they cast lots: V7 

   (B). Jonah told them V10 

   (C). Jonah told them again verse 12

 5.  The men knew. ...Nevertheless, they rowed harder. How many times does God speak to his people about their loved ones, 
 or issues in their lives they need to get rid of and let go, so he can have His way and deal with them, but we row harder? 
 We hold onto what we want; we refuse to let go of the son or daughter on drugs, enabling them and preventing them from getting 
 to the place God has prepared for them. The same goes for brothers and sisters in the faith. Let them go and let God have his 
 way! Don't row harder!

 6. The Lord had prepared a great fish. First, he prepared a storm; now He prepares a fish. God will prepare and allow circumstances 
to take place in our lives to get us to a place alone with Him where He can speak and we will listen.

B. Chapter 2: Alone with God

 1. As long as the men rowed harder, Jonah was prevented from getting to the place where God wanted him. Both the storm and the fish’s 
belly are causing affliction. Just as in Jonah's case, God allows affliction to have its way in our lives. God uses adversity as 
chastisement (Hebrews 12:11). Jonah says, "I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord… 2:2) Then he says, "when my soul fainted 
within me I remembered the Lord and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. Jonah 2:7

 2. Sadly, many people who say they love God continue along a path, which travels opposite brokenness. Instead of crying out to God in 
their affliction and turning their attention towards His presence (holy temple), they continue their quest towards lying vanities 
(idols). They cling to the idols in their lives looking for these empty things to bring them fulfillment. When we cling to the empty 
idols in our lives to escape what God wants to do, we forsake his mercy (V 8). 

Lying vanities are worthless idols and take many forms:  

   (A) relationships: spouse, boyfriend\girlfriend, children, friends 

   (B) addictions 

   (C) jobs 

   (D) shopping 

   (E) spending money 

   (F) food 

   (G) religious works 

   (H) exercise…

Anything that you find comfort or solace in and use to prevent you from getting to the place God wants you are can be an empty 
vanity, or a false idol in your life!

 3. Once God gets Jonah alone, he recognizes God's mercy and kindness and it moves him toward repentance, at least repentance 
for his blatant disobedience, but what about the deep seeded mindsets of Israel's condition (The worldly mindsets—I say worldly 
to compare how Israel’s societal condition had a influence on Jonah’s mindset just as our societal condition can have an 
influence on us) that have influenced him? Unfortunately, they're still there.

C. Chapter 3: Repentance
  1. An extremely important aspect of repentance is that we must come to the conclusion that God's way or thinking is right and ours 
has been wrong. Jonah hasn't moved. 
 
I don't know how long he's been sitting there, but he hasn't changed his mind about what God wants. …the word of The Lord...second 
time saying...Arise...preach unto the preaching that I bid thee (3:2). God hasn't changed his mind about his plan Christian and 
you're either on board or not.
 
2. Finally, Jonah becomes obedient on a superficial level and decides to do what God wants him to do. He preaches judgment to the 
 Ninevites. How will they know if they don't have a preacher? (Romans 10:14).
 
3. The Ninevites repent. Associated with their repentance are sackcloth and ashes verses five and six. Sackcloth and ashes are uncomfortable. 
 Repentance has associated with it a feeling of sorrow and discomfort with sin. Repentance is not simply "I'm sorry."

4. True repentance, once again, causes a change of mind and a change of direction. …Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry 
 mightily unto God, let them turn everyone from his evil ways… Verse eight

5. "God saw their works, that they turned…" v 10. You might be able to fool me and your neighbor Christian, but there's no fooling God. 
 God sees. He sees what is in the heart of man and woman. When He sees true repentance, He gives restoration of His Spirit to the 
 wounded soul, resulting in forgiveness and power for change. Anything else is playing games with God!

D. Chapter 4: Get Over Yourself Jonah: let God deal with the inside too

  1. God saw true repentance in Nineveh, resulting in His mercy and Him turning (repenting) from His previous plans. It must be pointed 
 out that God's repentance is different than when men repent, because God’s not wrong. Remember, at the foundation of repentance, 
 is a change of mind. While it is true that God is the only constant unchanging truth this world has ever known, there is one place 
 that God changes: He changes His mind towards the person who exhibits true repentance.

Jonah chapter 4:1 God changed his mind, and Jonah was displeased.

  2. Deep in Jonah’s heart, he hasn't let go of the original feelings he had, causing him to flee from the presence of God to begin with.

(A) countless Christians offer a superficial "I'm sorry" 

(B) once God removes the obvious outward bondage: Fornication, addictions… He's looking to deal with the inner level – motives of the heart. Grace will always hold men and women more accountable than the Law ever could; for in the covenant of grace, the presence of God has made our hearts His home, and long before the sin is ever engaged, the Holy Spirit has spoken right from wrong (1 John 2:20). God showed me a long time ago that He wants His people to learn how to walk with Him, learn how to hear from Him, learn how to be led by Him: the time is done where we have a man tell us what God says:

31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

3. Jonah is displeased with the way things are in his life because he is displeased with what God wants because it's opposite of what he wants.
 
  4. When people refuse to go God's way, they go their own way and construct their own comfort. Jonah built a shelter for himself, a covering 
 through the works of his own hands; he was hoping to cover himself from the elements, but the feeble attempt of man's flesh always leaves 
 him open. You can't fix it Jonah, all your idols… All your plans won't fix it! It's time to surrender.
 
5. God provides mercy and prepares a gourd. Even in our disobedience, God will provide Mercy, but Jonah still won't see what God wants him 
 to see, so…
 
  6. God prepares a worm to destroy the gourd. God is the giver of mercy and it is His to give and His to take away.
 
  7. God had prepared a gourd of Mercy; then he prepared a worm (He removed) Mercy; then He prepared a hot East wind, which was more chastisement. 
 God's question to Jonah, "doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?" In other words do you have a right to be angry over the removal of
 something you had nothing to do with? Why do you think Jonah was angry? Because what he wanted and made him feel good was gone. This is a sad 
 occurrence and reflective of many in the church today: the people of God are consumed with their own idea of what God looks like, consumed 
 with what they want to get out of God, and much of today’s preaching emboldens this thought process.
 
8. Even at the end of all this, Jonah is angry because the gourd was removed and it made him uncomfortable, but he could care less about what God 
 wanted. How can Christians be so blind, demanding what they want from God while refusing to allow Him to do in them and through them what He wants?

Grace is King through Christ: When the Body Lines Up with the Faith

When the Body Lines up with The Faith

Romans 4:1-3 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
 
Last week we visited the Old Testament character Abraham with the view of justification on the forefront of our minds. Once again, justification is that declaration of righteousness spoken over a person's life in response to their belief/ faith. With regards to Abraham, the Bible says that he believed God, resulting in God placing into his "account" righteousness ... Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
 
And based upon his new standing of righteousness with God because of his belief/ faith, God justified or declared him as righteous: Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
 
Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that the object of Abraham's faith was the promised seed that would come and the sacrifice he would offer. This is why Paul says: 1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
 
Because Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the long awaited fulfillment of the promised New Covenant, at least that's what Jesus said: 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:this is my body, which is broken for you:this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
 
The word testament here is diatheke and means contract, arrangement, or covenant. What we must understand is that God has made an arrangement with man. In this arrangement, God is willing to meet man on these terms. The terms were first laid out in the Old Covenant through the symbolism of Israel's wanderings, tabernacle, sacrifices, and festivals just to name a few, but all those types and shadows have found their fulfillment in Jesus and His sacrifice upon the cross.
 
Ultimately, the arrangement allows man, in his fallen state, to have his sin dealt with at the cross on Jesus. This is God's way, this is God's plan, and He will never, ever meet man any other way. Once the man, woman, or child is willing to humble themselves by recognizing their sin (failure) towards God and repent (willingness to believe God and His way and willingness to turn from our own way), then God will see our circumstance fresh and anew; for a transaction has transpired where our guilt was laid upon the savior, and in return, we were clothed with His righteousness (Galatians 3:27).
 
Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
We touched on this two classes ago, when we discussed the root of this word for reckon in the Greek logizomai, which is a mathematical term ultimately meaning to think upon; furthermore, it's factual in nature. For instance, when you do the math of your checkbook, you arrive at a factual conclusion. From there, a person is supposed to live their lives, financially, according to that truth.
 
In reference to this passage, the math says that Jesus' work was accomplished, our faith in Him caused a spiritual miracle to transform the inside of our hearts, and if we'll live our lives in this faith, we will not only go to heaven, but we will also have victory over the power of sin because Jesus has power over all principalities and powers, and our faith in Him and His finished work, empowers us with grace.
 
Before moving forward, an extremely important biblical concept called identification must be dealt with here. Typically, when we consider Jesus' sacrifice, we think of the substitutionary work of our Lord. In other words, we contemplate how He died in our stead; however, identification is the contemplation where one sees, more importantly, believes the gospel by identifying his "old man" on the cross and in the tomb, and his "new man" resurrected in Christ.
 
The believer void of this truth cannot perpetually walk in the forgiveness of God, because he sees his identity connected to his past instead of the cross of the Christ.
 
Last week we took the time to review the scriptures regarding Abraham's faith; we proved from the text that even though Abraham existed 2,000 years before Jesus was ever born, his faith was in the seed (Jesus) and the sacrifice (cross); therefore, his faith was in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The result of Abraham's and David's (we weren't able to cover his) proper faith was: v3 counted, v4 reckoned, v5 counted, v6 imputeth, v7 impute, all these words being translated from the Greek word Logizomai, which as pointed out is the word used in: Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
The points to be made are: (1) the word is based upon facts not feelings; (2) the word means to think upon; (3) in Romans four, the words translated for Logizomai all refer to God thinking upon a man as righteous because of his faith in Christ and His sacrifice; (4) in verse 11, the believer is being instructed to think about himself what God thinks about him.
 
What does God think about the believer who has placed and keeps his faith in the eternal plan of God, which was foreordained before the foundations of the earth (1 Peter 1:18)? He thinks upon that man, woman, or child as righteous-- period!
 
Therefore, proper faith will result in the believer "faithing" (a walk of persistent believing) the same thing, "I'm righteous because I'm clothed with the righteous one. This is my identity. The past is gone. The new has come, and the 'new man,'in Christ isn't guilty !"
 
Romans 6:11-14
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you:for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
 
Through the previous teachings we have learned that God has only had one plan-- the giving of His Son for the forgiveness of sin. Man's response to God's plan through faith results in righteousness, or a position of right standing before God. In this new position of righteousness, God sees the believer this way, in God's eyes, the guilty has been made righteous through the sacrificial payment of the righteous one (Jesus). Through this transaction, Jesus bore man's sin, and the "faithing" man received His (Jesus') righteousness, resulting in God's justice being satisfied "In the day you eat thereof surely you will die."
 
Because the "faithing" man woman or child is now seen as righteous because God's justice has been satisfied in that individuals life because they have responded through faith obedience to God's plan, God sees them, thinks upon them, and declares them as JUSTIFIED/ RIGHTEOUS!!
 
Now, in verse 11 of this Romans passage, we see this word we previously discussed again. Covering Romans four, we pointed out all the various English words, which had as their root Logizomai, meaning to think upon based upon the facts. The context of all those occurrences, once again, was that God was thinking upon the sinner as righteous because of their faith obedience in the obedient work (cross) of the righteous one. God says your RIGHTEOUS!!-- if you're in Christ!
 
Now, in verse 11, the word is telling all those righteous believers to start believing the same thing about themselves. In chapter four God says, "Righteous;" now, in verse 11, God says start believing what I believe about you based upon My Word instead of believing what your enemy says about you based upon your behavior or performance.
 
It must be understood that proper faith will produce proper Christian performance. When a believer understands that they're righteousness is a gift given by God in response to faith in the finished work of Jesus, there is now unfettered access into the presence of God, producing the desire for holy living, producing the power for holy living, producing the desire for Christian duty (if you don't like that one you better check yourself at the Christian door), producing a flow of grace, an "infusion" of the Holy Spirit for persistent and consistent Christian service.
 
That's the next part of the last verse we were reviewing: ... Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God...
 
When the word "therefore" is used in the text, it's drawing the reader back to what was previously spoken. In this case the context, reaches back to:
 
Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
The context here reaches back to the personification of sin vs. grace, which one is reigning as king on the hearts of individuals?
 
Now, that we've been told we were born again from the dead, and that sin's power was broken through the cross, we are charged to not let sin reign as a king in our members or body parts. In other words, we've been told that God sees the believer as righteous. We've been told that God expects us to see ourselves hidden in the righteous of Christ; and now we're being told to quit letting sin reign in our lives to the point where it affects our "members" or body parts.
 
In other words, quit letting your eyes cause you to sin; quit letting your feet carry you places you shouldn't go; quit letting your hands put things in your mouth, and we'll just stop there. Sin's power was broken, so start living like it. Quit being used as an instrument of unrighteousness; and instead, allow God to use your body parts as instruments of righteousness.
 
The word instruments in the Greek literally means: instruments of warfare. In essence, when we allow sin to reign as a king upon our hearts and manifest itself through our body parts, we are acting as weapons for the kingdom of darkness instead of being used as weapons for the kingdom of light.
 
Paul reiterates the reason why: For sin shall not have dominion over you:for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
 
The words "dominion over" here are translated from Kyreiuo which is from the same root as kyrios; the word used of Jesus when He is referred to as Lord, so in this passage, we are told that we know longer having to allow sin to reign as a king in our lives, because sin is not our Lord! Hallelujah! Jesus is our Lord! He translated us from the kingdom of darkness, where the Law had us bound because we were guilty, to the kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1:13), where grace is king in our lives.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Grace is King through Christ: The Object of Abraham's Faith

The Object of Abraham’s Faith

Genesis 15  After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
 
God spoke to Abraham, and gave Him a word in a vision. It must be remembered that when God first spoke to Abraham, there was no nation of people that served Him. Abraham was born and raised in a home of pagans who worshiped false gods, just like many of us who thought we had been told the truth but we were actually brought in under deception. The context of the word has the thought of answers. In other words, it’s as though God is giving Abraham answers to questions. Undoubtedly, Abraham had questions. God had called him to be a mighty nation and to this point nothing had happened as he would have expected.
 
God tells Abraham to fear not. In this sense, the word doesn't appear to be speaking of reverence; rather, it speaks of unhealthy fear, probably related to what God has asked of Abraham. The emotion of fear often accompanies the words God gives His people. There is a natural tendency to internalize and take upon self the burden of accomplishment. Instead of looking to the God who gave the word of instruction as the source of accomplishment also, we often attempt to take the reins and accomplish it ourselves. This type of approach will always lead to fears and anxiety because we will realize, that in our own abilities, we are faced with an insurmountable task, wondering, how I will ever accomplish what God wants from me.
 
The reason that Abraham doesn't need to be fearful is that God is his shield. The shield in this case is known as a buckler. In other words, God is Abraham’s protection in the battle. You and I are in a war also Christian. We have already discussed this concept in detail, but true Christianity understands that there is an enemy of God, and God’s plan, he (Satan) is the accuser, the opposer, and his desire is to exalt himself above all that is God. This is what we are in war against.

But just as in Abraham’s case, God is our shield and our reward. Typically, this type of shield was a small one, in some cases, made out of crocodile hide. These shields were small because they were utilized in the midst of hand to hand combat.
 
God wants Abraham to know that there's no need for fear because God is his protection in the midst of battle. Furthermore, God is also his reward. This is descriptive of payment. With this said, God is the protection, sustenance (provision), and ultimately the reward, when we endeavor to accomplish, in God’s strength, what He has asked us to do.
 
What an honor! Abraham your reward is me (God), your payment for your work is me (God). The idea is a wage or payment. You want me in your life; concern yourself with what I'm concerned with. You want me in your life be about my business.
 
And Abraham's business was directly related to the birthing of Messiah, directly related to the plan of salvation. Stay faithful child of God. Stay faithful to God and His plan, and concern yourself with His business-- the adding of souls to the eternal family. If you do this, there will be a reward. The reward will be Him.
 
Genesis 15:2
And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
 
It's as though Abraham is saying, "I know you showed up in my life out of nowhere. When I was lost like everyone else, walking in darkness, and worshiping false gods, you-- a God that was alive, a God that wasn't made of clay or wood, formed or fashioned by the hands of men, but a God who's alive; You, revealed yourself to me. I heard your voice, and I know what you've asked of me, and now you're coming to me you're my protection and my reward, but the very thing I need from you, I haven't received. Your promise to me requires offspring, and I have none.
 
Genesis 15:3
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed:and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
 
And so Abraham, like so many believers, attempts to strategize or accomplish in his own strength the plan of God for his life.
 
His plan is to use his servant Eliezer as his heir. To be truthful, nearly all Christians face these types of trials in their everyday walks with God. We are so prone to get ahead of and out of God's will. Many times, in our personal lives, we make decisions about relationships without regards for God's will. We act like we are in God’s will. We say things like, "God wants me happy. He wants me to have a relationship that will make me happy."
 
No! God wants you to focus on Him. He wants you to want Him to be your fulfillment. Get that right Christian. Get that right and maybe you'll see your desires come to pass, but stop living a lie and acting like you’re in God's will when everything you're running after is moving you further away from God.
 
Abraham was trying to help God with his plan, but Abraham's job wasn't to bring the plan to pass through manipulation, logic, and maneuvering. No! Abraham's job was supposed to be believing God's word for the promise to come to pass.
 
Many times, this is where we go wrong. We are so consumed with what we call the promises of God that are directed towards our "felt needs," we put what God wants on the back burner. You go on and live your life that way. You go on and live a self- seeking life on this side, in this physical world, but don't be surprised when you get to eternity and your eternal reward is based on what you went after here don't be surprised, because that's what you wanted.
 
God said, "I'm your reward Abraham." Is that the reward you're looking for Christian-- that in the end you've gained God, you've gained His eternal presence?
 
Genesis 15:4
And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
 
God's promise was that the seed would come forth from Abraham. Already, in this process, Abraham is trying to compromise God’s word and figure out a way to make things happen another way. Ultimately, Abraham will go his own way, and in his flesh, produce offspring in his own strength. Abraham's choices produced a child of the flesh named Ishmael. The Ishmaelites were a wandering people who ultimately fell prey to the lying religion of Islam. We are still dealing with Abraham's decisions today. With this in mind, the current Christian should be made aware that fleshly attempts to produce God’s will, result in repercussions. You can try to cover them up all you want to, but God and you know the strife and chaos produced by those decisions. There is only one way to stop the fruit of those decisions: repent (turn) and seek God moving forward.
 
Genesis 15:5-6
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them:and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
 
You see the Lord's promises to Abraham were greater than his flesh could ever produce that's why God needed Abraham to believe Him at His word.
 
The stars of the skies speak of a multitude much greater than just the nation of Israel. Instead, God's promise to Abraham was that through him a nation would be brought forth, and that through that nation, Messiah would be brought forth, and through the followers of God, both offspring through Abraham's Israel and Messiah's church, the seed would be more numerous than the stars in the sky, the eternal family of God would be more numerous than the natural mind could perceive.
 
Even though Abraham would struggle moving forward, he believed God regarding the plan of salvation to the extent that he understood it. The result of Abraham's faith was that God called him righteous.
 
God wants to call you righteous. He wants to call me righteous. The question that must be asked is will we believe God regarding His plan for salvation? Or will we attempt, in our own strength and logic, to make it through?
 
Moving forward from this point I would like to show you how much of God's plan Abraham understood.
 
Galatians 3:8-9
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee (seed) shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
 
The word scripture is graphe, where we get our word graphic, meaning writings. This passage is speaking of the writings of God, so what is being said is that the writings of God are preaching the gospel. To be truthful, before the words of God were written, they were spoken, with God's intent that they would be written, even engraved, within this physical world for man to behold with his eyes.
 
The scripture of God is His communication to a lost and dying world. As we move closer to the end, there will be more movement away from believing the word of God as inspired, and more movement towards trusting science and the logic of man to fix the ills of humanity, but God says His writings preach the gospel.
 
The word gospel means "good news." We have already established the bad news in recent, prior classes. We discussed the fall of man and his separation from the presence of God.
 
 But the scriptures contain within them the word of hope from God, the hope that God has a plan, a plan which contains good news. The good news is that while man is separated because of his sin, God's plan will bring restoration again. God spoke the scriptures in advance, showing that the way to salvation would come through Abraham; the specific thought being justification, that legal declaration given by God, which speaks a verdict of righteousness over a man’s life because of faith exhibited in the promised one.
 
The justification spoken of specifically in this passage is for the heathen. Who is Paul talking about when he says heathen? The word is ethnos. Ethnos is where we get our word ethnicity, which categorizes people according to cultural groups. Interestingly, the two people groups being juxtaposed are the Jews, God’s people created in Abraham, a nation whose borders were delineated by God’s promises and their circumcision, long before those borders were ever delineated by geographical boundaries such as rivers, ridges, or ravines. With this in mind, God is delineating the heathen as that ethnos or people group who are not His, essentially, speaking of those pagan nations who neither believed in Him nor worshiped Him.

Abraham was called out of the world, and through him a nation called Israel was created. From that nation, the world was given Jesus, and through the name of Jesus, men are saved, made righteous-- justified: Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
 
God's promise to Abraham and the essence of the gospel is that through what God would bring forth from Abraham, the world would be blessed. When God spoke this word to Abraham, regarding His eternal plan, Abraham believed God (the action required for faith), his faith resulted in righteousness being placed into his (Abraham’s) account. Now, thousands of years later, when heathen or Jews for that matter, place their faith in the eternal plan of God, they are blessed along with faithful Abraham, because they also, receive the pronouncement of justified over their lives.
 
Galatians 3:16
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
 
So the promise given to Abraham regarding the blessing of the nations through his (Abraham's seed) was not the nation of Israel itself; rather, it was the seed brought forth from that nation, and that seed was Christ.
 
But how do we propose that 2000 years before Jesus was ever born Abraham would have been able to know about Jesus, in order to place his faith in Him for righteousness, resulting in justification?
 
Undoubtedly, we will have to look, but be assured, this is what God preached in advance to Abraham-- Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
 
John 8:56-59
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day:and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him:but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
 
There is so much in these verses to unpack, but we need to stay focused, so I will only briefly mention a sideline thought. Jesus tells the Pharisees two incredible concepts (1) Abraham saw the day of Jesus, and his vision resulted in jumping joy (2) Jesus says that He was before Abraham. More specifically, He says before Abraham was "I Am." Now, where have you heard that wording before? Jesus was referring to Himself as God here, specifically, as the voice from the burning bush. For anyone, specifically, a Jehovah's Witness who wouldn't believe that's what's being said, look at how the people He was talking to responded, they picked up stones to kill Him.
 
But our focus must remain centered upon Abraham's visualization of the day of Jesus, which is undoubtedly connected to God's promises to him and his son Isaac, which produced Israel and gave Messiah to a lost and dying world.
 
Genesis 22:2
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
 
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
 
How beautiful is the plan of God? We see in God's command to Abraham thousands of years before Jesus the same terminology God would say about His own Son, "Take your son, your only son."
 
Genesis 22:6
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
 
And here we see a picture of the cross because the wood was laid upon the back of the son, just as the cross was laid upon the back of God’s only Son. 
 
Genesis 22:7-14
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father:and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood:but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham:and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him:for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram (a substitute sacrifice offered instead of Isaac) caught in a thicket by his horns:and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh:(the Lord our provider) as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
 

Grace is King through Christ: Crucified with Christ

Grace is King through Christ

Romans 5:1,2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
 
Last week we discussed the comparison and contrast between the words justified and righteousness.
 
δικαιοω = Justified
δικαιοσυνη = Righteousness
 
I discussed the corresponding Greek words to compare the closeness of the meanings of the words.
 
The difference between them lies in the fact that one represents a position or standing before God while the other represents God's declaration or proclamation of that position or standing. Therefore, righteousness represents a person's right standing in God's presence, we will discuss this more thoroughly in a moment, and justification represents God's declaration of that person's righteousness.
 
As we further investigated the concept of righteousness, we discovered that the word gift was used 5 times in Romans 5:15-17; ultimately, the gift that was spoken of was righteousness given by God unto man:...
 
Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
 
Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;...
 
Another crucial point was also made through this passage. God's righteousness is Jesus, and man's righteousness…

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing,and all our righteousness is as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
 
Notice the Isaiah passage for righteousness; it is actually plural representing acts of righteousness. It's absolutely imperative that Christian's understand that God's declaration of righteousness over the believer's life is based upon the transaction that took place at the cross, where Jesus took our guilt, and we were clothed with His righteousness (Galatians 3:27).
 
Ultimately, true righteousness will produce true acts of righteousness, but the man or woman attempting right standing with God through their righteousness is actually seen as filthy in God's eyes.
 
Ultimately, through our faith, in His blood,…

Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, we are declared righteous, which gives us access to grace, which empowers us to stand against evil through God's power (Romans 5:1,2).
 
Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
 
Another concept we discussed regarding grace is the fact that there wasn't enough sin to exhaust God's grace. I qualify that in a moment, but first, I want to point out what I believe to be important.
 
The above scripture speaks about the fact that God's Law caused sin to increase. It should be understood that God's Law's represent boundaries that aren't to be transgressed, and when they are, sin is increased. In actuality, it could be said that sin's existence and the entirety of Satan's kingdom was built upon the transgression of God's Law:
 
Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
 
This act of disobedience resulted in an atmospheric shift, where Satan became the prince of this world and man became enslaved to the bondage of sin; sin is a power "in the air," and Satan has power over his kingdom of death. There was quite some time; we aren't sure how long, where there was no Law of God (speaking of the 10 commandments and overall instruction to Israel).
 
However, as the passage says, "...the law entered, that the offence might abound..." In actuality, the Law gives power to sin, 1 Corinthians 15:56-- The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."
 
How does the Law give strength to sin?
 
The Law identifies the boundaries of God; however, man, especially in his fallen state, is incapable of keeping God's Law; therefore, boundaries are crossed, and sin is increased/ strengthened. But, "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:"
 
Ultimately, this process is meant to bring humanity to the place where they realize their righteousness is incapable of making them right, and only God's righteousness will work.
 
Depending upon how a Christian chooses to live his life, will determine which power will reign over him,…

Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
 
We ended by discussing the concept of personification- the ascribing of human like characteristics to inanimate objects. In this passage sin and grace are seen as monarchs or kings ruling (reigning) over the citizens of their kingdoms.

The Problem

Whenever we discuss God's Word, we typically refer to it as the Gospel. The word Gospel literally means good news however it is important for us to remember that while things started right between man and God in the garden that quickly changed.

Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

So with these 3 passages of scripture is revealed all the heartache that man has ever experienced. All the addiction...all the abuse sexual, physical and verbal...all the broken homes...all the anger and hate are the result of the fall of Adam. All this heartache and pain is the result of this choice, and a choice remains today...whom will you serve? From whose tree will you take and eat your fruit?

There are people who legitimately want to do right in life, but they cannot find the strength to overcome the sinful lives that they have always been connected to. There are people in this institution...maybe even in this class today who have tried to live for Jesus on the outside. You went to church, you prayed, you wanted to do right, but sin was more powerful than your will. And now you look back and ask, “Why? Why did I do that...whatever that is. Why could I not have just said no?"

It is important that we uncover the reason behind this mystery. For thousands of years, the Devil has been destroying human lives. For thousands of years, the Devil has been destroying Christian lives. If we do not unlock the truth from the scriptures on why this happens, then we could very well become one of his statistics.

We have to understand how sin works, but more importantly we have to understand how God deals with the sin problem. So let's take a look at the Romans 5:12 verse again. This time we will review it through the Young's Literal Translation:

Romans 5:12 because of this, even as through one man the sin did enter into the world, and through the sin the death; and thus to all men the death did pass through, for that all did sin;

There is a crucial point that must be made early on in the study of the book of Romans...especially Romans Ch. 6. The point I speak of is the concept of sin as a noun rather than a verb. In the previous verse, I highlighted two portions of the scripture because I wanted to make a couple of points:

  (1). "the sin" The use of "the" means something specific. In the Greek language, there is something called the definite article. In English, the definite article would be translated as "The". The Definite article is used with nouns and to describe specificity. In other words, in the Greek language the word sin right here and 16 more times starting in Romans 5:20 through all of chapter 6 is a noun in the Greek language, and it is speaking of the entity or power of sin, which came into the human race through the one man Adam. However, the source was ultimately  from "The Evil One".

  (2) for that all did sin(YLT); for that all have sinned:(KJV). I used both the YLT and the KJV here. But the point I wanted to make is that in this part of the passage, the word sin is being used as a verb rather than a noun.

For quite some time, we have been caught up in sin as a verb. In other words, we have focused on what people do in their lives wrong. Now, listen to me carefully our behavior as Christians is of great significance. Truthfully, the way we act is the fruit of our lives or what we are producing in our Christianity. However, I don't know about you, but there have been times that I have wanted to make the right decisions...even as a Christian, but have found what I wanted to do was not what I ended up doing. Instead, what I did not want to do is what I ended up doing (Romans 7:19). If you are thinking to yourself…man you are talking about me. Don’t be disheartened because the great Apostle Paul experienced the same thing that most Christians are struggling with today. The plan today is to dig into what God revealed to him through the Spirit about victory.

Once again, I do not want to be misunderstood here. The fruit we produce is a direct reflection on the God we serve. But if we want to produce the right fruit, we have to have the right root. Therefore, when we consider the idea of sin as a noun versus a verb, the idea could be that sin as a noun is the root...and sin as a verb is the fruit.

With that concept established let's re-consider the 3 verses we read in the beginning.

  (1) In the first verse, we are told that man was originally created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26).  And John tells us: 1 John 1:5...that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. So when man was originally created, he was without sin.

  (2) But then, through the fall, he took sin into himself (Genesis 3:6).

  (3) But it's even worse because all of humanity has come forth from the loins of Adam (Romans 5:12). In other words, besides Jesus, every human being that has walked upon the face of this earth was born of Adam. Furthermore, through this natural birth, we received an infected DNA...if you will. We were born the first time into sin. And through that birth and our association with Adam, we are born with a sinful nature...the noun of sin...the root of sin...the power of sin, which drives humanity to commit acts of sin.

Sin reigns as king

Romans 5:20-21 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The first part that I highlighted in this passage did is not the focus of the point I am trying to get across, but as I was writing the notes, I felt as though the Lord wanted me to explain this part of the passage. It says where sin abounded grace did much more abound. At first glance the idea could just simply be said that there is more grace than there is sin, but I studied behind a Greek scholar who explained that the idea was somewhat analogous to the sun and the earth.

The analogy flows this way. The sun generates its energy, which is cast towards the earth. However, the swath or area of energy produced by the sun is much greater than what the earth utilizes. As a matter of fact, the majority of the sun's energy moves past the earth and is lost in outer space. There is not enough earth to exhaust the energy of the sun. And God wants me to tell you today that there is not enough sin to exhaust the grace that Jesus purchased through the shedding of His precious blood. The Devil has spent all his time trying to convince you that you sinned too bad to be forgiven, but God says there is not enough sin, nor is there any particular sin bad enough to exhaust my grace. God wants you to know that if you are in Christ, you are forgiven!

Back to the study…what I wanted us to focus on from this passage is the comparison and contrast of sin and grace reigning in the life of people. We have already spent a large amount of time discussing sin as a noun vs. a verb. Now, we need to understand that sin as a noun is actually being personified in this verse.

Personification- A literary technique that ascribes human qualities or characteristics to inanimate things.

So sin is given life in this passage and is described as "reigning" through death.

Reign- in the Greek means: king: to exercise kingly authority: to reign.

So sin, in the life of the unbeliever, is ruling and reigning as a king upon the throne of the individual's heart. But "in Christ" there is a transformation that takes place, which frees the person from the power of the sinful nature. In reality, one could say that through faith in the covenant that God provided, there is a change of citizenship. Actually, Colossians says:

Colossians 1:13-14 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

In Christ, we have been translated into a new sphere, environment, or kingdom... a new neighborhood...if you will permit to explain it that way. In this new environment that we are to live, grace...not sin reigns as king. Instead, of the power of sin having dominion over a person's life and causing them to partake in an ungodly lifestyle, the power of God, through the dispensing of grace gives supernatural strength to the believer to walk in victory over the forces of evil. If you attempt, when you leave this place to live for God and combat evil through your will, you will fail. However, if you learn who the Bible says you are in Christ, and you learn how the power of God operates in the lives of Christians, you will live victorious over the forces of evil. You will be light in the midst of darkness. You will be a soldier for the Kingdom of God. Whereas, before you were used as a pawn of Satan to wreak havoc and destruction in the lives of others, you will now be used by the creator of the universe to proclaim the Gospel message.

Before we move forward to the next section, there is one more definition that we must familiarize ourselves with.

Grace- a divine influence on the heart and it's reflection in the life.

This definition has had an enormous impact on my walk with God. One morning, as I was studying the scriptures, I looked up the definition to grace in the Strong's Greek Concordance and this is what my eyes beheld. Previous to this morning, my only understanding of the word grace was that it was God's unmerited favor. Let me be clear: grace is also God's unmerited favor. In other words, a person cannot earn grace through any meritorious work on his own part rather grace has been purchased for humanity through the shedding of the precious blood of Jesus.

However, the definition of grace in the Greek carries with it the connotation of power. To be exact, it carries with it the connotation of supernatural power that performs an inside miracle. Grace changes the inside of man. An internal transformation takes place in the person that is “In Christ”. Look at the definition again...the influence is divine- that means it is from God. Secondly, the divine influence works on the heart of man...the supernatural work of God is changing the spirit and soul of the believer- the inner man. The heart, in this case, does not describe the muscle in our chest that pumps our blood. Instead, it is speaking of our spiritual person who is now connected to God through salvation. The prophet Ezekiel spoke of this very thing 500 years before Jesus ever came:

Ezekiel 36:25-27 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

The solution

So we have discussed the problem of sin rather extensively. We have established the fact that sin must be viewed as more than just a verb. In other words, there is a principle of sin or power behind sin that is the driving force from evil that compels humanity to sin against God. Sin has power behind it. And in the life of the believer, we must ask ourselves, “Why is this person, if he is a Christian, still in the grip of sin?" Now, I need to make sure we are on the same page here…I am not teaching sinless perfection. Jesus alone lived and died without spot or blemish. But what I am saying…and will not shrink back from is that living our Christian lives in chronic failure is not normal Christianity. Now, when we ask the question again, “Why are some believers still living in the grip of sin…living under chronic sin…unable to get out of the grip of its claws?”  To be truthful in some cases people are not truly saved. In other cases, the people love God; however, they ignore God's conviction about their lifestyles and their conscience becomes seared. However, most of the time believers simply do not understand how sin or victory works in God’s Kingdom- I say this from experience. But the plan today is to dig deep and reveal God's solution to the problem of sin.

Romans 6:1-2 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in [the] sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

The first part of the passage is referring back to what we previously spoke of regarding the fact that there is an over abundant supply of grace to deal with the amount of sin that exists.

Paul was often accused by his opposition [the circumcision/ Judaizers] of teaching that it was alright to sin because there was an overabundance of grace available to sinners. They were misinterpreting what Paul was saying. Therefore, Paul had a habit of addressing their confusion by asking and answering questions like this in the letter before the problem ever arose.

So the idea is not...shall we continue to commit acts of sin so that God's grace will be there to forgive us. Instead, the idea is...should we continue on in this relationship with the sinful nature...where we allow sin to rule, reign, and dominate our lives? It is almost as if you could imagine yourself on the couch hanging out with sin. You’re in a relationship with "him". Your surfing through the channels, and "he" tells you where to go...what to put your eyes upon...what to allow into your mind...what you should  allow to influence your actions, and you obey "him" because you are still residing in "his" kingdom. Now, you have to remember that Paul is asking this question to believers. And the answer he offers to the question is this: 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

I want you to understand that for the majority of the rest of this teaching, we will be discussing the process on how it is that a person is dead to sin. This is absolutely crucial to the believer's victory. Paul says that we are dead to [the] sin...so why would we continue to live in relationship with [the] sin? One answer to this mystery is that many times people (Christians) simply do not understand what it is that Paul is speaking of here.

Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

The first aspect of this passage that I want to discuss has to do with what I just stated...many people just do not know. The word Know used by Paul here agnoeo in the Greek. This word, in the Greek language has a 2 part meaning:

  (1) Ignorant

  (2) Disinclination

From the ignorant perspective, Paul would be addressing the church at Rome in this way, “Did you not know...hasn't anyone taken the time to explain these truths to you...are you ignorant of how your relationship with the power of sin was severed? Or are you disinclined ? The idea of the word disinclined- describes a person who is lacking interest or unwilling to travel in a certain direction.

So the question that begs to be asked is, which one are you? If you are a Christian who has struggled in the past with an inability to walk in victory over the power of sin, is it because you did not understand how to walk in victory, or is it because you refuse to go God's way?

Usually, with the disinclined part, there is more information that must be added to the story before a person can determine whether or not they are disinclined to go the way Paul is explaining. In a moment, we will break down exactly what he is saying the path way to victory is.

 However, let me use myself as an example of a Christian who struggled for quite some time with the power of sin. At this time of my life, I was ignorant of how to walk properly with God even though I had been a Christian for 12 years. I had been taught for several years that the process of victory over sin had to do with my performance...or my doing of things. In other words, if I was struggling with lust in my mind or a desire to drink, then the answer to my problem was that I was not spending enough time in prayer or I was not going to enough church services per week. Let me be clear, I believe very strongly in the importance of prayer, church attendance, and the study of the Word. And all those disciplines should lead me to the right path. They should lead me to putting my faith in the right object for victory over the power of sin. But I must ask...is it how much Bible I read that makes me right in the eyes of God? Is it how much church I attend that makes me right in the eyes of God? Is it how much I pray that makes me right in the eyes of God? The answer is unequivocally- No!

My right standing in the presence of God has been given to me based upon faith. Now, the next question that must be answered is...faith in what? The book of Romans also teaches us a concept called Justification by faith. In Romans 4:1-5, Paul asks the question about how Abraham found himself in right standing with God. The result of that part of the letter and the example of David, which follows explains that in both cases righteousness or justification or a lack of guilt...however you prefer to view it was spoken over these men's lives in relation to their faith.

Unfortunately, we do not have time to teach this here today, but I will send you on a treasure hunt...look up the following passages in regards to Abraham>>Galatians 3:8, John 8:56>>Genesis 22. Consider the progression...God knew that He would justify [declare righteous] the Gentiles by faith. Therefore, He preached the Gospel in advance to Abraham. Not only did He preach it...but He gave Abraham an illustration. According to John 8:58, Jesus said that Abraham could see Jesus’ day. The result of his ability to spiritually see was that he "rejoiced" this word in the Greek describes a person that is full of excitement and emotion. When do you propose that Abraham would have seen this day...what do you suppose he would have seen?

Both answers, I believe, can be found in Genesis 22. Now, before you read this chapter, I want you to focus on two facts: (1) the lad carried wood on his back (2) he climbed Mt. Moriah as a willing sacrifice in obedience to his Father. With all that said you figure out what Jehovah Jireh provided for Abraham that day. Furthermore, you figure out what God was showing Abraham what He would provide for humanity in the future.

I said all that to explain my previous answer...when I said unequivocally-No! It is not what I do, no matter how holy it looks, that makes me right in the eyes of God. The Bible just taught us that in Romans 4. Instead, what makes me right in the eyes of God is the fact that I have placed my faith in what God provided as the answer for humanities' sin, and the result is that I have been justified [declared innocent by God]. The result is that I have been given access to grace, which enables us to live right before God:

Romans 5:1-2 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Ultimately, the answer to the question we will find in Romans 6 will also answer what the object of our faith was in this passage, which allowed us to be seen as justified or righteous in the eyes of God. And also gives us access to this power source of grace for victorious Christian living.

Romans 6:2-3 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3-- Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

So we are still working with verses 2 and 3 of Romans chapter 6. Paul has told us that it would not be normal Christianity to continue on in a relationship with the sinful nature. Up to this point maybe I have not referred to [the sin] as the sinful nature, but going forward this is how we should view it. The sinful nature is what we received from our father Adam in our association with him in his fallen state as human beings. So in our first birth, we received a sinful nature from Adam. And Paul wants to know why we would continue that relationship. Unless...we did not know better or we were disinclined.

What he wanted to know from the Church of Rome and what the Holy Spirit would ask us in this room today is this...do you know what happened to you when you were born again?

 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

First we have to start with the idea of the word baptism here. This word is not native to the English language. In other words, we created our word Baptism from the Greek word (Bapto) Baptw  or  (Baptizo)Baptizw. When we hear the word Baptism we automatically think of water. We think of water baptism because that is what our minds associate with this word. This is the only understanding we have of the word.

But in the Greek language where the word is derived, it does not always associate with water. As a matter of fact, the word water is nowhere to be found in the Greek text in this passage. Actually the Bible speaks of at least 3 different baptisms. Most Christians do not realize this, but here is the list:

   (1) Baptism into Christ. In this baptism, when the believer places his faith in Jesus' death on the cross as the payment for his guilt, he is baptized by the person of the Holy Spirit into the person of Christ. (1 Cor. 12:13) We are all baptized into Christ where we become part of His body.

   (2) Baptism into water. In this baptism, the pastor or John the Baptist baptized the believer into water, which beautifully represents this new birth we have received in Jesus, which took place through the first baptism into Christ. (Matt 3:11)

  (3) Baptism into the Spirit. John explained that in this baptism, Jesus is the baptizer (Matt 3:11). And He baptizes the believer...not into water...not into Himself, but He baptizes the believer into the person of the Holy Spirit. This is what The Pentecostals call the Baptism of the Holy Spirit...spoken of in Acts 1&2. It is a baptism of power for service.

But the baptism we are dealing with in this passage is the first baptism we mentioned…the baptism into Christ. The word itself describes immersion. In ancient Greek writings (this is relevant because this is how the word was used in the language the New Testament was written in) the word for baptism was used to describe: (1) an object being moved from one environment to another environment and through the process it's nature was changed. (2) dipping or immersion.

An example of the first occurrence was described like this: "he took the hot metal and Bapto  the metal into the water the result was that the hot metal was tempered." So we were baptized into Jesus Christ [we] were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:4-7 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness [we were associated w/Adam in our first birth we are associated with Jesus when we are born again] of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of [the]sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

So it is crucial that we understand what Paul is saying here. Paul is letting us know that in the mind of God, when we placed our faith in Christ, the "Old Man" we used to be...the alcoholic, drug dealer/ user, the adulterer,...died in Christ, was buried in Christ, and has been resurrected to a new life as a new man (Ephesians 4:22-24) in Christ.

...the body of [the]sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

The meaning of the word serve here is to be a slave. Whether we knew it or not...whether we like it or not...before Jesus we were hopeless slaves to the sin nature. But hallelujah, through our association with Jesus on the cross, the old man we were has died and a new man has resurrected: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

So through this transformation that has taken place, we have been translated from darkness into light (Colossians 1:13), our relationship with the sinful nature is dead (Romans 6:1-6), and we have become partakers [to share or be an associate] of His divine nature (2Peter 1:4).

In this new environment that we live in, grace is king...not sin. Therefore, we are no longer under its control. However, whenever a Christian attempts to live for God through his will power, instead of God's grace, he is unsuccessful. Or when a Christian thinks that his right standing before God is built upon what he does rather than what Jesus did, he is living under law (Galatians 3:11) rather than grace, the result will be frustration rather than peace and liberty.

We are still under the subheading the solution. So far we have focused intently on what Jesus' part in all this. But it is important for us to understand that we do have a part. And our part is a very crucial cog in the "machinery" of victory. First, we must know the answer to victory. Remember what Paul asked the church in Rome...Romans 6:3 Know ye not,. If we do not know, we cannot properly believe. But once we know, we must not only believe, but we must reckon.

Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reckon- (logizomai) probably where we get the word logarithm from. It is a mathematical term in the Greek. The idea is to do the math, take inventory, but ultimately, it means to think upon.

Your new life in Christ has to be ordered every day with this information of reckoning in your mind especially in the environments that we have to live within in modern society today. Everywhere we turn evil is present. The world, under the influence of Satan, is constantly bombarding humanity with lies. And there is power behind the forces of evil to sway people to go in the wrong direction. But the born again believer who knows who he is "In Christ" reckons himself dead to the power of sin every day and in every circumstance.

When pornography is presented to me my "hard drive" says, "Dead to sin and alive to God." When drugs or alcohol present themselves to me, my "hard drive" says, "Dead to sin and alive to God." When improper sexual encounters present themselves to me, my "hard drive" says, "Dead to sin and alive to God." What do you mean by your hard drive? I really do not know much about computers, but I do know that they have a default position to which they resort. The default position is built into the hard drive. As sinners, our default position only knew sin. Therefore, when circumstances arose that were uncomfortable, we responded according to our default, which is typically behavior we learned from our father. And he learned it from his father before him, but ultimately this sinful default I am describing can be traced back to Adam...and from there to Satan. But that was our "old man" we are not him anymore. And we have to re- order our lives around the truth of God's Word and reckon ourselves dead to the power of sin and alive unto God. This is our new default.

Now, I must tell you that it is a process...it is a journey towards this way of thinking because Satan is constantly trying to do CPR on our "old man" that has died in Christ.

 I am about to close with the last sub- point, but before I move forward, I have to make sure that you understand that this is to be the object of your faith [Jesus Christ and Him Crucified (1Cor.1:23)]. Why? Because the innocent [Jesus] died in place of the guilty [me & you]. When we keep our faith in the answer for our sin, we remain in right standing with God...not self- righteousness through our performance, but God's righteousness (Romans 3:21) through the performance of Jesus. When I am in right standing with God, I have access to grace (Romans 5:1-3) and as we have already learned, grace is a supernatural- inner power given by God that gives me the ability to accomplish His will in His strength rather than my own.

The Result

Romans 6:12-13 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

So we are back where we started. But now we have the answer how we can live life free from the tyranny of the king known as the sin. And the result is that we are living within the realm of a new Kingdom under the power of a new king...with a new purpose. ...13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Members= body parts

Instruments= weapons of warfare

When sin is king in a person's life they ultimately yield or give into sin. In this verse Paul says don't yield your members. Before we were born again, we yielded our members to the power of sin. In other words, we allowed our body parts to be used as weapons of warfare for the forces of evil. We allowed our feet to bring us places we should not have gone. We allowed our hands to take hold of things they should not have touched. We allowed our eyes to look upon things they should not have seen... Furthermore, the whole time, our actions were also causing negative and sometimes disastrous effects in the lives of other people around us. So whether we like it or not, we were being used as soldiers for sin.

But we are new creations now. We are no longer under the power and dominion of sin. And the Apostle Paul has exhorted the Christians in Rome and we also...present your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. God wants to use us as soldiers in His kingdom. He wants us to be light to a darkened world. He wants us to be witnesses to the truth. He wants us to leave a wake of righteousness behind us as we travel this journey of life bringing Jesus with us everywhere we go.

Holy Spirit Part 5: The Great Harvest of God

Acts 2:16-21 “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
 
We studied this passage out of Acts last week. As the disciples were being obedient to Jesus by tarrying (waiting) in Jerusalem, they received the promise of the Father, which was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and they began speaking in other tongues.
 
One very important point that was emphasized last time was that the purpose of the power received from the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49) was to be witnesses for God's kingdom.
 
I find it extremely interesting that in the first Holy Spirit filled message Peter not only preaches Jesus, His sacrifice, and His resurrection, but he also refers to Joel’s prophecy about the end days when God's wrath will be poured out upon unrepentant man. In between the time frame of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, taking place, during the festival of Pentecost (50 days after Passover) and the outpouring of judgment Peter referred to from Joel's prophecy, is the time frame in which we are currently living known as the "Church Age."
 
As we move forward, we will see that there is rich symbolism contained within the Old Testament and specifically the feast of Pentecost surrounding the great harvest of God.
 
In order to properly understand the points I will attempt to make, the reader should be aware that the church age, for the purposes of this teaching, represents the great harvest of God, which is broken down into two parts: the day of Pentecost would represent the beginning of the harvest time (first fruits); whereas, the end of the harvest (the ingathering), or the end of the ages is where God will reap His harvest from the earth, separating the wheat from the chaff (Matt 3:12), is rapidly approaching.

In addition, there is the concept of Israel’s seasons, which were paramount for their harvest. I will mention this again, but Israel’s former rain occurred in the beginning of the harvest season, preparing the soil for the reception of seed, and the latter rain occurred towards the end of the season, allowing the harvest to become more full and plentiful. Whereas, the feasts I spoke of previously specifically represent the harvest itself from the beginning to the end-- the church age, the rains represent the descending of God’s Spirit: both the former rain (Pentecost) and possibly the latter rain (Azusa Street). I believe these events are God pouring out His Spirit upon the earth for the purpose of preparing and producing His harvest.
 
Exodus 34:18 “The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.”
 
The feast of unleavened bread coincided with the feast of Passover. In essence, they were one and the same. The Passover feast was a specific meal celebrated upon a specific day, which began the week long feast of unleavened bread.
 
Regarding the Passover, as we have discussed multiple times, it was a sacrifice that God required of Israel as a memorial every year (Exodus 12:14). The purpose of the remembrance was to keep on the forefront of Israel's mind the salvation and deliverance God provided for them when He brought them out of Egyptian slavery.
 
The killing of the Passover and remembrance of the painting of its blood served as an annual reminder that God's wrath was assuaged and moved away from the obedient Israelite and placed upon the slain lamb. It was their faith obedience in the slain lamb that made them different than the Egyptians around them who incurred the judgment and wrath of God upon their firstborn the night of the first Passover.
 
Amazingly, this festival was kept every year as God demanded and then one Passover night, 1500 years later, outside a city called Jerusalem, a man named Jesus, who John the Baptist had previously said was, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," was betrayed, arrested and crucified. And approximately 30 years after that Paul would say, "Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:" 1 Corinthians 5:7
 
The reference to the "leaven" in the Corinthian passage brings me to my next point. The Feast of unleavened bread was all about inspection of the house and removal of sin. As noted in the verse above, Paul says that we are to remove all leaven from our lives. Leaven is the same as yeast, and it’s repeatedly used to represent sin in the Bible.
 
Yearly, during the feast of unleavened bread, the Israelites were commanded by God to inspect and remove leaven (sin) from their environment and only allowed to eat unleavened bread during the week of this feast.
 
Within these first two required feasts, some main ideas are emphasized: (1) God has brought deliverance for His people, and this was accomplished through the shedding of innocent blood (2) Sin is something that God takes seriously. He demands its removal from our lives and "diets."
 
Ultimately, Jesus is the fulfillment of these truths. As already pointed out Paul explained that Jesus was our Passover; therefore, we should purge out the old leaven. Instead, of eating the bread of sin-- what the world offers, we are to eat the bread of life-- what God offered.
 
Exodus 34:22 “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks {Pentecost}, of the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.”
 
These are the other two feasts that God required the men of Israel to observe in their worship of Him.
 
The Feast of Weeks was another name for Pentecost. It began 50 (Pente) days after Passover. This feast celebrated the beginning of the harvest season.
 
It was on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected, approximately a week after He ascended to the Father that the Spirit of God descended upon the disciples and the church was born.
 
It's imperative that we realize all the typology occurring here. The reader can think all this is accidental if he chooses, or he/ she can believe that the God they serve is powerful enough to establish these feasts thousands of years beforehand, demanding His people observe them yearly to keep them ever before the mind, so that when the time of their true fulfillment arrived, the people of God, established through faith in His plan, would be able to see the intricacy and detail He planned salvation with, so that the more they were willing to search the treasures of His Word, the more they would realize how real all this is.
 
So the Feast of Weeks/ Pentecost was the first fruits of the harvest. And the Feast of Ingathering was a feast to celebrate the conclusion of the harvest season. I want to make myself clear, "I’m seeing within these passages: Passover is the cross, Pentecost is the birth of the church and beginning of the church age, and the Feast of Ingathering is the end of the age, the end of the great "harvest" of God.
 
As should be obvious by now, "harvest" is the pervasive theme of this teaching. Another concept extremely important to Israel's harvest was the former and the latter rains. There is no reason to wait for a big reveal; the point tonight is to help the disciple see the importance of the Holy Spirit's work in the great harvest of God.
 
Just as the rain descended from the heavens preparing the soil for the reception of seed (former rain), and at the end of the season, the rains would descend from heaven in order to "fatten" or enrich the harvest, the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost, preparing the soul of the church age to receive the seed of God's Word.
 
Furthermore, it's this writer's contention and many others before him that the Azusa Street Revival, taking place in Los Angeles, California, at the turn of the 20th century, was the latter rain of God "fattening" the harvest, preparing it for its reaping.
 
In some of the following passages, the emphasis is upon the former and latter rains of Israel in the Old Testament. Israel was completely dependent upon these rains in order for their crops to be successful. Unlike the world (Egypt), who could readily plan their seed and harvest times based upon the regularity of the Nile's inundation, Israel was dependent upon God to send the rain.
 
As we will see in many of the following passages, the context surrounds harvest, the rains, and judgment because God's people weren't concerning themselves with God's desires. Therefore, because, God's people, called by His name, didn't concern themselves about the spiritual, He withheld what they needed in the physical.
 
In a similar fashion, many Christians cry out to God to move in their physical circumstances; yet, they, and their preachers alike refuse to concern themselves with the pressing issue at hand-- GOD's HARVEST!!
 
Hosea 6:1-3 (790-739 BC) “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.  Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
 
At this point in Israel's history, there is still hope. In other words, captivity can still be averted. God is pleading with His people through the prophets to come to their senses, repent, and serve Him. If they do, the promise is that His presence will descend upon them just as the former and latter rains descend upon their physical land.
 
Jeremiah 5:20-24(582 BC) “Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it:and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
 
During this time-frame, Israel the, Northern Kingdom had remained disobedient and were brought under the captivity of Assyria and Judah is about to be brought under the bondage of Babylon.
 
God speaking through the prophet Jeremiah is reminding the people of His power, and His awareness of their disobedience. Just as He has the power to tell the waves where they must stop, He also has the power to with hold the former and latter rains, which were of absolute necessity for a successful harvest.
 
Joel 2:23-26
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God:
for he hath given you the former rain moderately,
and he will cause to come down for you the rain,
the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
 And the floors shall be full of wheat,
and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten,
the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm,
my great army which I sent among you.
 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
that hath dealt wondrously with you:
and my people shall never be ashamed.... Joel 2:28-32
And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions:
 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids
in those days will I pour out my spirit.
 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth,
blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
 
God promises in the first part of this passage to supply Israel with what they need in order for them to physically prosper. He would send the former and latter rains in order to bless them abundantly; furthermore, He promises to restore unto them what has been devoured because of their disobedience. The reference of this passage speaks of His promise to restore the aftermath of Israel's disobedience when they return to His ways.
 
The truth is that the kingdom of God has always worked this way. When His people rebel against Him, their physical lives are oftentimes directly affected. While many may say, "I've known people that rebelled and made more money during those times than ever before." Ok, but what about their emotional and mental state? I can assure you that when people move in a direction opposite of God's will for their lives there will be repercussions whether it be financial, mental, social, emotional...
 
Sadly, in these modern days, where man promises to have the answers fixing problems originating from the fall,  "Christians" scurry to and fro looking to man to fix the ordeal they have brought upon themselves as though the Psychiatrist, the friend with a bottle of pain pills or Xanax, or the loan officer is going to be able to stop the spiritual landslide that's occurring.
 
Actually, it’s an inaccurate statement on my part to draw the reader's attention only to modern times; instead, we should be made aware that since the fall, man has corporately pulled together in opposition against God, building a society without Him, which focuses on the niceties of a better physical life while ignoring the spiritual reality of death and decay around them.
 
As life gets "easier," it becomes more difficult for some to recognize that something is wrong and that the answer is, "God must be embraced." On the other hand, some are beginning to see through the façade, that while technology abounds, the stability of the human race continues its spiraling descent towards moral depravity-- man's intellect and ingenuity cannot resolve the spiritual issue at hand. More specifically, with regards to this thought, from Cain's descendants, through Nimrod at Babel, man is seen both defying God and attempting to make his life better for himself through ingenuity.
 
Jubal, a descendant of Cain is one of many pre-flood examples of what I'm talking about. According to the Bible's testimony, he was the first to produce musical instruments, so from the people of the world, Cain's descendants, rather than Seth's, music was given to the world. By now, Christians should know Lucifer was created with music in him (Isaiah 14:11). Therefore, we should expect he would have his claws within the music of the world. Most people would say, "But I don't listen to bad stuff. I only listen to stuff that reminds me of happier times, stuff that makes me feel better." And here is a perfect example: music, which affects the soul (mind, will, and emotions) offers an alternative to ease discomfort.
 
Some would say, "Come on man give me a break. I'm not smoking dope or taking pain pills, and you have a problem with my harmless music?" You do what you want with your own life, but I will tell you this, "If you're subconsciously turning on the music of the world for a "pick me up," (it has been proven by the way that music changes the levels of serotonins and dopamine in the brain, which are the neurotransmitters that regulate mood [low levels-- depression, high levels-- elevated mood]) then you aren't turning on worship music, spending time in God's presence and learning how to cast your cares on Him:
 
1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
 
John 4:34-38 “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour:other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”
 
This whole chapter is an awesome lesson, but the point I want to make here is a little more obscure within the text. In this story of the Samaritan woman, the whole reason that Jesus was left alone with her was because His disciples had gone looking for food because they had been on a day’s journey and was hungry.
 
After their long search and Jesus' long conversation with the woman, they are completely focused on the here and now; they're focused on eating physical food; whereas, Jesus' focus is on accomplishing His Father's will.
 
Furthermore, when He speaks about the few months until the harvest and mentions the fact that the harvest is white and ready, the disciples undoubtedly are looking at the flowing grain as it moves back and forth from the blowing wind; however, the eyes of the Lord are focused on the return of the Samaritan woman and the town's people following her because they represent lost souls.
 
The point to the whole teaching tonight was to emphasize the Holy Spirit's role to make the believer aware of the urgency regarding God's harvest. Furthermore, if we will focus on God's desires, He promises to take care of our needs.
 
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The Holy Spirit, Part 4: He Endues With Power

Luke 22:31-34
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:and when thou art converted [to turn to: bring back], strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.
 
Mark 14:27-31
And Jesus saith unto them,-- All ye shall be offended because of me this night:for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
 
The word offended in the KJV is translated from the Greek word: skandalizo, which is where we get our word scandal.
 
σκανδαλιζω skandalizo; from 4625; to entrap, i. e. trip up (figuratively, stumble (transitively) or entice to sin,...
 
There is a lot going on behind the scenes at this point, but what I want to focus upon is Peter's response to the words of the Lord.
 
Jesus is foretelling them what's going to happen after He dies. The result of His death is going to cause them to stumble in their faith; they will commit the sin of unbelief.
 
What the disciples are facing at this moment in time is common to all Christians. There are times within this journey that we are filled with uncertainty, even confusion, and we shrink back; furthermore, there are many times that we, like Peter, think more highly of ourselves than we should. In other words, we have more confidence in ourselves than we should.
 
I have always loved this passage of scripture:
 
...  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren...
 
There is so much in this one verse because the truth is that the enemy of our soul wants to sift us all like wheat. I don't mean to over- spiritualize the statement Jesus made, but the sifting of wheat certainly has the idea of separation, separating husk from grain, separating large grain from fine flour, and separating unwanted elements from the flour itself. From a spiritual perspective, the idea is undoubtedly that the enemy wants to sift or separate Peter, not only from God’s presence, but also from God's purpose.
 
Essentially, Satan desires permission from God to tempt Peter, his hope (Satan) being that he will destroy Peter's faith, and ultimately, destroy the plan God has for Peter's life.
 
Every Christian should take note of what is taking place in the spiritual realm at this point. This is a similar occurrence to what happened to Job. The enemy of our soul and accuser of our walk with God asks permission to prove us wrong, and there are times when God allows him certain latitude.
 
Now, we must also understand that God has a plan through these tests and ultimately His desire is not to destroy us; rather, His desire is that through the test, He will prove and perfect our faith, essentially bringing us to the place where we understand the import of God's kingdom business.
 
Satan, on the other hand, also has a desire, like the sift separates wheat; he wants to separate us from our relationship and purpose in God. Jesus assures Peter that He is interceding so that Peter's faith wouldn't fail. He didn't say that Peter in no way would fail, or that Peter would never make a mistake. Instead, Jesus' prayer is that Peter's belief in the declaration that he previously made, which was given to him by the Father in heaven:
 
Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
 
It is this faith that Jesus prays would not fail.
 
As we will see moving forward, the mixture of our failing attempts in our own strength compounded with the filling of the Holy Spirit, produces a child of God that is prepared to perform for God through His (God's) power, having been convinced that his (self's) own power won't work.
 
...But he [Peter] spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all (Mark 14).
 
Already, the disciples are following Peter's lead. Sadly, when he fails God, through denying Jesus (Luke 22:54-61; Matthew 26:69-75) and in his remorse, moves further away, they will also follow.
 
John 21:3
Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
 
Here, we resume the story after Peter denied Jesus three times and the crucifixion has taken place. Even though Jesus has been resurrected and revealed Himself to the disciples sporadically for 40 days before His ascension to the Father, which obviously would have given them time to contemplate all these things that were happening.
 
It's within the midst of one of these times, a time where Peter has seen and is made aware that God's purposes are moving forward as planned in spite of Peter's failure, that Peter takes a wrong turn. No one really knows what's going on within the heart of a man or woman, the past hurts, insecurities, or even secret failures that plague a person's mind. But this is the very time when Satan is attempting his sifting, the liar is attempting to remove Peter but put yourself in the blank, because the liar wants to sift you also you can be assured; however, remember the words of the Savior, "When you are converted, strengthen the brethren..."
 
In other words, the failure and rescue from the trial is going to produce in us the epignosis (experiential) knowledge of Jesus needed to convince us about kingdom business.
 
The Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest explains that the underlying language in this John passage is describing something more than just an innocent fishing trip on Peter's part. Instead, the idea being communicated is that he is going back to his former lifestyle as a fisherman and turning his back on the call; furthermore, many of the other disciples are falling prey to his influence.
 
We don't have time to dissect Jesus' words of correction and instruction, which put Peter back on course, and while I would never want to put a heavy burden on any individual, I certainly want to be a part of a process that produces sober minded disciples when I say, "People are watching your walk!"
 
People both in the world and the church are watching your walk, at least if you've stepped out enough and told anybody you were a Christian. If you have done that, they're watching and how you handle your business matters.
 
Now, that isn't said to place heavy burdens on anyone. The truth is that we can't walk in victory on our own anyway, and I can assure you that there will be failures in the journey of Christianity, and anyone who says they haven't failed the Lord  in some way is probably so full of a lying spirit of religion they couldn't see their failure even if they wanted to.
 
Nevertheless, the main reason I spent all this time talking about Peter's failure is because I wanted to provide a contrast for the power of Pentecost.
 
Before Jesus ascended to the Father, He told His disciples:  And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you:but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).
 
When we contemplate the struggles that the disciples, more specifically Peter, were having, we can come to the conclusion that there is no way they would be able to accomplish God's mission: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:was the power of God to help them (Matthew 28:19).
 
Once Jesus was ascended and the disciples obeyed His instructions to tarry in Jerusalem so they could receive the promised power, the Holy Spirit showed up and some amazing things took place.
 
Acts 2:1-41
 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,-- Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?-- Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death:because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens:but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
 
So in the end of this story, the same man, who full of pride, said he wouldn't fail God did, and in his failure, responding through despondency, turned his back on God's plan for his life, leading most of the disciples to do the same; ultimately, heeds the words of the Savior, is filled with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, preaches the first Holy Ghost message, and 3,000 get saved.
 
The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to give us the power to be witnesses for the kingdom of God, to be witnesses for the gospel of Jesus Christ:
 
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: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.

The Holy Spirit, Part 3: He Guides

John 16:12-15 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 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 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.”
 
We have been studying the person of the Holy Spirit; thus far, we have covered the Spirit's role in creation. We discussed how the Holy Spirit performed the miracle of creation based upon the Father's eternal plan, which was spoken by the eternal Word (Jesus) long before His incarnation.
 
Similarly, the Holy Spirit also performs a creative miracle in the heart of man (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Titus 3:5) when the word (the Gospel) about the eternal Word (Jesus) is spoken and the hearer receives it by faith, the hovering Spirit of God creates a new human heart.
 
Last week we covered the concept that the Holy Spirit comforts, convinces, and convicts. We took upon ourselves the arduous task of following the process where God has relentlessly pursued humanity with His presence.
 
Immediately following the garden incident, through the skins of the innocent animal, God has been bringing His presence closer into communion with believers; ultimately, at least on this side of the eternal veil, the climax of restoring His presence occurred at the cross, where the sin debt was paid, allowing humanity, with a simple act of faith, to become the tabernacle for the presence of the living God:
 
John 14:17-18 “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.”
 
Tonight we will cover the statement that Jesus made about the Holy Spirit's guidance, but before we dive into this topic, we should first consider the beginning verse of our passage:
 
John 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
 
To this point, we haven't really discussed a big part of the surrounding context, which gives deeper meaning to the passage we are studying tonight.
 
John 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
 
There are some great theological truths that will have to be given to the disciples in order for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to move forward and spread the globe. However, Jesus makes it clear that, at the present time, the disciples are in a place where they are unable to spiritually bear or endure.
 
Bear- bastazo-- to take hold of with the hands or carry away.
 
Now, it seems crucial to me to take notice of this thought that the very men who are called to carry this Ggospel message so that it will eventually encircle the globe are presently incapable of accomplishing the mission.
 
Now, there is no question that they have not received the Holy Spirit yet, and no man will ever accomplish the true work of God without the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
 
However, I will tell you that there are also some personal issues that prevent them from being able to properly carry on the work God will require of them. We would do well to try and determine the underlying context, because we might find that some of those same problems stand in our way, preventing us from accomplishing the will of God in our lives.
 
If you review, in all the gospels, the undertakings that occurred between Jesus and His disciples the night they ate the Passover, you will be overwhelmed by the amount of teaching that took place that night before He was betrayed and arrested. But if we start six days before and include the anointing for His burial, along with some of the occurrences from the Passover night, we will begin to see these people's struggles more clearly:
 
(1). People are having a hard time determining the value of the Lord (Mark 14:1-9; John 12:1-8). Jesus is about to go to the cross, and it appears that only Mary has a revelation of what's important. As we will see moving forward, everyone else has their own agenda.
 
(2). The Bible teaches that the heart of man is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), and we find this truth also taking place even in the lives of Jesus' disciples. From the extreme of Judas deciding in his heart to betray Jesus (Luke 22:21-23) and becoming possessed by Satan, to some of the disciples concerning themselves about who will be labeled the greatest or most important (Luke 22:24-27).
 
(3). Because they are consumed with their own agendas, there is no sense of urgency or vigilance regarding kingdom business; instead, when Jesus needs them the most, they fall asleep on the job (Luke 22:44-46; Mark 14:37-42; Matthew 26:40-45).
 
John 16:13 “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.”
 
We should probably dissect this verse and handle it in two different parts:
 
(1) Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth...
 
First, let's look at the word guide. This word in the Greek is hodogeo, which comes from the root of hodos.
 
Why is this important? The word hodos is translated into English as "way."
 
Luke 1:79-80 “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.  And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.”
 
Luke 3:4-7 “As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
 
The meaning of the word hodos or way describes a path or journey, or a well worn path. Or in other words an easily discernible path.
 
Have you ever seen a path in the midst of a wooded area? When you see a trodden path in a wooded area it's easily discerned which way to go.
 
Sadly, at the time of Jesus, humanity had been lost in sin for so long that the way to God was obscured. One would think that the religion of the Jews would have cleared things up a bit simply because they were God's chosen people. While it's true God chose Israel to birth Messiah and there is much that could be said here, but let it suffice to say that by the time Jesus showed up on the scene, the religion of the Pharisees had muddied the water and obscured the path.
 
Therefore, God sent John the Baptist to prepare a way for The Way. Furthermore, in the passage we are discussing the immediate context, once again, speaks to God's movement through the ages to bring revelation about His truth to a lost and dying world.
 
The Holy Spirit's guidance is specifically related to "The Truth." In the Greek text, there is a definite article preceding the word "truth;" therefore, a more accurate translation would be "The Truth."
 
We have discussed the concept of the definite article before but mostly in reference to the concept of sin, pointing out that in Romans 5, 6, and 7 on most occasions there is a definite article preceding the word sin.
 
What is a definite article? For us it is the word "The." An indefinite article would be "a" or "an." The idea is that when the word "the" is used in the Greek it always has some specific information connected to it; for instance: (1) it is always used with a noun; (2) the definite article always refers to specifics.
 
Let's take the concept of the noun first. When we speak of "The Sin," as a noun we are not concerning ourselves with the various verbs of sin, which are merely the fruit of the underlying problem; rather, we are concerning ourselves with the root of sin. In other words, we are speaking of the principle of sin, or the power of sin that has wound itself around the helix of humanities' DNA if you would permit such language.
 
We are talking about the sinful nature that we received from our father Adam in our first birth into the sin of this fallen world. It is this sin principle or root, which dominates our lives, producing in our members (Romans 7:5, 23) the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), which we see manifest in our walk upon this earth. But thanks be to God, because the finished work of Jesus on the cross accomplished a spiritual victory for helpless humanity.
 
When we are born again, we become partakers of the divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4) through our connection (abiding in the vine) with Christ (John 15).
 
Now, I only used this sin concept as an illustration to discuss the concept of the definite article. Our topic is "The Truth."
 
It should not be hard for us to realize that this fallen world is full of lies. Even within our own lives, we can see how easy it is to fall prey to convenient half truths, which we pretend are producing something better for ourselves, when in reality, all untruth cannot move us closer to God; instead, it repels us from His presence.
 
God is truth! Humanity, born of Adam, has been born into a fallen state of disrepair and absolutely incapable of getting to the source of life. However, God in His love and mercy has been progressively, for thousands of years of human history, working His salvation history through the ages, revealing greater levels of His truth to a lost and dying world.
 
If we consider the course God has chosen to travel in bringing truth to us, which ultimately finds its fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus, we are faced with the haunting fact that sin was so devastating and moved man so far from the understanding of God that His plan of salvation had to be given a “jot and tittle” at a time...line upon line...precept upon precept...here a little...there a little (Matthew 5:18; Isaiah 28:10).
 
Simply stated, man can't handle all the truth of God thrown at him at once. Nevertheless, let it be understood that this great undertaking God has been working through the ages has been for that very purpose: to reveal Himself to us, to reveal His truth to us, to restore us back into His presence-- Jesus is the fulfillment of all those things. Furthermore, Jesus was the types and shadows concealed in all the moving of God through all those years.
 
Whether it be the blood painted on the door posts or the articles of the tabernacle in Exodus, the sacrifices in Leviticus, or the rest of the Sabbath, all these elements of truth were pointing towards the day when "The Truth" would be manifest in the person of Jesus.
 
So when we speak of the Holy Spirit's role regarding "The Truth." His function, as Jesus says will be to reveal all these truths that have been given over the millennia, building steam through the years, and ultimately finding their fulfillment in Jesus.
 
What does this mean to us, today? It means that if we are going to understand the real truth about Jesus, we are going to need the parakletos (someone summoned, called to one's side, esp. called to one's aid) ruling and reigning in our heart; we are going to have to learn the process of walking in the Spirit; we are going to have to learn the pivot point of the Christian journey-- self must die, so that He might live.
 
Christianity is not about selfishness-- what I get out of the deal from God. Instead, Christianity is about me coming to the end of my life born of Adam and allowing the new man, born in Jesus, to come alive. As that process progresses, I will find that each day, week, and even year that passes by, I will be gaining revelation knowledge about "The Truth" that was manifest to reveal the love of God to a lost and dying world.
 
So the Holy Spirit wants to reveal "The Truth" to the disciples first but also to every disciple (me and you) that will ever walk the face of the earth. As we grow in "The Truth," we are better equipped to discern the difference between truth and lies throughout our daily travels on earth.
 
1 John 2:20-21 “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
 
(1 John 1:1-10). The first couple of chapters of first John essentially reiterate everything that I was previously attempting to explain. Humanity was in the midst of darkness, but the love of God was manifest in Jesus. He is the love of God; He is the light of God; He was manifest to bring deliverance from the power of sin and darkness
 
(1 John 2) He is the sacrifice for sin; He is the power over sin, and the visible fruit that a man, woman, or child has been born again and loves God is that he will keep God's commandments. In other words, he will be obedient to God's word. I have been teaching this next thought for over 14 years, but here it goes again, "A man cannot just set out in his own strength and successfully walk in obedience to the word of God, and neither can he accomplish the will of God through his will power.
 
The Christian attempting to live for God in this manner will find himself in the back side of a wandering wilderness, experiencing an epic Romans 7, Pauline struggle (Pauline is used by scholars as an adjective to describe the writings and work of Paul. In a similar fashion, they describe the work of John as Johannine. I'm taking a little liberty to use the word this way, but I simply mean a Romans 7 struggle like Paul had).
 
Back to the commentary on the second chapter of first John - when a man is born again and absorbs himself in "The Truth" of Christ, he will learn to walk in obedience to God's word, which will ultimately result in love towards the brethren because Jesus is the manifestation of the love of God, and when the fruit of the Spirit is manifest in our lives it will look like Jesus, which is epitomized by sacrificial, selfless, LOVE!
 
Also, in chapter two of first John, the idea that the spirit of anti-christ is alive and well on the earth is introduced. Obviously, this spirit is the opposite of the Holy Spirit. It is a lying spirit of deception drawing humanity away from the truth of God.
 
I said all this to prepare for the concept of this verse:
 
1 John 2:20-21 “Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”
 
The word unction in the Greek is Chrisma. The root meaning of this word comes from the same place as other words such as charisma, charismatic, or Christ, which the latter literally means "The anointed."
 
Chrisma, in a similar fashion to the word Christ, has the idea of "smearing with oil, just as David was anointed with oil as king (1 Samuel 16:12, 13), and the Psalm speaks of the anointing oil that rolled down Aaron's beard (Psalm 133:22).
 
What should be understood about these earthly scenarios is that the anointing oil was representative of God's hand and acceptance being placed upon the person that was anointed with the oil.
 
Therefore, when we speak of the Christ, we are referring to the anointed One. The Ancient of Days had been promising for thousands of years, who was manifest in the flesh and revealed to us as the man Jesus.
 
With regards to the word "unction," it could have also been translated as anointing; for that is the literal meaning of the word. Nevertheless, the idea is that when a man or woman is born again from the dead and translated from darkness into light (Col.1:13), the residing presence of the Holy Spirit, serves as an unction or anointing of truth, almost like a signal caller, or an umpire, if you would permit such language to be used in reference to such an important concept.
 
Let me give you a personal illustration. I have already shared with many of you my 12 year struggle as a Christian who walked in the flesh rather than the Spirit.
 
During this time frame, I went through a period where I was unhappy with everything: my job, my marriage...
 
One day I was voicing my frustrations to a female co-worker. Let me take just a moment and interject that I realize now, many years later, that this was an IDIOTIC thing to do. By the way, any man reading this teaching; if you love God, whatever you do, don't EVER voice your frustrations about your marriage to a person of the opposite sex. To do such a thing is Christian immaturity at best, but more properly would be termed carnality.
 
Anyway, as I voiced my frustrations, the nurse I was talking to said, "Awww, it's ok Matty (why she called me this I don't know-- maybe she thought I was a cuddly teddy bear), any way, she said sometimes things don't work out, and you have to move on with your life..."
 
Wait what? Stop the presses! Rewind! Did you hear what she said, “Sometimes things just don't work out, and you have to move on..."
 
What thing would you be talking about young lady-- the holy covenant of marriage that I took vows before God with when I married my wife?
 
Listen, I understand things happen and circumstances differ, but the spirit of anti-christ is circulating a lie around town saying even to the Church, "Oh well, it didn't work out like you expected, pack your bags and start from scratch."
 
I can tell you one thing with all certainty: "That's a lie from the pit of Hell!" And you don't have to believe me if you don't want to, but look back in 10-15 years at the fruit of your decisions and see how it affects your offspring. Anyway, that's another sermon for another time.
 
As I was talking to this girl, I heard a still, small voice whisper through all the sin that was hidden in my life as a struggling Christian, too much to try to exhaust at this point, but I heard the whisper say, "Are you going to believe this? This isn't truth! Will you choose to believe this even though it's against my Word?"
 
And that was it. As fast as it came, that quickly, it went away. What I want you to know is that was an unction or anointing that was resident in me through the presence of the Holy Spirit, speaking to my heart, desiring to help me to know and walk in truth.
 
Ephesians 1:15-23 “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The ((EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENDED; ))

(This has to happen)

 ___________________________________________________________________________

(Before you can see all this)

that ye may ((KNOW WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe,)) according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.”
 
I love the Greek word for "knowledge" here. I've said it before, but in the Greek language, richer meaning is built into the words as prefixes and suffixes are added.
 
This word is epignosis. The word root is gnosis, where the word Gnosticism comes from, but literally means "knowledge." The word Epi in the Greek is a preposition, meaning upon, so the idea is "upon knowledge," or added to just regular knowledge. I remember studying this word a long time ago, and the Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest described that the word has an experiential aspect to it.
 
The definition out of Strong's Greek dictionary: is a "correct knowledge, more full discernment."
 
Truthfully, the preacher can try to convince us that sin will destroy us and our relationship with God, but let a man crack the door and let it in for a visit. I can assure you that once that man is finally driven to his knees, if his soul doesn't perish, he will come out of the trial with experiential knowledge about sin yes, but I can assure you that he will have also gained a new found appreciation surrounding the grace of God.
 
Please don't be foolish and think this preacher is suggesting a trip around the Wilderness of Sin in order for the believer to gain a more clear revelation about sin and grace-- that would be preposterous.
 
The point is that in this pilgrimage with God, there will be failings and frustrations, bumps and potholes, but as we travel this journey, with a desire towards obedience to God's Word, we will gain greater revelation on properly walking according to His will, which brings me to our next word in our passage-- enlightened.
 
The word ‘enlightened’ is photizo, obviously where we get the word photo. The idea is to shed light or rays of light- to see or be illuminated.
 
Now, our understanding doesn't have a set of eyes. Obviously, Paul is speaking from a spiritual perspective. He's saying it's my prayer for you that you will be able to see spiritually.
 
In order to be able to see this way, we will need the “God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him…” (Ephesians 1:17)
 
Ultimately, what we will be enlightened too is: Ephesians 1:18-23... that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

The Holy Spirit, Part 2: He Comforts, Convinces, & Convicts

John 16:5-7 “But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth; 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.”
 
We discussed some of these principles previously. Jesus is instructing His disciples that His departure back to the Father, from which He came, is imminent, lying just around the corner.
 
Imagine the consternation gripping their hearts: previously bound by the lies of religion, the pathway to God having been obscured by the leavened doctrines of the Pharisees, they have found the truth in Jesus; and now, He is departing.
 
Nevertheless, the assurance given to them and all believers for the millennia to come is that this is expedient, meaning it's going to be profitable, resulting in what's best for the kingdom of God. It must be understood that this is God's plan, and while the disciples didn't understand it then, God has been, for thousands of years before their time, and for thousands of years after their existence bringing about this eternal plan, which was foreordained before the foundations of the earth (1 Peter 1:18).
 
I have also mentioned many times the progression of God's plan. Simply stated, “He has progressively and methodically revealed Himself and His plan throughout thousands of years of human history.” From The Fall [of Adam & Eve] to The Ascension [of Christ,] we see His hand effecting salvation through the progressive revelation starting with the innocent skins following the fall in the garden, then intersecting through the Levitical sacrifices performed in the tabernacle, and finally climaxing on the cross of Calvary, where sin's back was broken (Colossians 2:13-15) and the fulfillment of the promised restoration procured.
 
However, it should also be noted that along the way there has been an ever narrowing gap between the believer and the presence of the living God. As the plan of redemption (simply meaning to be bought back with a purchase price, and what might we propose that to be?) has moved forward, another glorious phenomenon has taken place. The presence of God has been consistently brought closer to the hearts of those willing to embrace His plan.
 
Consider the pre-Fall state of the first family's [Adam & Eve’s] fellowship with the Lord: "...they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8)
 
Quite obvious are two facts: before the fall, the first family enjoyed an incredible intimacy with God; yet, the fall changed the dynamics of this relationship. Nevertheless, we immediately see God's plan of restoration, bringing His presence back to us flying into effect.
 
The sacrifice [of the innocent animal] in the garden allowed a semblance of fellowship to be restored; the covering of the innocent animal was a far cry from the fulfillment to be found in the death of God's own Son; however, within this move, we see restoration moving forward.
 
It should be noted that God is a moving forward God. Many people struggle through their whole life of Christianity for one reason: they simply can't believe what God's Word says about the exchange that took place at the cross-- He took their guilty past and gave them His righteousness.
 
Whether or not the reason they don’t ever get that revelation is because their preacher won't make sure they know it (sometimes he also doesn't know and sometimes he assumes they know) or whether they have unbelief and refuse to learn for themselves (I've been there), they flounder in Christian mediocrity, at best, and God has so much more for them.
 
When any man, woman, or child who calls themselves Christian doesn't understand that the cross of Christ has resulted in a complete position change, a translation from darkness to light, a translation from our guilt to His righteousness, that Christian, is easy prey for the liar, who is a master of doubt, condemnation, and fear. He holds untold millions under the sway of his age old lie, "You are guilty!"
 
But glory hallelujah, that's not the report for the believer in Christ; for this position change has resulted in the righteousness of the Christ clothing the sinner with His own righteousness (Galatians 3:27).
 
From the garden, God's presence led Israel in the wilderness as the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Furthermore, His presence, as a consuming fire would engulf the sacrifices they offered, which showed acceptance towards their obedience for recognizing that their sin could only be assuaged by the offering up of innocent blood to pay the penalty for their guilt. Any gospel that refuses to expose man's guilt and the cross as the pardon is no gospel at all. And any man, who refuses to recognize that without faith in the sacrifice of Christ he is altogether undone and separate from the presence of God, can be no Christian at all.
 
Lastly, regarding the wilderness Tabernacle, God's presence would show up as the Shekinah glory in the Holy of Holies behind the veil, the place, which was known as the innermost sanctuary. God had instructed Moses: "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8)
 
The progression is becoming clear: God wants to have relationship with humanity, and He is committed to getting His presence back into communion with us. However, it should be noted with which such toil God works this plan (sacrifices, wanderings, tabernacles and temples). I speak from a human perspective. At the same time, the reader should take notice of the mercy of God but also the severity of sin. God's justice and righteousness will not allow the sweeping away of or a winking at sin; rather, the plan must be worked through the ages. And all the while, in Old Testament and New alike, names are added daily to the book, which records the genealogy of those who have joined the eternal family of faith through God's sacrificial provision, exchanging guilt for righteousness, condemnation for freedom, and eternal death for eternal life.
 
A most glorious proclamation is made in the first chapter of John's gospel, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)
 
The word ‘dwelt’ literally means "to tabernacle." In other words, God spoke in Exodus saying, "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." And as He turns the pages from the Old to the New covenant, His presence tabernacles with us in Jesus, the literal presence  of God (Philippians 2:6-8; John 1:14; Colossians 2:15) made flesh becomes us and reveals God to us in such a personal way that those who went before us (the disciples) were able to see Him, hear Him, and even touch the Word of life (2 Peter 1:16-18; 1 John 1:1-4).
 
The next step is where Jesus promises a "new thing." What was the new thing you ask? The "new thing" was the fact that there was about to be a magnanimous shift in the kingdom of God; for Jesus promised His disciples that the presence of the Holy Spirit would be making a change of residence. Once the work of the cross was completed and man's sin atoned (Hebrews 10:8-18); the Holy Spirit would make His abode in the human heart upon salvation (John 14:17).
 
Think about that child of God. What a wonderful plan, what commitment God has to restoring His presence to us.
 
Now, after this detour, we must return to our original thought: Jesus is going away so that the Comforter can come. It should be pointed out that one crucial point of expedience related to Jesus’ departure and the Comforter’s coming is that of geographical access. While God is certainly not opposed to crossing natural boundaries and proving Himself miraculous, He often works within the natural laws He created to sustain this earthly realm. The presence of the Holy Spirit “tabernacling” in the hearts of believers has resulted in an ever growing, global presence of Jesus as the Gospel message has gone forth through the millennia. Whereas, during our Lord’s physical presence upon this earth, He was somewhat restrained by logistics and time, meaning, for the most part, He didn’t work in two separate locations at once, now, His presence is active all over the world at once, through this organism we call the Church, He reveals His love to this lost and dying world.
 
Comforter- the Greek New Testament word here is: Parakletos. Greek words are commonly compounded with added meaning taking place with the addition of prefixes and suffixes. In this particular case the word para, which is a preposition meaning "along side" or "beside," has been added to the word kletos, which is derived from the word "kaleo," which is where we get our word ‘call’ from, and this is the exact meaning to call.
 
Therefore, when the word is seen from its proper perspective, the Comforter is the Holy Spirit. He is the one who has been “called alongside to help.” It should probably not be thought of as in reference to His calling alongside our outside. For instance, in this Acts passage, David expresses, "For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:" (Acts 2:25)
 
As I have so strenuously attempted to explain with all the dialogue of God progressively moving His Spirit towards us, the climax point of God's movement, at least on this side of eternity, is the cross of Christ, allowing God’s Spirit to reside in our person.
 
John 14:17-18 “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.”
 
In this passage, the reader's attention is focused towards the contrasting words: "with you" vs. "in you."
 
Previously, through all the OT movement of God, the Holy Spirit merely dwelt "with" the inhabitants of Israel, as they were God's chosen people. While there were isolated instances where God allowed His Spirit to indwell His servants in order to accomplish specific tasks: Bezaleel (when creating the articles of the tabernacle) and Ezekiel on several occasions when God asked Him to prophecy, His presence did not make His abode in the hearts of man until the finished work of the cross.
 
Because the sin debt could not be removed in the Old Testament economy, "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." (Hebrews 10:4), the Holy Spirit could not use the human “tent” as His tabernacle.
 
But once the blood of the Eternal Lamb, which was slain before the foundations of the earth, was offered, and the sin debt paid in full, the Holy Spirit could then make us His abode.
 
Therefore, when we consider the concept of the Comforter or parakletos (one called alongside to help), we should understand that He is alongside us on the inside. The Holy Spirit is sharing habitation with our spirit man. Remember the Ezekiel passage we spoke of last time, "...ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness,... A new heart also will I give you,...a new spirit will I put within you: and... And I will put my spirit within you...” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
 
It is of the utmost importance that we gain revelation that the very God of glory, who scattered the stars in the skies and breathed life into a lump of clay now lives in this mortal vessel.
 
Furthermore, the finished work of Jesus on the cross is what allows all this to take place, because it is our faith in God's eternal plan (Jesus Christ and Him crucified), which allows us to receive the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17), allowing the Holy Spirit to make our heart His home, allowing us to have unfettered access to the presence of God.
 
What is the purpose of the comfort?
 
While I certainly don't want to take away from the truth that God is very concerned about our well being in the daily struggles of life, the context of this passage is quite clear: the Comforter will be needed, because as the followers of God move forward with the Gospel message through the annals of human history, those believers can expect persecution; therefore, believers will need a comforter/ counselor/ advocate to see them through.
 
He also wants to be those things for us as we find ourselves in the mess of life upon this fallen world. Sadly, much of this mess is self inflicted-- not always, but usually. The journey from selfishness (born of Adam) to selflessness (born of Christ) is rife with confusion, chaos, and calamity; nevertheless, you can be assured of some things if you're a child of the living God:

(1) This place is not your home, so there is always hope in the future

(2) Jesus has already won the victory. Whether you are experiencing it in your life or not isn't              evidence that can refute the facts that Jesus was victorious, through the cross, over death,                Hell, and the grave

(3) If you will learn to believe that you are a new creation in Christ, literally, in God's mind your    "old man" has been done away with, and a "new man" has been resurrected with Jesus, and if you begin to believe this, then…

(4) You will see the grace of God, in the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit going to work on your behalf.
 
What I'm talking about is a spiritual miracle where God begins to heal His people's land. He does this not because they are good enough, fast enough, go to church enough, or pray enough... But instead, they were told the truth about the New Covenant, they placed and kept their faith there, and because that is God's eternal plan, He blesses them by bringing peace through grace, which is dispensed by the person of the Holy Spirit, and all this is predicated on the believer's willingness to continue trusting in the finished work of Jesus for that is righteousness God can accept and that is the place where grace can flow.
 
John 16:8-11 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
 
First in order for this next passage of scripture is to get a handle on this King James word "reprove."
 
So let's examine this word in a variety of ways in order to attempt a proper understanding. The Greek meaning is:
 
ελεγχω elegcho; of uncertain affinity; to confute, admonish:— convict, convince, tell a fault, rebuke, reprove
 
The English dictionary describes the word as such: to criticize or correct.
 
And various other words from other translators, in their attempt, to capture the meaning are: prove, correct, convince.
 
So for the disciples and us as believers, He is the Comforter, and for the world, He is the "reprover."
 
As Jesus promised, He ultimately resurrected from the dead and ascended to the Father, which resulted in the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, to me what's interesting is that the work of the Holy Spirit is affecting the church and the world through His residence in the heart of believer's.
 
In other words, it is through the witness of the followers of Christ, as they proclaim and live this Gospel message that the Holy Spirit comforts the church and convinces the world system they are wrong.
 
We are the mouthpieces from which the Spirit of God chooses to do His work; our presence is salt upon the earth and light in the midst of darkness (Matthew 5:13-16). That's why I become enraged when modern preachers say things like, "Preach the gospel and use words only when necessary." No! Christian don't believe that! Yes, your actions, empowered by the grace of God, must emulate the love of the Savior. However, without words, the world may be led to believe that we are influenced by the deceptive angels of light who teach the Buddha's doctrine of progressive reincarnations, where the spirit moves higher towards the destination of Nirvana, as it practices better Karma (works) through each stage of its vegetable or animal kingdom existence.
 
In other words, Buddhists are taught to treat people right also, but the underlying spirit driving their purposes are demon spirits and fallen angels. There are probably people reading right now who think I'm a fool for writing this, thinking I'm so unskilled and unlearned about the arts of Eastern Mysticism. No! You're the unlearned one. By Aleister Crowley's own admission,…who is he you might ask? He is the most powerful Satanist that lived in the past 100 years, and was a practitioner of various forms of metaphysical cults. Furthermore, he was a practitioner of the ancient art of Buddhist Transcendental Meditation, becoming convinced of its otherworldly power when he paid a visit to a man whom he used to practice the occult arts with, who had travelled to Tibet to learn the way of the Buddha from the monks in the mountains; and upon entering the room in which his friend was, he found him levitating several feet within the air. I can assure you this man was experiencing a spiritual phenomenon, but this was not the Holy Spirit; rather, these were demon spirits.
 
My point is that the Holy Spirit produces His effect upon the world through us, His people, the vessels He has recreated in Christ (Galatians 2:20), and if God's people are silent then how will the world ever know the love of Jesus.
 
John 16:8-11 "... He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."
 
Regarding the word "world," the word Kosmos is used in the Greek, describing a specific order or arrangement and its inhabitants, so the context we are dealing with is the fallen world of which Satan has been given dominion through Adam's disobedience; furthermore, included is the idea of the spiritual influence of the anti-Christ agenda upon the inhabitants of the world.
 
Within the context of this framework, we are reminded of the separating line of the believer in Christ from the inhabitants of the world system. We are the ekklesia (Greek for church)  ek= out; klesia= called, so the word "church," in the Greek literally means, "the called out ones." God, through the foolishness of preaching has…called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and through this peculiar group of people (1 Peter 2:9), He chooses to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, through which the Holy Spirit's presence begins to convict, convince, even prove to the world some things about sin, righteousness, and judgment.
 
John 16:9 "...Of sin, because they believe not on me..."
 
There is no other way to say it other than this, "When man finds himself outside the forgiveness of Jesus, He is guilty of sin in God's eyes."
 
We have already discussed at length that the plan of God regarding sin was foreordained before the foundation of the earth (1 Peter1:18), the remedy offered was Jesus' sacrifice, and a rejection of that sacrifice leaves man outside the forgiveness of God.
 
Therefore, when the Comforter preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ through the preacher or believer alike in his daily walk through the world around him, the Holy Spirit does His work of convincing. It is at this point that the age old choice must be confronted-- will the hearer believe, from the heart (inner man) the truth spoken and receive the forgiveness purchased by Jesus? Or will he/ she ignore the reproof of the comforter and remain on the sin guilty side of the cross?
 
John 16:10 "...He will reprove...and of righteousness...of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me know more..."
 
Not only does the Holy Spirit convince the world of sin, but also of true righteousness. You see man can attempt in His endless endeavors to produce righteousness through his sin sickened body, but every grave marker that marks the spot of another departed soul preaches a message all its own. The message preached-- you ask?
 
"The wages of sin is death" is the message and every tombstone signaling from the soil of this fallen earth is the illustration that all the righteous acts of both sinner and saint alike cannot and do not save a man from the curse of sin.
 
Jesus' death tells an altogether different story; for if a man sojourn to the place where they say His body was laid to rest, there are no bones to see. Jesus was accused by Israel and crucified by Rome as a guilty man, but He was vindicated by the Father through His resurrection from the grave as Peter eloquently preached in the book of Acts:
 
Acts 2:22-24 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
 
We are promised that if we through faith accept the sacrifice of Jesus for our sin that: "the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." (Romans 8:11)
 
The resurrection proves His righteousness. The wages of sin is death for mortal man, passed through the annals of time from our father Adam, we are all found guilty outside of Christ; however, He became us, so He could destroy the power Satan held over humanity through sin and death:
 
"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." (Hebrews 2:14-15)
 
The resurrection is paramount to our Christian faith. There are so many Biblical truths proven through Jesus' resurrection. As we are studying now, the resurrection proves Jesus was the sinless Lamb, who was slain before the foundation of the earth; for if He had a blemish, He would not have risen, because He would have been guilty rather than innocent.
 
In addition, because He is risen, we are assured that through faith in His sacrifice all our sin is atoned, because He: "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."(Acts 2:24) paid our penalty in full.
 
Since He is risen, we can be certain that our sin is atoned; and because He is true righteousness and we have been clothed with Him (Galatians 3:27), we can be sure that we have been made the righteousness of God through Him:
 
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

 
The resurrection of Jesus testifies to a dying world the righteousness of God. The Comforter's presence and testimony of the resurrection, empowered the disciples to testify to the righteousness of Jesus, disregarding their own lives, they preached the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, which ultimately resulted in their own deaths: Mark had a noose placed around his neck and was dragged behind a chariot through the streets of Alexandria Egypt; Andrew was crucified in Greece; Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, the one found under the fig tree, had his skin flayed from his body and was ultimately beheaded for Jesus; lastly, Thomas, the very one who doubted the Resurrection to begin with, after being invited to stick his fingers in Jesus' nail printed hands and thrust his hand within His pierced side, evangelized India and ultimately faced his demise as he was run through with a spear for his refusal to shrink back from the Gospel's testimony.
 
Let every believer be reminded that our Jesus is not dead... "No! He is alive. God's not dead-- no! He is alive... God's not dead-- no! He is alive-- I feel Him all over me!"
 
And the Holy Spirit is in the ministry of convincing the world that their dead works cannot produce righteousness because Jesus alone is the righteousness of God.
 
11 "... He will reprove the world of...judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."
 
Through Jesus' sacrifice and vindicated resurrection, the prince of this world has faced judgment. Mankind can scoff at the Word of God if that is what they choose to do; nevertheless, God continues to methodically move towards the fulfillment of His plan.
 
Satan, in his fallen state, is the nemesis to God and all that God plans for His beautiful creation-- humanity. Jesus judged Satan's lies and all the fruit of sin that emanates from those lies. The power of the prince of darkness and his resulting plans of sin to destroy the human race has been brought under trial. Satan is found condemned, and while he continues to wreak havoc upon this earth for this period of time known as the Church Age, the day is rapidly approaching where the final sentence of his judgment will be executed.
 
With this in mind, it is of the utmost importance that, we, as the followers of God, be about our Father's business, which is allowing the Holy Spirit to testify to the truths about this trial. The devil is found guilty; he and his kingdom have been judged; the day of salvation is now; believe on the sacrifice of The Lord Jesus as payment for the penalty of your sin, so you can receive the gift of His righteousness, or refuse and share the demise of the liar in the eternal lake of fire (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 15).
 
So I close with this child of God, "please allow the Comforter to do His work through you, so the eternal souls crossing your path won't meet the demise of eternal death without at least having had the opportunity to make a choice about the Gospel message. ~Matt