Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The SPIRIT of TRUTH- dwelleth with you- shall be in you.

1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Joh_4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh_4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Joh_6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Joh 14:14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17  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.
Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

His commandment-

BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST- GOD'S SON.

His commandment-

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

To LOVE one another we must have GOD in our lives because GOD is LOVE, He is the LOVE we LOVE with.  The thing we call 'our' love often ends up being very hurtful- you know that old saying and song- 'Love Hurts.'  Our love hurts so much because it's not God's love but some made up idea of love that Satan has concocted to pass off as love. 

He that keeps God's commandments DWELLS IN GOD, and GOD IN HIM.  It can't be any other way because GOD IS LOVE and LOVE is the commandment!  Believe in the ultimate proof of all love- Jesus Christ, and love one another. 

We KNOW GOD abides in US by the SPIRIT which HE gives to us!

If we believe, if we LOVE our Savior comprehending that it is by HIS love that we love at all, then we will keep all the SAVIOR'S commandments.  We will do this because our SAVIOR will ask HIS FATHER to give us a COMFORTER that will abide with us FOR EVER.

That COMFORTER is the SPIRIT of TRUTH.
The SPIRIT of TRUTH will dwell WITH US and shall be IN US.

We will NOT be left without comfort and what comforts us- the HOPE of the END of our FAITH - SALVATION through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, all in HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The HOLY SPIRIT, the COMFORTER is a REAL BEING, not a figment of people's imagination. The COMFORTER is given to us, to BE WITH us and IN us.

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I want to include a bit from  a study I'm reading on 'The Comforter- The Holy Spirit.'  By William Grotheer


'After having read every text in the New Testament where the word, "spirit" or "Holy Spirit" is found, we determined that "spirit" is applied to different beings and forces at work in the world,and within man. Angels are designated as "ministering spirits." (Heb. 1:14) Demons are noted as "unclean spirits." (Rev. 16:13-14) A deep human emotion is based in what is termed, "spirit." (Mark 8:12) The perception of one's  presence, though the person is not present, is noted as being present in "spirit." (I Cor. 5:4)

This study was approached with one vital presupposition:     The "form of God" in which Jesus existed prior to Bethlehem was SPIRIT for God is Spirit. (John 4:24) This SPIRIT exceeds that of angels for they are only "ministering spirits." (Heb. 1:14) This SPIRIT is immortal, eternal, and indestructible.

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'We asked ourselves why so little is known of the "nature" of the Holy Spirit? Then we asked ourselves why so little was perceived as to whom Jesus was until after the coming of the Holy Spirit? The answer to the second question helped us to perceive the answer to the first. Jesus came not to do His own will, but the will of God. (John 6:38) He came to glorify the Father. (John 17:4) He did not even come in His own name. (John 5:43) His was a life of selfless projection of the Father's glory - grace and truth. (John 1:14) Likewise the ministry of the Holy Spirit - He would not speak of Himself. He would glorify Jesus and the work which Jesus accomplished. (John 16:13-14)


The very first New Testament reference written in regard to the Holy Spirit clearly declares the Holy Spirit as distinct from a "power," per se. It reads:   -   For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit. (I Thess. 1:5)

This same distinction is also seen in I Cor. 2:4.

[We shall use the word "Spirit" in place of "Ghost" in all quotes from the Bible.]

Many references in the New Testament which mention the Holy Spirit speak of His work in making effective for the believer the salvation provided alone in Jesus Christ. Examples of this can be found in II Thess. 2:13; I Cor. 6:11 and Titus 3:5. Further the Holy Spirit is set forth as a Teacher who searches the deep things of God. (I Cor. 2:10, 13) He bestows "gifts" as "He wills." (I Cor. 12:4, 11) He is the builder of the Church. (Eph. 2:22) He speaks. (I Tim. 4:1) He can be grieved. (Eph. 4:30) He can be insulted. (Heb. 10:29) He can be lied to. (Act, 5:3) All of these statements in regard to the Holy Spirit indicate not a power, nor a mere influence, but rather a Person.

The fourth book written of the New Testament canon (Chronologically) closes with a three-fold benediction - "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." (II Cor. 13:14) Language cannot be clearer that the Holy Spirit is as much a Person as are either God or the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet in this same letter, Paul emphatically declares - "The Lord is that Spirit." (II Cor. 3:17) In this third chapter, Paul is contrasting the ministration of the letter under Moses, and the ministration of the Spirit under Christ. While declaring that the Lord is that Spirit, Paul differentiates between Lords in verse 18. Note it carefully using the margin which gives the literal Greek rendering. It thus reads:     But we all, with open face beholding as in a  glass the glory of the Lord [Jesus] , are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Lord the Spirit. (3:18)

The close identification between "the Lord Jesus Christ" and "the Lord the Spirit" is seen elsewhere in the New Testament. Paul declares that Isaac was born "after the Spirit." (Gal. 4:29) Yet in noting the Old Testament account, the "Lord" who appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre said - "I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son." (Gen. 18:10) It was repeated a second time by the same "Lord." (18:14) In Hebrews, it reads - "The Holy Spirit saith" (3:7) - "the Holy Spirit . . . said before." (10:15) - yet both quotes are from the Old Testament. Gabriel told Daniel that the only One who held with him in "the scripture of truth" was "Michael your prince." (10:21) This is further illuminated in the Epistles of Peter. There we are told that "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (II Peter 1:21) But in his first letter, Peter indicates that these holy men - prophets - "searched diligently ... what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify." (I Peter 1: 10-11) Thus the New Testament closely identifies the Holy Spirit - the Lord the Spirit - with Michael the "Lord" of the Old Testament.

Paul tells us that God sent forth TWO into the world. "God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law." "God [also] hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son" that we might understand Him as "Father." (Gal. 4:4, 6) This same duality and relationship appears in the symbolism of the book of Revelation. When the door was opened in heaven, John beheld the Throne of God, and before the Throne were "seven lamps of fire" which are declared to be "the seven Spirits of God." (4:5) Yet when the Lamb "as it had been slain" is introduced from "the midst of the Throne" with "seven horns (fullness of power) and seven eyes (complete omnipresence)", - these are declared to be "the Seven Spirits sent forth into all the earth."(5:6)

In the book of Romans, the setting forth of the Holy Spirit is concentrated in Chapter 8. The message there has been largely ignored. We have contrasted this chapter with Romans 7, and ended the contrast with 8:16, as if an entirely different subject began. While the first part of Romans 8 speaks of "the sons of God" resultant from the leading of "the Spirit of God" (8:14), there is yet another "manifestation of the sons of God." (8: 19) In this the Spirit has an important part to play. Though we have "the first fruits of the Spirit" (8:23), we still have the fallen sinful nature. This, the Spirit helps - our "infirmities." This is the same word as found in Matthew 8:17, designating what Christ took in taking upon Himself our humanity. It is also the same word as found in Hebrews 4:15 which tells the why of the compassion of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit that is to make intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Until "the redemption of the body" at the second coming of Jesus Christ, the saints can know they will have an intercessor at the Throne of God - the Lord the Spirit. While the Man Christ Jesus steps aside (Compare I Tim. 2:5 & Rev. 15:8), the Holy Spirit continues His ministry until the living saints are translated.

In the synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark and Luke - the Holy Spirit is pictured in direct relationship to Jesus Christ in two experiences - His birth and baptism. The conception is spoken of as "out of the Spirit." (Matt. 1:18, 20b: "of" is the translation of the Greek preposition, ek, literally, "out of.") Luke records the announcement to Mary by Gabriel of God in "flesh appearing." Gabriel stated:      The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy [spirit] which shall be born of thee shall be called the God. (Luke 1:35)

The word, "thing" is supplied in the KJV because the adjective "holy" is in the neuter gender. But this adjective is the same as the adjective describing "Spirit" in the same verse, and thus the missing word to be modified could likewise be the word, "spirit. " This concept is well stated in the Writings: "He (Christ) united humanity with divinity: a divine spirit dwelt in a temple of flesh." (4BC:1147) That "divine spirit" dwelling in a temple of flesh was called "the Son of God."

In Mark, there is a key reference to the Holy Spirit in relationship to the final witness. In Jesus' prophetic discourse, He stated:      When they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. (Mark 13:11)

So fully will God's witnesses be in-filled with the Holy Spirit at that hour, that when they speak, the voice which comes forth will be the Holy Spirit. It will be the "manifestation of the sons of God" as foretold in Romans 8:19. And Jesus gives the time when this shall occur - "the gospel must first be published among all nations." (Mark 13:10) He also tells us where this witness will be given - in councils, in churches, and before rulers and kings. (13:9)

The book of Acts could well be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. In this book, the Holy Spirit is presented as One in full command of the Church, and its spokesmen, and as One functioning as the Vicegerent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The very introduction sets forth the role of the Spirit as the Vicegerent. After Jesus was taken up into heaven, "He through the Spirit" continued to give "commandments unto the apostles." (Acts 1:2) These apostles and others as "spokesmen" were "full of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 7:55; 11:24; 13:9)

The Book of Acts presents the Spirit as in full command of the Church and its spokesmen. He speaks to Philip - "Go near and join thyself to this chariot." (Acts 8:29) Philip obeys, and another witness is born into the kingdom of God, the Ethiopian eunuch. Then the Spirit transports Philip to another place. (8:39) To Peter, as he meditated on the unusual vision he had received, the Spirit said, "Behold three men seek thee . . . I have sent them." (10:19-20) To the leaders of the church in Antioch, the same Holy Spirit said - "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." (13:2) And Paul on his second missionary tour desired to go to certain areas to preach the gospel, but was "forbidden of the Holy Spirit." (16:6-7) Thus, the Spirit is pictured as functioning in His own right, as a Person directing the Church of the Living God.

The Book of Acts also reveals an experience which sets forth the Holy Spirit as God. When two members sought to deceive the Apostles, Peter said they lied "to the Holy Spirit. " Then he explains the extent of that deception - "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God." (5:3-4) The Holy Spirit is
not of the order of the created - men nor angels - but of the Uncreated - God.      {To Be Continued.}

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This is a very intense study, please, please take your time and study it thoroughly. Get your Bible - either  electronic Bible or one you can actually hold in your hand it doesn't matter- but get your Bible and take the time to look up the verses and study, really, truly study this!  We need to know more, we need to comprehend more of the Holy Spirit.

The HOLY SPIRIT, the COMFORTER is a REAL BEING, not a figment of people's imagination. The COMFORTER is given to us, to BE WITH us and IN us.

We NEED to know more!

All by the GRACE and MERCY of our LOVING GOD!

In HIM ALWAYS!

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