We are at that point in the Sefer Yochanan, the Book of John, where Yeshua has less than 24 hours to live. If you had only one day to live, what would you do? Go out and have fun? Party like there’s no tomorrow? Prepare your will? Speak to your family? Yeshua shares a final meal, a Passover Seder, with those that have followed Him during the previous three or four years, and He teaches them, and prepares them for the great changes that are about to take place in the history of salvation.
Yeshua had told His disciples that He was going – going back to God’s House in Heaven, where there were many dwelling places that He was preparing for those who committed their lives to the Messiah. Let’s continue where Rabbi Glenn left off, in verse 7, with Yeshua’s response to Thomas’ statement that they didn’t know where Yeshua was going to, let alone the way to get there:
If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also – My skeptical Thomas, you still haven’t quite grasped who I am. Oh, you have rightly understood that I am a prophet, and even the Messiah, but I am so much more than that! I am Immanu-El – God with us. I am fully God, and yet fully Man. I am that promised Son who was born to us, that Child given to us, and at the same time El Gibor – the Mighty God! I am God in the flesh. But from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Over the next few tumultuous days, horrible yet magnificent days, the light will dawn on you, and you will finally understand that I am the visible manifestation of the invisible God.
But as yet, even as He said this, Philip didn’t understand the implication of Yeshua’s words. Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Lord, I remember that after the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses led Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, up on Mount Sinai, and they saw God, and were not harmed, since we know that mortal man can’t see God and live. If Moses could bring the leaders of Israel into the presence of God, so that they could actually see God, Rabbi Yeshua, I’m sure that You can too. What incredible joy that would be – to see God, who is the Most Glorious Sight of all! That’s what I want Lord. Seeing God Himself would be enough for this Jewish boy, and for all of us.
Yeshua said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? Philip, I am disappointed in you. How long have we been togther now? Three or four years? And in all that time, during all our travels together, with you there seeing the many great miracles that God enabled Me to do, and hearing My teachings, you still have not understood who I really am?
He who has seen Me has seen the Father – because I share the Father’s name and nature, character and essence. I am Deity clothed in a human body. I am the revelation of God that fallen mankind is able to see. I am the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact representation of God’s nature. The Father is invisible to mortal human eyes, but I am the image of the invisible God. I am the One through whom the Father is able to show Himself to the world.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? We share a unity of nature, of being, of purpose. I am perfectly and fully and completely joined to God, and He is perfectly and fully and completely connected to Me. Don’t you believe Me when I say that Philip? You should. Have I ever lied to you?
The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. These things that I am telling you have their ultimate source in God Himself. My Father in Heaven lives and dwells in Me in a unique and powerful way, and He is at work in Me in a very special way. That enables Me to know exactly what He wants Me to say and do, and these truths that I am sharing with you right now are exactly those things that He wants communicated to you.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; when I tell you that God and I are perfectly connected, and that we share the same Spirit, the same mind and will, the identical plan and purpose, trust Me; have confidence that what I am telling you is true. Otherwise, if My words to you aren’t enough, although they should be, because I always speak the truth, and I never lie, believe because of the works themselves. Ordinary human beings don’t do miracles. So, the mighty miracles that God has enabled Me to do, great miracles that haven’t been done in Israel in many centuries, prove that I have been sent by God, and that I am empowered by Him, and He approves of Me. The bottom line is that you must believe that I am the only begotten Son of God, who has come from the heart of the Father. I am the visible manifestation of the unseen and invisible God.
Truly, truly, I say to you – now listen very carefully and believe what I am about to tell you, since it’s extremely important, and I am speaking to you with the utmost truthfulness – he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
Oh, you probably won’t do miracles that are greater in power than Mine. But you, My disciples, and those who follow you throughout the centuries, will accomplish some great things that I never did! By this time tomorrow almost all of you will have abandoned Me, and by the time I die I will have hardly any committed followers left to Me. But through you and those who follow after you, miraculous spiritual life – the new birth, will come to tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of our Jewish people. That’s more than I ever accomplished!
And, I have limited My influence to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel; but through you, and those who follow after you, multiplied millions of people from every nation will experience a miraculous spiritual transformation, and receive the life of God. How’s that for a task that is worthy of My followers, a challenge that will occupy you until I return?
And, even though My physical presence is about to leave you, you have My promise that I will stay in touch with you. I will monitor your progress and help you.
Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Even though I die tomorrow, I will come back to life. I will be alive forever! I am returning to Heaven, and I will take My proper place at the right hand of God, with all power in Heaven and on Earth under my control.
And, I am still the One who responsible for carrying out the will and commands of God. So, to help you in this great work of world evangelism, all you have to do is pray to God. Talk to My Father and your Father, and let Him know what you need to accomplish this holy task of bring the life of God to the world.
If you ask Him for help with those things that are in My name – things that I want done, tasks that I want accomplished, needs that I want met, then you have My promise that those prayers will be answered. I, the Son of God, and the One who carries out the will of God – who, when the Father commands, I make sure it comes to pass – I will do those things.
If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. You can even pray to Me, and if the thing you want is in My name – something that I want done, something that I approve of, I will do it. And when you pray for the right things, to accomplish the will of God, and to fulfill the holy task that I am setting before you, this great work of bringing salvation, redemption, restoration to the world, when you pray for the right things, and God says “Yes” to those prayers, and I answer those prayers, then great things will happen, and you will bring honor to Me, since you are My disciples, and I will bring honor to God, since I am His obedient and good Son.
But don’t expect to be part of this great work, and don’t expect to pray properly, and have your prayers answered, if you don’t consistently do the things I have told you to do. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. You must know what I have told you to do, and you must do these things. Don’t tell Me you love Me if you ignore my teachings! Prove that you truly love Me by being obedient to My commands. Follow My teachings. Obey Me!
Are you? Have you studied, and do you know, those things that Yeshua considered to be important, especially that we love God, that we love those human beings around us, and that we are people of mercy, men and women of integrity and godly character?
Not only does Messiah Yeshua promise us that God will answer our prayers, and that the Son of God Himself will do His part in answering those good prayers, but He also promises that He will pray to God for us, that God would bless us with the greatest possible gift – the indwelling Presence of the third Person of the Trinity – the Holy Spirit, who gives us the greatest kind of help.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. The Messiah promises to intervene on our behalf, to intercede for us, and ask God to give us another Helper – One who gives the same kind of help that Yeshua gave to His disciples while He was here on Planet Earth.
Just like Yeshua did, the Spirit of God helps and comforts us, advises and corrects us, teaches and strengthens and encourages us. The Spirit of God continues Yeshua’s same ministry to us, but from inside of us, doing the work of Yeshua, but in us, in a deeper way than was possible before.
But Rabbi Loren, isn’t God’s Spirit everywhere throughout the universe? After all, where can a human being go to avoid God’s Spirit? Where can we flee from the Lord’s presence? If we go to Heaven, isn’t He there? And if we make our bed in Sheol, isn’t He also there? Doesn’t the Spirit of God give life to every human being, and dwell in every human soul in some way, whether or not they are believers in the Messiah? In Him don’t we live and move and have our being?
Yes – that’s true, but you must understand the following observation, made by Louis Berkhof, that clarifies this special giving of God’s Spirit: “It is true that God is present in every part of His creation, and dwells among us, but this does not mean that He is equally present in the same way, everywhere, and in all His creatures. The nature of His indwelling is in harmony with that of His creatures. He does not dwell on earth as He does in heaven. He does not dwell in animals as He does in man, in the inorganic as He does in the organic part of creation, in the wicked as He does in the pious. He does not dwell outside the Temple as He dwells inside the Temple. He does not dwell in the Messiah’s Holy Community of Jews and Gentiles as He does in Messiah Himself. There is an endless variety in the manner in which He is present in His creation and in His creatures” (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Page 61, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1939).
If every living thing already is endowed with some measure of God’s Spirit, then what does Yeshua mean by “the giving of God’s Spirit?” The giving of God’s Spirit is the special impartation of the Spirit of God, whereby the Spirit of God is given to us in a greater way, and we are reconciled to the God from whom we have been alienated, and our spirits are made spiritually alive. We become fully alive to God, share the life of God, and will live forever with God.
How can we tell if we truly have received this special impartation of the Spirit of God? Since the Spirit that is given is the Spirit of God Himself, those who are truly indwelt by the Spirit will find themselves more interested in God Himself – not just the external trappings of religion. Having a relationship with the living God and drawing near to Him will be the focus of this religion. They will find themselves more aware of God’s reality in the daily events of life.
Since the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Yeshua, there will come a new desire to know more about Yeshua, and to be more like Him. If the Spirit of Yeshua has been given, Yeshua will be exalted and Yeshua will be the focus.
Since the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Yeshua, surely the great burden of Yeshua, the all-important task that Yeshua came to accomplish – to redeem men and women, to reconcile the world to God, to bring people the Good News that will enable them to live forever, will be of the highest priority. I just can’t understand those who claim to be Christians and Messianic Jews who don’t have a burden to reach out to a dying world of men and women with the Good News that alone can save them.
Since the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Truth, and if He is really indwelling a human being in this new and saving way, then there will be a new desire to know and practice the truth. The Spirit of Truth will lead him into the truth. When the Spirit of Truth reveals the truth, one who is indwelt by Him will choose the truth. And since the truth is primarily found in the Holy Scriptures, which were inspired by the Spirit of God, there should be a greater respect for, and interest in, the Holy Scriptures, and a genuine resolve to live by them.
Since the Spirit of God is also the Holy Spirit, if He is present in this new indwelling way, there will be a desire to be holy in order to accomplish God’s purposes. There will be a growing revulsion toward sin, and a hunger for holiness, “without which no one will see the Lord.”
If the Spirit of God is truly indwelling a human being, there will be positive, tangible results in their life. The good results of a life indwelt by the Spirit are known as the “Fruit of the Spirit.” A Spirit- indwelt life will produce the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control: a life that is characterized not by selfishness, but by love for others, especially the unlovely; a life that is characterized not by being short-tempered, but by patience under trial; a life that is characterized not by meanness, but by kindness, especially to those who don’t deserve it; a life that is characterized by doing good for others; a life that is characterized by faithfulness to God, Messiah Yeshua and the truths found in the Scriptures, faithfulness to commitments, vows, and promises; a life that is characterized not by being quarrelsome, but by a desire for gentleness and peace; a life that is characterized not by loss of control, but by the ability to control one’s actions, so that life is lived in the right way.
If these positive, tangible results of the Spirit are present, then surely the Spirit of God is present, since Rabbi Yeshua taught us that we can know a tree by its fruit. If these qualities are not present in a person’s life, then that person is most likely not indwelt by the Spirit of God.
Now, many of our Charismatic and Pentecostal brothers would say, “don’t forget the charismatic gifts of the Spirit, especially speaking in tongues. They are evidence for the giving of the Spirit.” Maybe. But let’s not forget that the Son of God warned us that there will be many people who will say that they have believed in Him, and will have performed miracles, and made accurate predictions about the future, and cast out demons, but never had a right relationship with God. To these, Messiah will say on the Day of Judgment, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers.”
Remember that Satan and his demons are also able to perform miracles through human beings. When Aaron threw Moses’ staff down before Pharaoh, it was miraculously transformed into a snake. But Egypt’s sorcerers and magicians were able to do the same thing with their occult arts! It is clear that supernatural manifestations alone are not evidence of the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God that results in salvation.
So, what about the supernatural gifts of the Spirit – speaking in languages that have never been learned, prophesying, doing miracles and the like? Aren’t these proof that God has given someone His Spirit? If real and true supernatural gifts of the Spirit are present, when accompanied by these other things, then Baruch HaShem – the Lord be praised! But in and of themselves, these miraculous manifestations are not proof that one is truly saved.
Finally, if the Spirit of God has truly been given to a human soul, there will be an assurance that one belongs to God. There is an “inner witness” that God is our Father, and that we are His beloved sons and daughters. Deep within us, our spirit cries out to God, “Abba” – Father. The sons and daughters of God will know that they are born of God, and that they truly belong to Him.
Do you have that inner witness? Are you producing the good results that accompany the giving of the Spirit? Do you love God and Messiah Yeshua and the Word of God more than before? Are you striving to be holy? Are you being obedient? Do you see yourself as very much part of the great and holy task of world evangelism?