THE COMFORTER (one)
The Trinity met at the Cross to solve the sin question.
1) How objective or otherwise subjective is the Entity of the comforting promise of Jesus? Does the promised one exist in palpability of existence or just an incorporeal thing? Who is the Comforter promised by the Lord Jesus when He found it necessarily expedient to go back to His celestial home?
John 14:16-17 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17) Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” ‘Comforter’ is the Greek paraklētos (par-ak’-lay-tos): ‘Called to one’s aid, Latin: Advocatus: as substantive, a legal assistant, advocate, the Intercessor, the Consoler, or the Comforter.’ Broken into two components of para and klētos, while para speaks of ‘proximity’, klētos gives a picture of ‘one whose appearance comes from an invitation.’ So, it is quite apropos for Jesus to tell them, “the Comforter…whom the Father will send” – invitation – of John 15:26 and the “He dwelleth with you” – proximity – of John 14:17 owing to the phenomenality of the Pentecost Day experience in the Upper Room and for the facticity of setting upon each of the one hundred and twenty and making His way into them to dwell therein forever. He had to be intelligent to have calculated the number of souls to indwell.
Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916)
Whether it is ignorance or sheer determined crave for wrong didacticism of Scripture, the Jehovah’s Witness Society teaches that the Holy Spirit is just a mere wind. Charles Taze Russell’s (1852-1916) foundation of JW believes the Holy Spirit has no life, ergo, is not a Personage. So, what are we to make of this Scripture, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26)? One of JW members who came to my house said, “But you know that the Bible says that inanimate things do teach of God’s existence?”
Fine, but to let him know that he was still hooked like the captured fish out of water, I showed him John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is 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.” I asked the JW guys, can a mere wind, as you put it, teach omnisciently, all theological things? They could not give an answer to the ponderous profundity of my enquiry; I, therefore, proceeded with, “He must be the eternal Omniscience to know all things!” Showing them from God’s protocol, the Bible, I opened to Acts 13:2 “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Is this not the Christ-promised Comforter? He is not only dwelling amongst them, He speaks words of intellectualism to their hearing ears, and also, He makes appointments of Apostleship, which is purely of the Godhead. Amen.
Cornelius and his household received the in-feeling on the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
Let us do scriptural commentaries on Acts 13:2. The word ‘separate’ is aphorizō (af-or-id’-zo): ‘to appoint, set apart for some purpose.’ The pronoun ‘me’ is made up of two Greek words: moi (moy) and te (teh): while the first is ‘I, me, my’; te is an emphatic ‘not only … but; also; both … and.’ The last expression of my focus is on the verbal ‘I have called,’ proskaleomai (pros-kal-eh’-om-ahee): ‘to call to one’s self, invite, summon.’ Will a common wind use personal pronouns with emphasis, not only on the involved number, but also on the direction of its speech or especially, command – i.e. to Himself? The Holy Spirit would not have made appointments of evangelism if He is not a Personage.
In the matter concerning the conversion of Cornelius, Acts 10:19 reads, “While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.” Categorically clear is that fact that the Holy Spirit did speak the divine words of knowledge to Peter. Pauline Second Missionary Journey with Silas met with the Holy Spirit’s intervention in Acts 16:6-7 “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, 7) After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.” The forbidding acts from the Holy Spirit cannot be that of a mere subjective blowing or static air.
“Separate Me Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 13:2)
Getting born again is a conscious effort on the part of an individual. Get born again. Say this sinner’s prayer.
“Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”
(…to be continued…)
Read part two here
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