One Look at the Cross

In Billy Graham's autobiography, he made the statement that early in his ministry he and his team agreed that every message would tell about the Cross. The Cross is where lives are changed! One look at the Cross and one is never the same again!

At this time of the year, we especially turn our thoughts to the Cross. I plan to cover three aspects of the Cross in the next three blogs, beginning with this week as:

GETHSEMANE

In the Garden of Gethsemane, (Matthew 26:39) Jesus prayed "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me...". I know in His humanism He feared the pain and physical agony He was to face, but I do not believe this was the 'cup'. The worst agony He had to face was that point in God's time frame when God and sin would clash on the Cross. Because God cannot look on sin, God the Father would have to hide His face from His beloved Son. Andrew Murray states in like this: "so terrible was the aversion and anger of God against our sin that Christ was left in the thick darkness, because God, when sin was laid upon Him, had to hide His face from Him." Not only did the Father hide His face, but because of our sin, our Lord would have to go into the 'lower parts of the earth' (Eph. 4:9) which no doubt was 'hell'. Acts 2:27 and Psalm 16:10 both state: "thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades (or hell)." The horrors of that moment would be greater than any physical horror facing Him. He cried from the Cross, "My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?" He knew, yet oh, the agony He must have felt. Even we who are believers do not have to face our dying moments alone. Jesus will be there with us as it says in Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for THOU art with me."

In Luke 22:44 it tells us that while praying in the Garden, He literally sweat drops of blood. Sweating blood has a medical term, called "hematidrosis". The blood comes to the surface of the skin via the capillaries, as in blushing, and with intense emotion it is forced through the sweat glands of the skin. The medical dictionary defines it as 'excretion of bloody sweat'. With this phenomenon, the skin is greatly sensitized and the body is weakened.

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(Next week will be -The Trials)

Sevenfold Spirit of God

First we must understand (at least in part as is possible with our finite minds), what the job of the Holy Spirit is. He is the Executive Director of the works of God in behalf of man. He is the Divine Administrator (so to speak). What God the Father and God the Son purpose and plan, God the Holy Spirit brings it to pass. He is the Helper of the believer, and the one Jesus sent in His place to dwell among man.

In Revelation 1:4, John is sending salutations to the seven churches. The salutation comes in part from the ‘seven Spirits who are before the throne.’ This passage is speaking of the Holy Spirit in His completeness and perfection. Isaiah 11:2 lists for us the sevenfold Spirit of God: "And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (Christ), the spirit of wisdom and understanding (we cannot understand of ourselves but He helps us understand), the spirit of counsel (He will counsel us so that we can help others) and might (the power of diety in Christ who is our power), the spirit of knowledge (knowing and understanding the things of God) and the fear of the Lord (through Him we learn to reverence the Lord)." This Spirit in all His perfection is now at work in the body of believers, and known as the ‘Church’. God in His gracious kindness and infinite wisdom works in each individual believer through the Holy Spirit.

It is so awesome to think that this very same perfect and complete person of the Holy Spirit actually indwells me. This is the gift, given to each believer, with no strings attached. This is GRACE.

1.From the heart of CC
2. From Notes by John I Paton (my father)
3. Practical Studies in Revelation by Theo. H. Epp

Spirit of Truth (Part II)

Jesus told His disciples that He would send to them another, just like Himself, who would be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God, equal with the Father, and equal to the Son, third person of the trinity. It is the Holy Spirit that reveals to us the truth of the Living Word of God, Jesus. John 1:1 from the Amplified New Testament: "In the beginning (before all time) was the Word (Christ) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself." In Revelation 19:13, in John's vision he sees Christ returning as our King "and the title by which he is called is The Word of God." The Holy Spirit will also reveal to us the written Word, which is the Bible.

The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible through men who loved God. And the prophesies of the Old Testament were verified through Jesus as many verses in the New Testament state with phrases such as 'to fulfill what is written' or that 'the Scripture might be fulfilled.' Everything that was written was inspired by the Holy Spirit and was the TRUTH. II Timothy 3:16 states: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness..."

In the book Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer defines the attributes of God as being whatever God has in any way revealed as being TRUE of Himself. And Who is it that reveals these truths to us? None other than the Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Truth.

From the heart of Carol Coblentz

Spirit of Truth (Part I)

The Holy Spirit is referred to in Scripture as the 'Spirit of Truth'. John 14:17 states: "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." And from John 15:36: "but when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." Another one is John 16:13: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth."

What does the term "truth" really mean? How does this actually refer to the Holy Spirit?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives the old English meaning as 'faithful'. Also the archaic meaning as 'constancy, sincerity in action, character and utterance.' The American Heritage Dictionary gives 'truth' as: "exact accordance with that which is, or has been or shall be." From the WorldNet, 1997 Princeton University, 'truth' is: (1) A fact that has been verified, and (2)The quality of being accurate and without error.

In the verse given in John 16:13, Jesus was telling his disciples that they were not ready to understand all He wanted to tell them at that time, but the "Spirit of Truth" would guide them and tell them. The Spirit of Truth would tell them whatever God the Father wished them to hear, and it would all be TRUTH.

Spirit of Prayer

The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the third person of the Triune God. This does not mean that He is the least of the Trinity, but because He is the last to be revealed to us in the Scriptures. According to A.W. Tozier, "The Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son: not made not created, nor begotten, but proceeding." The Nicene Creed also pays tribute to the Holy Spirit as being Himself God and equal to the Father and the Son:
I believe in the Holy Spirit
The Lord and given of Life,
Which proceedeth from the Father and the Son,
Who with the Father and Son together
Is worshipped and glorified.

First of all, we must accept and believe that God's Spirit is real, a Divine Reality, and that the Holy Spirit is in us. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. I Cor 3:16 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"

Secondly, the Spirit lives within us to reveal Christ in His love and power; to help us recognize sin and have victory over it; to teach us to be a witness and to teach us to pray. Zech. 12:10 calls Him the "Spirit of grace and of supplication."
Romans 8:26,27 it is written that "we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us." The way He does this is "with groanings, which cannot be uttered." Yearnings too deep for words. And then in verse 27 it tells us that God knows what is the mind of the Spirit--and this wordless prayer from our hearts to the Spirit is in accordance with God's will.

In every prayer we utter, the Holy Triune God takes part--the Father who hears, the Son who intercedes before the Father for us, and in whose name we pray; and the Spirit who dwells within us, and who prays for us, presenting our prayers to the Father according to His will.

From the heart of CC
Andrew Murray, The Prayer Life. Zondervan Publishing Co.
Verses from The New Scofield Reference Bible