Manifested love Pt 24: I’ll be with you

John 15:26-27                        26“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Matthew 10:18-20                 18On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Acts 5:29-32                           29Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

1John 5:6-9                            6This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.

Jesus will send

This has been an emotional night for the disciples, filled with revelations of deception, denial, and forecasts of Jesus’ impending death.  The disciples must have been in a state of turmoil and anxiety at all in changes happening.  On top of that comes the warning that they will be met with hatred as they begin their individual ministry.  If I had been there, hearing and seeing all these things, I certainly would have been asking myself, ”How will I ever carry on if Jesus is no longer with me?” In spite of their own few ministry successes, these men were certainly aware of their own limitations and were used to seeing Jesus do all the work.

Jesus knew these thoughts and worries so he promised he would send the Holy Spirit to comfort and help them.  The arrival of the Holy Spirit would happen some 50 days later when the disciples are cowering in this same upper room, almost afraid of their own shadows, and bewildered that Jesus had actually been taken from them.  Yet, almost the very next day (after Pentecost), the disciples are ready to take the message beyond Jerusalem and are ministering in great power.  Thousands of people were saved.

You also must testify

Great power fell upon the Apostles at Pentecost but we would be making a grave mistake if we assumed the Holy Spirit was the entire agency by which the Kingdom is spread.  Chapter 15 opens with instructions regarding the disciples’ relationship to Jesus “Abide in me”, and continued with instruction about relating to each other (love one another).  They were warned that people would hate them because of their relationship with Jesus.  The warning might incline them to restrict their ministry to one another to avoid the emotional difficulty of interacting with the world.

On the contrary Jesus was commanding them to engage the world.  He equips them with valuable firsthand experience to relate to any listener.  He was telling them that while the world in general would hate them, they would have a mighty impact on those willing to listen, and promised that the Holy Spirit would be there to guide them.  I am not inclined to think that the Spirit dictated every single word that they were to speak, but rather that he would call to mind relevant life experiences which would support the testimony of the disciples.

Obey God not people

I imagine the Spirit talked to these men through the still, small voice believers still hear, but the Spirit also speaks to God’s children also through dreams, reading the Word, quiet devotional times, and other people.  This is where the child of God has to be careful.  Over the course of my many years I have come to understand that most people have an opinion about everything.  Is that the sort of person whose every utterance is to be taken as legitimate prophecy?  Certainly not.

Everything we say and do must be verified by the Word.  Double check that dream, or what you received during a quiet time, or prophecy during a prayer meeting with the Author of everything.  If it aligns with Scripture it is possibly something God wants presented; if it does not align it is definitely not from God.  But look for confirmations.  It is generally thought that if a person gets the idea of a proposed change from two independent sources besides his- or herself then the thought is probably from God.

The point here is that human experience has a great deal to say regarding divine testimony.  But we must remember that ultimately it is the Holy Spirit testifying to the ministry of Jesus.  And, while guiding us in our testimony to the world, the Spirit provides the necessary courage to speak out.  Both the 1st and the 21st century worlds did not want to hear that their way of life was ending.  Our culture bristles and rises up in opposition to anyone adhering to Godly values.  We are called intolerant and critical.  But if we listen to those nay-sayers then we have failed to further the Gospel.

What about me?

I’ve often thought that many persons newly brought into the Kingdom of God have been taught a Gospel of ‘easy-believism’.  By this I mean they have been taught the beauty of God’s grace and mercy, but none, or little, of the difficult things about life in the Kingdom.  They have been taught John 3:16 (God so loved the world…), but not John 15:18 (…the world hates you).  All believers should understand this:  It is absolutely true that God loves us no matter what.  But it is also true that we have a job to do.

18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

That job is to  the spread the beauty and love of Jesus to every person we meet.  Many will reject the message, and possibly even reject you.  But that is the cost that comes with the blessing of intimate relationship with Jesus.  But have no worries; the Holy Spirit was guiding Peter and John when they were called before the Jewish high court, and He will guide you too.