e-mail 10/5/6

This morning I want to encourage you to read from John 14. Jesus is comforting His apostles. In the previous chapter Jesus had predicted His betrayal and that He would be going away. Peter did not understand and responded with "Where are you going?" Jesus told him that "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward." Then Jesus told that Peter would deny Him.

Beginning in verse 1 of chapter 14, Jesus comforts His disciples with the much loved verses, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Where I go you know, and the way you know."

After Thomas says to Him that they did not know where He was going or how they could know the way, Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life. HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD THE FATHER. He explains that Jesus and the Father are one.

Beginning in verse 15, Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper that He may abide with you FOREVER-"Jesus identifies the Helper in verse 17 as "the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." Notice that Jesus did not say that the Holy Spirit would pop in and out of our lives as needed or wanted - He said, "FOREVER".

Something that has divided Christians during the centuries concerns teachings about the Holy Spirit. There are Christian denominations that teach that the Holy Spirit is a second blessing. There are teachers who say that the Holy Spirit comes at a separate time from conversion. Ther are those that teach that if one has the Holy Spirit in their lives that they will be endowed with all of His special gifts or abilities, especially the ones we hear the most about: tongues and healing. I do not see Jesus addressing any of these teachings at this time when He was having a very intimate and detailed conversation with His apostles. He was sharing that which was important to them.

Just think about this: If it was meant that every believer would have ALL of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, does it not seem reasonable that Jesus would have addressed this when He was having this very intimate conversation with His disciples. And, if you are saved, are you endowed with ALL of the gifts? Does this mean you are not saved if you do not have the gift of healing or that you do not speak in a foreign language as they did on Pentecost?

One of the things that distinguished the first disciples from the first church was the Holy Spirit. The disciples had Jesus walking and talking with them. However, when Jesus left, He sent the Holy Spirit (His Spirit) to come and give conviction, comfort and guidance. Scripture also says that we cannot know Jesus or the Father unless the Spirit draws us. It took Father, Son and Spirit for us to have eternal life. Jesus said, "If you know Me, you know the Father, for we are one." God, the Father gave His son, Jesus,to die for us that we might be saved. Jesus, the son, gave us His Holy Spirit that we might be drawn to Him, that we might receive comfort when we are hurting, confused or need guidance.

In Acts 2:38, Peter, one of the Apostles, says "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit is our gift from God when we get saved. We do not have to wait for Him to come to us at a later time.

In Acts 4:31, we are told, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the Word of God with boldness. Dear friends, we have nothing to fear in this life if God's Spirit abides with us. We are God's representatives on earth, each of us gifted to share Jesus with everyone and as always we must...

Share God's love,
Peggy