If nothing impure or unholy is allowed into the new heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation) it
is very important that we understand how to become pure and holy. The Good News
is that Jesus will help us by forgiving the sins we repent and confess. Jesus
will come and live in the hearts of those who really love Him. Our love of
Jesus is measured by how well we keep his commandment to love God and one
another. Since we are human we need help in discerning our sins and overcoming
our self-deception. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to guide us, comfort us and
remind us of His teachings.
1. Jesus will come and live in
the hearts of those who love & obey Him
Jesus is teaching us that our faith or trust in Him must be more than
head knowledge. It must lead to real love. Real love is not what we desire for
ourselves – that is lust. Real love is an emotional desire for the good of
the other. Sacrificial love is putting the need of the other person and
your desire for their good before your own needs. The more we know Jesus and understand
His teachings from Bible reading, prayer and our worship experiences; the more
we come to love Him and obey His teachings:
·
Love God – more than we love alternative idols:
o
Material things
o
Work / Career
o
Political heroes
o
Sports
·
Love what God has done – creation, reading about
God in Bible
·
Love what God values:
o
Truth vs deception and lies
o
Holiness vs unholy, divided, impure, mixed
o
Peace not conflict and division
o
Order, justice – not disorder and injustice
o
Forgiveness
not anger, hatred and revenge
·
Love your neighbour – sacrificial love based on their
need
o
Respect personal value as child of God –
physical needs
o
Honour by respecting reputation vs false witness,
gossip
o
Respect property (stealing, coveting)
o
Respect marriage relationship (adultery)
o
Respect humanity by forgiving (vs un-forgiveness)
·
Love one another in the fellowship of the church
community
o
Particularly tested by people we do not really
like
Jesus helped people see how holy God is and how important it is
that we be clean and holy if we are to be in the presence of God. The Holy
Spirit cannot come and live on a spiritual garbage dump. If we want to receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit we have to provide a clean environment.
2. The Holy Spirit will come and
guide us in our spiritual battle
Jesus taught us that there is a real spiritual battle going on. We can
think of Satan as the adversary or enemy of God – or as quality control. The
Bible tells us that Satan and some of the angels rebelled against God and were
put out of heaven. They hate God and do everything they can to deceive and
confuse people into joining their rebellion against God. First they tempt
people to do something that is just over the line between life-giving and
life-destructive behaviour. Next they deceive people into believing, like Eve
in the Garden of Eden; that there will not be any consequences. Finally, Satan
and his dark angels reveal their hatred by standing before God and accusing the
person of sin. The Holy Spirit helps us protect ourselves in this battle:
·
Holy Spirit acts as our conscience in
warning us when tempted
·
Holy Spirit ‘highlights’ Bible passages that we
need to hear
·
Holy Spirit gives us ‘words of knowledge’
that we need (prophecy)
·
Holy Spirit guides us in ‘Self-examination’,
Confession preparation
3. The Holy Spirit will also comfort,
strengthen and heal us
As we approach Pentecost (and I prepare for a trip to Cappadocia in Turkey
where the Holy Spirit was ‘re-discovered’ in the Fourth Century) we need to
acknowledge that many Anglicans were never taught much about what the Holy
Spirit actually does. In addition to reminding us of the teachings of Jesus and
guiding us in obeying them, the Holy Spirit also:
·
Comforts us when we are discouraged or in
grief – this is when we are often closest to Jesus, but deceive ourselves and
turn away
o
Some people discover the Holy Spirit when in great
need
o
People need & experience the real presence
of Jesus
·
Strengthens us when we are facing temptations
& challenges
o
Gives us hope that we are not alone
·
Heals us from physical and spiritual sickness
o
Guides prayer ministry, anointing
·
Heals us from deep spiritual wounds, bondages and
oppression
o
Sins can lead to wounds and open doorways to
spiritual bondages and spiritual oppression
o
Inherited
curses or generational sin can make us unclean
o
Holy Spirit guides healing prayer in discerning
the sin, wound or curse that needs to be repented and healed
The Revelation Readings also teaches that people who have
deliberately deceived others are specifically excluded from receiving the
gifts of the Holy Spirit and excluded from entering the heavenly Jerusalem.
The Readings challenge us to
love Jesus deeply and become spiritually clean and holy through the way to
forgiveness that Jesus taught – self-examination, repentance, specific
confession and forgiveness through faith in the shed blood of Jesus. This is
how we become pure and holy.
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