Jesus Said, "If A man loves Me ..." - Part 2413

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." (I Corinthians 12:7-12)

What does Paul mean when he refers to ONE SPIRIT? The SAME SPIRIT?

In the Old Testament, we understand that God is Spirit. From the very beginning, we learn that the Spirit of the Lord moved across the waters. More aptly put, the Spirit of the holies. In the New Testament, the Holy Ghost thus signifies that the new cannot occur until the old is past. (Hebrews 9:8) Not another Spirit or a third person as the modern day religious culture would have us believe  -- but the ONE and SAME Spirit which moved across the face of the waters in Genesis.

In this last testament, this same Jesus -- "this day, have I begotten Thee" -- now leads and guides us into all truth. The SAME Holy Ghost which we receive when we repent and are baptized in the precious Name of the Lord Jesus Christ -- the ONLY NAME given whereby we must be saved in this current dispensation of grace. (Acts 2:36-38; Titus 3:4-7)

Of late, believers are sensing that the Lord will perform a (short?) work, wherein "these things," saith He that is holy; He that is true; He that opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens," will come to pass. Moreover, as Jesus (when He walked on this earth) stated, "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My Name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie; I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." (Revelation 3:8-9)

Why? Because as Jesus spoke "being yet present with you" -- "If a man loves Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him and we will come into him, and make our abode with him." (John 14:23)

Who is the we expressed herein? The Comforter, as Jesus said, "the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you ..." (John 14:24-26)

In order for the Holy Ghost to come, Jesus first had to ascend. We understand this from Acts 1:2-3:

"Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He THROUGH the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen: to whom also He shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." (Acts 1:2-3)

Indeed, Jesus told His disciples, " ... Ye have heard how I said unto you -- I go away, and come [again] unto you. If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice because I said, I go unto the Father; for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you BEFORE it come to pass, that when it IS come to pass, ye might believe." (John 14:27-29)

"He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not." (John 1:10-11)

One Lord ... One God and Father of us all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:5-6)

I realize that there is a lot to learn about the Godhead within the scriptures-- Jesus being God manifest in the flesh, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Him, God in Christ, God our Saviour, and thus, suggest that you spend additional time reading and studying John 14 through 17. As well, perhaps, in the interest of understanding the doctrine of Christ more fully -- I Timothy 3:16; Titus 3:4-7; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:10-11; John 1:1-18; John 10:30; John 14:6-12; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 6:1-2; and Revelation 1:8, 11.

Why? As Jesus declared to those who look for Him -- "because thou hast kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly! Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man can take thy crown ..." (Revelation 3:10-11)

Stand in the offering plate.