the Father sends the Holy Spirit ‘in the name’ of Jesus

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and He will bring to your remembrance all things that I said unto you. Again we meet with the expression ‘in my name’ already considered by us at John_14:13, where we saw that it primarily refers to the name ‘Son,’ and then to the revelation of the Father in the Son. It will be found that this conception suits each of those nine places in 
chaps, 14-17 where the words occur, as well as the two others in chap. 17 where Jesus speaks of manifesting or declaring the ‘name’ of God.   Here the Father sends the Holy Spirit ‘in the name’ of Jesus; that is, the sending of the Spirit is grounded in the Father’s revelation of Himself in the Son. 
It is because in Him He reveals Himself to us as our Father, because He makes us by faith in Him His own sons, that we are brought into that relation to Him which enables us to receive the fullness of His Spirit. In this verse, as contrasted with John_14:16, we have not merely a promise of the Spirit of the truth. There is an advance of thought, and the Spirit is spoken of in His training power, as He applies to the heart ‘the truth’ which is His being. 
Several particulars in the words before us illustrate this. 

First, there is the epithet ‘holy,’ which here, as throughout this Gospel, expresses the idea of complete separation from all that is of the world, and complete consecration to all that is spiritual and heavenly (comp. chaps. John_3:34, John_10:36). 
Secondly, the Father is to ‘send’ the Spirit to the disciples even as He sent the Son (John_14:24), a statement indicating that He is sent to be in them for a similar purpose. And lastly, the ‘all things’ that the Spirit is to teach must (according to the rules suggested by the climactic structure of our Gospel) be included in the ‘all things’ spoken by Jesus, and now to be brought to their remembrance. 

What Jesus taught shall be the ‘all things’ that they are taught; can they be taught for any other purpose than to be again spoken for the salvation of men? In the words of Jesus ‘all things’ needed for man’s salvation are implicitly contained, and with that teaching the disciples shall be filled. These considerations lead directly to the conclusion, of which we shall often have to make use in the closing chapters of this Gospel, that Jesus is now dealing with His disciples not as simply believers in His name, but as persons about to enter on His work.

. And I will restore to you the years

Joel 2:24-25 

And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.

Have you ever been through a time of plenty, and then came to a time when you wondered where the money was coming from to meet your bills? I certainly have, and I know most people of my generation have been through tough times.

My experience as an investigator for nine years, and visiting people who had debts, taught me that money problems is not about income, but about spending. Some people I met were receiving what I would consider was a good income, but their spending was excessive. I also met people who really were on hard times. Where the main wage earner was unemployed due to illness, and they already had financial commitments.

I now thank God for that time, and what we learned then, that has made us appreciate what we have got now. We learned to pray and seek God for all our needs, and He met those needs time and time again. We know God as our provider in times of need, and we also know we must trust in God whether we have nothing, or if we have plenty, we must keep the faith and be content. Read Malachi 3:8-12 you will see that God rebukes those who devour what is ours, and pours out rich blessing on us who trust Him and tithe our income.

Prayer: Thank you our Heavenly Father for your love, compassion and mercy towards us, that your will be done and your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Disciple John

  

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A Week in God’s Presence (No 7)

A Week in God’s Presence (No 7)

“God loves a cheerful giver” (2Co_9:7)

Today’s post concludes a series on the topic of “experiencing God’s Presence”  — but it launches you forward into a lifestyle that will help others around you experience His presence, too. We discovered that there are three ways, each very practical and easy to do on a personal level, that will open our lives to an unmistakable, undeniable, and unforgettable encounter with God. (i.e., Time in the Word, Time with others who love and serve the Lord, and Time in prayer).

Now I must tell you that there is one thing you can do to help others around you to experience God’s Presence in undeniable measures. And this one thing, when all is said and done, may be of such importance that apart from it you may never fully know the nearness of the Lord in your own life!

In a single word it is Generosity. The previous three each provide a supply of God’s Presence to you; generosity provides for others a supply of God’s presence through you.

When Smiths Wigglesworth saw Niagara Falls for the first time, he exclaimed, “O God, Like that through me!” His hunger for God’s presence and fullness in and through his life were aptly depicted that day. How about you?

Jesus said, “Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” (Luke_6:38).

I once heard it said, “You cannot give away what you do not have.” If you are not experiencing God’s presence in your life, it is not likely that you can help others do so either. However, if your ARE experiencing God’s presence, then everything in you is pre-set by God to insure that others will inevitably encounter the Lord when they are with you.

But you must commit yourself to an attitude, indeed, a lifestyle of generosity. Webster’s define this as “characterized by a noble and forbearing spirit, being open-hearted and open-handed in liberality.”

We are not merely talking about money here; this lifestyle of generosity covers everything about you. In the words of Ernest Crosy, “No one could show me where my soul might be; I searched for God, and He eluded me; I served my neighbor, and I found all three.”  

Others come to know you as a giver, rather than a taker. 
A man or woman who is always ready to help in a way that more than makes a difference.

It’s only fitting that this be our grand aspiration. After all, when we consider all that the Lord Jesus has so freely given to us, how can we continue to live any other way but open and generous?

Try it today, and you will see that I am right. Do something that is purposefully generous for someone else – and watch how their lives becomes filled with a sense of God’s presence. Then, ready yourself for an astounding backwash of blessing. For as you have given, so it will be given to you again in good and abundant measure!
Christian Radio Bible Answer Man

A Week in God’s Presence (No 6)

A Week in God’s Presence (No 6)

“The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.” (Pro_16:17, English Standard Version)

For the past few days we have discovered and discussed what it means to experience God’s Presence, and how God has provided us with practical ways to do so. Here is an illustration I think will be helpful to you as you move forward.

Recall the many times you have driven along the highway. You travel at varying speeds, moving in and out of traffic, changing lanes at appropriate junctures, taking in the sights as you travel along.

From this day forward try approaching devotional Bible Study, Christian Fellowship, and Prayer with the same perspective.

As you open the Bible to read or study, realize that you are a Traveler entering onto a highway. The same is true when you pass through the doors of a church filled with Christ-followers, or a home hosting a group of ardent believers. And, again, the same is true when you bow your head and lift your heart to heaven in Prayer. In each of these you are a Traveler entering onto a highway.

You begin slowly and deliberately. Then you pick up speed and begin to move with the flow of traffic. Perhaps you are heading somewhere specific, or just out for a drive. Either way, never forget that somewhere in your journey you are going to be met by God. He is on the highway, also. And He is coming up on you any minute now!

He may be coming from behind, and pull up alongside you. Or He may be coming from the opposite direction, and call you to turn around. He may even take the overpass, and lead you to places you never even thought of going.

The point is that you are GOING. Never read the Bible as a static soul, unmoved by its words and power. 
Never attend a fellowship of Believers detached and un-involved, for you will miss the movement of God if you do so. 
And never go to the place of prayer on auto-pilot; reciting religious phrases, chanting incantations and muttering monotone phrases. 

Instead, live your life to the full by seeing yourself as a Traveler, and these three useful provisions as High Ways that lead to an encounter with God!

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A Week in God’s Presence (No 5)

A Week in God’s Presence (No 5)

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen!” (2Co_13:14)

There is a place called Prayer. It is a place of Intimate Friendship with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus called the Holy Spirit our Friend. Prayer is the communication center where this friendship finds its fullest benefits in our lives. I’m not talking about prayer as a daily devotional practice at the start of the day. Rather, I see it as an on-going interaction that occurs spontaneously throughout the day in every circumstance we encounter.

“I will talk to the Father,” Jesus said, “and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take Him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see Him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know Him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you! (John_14:16-17).

He then said that our Friend, the Holy Spirit, would “make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you” (John_14:26). And then He added, “He will confirm everything about me.” (John_15:26).

To summarize, Jesus promised that we would never be left alone; that we would have the Holy Spirit as our Friend, always with us – even inside us – making things plain, reminding us of all that Jesus said, and confirm His words as true.

Yet, it would be a safe bet to say that the majority of Christians know very little about the Holy Spirit. This is not unique to the day in which we live; it is a deficiency that has characterized church history for the past few centuries.

Thomas Goodwin wrote in 1660, “There is a general omission in the saints of God, in their not giving the Holy Spirit that glory that is due to His person and for His great work of salvation in us; inasmuch that we have in our hearts almost forgotten this Third Person.” A.W. Pink was far less tactful, “Wherever little honor is done to the Holy Spirit, there is grave cause to suspect the genuineness of any profession of Christianity.”

In 1880, just twenty years after Goodwin made his heartfelt appeal, the Rev. George Smeaton of Scotland wrote, “We may safely affirm that the doctrine of the Spirit is almost entirely ignored.” It seems Goodwin’s earlier words had fallen on stony ground.

Samuel Chadwick articulated the inestimable worth of the Holy Spirit when he said, “The gift of the Spirit is the crowing mercy of God in Christ Jesus. It was for this all the rest was. The Incarnation and Crucifixion, the Resurrection and Ascension were all preparatory to Pentecost. Without the gift of the Holy Spirit all the rest would be useless! The great thing in Christianity is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The essential, vital, central element in the life of the soul, and in the work of the Church — is the Person of the Spirit.” (Joyful News, 1911).

Odd, don’t you think; at how generally unaware we are of His presence? It reminds me of the confession of Jacob when he awoke from his dream, “Surely God was in this place, and I knew it not!” Strange, indeed, that man can be in the presence of the Almighty – and know it not.

Why not make an intentional decision to meet, and get to know this Friend? He is even now awaiting your reply to an open invitation.

We will continue this series next.

A Week in God’s Presence (No 4)

A Week in God’s Presence (No 4)

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen!” (2Co_13:14)

Have you ever experienced the Extravagant Love of God?

Webster’s defines extravagant as “exceeding the limits of reason or necessity; lacking in moderation, balance, or restraint; profuse and lavish.” 
Have you ever encountered God’s Presence in such measure that He blew your doors off with just how much He loves you?

Zephaniah the prophet gave us a glimpse at this extraordinary, extravagant God. “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zep_3:17).
you know that God wants to overwhelm you with an outpouring of His extravagant love? He wants you to know that even now, despite what you think about yourself, He rejoices over you with joy? He rests in His love for you? He joys over you with singing?

And did you know that the surest way for you to truly experience this extravagance is to spend quality time with real Christians? Hear me carefully – I’m not talking about “church-goers” as much as I’m talking about “Christ-followers.” The two are not always the same.

When you are in the company of a gathering of mere “church-goers” you will be surrounded with legalism, opinion, criticism, judgment and debate. But when you are in the midst of true “Christ-followers” your life will be flooded with extraordinary  expressions of God’s extravagant love. You will be supported, believed in, upheld, defended, empowered, and unleashed to pursue God’s highest and best purposes for your life.

In other words, you will experience God’s Presence – and never be the same. To sum it up – spend quality time in God’s Word, and a quantity of time with quality people; do this and God will be with you in extraordinary and extravagant ways!

Step Three next…

A Week in God’s Presence (No 3)

A Week in God’s Presence (No 3)

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen!” (2Co_13:14)

The Message calls it, “Amazing Grace. Extravagant Love. Intimate Friendship.”

Practically speaking, and I know this firsthand from years of personal experience, you can enter into the fullness of this by
1) spending time in the Bible, 
2) spending time hanging around real Christians, and 
3) spending time in a Place called Prayer.

Let me explain each one a bit more fully.

First, start spending quality time reading the Bible and thinking about the things you discover therein. It will not take very long before you are encountered by the undeniable, unmistakable, unforgettable Presence of the Lord. And as you read more and more, you will discover deeper and deeper insights into the Amazing Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God will show you the many ways He has blessed you with extraordinary gifts and abilities provided through Jesus, as well the power to do His will. You will experience His empowering Presence, helping you to be the person He has created you to be and leading you to do the things He has called you to do.

Your confession will be the same as the apostle Paul’s – “I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength!” It is true!

Paul elsewhere said it this way, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1Co_15:10).

The more time you spend delving into the riches of the Word, the more the WORD will come to life in you. You will find yourself living in the “amazing grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Perhaps the better way to say it is. “You will find the amazing grace of the Lord Jesus Christ living in you, and expressing itself through you to others.”

That’s Step One. Step Two Next…