August 31, 2008 Failure Before the Cross, Part 3 Kathleen Maples

Jesus has been speaking some hard truths to His beloved disciples. This past weeks
His message had turned into one that for the first time in their travel with the
Messiah they did not want to hear what He had to say. He had begun to warn them
and was trying to prepare them for His death and departure. They certainly had
not lived with Him these past 3 1/2 glorious years knowing He would leave. They
had just assumed everything would always be alright because He was there. They
did not understand the Scriptures that spoke of the suffering of the Messiah, and
His death. We can't understand this Book unless the Holy Spirit opens our eyes
and shows it to us. But oh, what a week this had turned out to be!

There was the triumphant entry into Jerusalem where the crowds had adored
Him and praised Him. Oh, this had made the Pharisees so angry! The disciples had
lost control of their own selves and had begun to praise Him and adore Him so
much so that the Pharisees demanded the Lord shut them up. (Luk_19:37-39). Then
there was the challenge in the temple. How horrified they were when He marched
right in to the midst of the temple and began to overturn the tables of the money
changers. They had never seen Jesus so upset and move so openly against anyone.
He was not worried about making them angry. The more I study these Scriptures,
the more I'm beginning to see something here. I know mortal man could never
have taken the life of the Eternal One. He might have yielded to the limitations of
living in the flesh for a season but He never stopped being God's Son in the flesh.
He was Deity Divine. He knew He had to die and He knew they could not do it
unless He set Himself up. His Father had arranged all this. But everything He did
pointed to a spiritual truth we need to see and understand.

Jesus had eaten the Passover meal with the disciples, and lovingly washed their
feet. Judas, His betrayer, had departed and then Jesus began to minister to them
about what was coming. Knowing His hour had come, that He would soon suffer
and die, and their faith would be sifted violently, He began to reveal to them their
need for and the promised coming of the Holy Spirit. He had not spoken directly
about their need for the Holy Spirit before. He had sent them out to heal and
minister. This they could do in His name. He gave them authority through faith in
His name over the power of the enemy. The spirits, He said, were subject to them,
but warned them against letting pride in their hearts for this reason. Pride was
what caused Satan to fall. But there was something more He would require of
them and for this they would need to be full of the Holy Ghost. Before they could
drink the cup He would soon drink, of suffering, and betrayal and spiritual and in
some cases, physical martyrdom, they would have to be baptized in the Holy
Spirit or they would never endure. He knew all but John would be martyred.

They had left the upper room, and were now on their way through the streets of
Jerusalem to Gethsemane. It was dark and I believe after a long and busy week,
this city which was preparing for the Passover, was mostly quiet by this late hour.
As they walked, the Son of God knew the powers of darkness were moving to try to
overtake Him. Still, He continued to minister hope and encouragement in an effort
to fortify His disciples. He was preparing them for what was coming, though they
could not fully understand, yet.

Joh 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

The word for 'offended' here is scandalizo. It means to behave in such a way that
your behavior causes others to fall into sin or fall away from the Lord. Jesus
knows their hour of temptation and trial is near. He knows the enemy will use
these things as a snare to catch them and destroy their faith. In this case, those
who are truly saved are soon to face a hard battle. Jesus doesn't want them to fall
away or give up and go back. If they do, others will, too. He warns them the
religious leaders will excommunicate them, ban them from the temples, the
synagogues. They won't want the Gospel truth preached there. Then He says
something I know got their undivided attention. Nobody interrupts Him but He
who never lies to them says "the time will come that those who kill you will think
they are serving God, that they are truly doing His will."

Can't you hear their minds racing? Those who kill us? He said He was going to be
handed over to wicked men and mocked, beaten and killed and now He says we
will be killed too? Oh, what have we gotten ourselves in to here? I bet they wished
they were anywhere but here in this time or place. They had to be so very afraid.
He says they will do these things because they don't really know Me or My Father.
(If they did, they would fear greatly to touch one of His). But, children, remember
when these things begin to happen, that I warned you ahead of time. I didn't tell
you these things at the beginning because I was there, but now I will be going
away, returning to Him who sent Me and none of you even ask me where I'm
going. I know your hearts are heavy, grieved, and full of sorrow, He tells them.
But, oh, children, it's for your benefit that I go away! It hast to be so the Comforter,
the Necessary One can come. He can't come if I stay and you need Him more than
you need Me.

Consider what Jesus begins to reveal to them now very carefully. In the days we
live in there is much spiritual deception. It's past being religious, it's outright
Satanic at times. There is much emphasis on weird manifestations, and outlandish
behavior and claims in what some call revival. Be so careful, beloved. Much is
blamed on the Holy Spirit that He has no part of at all. If you want to know if He is
actively working where you are here are your guideposts:

Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and
of judgment:

When He shows up, He will convict and expose what is out of order and what is
wrong. He will reveal where people have missed the mark, wandered into error
and have violated God's law. To be convicted is to be found guilty of violating the
divine law of God and it is punishable by death so it's no wonder He wants to bring
those He finds guilty to repentance. The Lord is so willing to forgive and when we
look around and see the sad condition of this world and its inhabitants, this
eagerness, this willingness to forgive on God's part, for the sake of His Son,
testifies of a heart of love that almost takes my breath away. What kind of love is it
that caused His Son to cry out from the depths of His pain and despised shame on
that cruel cross "Father, Forgive them!" I know that was a God-produced cry in the
heart of His Son. It had to grieve the Father's heart but at the same time the Father
wanted to open the way for these to run into His very presence and find
forgiveness and communion with HIM whose Son they murdered?

My feeble mind can't comprehend this. I have to look to Him and depend on Him
and cry out Oh, Father, give ME your kind of holy love for I am not able to love
those around me like this!!

When the Holy Spirit shows up He not only reveals wrongs, and failures, and
exposes that which is out of order, and sin, but also makes clear what is right. He
doesn't do this in a harsh or malicious way, He is gentle, not wanting to
discourage us or bring us to despair. He lovingly corrects a parent. He has been
sent to parent us, to prepare us, to teach, guide and strengthen us. Those who
speak for Him in ministry, they are gentle, easy to be entreated, peaceable,
compassionate, the law of kindness is in their mouth. If it is not, they aren't
completely crucified with Him yet or something is wrong. The Holy Spirit comes
and judges in us, exposes it privately to us those things that will condemn and
damn us and so we can see it and repent. The Lord loves us so much He allows
things and situations to come at us that though they may be very unpleasant, and
we will be pressed by them hard, He has a reason. He sees things in our hearts that
are unlike Christ, and often we don't. He has seen it from the start, beloved, but yet
He has patiently loved, and led and worked with us, and taught us to strengthen us
to be able to face unpleasant truths about ourselves. When He begins to show us
our hearts, He is right there with us to remind us of His love so we don't fall into
despair and give up. When He allows hard times or places into our lives to squeeze
us it's to cause that thing in our heart we don't see to come to the surface so we can
see it as He convicts us, and exposes it to our understanding. He does this so we
can repent and be cleansed and forgiven. What a merciful God! The next time you
are in a hard, unpleasant place, remember this. He knows how you feel and He's
right there with you. He will hold you up and encourage you if you cry out to HIM
and not to people. Run to His Word, run to HIS embrace not yourself, or others.
He is WELL able to hold you up-and once you experience how HE holds you up you
will not want to run anywhere else ever again.

So, how can you tell if the Holy Spirit is actually manifesting among God's people?
His presence brings conviction, revelation of what is wrong and how it should be,
and this is brought into the light to bring about brokenness and repentance so He
can cleanse and forgive us and restore us. Jesus never said there would be gold
dust in the air. He never said there would be people flopping around like fish out of
water. He never said people would be making animal sounds. This is an internal,
unseen work, but clearly felt by those being ministered too. (The kingdom of God is
within you, remember Jesus said this and it comes not with observation (Luk
17:20-21) His presence will produce a reverence for God-an orderly, decent
reverence. It will produce joy which is expressed in different ways. One might cry,
one might run and shout hallelujah. One might begin to sing. One might begin to
praise. However they express their gratitude and worship to God, is not ours to
judge. If it is HIM it will be right.

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for
 he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he
will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of
mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This too, identifies the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He had so
much He wanted to show them but He knew they could not receive or endure it. It's
so important to recognize this. There are things that just cannot be preached to
people who have not been filled with the Holy Spirit of God. They can't receive this.
You can't preach "Deny yourself-reject yourself and embrace the life of another" to
someone who is a new convert until they get rooted in the truth and see enough of
Him they would rather have HIM than self and get filled with the Holy Spirit. You
can't preach meat to babes. It will choke and discourage them. This is why
ministers so desperately need to seek God for the messages they bring to the
pulpit. ONLY the Holy Spirit knows what the people really need, and are ready for,
and only HE can bring life to the Word so it feeds and strengthens rather than kills
as a dead letter.

The Lord is speaking about the individual ministry of the Holy Spirit to the person
here, as well as corporately to the Body of Christ. When the Holy Spirit is present,
He will show the right way and lead you through this Holy Bible which is the
Word of God Almighty to us, and open our understanding. He who made our
minds has to enlarge our understanding so we can embrace this truth. He has to
reveal it to us. He didn't come to speak of Himself, but to reveal Christ to us. The
glorified, risen Christ. He hears what is said between the Father and the Son, and
that is what He says. Just as Jesus said, "The Word that I speak is the Word of Him
who sent Me" so the Holy Spirit speaks the Word of the One who sent Him. He will
also show us what is going to happen or change in our lives. He shows us what has
to go, He shows us what needs to change. He warns us of snares and traps in the
way ahead. This requires an active seeking of the Lord on our part. We have to
understand and believe He lives in and with us by faith as we seek understanding
and seek to know the Lord, the Holy Spirit will reveal Him to us. We can't leave our
Bibles closed and not show up for prayer and study and expect to learn anything.
We can't let our minds wander on everything but the Lord and expect a divine
revelation of anything except that we are on dangerous ground and need to get
back where we belong.

He comes to magnify this beautiful, Almighty Christ to us, to prepare us to be the

Bride of this lovely Christ. He will teach us how to dress, walk, talk, live, and
minister to this One who is HOLY. He will open the promises and reveal them and
make them reality in our lives. HE is the Promise. He is the power. He shall take
what Jesus Christ has for us and declare it to us so we may understand and
appropriate these things that are available to us. What deep truth Jesus is
revealing to them and they do not understand.

They begin to wonder about what He says, murmuring among themselves. What
does He mean He's going back to the Father? Jesus knows and He tells them, you
are going to weep and be very grieved at what is coming while the world rejoices.
But your sorrow will be turned into joy. This is something that has to happen. New
life comes only out of suffering and labor-enduring much pain- as when a woman
gives birth to a child. Don't fear, children, you will see Me again and your mind,
your feelings, your thoughts will be glad, you will be happy and the delight that
will fill you no man can take away from you.

What the world has is fast slipping through their fingers so don't envy them,
beloved. What you have cannot be taken from you unless you choose to lay it down
and walk away from His promises and His truth. No matter how much you feel
you have failed Him, no matter how grieved your heart may be right now, no
matter how confused or hurt you may feel, don't walk away from Him and His
truth. Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he is tried, (made
acceptable-as silver having gone through the refining fire), he shall receive the
crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (Jas_1:12) That
the trial of your faith (and it will be severely tested through events and things in
your life that come against you) being much more precious than gold which
perishes, though your faith be tried with fire, it will seen and found by others (the
Lord, too) a commendable thing of precious value and glory, honor, at the coming
revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet 1:7) That word is apokalupsis. I keep running into
that word lately in my study. It means disclosure, manifestation, appearing,
revelation. It means I shall know Him because I will see Him and understand Him-
as much as I am able to now in this body, and then, in the day of His actual coming
so there is a dual application-one here, one then. I can't physically see Him now
but through spiritual understanding, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit I can
understand who He is and what He is like and this produces a strong love for Him
in my heart. A strong desire to be like Him, to please Him, to fellowship with Him.
It also brings an understanding that He loves me and wants to spend quality,
private time with me, sharing His heart. Oh, what a promise we have beloved!
What a golden opportunity we have been given.

No wonder the enemy tries everything he can to distract us from prayer, from
study of this Word, from spending time with this Glorious GOD we have! How can
you shake the faith of one who got their faith like this, through such intimacy? You
can't. We must seek the Holy Spirit to take us there, to lead us to Jesus Christ,
through this Book, through our prayer life, and to plant the cry in our heart for an
ever increasing revelation of HIM.

Then more we see and learn of Him the less we want the things of this world the
less we will want self. Then when He says "you must deny yourself" we will say,
whatever you say, my King. I'd rather have YOU. We will understand we are
trading rags for priceless treasure-HIM. He will be precious to us because we will
know Him for ourselves and He is so lovely. So incomparable. So magnificent! The
power of the Spirit has worked in our lives to bring us to this place, and He is the
power in us. It is HIM that works in us to produce the desire to obey God, and He is
the power in us to obey God. (Php_2:13).

Jesus tells them, in that day, you won't ask Me anything. The relationship will
change. You will ask the Father in My name, on the authority of My character, and
He will give it to you. He will deliver what you require to live this life I will call you
to live. Up until now, you have never asked anything of God in this manner, in My
name. But you will ask, and you will get a hold of what you have been offered so
your joy will be complete. You will have what I obtain for you if you do what I
have told you to do. The Father loves you because you love Me and you have faith
that I AM who I said I Am.

In the dark, quiet streets of Jerusalem, I can almost see Jesus stop and turn and
look carefully at their disturbed, confused faces. "Do you now believe? Do you
understand I've given you truth?" I believe He stopped and searched their faces
carefully, knowing their hearts, loving them, knowing they were not in themselves
able to endure what was about to happen in just a few hours. Quietly, I believe, He
speaks to them. "The hour is near when you will run in fear, driven by uncertainty
and grief, in every direction. You will separate, and forsake Me, leaving Me alone.
But I will not be alone, because My Father is with Me. Everything I have told you I
have said because I want you to have a rest in your soul, a calm in your mind,
because in the order of this world there will be anguish, and pressure and trouble
and persecution. But have courage, I have conquered this arrangement that is so
out of order from what My Father intended it to be."

He wants them to know before it happens. I know you will forsake Me. I know you
will panic and run in fear in different directions. I will not hold it against you, nor
will I forsake you in your failure.

Consider the impact these words had on these men who had left all to follow Him.
How would I feel if the Lord I loved and forsook all in this world I had to follow
Him told me these things? I can't imagine. But if you have ever failed under
pressure, if you have ever been in a hard trial and run from the Lord, or left the
prayer closet, slammed His Book shut in despair and anger, take comfort from
these Words of the Lord. Consider them quietly in your heart. They are for you,
too. I pray the Holy Spirit helps you hear the love behind them. He's telling them
before they fail Him, I know you are going to fail Me. But be of good courage, I will
not fail you, nor forsake you. I won't turn My back on you. I will go with you all
the way. Oh, what a God we serve, folks! Who needs religion? Just give me Jesus!
Only the Holy Spirit can do that for us, beloved.