pickledilly

Jesus had already been beaten and scourged nearly to death before His was crucified. His physical body was severely dehydrated and He had suffered profound blood loss. It only makes sense that He died in a relatively short time. In the spiritual sense, His death was also part of the timeline of the Sabbath and Passover celebrations, and He chose when to give up His spirit because His life was freely given, not taken from Him. I love JanMary's insight that “I would think the last sound he heard while alive was the beginning of the shofar horn being blown to let the Jews know the lamb had been slain for their sins.” That sound would have signaled the completion of His mission as the moment when the life of the Lamb of God was taken in sacrifice. It was finished. I don't recall hearing any one explain the water and blood flow in this "simple" way, but it makes more sense than just a lofty theological explanation. Such a quick death was unusual, so the soldier was making certain that Jesus was truly dead when he plunged the spear into Jesus' side. And John was recording factual details that correlated with prophecies about the Suffering Servant. Scripture foretold that He would be hung on a tree and pierced, but He would not suffer any broken bones.

Jesus finished the work given to Him by the Father to accomplish. His mission was to faithfully obey the plan and will of God for the salvation and redemption of His most treasured creation, man. As the One who lives and reigns forever, Jesus brought eternal life to mankind. As the Living Word who came to earth clothed in human flesh, He brought absolute truth and offered the grace from heaven for us to know Him and understand that truth. As God Himself, He came to reveal God the Father to mankind, not as only a distant and stern divine Patriarch but as a loving and merciful intimate Abba who desires familial relationship. As the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, Jesus came to take our just punishment and make final atonement for humanity's rejection of God and transgressions of rebellion against Him. He completed every element of His mission as He faithfully obeyed every detail of the Father's will to reconcile man to God. So now, in Him, we have full assurance of eternal life with Him. We know absolute truth to rightly shape our world view and guide our lives, and we are given divine grace and power to courageously live in truth. We have a relationship of love with God that was unavailable to those under the Old Covenant, as all who believe on Christ are adopted as children of the Father. And the blood of Christ has fully atoned our sins and clothed us in His righteousness. It is finished! The victory is won! Hallelujah, what a glorious Savior!

Mary was certainly in the grips of profound sorrow. She had probably thought of Simeon's prophetic words many, many times as she watched her beloved little boy grow into manhood, and now that horrific day of fulfillment had come when her own heart would be pierced with unspeakable grief. The glory of God would come at great cost, and it would cost her someone very dear. She knew Yahweh's plan was perfect, but to see her son hated, mocked, humiliated, tortured, maimed, and murdered must have been utterly heartbreaking beyond words. After Joseph's passing, Jesus was responsible for His mother's welfare, as head of household. I'm sure He loved and honored His mother to a higher degree than any other mother has ever known. He was concerned for her future and care, especially as He was dying. His brothers didn't yet understand Him or believe who He is, and perhaps He questioned their ability or desire to rightly provide for their widowed mother. And so He chose someone He loved and trusted, someone after His own heart, to appoint as her guardian and provider. His beloved friend and disciple, John, was the perfect choice.

Jesus knew exactly what to expect in the excruciating death described in Psalm 22:14-18. Prophecy was fulfilled as His life blood was pouring out through the wounds, the torn flesh, an the severed blood vessels of His body. His bones were all out of joint, causing severe pain on its own. All physical strength was spent. His mouth was dry as dust from total dehydration. With hands and feet nailed to a cross, He hung there before wild dogs that were probably licking up His blood, evil men that stood all around Him ridiculing His torment, and Jewish onlookers who stared and gloated over His death in celebration of their "win". His garments were divided among the soldiers, with His most personal clothing being the ultimate prize determined by casting lots. His heart failed Him and melted away in His chest as the pain alone took His breath and He struggled to breathe. He hung there fully exposed in the most shameful way for all to see. He endured taunts and ridicule by those who rejected Him. Jesus had learned this Scripture from childhood and knew all the details of exactly what would happen. No wonder He pleaded with the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane for some other way to accomplish divine will. Thank You, Jesus, for Your courage and obedience that rescued me from hell.

In that day, as in the ancient world, one who came as the “son” of a god was considered to be one who was that god's representation of authority to humans. This equated to being a divine being, which would cause Pilate to be terrified at the thought of displeasing a god. It also equated to the authority of a king. The people's claim that Jesus was calling Himself their king could be construed to Rome to mean that Jesus was a political threat of some kind. Pilate could not afford for Rome's attention to be directed toward him with an investigation into his own leadership, conduct, methods, and failures. He was afraid for “his own skin” and ultimately did not want to give the Jewish leaders reason to act on their threats to report him to Caesar. He gave in to that fear and desire for self-protection as he chose to sentence an innocent man to death in order to appease the demands of those rabid leaders. I think what hinders me most is discouragement. God has taken me through a number of lessons during my life to liberate me from being controlled by fear, for the most part. But what I battle now is being disheartened and overcome with inertia by so much bias, desire for control, and degrees of legalism within the church. It has taken the wind out of my sails to the point that I often wonder what in the world is my mission at this stage of my life. It's a constant and deliberate effort to rise above that. As I so often plead, Lord, my latter years are not to be empty or useless, so please give me Your vision for the mission You still have for me to do.

Jesus was ultimately sent to His death by Pilate for political expediency. The picture Pastor Ralph has painted for us is very descriptive and clear. Pilate did not believe Jesus was guilty and gave opportunities for the people to relent from their emotional senseless call for His demise. The brutal scourging was intended to gain some degree of sympathy and satisfaction that this was punishment enough. Hebrews 12:2 gives the insight that Jesus allowed this unspeakable barbaric affliction and mocking of His identity because He chose to look through it to the ultimate end. The Father was going to use every step that led to Jesus' death for His glory in securing atonement for man's sin, salvation of man from judgment, and restoration of fallen humanity to Himself. Jesus completely trusted that the Father is faithful to gloriously reward those who are faithful to obey His will. I think, too, that Jesus offered His body as a living sacrifice that was holy and acceptable to the Father in this most ultimate way (Romans 12:1) and that this particular part of His physical death was used to open every blood vessel and capillary so that every drop of blood in His body would be released as an offering for our atonement sacrifice. Nothing was held back. It's hard, indeed, the embrace this kind of persecution and brutality. Father, help me endure whatever is required to accomplish the mission You have designed for me.

When we declare that the Gospel message is absolutely true, we encounter the same things Jesus did. The world's ears are deadened to absolute truth by the humanistic philosophy of relativism. To that way of thinking, truth and morality are never absolute but are relative to the subjective understanding, perceptions, and evaluations of individuals, cultures, or societies. And so anyone who declares there is absolute truth that's always valid regardless of the parameters or context is likely to become the object of ridicule, rejection, and even attack. We see this all around us, and the attacks are becoming bolder, more intense, and more frequent. An insistence that God be removed from every aspect of public life in America has become “the norm”. The humanistic world view that rejects God as man's origin and ultimate future has pervaded work, school, family life, and even churches. Cynics may question religious beliefs with curiosity but reject them as truth, like the seed cast on a hard-packed well-traveled pathway in Jesus' parable about the sower. To consider truth requires evaluation of everything one has believed and based their life on to that point, which is uncomfortable and frightening, so most people pull back from that and refuse to consider anything else. When people reject the truth we bring, we must return to at least three things that immediately come to my mind. First is the supreme Law of Love. We can't allow ourselves to take it personally, even if attack comes in a personal way. We have to remain focused on loving God above everything else and showing His love to others, even as we may be challenged or called to confront lies. Second, we need to remember that Jesus told us to expect this rejection of truth, even more so in the last days. Since the world and its systems hated Jesus, the Truth and Way, and we have become members of His Body, the world will not receive truth-bearers any better. Third, we are to sow the seed of truth but we are not responsible for what others do with that seed. We plant and pray – and the results belong to the Holy Spirit. We should pray for the hearts of others to soften toward truth and pray for our own hearts to be bold and courageous.

The Jews needed a charge that would concern the Romans, or else they would be left to resolve the matter on their own. This was not acceptable to them because they had no legal authority to execute a death sentence, which was their ultimate and only goal. (And if they had the authority, it wouldn't have “lifted up” Jesus on a cross to fulfill prophecy. It would have beaten Him into the dust with a stoning.) So they created a charge that Jesus was claiming to be a king of the Jews, was stirring up the Jewish people against Rome, and was a dangerous rebel to Roman authority. This was the attention-grabbing charge needed to get the Romans to take the matter seriously. Jesus told Pilate He had a kingdom that was not from this world, it was from another place. The source of His royalty was truth from heaven. He had been born and came into the world as king of another realm to bear witness to that truth. When the Jews politicized Jesus, that completely distorted who He is and what He is about. They dragged a spiritual kingdom down into an earthly situation and tried to make it fit, all for their own gain. They essentially ridiculed and slandered Jesus to destroy Him in the political realm. (Sound familiar in modern day politics?) But they were off the mark because Jesus was never about earthly matters. We are of “another kingdom” because we belong to Christ and His kingdom. But we are still in the world and are called to be responsible citizens, which means we are to affect influence through our political rights and freedoms. That doesn't mean we are to turn into political creatures who use those rights and freedoms to destroy others and seek personal gain. And it doesn't mean we are to drag political issues into the church, which distracts and shifts the focus of the Body of Christ from the reason for our primary existence. That purpose is to proclaim the Gospel message of salvation and redemption to God, and to be living representations of His love. Anything other than that is a distortion of who Christ is and what He is about.

It is good to recognize that Peter did have courage, a truly admirable quality. But he didn't always have it under control. He had some history of being a bit rash at times, letting emotions rule, and not thinking things all the way through before acting. This may have been one of those times. It certainly took courage to step out and take action to defend Jesus in the garden. It took courage to follow Jesus as He was arrested and taken away by powerful people who meant harm. It took courage to wait alone when he was refused entry to the high priest's courtyard but “the other disciple” was allowed to go in with Jesus. It took courage to hang out by the fire with the officials, and I can understand that desire to know what's going on. But in all this, Peter had placed himself in a position he wasn't yet prepared for. He wasn't ready to defend his faith when questioned. He wasn't prepared to calm the overwhelm of emotion. He wasn't strengthened in spirit to stand securely in truth when faced with real danger. He trusted in his own courage, his own strength, his own understanding. And he found that they were not enough to overcome his own fear, which I think, along with no recognition of his own weaknesses, is the reason he ended up denying Jesus. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Peter didn't need a harsh rebuke, and Jesus didn't beat him down with one. It's a hard place to be when you've been betrayed, but Galatians 1:6 gives 3 guidelines. First, put your spiritual nature in charge. Christ in you is the only way you can rightly face and deal with the wrong and hurt. Second, focus on the desired outcome of restoration. That's always the Lord's primary focus, and it should be ours. Third, maintain a gentle spirit. An arrogant, judgmental, or legalistic attitude always makes things worse. It destroys restoration, relationships, and people. And it doesn't display the defining characteristic of Christian behavior, which is that of love. When our own courage fails us, the realization of it is a miserable feeling. According to 1John 1:9, we need to immediately confess it to the Lord. Then the hardest part is accepting His forgiveness, learning from it, and moving forward. One of the great lessons of our own personal failures is compassion, humility, and mercy toward others when they fail and repent. It's supposed to be all about restoration – all the way around. I fail in this, as we all do. I speak when I shouldn't and don't speak when I should. Staying close in the Word, prayer and fellowship with the Spirit is the key for me.

This is the first time I've seen this explanation of Jesus' words that caused the crowd to literally fall back, but now it finally makes sense! When He said “I AM” perhaps there was a surge of spiritual power as His Shekinah glory was revealed for just an instant. The people were overwhelmed with the presence of Yahweh. I think John included this detail because his focus the entire time has been to reveal Jesus's deity and full identity as God. Peter reacted to this situation with fear and a desire to protect his Rabbi. But our human perspectives and emotions are not always in line with what God is doing. Jesus rebuked Peter's attack on Malchus because it was essentially Peter's attempt to stop what was happening and where it would lead. Yes, Jesus was facing the forces of hell, but it was a showdown ordained by the Father in order to fully defeat those forces and secure the plan of salvation and redemption. Jesus was always and only about the Father's will, and as difficult as this was going to be, He was not going to disobey now. He offered no resistence to the arrest.

Everything we’re called to do and be as Christians is built on the foundational law of love, first for God and secondly for others (Matthew 22:37-40). That includes the call to be unified as the Body of Christ. When the physical body is out of harmony and all parts are not working together in unity, there is pain, distress, weakness, disease, sickness, distraction of focus, and interruption of purpose. Christ is the Head of the Body He has established with all who have and ever will believe on Him for salvation, and His Body must also operate in unity. That unity begins with love. As we obey this primary law and love one another, we demonstrate our relationship with God and man to the entire world and validate our discipleship to Christ (John 13:34-35). This is concrete evidence to the world that God is love (1John 4:7-12). Genuine love for God and each other results in the desire and effort to maintain unity. This is critical to the health and effectiveness of the whole body and the value of our witness and impact on the lost world. Jesus gave us the supreme example of unity here in verse 21a, as well as several other places – the oneness of God the Father and God the Son. The Father is in Christ and Christ is in the Father. The Body is in Christ and Christ is in us.

God has given us, as the Body of Christ, unique purpose for life on earth and He does not desire to immediately take us out of this world once we’ve been redeemed to Him. We’re appointed as ambassadors for Christ and God makes His appeal to the lost through us (2Corinthians 5:20). We are to be light in the darkness (Matthew 5:14-16) and exalt and proclaim the only name under heaven by which man can be saved from sin (Luke 24:47). We’re commissioned to spread this message of hope throughout the whole earth (Matthew 28:19-20). So the redeemed of God are no longer bound to the philosophies, principles, or self-centered demands of this world. Before salvation, that was all we knew. But as children of the King, we have been transformed and made citizens of heaven that are only travelers on earth headed toward home. And so, we physically remain and live our human lives in the world. But we have the mind and heart of Christ, who is not of the world. Our lifelong battle is overcoming and putting to death all the natural mindsets, desires, and motivations that are worldly so that we’re filled with the greater holy life of Christ in us and we no longer conform to the patterns set by the world – patterns that can only result in destruction. The only way we overcome the world and avoid contamination is by humbling and yielding ourselves to the presence and power of the Spirit of God within. That’s paired with our practical steps of studying/applying the Word of God to know truth and maintaining constant communication with Him through prayer to know His heart. We need close involvement with a community of other believers and accountability with a circle of wise and trusted followers of Christ. We need to mature in living by faith in God's presently unseen realities rather than by what we can see in this transient world that only seems real. And we need to cultivate greater awareness at all times of God at work in our lives and a focus on the “end of the game”. God has placed us on His team that is beyond and above the world – and He has already won!

John’s gospel account begins with the clear declaration that Jesus, the Word, was with God and actually was God at the beginning of creation. Jesus repeatedly declared that He and the Father are one, that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (ex. 10:30,38; 14:10-11; 17:11,21). Their relationship is one of total integration of each with the other. Each is unique of Person, but yet the same of deity. As One God, they would certainly share joint ownership of all things. Chapter 14:20 records Jesus’ promise that not only is He in the Father, but believers are in Christ and Christ is in us. He described it to be like the symbiotic relationship between branches and a vine. That integrates and unifies us not only with Christ, but also with the Father as well! Three times in this prayer of chapter 17, Jesus prayed that we may all be one in the One God. In the sense of being one with God, we would “co-possess” everything. What a mind-blowing promise that should compel us to live worthy of our calling! We should be maturing in thinking as God thinks, desiring what God desires, valuing what God values, seeking what God seeks, and speaking what God speaks. The reality of our exalted future in Christ should lift our thinking and actions above the things of this world as we set our focus on heaven, and humble us with the responsibilities of that privilege. Princes and princesses don’t think or behave like destitute paupers!

Jesus’ preexistent glory was equal to the glory of the Father. The Son of God has always been honored in heaven as the One who created everything that has been created and continues to sustain that creation. He has always been lauded as the One who was, is, and forever will be unmatched in His supremacy before and above all things. He has always been esteemed as the God the Word who existed jointly with God the Father when time was created. For the duration of His earthly life as a servant of the Father born in the likeness of men, Jesus divested Himself of His glory, rightful authority, and divine privilege as He “made Himself nothing” and humbled Himself to accept the shame of death on the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus never proclaimed anything but the glory of the Father. Glimpses of His own glory only came through the fullness of grace and truth in His identity as “the only Son from the Father” (John 1:14). Now returned to the presence of the Father, the glory attributed to Jesus before His incarnation has been fully restored – with the additional ceaseless praise of His faithful accomplishment of the Father’s will and plan of salvation. He is celebrated as the One who is worthy of all possible praise, glory, honor, and power throughout all eternity. When He prayed this prayer of chapter 17, Jesus knew what was ahead. He knew the tidal wave of fear, questions, doubts, and dangers that would soon threaten the faith of His disciples. He had already promised to send His Spirit and not leave them abandoned. And now He shared His heart for them/us with the Father as He prayed of His desire for the time when all those given to Him (because of faith in redemption to the Father through His blood sacrifice) will be with Him in heaven and will see His glory in its fullness. The disciples needed that statement of truth and glimpse of Christ’s position with the Father as a foundation to strengthen them through the difficulties and persecution that would soon descend. They needed to grasp the reality of who He truly is in order to accept their mission of taking the gospel to the world and laying the foundations of the Church. The shame and disgrace of the cross was NOT the end of the story! This assured truth of seeing Christ in all His glory was (and is) an anchor of our faith and the hope of our future.

Jesus accepted the sole mission of accomplishing the Father's will through the work the Father gave Him to do. This was the work of humanity's salvation from sin and redemption to the Father with eternal life. This work required that He come to earth to be “numbered with the transgressors” (Luke 22:37) and humble Himself to obey only the Father’s will in completing the mission (John 6:38-40). This brought glory to the Father because obedience to His perfect will and completion of His mission always honors Him. He is glorified because His name and reputation are magnified throughout the entirety of His creation when His will is accomplished. The primary work the Father has given me to do (and all of us in the Body of Christ) is that of believing in Christ who was sent to earth by God (John 6:29). As a result, we are to express that belief by boldly living and proclaiming the message of salvation and redemption that has been secured only through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20; 1Peter 1:3). That is accomplished by varied means as He leads each of us in differing ways, but we are all called to this one sole mission. For some, that’s a call to leave home and family to directly proclaim the gospel to other places in the world. For others, that’s a call to do whatever possible to support those who do go with prayer and resources, and to proclaim the gospel on the home front within the realm of personal influence as we interact with people whose paths cross our own. I try to cultivate a sensitivity and awareness of those moments, to be prepared with the Word, and to be obedient with resources, but I have so very far to go. That outreach to others can only properly develop as I yield myself to believing in my Redeemer in all things, for all things, and through all things. So the central focus and efforts of my “work” must be directed toward whatever will build my faith in Him. When I get that right, the rest will follow!

The average person would define the phrase “eternal life” as an existence that is everlasting, never ending. That is the typical phrase Christians most commonly use, as well. But the definition Jesus gave here in verse 3 is much broader and deeper. His definition is outside our human concepts of earthly time and time eternal. The key element of His definition is the relationship of really knowing the Father and the Son. This is not just from afar, not through our mortal imperfections and inability to completely comprehend, and not only through the somewhat intangible Spirit living in us - but through an uninterrupted, unending, face-to-face, one-on-one relationship where we will intimately and fully know the full personage of God the Father and God the Son, just as we have been known all along. This is a sharper focus of this future with God than I’ve ever had. I can hardly fathom the overwhelming joy and reality of this destiny!

Jesus has overcome the world because He has overcome sin with its consequences and judgment of death. He has overcome the powers and systems that govern and drive humanity. He has overcome the evil realm of darkness and satan’s authority over this fallen world. ALL has been defeated and judged for destruction. The only thing left is the moment when He comes back from heaven to implement His victory and reclaim all that is rightfully His! This is our great hope for all who believe that Jesus is the Son of God (1John 5:5). Believers also have this victory, and it’s employed in our lives by our faith in Jesus. We believe by faith that His blood on heaven’s mercy seat has atoned for our nature and practice of sin, that His righteousness cloaks us before the Father, that He indwells us with spiritual power to live with courage according to His character. We live in His victory through the work of the Holy Spirit within. And through Him we can overcome iniquities of our own flesh, the world’s ways and philosophies, and the destruction satan attempts. Jesus, with all His victorious power and strength residing in us, can defeat anything brought against us. Martyrdom in the natural realm has no impact on the victories of the spiritual realm! Death in this world is merely a transfer of life to eternity. By faith, we're to live this earthly life with an expectant confidence in our Overcomer and the certainty of His victory.

When I feel lonely, I think it is ultimately because of a lack of awareness and focus on the One who is ever with me. There is no state of mind or emotion and no place in all of creation that I can go where God’s presence is missing. This means that when I feel alone, abandoned, deserted, or betrayed, I still have one Faithful Friend who always abides in me with the presence of His Spirit. He is there with strength, encouragement, wisdom, direction, comfort, and peace no matter what I face. The key is my focus. Fifteen years ago, I began a tough journey with my daughter as she was struck with an autoimmune disease at age 20. The first 2 years were very difficult much of the time, and I often felt alone in the struggle since almost no one seemed to understand what we were dealing with, especially on the emotional level. In fact, over time I realized that not one family member, not one single friend, not even my husband or my own mother seemed aware at all of my need for someone to minister encouragement to me as I ministered that to my daughter. I’m thankful they frequently asked about her, but it’s no exaggeration to say that for 2 years nobody asked how I was holding up. When she was hospitalized for 11 days for major surgery, no friend even called me! It seemed like they all were wearing blinders, and it was a long lonely walk indeed. And then the LORD showed me that, in a way, they all were blinded to my need because He wanted me to walk that path with Him and learn to lean only on Him. Those lonely days were transformed into joyful and precious time with my Father like no other time in my life, and I was even able to fully release the hurt I felt at being so thoroughly overlooked by the people in my life. God’s presence is real. Our fellowship with Father is deepened as we pray for and cultivate an awareness of His presence and we train ourselves to see Him at work all around us in our everyday moments. Be grateful for the tiniest ways He reveals Himself - in moments as simple as stopping to rejoice with your grandchildren as they chase fireflies on a summer evening, or marveling at the steadfast stars in the dark night sky, or humbling your heart as you stand at the shore and watch wave after wave roll in from the vast ocean, or observing your hurting child receive kind and excellent care from a wonderful Christian doctor and watching her rest peacefully as you sit by her hospital bed. Be aware of God there, express your gratitude, and rejoice in Him. Learn His Word, trust His promises to be true, apply truth to your situations, and pray His own words back to Him in faith. Expect Him to honor His Word to you, and then thank Him for it. You’ll realize that you were never alone at all. And you’ll begin to find Him right there when you feel most forsaken by everyone else. Jesus knew this, and so can we.

When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are approaching the Father in the character and stature and authority of Jesus, and in His manner of humility and submission to the Father’s will. A prayer offered from this mindset is a prayer the Father will affirmatively answer (vs.23)! Prayers offered to Christ and to the Spirit are certainly not prohibited because they are our Mediator and our Intercessor, and they are both fully God. But our prayers ultimately come before the Father, whether through the Mediator and Intercessor or through our own direct approach gained through the merit of Jesus. The overall point here was that because of our belief in who Jesus is and what He has done, the Father Himself loves us in a new father/child relationship that opens a direct line of communication between us. Every parent wants his children to come to him, rather than trying to communicate through third party siblings! God the Father now invites/expects us to come straight to Him with our prayers, just as His Son, our supreme example, did. He loves us as our Father, and our prayers are always answered according to His love, His grace, and His perfect will. The concept of praying to a saint for intercession is very problematic for me, for several reasons. Using verse 26 to support that belief is to lift it out of context and disregard what is said directly before and after it. The entirety of just this chapter alone makes it clear that the Father answers prayers offered in Jesus’ name, out of His love and acceptance of us through our belief in His Son. No other approach is Scriptural. Scripture reveals and identifies Jesus Christ as our only Mediator (1Timothy 2:5) and the Holy Spirit as our sole Intercessor (Romans 8:26-27) before the Father. There isn’t anywhere in Scripture that teaches any additional name through which we are to pray or records any example of asking someone else in heaven to pray for us. And Deuteronomy 18:11-12 warns that those who seek to inquire of the dead are considered detestable before the LORD. Paul’s use of the word “saints” in the opening greetings of many of his letters makes it clear that all believers who are loved by God the Father, sanctified in Christ, and united as His Body by the Spirit are called to be saints. There’s nothing in the Word that supports the creation of a unique heavenly class with some kind of special prayer access or privilege or influence before God that we do not also already have with our access to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). There may be valuable lessons to learn from the lives of those who are formally titled as “saints”, but they have no greater power to gain God’s ear than we have been given in Christ. I am struck with sadness by Rebecca Mallinson’s humble statement in her answer that “I don’t think it is scriptural to pray to a saint, but it is done with humility by those who don’t feel they are fit to speak to God.” Yes, we all probably feel that way at times (I certainly have), but what God honors is our active faith in what He says rather than in what we feel. God convicts and corrects, but He NEVER condemns His children. And we must acknowledge and remember that our feelings are almost never completely accurate! We can be genuinely sincere but yet genuinely wrong if we aren’t operating in the truth. When we’re crippled and led astray by our feelings, I’m certain it breaks the Father’s heart and dishonors who He’s made us to be in Christ. So we need to encourage each other that we’re to come to the Father with confidence, full assurance of faith, and unwavering hope in His faithfulness (Hebrews 10:19-23), and that our feelings of unworthiness can only be overcome by our faith in His worthiness at work in us. Thank You, Jesus, for making this possible!!! So without any desire to offend or be judgmental towards anyone, I can only conclude that prayers offered through any saints gone on to heaven before us (or angels or anything else, for that matter) are misdirected, powerless, unproductive, and even offensive to the Father.

Jesus could not convey everything He would have liked to have taught and explained to the apostles because they could not bear it all in those final hours with Him before His arrest and death. He assured them that the promised Helper from God would complete the declaration of the truths of God that Jesus had been teaching them. The Spirit would also do something for them that Jesus could not do; He would open their eyes of understanding to comprehend what they were taught and to rightly apply it. In one sense, this promise was specific to the apostles, for they had no forerunners in this new relationship with God through Christ. The truths of God were to be "placed in their hands” with responsibility to lay down the foundations for the Church. They were accountable for an accurate written record of God’s Word to man, which was an entirely new revelation of God to us (not a new God, but a new revelation of Him). They were to rightly interpret and teach this new covenant relationship, and hand it down to those of us who would follow. It was imperative to “get it right”, and only the Spirit could inspire and enable that. In another sense, this promise is generally for us, as well. The Spirit continues to declare and reveal the truths of God to believers, as He uses that written record of God’s Word that was given to the apostles for our benefit. The Spirit guides us into all the truth at all times and works in our hearts and lives for the glory of Christ (vs. 13-14).

Some good points are made in the lesson about the means through which the Spirit convicts unbelievers. He works through: Miracles, which display God’s power, holiness, and authority over creation. Prophetic words, which reveal God’s knowledge and foresight. Preaching and testimony, which the Spirit uses to enlighten and touch the heart. Our righteous lives, which give witness to God’s power at work to transform and empower us. Instruction and prayer, which uses individual investment of self in discussion and intercession. Conviction of sin in others is not our job because it is a spiritual issue that only the Spirit can address. There is no human power that can bring conviction and salvation. We cannot know what is truly in another person’s heart that needs convicting and we lack the wisdom to know how to rightly deal with it. When we attempt to do His work, we operate out of our human nature, our lack of understanding, our perceptions, our own sense of right…all of which is flawed and makes us an obstacle to the Spirit’s work. And we usually become legalistic and/or self-righteous and judgmental, condemning rather than convicting. This makes other people feel defeated, they become defensive and resistant, and they would almost certainly be pushed away from Christ rather than drawn them toward Him. Our job is to consistently speak the truth of God’s Word to them with a loving, non-contentious attitude and to diligently pray for them.

The time had arrived for Jesus to face the last steps in the Father’s plan of salvation, which meant He was soon to be offered as the final Lamb of sacrifice that would atone for the sin of all humanity. He was going to die in a way that would drain His physical body of its blood and would then be raised to conquer death and return to His glory in heaven. This would be of supreme benefit to the disciples because eternal life and salvation would be secured for them, as well as the world. The second primary benefit of Jesus’ departure from earth was to be that on His arrival in heaven, He would send the Spirit of God to come and dwell with all who believe. If Jesus never left, the Spirit would never come! In John 14:12, Jesus said that the Spirit will endow us with spiritual power that will enable us to do the same works that Jesus did, but on a greater multiplied level as the Body of Christ is spread around the world.

To testify is to give witness of what you know to be true from what you have personally seen, heard, and experienced. The Spirit testifies of Jesus through those He indwells, the Body of Christ. He testifies to us as He reminds us of His personal knowledge of Jesus’s words, as He enlightens our understanding and gives us the right thing to say to rightly represent the truth of Jesus at the time we need it. Of course, we have not seen the physical Jesus, traveled with Him, listened to Him teach, observed His miracles, or watched Him die and then see Him risen from the grave and ascended to heaven. But we each have personal knowledge of Christ as we have individually experienced Him working from within and seen the evidence of His outward work around us. We can certainly give witness to what we know as our lives and hearts have been transformed into new creations, as our desires and motives are completely changed, as we are empowered for previously unimaginable service, as we have a new love and peace that didn’t exist before, as we possess an unearthly hope that sees us through hardship and persecution, as His promises are proven true in our lives time after time. We can testify of the miracles we have seen in our own lives, such as the experience when my mother was dying from a ruptured brain aneurysm and heart attack, but the Lord brought her back from the threshold of death the doctors were expecting – and restored her to health and wholeness as she’s resumed normal life for the past 9 years. Jesus Christ is real, He is True, and He is active in our lives today!

Jesus and the record of Scripture identify the Holy Spirit as a “he”, not an “it”. The Spirit has qualities and emotions of personhood. He has a mind, will, and feelings – which are characteristics of a person. The Spirit conducts activities and does work in personhood. He oversees and directs ministry, appoints and equips and teaches workers, comforts and encourages and convicts and corrects, testifies of Christ and glorifies Him. He is busy and active with intent and purpose. Only personhood is capable of these things. I think it’s easy to consider the Spirit to be an “it” because He is such an intangible to us. God’s Word doesn’t describe Him with human physical attributes like it does for the Father and the Son. He is described like a wind, and has appeared like a cloud of glory, a dove, and a fire. We experience evidence of the Spirit's ministry to us and work in/through us, but we can’t see and touch that work like we can see and touch creation and miracles (works of the Father and Son). We sense and feel it more with our hearts and minds.

Christians are persecuted even if they haven’t directly hurt others because the authentic Christian lifestyle is an inherent indictment against the way the lost world thinks and lives. The Gospel’s core message of love exposes the selfishness and hatred that drives the innate human desire for autonomous power and control without accountability. This is true in societies, governments, religions, and even within the varieties of Christianity that man has fashioned. The brilliant holiness and principles of Christ are threatening to the dark underbelly of humanity that indulges in pride and self-gratification in all its forms. When followers of Christ live an honest faithful life of love, purity, and selflessness, it’s like an intense light being shined in your eyes – which naturally causes you to cover your eyes, move away, then try to shut off that light because it is irritating and painful. Jesus warned those who choose to follow Him that persecution will be inevitable. The world has always resisted and hated Him/His truth, so anyone who chooses to believe and accept His Word and live according to His mind/heart will naturally be resisted and hated as well. This is a difficult truth for us, especially when we are only taught a “Cotton Candy Gospel” that is only about comfortable love and yummy blessings and good things coming your way. That view is all sugar and air, with little substance to hold us firm and stable when strong winds and stormy deluges of persecution begin. We must be anchored in the substance of weighty Truth with its reality of a hostile response from the world. We cannot cower and compromise under mild pressure if we are to be valid representatives of the Truth of God with genuine testimonies that can’t be discredited. We are directed to speak the truth, always with love. I guess that to ignore persecutors is actually to bow to their pressure and give place to their rejection of Truth. That fuels and strengthens their attacks on God’s Truth and His people. We’ve certainly seen that progression in America over the past 50+ years as the Godly principles that birthed and shaped our country have been eroded/destroyed in stunning ways that started with a few small but threatening sparks that generally went unchallenged by the Body of Christ. For generations, the keepers of Truth have largely failed to discern the threat and have ignored the ever-growing intensities of danger as they silently “minded their own business”. And now those sparks rage like an unrelenting firestorm of open persecution . This failure to live out authentic faith with strength and courage has caused devastating weakness here in my beloved country, which has weakened the entire world. I know we all feel overwhelmed, but Christ calls us to expect it and to face it – by His Spirit’s power – with courage and conviction. We are the testimony He has given to the world. Oh Lord, help us to be faithful.