And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh.
|
|
March 20, 2008:Traditions | Just a few more weary days and then... I'll fly away... And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. |
| December 29, 2007:New Year's 2008 | ||
| November 3, 2007:How To Be Successful in Christian Ministry | ||
| October 23, 2007:Salmon |
| ||||||||||
| I Go to Prepare a Place for You William H. Haller |
|---|
In today's lesson, we move on to John chapter 14. I would suggest that you read the entire chapter when you have time. We will read down through verse 21 which is slightly farther than the excerpt printed in the quarterly.
This week, I took fewer exceptions to the teacher's quarterly, but there were still a few items that I felt needed addressing.
The first verses of this chapter follow Jesus' declaration at the end of the chapter that he would be leaving. This teaching occurred at the end of the passover meal or the Last Supper as we talked about last week. This would be the evening before His crucifixion. It was given before they started the walk to the garden in chapter 15.
His first statement after Peter's declaration that Peter would follow him anywhere and Jesus' reply that he would deny Him three times before dawn was "Let not your heart be troubled". Those are words for everyone to hear and respond to today. Let not your heart be troubled. There are so many people today whose hearts are both troubled and weighted down with the day-to-day worries of this world. Christ would say the same thing to you. Let not your heart be troubled.
Alas, it is easier to hear those words (or read those words) than it is to receive them and make them a part of you. Sometimes we can endure much when it is only us who are affected. When those around us are hurting, it is much harder to remember and trust in Christ's words. Let not your heart be troubled. Sometimes the things going on in our own lives are enough to cloud those words. Let not your heart be troubled.
Of course, it is true that Christ was speaking in general and far reaching terms at the start of this chapter. In the next verses, He declares that in God the Father's house (Gr. oikia dwelling place - literally heaven) are many mansions (Gr. mone, abiding places, mansions, or abodes). I would have told you if that were not a fact. I am going to prepare a place (Gr. topos a place of habitation, as a city) for you. If I am going to go to this trouble, I will certainly come again and receive you to myself that where I am in heaven, you may also be. As for the present, you know both where I am bound for and the way I am going. (paraphrased)
It is easy to say that in the end, all of life's troubles will mean nothing. All of the troubles of this world will pass away, and only what we have done for God will matter in the long run. If He had stopped there, it would still be a glorious thing to hope for, but as we will see in the rest of the chapter, He was revealing plans to care for troubled hearts in the present life as well. More about that later.
The quarterly writer made the statement that Jesus was not talking about a literal place, but was speaking figuratively. I don't believe that this is true. While it is true that there is a spiritual sense about what He said, Heaven is a real place. It is, in fact, described as a very large place in Revelation, with walls, gates, rivers, streets, trees, et cetera. I fully believe that there will be dwelling places for the righteous there.
The KJV may have picked an unfortunate translation of mansion, implying that we would be rich in heaven. Anything that we have in heaven will be based on what gold, silver, and precious stone like rewards our works on Earth have done. Most of what each of us have done (with rare exceptions) are likely to be burned up as wood, hay, and stubble (1 Cor. 3:12-15). Regardless of our eternal blessings for what we have done, we will still need living quarters, and I believe that Christ was not speaking figuratively here. That doesn't mean that I believe He is laying bricks, Himself, but I do believe He is overseeing the work, and doing so with joy, for each new soul that is added to His kingdom.
The quarterly writer makes a statement in verse 3 that the event being described is usually referred to as the Second Coming. While it is correct that the term Second Coming is often applied to the event mentioned here, it is incorrect to do so. The rapture of the church occurs before Daniel's 70th week, at a time period at the close of the church age before Revelation 4 ("things which must be hereafter"). The Second Coming refers to the time when Christ comes back to Earth to squash the rebellion of the anti-Christ and set up his Millennial kingdom. It does not refer to the rapture of the church.
Likewise, all prophetical scriptures become clearer when you separate these two events properly. For example, the prophecies in Matthew 24 and 25, generally known as the Great Olivet prophecies, concern the Second Coming and not the rapture. While it is true that the world has wars, famine, pestilence and earthquakes now, these will increase after the rapture of the church.
There are no signs or events left to occur before the rapture. It could occur at any time. This has been true for a long time. In fact, the Early church expected the rapture to occur at any time. There are prophecies that concern the Second Coming. Since the rapture must occur 7 years before that time, by implication, as those prophecies are fulfilled, we know that the rapture must be closer, rather than farther off.
In the middle of the chapter, Christ again identifies Himself with the Father, and this causes predictable confusion. Philip is the one this time that asks to see the Father and they will be happy and content. Christ is probably a bit frustrated at this point, knowing that His time with them is short. He again declares that they are one. He finishes up by saying, if you can't believe my words, at least believe me because of my works.
The church needs to answer this same question today. The New Testament church has been with us for around two millennia, give or take a couple of centuries. Today, we are in the same position that Christ was in. The world is asking to see the Father in us, to separate us from the other religions. We have works that we can show, and words that we can say. These are good things. We need to pray for the in-filling of the Holy Spirit promised at the end of the chapter, so that we can say, like Christ: Believe us because our words and actions are in harmony with what the Bible declares about the Father, or else believe us for the very works sake that you see us do.
Christ declares here that truly, truly, all who believe on Him will do the works that He did, and greater works than them, simply because Christ went to the Father and the Holy Spirit was poured out. We clearly don't have the capability to do a greater work than Christ could have done if He had needed to, since any work we do is by the same Spirit and power of God that He used when He did the works. But we are expected, as a church and as believers, to be doing the works of Christ. We are expected to be able to do just as great a work as necessary to carry on the work of the Father.
The quarterly writer brings up a point that the hospitals of the various denominations are doing works that are greater than Christ (or at least as good as Christ's) because they are meeting the needs of more people on a broader basis. They point out that by sheer numbers, the Christians are spreading the Word to a larger number of people than Christ could ever reach. These are true statements. But I don't truly believe that that is what Christ is talking about here.
The church could have done these things regardless of what happened to Christ and without the pouring out of the Holy Spirit as prophesied here and recorded in Acts. I'm not saying that some of the things the church has done would have been as effective, but there are a whole lot of hospitals around that aren't church based, so clearly reaching the physical needs of people in this way can be done without Christ's help. Likewise, the technology we have to spread the Word by radio, television, the Internet, et cetera, has reached many more than Christ could ever have reached (or any of the great historical preachers of the first almost two millennia for that matter reached.) But these, likewise, are not the works of which Christ was referring.
No. When these verses talk about the believers doing the works of Christ, they are referring to the special miracles, prophecies, healings, words of knowledge and wisdom, and discerning of spirits along with other New Testament gifts of the Spirit that Christ made use of to reinforce His message and mark His ministry as one that was in tune with the Father. As we have mentioned before, the Father does these things to bring glory to His church, the Godhead. They aren't done for our glory or pleasure. Likewise, they aren't done to just give us good things that we want that we might consume them on ourselves.
But likewise, God is our Father. Just like any Father, He wants to bless His children - especially the obedient ones who are doing His work. None of them got rich. Some were famous in their day (and some of their fame has lasted down through the ages). Most did their work quietly, died, and were forgotten by all but family and perhaps their local church for a time. Many of the apostles suffered many things. Many died. But they also got to see the glory of the Lord at work, got to travel to many places spreading the Word, and had all their basic needs met.
The closer we align our wills and actions to the Father, the better He can work through us. We may never have riches and glory either. But when we are asking God to do things that His work might prosper - including healings and miracles - and we are truly, like Christ, doing what we see the Father doing, we can rest assured that God will hear our prayers from heaven and work through us just as surely as He worked through Christ. We must ask, nothing doubting, in the name of Christ, and Christ has promised He will do it.
Christ finishes out the verses we read with the promise to send the Comforter to us if we love Him and keep His commandments. The first fruits of this were seen at Pentecost, 50 days after the Sunday when He was known to have been resurrected. His work carries on today. Seek the same filling of the Holy Spirit that the apostles had, to go forth in power, strength, and the will of the Father to witness wherever He calls you.
It is the coming of the Comforter that gave the short term hope He spoke let not your heart be troubled. He wasn't leaving His disciples alone for long. The Holy Spirit would come and baptize in fullness to all who asked and sought His communion. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came on particular individuals for particular purposes. He wasn't available to the masses. Because Christ had completed the first major phase of His work with respect to humanity, the Holy Spirit came to give us comfort and provide the same avenues for the Father to work through us as He had through Jesus. The church needs to examine how far we have fallen from what Christ had planned for us as He gave one of His final speeches to His disciples. Let not your heart be troubled.
