The Holy Spirit and…Us (Part 1)
The Bible is the official rule of faith and practice for Bible-believing Christians. It is the dependable stone upon which we can rest our doubts and uncertainties. It is the telescope through which we can see the distant future and the microscope through which we can study the invisible "why-how" mysteries of life.
The Bible is also the book that gives us dependable information about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Knowledge of the Holy Spirit is one of the most valuable things one can know. We are told The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct personalities and yet they blend as one. There is no jealousy between the members of the Trinity. We focus on the Holy Spirit because He is the one appointed to do most of the things God does with us and in us.
Jesus is going away but will remain here. He said … It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (Joh 16:7).
We are told further: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began (Act 3:20-21).
Where is He now located? Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who…is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb 12:2) And yet we are told: …Christ in you, the hope of glory: (Col 1:27)
Jesus promised, …I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Mat 28:20). How is Jesus going away and yet is going to be with us always? He will be with us through the agency of the Holy Spirit who is omni-present (is present everywhere); who is omnipotent (is all-powerful) and who is omniscient (knows all things).
The Spirit of God involved in creation. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Gen 1:2). The Spirit of God is a powerful person.
We tend to avoid thinking about the Spirit of God because he is so mysterious. But He relates to us personally. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: (Gen 1:26)
Who is this "US?" "Let US…" "In OUR image." Some of the greatest minds of the world have conceded that these are the equal persons of the God-head discussing the making of another living being that will be in some way in the image of those discussing the project.
Jesus involved in creation. In the beginning was the Word, ... the Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (Joh 1:1-3). And the Word was made (became) flesh, and dwelt among us,…(Joh 1:14). The Spirit of God moved on the waters in creation and yet all things were made by Jesus, no less than the Spirit of God.
Jesus and the Father: No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day (Joh 6:44). But look at what Jesus said He was going to do: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (Joh 12:32). The Father is drawing men. The Son is drawing men.
God's spirit strives with men: And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years (Gen 6:3).
"Noah preached for 120 years, and during that time the Spirit of God was striving with men. Peter makes it very clear that it was back in the days of Noah that the Spirit of God was striving with men in order that He might bring them to God—but they would not turn." (1Pe_3:18-20). (McGee) So, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all create, draw the spirits of men, and strive with the spirits of men. The Spirit of God convicts men of sin, righteousness and judgment (Jn 16:8). There is much more in the New Testament, which we will take up in Part Two.
Loneliness —Barbara Carr
"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him"
(Gen 2:18). It was none other than God our creator who first said that being alone is not good. Solomon follows up many centuries later: Two are better than one…For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up (Ecc 4:9-10).
Loneliness: Is that the same thing as being alone? Not always. The dictionary defines alone as: "without any other person or thing nearby." Loneliness is defined as: "feeling sad through being without friends or company."
We can be alone and not be lonely. My neighbor is 80 years old and lives alone. She told me, "People ask me if I'm lonely. I tell them "No, I live alone, but I'm not lonely." She has a dog, cats, children, and friends but the most important thing she has is the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm sure she spends many hours alone, but it was a blessing to me to hear her say, "I'm not lonely."
You can be alone and not be lonely. On the other hand, you can feel alone in a crowd of people. A radio preacher said: "Some people are never lonelier than when in the middle of a crowd." The lonely person feels: "Nobody here knows me. Nobody here knows how I feel. Nobody here knows how bad I feel inside" The old, popular Negro spiritual says: Nobody knows the trouble I've seen; Nobody knows but Jesus; Nobody knows the trouble I've seen; Glory hallelujah!" Loneliness is personal and real.
Busy work with our hands can help sometimes, but there is mainly one cure for the soul hunger of loneliness and that is an active relationship with the Lord. There are so many people that are lonely—latch key children, empty nest syndrome, and loss of a job even by retirement and divorce or death of a spouse. We need fellowship. We need someone to say one way or another: "You matter to me." Loneliness can happen to any of us.
Some people in the Bible suffered loneliness. Job must have felt very lonely even though he was surrounded by "friends." His wife said to him: "Curse God and die." Curse God alone. Die alone. Noah must have felt lonely when he preached 120 years and no one would listen to him. As Moses fled Egypt for his life and crossed the desert to Midian, he must have been lonely. As Jeremiah went along weeping, he must have had lonely days. John the Baptist was so lonely he sent a message to Jesus that said: Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? (Mat 11:2-3).
Paul in prison wanted someone to come to see him, He said: …Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world (2Ti 4:10). The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. …Do thy diligence to come before winter (Taken from: 2Ti 4:13-21). When Paul wrote those words he was in a cell in the Mamertine prison in Rome. The only contact he had was an eighteen-inch hole in the ceiling. Through that opening everything passed to and from him. The words above came through that hole to the outside world shortly before he was beheaded. (King James Study Bible p.1896)
No doubt, John the Apostle on the Isle of Patmos felt much alone as he worked in the rock quarry with other slaves but suddenly one day something happened to him that dispelled his loneliness: I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,...(Rev 1:10). What a relief that must have been to John!
When Jesus was dying on the cross, He died very much alone although He was between two thieves. He asked His Heavenly Father: "Why hast thou forsaken me." (Mat 27:46). He did not ask the Father, "Why hast thou forsaken us." It was a confession of His own loneliness…"I am forsaken!".
If we are lonely, we need to check our own life for the cause. We may be destroying our relationships.
1. --Self centeredness. Do we talk only of ourselves and never let the other person talk?
2. .-Neediness. Do we smother those around us with our needs—hold too tightly to those we love?
3. I--Isolationist. Do we withdraw into own world—maybe the TV, the computer, our job?
4. .--Unforgiveness. Bitter people are always lonely. Is there something in our lives we need to forgive?
One help for loneliness is to find someone that is lonely and befriend them in some way. In helping them overcome their loneliness we overcome our own. A favorite passage often memorized is: Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God (2Co 1:3-4). God is in the comforting business. God's people are in the comforting business.
Loneliness is spiritual. We have a hunger for someone beyond ourselves. We have a hunger for God. We need a divine presence. Our need is personal--a personal relationship with God. "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Mat 1:23)
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (God with us.) (Isa 7:14).
"Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me" (Joh 16:32). What a statement!
While we suffer natural loneliness in the absence of human companionship, there is a much deeper loneliness in the absence of fellowship with God. We may try to fill that void of loneliness with sex, fame, education and hanging out with other people, but the void/hole is still there. Only God and His love can fill the void. Going to church, singing in the choir, being active in church activities—these things within themselves are not the answer to loneliness.
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Rev 3:20)
God is standing at our heart's door knocking. He is trying to get our attention. What door? Our heart and life. If we will open the door, He will come in. There are three things in this verse He tells He will do. "I will come in," "I will sup with him," and "he with Me." This verse is not for lost people. This is talking to believers. He is trying to get our attention. We shut Him out and we are alone and lonely. The answer to loneliness is to open the door and let Him come in. Ω
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