John 16: 1-16
ÒThese things I have spoken to you, that you should
not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues, yes, the time
is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And
these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.
But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember
that I told you of them.
ÒAnd these things I did not say to you at the beginning,
because I was with you.
ÒBut now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you
asks Me, ÔWhere are You going?Õ But because I have said these things to you,
sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to
you, but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will
convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement; of sin
because they donÕt believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father
and you see Me no more; of judgement because the ruler of this world is judged.
ÒI still have many things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come He will
guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but
whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will
glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things
that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and
declare it to you.
As I have shared with various people over the last few weeks,
I have noticed these messages are more prophetic than anything I have ever
done. I have kind of felt like John the Baptist, or some other prophet clothed
in camelÕs hair, eating wild locust and honey. In actuality, I hope that this
is as close as I ever get. I never considered myself a prophet or the son of a
prophet. To be most truthful along that line, I am a school teacher, the son of
a school teacher. It is really only the Lord that has changed that focus over
these years. My goal in life when I graduated from college was to teach high
school Biology and Chemistry, coach basketball and track, and to make wild life
movies in the summer. A very
similar goal now seems finally in reach, but enlarged by the Lord some hundred
fold.
However,these last few months have been truly unique in
all my years. I was thinking about what circumstances might have changed, then
I realized it all started about the time I got the complete Bible on cassette.
Pretty much since Christmas I have been listening to about an hour and a half
of the Bible every day, with only of few days without that direct input of
GodÕs word. As I write this I have completed the New Testament twice and am now
through the Pentateuch for the second time.
We all talk a lot about feeding on the word of God, but
we really never put it to the test. Could it be that there is a direct
correlation between this hearing of GodÕs word and some of the hardships I have
been able to go through? For from a personal point of view not only have my
messages been more pointed, I have also felt more isolated, but at the same
time comforted by God and seeing His provisions on a daily basis. To the extent
guys are domestic, I have always considered home and hearth of prime importance,
except during these last few months. This weekÕs message I suppose is an
opportunity to express those beliefs again, hopefully making my life more
typical or at least less atypical.
That brings us to the verses for this week. These verses,
as all of the Bible should be interpreted through 1 Peter 1:22-25: Since you
have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere
love of the brethren, love one another feverishly with a pure heart, having
been born again, not of the corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the
word of God which lives and abides forever because
ÒAll flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass,
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away
But the word of the Lord endures forever.Ó
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached
to you.
Contrary to what is taught in many churches, the word of
God, preached, taught and just plain read, is the primary means by which the
Holy Spirit acts in the lives of believers. While many seek after signs,
prophesies and other revelations, without the yard stick of the word of God,
there exists no mechanism by which to judge the merit of these spiritual
encounters.
In the context of these verses in John 16, following
after Chapter 15, we see that Jesus is talking with His friends, and the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the ultimate source of the word of truth. This makes the love of the
brethren the example of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the
followers of Christ. It is not in spotless doctrine, nor in magnificent
revelations of the end of time. He, the Holy Spirit, shows that manÕs paths
lead to sin, where righteousness alone is found in Jesus Christ, and because of
their rejection of that truth, the world is being judged, present and future.
This is what is important, when all your road marks of your life seem to have
disappeared, the love of God for His people, expressed through the Bible, and
the power of the Holy Spirit manifested in the lives of those truly born again,
is enough to get you through the worst day.
I write these words at 5AM on Tuesday morning, having
begun on Monday evening, with out what I consider any of the inspiration that I
usually have. Just the feeling that the words of Jesus in John 16 are important
in this context of the present in my life. In the bigger context ,all that
seems as the familiar, that we use to give meaning, does not seem to be working
the way I would consider appropriate. Not that things naturally are really that
difficult, it is just that the usual ways that I have of moving forward, seem
to have been uprooted in the storm, or shaken by the earthquake. There is still
a strong sense of purpose and a direction forward, but the whole concept and wisdom that I have been taught on
how to proceed has been shaken and or demolished. As I wrote a new friend last
week, in this context the earthquake was easy, the difficult part is truly
trusting in your faith alone, once you realize that there is nothing more,
except trusting in God to perform His promises to you.
So we close again with the wisdom of Solomon, this time
in the context of Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him
And He shall direct your paths.
Not knowing the specific steps required to move forward
can be really difficult, speaking especially for those of us of the male
persuasion. I must assume that this is true also for those of the other sex
also, it is just interpreted in somewhat different motives and needs for
security, rather than the focus on the analytical understanding and the force
of moving forward (hidden needs for security). I still believe that the
property in NE Washington is the way to proceed, as I was told, the horse that
will pull the cart. The problem, or the opportunity, is that the cart is now
before the horse. I have interpreted this to mean, a hopeful transition, from
the prophet back into the more school teacher type, or a more normal
life-style. But as I have tried to
illustrate in this weekÕs message, God is controlling all those steps, which
make no sense to me, which through faith I believe it should be, but through my
own eyes seems not good, which is what Proverbs 3:7 says. Please intercede for
God to do His work for His glory and allow me to be controlled by the Holy
Spirit, to see His will for my life and ministry fulfilled. Also continue to
pray for financial provision especially as related to the purchase and the
initial funds to get the facility up and operating.